Shopify vs Etsy: Which Should You Use to Sell Online?

Etsy has 7.5 million users selling to over 96 million buyers. Between October to December 2020 alone, shoppers spent over $3 billion on the platform. Shopify boasts an even more impressive figure: $79.5 billion was sold on Shopify in 2021.

We don’t blame you for wanting to get in on that action!

Like all ecommerce platforms, there are pros and cons to selling on either one. This is why we do our research to provide you with everything you need to know to make the best decision for you and your growing business. So, let’s find out what platform will work best for you, because this is where the selling journey begins.

First, let’s take a look at what Shopify and Etsy offer exactly. How do they differ? What do they excel at? Where do they fall short?

Shopify is an ecommerce platform, designed for people to set up and grow their online stores (check out some successful stores built with Shopify). It has a whole bunch of powerful ecommerce tools and apps to help you do this.

With Shopify, you create your very own ecommerce website, upload products, and track customer orders. It’s an easy way to build an online store.

On the other hand, Etsy is a marketplace, as opposed to a specialized ecommerce platform. You create an account to sell from, alongside lots of other Etsy sellers. It promotes itself as “a creative marketplace”, and only sells handmade, vintage, or craft goods.

Etsy Pattern

Though Etsy is positioned as a marketplace, it does also have an ecommerce platform — called Etsy Pattern — where you can build a website to sell your products. Interestingly, it has less restrictions on products than the Etsy marketplace, so it could be one to consider if your products don’t fit the usual Etsy niche.

You can try Etsy Pattern for free for 30 days. After that, it costs $15 per month. Because this is separate from the Etsy marketplace, it’s worth noting that you’ll be responsible for generating your own traffic.

Overall, it’s a simple platform — it’s not up to the same standard as Shopify by any means, but it’s a good add-on if you do choose to sell through the Etsy marketplace.

You must already be an Etsy seller to set up Etsy Pattern — in this article, we’ll only be reviewing Etsy as a marketplace, rather than exploring its website builder service.

The Winner

Both Shopify and Etsy are very easy to use...

It’s too close to call a winner! Shopify requires a little more time and effort to understand, as opposed to the speed of setting up a store with Etsy, but Shopify is very easy to use considering its library of powerful ecommerce tools.

Who says you have to be a tech guru to sell online? Not Shopify or Etsy, that’s for sure!

Shopify is designed to make building your own online store as easy as possible. Ecommerce platforms often struggle with this because of all the powerful tools needed to run an ecommerce business, but Shopify excels at making it a smooth process.

However, our research scores Shopify 3.5 out of 5 for ease of use, which is fairly average given its position as a simple builder. That being said, Shopify achieved the highest customer score in our ecommerce platform testing — top of the league with a score of 4.7 out of 5, meaning users clearly approve of Shopify.

Shopify makes sure to guide its users through set up with action buttons and a beginner-friendly menu. Plus, once you’ve entered all of your information, Shopify then helps manage your store by syncing your inventory, tracking orders, and more. To put it simply, Shopify gives you everything you need while keeping its interface clean, tidy, and easy to use!

Etsy is less in-depth than Shopify, but just as easy to use. It’s super simple and straightforward, so you can get to grips with the site quickly.

All you need to do is set up an account, choose your store name, stock your store, and enter your billing details to make sure you get paid!

Just like Shopify, Etsy guides users through each step which makes it easy to fill out each stage:

You can see how close you are to having your Etsy store set up, and it even helps you with catered suggestions for your store name if your first choice isn’t available.

Once you’re all finished with the setup process, that’s it! You can start selling! This makes it ideal if you’re a beginner and you want to get your store running quickly.

With Etsy, you don’t have to create a whole website like you do with Shopify, which takes away from some of the workload. Just upload your products and descriptions, then you’re good to go. You could be an online seller within the hour.

The Winner

Shopify is the best for design flexibility...

