Stan Store vs Shopify: Which Platform is Best for You?

When choosing an eCommerce platform, Stan Store and Shopify are two of the most popular options. Both have their own features and benefits for different types of online businesses but knowing the differences will help you make a decision

In this post, BSS Commerce Shopify will break down Stan Store vs Shopify into ease of use, customization, pricing, support and more. By the end of this comparison, you’ll know which platform is best for your business.

Now, let’s get started!

Stan Store vs Shopify – At a Glance

Below is a brief overview of Stan Store vs Shopify to assist you in making a decision:

Criteria	Stan Store	Shopify
Definition	A comprehensive platform enabling creators to market digital goods and merchandise on various social media platforms.	All-in-one eCommerce platform designed for creating and managing online stores.
Rating	4.1/5 (Trustpilot)	4.4/5 (G2)
Target audience	Content creators and self-employed professionals offering digital products and services such as memberships, online courses and ebooks.	Established online businesses & entrepreneurs selling physical & digital products

Overview of Stan Store

Stan Store was founded by John Hu in 2019. As a TikTok creator himself, John created Stan Store to make selling online easy for those who don’t have coding skills or design knowledge. Stan Store is for creators who rely on their social media audience for sales. Instead of creating a separate website and SEO it, creators can focus on engaging with their social media followers and show their products on their profile page with a link.

Stan Store is Best for

Choose Stan Store if you:

• Are a creator selling digital products and services
• Need a simple, ready-made storefront
• Focus most of your marketing efforts on social media where simplicity is key
• Have basic selling needs without complex features
• Have a limited budget with low transaction volume
• Are just starting out and want an easy to use platform.

Pros and Cons of Stan Store

Pros:

• The dashboard and setup of Stan Store is user friendly for all tech levels so entrepreneurs can focus on their business not the software.
• Stan Store has modern and customizable templates that can fit any branding needs so businesses can have a consistent and professional online presence.
• Stan Store’s commitment to support means you can get help when you need it and that means less downtime.

Cons:

• Stan Store has fewer app integrations than Shopify so if you need extensive automations and integrations that can be a drawback.
• The advanced features require a big jump in pricing which may not be suitable for all businesses especially small ones with limited budget.

Overview of Shopify

Shopify was founded by Tobias Lütke, Daniel Weinand and Scott Lake in 2006. Shopify is an eCommerce platform where business owners can create and manage their online stores. It has all the tools for inventory, shipping, advertising and customer support. One of the good thing about Shopify is you don’t need to be computer expert especially those who are not web developer.

Shopify is Best for

Choose Shopify if you:

• Sell physical and digital products (services, e-books and online courses).
• Need a platform that can grow with your business.
• Want multiple third-party integrations and apps.
• Need advanced SEO and marketing tools.
• Want to sell on multiple platforms aside from your website, Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest.

>> Explore more related topics:

• Shopify vs Paypal
• Shopify Payments vs Stripe
• Shopify vs Own Website

Pros and Cons of Shopify

Pros

• Easy to use: Simple interface and design tools to get an online store up and running fast.
• Thousands of integrations: Over 8,000 apps to add custom features and functionality to your site.
• 24/7 support: 24/7 support via email, live chat and phone.
• Cart recovery: Every plan has cart recovery so customers who left items in their cart will be prompted to complete purchase.
• Shipping discounts: Shopify plans have competitive shipping rates with discounts of up to 88% from DHL Express, USPS and UPS.
• Multiple selling options: Sell online or in-person through your store, social channels, blog, online marketplaces or in retail stores with Shopify POS.

Cons

• Expensive plans: Top tier plans are more expensive than Squarespace and Wix.
• Blogging limitations: While Shopify is great for online sales, blogging and content marketing features are not as strong as WordPress and Squarespace.
• High transaction fees: Although there are no transaction fees with Shopify Payments, using a third-party payment provider incurs a 0.5% to 2% transaction fee.

Comprehensive Comparison: Stan Store vs Shopify

Here’s a comparison table of Stan Store vs Shopify:

