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

Are you choosing Etsy or Shopify to set up your new ecommerce site?

You are not alone, as both Etsy and Shopify are among the top preferred choices for online retail.

The main difference between Shopify and Etsy is that on Shopify, you can set up your own individual online store, while Etsy allows users to list their various products for sale among those of other sellers.

The Shopify platform includes access to various powerful online retail tools and is a suitable option for tiny startups and large-scale retail companies.

Etsy is among the most accessible platforms to start selling your products online, and most of the promo and marketing are conveniently handled for sellers.

Shopify is home to over 1 million online retail businesses of all sizes and has contributed to online sales amounting to $319 billion globally.

Etsy prides itself as the leading marketplace for creative and unique goods. More than 1.7 million sellers offer their products to over 33 million buyers worldwide who have spent over $3 billion.

So, the question is, in Shopify vs. Etsy, which platform is better for selling goods online?

Shopify is generally the better option due to its scalability, flexibility, and huge array of e-commerce features and tools.

Etsy is a more suitable choice if you have a range of a few products you want to sell and want to spend minimal time promoting them to potential customers.

Final verdict – Shopify is the best overall e-commerce platform, thanks to its:

• Ease of set up and use
• Flexibility for designing your online marketplace
• Reliable customer support
• Great price asked for the value offered
• Excellent sales and website features
• A high number of users and online stores

Read our detailed Shopify Review

But overall, the final choice in the Shopify vs. Etsy dilemma depends on your type of business, business goals, and budget.

If you want a more detailed review of each of these excellent online retail platforms along with their pros and cons, read on through our detailed Shopify vs. Etsy review.

Hopefully, the review will help pick which platform is best for you.

Some of the latest updates worthy of mentioning about Shopify

Shopify has announced some great updates, including:

• Tipping, asking for a donation for your business or charity, is now an option to add to your online store’s checkout.
• The Express theme now allows businesses to create a store online as quickly and easily as possible, which is great news for many businesses in the times of the COVID-19 pandemic where more people are choosing to shop and order food or other goods online.
• There is now a Shop App that more than 16 million users are already using to keep track of their favorite Shopify stores, the recommendations for them, and their orders.
• There are now more contact-free delivery and shopping options available, including local delivery and curbside pickup.
• A Shopify Balance tool will soon be available for merchants and will allow them to track their expenses, apply for funding, pay bills, and win reward points via a Shopify card.

Shopify vs. Etsy: Pros & Cons

Shopify Pros:

• It has some of the best e-commerce tools, allowing business owners to manage and build up their business and keep track of their inventory, the orders of their customers, and more.
• It is suitable and can be scaled for tiny to huge businesses alike – Shopify can be used successfully by small-scale and large-scale businesses for online sales.
• You can use Shopify to sell just about anything online – there are no restrictions, so you can sell physical and digital products of all kinds.

Shopify Cons:

• You cannot use Shopify to search for stores and products. Unlike Etsy, eBay, or Amazon, customers can’t search for products via the Shopify site. This means that business owners need to market and promote their own sites or brands if they want to be found by potential customers.
• Pricy add-ons and apps. While Shopify offers an amazing range of various useful apps and add-ons for online retailers, adding more than one of them can make the monthly fees for your online business increase quite a bit.

Etsy Pros:

• The marketplace has a very large traffic of customers looking for certain products. Unlike Shopify, users can search the Etsy marketplace for anything. This means that businesses and crafters don’t need to spend money and time promoting their own brands, sites, and products.
• The platform is very easy to use. Anyone, even non-tech-savvy users, can easily set up an account, upload the info and images of their hand-made or other products and immediately start selling on Etsy.
• It is cost-efficient. If you choose to use the Standard plan, you don’t need to pay an additional monthly subscription and only need to cover your transaction and listing fees.

Etsy cons:

• High transaction fees. You will need to pay a listing fee of $0.20 per product as well as an added transaction fee of 5% for every sale you make via Etsy. There is also an added payment processing fee of 3% plus $0.25 per sale. These transaction fees can become a financial burden once your sales volumes on Etsy start increasing.
• The items you can sell on Etsy are limited. Etsy is very clear about the products which can be listed and sold on the platform. These include crafted or hand-made goods and vintage products which are 20 or more years old.
• No flexibility for the branding or layout. Since Etsy is a marketplace where customers can search through all products, you get very little chance to add more creativity to the layout of your good’s page or create a strong brand image.

