Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

PrestaShop VS Shopify

Compare PrestaShop VS Shopify and see what are their differences

PrestaShop logo PrestaShop

Create your online store with PrestaShop's free shopping cart software. Build an ecommerce website for free and start selling online with hundreds of powerful features.

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.
  • PrestaShop Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-07-11
  • Shopify Landing page
    Landing page //
    2024-09-04

PrestaShop

Pricing URL
-
$ Details
-
Release Date
2007 January
Startup details
Country
France
City
Paris
Founder(s)
Bruno Leveque
Employees
100 - 249

Shopify

$ Details
$29.0 / Monthly (Basic)
Release Date
-

PrestaShop features and specs

  • Open Source
    PrestaShop is open-source, which means you have access to the source code and can customize your store extensively to suit your needs.
  • Customization
    With over 5,000 modules and themes available, PrestaShop offers significant customization options to tailor your online store.
  • Multilingual Support
    PrestaShop supports multiple languages and currencies, making it easier to operate in global markets and cater to a diverse customer base.
  • SEO Friendly
    Built-in SEO features help improve your search engine ranking, which can lead to increased visibility and traffic for your online store.
  • Strong Community
    A large, active community of developers and users can provide support, share tips, and offer solutions to common issues.

Possible disadvantages of PrestaShop

  • Complex Setup
    Setting up and customizing PrestaShop can be complex and may require technical expertise, which might be challenging for beginners.
  • Hosting Costs
    As a self-hosted solution, you are responsible for your hosting needs, which can add to the overall operating cost of your online store.
  • Update Dependency
    Each update of PrestaShop may cause compatibility issues with existing modules and themes, requiring additional work to resolve.
  • Limited Official Support
    While the community support is robust, official customer service options are limited and may require purchasing a support plan.
  • Performance Issues
    Large stores with many products and high traffic volumes might experience performance issues without proper optimization and server resources.

Shopify features and specs

  • User-Friendly Interface
    Shopify offers a very intuitive and easy-to-use interface, which makes it accessible even for those with minimal tech skills. Store setup and management can be performed with little technical knowledge.
  • Extensive App Ecosystem
    Shopify's App Store features thousands of apps and integrations, allowing users to extend the functionality of their online stores. From marketing tools to inventory management, there's likely an app for almost any need.
  • Customizable Themes
    Shopify offers a wide range of professionally designed themes that are easily customizable. This allows businesses to create unique and visually appealing online stores without needing a designer.
  • Secure and Reliable
    Shopify provides robust security features and ensures your website's uptime. This means you don't have to worry about your store's security or dealing with downtime issues.
  • Comprehensive Customer Support
    Shopify offers 24/7 customer support through various channels, including live chat, email, and phone. This ensures that help is available whenever you need it.
  • Mobile Responsiveness
    All of Shopify's themes are mobile-responsive, ensuring a seamless shopping experience for customers regardless of the device they use.
  • Built-in SEO Features
    Shopify provides built-in SEO features and analytics tools that help with search engine rankings and tracking the performance of your store.

Possible disadvantages of Shopify

  • Transaction Fees
    Although Shopify offers its own payment gateway, Shopify Payments, it charges additional transaction fees if you choose to use an external payment gateway.
  • Customization Limitations
    While Shopify does offer a lot of customization options, it can be restrictive for businesses with very specific needs or those that require deep customization capabilities. Advanced customizations often require knowledge of Shopify's proprietary coding language, Liquid.
  • Cost
    Shopify's monthly subscription fees can add up, especially for advanced plans or when additional paid apps are used. This can be a significant cost for small businesses.
  • Content Management Limitations
    Shopify is primarily an e-commerce platform, and it may lack some of the advanced content management features (like blogging capabilities) found in platforms specifically designed for content management such as WordPress.
  • Learning Curve for Advanced Features
    While basic store setup is straightforward, mastering Shopify's more advanced features can take time and may require additional training or hiring a professional.
  • Limited Internationalization
    Shopify's multi-language and multi-currency capabilities are somewhat limited compared to other platforms dedicated to global e-commerce.

PrestaShop videos

Why Is PrestaShop Platform the Best Choice for e-Commerce Websites?

More videos:

  • Review - WooCommerce vs Prestashop vs Shopify vs Wix vs Amazon vs eBay vs Etsy vs AliExpress in 2019
  • Review - Magento vs PrestaShop: What eCommerce CMS is The Best For Your Store?

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)
  • Review - Shopify Review 2025 - Is It Right For You? Pros And Cons
  • Review - Shopify Review: Is It the Best eCommerce Platform for Your Store?
  • Review - Shopify Review 2025 - Is It Right For You? All Features Explained!