Criteria	Stan Store	Shopify
Pricing and Plans	Creator for $29 per month or $300 per year Creator Pro for $99 per month or $948 per year (Save 20% if you pay annually)	Shopify Starter ($5 USD per month) Basic ($25 USD per month) – Best for solo entrepreneurs (Most Popular) – Card rates starting at – 2% 3rd-party payment providers Shopify ($65 USD per month) – Best for small teams (Card rates starting at – 1% 3rd-party payment providers) Advanced ($399 USD per month) – Best for large-scale businesses (Card rates starting at – 0.6% 3rd-party payment providers) Shopify Plus (from $2,300 USD per month on a 3-year term) – For more complex businesses (Card rates – Competitive rates for high-volume merchants) Enterprise (custom pricing) – For the titans of business (Save 25% if you pay annually)
eCommerce Features	Stan Store provides a straightforward platform for establishing an online store, equipped with essential eCommerce functionalities for selling digital products.	Shopify enables the creation of comprehensive product pages designed to educate and encourage customers to include items in their shopping carts.
Marketing Tools	Stan Store offers essential marketing tools, including affiliate links, designed to enhance engagement and drive additional sales.	Shopify allows you to generate discount codes directly within its platform, helping to draw in more customers and elevate your sales figures.
Easy to Start	Stan Store offers an intuitive interface with pre-designed templates that allow for a quick start.	Shopify features a drag-and-drop functionality, making it easy to build a professional online store without any coding knowledge.
Customer Support	The support system includes a knowledge base, email assistance, and possibly restricted live chat options. Limited resources tailored specifically to Stan Store. Response times may differ based on the chosen support channel.	A comprehensive knowledge base, email assistance, round-the-clock live chat support, and telephone support are available. There is a vast collection of tutorials, guides, and webinars focused on Shopify. The response times are typically quicker owing to a more extensive support team.
Theme & Customization	Theme: Limited selection of pre-designed themes Customization: User-friendly pre-designed templates that are incredibly easy to use.	Theme: Shopify theme store collection featuring diverse styles and functionalities, comprising approximately 200 premium themes and 13 free themes. Customization: There is a steep learning curve for advanced customization, however, the user-friendly drag-and-drop interface makes basic edits simple and intuitive.
Apps & Integrations	Stan Store subscription plan offers 5 apps at no extra charge	The Shopify App Store is renowned for its extensive and varied collection of over 8,000 pre-built applications that serve a wide range of categories.
Scalability	Limited scalability for businesses requiring advanced features or selling physical products	Highly scalable, can accommodate growing businesses

 

Pricing and Plans

Stan Store – Pricing & Plans

Stan Store’s pricing is transparent with no hidden fees or transaction costs. Stan Store offers 2 pricing plans:

• Creator for $29/month or $300/year: Our Creator plan is the perfect place to start and has everything you need and more to get your Creator Business up and running!
• Creator Pro for $99/month or $948/year: The Creator PRO plan is for those Creators who want to take their business to the next level. This advanced plan has advanced tools to boost conversions, refine your product range and engage with customers through flexible payment options.

The Creator Pro plan stands out as the most sought-after option. Priced at $99 USD per month, it encompasses all features of the Creator plan along with additional benefits such as:

• Email Marketing
• Unlimited Funnels
• Discount Codes and Upsell Offers
• Offer Payment Plans
• Affiliate Payments
• Pixel Tracking

For individuals looking to reduce expenses, Stan Store provides a 20% discount on all annual subscriptions.

Shopify – Pricing & Plans

Shopify provides more diverse plans to cater to different sizes of businesses: Basic, Shopify, and Advanced. If you choose to pay annually, the cost of Shopify varies from $19 USD to $299 USD per month – selecting the yearly plan over monthly can result in a 25% savings.

• Shopify Starter ($5 USD per month)
• Basic ($25 USD per month) – Best for solo entrepreneurs (Most Popular)
  Card rates starting at – 2% 3rd-party payment providers
• Shopify ($65 USD per month) – Best for small teams
  Card rates starting at – 1% 3rd-party payment providers
• Advanced ($399 USD per month) – Best for large-scale businesses
  Card rates starting at – 0.6% 3rd-party payment providers
• Shopify Plus (from $2,300 USD per month on a 3-year term) – For more complex businesses
  Card rates – Competitive rates for high-volume merchants
• Enterprise (custom pricing) – For the titans of business

While Shopify does not offer a free plan, it does provide a brief 3-day free trial. Although this duration may not allow for a comprehensive exploration of the platform’s tools and features, you can benefit from Shopify’s introductory promotion, which allows you to start your first month for only $1.

Additionally, third-party transaction fees must be paid if Shopify Payments is not used:

• 2% for Basic Plan
• 1% for Shopify Plan
• 0.6% for Advanced Plan
• Credit card rates begin at 2.5% + 30¢ USD per online transaction.
• Additional costs for paid apps and themes.

The Final Verdict: Stan Store is the ideal choice for merchants looking to cut down on expenses, as it eradicates transaction fees and does not levy any extra charges. On the other hand, Shopify is the top contender for those in need of a fully functional online store with great potential for growth and a wide range of features for marketing and inventory management with reasonable pricing, but you need to pay third-party transaction fees if Shopify Payments is not used and additional costs for paid apps and themes.

eCommerce Features

The highlight features of the selected platform significantly influence your capacity to manage and execute sales. Here’s a breakdown of Stan Store vs Shopify’s eCommerce features:

Stan Store – eCommerce Features

• Shipping: None (digital only).
• Payment options: Limited options (uses Stripe for payments).
• Selling features: Basic product management including coupons and discounts.
• Inventory management: None (digital products only).
• Analytics: Basic sales data and customer insights.

