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What are the best Shopify alternatives in 2026?
BigCommerce fits hosted stores where GMV tiers and payment-provider pricing work. WooCommerce fits teams prepared to operate WordPress. Wix and Squarespace fit website-led stores with manageable catalogs. Playcode fits a custom coded experience, but it is not a turnkey Shopify replacement: catalog, payments, tax, shipping, and operations require provider APIs and implementation.
The right Shopify alternative depends on what is forcing the change. A merchant escaping platform transaction fees has a different shortlist from a retailer joining online and in-person inventory, a team needing open-source control, or a company building a genuinely custom buying workflow.
We reviewed official pricing, product, developer, and export documentation on August 1, 2026. This is an unordered fit comparison, not a scorecard. It records the production meter, operating boundary, and portability limits that should be tested before moving a real catalog or processing a live order.
Test one complete order and one complete exit
Use the same catalog, locations, buyer journey, fulfillment rules, and export checklist for every finalist. A theme demo cannot prove the operating contract.
Freeze the store model
Record product count, variants, digital goods, locations, currencies, markets, staff roles, sales channels, expected GMV, average order value, and orders per month before comparing plans.
Sources: [shopify-pricing], [bigcommerce-pricing], [woocommerce-features], [wix-plan-guide], [squarespace-pricing], [playcode-pricing]
Run the production workflow
Create products and variants, change stock by location, collect a payment, refund it, calculate shipping and tax, fulfill an order, revoke staff access, and record every manual or third-party dependency.
Sources: [shopify-pricing], [bigcommerce-catalog], [woocommerce-features], [wix-ecommerce], [squarespace-selling], [playcode-cloud]
Calculate the real meter
Price the actual billing cadence, GMV tier, locations, payment mix, extensions, apps, hosting resources, operator labor, AI credits, and cloud applications. Keep processor fees separate from platform fees.
Sources: [shopify-pricing], [bigcommerce-pricing], [woocommerce-costs], [wix-plan-guide], [squarespace-fees], [playcode-pricing]
Export and inspect
Export products, images, inventory by location, customers, orders, content, and code where applicable. Open the files, count records, map missing fields, and rehearse importing them somewhere else.
Sources: [shopify-export], [bigcommerce-catalog], [woocommerce-export], [wix-export], [squarespace-export], [playcode-pricing]
What this Shopify alternatives guide covers
The shortlist spans hosted commerce, open source, website-led ecommerce, and a custom coded path so buyers can first choose an operating model.
Included
- Shopify as the baseline plus BigCommerce, WooCommerce, Wix, Squarespace, and a Playcode custom path
- Current first-party price points, payment boundaries, catalog operations, shipping and tax responsibilities, hosting, export, and control
- A fit-based pilot that exposes the actual production meter and migration boundary
Not included
- A universal ranking, numeric score, affiliate recommendation, or guaranteed cost saving
- A hands-on performance, security, accessibility, uptime, support, tax-compliance, or migration benchmark
- Every regional price, payment method, app, extension, theme, marketplace, or enterprise contract
- The claim that Playcode is a native commerce platform or turnkey Shopify replacement
Seven criteria that reveal ecommerce fit
Every option covers the same seven rows. A missing first-party proof remains a pilot question rather than becoming a hidden score.
Pricing and production meter
The plan headline can hide the meter that grows in production, such as revenue, locations, extensions, AI credits, apps, or operator time.
Payments and platform fees
Processor charges, platform transaction fees, supported gateways, refunds, and chargebacks can outweigh a small subscription difference.
Catalog and inventory operations
Variants, locations, stock updates, bulk editing, and product data shape daily work and migration risk.
Shipping and tax boundary
A checkout is not production-ready until rates, pickup, delivery, tax collection, and jurisdiction-specific obligations have named owners.
Hosting and operating burden
Hosted services absorb more infrastructure work, while open or custom stacks move security, updates, monitoring, and recovery to the operator.