Shopify offers greater customization options than Etsy to help you build a stylish and aesthetically pleasing store. A great choice of platform if you’re looking to make your mark online!

Build Your Store With Shopify

Have you ever been put off an online store because of its horrible web design? You’re not the only one!

With Etsy, the worry about making the right design choices is taken off your plate. On the one hand, that’s great! However, it does make it harder to stand out from the crowd.

Your store page will follow Etsy’s design and layout — all seller pages on Etsy are laid out the same, with your store name, logo, products, and descriptions customizable for your own content.

It’s both an advantage and disadvantage. You can trust that Etsy use a clean, clear, and attractive design which shows off your products and provides a great user experience. But, at the same time, Etsy gives you very limited room for customization, so it’s hard to separate your store from others.

Etsy isn’t the right choice if you want to create a really strong brand online.

It’s a great service if you’re selling a few items, or just finding your footing. But, if you want to grow your business, you’ll need to build a unique and solid brand which just isn’t possible on Etsy.

It is possible on Shopify.

When creating your store, Shopify gives you over 90 themes to choose from. These themes form the building blocks of your website. Our research scores Shopify 3.9 out of 5 for design, so it gets the job done well. Shopify’s themes cover a whole range of industries, from furniture to clothing and fashion. So, you’re sure to find something to suit your needs.

As well as guiding the design of your website, your theme also comes with tailored features to benefit your chosen industry. For example, a product zoom feature for clothing stores.

Currently, Shopify has nine free themes and over 80 paid ones, ranging in price from $200 to $350. All themes are mobile-responsive, professional, and modern looking, and you can easily switch themes at any time (you just might need to reformat your content to match).

Most importantly, you can customize to your heart’s content!

The themes are there to help you, so it’s always a good idea to pick one that matches the purpose of your store, and has a design that you like. But, you can personalize, edit, and rearrange as much as you want.

With Shopify, you can create a truly unique brand for your online store.

Domain and URL Structure

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The Winner

Shopify has better domain options...

Shopify encourages you to set up a custom domain quickly to make sure your online store looks like a professional brand.

Check Out Shopify

Domain names are incredibly important if you’re setting up an online business.

A domain name is the website address people use to find your website. For example, our domain name is www.websitebuilderexpert.com. You pay to have that address, and that means nobody else online can use it. It’s unique to your website, which makes it a powerful part of your brand.

Domains like these, that you choose and pay for yourself, are called custom domains.

Shopify is a clear winner in this category as it encourages you to use a custom domain. Why? Because a custom domain is essential for creating a trustworthy, professional, and recognizable brand for your business.

Shopify even has an automated setup to make it as easy as possible to get a totally personalized name for your online store.

On the other hand, Etsy is very different. Because you’re selling through Etsy’s marketplace, you don’t get your own domain name. Instead, your domain will look something like this: www.etsy.com/shop/your-store-name-here.

You can’t have a custom domain because you’re under the umbrella of Etsy. You can only connect your own domain if you’re using the Etsy Pattern website builder. So, Etsy isn’t ideal if you want to create your own brand space, but it shouldn’t matter too much for individual sellers who want to keep things small and simple.

The Winner

Shopify has all of the sales features your business needs...

For sales features, Shopify came second in our ecommerce platform research, and it’s a great choice for stores with more complex, or larger inventories. Along with its built-in features, Shopify also has an extensive app store.

Check Out Shopify's Sales Features

Design and domain names are all very well, but if your site has poor ecommerce tools, you’ll run into trouble fairly quickly, no matter how snazzy your website address is!

Etsy has basic, but good ecommerce features, which makes managing your shop straightforward. Helpfully, you can use the ‘Sell on Etsy App’ to stay on top of things when you’re on the go.

You can use your Etsy account to easily buy and print discounted postage, too. This will help you save on shipping costs as well as speeding up the process.