What’s the Difference Between Shopify and Etsy?

So, if you are still wondering how Shopify and Etsy are different from each other, here are the main differences:

Firstly, Shopify is a platform for e-commerce that allows people and businesses to set up their own online stores, manage them, and grow them. The platform has a wide array of added tools and apps to help online businesses keep track of their sales, inventory, customer orders, and more.

So, with Shopify, anyone can start their own store online and work on promoting it and building the business.

Etsy is a creative marketplace, which users can search through for certain vintage, hand-made, and craft products and items. Sellers on Etsy can list as many of their craft goods, vintage or hand-made items as they want, and rely on the traffic of the marketplace rather than on promoting their own brand and site. 

Related: Best eCommerce Website Builders Compared – 2023

Etsy Pattern

Pattern by Etsy is a new feature offered by the marketplace, allowing users to create their own websites to promote and sell their hand-made, vintage, or craft goods.

You can test the new website building feature for up to 30 days for free. The Pattern feature allows for quick and easy setup of a separate website for online sales using one or more of the available creative templates. The website can be synced with all products already listed by the user and gives Etsy sellers greater freedom to create their own unique site and brand image.

But, the websites built via the Etsy Pattern feature will not be part of the Etsy marketplace, so users cannot rely on the overall traffic and need to create their own traffic and promote their own products and site.

The paid fee for using Pattern after the trial period is $15 per month. While it is not as elaborate as Shopify’s online inventory system and other store management tools, it is a great additional feature if you already use Etsy to sell your goods.

One of the biggest benefits of Etsy Pattern is that you can add other products that are not allowed on Etsy to your own website.

Since you can use the Pattern builder only if you are already using Etsy to sell your goods, this relatively new feature will not be included in the details of this current Shopify vs. Etsy review.

Ease of Use

If you are new to online sales and starting up your own Internet-based store, then the ease of use feature is probably the most important one for you when picking the best platform to use.

Thankfully, both Shopify and Etsy are designed to be easy to set up and use, even by non-tech-savvy and non-experienced sellers.

Although Shopify has some advanced e-commerce tools, the platform has been designed to make the online business setup, management, and growth as easy as possible.

The Shopify interface is user-friendly and very easy to navigate. The e-commerce platform will guide users through all of the steps of setting up a store online, including adding products to the product list and even managing customer orders.

The platform will automatically sync your product stock and inventory, the customer orders, and more for you.

Overall, it is among the easiest e-commerce platforms to use for creating and managing an online store, which is probably one of the main reasons for its huge popularity around the globe.

Etsy too is very simple and easy to set up and use, but it is not as in-depth as Shopify, as all users need to do is set up an account, pick a store name, add product photos and information to your store, check the payment details entered, and you are set to go.

The creative marketplace will guide users through this entire process and will provide you with useful suggestions and help when needed. You will even receive ideas about another store name if the one you have picked is already taken.

The fact is, all you need to do is take photos of your hand-made products or vintage or craft items, write some brief info and upload them to your profile account.

Ease of use: verdict

There is no clear winner in the Shopify vs. Etsy competition regarding ease of use, so the result is a draw. Both e-commerce platform and the creative marketplace are as easy to set up as possible.

Shopify does require a tad more technical than Etsy, but it also provides its users with an amazing array of e-commerce tools. 

As a whole, both Shopify and Etsy are very user-friendly and are suitable even for newbies in the online sales business.

So, our final verdict is that when it comes to ease of use in the Shopify vs. Etsy comparison – it is a clear draw!

Design Flexibility

How flexible are the design options offered by an online e-commerce platform or marketplace could make the whole difference between creating and running a successful ecommerce store and failing.

Think about how you feel the urge to leave a website that has a bad design immediately. Now imagine creating a similarly badly designed online store for your business.

So how do Shopify and Etsy compare when it comes to the flexibility allowed for users when choosing and creating their own design and online store.

Since Etsy is a marketplace (which only recently added a website builder feature called Pattern), the design of the user’s profile page and layout is the same as that of the Etsy platform.

Users can add their own logos, store name, pictures, and information about their products, but the overall design and layout are the same throughout the marketplace.

This lack of customization options makes it hard for users who want to build their brand image and work on attracting more users thanks to unique design elements. 

