Stripe Vs Shopify: Comparison

Stripe and Shopify are popular among new business owners for their comprehensive, ready-to-use solutions for selling products or services and processing payments. Both cater primarily to eCommerce businesses but also offer features for retail enterprises. This versatility qualifies them as being among the best credit card processors for small businesses.

This article will compare Shopify’s and Stripe’s pricing and features, focusing primarily on each company’s payment processing capabilities.

At a Glance Comparison

While Stripe and Shopify both offer payment processing, Shopify also includes an extensive online store, allowing businesses to obtain every feature they need from a single vendor without having to do any programming. Stripe, however, generally allows users to custom-build their own website from scratch — something that requires significant coding experience.

Stripe Overview

Stripe Payments is ideal for an ecommerce-only business or one that only occasionally needs to accept an in-person payment. Figuring out how Stripe works and how to integrate it into your business can be challenging due to the extensive customization options available. However, newly launched businesses can use Stripe’s basic payment gateway features out of the box without the need for technical skills. To take full advantage of Stripe’s many advanced customization features, you’ll need a developer or your own coding knowledge.

Stripe offers a simple, predictable pricing structure for new businesses, but you can also obtain a customized pricing quote that will probably save you a lot of money on processing costs once your monthly processing volume reaches a higher level.

Shopify Overview

Shopify Payments — which is actually powered by Stripe — is Shopify’s built-in payment processing service. You can also use Shopify with a third-party processor of your choice. However, you’ll have to pay additional fees to Shopify for every transaction you process if you choose this option. For most small businesses, it’s easier and more affordable to stick with Shopify Payments if you’re going to sign up with Shopify.

Like Stripe, Shopify offers true month-to-month billing with no long-term commitment. While the Shopify Payments processing service is included for free with your Shopify account, Shopify itself requires a monthly subscription fee. Shopify Payments uses a flat-rate pricing plan that’s very similar to Stripe, which will make your monthly statements easy to understand and keep your overall processing costs predictable.

Where Stripe Wins

• Month-to-month billing with no long-term contracts
• No monthly account fee
• Predictable flat-rate pricing
• Support for invoicing and recurring billing
• Extensive support for international payments

Stripe excels at the sheer variety of customization options available to merchants who want a top-notch website for their business. Unlike Shopify, Stripe also offers customized pricing for high-volume businesses. This option can help lower your overall processing costs by using interchange-plus pricing instead of the standard flat-rate pricing advertised on the Stripe website.

Stripe also offers a number of features that you won’t find with Shopify, including support for ACH payment processing, invoicing features, and recurring billing support.

Where Stripe Falls Short

• Account stability issues
• Coding skills required to implement advanced customization features

As a payment service provider (PSP), Stripe offers aggregated accounts and can thus be prone to the same account stability issues that plague other PSPs like Square or PayPal. Also, Stripe isn’t as friendly to non-programmers as Shopify, and you’ll need either extensive coding skills or access to a developer to take full advantage of Stripe’s extensive variety of customization options.

Although it’s still primarily an eCommerce-oriented provider, Stripe has expanded its support for retail businesses in recent years. The company now offers both mobile card readers and traditional countertop terminals but has yet to release a full-blown POS hardware product.

Where Shopify Wins

• Month-to-month billing with no long-term contracts
• Predictable flat-rate pricing
• Full support for in-person transactions
• A broad range of third-party integrations

Unlike Stripe, Shopify offers an out-of-the-box solution for launching an online business that doesn’t require extensive coding skills. You also won’t be limited to just Shopify-branded features, as the company’s platform integrates seamlessly with a variety of third-party services.

Shopify’s support for in-person payments is also more user-friendly than Stripe’s. Card readers and terminals can be used out of the box without having to write any customized code. Shopify also offers an iPad-based POS system, although you’ll have to supply the iPad.