Export and portability
A usable exit needs more than a product list: images, inventory by location, customers, orders, content, code, and runtime data can have different paths.
Ownership and implementation control
Template convenience and code-level control solve different problems. Buyers should decide which changes must be possible without a vendor roadmap.
Shopify baseline and five alternative operating models
Shopify appears first only as the reference baseline. The five alternatives remain unordered. Begin with the operating model and meter that match the store, then validate a short list with real products and transactions.
Shopify baseline
Best for: The reference operating model for merchants wanting hosted catalog, checkout, inventory, shipping, tax, and storefront infrastructure in one platform.
Shopify is included as a baseline, not an alternative or default recommendation. Its fixed plan, payment-provider, location, app, and hosted-platform boundaries make the reasons for leaving testable.
| Criterion | Finding |
|---|---|
| Pricing and production meter | US list prices checked were USD 27 monthly for Basic, USD 72 for Grow, and USD 399 for Advanced; annual billing displayed USD 19, USD 54, and USD 299 monthly equivalents. Apps, locations, channels, and plan boundaries can add to the meter. Sources: [shopify-pricing] |
| Payments and platform fees | The pricing page listed third-party payment-provider fees of 2% on Basic, 1% on Grow, 0.6% on Advanced, and 0.2% on Plus. Processor terms and other payment costs remain separate. Sources: [shopify-pricing] |
| Catalog and inventory operations | The checked plans listed unlimited products and inventory management. Basic, Grow, and Advanced listed 10 inventory locations, so the real location model belongs in the pilot. Sources: [shopify-pricing] |
| Shipping and tax boundary | The plan surface documents shipping and tax capabilities, but carrier contracts, markets, products, registrations, and jurisdictions still determine the configured result and external obligations. Sources: [shopify-shipping], [shopify-tax] |
| Hosting and operating burden | Unlimited web hosting and SSL are included in the hosted plans. The merchant still operates store configuration, apps, staff access, catalog quality, and incident recovery. Sources: [shopify-pricing] |
| Export and portability | Product CSV export references product images by public URL rather than embedding them. Multi-location inventory has a separate inventory CSV, so a product file alone is not a complete exit. Sources: [shopify-export] |
| Ownership and implementation control | Shopify supplies a hosted service under its platform terms. Themes, apps, APIs, and plan features offer extension points without turning the hosted commerce runtime into a merchant-owned codebase. Sources: [shopify-pricing], [shopify-terms] |
Tradeoffs
- The hosted platform absorbs infrastructure work while keeping the core storefront and checkout inside Shopify services and terms.
- Third-party payment-provider fees, apps, POS requirements, and migration work can add to the subscription price.
BigCommerce
Best for: Hosted commerce teams comfortable with a plan meter based on trailing-12-month GMV and a documented catalog API surface.
BigCommerce combines hosted operations with catalog APIs and payment-provider choice. Its GMV thresholds make revenue forecasting part of plan selection.
| Criterion | Finding |
|---|---|
| Pricing and production meter | Annual-billing prices checked were USD 29 for Core up to USD 30,000 trailing-12-month GMV, USD 79 for Growth up to USD 100,000, and USD 299 for Scale with a listed over-cap charge. GMV is the defining production meter. Sources: [bigcommerce-pricing] |
| Payments and platform fees | The pricing page listed zero extra platform fee for embedded payment providers and separate open-provider fees by plan. Processor rates and contract terms still apply. Sources: [bigcommerce-pricing] |
| Catalog and inventory operations | BigCommerce documents catalog APIs for products, variants, categories, brands, and related resources. The checked plans listed 4, 5, and 8 inventory locations before custom tiers. Sources: [bigcommerce-catalog], [bigcommerce-pricing] |
| Shipping and tax boundary | The pricing table lists real-time shipping quotes and commerce features. Tax, carrier contracts, and configured services still need a live-order test. Sources: [bigcommerce-pricing] |
| Hosting and operating burden | Hosting, SSL, bandwidth, and file storage are presented within the hosted plan. Teams still operate integrations, storefront changes, permissions, and recovery. Sources: [bigcommerce-pricing] |
| Export and portability | The catalog developer surface provides a structured API path for product data. It does not by itself prove a one-click export of orders, customers, content, images, and every integration state. Sources: [bigcommerce-catalog] |
| Ownership and implementation control | Hosted infrastructure and an API-driven catalog offer more integration surface than a closed template alone, but core platform behavior and GMV packaging remain vendor-controlled. Sources: [bigcommerce-pricing], [bigcommerce-catalog] |
Tradeoffs
- Core, Growth, and Scale are tied to published GMV boundaries, so a store can move tiers as sales grow.
