Ginta vs Shopify
Ginta vs Shopify: do I need Shopify for a small shop?
Shopify is a full commerce platform: an online store, payments, point of sale and thousands of apps, from €19 a month. Ginta builds a small business's whole website with the shop inside it, free to start, and takes nothing from your sales. Shopify is the bigger toolbox: selling in person, digital downloads, subscriptions, PayPal and Klarna, shipping labels and live carrier rates. Ginta fits a small shop that wants a good-looking website with products, delivery and pickup, without a monthly bill to start and without setting it all up alone.
Checked on Shopify's own website on . We make Ginta.
Ginta vs Shopify at a glance
| What | Ginta | Shopify |
|---|---|---|
| Price to start selling | Free plan with the whole shop. Your own domain from €5 a month (Hosting: you build with your own Claude or ChatGPT) or €19 (Light: Ginta's AI). Prices include VAT. | Basic: €27 a month, or €19 a month paid yearly (prices shown to an EU visitor; UK £25 or £19). Grow €74 or €56, Advanced €384 or €289. |
| Free plan | Yes: up to 25 products per website with card payments, at name.ginta.page with a small “Made with Ginta” badge. Paid plans hold up to 500 products per website. | No free plan for a store: 3 days free without a card, then €1 a month for 3 months. The Starter plan isn't open to new stores. A €0 Agentic plan is for selling in AI channels. |
| Fee on each sale | 0 % on every plan. Stripe's card fee applies, paid to Stripe. | No extra fee with Shopify Payments, whose online card rate on Basic is 1.8% + €0.25 (2.9% + €0.25 for Amex and international cards). With another payment provider Shopify adds 2% on Basic, 1% on Grow, 0.6% on Advanced. |
| How buyers pay | Cards, Apple Pay and Google Pay on Stripe's checkout, into your own Stripe account. Or orders sent to you on WhatsApp. No PayPal. | Shopify Payments (41 countries): cards, Klarna, MB WAY, Bizum, USDC. PayPal as an express checkout. In person with a phone or card reader on every plan. |
| Delivery and pickup | Delivery options by country or zone: flat, by weight or by order total, free from an amount. Pickup with time slots the buyer picks. | Local delivery zones by distance or postcode (up to 10 per location, price rules), pickup in store with an estimated pickup time, shipping labels (by carrier and country). Live carrier rates from Advanced. |
| Discounts, gift cards, upsells | Every plan: discount codes, buy X get Y, automatic discounts, volume prices, sets, gift cards, cart add-ons, back-in-stock emails, product reviews. | Every plan: discount codes, gift cards, abandoned checkout recovery, email campaigns. More through thousands of apps. |
| Digital products, subscriptions | Not yet: physical products and pickup only, no subscriptions. | Yes: digital products with no extra fee, and subscriptions with Shopify's free Subscriptions app. |
| Build from Claude/ChatGPT | Yes: Ginta's MCP server (ginta.app/mcp, also in Claude's connector directory) lets Claude, ChatGPT, Claude Code, Codex or Cursor build, publish and change the site, using no Ginta credits. | Yes: official connectors for Claude and ChatGPT (and others) create a store, add products and change the design; orders are read-only. They can't change payments or domains, refund orders or edit the live theme. |
Ginta's prices include tax and are the same number in euros (eurozone) or US dollars (everywhere else). Shopify's prices can differ by country: check its pricing page before you buy.
When to pick Shopify
- You sell in person too. Every Shopify plan takes payments with a phone or card reader, and POS Pro adds staff roles and in-store stock for €79 a month per location. Ginta has no point of sale.
- Digital downloads or subscriptions. Shopify sells digital products with no extra fee, and its free Subscriptions app handles repeat orders. Ginta's Shop sells physical products and pickup only.
- PayPal or Klarna at checkout. Shopify Payments takes Klarna (and MB WAY, Bizum), and PayPal works as an express checkout. Ginta takes cards, Apple Pay and Google Pay through Stripe.
- Shipping labels and carrier rates. Shopify Shipping sells discounted labels in your admin, and Advanced shows live carrier rates at checkout. Ginta prices delivery from your own options and has no labels.
- A large catalogue and many apps. Shopify plans sell unlimited products and connect to thousands of apps. Ginta holds up to 500 products per website and has no app store.