Where Shopify Falls Short

• Requires a monthly subscription fee
• No discounted rates for higher processing volumes
• No support for ACH payments
• No support for invoicing or recurring billing

For some small businesses, Shopify’s monthly subscription fees will make it a less-affordable option than Stripe. However, the company offers several tiers of service, allowing you to start with a more affordable plan and move up to a higher tier as your business grows. We’re also somewhat disappointed with Shopify’s lack of support for ACH payments, given how useful this payment method is for online businesses.

Shopify is also not a good option for freelancers or independent contractors, as it doesn’t offer support for invoices or recurring billing.

Stripe Vs Shopify Pricing Comparison: Processing & Software

The key difference in pricing between Stripe and Shopify is that Shopify charges a monthly subscription fee for its online store, whereas Stripe accounts come with no monthly fee. Transaction processing costs are nearly identical, although Shopify offers lower rates if you choose a more expensive monthly plan.

In determining which provider will be less expensive for your business overall, you’ll also have to factor in the cost of any optional add-ons that you need. Shopify’s monthly subscription fees aren’t cheap, but they may save you the expense of hiring a developer if you can’t customize Stripe’s many options on your own. At the same time, Stripe offers customized pricing for high-volume businesses, whereas Shopify does not. Customized pricing usually includes lower processing rates but may also come with additional monthly fees.

For more detailed pricing information, check out our complete guide to Stripe pricing.

Stripe Vs Shopify: Hardware Comparison

Although they’re both primarily e-commerce platforms, Stripe and Shopify offer hardware for accepting in-person payments.

Stripe’s system, Stripe Terminal, offers you a choice between the Stripe Reader M2, the BBPOS WisePOS E terminal, and the Stripe Reader S700 (coming soon). The Stripe Reader M2 is a battery-powered mobile card reader that connects via Bluetooth and enables mobile payments. The WisePOS E is an integrated terminal with a 5″ touchscreen that can be used as a mobile or countertop device. The new Stripe Reader S700 is an Android-based smart terminal that can run your own customized POS software. Stripe also supports Tap To Pay for both iPhones and Android devices, which allows contactless payments without the need for any additional hardware. Several other third-party devices are pre-certified to work with Stripe’s processing network. Note that with any of these choices, you’ll have to build your own checkout flow and customize it for your business.

The Shopify POS Go is a smartphone-sized mobile terminal that can also work in a countertop setting and integrates with a number of accessories, such as receipt printers. Shopify also offers the Shopify Tap & Chip Carder Reader, which can connect via Bluetooth to your smartphone or tablet. The company’s new Shopify POS Terminal can function as a standalone countertop terminal or be used in conjunction with Shopify’s iPad-based POS software through a $549 Countertop Kit (which does not include an iPad). Shopify supports Tap To Pay contactless payments, but only for iPhones at this time. Shopify’s primary advantage over Stripe is that its devices come pre-programmed and will (or at least should) work out of the box without any additional coding required.

Stripe Vs Shopify: Features Comparison

Stripe and Shopify offer fully-featured integrated payment platforms that handle all your online payment processing needs.

In terms of support for in-person transactions, however, Shopify emerges as a clear winner.

Stripe has recently begun to offer support for retail transactions, but its current Stripe Terminal service requires you to build your own customized checkout using precertified third-party card readers. On the other hand, Shopify offers mobile card readers and POS software systems that work right out of the box. With Stripe’s recent acquisition of terminal manufacturer BBPOS, we anticipate that the company will expand its in-person offerings in the near future, and these current limitations will become a thing of the past. For now, however, Shopify offers a much more convenient way to accept in-person payments.

Which Is Best For My Business?

Both Stripe and Shopify offer a lot to any e-commerce business with a retail sales channel. Both companies offer complete payment processing systems that don’t require a long-term contract and very similar pricing. Choosing between them will often come down to selecting the provider that offers the specific features your business needs the most.

We generally recommend Shopify to new business owners who need a simple, all-in-one solution to accept payments. For more sophisticated users with specialized needs, Stripe offers a more powerful and customizable platform — if you have the technical skills to take advantage of its advanced features.

In making a final decision between these two providers, consider the following:

Choose Stripe If…

Choose Shopify If…