Etsy also has handy marketing and advertising tools to increase your customer base, get found online, and draw in new followers. An especially useful feature considering it can be hard to stand out within the Etsy marketplace. You can share across social platforms such as Instagram and Twitter, create coupons, or use third-party tools such as Google Shopping to widen your audience reach.

Remember you can only sell handmade goods, vintage products, and craft supplies on Etsy. If you want to sell something that falls outside of these areas, then Etsy probably isn’t the right choice for you.

And, if you’re looking for additional sales tools, and want to upgrade your store to the next level, you can subscribe to Etsy Plus. This gives you:

• Customizable options such as banner templates
• Deals on your own web address
• Discounts on marketing materials such as business cards
• Email alerts to send customers once an item is back in stock
• Advertising credits

Because Etsy is a marketplace rather than an ecommerce platform, your inventory isn’t included in your store account – you have to keep track of this yourself.

Overall, Etsy sums it up nicely with its “simple, powerful tools”. They’re not the most impressive ecommerce features out there, but for small scale selling of homemade and craft products, it’s an appropriate range.

When it comes to ecommerce tools, Shopify definitely beats out the majority of the competition. In our research, it’s the second best for sales features with a score of 4.5 out of 5. This makes Shopify an ideal choice for any business which is looking to grow online.

You can sell unlimited products on all of Shopify’s plans, and there are no restrictions on what you sell either. You have greater ecommerce freedom with Shopify than Etsy.

Shopify also has an extensive app store, so you can add whatever you want to your website. This gives you ultimate customization, and a whole load of powerful extras to choose from!

Here’s a list of just some of the features you get across all Shopify plans:

• Fraud analysis
• Brand asset management
• Multichannel selling across different social platforms
• Discount codes
• Free SSL certificate
• Abandoned Cart Recovery
• Gift cards
• Third-party calculated shipping rates
• Shopify POS (Point of Sale) app

Multichannel selling is extremely important for widening your customer base and giving your customers an easy buying experience. The free SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) certificate means your site is safe for visitors to enter their payment details through, and is an essential feature for any online store.

Abandoned Cart Recovery sends emails to customers who have abandoned their products at checkout, and encourages them to return. This can recover up to 20% of customers!

One of Shopify’s best sales features is its inventory system. Unlike Etsy, Shopify has an extensive inventory, which makes it especially useful for growing stores. You can upload products in bulk, or one at a time, and Shopify provides in-house stock management tools, so it’s easy to track and analyze your sales.

The Winner

Shopify has the best payment options...

It’s hard to beat Shopify which offers cost-effective rates and a 0% transaction fee, so it’s an easy winner for payment options. Etsy charges a listing fee per product, and a 6.5% transaction fee (plus processing charges), which can add up very quickly!

Check Out Shopify's Fees

On some platforms, transaction fees can be the monster hiding under the bed waiting to jump out and give you a shock at the last moment. Neither Shopify or Etsy charge scary prices like that, but it’s still always a good idea to get an idea of payment options and transaction fees before you sign up to a platform.

While Etsy doesn’t charge monthly fees, it does charge listing fees at $0.20 per product. This is the cost to publish your listing, which is active for four months, or until the item is sold.

When you sell a product, (congratulations!), there’s a 6.5% transaction fee, plus a 3% + $0.25 payment processing charge. That’s a lot of numbers, so what does it actually mean?

Payment processing fees are applied by the payment provider (such as the credit card company), or the payment gateway sending the transaction. This is really common and comes as standard, although Etsy’s rates are slightly higher than average which does set it at a disadvantage against Shopify.

Etsy’s fees certainly aren’t the cheapest out there. But, they shouldn’t damage your pockets too much if you’re selling on a small scale. It’s only once you start pulling in the big bucks that you’ll feel the burn of that 6.5% transaction fee.

If you’re seeing dollar signs already, Shopify might actually work out as better value for money, depending on the size of your business.