- Selling inside AI chats. Shopify lists "Sell in AI chats" on every plan and its connectors work in Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot and more, and a €0 Agentic plan is made for selling in AI channels.
When to pick Ginta
- You want to start free and stay free. Ginta's free plan has the whole shop, up to 25 products per website, and card payments into your own Stripe account. Shopify has no free plan after its trial.
- No cut of your sales. Ginta takes 0% on every plan; buyers pay on Stripe's checkout and Stripe charges its card fee. Your own domain starts at €5 a month (with your own Claude or ChatGPT) or €19 on Light.
- A website, not only a shop. Your story, opening hours, a contact form, bookings or events next to the shop, written for you from one description. Change anything later by asking, or in the Shop's settings without the AI.
- Pickup with time slots and delivery by weight. Buyers pick a pickup day and time (with a lead time and orders per slot), and delivery can be priced by weight or order total, on every plan.
- More ways to sell on the free plan. Buy X get Y, automatic discounts, volume prices, sets, gift cards, cart add-ons, back-in-stock emails and product reviews are on every Ginta plan, Free too.
What Shopify really costs a small shop
Say you sell 20 orders of €30 a month (€600), all paid by card from Europe, on Basic paid monthly:
- Basic plan: €27 a month (€19 a month if you pay a year ahead; the first 3 months cost €1 each).
- Shopify Payments: 1.8% + €0.25 per order = €10.80 + €5.00 = €15.80.
- Total: about €42.80 a month (€34.80 on yearly billing). Amex and cards from outside Europe are 2.9% + €0.25.
- If you use another payment provider instead of Shopify Payments, Shopify adds 2% (€12 on €600) on top of that provider's own fee.
On Ginta's free plan the same shop pays Ginta nothing; Stripe charges its card fee on each order (see Stripe's pricing for your country). With your own domain, add €19 a month for Light or €5 for Hosting. Shopify's prices can differ by country; these are the euro prices its page showed on 8 November 2026.
Moving from Shopify to Ginta
Export your products from Shopify as a CSV and import it into Ginta: columns are matched for you and you see a preview first. Then connect Stripe and your domain. Ginta can also export products in Shopify's CSV format if you ever move back. What doesn't come over: customer accounts, apps, digital products and subscriptions (Ginta doesn't have them). Keep Shopify open until the new shop has taken its first order.
Sources (checked 8 November 2026)
Shopify pricing · Shopify UK pricing · Starter plan · Shopify Payments countries · PayPal on Shopify · Digital products · Shopify Subscriptions app · Local delivery · Pickup in store · Shopify Shipping · Connecting AI tools · Shopify connector for Claude · Ginta: pricing, Ginta Commerce and limits
See your website before you decide
Describe your business in one sentence and see it live in about a minute. Free to start: 25 credits when you confirm your email, then 5 a day.
Start freeQuestions
Is there a free version of Shopify?
Not for an online store. Shopify gives 3 days free without a card, then €1 a month for 3 months, then the plan's price (Basic €27 a month, or €19 a month paid yearly, as shown to an EU visitor). The old Starter plan isn't open to new stores. Ginta's free plan holds 25 products per website with card payments.
How much does Shopify take from each sale?
With Shopify Payments there's no extra transaction fee, but its card rate is its fee: 1.8% + €0.25 per online payment on Basic (2.9% + €0.25 for Amex and international cards). With another payment provider, Shopify adds 2% on Basic, 1% on Grow and 0.6% on Advanced. Ginta takes 0% on every plan; Stripe charges its own card fee.
Is Ginta cheaper than Shopify?
To start, yes: Ginta's shop is free, and its paid plans begin at €5 a month. Shopify does more for the money: in-person sales, digital products, subscriptions, PayPal, shipping labels and apps. If you need those, Shopify is worth its price.
Can I move my products from Shopify to Ginta?
Yes. Export the products CSV from Shopify and import it in Ginta's Shop: columns are matched, you see a preview first, and a product with the same name is updated instead of doubled. Customer accounts, apps and digital products don't come over.
Can I build a Shopify store from Claude or ChatGPT?
Yes. Shopify's official connectors for Claude and ChatGPT can create a store, add products and change the design; they read orders but can't refund them or change payments or domains. Ginta's MCP server lets Claude or ChatGPT build and change your whole website, shop included.
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