On the other hand, users selling goods on Etsy don’t need to spend time, money, and effort on developing their own websites and promoting them to customers.

This makes Etsy a perfect choice for people who are just starting out selling goods online and have a relatively small number of craft goods, hand-made or vintage items to sell.

On the other hand, Shopify will allow you to set up an online store designed just like you want it to and allow you to expand your business and create and promote a recognizable brand.

On Shopify, users will get to choose among more than 60 different website themes suitable for online stores in all industries and spheres.

Plus, users will be guided through the design process and offered add-ons that are suitable for their type of business.

Shopify users can choose between ten completely free themes and 50 paid ones.

Each theme is very professionally designed and is mobile responsive for users who prefer using their phones and tablets for shopping.

You can pick among the wide variety of themes, starting from $140.

Once you pick a theme, you can further customize it and your online store design as you like.

Design flexibility: verdict

As for the design flexibility feature, Shopify is the winner in the Shopify vs. Etsy comparison review. 

Even though Etsy offers an easy setup for all of its users, it confines them to use the marketplace’s overall layout and design.

As for Shopify, users will get to choose among 60 templates and layouts and hundreds of add-ons and apps to customize their online store to their liking, build their brand, and increase their traffic, thus growing their online business.

You can choose the best Shopify theme for their online store.

Domain and URL Structure

Whether you are setting up your own online store, blog, or another website, the domain name is of utter importance for its success and the success of your online business.

The domain name will allow potential customers to locate your site, and once you pay for a domain, it becomes unique for you, and nobody else can use it. This is essential for creating and building your own online brand and growing your traffic and business.

A custom domain is one that users can pick by themselves. Choosing to use a custom domain helps to establish your business and brand as trustworthy and professional.

Shopify encourages its users to choose and pay for custom domains.

An appropriate name can help establish your brand, make it easier to find and appear in the top search results in Google and otherwise help your ranking and your successful business.

Shopify provides its users the opportunity to set up their personalized domain name for their online stores. Users can also use their existing domain name or get a free website name on myshopify.com.

As for Etsy, if you list your products at the marketplace, you will not receive your own personalized domain name. Instead, your domain will be part of the www.etsy.com/shop domain.

The only way to get a custom domain on Etsy is if you use its Pattern website builder option.

Domain and URL Structure: verdict

Shopify is the winner in this round in the Shopify vs. Etsy comparison, giving its users the opportunity to choose their own personalized domain name. This can help businesses make their online sales website look professional and trustworthy and improve the Google search rankings and make their brand more recognizable among customers.

Etsy marketplace does not provide this opportunity, which shouldn’t be a problem for people who are selling just a few items but could prevent the growth of the online business and the establishing of the brand among customers. 

You can choose your own domain name on Shopify here.

E-commerce Tools and Features

While Etsy has some easy-to-use and nifty e-commerce tools and apps, like Sell on Etsy App for Android or iOS devices, or a tool for buying and printing discounted postage, its overall choice of e-commerce tools are quite basic.

Although the creative marketplace does have useful tools for its users like some advertising and marketing instruments, which can help draw in more followers and increase the customer base.

You can also find easy-to-use tools on Etsy, allowing you to share your products and product list on social media like Twitter or Instagram, create sales and coupons for your products, as well as to use Google Shopping or other platform’s e-commerce tools.

So, Etsy’s e-commerce tools are powerful and yet simple, making them perfect for small businesses and people who don’t have the time and resources to manage their own websites and deal with complicated e-commerce, marketing, and other similar tools.

Then again, as mentioned previously, the Etsy marketplace is reserved only for listing and selling hand-made craft or vintage goods and items.

You can subscribe to the Etsy Plus plan if you want to gain access to more tools and features.

If you love Etsy and would like to continue using it but have access to more e-commerce tools, then you can upgrade to the Etsy Plus plan. This will give you access to added features and tools, including:

• Access to discounts for custom domain names for your website
• Alerts to customers who have signed up for restock alerts once a sold-out item is back in stock
• Various banner choices, customizable layout option for the online store, and more
• Discounts on custom boxes for shipping, printables, and business cards
• Receiving advertising credits

Please note that because Etsy is not an e-commerce platform but rather is a marketplace, no tool will keep track of your inventory, so you will need to monitor it and keep track of your stock yourself.