- API access creates integration options, but implementation, data mapping, and migration validation still belong to the merchant.
WooCommerce
Best for: Teams that want open-source WordPress commerce and can own hosting, updates, extension selection, security, monitoring, and recovery.
WooCommerce removes a required core software subscription and platform revenue share, but transfers the operating stack and extension decisions to the store owner.
| Criterion | Finding |
|---|---|
| Pricing and production meter | WooCommerce describes the core as free and open source. Its official cost guide estimates hosting and paid extensions separately, so resource usage, renewals, and operator labor replace a simple GMV tier. Sources: [woocommerce-costs] |
| Payments and platform fees | WooCommerce states that it does not add its own platform transaction fee. Payment processors, gateways, refunds, disputes, and premium extensions can still cost money. Sources: [woocommerce-costs] |
| Catalog and inventory operations | The product surface supports physical and digital goods, variations, inventory, and extensions. Complex catalogs should be tested against the exact WordPress, theme, and extension stack. Sources: [woocommerce-features] |
| Shipping and tax boundary | Shipping and tax workflows depend on configured WooCommerce services, extensions, carriers, and jurisdictions. The operator owns compatibility and correct setup. Sources: [woocommerce-features] |
| Hosting and operating burden | The store chooses its host and controls the stack. That also makes updates, security, performance, backups, monitoring, and restore exercises an explicit responsibility. Sources: [woocommerce-features], [woocommerce-costs] |
| Export and portability | The built-in product CSV importer and exporter covers product data, attributes, categories, and image references. A full exit still needs separate handling for orders, customers, content, extensions, media, and database state. Sources: [woocommerce-export] |
| Ownership and implementation control | Open-source code and self-selected hosting provide the broadest control in this packaged shortlist, bounded by WordPress and extension architecture plus the team available to operate it. Sources: [woocommerce-features] |
Tradeoffs
- Open source increases code and hosting control while increasing the number of components the operator must keep compatible and secure.
- A free core does not mean a zero-cost store: hosting, extensions, development, monitoring, backups, and incident response are real production costs.
Wix
Best for: Website-led small businesses that want a hosted visual builder and can fit ecommerce operations within Wix plan and product boundaries.
Wix starts commerce at Core in its checked US plan guide and bundles site hosting with builder-led operations. Plan, storage, collaborators, apps, and payments form the production meter.