Shopify has different payment options to choose from. It has its own in-house payment gateway called Shopify Payments, which doesn’t charge any transaction fees. On Shopify Payments, you only have to pay the card processing fee which starts at 2.4% + 30¢ with the Advanced Shopify plan.

If you don’t want to use Shopify Payments, there are plenty of other payment options, including the expected PayPal, Google Pay, Apple Pay, and more.

If you’re using one of these payment options instead of the Shopify Payments gateway, the highest transaction fee is 2%, and the lowest is 0.5%. So comparing the two, Shopify has much cheaper rates than Etsy.

The Winner

Etsy makes it easy for customers to find you...

The popularity of Etsy’s marketplace, and the ease at which customers can find your products, gives Etsy the edge in this round. However, you do need to put in some work yourself to make your products stand out!

Explore Etsy Now

Once you’ve spent time uploading stunning product photos and writing detailed descriptions, your store deserves attention. You don’t want your website to be hidden in a dusty corner of the internet.

Etsy will definitely shine a bright spotlight on your store. It’s an extremely popular marketplace, with over 96 million active buyers. People don’t need to be looking for you specifically. They simply search Etsy, find your products, and make a purchase.

The drawback of Etsy is that there’s no way to guarantee those visitors will end up on your store, buying your products. There are over 97 million products on Etsy — so standing out from the crowd is important!

In contrast, Shopify gives you the tools to promote yourself. Visitors won’t even know your store was built on this platform, so they’ll need to search for it using your store name.

However, with Shopify, you need to handle your own search engine optimization (SEO) to rank in Google, promote yourself across social media, and build up your brand to attract more customers.

It can seem overwhelming, so, if you’re thinking you don’t know where to start with any of that, don’t worry! Though Shopify doesn’t handle it for you, Shopify does give you all the tools you need, from SEO apps and guides, to email campaigns, and multichannel selling across Facebook and Instagram.

Although it’s more work overall, you’re in total control of connecting with your customers and creating kick-ass marketing campaigns. You don’t have to sit around and wait for visitors to stumble across you.

The Winner

Shopify's support is available 24/7...

Shopify’s help and support is brilliant. No matter your problem, they’ll have a solution for you, whether that’s in the form of a video guide, or a chat with Shopify’s team via phone.

Get Help With Shopify

What happens if all of your product images disappear at 2am? Do you panic? No! You contact your very own support team!

Your business never stops, and Shopify knows it. That’s why Shopify has 24/7 support, so you’re covered all day, all night, and all week. Here’s a list of all the different support options you can choose from:

• 24/7 phone
• Social media
• 24/7 live chat
• Forum
• Email
• Video tutorials
• Advanced specialist support (on Plus plans)

With that in mind, our research scores Shopify favorably, with a score of 3.8 out of 5 for help and support — joint third in the rankings.

So, whether you’re a total phone-phobe, or you love to browse a community forum, Shopify has something to suit everyone. The Shopify Help Center is clear and easy to use, while providing an extensive range of help articles and guides.

One of the best parts of Shopify’s support is when you ask for help in the editor — Shopify takes you straight to the relevant help page in the help center. This saves you time and leaves you headache-free!

Etsy also has a help center. It’s laid out simply, and also has a search function, so you can get straight to the answer if you know what you’re looking for.

Additionally, Etsy has a forum where you can read and join community discussions, ask questions, and follow Etsy announcements. But, you can email Etsy’s support staff, or schedule a phone call, if you need further help. In comparison to Shopify, Etsy’s help and support services just don’t compete.

The Winner

Shopify and Esty are both great value for money...

It depends on your needs. Etsy is cheaper overall, and great if you don’t want to pay any upfront costs. Shopify, on the other hand, is the more expensive option, but you’ll have access to greater features and tools.

When it comes down to it, pricing is often the thing that draws us to — or puts us off — products. This is especially true if you’re on a tight budget, or looking to make money rather than spend it!

In this case, it’s impossible to determine a winner between the two platforms.