In conclusion, Etsy advertises its tools and features as “simple and powerful,” which is a very exact description of what you will receive if you sign up for using Etsy to sell your products.

While this is great news for people who only have a few craft or homemade items to list and sell and who are not looking for a considerable boost of their online business, for others who have greater ambitions and larger product inventories, these tools offered by Etsy may not be sufficient enough.

As for Shopify and its e-commerce tools and features, it is an e-commerce platform that has some of the best sales features.

This fact makes it a perfect choice for businesses that are looking to grow and build their online presence and sales.

Shopify allows its users to sell just about any physical or digital product, unlike Etsy, where the products are limited to hand-made, crafted, or vintage.

Plus, Shopify has an impressive app store that users can access and download as many apps they need for their online store and business.

You can browse the hundreds of useful apps via multiple categories, including Staff picks, Trending, New, Holiday season, Store design, Orders and shipping, Marketing, and many more.

You can sign up for the Basic, Shopify, and Advanced Shopify plans, which provide greater access to various e-commerce tools and features.

E-commerce Tools and Features: verdict

The winner in this category of the Shopify vs. Etsy comparison is, no doubt, Shopify.

The e-commerce platform offers all tools and features which a new, growing or well-established online business needs. The tools and apps offered are much more and more advanced than those offered by Etsy.

While Etsy’s simple basic features are great for selling small numbers of homemade, vintage, or other hand-made products, Shopify allows users and businesses to sell any kind of and an unlimited number of products and offers them hundreds of useful apps and e-commerce tools to grow their business and increase their sales.

Payment Options and Fees

Using the wrong e-commerce platform or marketplace with killer hidden fees can be fatal for some starting online businesses and users. This is why checking the credit card processing fees, plans, and payment options before signing up for any platform or marketplace is essential.

Thankfully, neither Shopify nor Etsy have such shocking or hidden payments.

Etsy doesn’t charge a monthly subscription fee for its basic plan, but you should be ready to pay a listing fee of $0.20 per product, which is active until the product is sold or up to 4 months.

For every sale you make on Etsy, you will be charged a transaction fee of 5% of your product’s price and the shipping and packing and added price for the product’s personalization.

There are also payment processing, currency conversion, and other fees in some cases and for some countries and transactions.

Etsy’s rates are a tad higher than the average ones asked by marketplaces, but they are not over the top high.

Paying for the Etsy Plus plan costs $10 per month, and the Etsy Pattern website builder costs $15 per month following the first 30-day trial period.

While the transaction fee per sale may not be such a problem for people looking to sell a few items, it can become a burden once you start selling larger volumes or more expensive goods on Etsy.

As for Shopify, the ecommerce platform has a different payment processing system than Etsy and relies on its own Shopify Payments gateway.

This system allows business owners and users to pay via the credit card or payment method of their choice. Shopify charges its users only with the card processing fee of 2.2% +20 cents, which is quite a bit lower than what Etsy charges per transaction.

At Shopify, customers can use a wide variety of payment options and gateways, including PayPal, Google Pay, Stripe, Apple Pay, or Amazon Payments, apart from the Shopify Payments if they don’t want to pay these transactions payments.

If you choose the platform’s payment Shopify Payments option, you can avoid the transaction fees altogether.

You can choose among 100 different payment options and pick the one which works best for you.

Depending on which gateway you choose, the payment processing transaction fee for large and small business owners will vary from 0.5% up to 2%, which is still much cheaper than those asked by Etsy.

Payment Options and Fees: verdict

When it comes to Shopify vs. Etsy payment options and fees – Shopify wins once again.

While setting up and maintaining an online store on Shopify may be costlier than listing and selling items on Etsy, Etsy has higher fees per sale when it comes to transaction fees and other fees.

This may not be too fatal for sellers of a small number of items, but if you are selling hundreds or thousands of items and your sales volumes grow, high transaction fees can really hurt your business.

Check out the pricing of the Shopify plans or test it for 14 days free.

Further Reading: Site Building Options and Costs Compared | How Much Does a Website Cost?

Attracting Customers

Even if you have built the perfect online store with superb product listings and excellent integrated ecommerce tools, none of this matters if the site doesn’t get the customer traffic you expect or need for a successful online business.

When it comes to attracting customers and traffic, Etsy is one of the best marketplaces if you need a place to sell your hand-made, vintage, or craft goods.

