A Definitive Comparison (October 2024)

After running extensive testing on Stan Store and Shopify over a few weeks, it’s clear that each platform caters to different audiences, and there are many differences. 

Stan Store is most suitable for influencers and creators who are mostly interested in selling subscriptions, digital products, and services to their social media audiences. The notable strengths are ease of use and easy integration with various social media platforms. It’s perfect for those of you who don’t want to be pulling your hair out dealing with a technical or complicated setup process. 

In comparison, Shopify is the go-to option for businesses who want extensive customization options and don’t mind dealing with a learning curve. It is also a good choice for businesses that have physical locations and want a plethora of features to scale their operation to new heights. 

However, both platforms lack the sweet spot of offering a large number of useful features without being too complicated. For that reason, I’ve included Sellfy, since it offers the best of both worlds. You get a simple start-up process that allows you to put your website in front of customers in under 10 minutes, and there’s a complete range of product types: digital, physical, subscriptions, and print-on-demand. Combine this with their impressive marketing features, and you have an all-in-one eCommerce platform that is approachable for any business owner without overwhelming them. 

Let’s take a closer look at Stan Store vs Shopify vs Sellfy, so you can make up your own mind. Here are the main areas where they differ:

1. Creating an online store
2. Marketing and eCommerce features
3. Customization and design
4. Pricing and transaction fees

Additionally, I’ll talk about the ease of use, customer support, and other features in the comparison table below to present you with a detailed look at every platform. 

What Is Stan Store?

“Create, connect, and sell—all in one place” 🔗🛒

Stan Store, launched in 2022, is a relatively new player in the eCommerce space, but it’s already attracted over 100,000 creators. It’s designed to help users sell digital products like PDFs, guides, templates, exclusive content, and eBooks, and it offers a handy link-in-bio feature for social media. However, they don’t really support physical products, which greatly reduces the scope of the eCommerce selling solution.  

Furthermore, it’s targeted toward content creators and influencers by promising simplicity and ease of use. I’ll take a close look at this aspect of Stan Store to assess if it’s really that user-friendly. 

You’ll find that Stan Store offers an array of handy features, which include anything from basic analytics tools to social media integration. Creating the store requires no coding, and you can set up a 1-tap checkout solution to boost conversion rates. 

After getting hands-on with Stan Store, I feel that it’s best for small business owners, influencers and content creators. The ease of use is ideal for this group of people. However, the lack of advanced features and customization means it’s not a good option for medium to large businesses. You’ll need a more comprehensive eCommerce package when looking to scale.

What Is Shopify? 

“Empowers advanced users with customization overload 💪✨

Shopify is a trusted eCommerce platform that enables businesses and individuals to create and manage online stores. Launched in 2006, it offers a comprehensive suite of tools that allow users to set up their websites, manage products, process payments, and track orders.

Additionally, Shopify supports both physical and digital products, and integrates with various payment gateways, including Shopify Payments, PayPal, and others. The platform offers a wide range of customizable themes, apps, and tools to enhance the store’s functionality. Noteworthy examples include inventory management, marketing tools, and customer support options. 

For these reasons, Shopify is a solid choice for entrepreneurs and businesses due to its robust set of tools and features. However, the overall complexity of the platform can be a hurdle for beginners or those without technical knowledge. For instance, to get the most out of the available themes, coding skills sometimes are required. 

What is Sellfy?

“Your one-stop shop for effortless online sales” 🛒✨

Sellfy is an all-in-one eCommerce platform designed for creators and growing businesses to sell digital products, physical goods, and subscriptions. Launched in 2011, it simplifies the process of setting up an online store by being user-friendly, making it accessible to beginners and seasoned sellers alike. 

Additionally, Sellfy offers useful eCommerce features like customizable storefronts, secure payment processing, email marketing, and other built-in marketing features. It also integrates with social media platforms, websites, and blogs making it ideal for creators looking to monetize their content and engage directly with their audience.

Finally, the minimalist yet effective platform is ideal for established businesses and new creators who want to start selling online. And here’s the best part: I managed to build a store in as little as 10 minutes and started generating sales soon after. All I had to do was upload a product, choose a store theme, and connect my preferred payment method, which is PayPal. It’s really that easy!

Stan Store vs Shopify vs Sellfy: Creating an online store

While Shopify offers the most features, there’s an unnecessary amount of complexity that you won’t find at Stan Store or Sellfy, with the latter, hitting the sweet spot for all-in-one use while delivering an optimized experience, hence, Sellfy offers several product categories and marketing channels without overwhelming you. 

Shopify and Sellfy are all-in-one eCommerce platforms, while Stan Store is more of a link-in-bio feature

Choosing an all-in-one eCommerce platform is ideal since there’s no need to look for extra services elsewhere. Imagine paying for an eCommerce store only to have to hunt down a theme from a third-party service—that’s not exactly a consumer-friendly approach. Thankfully, Sellfy offers a wide range of built-in customization options and themes, making it easy for creators to set up a visually appealing and highly functional digital storefront, all in one place.