Shopify – eCommerce Features

• Shipping: Integrated shipping rate calculation along with compatibility with leading carriers.
• Payment options: Multiple payment gateways, including Shopify Payments with lower transaction fees.
• Selling features: Full product management, including bundles and subscriptions, discount codes and promotions.
• Inventory management: Inventory management system to track stock and physical products.
• Analytics: Sales reports, customer behavior tracking and marketing analytics.

The Final Verdict: Selling Stan Store vs Shopify for digital products is highly recommended. But for physical products and businesses that need more advanced features, Shopify is the way to go.

Marketing Tools

Marketing serves as the essential foundation for any online business. Let’s briefly explore how Shopify vs Stan Store allow you to connect with your target audience effectively:

Stan Store – Marketing Tools

• Email marketing: Offers minimal native features, necessitating the use of integrations.
• Campaign and marketing integration: Provides restricted capabilities for overseeing marketing campaigns.
• SEO features: Basic optimization for product listings is available.
• Third-party marketing applications: Limited integration options with third-party apps.

Shopify – Marketing Tools

• Email Marketing: Integrated tools for designing and dispatching email campaigns.
• Campaign and Marketing Integration: Comprehensive app store connectivity with numerous marketing tools and campaign management systems, including Online Store, Shop, Facebook Buy Button, Instagram, and Shopify Inbox.
• SEO Capabilities: Integrated SEO tools and app connections to enhance your store’s visibility in search results.
• Third-Party Marketing Applications: A large app store featuring over 1,300 marketing applications for email marketing, social media promotion, analytics, and additional functionalities.

The Final Verdict: Shopify stands out as the leader in marketing tools. Its integrated features and wide range of app integrations provide a robust set of resources for designing and implementing effective marketing strategies.

>> Read more: Shopify SEO Checklist: Optimize Your Store

Easy to Start

Stan Store – Easy to Start

Upon registering for a free trial, you will need to create a username that will be added into your store’s URL. While you can change this username later, it is advisable to select one that reflects your brand and is easy for customers to remember.

After your account is established, you will be taken to the Stan Store dashboard, where you will need to upload a profile picture, connect your social media accounts, and configure your payment methods. The platform accepts both Stripe and PayPal.

With your account fully configured, you can begin adding products:

Step 1. Go to My Store on the Dashboard

Step 2. Click Add Product

Step 3. Choose product type (e.g. Coaching Call, Digital Product, or URL)

Step 4. Enter product title and subtitle and optional image and button text

Step 5. Enter product description

Step 6. Set price

Step 7. What info do you want buyers to submit (e.g. email or other contact details)

Step 8. Upload product or link

Step 9. Click Publish when you’re done.

Congratulations, your product is now live!

Shopify – Easy to Start

To get started with Shopify sign up for a free trial and go to the Shopify Admin. Upon signing up your store will be set up with a default theme. If you want to choose a different free website themes for Shopify from the options, follow these steps:

Step 1. Go to Online Store > Themes

Step 2. Scroll down to “Free themes” and click “Explore free themes”

Step 3. Click a theme to see a preview and if you like it click “Add to apply”

Shopify also has premium themes that can be purchased from the Theme Store.

Once you’ve chosen your store’s design you can add your first product.

Step 1. Go to Products and click on the products page

Step 2. Click Add product

Step 3. Enter product title, description and any other details (weight, dimensions)

Step 4. Enter price and shipping information

Step 5. Click Save product

You can repeat this procedure for any additional products you wish to add.

The Final Verdict: When it comes to simplicity and ease of initiation, Stan Store is the clear winner. On the other hand, Shopify provides greater potential for expansion. Although establishing a fully operational store may demand more initial effort, Shopify’s comprehensive resources, robust support network, and user-friendly interface position it as a formidable platform for individuals ready to dedicate time to learning.

Customer Support

Stan Store – Customer Support

Use the Stan Store knowledge base for most of your questions; but finding the support team contact info can be hard. The ‘Still need help?’ at the bottom of the knowledge base icons doesn’t work as a live link, so when you try to find the email for billing or general account questions it can get frustrating.

The platform does offer email support but no guarantees on response times. Most reviews for Stan Store are positive and praise the customer service once you get in touch with an agent, but some lower tier users are unhappy with the difficulty of getting to a human support rep and slow response times.

Shopify – Customer Support

All Shopify customers including Basic tier customers get 24/7 chat support. Plus the website has a huge collection of how-to guides that covers technical issues and general ecommerce topics to help sellers succeed with their stores.