The well-known marketplace has over 33 million buyers worldwide and many more users who visit the marketplace to search for different items and goods.

The best news is that the potential customers don’t need to search for your brand, company, or product specifically but can easily land upon it when searching on Etsy or Google.

Since Etsy is such a popular marketplace, it will rank first when searching terms like “hand-made items” in Google. This means that the marketplace gets a huge traffic volume.

The downside is that there is no guarantee that any of these millions of users and buyers will end up on your specific store on Etsy.

Keep in mind that the creative marketplace lists more than 50 million different items, so if you want to attract more buyers, you will need to stand out from the rest with unique products, photos, and descriptions, and offers.

As for Shopify, if you choose to use it to build, manage, and grow your online business, you will be on your own when it comes to promoting your website, brand, and products. This is because if you choose your own custom domain name, nobody will know that you are part of the Shopify platform.

Thankfully, Shopify has multiple tools and apps which you can use to market yourself, promote your brand, site, products, and business.

You will need to optimize your website’s SEO to achieve higher rankings in Google, use social media or other channels to promote your brand, items or business, and more.

Shopify has various apps and guides for SEO, email campaigns, multi-channel marketing and selling, and more, which will help you do it.

Although this will require more time and resources on your side, using your own marketing methods and other methods to attract customers and boost your traffic and sales will give you bigger freedom for creating and completing your own marketing plans and campaigns.

Further Reading: The best website builders for SEO

Attracting customers: verdict

The winner in this round of the Shopify vs. Etsy comparison is Etsy. Etsy already generates traffic of millions of visits and users every day, so all you need to do is list some unique items with unique photos and information and wait for the customers to start pouring in.

Shopify may offer a wider variety of marketing tools and apps, but it does require more knowledge, work, and resources for improving your website’s SEO and your brand identity, and product marketing.

Help and Support

The fear of any online business is that its Internet-based shop goes down, is bugged, or something else goes wrong.

This is why the customer help and tech support features that each platform offers are essential for an objective review of Shopify vs. Etsy.

When it comes to Shopify, the tech support for large and small business owners is impeccable. You can reach the customer and tech support operators 24/7 via phone or live chat. Shopify also offers useful and timely support and help via social media, email, and forums. There are also hundreds of video tutorials, guides, and articles available via the easy search function at the Shopify Help Center.

If you are a Shopify Plus plan subscriber, you will also access the advanced specialist support team 24/7.

This means that you can rest assured that you can get timely help and assistance with any issue you have with your Shopify ecommerce website and shop no matter the time, day of the week, or month it is.

Etsy too, has an easy-to-search and useful Help Center. You can find the answer to most of the FAQs and other issues with a quick search and by using the appropriate search engine filters and keywords.

There is also a useful community forum on Etsy, where you can find all kinds of answers to issues and advice from other users of the creative marketplace.

As for immediate live customer assistance, Etsy lacks live support, but you can schedule a phone call or use email to get answers to any questions or issues you are having with the marketplace.

Help and Support: verdict

Shopify is the winner in the Help and Support challenge in this Shopify vs. Etsy comparison. The reason is that Shopify has a 24/7 live chat and phone customer support, so you can get immediate help and tech support for any issue you are having with your online store.

Also, Shopify offers a huge assortment of online help guides, tutorials, and video guides, which you can use to find quick solutions to issues or answers to your questions.

While Etsy also offers comprehensive support via scheduled phone calls, emails, or the community forum, it is not as quick and efficient as the live support and the extensive collection of support materials on Shopify’s customer help and support page.

Pricing

Apart from the payment options and fees, an important part of choosing between Shopify vs. Etsy for your Internet-based store is, no doubt, the pricing of the plans offered.

Here is an overview of Shopify vs. Etsy pricing.

The Shopify plans start at $29 monthly for the Basic Shopify plan, $79 monthly for the Shopify plan, and $299 per month for the Advanced Shopify plan for your store.

You will need to pay an additional $89 monthly if you want to add the Shopify POS Pro management tool for point of sale and use Shopify for brick and mortar businesses.

The platform’s least expensive option is the Shopify Lite plan, which costs only $9 per month and allows for adding items to a website or blog and accepting credit card payments.

