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Shopify

Hosted ecommerce platform for building and running an online store

Websites & hosting Prices checked October 2026 Researched, not yet tested hands-on

What it is

Shopify is an all-in-one ecommerce platform that hosts your store, checkout and payments. Plans scale from small shops to high-volume brands, with lower card rates on higher tiers.

Key features

  • Hosted store and checkout
  • Shopify Payments (2.9% + 30u00a2 online on Basic)
  • In-person selling
  • Plan tiers Basic, Grow, Advanced, Plus
  • App ecosystem

Pros and cons

Pros

  • Fast setup with no hosting to manage
  • Card rates drop on higher plans
  • Low-cost intro period after trial

Cons

  • 2% extra fee on Basic if not using Shopify Payments
  • Grow jumps to $79/mo yearly
  • Premium and international cards cost more (up to 3.5% + 1%)

Not a good fit for

  • Simple blogs or portfolio sites
  • Sellers who want to avoid third-party payment fees without Shopify Payments

How we researched this

Facts on this page come from Shopify’s official pages, checked October 2026. We have not tested Shopify hands-on yet unless a linked article says so.

Ready to try Shopify? Free trial: 3 days, then $1/mo for 3 months to get started.

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