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to PrestaShop and Shopify)
eCommerce
25 25%
75% 75
eCommerce Platform
28 28%
72% 72
eCommerce Tools
37 37%
63% 63
Online Marketplace
26 26%
74% 74

User comments

Share your experience with using PrestaShop and Shopify. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
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Reviews

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

PrestaShop Reviews

Top 10 Shopify Alternatives for Ecommerce in 2024
In the digital marketplace, being seen is as important as being good. Platforms like BigCommerce and Magento Open Source offer powerful SEO features and marketing integration capabilities that can propel a business to the top of search results. PrestaShop and Shift4Shop provide a range of promotional tools to help businesses capture and retain customers. For those looking to...
Source: www.attrac.io
PrestaShop alternatives in 2024
And you don’t have to make the switch alone. E-commerce platforms like PrestaShop help business owners achieve success online, regardless of industry or business size. With PrestaShop, you can customize your online shop to match your company brand; track and manage all orders, payments, and data; and create marketing campaigns to grow and scale — all from one powerful,...
Source: www.jotform.com
Shopify Self-Hosted Alternatives for Your E-Commerce Success
PrestaShop is a popular and feature-rich open-source e-commerce platform that empowers businesses to create and manage online stores. Launched in 2007, it has become one of the leading e-commerce solutions globally, offering a wide range of features and customization options. PrestaShop is a versatile and reliable e-commerce platform suitable for businesses of various sizes.
Source: cyberpanel.net
10 Best Shopify Alternatives in 2022
PrestaShop has many features that Shopify doesn't, such as custom themes and extensions. Plus, it supports multiple payment gateways including Paypal Express Checkout (PE), Stripe and GoCardless (GC).
Source: qpe.co.in
LemonStand Closed: Which Are The Best Alternatives For Ecommerce?
However, there is a downside to its price: you will have to do all of the heavy lifting required to get your store online, from setting up your hosting, installing the software onto your web server, and designing and building your store’s front end. However, if time and effort are more abundant resources for you than money, PrestaShop is worth your consideration.
Source: digital.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. Lori Appleman
    · Founder at Redline Minds ·
    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

WordPress vs. Proprietary Site Builders: What to Know Before Starting a Website Development Project
Shopify: Shopify does not natively offer a backup option for user data. Although product data, orders, and customer details are stored, full-site backups must be managed manually or with paid third-party apps. Restoration options are limited, requiring users to rely on Shopify support or third-party solutions if data is lost.
Comparing 9 WordPress alternatives & competitors in 2024
Shopify specializes in ecommerce sites, managing customer data, payments, and content without the need for plugins. Store themes allow you to customize pages and create a consistent branded look. Shopify lets brands focus on global, local, and B2B sales right from their website's dashboard, with metrics like total sales and average order value.
Source: webflow.com
19 Best WordPress Alternatives in 2025
Shopify is a leading e-commerce platform that offers a wide range of features for online businesses. From setting up an online store to managing inventory and marketing, Shopify provides a comprehensive solution.
Source: www.pixpa.com
Top 5 Headless Ecommerce Platform For B2B Business (2024 Reviews)
Known for its stability and security, Shopify Plus provides businesses with a robust platform and extensive app store, along with complete control over design and functionality. With enterprise-level features and a flexible app-based system, Shopify Plus allows companies to expand their operations according to their unique needs. It enables API-driven experiences by smoothly...
Top 10 Shopify Alternatives for Ecommerce in 2024
When running an e-commerce business, choosing the right platform can make a significant difference in your success. While Shopify is a popular choice, there are several other e-commerce platforms that might better suit your business needs. Let's explore the top Shopify alternatives that cater to a variety of users, from small startups to large enterprises.
Source: www.attrac.io

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Shopify seems to be a lot more popular than PrestaShop. While we know about 43 links to Shopify, we've tracked only 3 mentions of PrestaShop. 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.

PrestaShop mentions (3)

  • How MySQL Tuning Can Improve PrestaShop Performance
    PrestaShop is a specialized, free, and open-source e-commerce platform developed in PHP, aimed at providing businesses, from startups to large enterprises, with the infrastructure to launch, manage, and scale their online stores. - Source: dev.to / 10 months ago
  • Ask HN: Is there an e-commerce platform that doesn't suck?
    Have you heard of / tried “prestashop”[1]? I deployed it once for an acquaintance (my domain of expertise is not in e-commerce at all) and was pleasantly surprised by how feature-full, flexible and easy to use (for the store manager) [1] https://prestashop.com/. - Source: Hacker News / almost 2 years ago
  • E-commerce site suggestions for 5-10 products.
    Maybe open source solutions like https://www.opencart.com/ or https://prestashop.com/ ? Source: almost 2 years ago

Shopify mentions (43)

  • 11 real-life PWA examples you can learn from in 2025
    Shopify is one of the easiest platforms for selling products online, and turning your store into a PWA with installation and push notifications takes just a click, thanks to the Shopify app store. - Source: dev.to / 4 months ago
  • shopify.com vs store.link, what do you think is better one?
    Shopify.com vs store.link which one is better? Source: over 1 year 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 / almost 2 years 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: almost 2 years 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: almost 2 years ago
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What are some alternatives?

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

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

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

OpenCart - A free shopping cart system. OpenCart is an open source PHP-based online e-commerce solution.s

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

WiX - Create a free website with Wix.com. Customize with Wix' website builder, no coding skills needed. Choose a design, begin customizing and be online today

Thirty Bees - Open e-commerce platform designed to work out of the box.