Here are some of the main features which you will receive if you sign up for any of the Shopify plans:

• Multiple sales channels across online marketplaces and on up to 10 social media platforms
• Ability to list unlimited items in your store
• Discount code access
• Gift cards
• Abandoned cart recovery can help recover up to 15% of the potential customers
• From 4 to 8 locations to assign your inventory system and keep track of your stock and sales
• Shipping discounts and printing shipping labels
• POS lite
• Various Shopify payments and fraud analysis for use Shopify payments
• Sales in 133 different currencies
• A free SSL certificate for ensuring payment safety and trustworthiness

The good news is that you can try out any Shopify plan for free for 2 weeks, thanks to the 14-day free trial offered by the company.

The ecommerce platform has a customizable Shopify Plus plan for large businesses as well.

The Etsy upfront costs are much less expensive. If you choose to use the Standard plan, which is the most basic Etsy plan, there are no monthly fees. All that you will need to pay are the transaction and listing fees for your products on the online marketplace.

The Etsy Plus plan will cost you $10 per month, which will be deducted from your Etsy payment account. 

If you love Etsy and would like to continue using it but have access to more ecommerce tools, then you can upgrade to the Etsy Plus plan. This will give you access to added features and tools, including:

• Access to discounts for custom domain names for your website
• Alerts to customers who have signed up for restock alerts once a sold-out item is back in stock
• Various banner choices, customizable layout options for the online store, and more
• Discounts on custom boxes for shipping, printables, and business cards
• Receiving advertising credits

Etsy is less expensive to set up and use, but in the long run, if your business starts growing and your sales volumes increase, the higher transaction and listing fees may creep up on you.

Shopify is significantly more expensive than the Etsy online marketplace when it comes to monthly plans and added apps. Still, the subscription plans offer a greater value for your money due to the hundreds of eCommerce website features and the potential for growth, sales increase, and scalability. Still, if you add too many apps and add-ons to your Shopify monthly plan, you may end up with quite a hefty maintenance fee to pay.

Pricing: verdict

The result in this category is a draw between Shopify and Etsy.

While an Etsy shop is the cheaper alternative to setup, Shopify has some great ecommerce platforms tools and features like abandoned cart recovery, a free SSL certificate, a low or no payment processing fee various credit card and third party payment options, and many more that make it cost more but could be more helpful for your growing business.

The truth is which platform, Shopify or Etsy is better priced and better for you depends on your type of business, your business goals, and the plans for growing it online.

Related: The Best Free Ecommerce Website Builders in 2023

Using Etsy with Shopify

Well, suppose you have been reading this Shopify vs. Etsy review, and you still can’t make up your mind which option is better for you and your online sales business. In that case, the good news is that you can actually use both the Shopify eCommerce platform and sell on the Etsy marketplace.

You can actually combine the Etsy marketplace in your Shopify store thanks to the dedicated Etsy Marketplace Integration app on the Shopify App Store.

The app allows you to sync both your Shopify with your Etsy shop and ensure that you control your inventory and sales on both at the same time to avoid overselling or other mistakes.

The integration can be tested for free for 7 days. If you are happy with the results, you can proceed to use the paid Etsy Marketplace Integration app starting at $24 per month and up to $69 per month, depending on the plan and period you choose.

Overall, this app is perfect if you want to get the best of both what Shopify offers and the huge traffic of the Etsy marketplace in one.

Shopify vs. Etsy: Conclusion

Shopify and Etsy may seem similar in their main goals of allowing people to sell their products online for newbies. But as you can see from our detailed review of Shopify vs. Etsy, there are some significant differences between the two, starting with the fact that Shopify is an ecommerce platform and that Etsy is a marketplace.

As a whole, Shopify provides access to much more elaborate ecommerce tools, which can help you sell whatever you want and scale up your online business to the size you want.

Etsy is simpler to use, cheaper to set up, and is more suitable for a specific niche of items, namely hand-made, craft goods, and vintage items, which are 20 years old or older.