| Criterion | Finding |
|---|---|
| Pricing and production meter | A checked first-party US plan guide displayed Core at USD 29, Business at USD 39, and Business Elite at USD 159 monthly equivalents on annual billing. Wix says prices vary by location, so the current account checkout is the purchase authority; plan limits, apps, and renewals also matter. Sources: [wix-plan-guide], [wix-regional-pricing], [wix-adding-apps], [wix-third-party-app-refunds] |
| Payments and platform fees | Wix supports online payments on Core and higher. Wix Payments and alternative providers have country, method, card, and account-specific processing terms that should be modeled separately. Sources: [wix-payments] |
| Catalog and inventory operations | Wix Ecommerce provides hosted catalog and store operations for website-led businesses. Validate variant, stock, channel, and bulk-operation requirements with a real catalog. Sources: [wix-ecommerce] |
| Shipping and tax boundary | Shipping, pickup, delivery, and tax features depend on plan, region, and configured providers. A buyer should run the exact destination and fulfillment combinations used in production. Sources: [wix-ecommerce] |
| Hosting and operating burden | Hosting and builder operations are bundled. Wix manages the infrastructure while the merchant owns site configuration, apps, store data, roles, and recovery procedures. Sources: [wix-hosting] |
| Export and portability | Wix documents physical-product CSV export with up to 5,000 rows per file. The checked help page says digital products cannot be exported, so catalog type directly affects the exit plan. Sources: [wix-export] |
| Ownership and implementation control | Wix states that site content belongs to the customer but the Wix-built site must be hosted and operated on Wix servers. Custom requirements and any exit must fit the documented platform and export boundaries. Sources: [wix-export-hosting] |
Tradeoffs
- The visual site workflow reduces infrastructure work but offers less code and runtime control than an open or custom stack.
- Product export has documented format boundaries, including a 5,000-row CSV maximum and no digital-product export in the checked help page.
Squarespace
Best for: Brand and content-led sites that need an integrated store and can work within Squarespace plan, product, and export boundaries.
Squarespace combines hosted site publishing and commerce. Subscription tier, product type, payment processing, and plan-specific transaction fees drive fit.
| Criterion | Finding |
|---|---|
| Pricing and production meter | Checked US annual equivalents were USD 19 for Basic, USD 29 for Core, USD 49 for Plus, and USD 99 for Advanced per month. The meter also includes site count, product type, and transaction mix. Sources: [squarespace-pricing] |
| Payments and platform fees | The checked online-store platform fee was 2% on Basic and 0% on Core, Plus, and Advanced, separate from payment processing. Digital-product fees followed a different plan schedule. Sources: [squarespace-fees] |
| Catalog and inventory operations | Squarespace supports website-led product selling and plan-specific commerce features. Validate variants, stock handling, bulk changes, and sales-channel requirements with the actual catalog. Sources: [squarespace-selling] |
| Shipping and tax boundary | Shipping, pickup, delivery, and tax behavior depends on product, location, plan, and configured services. First-party feature availability does not establish jurisdictional compliance. Sources: [squarespace-selling] |
| Hosting and operating burden | Hosting is included with one plan per site. Squarespace operates the infrastructure while the merchant configures and administers site content, commerce records, extensions, and account recovery. Sources: [squarespace-hosting] |
| Export and portability | Products have a separate CSV export path. The WordPress XML site export covers only supported content and excludes store pages and other platform state, so neither file is a complete portable copy of the store. Sources: [squarespace-export], [squarespace-product-export] |
| Ownership and implementation control | Squarespace documents supported integrations and custom-code paths, while its site export omits design and platform behavior. The reviewed sources do not establish ownership of a portable commerce runtime. Sources: [squarespace-integrations], [squarespace-export] |
Tradeoffs
- A unified site and store can simplify a content-led operation, but the commerce runtime and templates remain platform-controlled.
- Basic carries the checked online-store transaction fee, and exported content does not equal a portable copy of the complete site.
Playcode custom commerce path
Best for: Teams building a differentiated web application or buying workflow that justifies custom code and explicit provider integrations.