Likewise, Shopify also offers the complete package since you can access a wide range of features through the app integration store. We’ll cover this in more detail further on in this comparison guide. 

In comparison, Stan Store is more of a monetization platform that offers a digital destination to convert users from social media profiles. Therefore, the lack of depth in the eCommerce toolset is somewhat limiting for many use cases. While Stan Store is a growing eCommerce solution, it’s still relatively small, and its offering for serious online sellers reflects this in its narrow approach to focusing on link-in-bio functionality. 

Stan Store and Sellfy have a straightforward setup, while Shopify has a steep learning curve

Do you want to skip the technical jargon, avoid complexity, and simply build a fully functional digital store without a massive learning curve? Then Stan Store or Sellfy are hands down the better option.

Shopify can be complicated to set up due to its vast array of features, themes, and customization options. Also, navigating its multiple settings, integrating third-party apps, configuring payment gateways, and understanding SEO or marketing tools may overwhelm beginners. Hence, you’ll need considerably more time or spend extra money to outsource the setup process to a professional. 

Whereas, getting started with Sellfy is a lot smoother. It’s not more complicated than creating a new social media account. The user-friendly onboarding process guides you step-by-step, presenting options at each stage without overwhelming you with too many choices. 

Additionally, the all-in-one approach means there’s no need for overcomplicated stuff like integrating apps. Everything is built-in, even services like print-on-demand.  

Likewise, Stan Store takes pride in its ability to offer an eCommerce platform that requires no training. It might be light on the features unless you decide to upgrade to a higher plan, but it’s a dream come true for users who have no desire to get bogged down by complications. 

Shopify and Sellfy support more advanced product management, while Stan Store is better for simpler setups

Advanced product management is a game-changer for business owners who want to scale. Shopify supports features like bulk editing, inventory tracking, variant options, and customizable product attributes. 

Similarly, Sellfy offers features like unlimited product uploads, digital and physical product handling, and product variant options.  It also supports subscription products and offers built-in marketing tools for upselling and promoting products. Additionally, you can embed products in various places to boost sales. 

I enjoyed this feature since I had the freedom to sell products in more creative ways. For example, I got a chance to make the most of my YouTube audience by embedding products to get extra sales. 

In comparison, offers a few useful product management features like the ability to sell a variety of digital products (downloads, courses, subscriptions), and unlimited funnels on their premium package. 

However, their offering is limited to basic product listings and digital-only product handling. Hence, it also lacks inventory tracking, bulk editing, and customizable product options. I found that selling on Stan Store was less intuitive, and I had to rely on third-party tools like Pacvue Commerce for inventory management. Ultimately, this meant I had to spend extra on buying solutions I felt should already be included. 

Stans Store and Sellfy are targeted at digital creators, while Shopify goes beyond

Does your audience mostly consist of digital creators? Then Stan Store and Sellfy offer the right features to capitalize on this target market. However, selling digital products at Sellfy is better because it offers improved scalability due to the higher digital download limit. 

Sellfy allows you to enjoy a digital download cap of 20GB and upload up to 50 files at once, while at Stan Store it’s just 4GB. I found Sellfy’s cap to be the sweet spot for my store since I never ran out. Hitting the cap would mean a loss of sales, which is the last thing I want when growing an online store. 

In comparison, Shopify is designed for bigger businesses and therefore supports more options to sell in different product categories. However, it’s not as streamlined as Sellfy. For example, you’ll need to use an app to sell digital products on Shopify. This is required to provide the download link, and I found this extra step to be a nuisance. 

Completing the same steps at Sellfy was significantly faster and uncomplicated. The user interface is straightforward and intuitive, so there was no need to look at a guide or learn through trial and error.

Stan Store vs Shopify vs Sellfy: Marketing and eCommerce tools

The plethora of built-in marketing tools at Sellfy and Shopify are impressive and help build your ideal store, even though Shopify has a far less intuitive app integration system; Stan Store lacks many features since it is narrowly focused on social media content creators. 

Stan Store is easy to use, Shopify offers more eCommerce features, but Sellfy gives both

I started my comparison of the eCommerce features with Stan Store and was pleasantly surprised with the ease of use. Setting up a store as a creator to target social media audiences was easy — especially because of the link-in-bio feature.

However, I was quickly disappointed with the lack of other features that you would expect from an eCommerce sales platform in 2024. It didn’t offer me inventory management product variations or marketing tools. 

Then I tried Shopify next and was glad to see that the missing features above were all present. However, I often felt confused about how to proceed and spent more time navigating through menus than I would have liked. It blocked my creativity and felt like an uphill battle to create my first store.

Finally, I tried Sellfy and was pleasantly surprised that the benefits of both services were merged into one package here. I instantly felt the intuitive nature of the optimized UI, such as the space-saving drop-down menus on the left-hand side navigation, while accessing every feature I needed to set up my eCommerce store. 