The Final Verdict: Shopify’s customer support is top notch with lots of resources, multiple support channels and fast response times for all levels of users.

Themes & Customization

Stan Store – Theme & Customization

Stan Store provides a user-friendly design interface for customizing fonts and colors. The extent of customization options offered by Stan Store is contingent upon the type of account you possess. You cam modify the store’s colors and theme within specific parameters, as well as make decisions regarding the appearance of each product on the page.

In general, the customization choices are somewhat restricted. The idea behind the platform is that your page should look like it’s a part of the social media platform the visitor came from. Consequently, the layouts tend to have a similar look. While you can alter the fonts, colors, and background images, it remains evident that the underlying page belongs to Stan Store.

Shopify – Themes & Customization

Shopify’s wide array of free themes and premium options available in the marketplace should cater to most users’ requirements, with themes offering numerous customization features such as color schemes, typography, border styles, product card designs, and more.

Besides, the Shopify theme system uses a language known as liquid, allowing for extensive customization of your store’s appearance if you are well-versed in this language. Liquid has a steep learning curve, and due to its proprietary nature, finding individuals familiar with it may be challenging (unlike HTML and CSS used by platforms like WooCommerce).

The Final Verdict: Shopify is the top choice for merchants who value design flexibility and branding opportunities, while Stan Store is a suitable option for those in need of simpler design solutions and basic customization features.

App & Integrations

Stan Store – Apps & Integration

• Total applications available: Limited selection of integrations
• Diversity of categories: Emphasizes the integration of social media and fundamental features.
• Application setup procedure: Generally straightforward

Shopify – App & Integration

• Total applications available: Vast app store with over 8,000 applications.
• Diversity of categories: Broad selection of categories such as marketing, sales, shipping, fulfillment, customer support, analytics, design, and additional options.
• Application setup procedure: Simple installation process via the Shopify app store.

The Final Verdict:

For Fundamental Requirements: If your requirements are straightforward and you prefer a more uncomplicated setup, Stan Store could be adequate. It offers all the essential integrations needed to operate a conventional online store without excessive complications.

For Custom Requirements: Shopify is the clear choice if you require a broad array of integrations. Its capability to link with thousands of applications allows for extensive customization of your store to address specific needs. This makes Shopify particularly suitable for businesses aiming for growth or those that require specialized tools to enhance their operations.

Scalability

Stan Store – Scalability

• Infrastructure scalability: Limited scalability for businesses with high transaction volumes.
• Global reach: Basic support for global sales initiatives.
• Customer base expansion: Insufficient features for effectively managing extensive customer bases.
• Support for high-volume sales: Potential challenges in handling elevated order quantities.
• Flexibility and customization: Restricted options for customization to accommodate future development.
• Ease of international expansion: Necessitates extra configuration for international sales operations.

Shopify – Scalability

• Infrastructure scalability: A strong infrastructure built to support substantial sales and an increasing number of customers.
• Global reach: A wide array of features for managing global sales, including support for multiple currencies and tailored storefronts for different regions.
• Customer base expansion: Tools for segmenting customer demographics, developing loyalty programs, and automating marketing strategies to reach a broader audience.
• Support for high-volume sales: Designed to efficiently manage a high number of transactions.
• Flexibility and customization: A customizable platform that can adjust to your changing business demands.
• Ease of international expansion: Efficient features that aid in expanding into international markets.

The Final Verdict: Shopify is the ideal choice for those prioritizing long-term growth and scalability. Its extensive array of features and integrations is designed to support a business as it evolves through various stages of development.

FAQs – Stan Store vs Shopify

1. Can I sell digital products or services on Stan Store and Shopify?

Yes. Both Stan Store vs Shopify allow you to sell digital products and services. Shopify also allows you to sell physical products with extra features for inventory and shipping.

2. Which one is better for growing businesses?

Stan Store vs Shopify, both are good for growing businesses; but Shopify is more known for its scalability features and many applications so it’s suitable for all kinds of businesses.

3. Are there any discounts for new users on Shopify and Stan Store?

Both Shopify and Stan Store have discounts for new users.

• Shopify has a 1-month trial for $1 so users can try the platform and its features before choosing a paid plan.
• Stan Store has 14 days free trial and occasional discounts for new users.

4. Stan Store integrates with Shopify?

No. Stan Store and Shopify are two separate platforms and don’t have direct integration. You need to choose one platform to manage your store.

5. How many products can I add in Stan Store?

There’s no limit to the number of products you can add in a Stan Store. But to increase conversion rate, it’s recommended to limit to 4-5 products. If your store page requires too much scrolling to view all the products, you might be losing sales.