Here is a summary of the side-by-side comparison between Shopify vs. Etsy:

Ease of use – it is a draw for Shopify vs. Etsy:

• Shopify is a great way to set up a powerful and growing online store for all kinds of products and is easy to use
• Etsy is a marketplace that requires a simple registration of an account and uploading of your product photos and descriptions for a limited type of goods and items

Design flexibility – the winner is Shopify:

• Shopify provides its users with a wide range of templates and hundreds of apps and customization options for their store
• Etsy allows its users to use its own template with minimal options for customization (except if you use the Etsy Pattern plan)

Domain and URL structure – the winner is Shopify:

• Shopify allows its users to choose their own personalized domain name or use their existing one for better brand identity improvement and recognizability, as well as increase trustworthiness of your store
• Etsy will not allow its users to have their own designated address, so your brand and store will be harder to find or remember by the customers 

E-commerce tools and features – the winner is Shopify:

• Shopify has hundreds of apps in its app store and multiple built-in powerful sales and business management tools
• Etsy has a few simple but powerful tools which are designed to make your online sales easier than ever

Payment options and fees – the winner is Shopify:

• Shopify doesn’t charge transaction fees for its own Shopify Payments, excluding the regular credit card rates payment processing fees. It supports over 100 different payment methods and has a lower transaction fee than Etsy
• Etsy fees include listing, transaction, and credit card payment processing fees for each product and sale

Attracting customers – the winner is Etsy:

• Shopify is an ecommerce platform that will allow you to develop your online store, but you will need to rely on your own SEO, marketing, and other business tools to reach customers and drive traffic to it
• Etsy is one of the most popular marketplaces globally, with a high Google search ranking and a customer base of over 33 million people. With millions of users choosing the Etsy online marketplace to look for various items and goods, the chances are that you will get more traffic and exposure than with Shopify with minimal effort on your side

Help and support – the winner is Shopify:

• Shopify has a wide variety of customer help and assistance options, including 24/7 live chat or phone support, detailed video guides, tutorials, email support, and community support. There is advanced technical support for the premium plan users
• Etsy has a useful and easy-to-navigate support and help center and a community forum. But it doesn’t have live chat support. You can request a phone call or send your query via email, but the response is not always immediate

Pricing – it is a draw between Shopify vs. Etsy:

• Shopify offers a 14-day free trial and different price plans ranging from $29 up to $299 monthly. It also offers cheaper basic Shopify Lite and premium Shopify Plus plans
• Etsy has a basic free plan with no monthly subscription and an Etsy Plus plan which costs $10 per month, suitable for any small business owner on a limited budget.

We may conclude that Shopify is among the best options for small online sales businesses looking for growth and successfully establishing themselves on the online market in this Etsy vs. Shopify comparison.

While it costs more to subscribe to a Shopify plan and to use Shopify than Etsy upfront, it comes with a wide array of useful tools and apps which will allow you to grow your business and manage it successfully. 

Etsy is a popular online marketplace that is the best choice for people and small businesses looking to sell their craft or homemade goods or certain types of vintage items online. Its basic plan has no monthly subscriptions, and setting up an account on Etsy is very easy.

But if your sales volumes increase, you may start feeling the effect of the higher listing and transaction fees charged by Etsy.

Overall, in this Shopify vs. Etsy review, Shopify is the better option if you are looking for the best ecommerce platform.

But since Etsy and Shopify are so different, it is hard to recommend one for every single user and business looking for a Shopify or Etsy-like store.

If you sell homemade goods and crafts and are a small business owner, then Etsy is a better option for you.

If you are not sure who the winner in the Shopify vs. Etsy comparison is for you, you can try each out with minimal upfront payments, you can set up a free Etsy account and try it out, as well as try out the Shopify ecommerce platform for free for 14 days.

Shopify vs. Etsy FAQs

Which is the cheaper option, Shopify or Etsy?

As mentioned earlier in our detailed Shopify vs. Etsy comparison review, Etsy requires fewer upfront costs but has higher transaction fees and listing fees for each product and sale. It is a cheaper option if you have limited items to sell.

Shopify costs more per month and set up, but it allows for growth and has lower ongoing sales fees. Check our dedicated article and find out which are the best Shopify alternatives.

Why choose Etsy for selling?

Etsy is among the most popular marketplaces in the world, with more than 33 million buyers. It has massive traffic of potential buyers and ranks at the top of Google searches for hand-made and similar items. So, if you have a few craft, hand-made or vintage goods to sell, then Etsy is the perfect site to use.

Is Etsy or Shopify better for growing my business?

Shopify is the better choice for those looking to establish and scale their online eCommerce business. Thanks to its huge array of tools and apps and its scalability, Shopify is one of the best ecommerce platforms for small starting businesses and retail giants alike.