Shopify is a very popular SAAS (Software As A Service) platform in the e-commerce world. Most potential store owners hear it first after they research what software to choose for their e-commerce business.
Now, the question is which is better: PrestaShop or Shopify? If you don’t have much technical knowledge (basic computer skills) and don’t have time to customize and work on your store, Shopify will work great. The only significant limitation is that it is pricey and constrained.
On the other hand, PrestaShop offers a complete customization experience, a cheap startup, and a great community of supporters.
In this article, I will make comparison easier. Let’s take a look at the following:
- PrestaShop is Better Than Shopify
- Shopify is Better Than PrestaShop
- Common Things Between Shopify And PrestaShop
- Conclusion
PrestaShop is Better Than Shopify
| Feature | PrestaShop | Shopify |
|---|---|---|
| Payment platforms | Unlimited list of payment services | Limited to almost 100 popular payment platforms |
| Checkout | Two checkout options: step-by-step and one-page checkout | One checkout flow |
| Pricing | You pay only for hosting and any custom plugins/themes | Monthly subscription (expensive!) |
| Internationalization | Lots of languages, RTL support, and more | Limited and works best with the English language |
| Open source | Yes, you can modify it | Proprietary, no customizations are allowed |
| Staff | Unlimited | Limited to 15 staff members |
| Blogging | You have to buy an addon | Minimal built-in blog platform |
| Multi-store | Yes | No (one Shopify account means one store) |
| Commissions per sale | No | Up to 2% per sale |
| Themes | Almost 3k | Almost 300 |
| Great for beginners | Yes | Yes, but expensive |
Shopify is Better Than PrestaShop
| Feature | Shopify | PrestaShop |
|---|---|---|
| Installation | Nothing to install | You have to install it manually or use one-click hosting solutions |
| Hosting | They fully host your store | You have to find hosting and pay for it as a separate expense |
| Updates | They will keep your store up-to-date | You have to update the store source, add-ons, and themes manually |
| Maintenance | Nothing to manually maintain | You have to configure add-ons and updates manually |
| Page Builder | Yes | Does not have a page builder |
| SSL certificate | You receive it automatically | You have to accept it from the hosting service you use |
| Sitemap | Automatically generated | Has a manual sitemap building feature |
| Customer support | Yes | Only if you are paid, partner |
| POS | Yes | No, but can be achieved with paid plugins that are almost 200 USD |
| Learning curve | Takes easier to learn as it is more user friendly | Takes time to learn because of the features list |
Common Things Between Shopify And PrestaShop
| Feature | Shopify | PrestaShop |
|---|---|---|
| Reports | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile friendly | Yes | Yes |
| Tabled friendly | Yes | Yes |
| SEO features | Yes | Yes |
| Cloud hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Speed | Great | Great |
| Actively developed | Yes | Yes |
| Great for big stores | Yes | Yes |
Conclusion
This article wasn’t created to confuse you. Instead, it is a detailed comparison to decide what is more essential for your business’s future.
Please keep in mind that if you choose Shopify – you might have difficulty moving to another platform because it is not that easy to export data from it. But you can always export/import data with PrestaShop.
I have compared a few other platforms, see the comparison blog category.