website-automation vs Shopify
Shopify if commerce is the product. Us if the site is the product.
Shopify is a full storefront platform with inventory, shipping, taxes, POS. We're a site builder with Stripe Connect for sellers who don't need (or want) all that.
Shopify is for storefronts. We're for sites that happen to sell things.
Side by side.
The honest comparison — no marketing fluff.
| Dimension | website-automation | Shopify |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $79/mo (Max, all features) | $39/mo (Basic) — $399/mo (Advanced) |
| Transaction fees (non-native processor) | 0% above Stripe | 0.5-2.0% above processor |
| Payment processing | Direct via your Stripe account | Shopify Payments preferred |
| Inventory management | Basic (product on/off) | Full (multi-warehouse, variants) |
| Shipping rules | Flat-rate per product | Carrier-calculated, zones, weight |
| Tax automation | Manual | Automatic (US, EU, etc.) |
| Marketing site quality | AI-generated hero + content | Theme-based, generic |
| Blog / content marketing | MDX blog included | Basic blog |
| App ecosystem | Small — Stripe-native | 8,000+ apps |
| Best fit | <$100K/year, marketing-led | $100K+/year, commerce-first |
Where we win
What you get with us that they don't give you.
Site quality + content marketing
Shopify themes look like Shopify themes — fine for utility, but the marketing site around the store is usually weak. Our generator gives you a real marketing site that happens to have products.
0% transaction fees
Shopify charges 2.0% (Basic), 1.0% (Shopify), 0.5% (Advanced) ON TOP OF the card processing fee if you don't use Shopify Payments. We charge 0% above Stripe's ~2.9%. On $50K/year in sales, the difference is $1,000+.
Cheaper baseline
Shopify Basic is $39/month. Add a custom domain, email forwarding, basic analytics, and you're at $50-60/month. Our Max is $79 with custom domain, analytics, Stripe Connect — flat.
No platform lock-in on payments
Shopify Payments is the path of least resistance, locking your payment processing to Shopify. We hand off to your own Stripe account — keep your payment processor independent of your storefront.
Real marketing site
Shopify treats blog + content as second-class. We have a real blog (MDX), real /for/ industry pages, real SEO tooling. If your customer-acquisition is search + content, we're set up for it; Shopify isn't.
Where Shopify wins
Honest take — they're better at this.
Pick Shopify if any of these matter more to you than what we offer.
Full commerce platform
Inventory management, shipping calculation, tax automation, multi-channel selling (Amazon, eBay, social), POS for physical retail. We don't try to be any of this.
Massive app ecosystem
Shopify App Store has 8,000+ apps for everything from subscription billing to upsell pop-ups to ERP integration. Niche needs are usually covered by someone.
Brand recognition + investor comfort
If you're raising money or partnering with retailers, 'we're on Shopify' is a known quantity. Stripe Connect direct-charge stores are less familiar to non-technical investors.
Volume discounts at scale
Shopify Plus is for $1M+/year stores with custom pricing. We don't have a comparable enterprise tier.
Switching from Shopify
The migration path.
A few steps, mostly DNS + content copy. Most stores cut over in an afternoon.
- 1
1. Be honest about whether this is the right move
If you're doing $200K+/year in sales with 100+ SKUs and complex shipping, stay on Shopify. The migration cost won't pay back. We win for stores under $100K/year where marketing site quality matters more than warehouse management.
- 2
2. Generate the marketing site first
Use /create with a prompt describing your brand. Pick the Max plan. The site comes pre-wired for Stripe Connect.
- 3
3. Recreate products
Manual today — copy product name/description/price/image. CSV import is shipping this quarter. Stripe data (customers, past orders) stays in Stripe regardless of storefront.
- 4
4. Configure Stripe Connect
5-minute Stripe onboarding. Payouts go to the same bank account you used with Shopify Payments. Stripe handles refunds, disputes, tax 1099s.
- 5
5. Cut over the domain
DNS-level switch. Shopify stays accessible at .myshopify.com until you cancel. Set up 301 redirects for high-traffic product URLs to preserve SEO.
FAQ
Common questions about switching.
What about my Shopify reviews + customer accounts?
Customer-facing reviews: export from your Shopify reviews app (Loox, Judge.me) and re-import to a similar tool that works on any storefront. Customer accounts don't migrate cleanly — most stores accept this and let customers re-create accounts (or run guest checkout via Stripe).
Can I keep Shopify Payments rates?
No — that's a Shopify-exclusive deal. You'll pay standard Stripe rates (~2.9% + 30¢ in the US, lower in some regions). Net is often similar once you factor out Shopify's monthly + transaction fees.
What if I need subscriptions / recurring billing?
Stripe handles subscriptions natively. We have basic recurring-product support on Max — for complex subscription logic (skip-a-month, gift subscriptions), use a Stripe-native tool like Recharge or Bold from your CTA.
Multi-warehouse / 3PL integration?
Not natively. If you have an FBA / 3PL operation, Shopify or BigCommerce is the right tool. We're for simpler operations.
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