Playcode provides AI-assisted code creation, source export, and full-stack Cloud apps on current paid plans. It is not a turnkey ecommerce platform or a drop-in Shopify replacement.
| Criterion | Finding |
|---|---|
| Pricing and production meter | Current Pro starts at USD 25 per month for 100 AI credits and 3 Cloud apps; Business starts at USD 50 for 100 credits and 5 Cloud apps. Credits, Cloud app count, runtime limits, provider services, and engineering time form the production meter. Sources: [playcode-pricing] |
| Payments and platform fees | Playcode does not supply a native commerce checkout or payment processor. A team integrates a chosen provider API, holds the credentials, implements webhooks and refunds, and pays that provider under separate terms. Sources: [playcode-cloud] |
| Catalog and inventory operations | There is no native merchant catalog or inventory console. The team must build the data model and operator workflow or integrate a commerce, ERP, POS, or inventory provider API. Sources: [playcode-cloud] |
| Shipping and tax boundary | There is no built-in shipping or tax service. The implementation must connect providers, handle failures and reconciliation, and obtain appropriate tax and legal review. Sources: [playcode-cloud] |
| Hosting and operating burden | Paid plans include bounded full-stack Cloud apps, but the team owns application architecture, secrets, access control, monitoring, provider reliability, and commerce incident response. Sources: [playcode-pricing], [playcode-cloud] |
| Export and portability | Paid plans support source-code ZIP export. Runtime database, uploaded files, provider records, and transaction history require separate explicit export paths; code export alone is not a complete store backup. Sources: [playcode-pricing], [playcode-cloud] |
| Ownership and implementation control | The output is real code that the team can export and change. That control is useful only when the team is prepared to own the resulting application and every external commerce dependency. Sources: [playcode-pricing], [playcode-cloud] |
Tradeoffs
- Real code provides implementation control, but the team must design, integrate, test, secure, monitor, and support the commerce system.
- Catalog, inventory, payment, tax, shipping, refund, order, and admin workflows require provider APIs, credentials, data models, and operational ownership.
Choose by the constraint that caused the search
A short list becomes useful when each option is tied to a condition and an accepted operating tradeoff.
You want hosted commerce but Shopify payment-provider fees or plan fit are the main issue.
Choose: Model BigCommerce against Shopify using projected trailing-12-month GMV, the exact payment provider, locations, and required apps.
Tradeoff: BigCommerce introduces GMV thresholds and its own platform contract, so it is not an escape from vendor packaging.
You need code, database, hosting, and extension control and have an operator for WordPress.
Choose: Pilot WooCommerce with the exact host, theme, gateway, tax, shipping, security, backup, and restore stack.
Tradeoff: Control comes with ongoing compatibility, security, performance, and recovery ownership.
The store is primarily a brand or service website with a manageable catalog.
Choose: Compare Wix and Squarespace using real products, design needs, payment mix, export limits, and the first higher-tier feature you actually need.
Tradeoff: Builder convenience keeps the runtime and deep customization inside the chosen platform boundary.
The buying workflow itself is proprietary and packaged platforms cannot express it.
Choose: Consider Playcode for a custom coded application only after selecting catalog, payment, shipping, tax, identity, analytics, and support providers.
Tradeoff: You gain source-level control and also become responsible for implementation, security, correctness, monitoring, and provider failure handling.
Custom path checkpoint
Prototype the workflow packaged platforms cannot express
Use Playcode when the differentiated buying workflow justifies custom code. Bring your own catalog, payment, tax, shipping, and identity provider choices, then validate the critical path before committing to a migration.
Start building with AIPlaycode is a custom application builder, not a native commerce platform.
Review Playcode plans and Cloud limitsProvider fees, engineering work, and commerce operations remain separate from the Playcode plan.
Limits of this comparison
Official documentation establishes published capabilities and terms, not production quality or fit for a particular regulated business.
- Prices, fees, GMV limits, locations, features, and export behavior can change after the August 1, 2026 review date and can vary by country, currency, contract, and account.
- We did not test live payments, refunds, disputes, taxes, carrier rates, inventory concurrency, uptime, support, performance, accessibility, security, or disaster recovery.
- An export feature does not prove that every image, customer, order, theme, app record, audit event, or provider-side object will migrate or restore correctly.
- Playcode is included only as a custom application path. It has no native catalog, inventory, payments, tax, shipping, refund, or merchant operations suite.