On the one hand, Etsy has very little in the way of upfront costs. On its most basic level, the Etsy Standard plan comes with no monthly fees — only the listing fees, transaction costs, and payment processing charges applied to products.

You can upgrade to Etsy Plus to unlock more features for $10 per month, which gives you a wider set of tools to help grow your store, including additional customization options and email alerts.

On the other hand, Shopify has higher upfront costs, but you get what you pay for. Shopify has three price plans, plus a 3-day free trial, and charges $1 per month for the first three months on the Basic plan. The prices range from $29 to $299 per month, and with each upgrade you unlock more features.

In our value for money testing, Shopify scores an average 3.0 out of 5, so let’s take a look at its plans more closely:

To put it simply, the Basic plan costs $29 per month, and gives you everything you need to set up your store. Unlimited products, multichannel selling, discount code creation, and abandoned cart recovery, are just a few of the features included on this plan.

If you upgrade to the Shopify plan, you’ll have everything you need to keep growing your business at $79 per month. Enjoy all the features of the Basic plan, plus more, such as professional reports, and cheaper credit card rates.

The most expensive Shopify plan is the $299 per month Advanced plan. This has everything from the first two plans, plus an advanced report builder, even lower credit card rates, and up to 15 staff accounts.

These are Shopify’s main price plans — but, there’s also Shopify Plus which has custom pricing and targets the big businesses of the ecommerce world.

Although Shopify’s plans might seem extreme in comparison to Etsy’s low prices, Shopify is great value for money because of the features and long-term scalability that come with them.

As we’ve already discussed when looking at payment options, Etsy’s prices can also creep up with its transaction fees, and Shopify’s monthly cost can increase with the use of third-party apps. So, the two remain fairly balanced when it comes to pricing overall.

If you’re still torn between the two after reading this, we have great news. You can have the best of both worlds!

By using the Shopify App Store, you can integrate the Etsy marketplace with your Shopify store. Real-time synchronization makes sure you avoid confusion, or overselling, by syncing your Etsy and Shopify stores whenever you make any changes.

There’s a free trial for a week, but after that you’ll need to choose between the three paid plans:

• Starter: $25 per month
• Basic: $39 per month
• Standard: $59 per month

Each plan includes custom features, product management, and limited product uploads — the Starter plan allows you to publish up to 100 products on Etsy, whereas the Standard plan allows up to 1000 products.

Overall, the integration is a great option if you have a Shopify store, but also want to diversify your online presence. By integrating with Etsy you can reach a new audience, and make the most of this popular marketplace.

Shopify and Etsy may seem similar at first, but they’re very different selling platforms. This article has looked at the key differences between them, what they excel at, and where they let users down.

Shopify provides everything your business needs to succeed. It has powerful sales tools, scalable plans, and no limits on what you can sell. On the other hand, Etsy comes with product restrictions, and basic features. Still, it’s simple and cheaper than Shopify, making it better for small-scale sellers with a niche.

To sum up, here’s an overview table to give a quick-glance summary:

To expand, Shopify is a dedicated ecommerce platform, and a great option for any small business looking to grow their size online, and establish themselves in the ecommerce market. It has higher upfront costs than Etsy, but Shopify is jam-packed with powerful features, plus an impressive app store.

Etsy is a marketplace, unlike Shopify, which is perfect for individual or small-scale sellers. It’s a lot more basic than Shopify, but it has no monthly subscription (apart from its product fees). So, if you’re curious about stepping into the world of ecommerce, but don’t want to commit to anything just yet, Etsy is a great fit.

Overall, Shopify is the better selling platform. But, Shopify and Etsy are very different, which makes it hard to recommend one over the other. It’s very dependent on what your business needs. If you’re selling a few homemade items a month, Etsy is the best choice for you.

Why not set up an Etsy account and give it a go, or try Shopify’s 3-day free trial and see what you think? After all, you should always try before you buy!