Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Zazzle VS Shopify

Compare Zazzle VS Shopify and see what are their differences

Zazzle logo Zazzle

A wide determination of items in addition to simple-to-use plan apparatuses is Zazzle’s primary attractions.

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.
  • Zazzle Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-06-30
  • Shopify Landing page
    Landing page //
    2024-09-04

Zazzle features and specs

  • Customization
    Zazzle offers a high level of customization, allowing users to create unique designs for a variety of products, including apparel, home goods, and accessories.
  • Product Variety
    The platform provides a wide range of products to choose from, which can cater to different consumer needs and preferences.
  • User-Friendly Interface
    Zazzle's website is generally easy to navigate, making it accessible for users of all experience levels to design and purchase products.
  • Personalized Gifts
    The ability to customize and personalize items makes Zazzle an excellent choice for unique, personalized gifts.
  • Community and Marketplace
    Zazzle has a community of artists and designers, enabling users to buy designs from other creators or sell their own creations.

Possible disadvantages of Zazzle

  • Pricing
    Customized products generally come at a higher price point compared to similar non-customized items from other retailers.
  • Shipping Costs and Times
    Depending on the customization, shipping can be both expensive and time-consuming. International shipping may also face delays.
  • Quality Control
    While Zazzle offers a wide range of products, the quality can sometimes be inconsistent, which may lead to customer dissatisfaction.
  • Return Policy
    Returns on customized products can be more complicated compared to standard products, often with restrictions or limited windows for returns.
  • Complexity for New Sellers
    For those looking to sell their designs, the process can be somewhat complex and time-consuming, requiring a good understanding of the platform.

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.

Analysis of Zazzle

Overall verdict

  • Zazzle is generally considered a good platform for those looking for personalized products and for designers wanting to reach a broader audience. However, user experiences can vary, with some customers encountering issues related to shipping times or product quality. Overall, it is a recommended platform for customization enthusiasts and creative entrepreneurs.

Why this product is good

  • Zazzle is often praised for its wide range of customizable products, allowing users to personalize items such as clothing, accessories, and home decor. It features a user-friendly platform where designers and consumers can create and purchase unique products. Additionally, Zazzle provides a marketplace for independent artists to showcase and sell their designs, contributing to its diverse product offerings.

Recommended for

  • Individuals seeking personalized gifts or products
  • Independent artists and designers wanting to sell their creations
  • People looking for unique, creative items beyond traditional retail offerings
  • Businesses interested in custom-printed promotional materials or merchandise

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."}

Zazzle videos

Zazzle Review | 2020 Print On Demand Sites | Military Spouse

More videos:

  • Review - Zazzle Business Cards Review | Unboxing
  • Review - Zazzle Review - What do I think about Zazzle?

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 Zazzle and Shopify)
eCommerce
5 5%
95% 95
Shipping and Tracking
100 100%
0% 0
eCommerce Platform
0 0%
100% 100
Business & Commerce
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

Share your experience with using Zazzle and Shopify. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
Log in or Post with

Reviews

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

Zazzle Reviews

We have no reviews of Zazzle yet.
Be the first one to post

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 should be more popular than Zazzle. 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.

Zazzle mentions (11)

  • Beach Boys performing in Portland, at the Memorial Coliseum. (1965)
    Similar to the WMCA Good Guys ones from the 60’s. Those are available from zazzle.com. Source: over 2 years ago
  • Questions on printing and framing artwork.
    To add to this, zazzle.com (I'm sure there are others that will too) will print and trim to a custom size. Give yourself .5"/1cm more than you need. Frames have extra space on purpose. Even bleed your image into that extra area. It will make matting/framing infinitely easier for you. Source: over 2 years ago
  • My logo on my safety hat ( I do have the copy wright on the logo )
    I only have 2, got them from zazzle.com I just uploaded my logo. Source: over 2 years ago
  • Absolutely love my new Cofe Time mug.
    My girlfriend bought it from zazzle.com. Should be easy to find if you search there. Source: over 2 years ago
  • Bug report, or?! Zazzle webpage source is producing strange results when ctrl+f and then copy-pasting the highlighted results
    I went to search for the datePublished within the page source for a Zazzle.com webpage, and then ctrl+f datecreated when there were no results. Then this occurred... Source: over 2 years ago
View more

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 / 19 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

What are some alternatives?

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

TeeSpring - Create & sell t-shirts you can be proud of

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

RedBubble - UNCOMMON DESIGNS BY INDEPENDENT ARTISTS EVERYWHERE

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

Printful - White-label printing under your brand. Free shipping and 20% off samples + 3 day average turnaround.

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