- No option is a universal winner. The right choice depends on the store model, team, region, providers, compliance review, and willingness to operate software.
First-party source registry
Each source supports only the facts named below. The checked date records this review, not the vendor page publication date.
[shopify-pricing] Shopify:Shopify pricing
Checked August 1, 2026. Supports: US monthly and annual plan prices, products, inventory locations, hosting, SSL, and third-party payment-provider fees.
[shopify-export] Shopify Help Center:Exporting products
Checked August 1, 2026. Supports: Product CSV export, image URL behavior, and the separate multi-location inventory export boundary.
[shopify-terms] Shopify:Shopify Terms of Service
Checked August 1, 2026. Supports: The hosted-service agreement boundary, merchant responsibility, account terms, and platform-service relationship.
[shopify-shipping] Shopify Help Center:Setting Up Shipping and Fulfillment
Checked August 1, 2026. Supports: Shopify shipping locations, rates, profiles, packages, fulfillment methods, and configured carrier boundaries.
[shopify-tax] Shopify Help Center:Shopify Tax
Checked August 1, 2026. Supports: Shopify Tax availability, region-dependent tax services, merchant configuration, and responsibility boundaries.
[bigcommerce-pricing] BigCommerce:BigCommerce pricing
Checked August 1, 2026. Supports: Core, Growth, Scale, and Performance pricing, trailing-12-month GMV thresholds, payment-provider fee structure, inventory locations, hosting, and shipping features.
[bigcommerce-catalog] BigCommerce Developer Center:Catalog overview
Checked August 1, 2026. Supports: Catalog API resources for products, variants, categories, brands, and related data.
[woocommerce-features] WooCommerce:WooCommerce features
Checked August 1, 2026. Supports: Open-source positioning, store ownership, product types, payments, shipping, tax, inventory, and extension model.
[woocommerce-costs] WooCommerce:WooCommerce pricing and costs
Checked August 1, 2026. Supports: Free core, hosting and extension cost examples, processor charges, and lack of an added WooCommerce platform transaction fee.
[woocommerce-export] WooCommerce:Product CSV importer and exporter
Checked August 1, 2026. Supports: Built-in product CSV import and export scope, fields, categories, attributes, and images.
[wix-plan-guide] Wix:Wix Premium Plans
Checked August 1, 2026. Supports: Checked US annual-billing plan prices, Core-or-higher payments boundary, and plan fit distinctions.
[wix-ecommerce] Wix:Wix Ecommerce
Checked August 1, 2026. Supports: Hosted online store, catalog, inventory, payment, shipping, and business operations surface.
[wix-payments] Wix Help Center:Accepting Payments: An Overview
Checked August 1, 2026. Supports: Payment-capable plan requirement and regional variation in payment methods and providers.
[wix-hosting] Wix Help Center:Wix Site Hosting
Checked August 1, 2026. Supports: Included Wix hosting and the hosted production boundary.
[wix-regional-pricing] Wix Help Center:Wix Premium Plan Pricing
Checked August 1, 2026. Supports: Plan prices vary by geographic location, making the current account checkout the authority for a purchase decision.
[wix-adding-apps] Wix Help Center:Adding an App to Your Site
Checked August 1, 2026. Supports: Wix App Market installation, Wix-built and third-party apps, and app-specific plan and support boundaries.
[wix-third-party-app-refunds] Wix Help Center:Refunds for Third-Party App Upgrades
Checked August 1, 2026. Supports: Separate third-party app subscriptions, developer-set pricing, and third-party billing responsibility.
[wix-export] Wix Help Center:Exporting Wix Stores products
Checked August 1, 2026. Supports: Physical-product CSV export, 5,000-row file limit, and digital-product export exclusion.
[wix-export-hosting] Wix Help Center:Exporting or Embedding Your Wix Site Elsewhere
Checked August 1, 2026. Supports: Customer content ownership, Wix-hosted SaaS operation, external-hosting limits, and domain portability.
