Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Format VS Shopify

Compare Format VS Shopify and see what are their differences

Format logo Format

Online portfolio platform for creatives; photographers, designers, artists and more.

Shopify logo Shopify

Shopify is a powerful ecommerce platform that includes everything you need to create an online store and sell online. Try it free for 14 days.
  • Format Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-21
  • Shopify Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-08

Format videos

WHY I switched from FORMAT to SQUARESPACE | Photography Portfolio

More videos:

  • Review - Format Website Builder Review

Shopify videos

Shopify Review 2020 - Is it still worth it in 2020?

More videos:

  • Review - SHOPIFY REVIEW MID 2019 - Is Shopify Worth It For The Money? Pros & Cons
  • Review - THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE USING SHOPIFY (IN 2019)

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Format and Shopify)
CMS
100 100%
0% 0
eCommerce
0 0%
100% 100
Website Builder
100 100%
0% 0
eCommerce Platform
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Format and Shopify

Format Reviews

The 10 Best Portfolio Website Builders in 2023
Format is one of the new-generation website-building platforms that specialize not only in solutions but also education. The Format Magazine has hundreds of published articles about Format as a platform and how to grow your digital business as an individual. However, one of the major features of Format is its Workflow service.
Source: stackdiary.com

Shopify Reviews

  1. Shopify - the best no code platform.

    Creating my online store for small dog products on Shopify was a remarkably smooth and rewarding experience. Shopify's user-friendly platform guided me through each step of the setup process, making it easy even for someone without prior experience. Their range of customizable templates gave my store a professional and appealing look, and the analytics tools provided have been invaluable for tracking my store's performance and customer trends. Additionally, Shopify's 24/7 customer support was always ready to assist whenever I encountered any roadblocks. Overall, launching my business on Shopify has been a positive experience, and I would highly recommend it to anyone looking to start their own online store.

    🏁 Competitors: Tilda, WooCommerce
  2. Strong Option for New DIY Stores Serving Consumers

    Shopify is a powerful marketing machine that has driven incredible growth. It's an excellent choice for the store owner who needs to do it themselves, on a shoestring budget, who does not sell complex products and who does not plan to run a hybrid - a store that serves multiple customer bases such as retail and wholesale.

    Due to its sheer market share, there is a robust marketplace of apps that can be added to shape the store to fit most needs. There is an equally robust selection of themes and developers who can assist with any size project. They have a terrific knowledge base which I strongly recommend store owners use as it teaches the basics for e-commerce in general and online marketing. This learning should be done prior to developing a plan for your site. That will help root your project for success.

    Unfortunately, it's also oversold based on name recognition even when the platform is a poor choice for a specific business. There are both policy and technical limitations that impact suitability.

    Shopify stores require many apps, which adds monthly costs and can greatly slow your store down. While ALL online stores end up with some app use, because this allows you to choose the features you want and need, much of what is native in other carts like their most direct competitor, BigCommerce, is not. So you'll spend more money each month and it can be harder to get a fast site.

    Among the stores that should probably NOT use Shopify: - Sells items that are generally prohibited on the platform which includes weapons, weapon-related items, sex objects, tobacco (for some odd reason Vape is currently on the platform but for how long is anyone's guess), alcohol.
    - Sells items allowed but that don't qualify for Shopify Payments which expands the above list to include supplements, CBD, vape products and other items. - Just as above, any store that can't qualify for Shopify Payments or who has good reasons to use another payment gateway. Why? Because if you don't use their payment gateway which they profit from, they will take 1/2-2% of your gross revenues soley because you are using another gateway. For small merchants, this isn't much, for big ones it's a significant cost. - Stores with multiple price structures or catalogs - such as those who offer VIP tiers or wholesale clients. Why not? Because you can't create true customer groups which on other platforms let you segment the catalog and content for each customer group. Groups are really important for B2B. To accomplish multiple audiences on Shopify requires either a separate app (at an added cost) or multiple storefronts, or ShopifyPlus (which is still creating multiple sites). This can greatly increase your operational costs and work efforts. - Stores with complex products - these are items with many options, also known as configurable or customizable products. While Shopify does offer the ability to offer up to 3 options per product with a maximum of 100 skus per product, this limit is very easy to exceed. There is also no native path to add modifiers such as those one would use for personalized products (like custom embroidery. While these issues can be overcome with apps, that adds both load time and costs.

