Wix
wix.com
Website builder with a store attached
from $17/moFree plan
Shopify
The default online store platform
Free trialE-commerceSince 2006
from $25/moVisit shopify.com
What Shopify is
Hosted storefronts, checkout, payments, POS and a vast app ecosystem. The safe default for physical-product retail.
What Shopify has cost
We have read this pricing page 11 times since Jan 2021, including archived copies of it. Each figure below was pulled from the page itself, not from a summary of it.
- $29/moJan 2021 – Jan 2022 · Basic Shopify · 3 readings · archived page
The entry plan changed name here, from Basic Shopify to Basic. That is a different plan, so the two prices are not a rise or a cut.
$29/moJul 2022 – Jan 2023 · Basic · 2 readings · archived page- $39/moJul 2023 – Jan 2024 · Basic · 2 readings · archived page
- $29/mo*Jul 2024 · Basic · 1 reading · archived page
- $25/moAug 2026 · Basic · 1 reading · source
- $39/moAug 2026 · Basic · 1 reading · source
- $25/moSept 2026 · Basic · 1 reading · source
The Basic plan moved from $29 to $39 (+34.5%) somewhere between Jan 2023 and Jul 2023 — we read it at both ends and cannot narrow it further.
* That reading is the effective monthly cost when paying for a year up front, which is what the page published at the time.
Gaps are ours, not the vendor's: where a capture was unreadable, or the price could not be tied to a plan at all, no reading was recorded rather than a guess. See every price change we can stand behind.
People use it to
Current offers
Free trial
Free trial available
Trial length and card requirement are set by the vendor.
Discount
24% off — $19/mo instead of $25/mo
Both prices read from www.shopify.com on 2026-09-06. Basic plan. Billed for 12 months up front.
Shopify alternatives
Other tools in e-commerce that cover similar ground. Full comparison.
WooCommerce
woocommerce.com
Turn WordPress into a store
FreeFree plan
Squarespace
squarespace.com
Beautiful sites with commerce included
from $19/moFree trial
Where Shopify sits on price
Entry prices across E-commerce, cheapest first.
- Ecwid$5
- Wix$17
- Squarespace$19
- Sellem$19
- Snipcart$20
- Shopify$25
- Payhip$29
- Sellfy$29
- BigCommerce$39
- Recharge$99
10 of these 10 prices were read from the vendor's own pricing page. The median is taken across the 10 verified prices in E-commerce. 3 more tools in this category do not publish an entry price and are not plotted.
Shopify pricing questions
- How much does Shopify cost?
- Shopify starts at $25 a month on its Basic plan, billed monthly. That figure was read from shopify.com's own pricing page on 6 September 2026.
- Does Shopify have a free plan?
- No ongoing free plan. Shopify offers a free trial, after which a paid plan is required.
- Is Shopify cheaper if you pay annually?
- Yes — 24% cheaper. Paying for twelve months up front takes the entry plan from $25 a month to $19 a month. Both figures were read from the same pricing page in one visit, so the saving is arithmetic rather than a claim.
- What is Shopify used for?
- Hosted storefronts, checkout, payments, POS and a vast app ecosystem. The safe default for physical-product retail. People mainly use it to sell products online, build an online store, take payments.
- What are the best alternatives to Shopify?
- The closest alternatives in the same category are Wix, WooCommerce, Squarespace, Gumroad. Wix starts lower at $17 a month; Squarespace starts lower at $19 a month. Wix, WooCommerce and Gumroad publish a free plan.