[squarespace-pricing] Squarespace:Squarespace pricing
Checked August 1, 2026. Supports: Current US Basic, Core, Plus, and Advanced prices, included hosting, and plan boundaries.
[squarespace-selling] Squarespace Help Center:Selling on current Squarespace plans
Checked August 1, 2026. Supports: Current plan names, site billing, selling features, product boundary, and hosted operation.
[squarespace-fees] Squarespace Help Center:Transaction fees and payment processing rates
Checked August 1, 2026. Supports: Online-store and digital-product platform fees plus separate payment-processing rates.
[squarespace-export] Squarespace Help Center:Exporting your site
Checked August 1, 2026. Supports: Supported export content and limits of moving complete Squarespace site behavior.
[squarespace-product-export] Squarespace Help Center:Exporting Products to a CSV
Checked August 1, 2026. Supports: The separate product CSV export path and its distinction from the partial WordPress XML site export.
[squarespace-hosting] Squarespace Help Center:Is Hosting Included?
Checked August 1, 2026. Supports: Included site hosting and bandwidth plus the boundary against hosting an external-platform site.
[squarespace-integrations] Squarespace Help Center:Squarespace Integrations
Checked August 1, 2026. Supports: Official integrations, separately paid services, extensions, and supported custom-code paths.
[playcode-pricing] Playcode:Playcode pricing
Checked August 1, 2026. Supports: Current Pro and Business starting prices, AI credits, Cloud app counts, source export, and paid-plan boundaries.
[playcode-cloud] Playcode:Playcode Cloud
Checked August 1, 2026. Supports: Full-stack application hosting with backend and database, plus the need to implement application-specific provider integrations and operations.
Shopify alternatives FAQ
Which Shopify alternative has no platform transaction fee?
WooCommerce says it adds no platform transaction fee, but the payment processor still charges and the team still pays for hosting, extensions, and operations. BigCommerce also lists zero extra platform fee for embedded providers, with different terms for open providers. Compare the exact provider and plan rather than treating either statement as zero payment cost.
Is WooCommerce cheaper than Shopify?
Not automatically. WooCommerce core is free, while hosting, paid extensions, development, security, maintenance, backups, and recovery are separate. Shopify bundles more infrastructure into a subscription and can add apps or third-party-provider fees. Price both with the same catalog, order volume, integrations, labor, and recovery requirements.
Is BigCommerce a good alternative for a growing store?
It can fit a hosted store that accepts its feature and payment model. Growth also changes the meter: the checked Core, Growth, and Scale tiers use trailing-12-month GMV boundaries. Forecast when the store crosses them and test required catalog, location, checkout, shipping, tax, and export workflows before choosing.
Should a small store use Wix or Squarespace?
Use the operating model as the tie-breaker. Wix and Squarespace both fit website-led businesses with manageable catalogs, but their plans, payment fees, product boundaries, apps, and export limits differ. Compare the real product types, payment mix, shipping destinations, tax setup, content workflow, and the first higher-tier feature the store actually needs.
Can Playcode replace Shopify?
Not as a turnkey replacement. Playcode can help build and host a custom coded web application, but it has no native merchant catalog, inventory console, checkout, payment processing, tax engine, shipping service, refunds, or order-operations suite. Those capabilities require provider APIs, credentials, implementation, testing, monitoring, support, and separate data exports.
What should I export before leaving Shopify?
Start with products, variants, images, inventory by location, customers, orders, discounts, content, domains, redirects, tax settings, shipping rules, gift cards, app-owned data, and financial records. Shopify product CSVs reference images by URL, and multi-location inventory has a separate path. Inspect and test-import every file before canceling anything.
Own the implementation
Build a testable custom commerce experience
Generate real code, connect the providers your workflow requires, and export the source when you need to continue outside Playcode.
Create a projectPilot payments, refunds, inventory, shipping, tax, access, monitoring, and export before serving real customers.