    🏁 Competitors: BigCommerce, Magento, Miva, WooCommerce, Workflow
    👍 Pros:    Easy to use|Low price|Flexible|Large developer base|Great documentation|Reliable|Low maintenance
    👎 Cons:    Limited features|No customer groups for wholesale|Some product types forbidden|Must use their gateway or pay extra fees|Limited api calls|Limited capabilities for products with options

Top 10 Web Content Management Systems
This is the first pick on my list of best CMS options in 2024 that goes in a different direction from what we’ve seen so far. Shopify, as the name suggests, is a web CMS that primarily caters to online shops and retailers. While it is designed for running an eCommerce website, don’t let this make you think that it is a subpar CMS in other fields. It is a full CMS package...
Source: cloudzy.com
Top No Code Website Builders in 2023
Shopify presents three pricing categories, including Basic Shopify ($29/month), Shopify ($79/month), and Advanced Shopify ($299/month), with more features like advanced reporting and shipping discounts available in higher-tier plans.
15 Best Hosting Trial No Credit Card 2023 – Try It Out 100% Risk Free [Cancel Anytime]
Shopify is one of the pleasant alternatives if you seek out a free trial website hosting trial with no credit card.
13 Best No-Code Website Builders 2023
It starts with a simple wizard that asks some questions about your new online store. After choosing the appropriate answer, it moves to the second step and asks you to add more details about your online store and your personal information. Once finished, you navigate to the Shopify dashboard.
Source: codeless.co
15 Best Web Hosting Free Trial 2023 (No Credit Card Required)
Click on this unique link to get a 14 day free trial of Shopify web hosting. When you click on this link you will see a free ‘Start Free Trial’ button, click on this button to start your 14 day free trial.

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Shopify should be more popular than Format. It has been mentiond 42 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Format mentions (9)

  • Help with CFCard adapter and 486 system BIOS 504MB limit...
    C:\ has format.com, D:\ can write test.txt, E:\ can write test2.txt, F:\ can. Source: about 1 year ago
  • File size of C1 TIFFs
    I exported a bunch of 8-bit TIFFs from C1-21 today. The Finder reported them all around 92Mb (Sony A7r3 files). I tried to upload them to my site at format.com only to have half rejected for being "over 100Mb". Source: over 1 year ago
  • When I send my site to people (Facebook, discord, whatever) this is the screencap and description people see. This image is nowhere on my site. My domain name is through google, and it isn't on google domains. Where is this likely cached and how do I reset it? Frankly, it is a boring image.
    I am using format.com. What sort of metadata should I be setting? Source: over 1 year ago
  • I think web station made it so I can't connect via IP?
    I usually connect by quick connect, but my website host is coming to an end. It is currently on format.com, a photography site. I started to make a site in php, and rather than configure mamp, I thought I'd put my images on synology. Ever since installing web station, maria, phpmyadmin, I can't connect via 192.xx.xx.xx, only quick station. For a while I could connect by localip/phpmyadmin/index.php. Source: over 1 year ago
  • Got an email from Thetypefounders regarding a font i'm using on my website, need advice
    I got an email from The Type Founders about a font that I'm using on my website, wich is made in format.com, using their available fonts. The email says I'm using a font on my website without license... I don't understand, I'm using one of the fonts that format lets you choose, so it would be more of a problem from format than from me right? I would like to get some help on this regard. Is this a normal situation... Source: over 1 year ago
View more

Shopify mentions (42)

  • shopify.com vs store.link, what do you think is better one?
    Shopify.com vs store.link which one is better? Source: 9 months ago
  • Forget Shopify Why MedusaJS Is the Future of Headless Ecommerce
    With a traditional e-commerce platform like Shopify, you're locked into their ecosystem. You have to use their templates, checkout, and backend. Headless platforms like MedusaJS give you the freedom to build the front end however you want, using any framework or library. - Source: dev.to / 12 months ago
  • Allow Rules not given priority over block?
    For example, if you want to load firewalla.com, just allowing "firewalla.com" will not work, you will have allow shopify.com and few other stuff ... You can see what sites loaded using chrome dev mode. Source: 12 months ago
  • Confused on Sales Tax
    If the shipping and sales tax scares you, it may be better to sell through Etsy since it is a marketplace facilitator and is required to collect sales tax from customers when purchasing your items that are sold. People go to Etsy to find something, not sgalv02.com to find your items. I believe Shopify will help you create a site to sell on, but people don't go to shopify.com to purchase various items like they do... Source: 12 months ago
  • Seeking suggestions to start a business.
    Create a online website using dukaan.io or shopify.com and then sell something.. Source: about 1 year ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Format and Shopify, you can also consider the following products

Pixpa - Pixpa is an all-in-one platform to create beautiful, professional portfolio websites, client galleries and online stores without any coding knowledge.

WooCommerce - A freely available eCommerce plugin that enables shop facilities on your WordPress website. Functionality enabling extensions & beautiful themes available.

SmugMug - SmugMug is a platform that allows amateurs and professional photographers to host their pictures and create a virtual gallery for promoting and selling their work.

Magento - Magento is the eCommerce software and platform trusted by the world's leading brands. Grow your online business with Magento.

SquareSpace - Squarespace is the easiest way for anyone to create an exceptional website. Pages, galleries, blogs, e-commerce, domains, hosting, analytics, 24/7 support - all included.

BigCommerce - BigCommerce provides ecommerce software solutions and shopping cart software for online businesses. Try it free and start selling your products online today!