Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Shopify VS iNaturalist

Compare Shopify VS iNaturalist and see what are their differences

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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.

iNaturalist logo iNaturalist

iNaturalist is known as one of the most popular nature applications that helps you to identify the animals, plants, insects, and lots of other things with just a single click.
  • Shopify Landing page
    Landing page //
    2024-09-04
  • iNaturalist Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-22

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.

iNaturalist features and specs

  • Community Engagement
    iNaturalist provides a platform for nature enthusiasts to connect and share observations, fostering a sense of community and collaboration among its users.
  • Citizen Science
    The platform supports citizen science by allowing users to contribute to biodiversity data collection, which can be used for scientific research and conservation efforts.
  • Educational Resource
    iNaturalist acts as an educational tool, helping users learn about different species and ecosystems through direct observation and community input.
  • Identification Assistance
    The platform provides tools and community support to help users accurately identify species via crowdsourced input and image recognition technology.
  • Global Reach
    iNaturalist has a worldwide user base, offering insights into global biodiversity and facilitating international cooperation on environmental issues.

Possible disadvantages of iNaturalist

  • Data Quality
    The quality of data can vary, as it depends on user input, which might include misidentified species or incomplete observations.
  • Internet Access Required
    Users need internet access to upload observations and interact with the community, which can be limiting in remote or underserved areas.
  • Potential Privacy Concerns
    Sharing location data for observations may raise privacy issues for users concerned about revealing their whereabouts.
  • Learning Curve
    New users may experience a learning curve in understanding how to use the app effectively and engage with the community.
  • Over-reliance on Technology
    There may be an over-reliance on technology for species identification, which could diminish personal skills and experiences in natural observation.

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!

iNaturalist videos

Complete Scientific Research In Your Own Back Yard With iNaturalist!

More videos:

  • Review - Seek iNaturalist App Intial Review
  • Tutorial - iNaturalist Web Tutorial

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Shopify and iNaturalist)
eCommerce
100 100%
0% 0
Online Services
0 0%
100% 100
eCommerce Platform
100 100%
0% 0
Tool
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 iNaturalist

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.

    ๐Ÿ Competitors: Tilda, WooCommerce
  2. Lori Appleman
    ยท Founder at Redline Minds ยท
    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.

    ๐Ÿ Competitors: BigCommerce, Magento, Miva, WooCommerce, Workflow
    ๐Ÿ‘ Pros:    Easy to use|Low price|Flexible|Large developer base|Great documentation|Reliable|Low maintenance
    ๐Ÿ‘Ž 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

iNaturalist Reviews

The Best Apps for Cyclists
As the most efficient way to adventure under our own power, riding lets us see and experience a ton in short amounts of time. So when we remember to unstick our noses from our stems, peel our eyes away from our bike computer screens, and look around, weโ€™re apt to notice a lot of really cool flora and fauna. The iNaturalist app gives armchair naturalists the chance to not...

Social recommendations and mentions

iNaturalist might be a bit more popular than Shopify. We know about 61 links to it since March 2021 and only 44 links to Shopify. 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 donโ€™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 / 5 months 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 / 9 months ago
  • shopify.com vs store.link, what do you think is better one?
    Shopify.com vs store.link which one is better? Source: about 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 / over 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: over 2 years ago
View more

iNaturalist mentions (61)

  • Mothbox 4.0
    Not counts, but you can upload the images to https://inaturalist.org. Most of the recent conservation research papers use iNaturalist data. - Source: Hacker News / 12 months ago
  • Slime molds are gorgeous (you just never knew it) [video]
    Observing nature is really fascinating, and it's everywhere - even in your fridge! Should you find something you can't identify try https://inaturalist.org/ which makes recording, sharing, discussing, identifying and correcting audio or still image media based observations easy and is of great utility to biologists tasked with understanding and environmentalists protecting our remnant biodiversity. Just be sure to... - Source: Hacker News / about 2 years ago
  • Please tell me these are not what I think they areโ€ฆ
    Recluses are known to stay in a location long-term without dispersing much. If you search your garage and house, you should be able to easily find some more. You should get in touch with your county extension office and send them specimens, and also record your observations on iNaturalist or BugGuide. Source: over 2 years ago
  • What is the best possible use for Entomology as a hobby rather than a professional job?
    iNaturalist is a website run by various scientific/educational entities that is a database of observations by ordinary people (not just scientists at work). You upload photos and add geographic location and what taxon the organism belongs to, and you can also add notes and useful metadata. Source: over 2 years ago
  • Bought my first microscrope
    You can try online databases like this one, or inaturalist.org, but I've had the most luck just posting the images on here and hoping they get recognized. Source: over 2 years ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Shopify and iNaturalist, 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.

PlantSnap Pro - PlantSnap Pro: Identify Plants and Trees is free to use Education application for Android and iOS devices.

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

Plant Identification - Plant Identification is an education application by TouchBerry for Android and iOS devices.

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

Pl@ntNet - Pl@ntNet is an intelligent tool that allows user to identify the plats based on pictures with the help of your smartphone.