A Shopify alternative for businesses that sell in many channels
Shopify is a good platform and many stores start on it. This page is for merchants for whom extra fees, app costs, B2B limits or data location have started to chafe. A fair comparison, with sources.
Updated 4 November 2026
Where Shopify is strong
- A store is up quickly without technical skills.
- The app store has an add-on for almost anything.
- The standard plans (€32–384 a month) are affordable for a small store.
- Headless works with the Hydrogen framework and the GraphQL API.
If your store is small and a standard setup is enough, Shopify is often a sensible choice – and that is worth saying out loud.
Where merchants start looking for a Shopify alternative
1. A fee for using your own payment provider
If you use a provider such as Paytrail instead of Shopify Payments, Shopify takes an extra fee on sales: 2 % on Basic, 1 % on Grow, 0.6 % on Advanced and 0.2 % on Plus – on top of the provider's own fees. On €500,000 of annual sales, Grow's 1 % is €5,000 a year. KIDE takes nothing from your sales.
2. Apps add up
Multi-language, quotes, VAT number checks, product calculators and reports often come as separate apps, each with a monthly fee. On KIDE, B2B, quotes, POS, blog, gallery and newsletters are included.
3. B2B sales
Shopify opened B2B features to all plans on 2 April 2026, but with limits below Plus (e.g. at most 3 catalogs per B2B market). Quotes are not a standard feature. On KIDE, customer prices, quotes, payment by invoice and 0 % VAT on EU sales with a VIES check are built in.
4. In-store POS
Shopify POS Pro costs €79 a month per location. On KIDE the POS is part of the platform and shares stock with the web store.
5. Where the data is
Shopify stores European merchants' data in Europe by default, but transfers it to Shopify Inc. in Canada and on to the US and Singapore. On KIDE the store and database run on your own server in the EU, which matters especially in public-sector and B2B procurement.
6. Customisation and ownership
Shopify is a closed platform: you work within its limits. KIDE is built on open-source Medusa, so made-to-measure products, calculators and your own integrations can be built into the platform itself.
KIDE and Shopify side by side
| KIDE | Shopify | |
|---|---|---|
| Price / month | €500–2,000 incl. hosting and maintenance (onboarding from €3,900) | €32–384, Plus from €2,100 |
| Extra fee when you use your own payment provider | 0 % | 2 % / 1 % / 0.6 % / 0.2 % of sales by plan |
| Headless and APIs | Yes: REST Store API and Admin API, Next.js storefront | Yes: GraphQL Storefront API, Hydrogen |
| Open source | Yes (Medusa, MIT) | No |
| B2B out of the box | Customer prices, quotes, invoice and VAT 0 % with VIES check | Yes, with limits below Plus |
| In-store POS | Included | POS Pro €79 / month / location |
| Where the data is | Your own server and database in the EU | EU by default, transfers to Canada, the US and Singapore |
| Shipit shipping | Yes | Yes |
Facts from the vendors' own pricing and help pages on 4 November 2026, monthly billing. "Not stated" / "No information": the vendor does not say so publicly. Always check current terms with the vendor.
When is Shopify the better choice?
- You are just starting and the budget is under €500 a month.
- You sell in one country, in one language, with no business customers.
- You want to build and adjust the store entirely yourself with apps.
Moving from Shopify to KIDE
The move brings over products, images, customers and order history, and every old URL gets a 301 redirect so your Google rankings stay. Onboarding is a turnkey service, from €3,900 (excl. VAT). For example, LedStore moved over 21,900 orders with their history and eight country stores on their own domains from its old platform.
Read also: what headless e-commerce means and the comparison with other platforms.
Questions
What is a good Shopify alternative for a growing business?
It depends on size. For a small store, affordable SaaS platforms work well. For a growing store with B2B sales, several countries or a physical shop, KIDE offers a managed headless platform with no sales commission and data on your own EU server.
Does Shopify charge extra if I use another payment provider?
Yes. According to Shopify's pricing (4 November 2026) the fee is 2 % on Basic, 1 % on Grow, 0.6 % on Advanced and 0.2 % on Plus when you use a provider other than Shopify Payments.
Will I keep my Google rankings if I change platforms?
When every old URL is 301-redirected to the new one and content, titles and structured data are carried over, rankings are kept. KIDE onboarding includes making and checking the redirects.
See KIDE for yourself
In 30 minutes we show what your own store would look like on KIDE and what moving it would take.