Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Shopify VS commercetools

Compare Shopify VS commercetools and see what are their differences

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.

commercetools logo commercetools

Increase business agility, innovate across new business models. Build your commerce architecture of the future with the most flexible commerce API solution.
  • Shopify Landing page
    Landing page //
    2024-09-04
  • commercetools Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-09

Shopify

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

commercetools

Pricing URL
-
$ Details
-
Release Date
2006 January
Startup details
Country
Germany
State
Bayern
City
München
Founder(s)
Denis Werner
Employees
250 - 499

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.

commercetools features and specs

  • Scalability
    commercetools offers a highly scalable architecture that can grow with your business, supporting large and complex product catalogs and numerous transactions.
  • Flexibility
    It provides a flexible API-first approach that allows businesses to customize and extend the platform according to their needs without being limited by predefined templates.
  • Microservices Architecture
    Built on modern microservices architecture, commercetools allows individual services to be developed, deployed, and managed independently, facilitating faster updates and localized changes.
  • Headless Commerce
    Its headless commerce capability separates the front-end from the back-end, enabling seamless integration with various front-end solutions and providing a more personalized customer experience.
  • Compliance and Security
    Commercetools adheres to high security and compliance standards, providing secure data handling and integration options crucial for e-commerce businesses.

Possible disadvantages of commercetools

  • Implementation Complexity
    The technical flexibility of an API-first solution comes with complexity that requires skilled developers to implement and maintain, which may not be suitable for smaller teams without technical expertise.
  • Cost
    As a premium enterprise-level e-commerce platform, commerctools might have higher associated costs than some SMB alternatives, making it less ideal for very small businesses or startups.
  • Learning Curve
    Due to its powerful and customizable features, there can be a steep learning curve for teams unfamiliar with headless commerce or modern cloud-native architectures.
  • Excessive Customization
    While customization is a pro, over-customization can lead to maintenance challenges and complexities down the line if not managed properly.
  • Dependence on Third-party Integrations
    For certain features and functionalities, users may rely on third-party services which can add layers of complexity and potential points of failure.

Analysis of Shopify

Overall verdict

  • Overall, Shopify is a highly regarded and reliable e-commerce platform, especially suited for users who prioritize ease of use and a comprehensive feature set for online storefronts.

Why this product is good

  • Features
    It offers a wide range of features, including various payment gateways, customizable themes, and an app store with numerous plugins to extend functionality.
  • Community
    Shopify has a strong community and a wealth of online resources, including tutorials, forums, and user groups, which can be very helpful for new and experienced users alike.
  • Scalability
    Shopify provides scalability for businesses of all sizes, from small startups to large enterprises, with different pricing plans and advanced features available at higher tiers.
  • User friendly
    Shopify is known for its user-friendly interface, making it easy for store owners to set up and manage their online stores without needing technical expertise.
  • Customer support
    The platform offers 24/7 customer support, ensuring that users can get help whenever they encounter issues or have questions.

Recommended for

    {"entrepreneurs" => "With its flexibility and expanding app ecosystem, entrepreneurs can tailor their stores to meet unique business needs and test new ideas rapidly.", "growing_brands" => "Businesses experiencing growth can benefit from Shopify's robust infrastructure and scalability options, ensuring that the platform can grow alongside their business.", "small_businesses" => "Shopify is ideal for small to medium-sized businesses that need an easy and effective way to start selling online quickly."}

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!

commercetools videos

commercetools: Next Generation eCommerce

More videos:

  • Review - Webinar: Contentful + commercetools flexible APIs for content and commerce
  • Review - How commercetools enables true headless commerce | Vue Storefront Summit 2021

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Shopify and commercetools)
eCommerce
97 97%
3% 3
eCommerce Platform
97 97%
3% 3
Online Marketplace
100 100%
0% 0
eCommerce Software
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 Shopify and commercetools

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

commercetools Reviews

Top 5 Headless Ecommerce Platform For B2B Business (2024 Reviews)
Commercetools is an omnichannel ecommerce platform designed for businesses seeking full control and customization of their infrastructure. With its cutting-edge MACH architecture, Commercetools delivers customizable commerce components, perfectly suited to the unique demands of headless B2B ecommerce operations.

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Shopify should be more popular than commercetools. It has been mentiond 44 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.

Shopify mentions (44)

  • Material 3 Expressive: Better, Easier, Emotional UX
    I don’t think is ugly, it is just that it feels like every trendy company webpage copied and pasted the same design: http://shopify.com/. - Source: Hacker News / 22 days ago
  • 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 / 5 months ago
  • shopify.com vs store.link, what do you think is better one?
    Shopify.com vs store.link which one is better? Source: almost 2 years 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: about 2 years ago
View more

commercetools mentions (7)

  • Composable Commerce - or: MACH Architectures in E-Commerce
    This is where the "composable" aspect comes fully into play, as we can decide which components from which provider we want to connect. Search? Algolia! — Product catalog? Magento! — Shopping cart and payment process? Commerce Tools! ... And the list of possibilities and decisions to be made does not end here. - Source: dev.to / almost 2 years ago
  • Top 8 Front-end Trends to Note in 2023
    For e-commerce: commercetools is a headless commerce platform that allows businesses to manage their products, inventory, and orders through a set of APIs, while also providing a frontend framework that can be customized to match their brand and design. - Source: dev.to / over 2 years ago
  • Monolithic vs. Composable Commerce
    Lately, there have been a lot of buzz around composable commerce with companies like Commercetools, Elasticpath and MedusaJS being focused on this new niche. Despite the benefits of composable commerce, these solutions seem to still not be the industry standard and usage of Shopify, Magento and the likes is still the base case for most merchants. Why do you think that is? Are we just early on the adoption curve of... Source: almost 3 years ago
  • [Hiring ] Python Engineer in Berlin, Germany
    My team (Machine Learning) at commercetools is growing and looking for one more Python Engineer. If you are as excited as we are about solving problems with Data, you love Python and have experience with our tech stack (gcpcloud, docker, k8s, BigQuery, postgres etc) this could be for you. Source: about 3 years ago
  • Ask HN: Who is hiring? (November 2021)
    Commercetools is building a headless commerce for large brands and enterprises. It’s 100% cloud-native and completely API-first. Check https://diginomica.com/lego-moves-headless-e-commerce-improv... For a success story. We handle between 500 million to 1 billion API calls a day. We're an international team and our business is growing fast. We've joined the Unicorn club last month:... - Source: Hacker News / over 3 years ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Shopify and commercetools, 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.

HCL Commerce Cloud - Integrated Composable Commerce

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

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

SAP Commerce Cloud - E-Commerce

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.