Shopify offers app integrations, Sellfy has all the built-in tools you need, but Stan Store lacks both

Shopify has an endless number of customization options through its app integration system.  This flexibility allows everything from adding enhanced customer support to selling printable items, making it a highly customizable experience that advanced users will appreciate.

However, while many of them are free, some of the best ones require payment, such as Matrixify, which I needed for bulk product imports and exports. This didn’t feel intuitive to use and slowed down my progress, as I found myself constantly searching through the extensive menu just to find what I needed. 

In contrast, you’ll appreciate the all-in-one approach of Sellfy where all the tools you need are in-house. This includes built-in marketing tools such as email marketing, discount codes, upselling, cart abandonment emails, and affiliate marketing. This range of marketing tools gives you more options to increase sales and there’s no need to look for third-party tools offering the same functionality. 

You can craft, send, and manage email within the Sellfy dashboard without the need to pay for or connect to a third-party service. 

Finally, Stan Store lacks some of these features, and notable ones like email marketing and discount codes are only available on the premium Creator Pro plan. In comparison, at Sellfy you can access these features on the cheapest plan. 

Stan store is perfect for social media with seamless link-in-bio integration

Social media content creators who want to avoid complicated or technical eCommerce setups will feel at home with Stan Store. It offers a simple link-in-bio feature, which allows you to convert audiences. Hence, you can sell digital products directly from social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok. 

Furthermore, you can use identical functionality at Sellfy and Shopify for the same purposes. In fact, Shopify offers specific plans for influencers that come at an extra cost. In comparison, you can enjoy these features with the cheapest Sellfy plan.

Stan Store vs Shopify vs Sellfy: Customization and design

The advanced customization options of Shopify and Sellfy give you the tools to make a unique standalone store, while Stan Store is only applicable to social media content creators who aren’t interested in shaping the look of their digital storefront.

Stan Store’s design is minimalistic, while Shopify and Sellfy offer more creative control

Having creative control over your eCommerce store is key to standing out from the crowd. Unfortunately, Stan Store is lacking in this department. That’s because it has a simple focus of helping content creators generate sales from social media sales pages. That’s it! 

Shopify is a robust eCommerce platform that offers many themes and customization options. You choose a theme and start selling, or use the advanced customization options to make your store look unique.

However, the themes at Shopify are expensive, charging you anywhere from $100 to $500+. In comparison, When using Sellfy I wasn’t charged extra for themes. This allowed me to test different designs without getting out my credit card. 

Stan Store’s design caters to quick social media sales, while Shopify and Sellfy focus on full web stores

The idea at Stan Store is to generate social media sales as quickly as possible. If this is your goal, then great. For the rest of us, we’re stuck with a limited eCommerce store that hinders what customers we can target.

Shopify and Sellfy offer a more robust customization arsenal to bring your creative vision to life. Both eCommerce solutions empower you to create a standalone web store. For instance, Sellfy allows you to fully customize the checkout page to reduce your cart abandonment rate, which is at an average of 70% industry-wide. 

I tried using the dashboard to modify the page for myself, and it wasn’t as complicated as I feared. You can drag and drop different elements and preview the end result. 

Stan Store vs Shopify vs Sellfy: Transaction fees and pricing

Stan Store and Sellfy don’t have ongoing fees, while Shopify charges a transaction fee unless you use Shopify payments, but all platforms offer a tiered pricing structure, and only Shopify and Sellfy offer annual subscriptions to save money.

All three platforms offer tiered pricing based on features and scaling

Taking pricing into account when choosing a platform to sell products is important since it can significantly impact your bottom line. 

All three platforms provide tiered pricing, but the number of tiers differs. Firstly, Stan Store offers the lowest tiers at just two. You can choose from the Creator or Creator Pro plan. The cheaper one is ideal for smaller content creators with a basic approach to converting their audience. However, you’ll soon want to upgrade since noteworthy features like email marketing and offering discount codes are locked behind the premium plan. 

In comparison, Shopify has the highest number of pricing plans at four. This includes Basic, Shopify, Advanced, and Plus. The platform does a good job of explaining what type of business is most suited for each one, thereby making it easier to choose the right option.

It’s unfortunate that to enjoy lower card rates, you need to sign up for a more expensive plan. It’s the small and new businesses that have the hardest time squeezing out a margin.

Finally, Sellfy offers three pricing plans: Starter, Business, and Premium. You get the majority of the features on the cheapest tier, which is a core strength at Sellfy. This means new businesses aren’t pressured into choosing a more expensive plan at the start. 

Shopify charges transaction fees unless using Shopify Payments, while Sellfy and Stan Store don’t

The pricing plans at Stan Store and Sellfy have no hidden or ongoing charges. You pay a monthly or annual fee and enjoy the features. 

There are always extras you can buy, such as third-party integrations, but eCommerce platforms like Sellfy make it easy to avoid additional costs by offering all features in-house. 

On the other hand, Shopify charges an ongoing fee for transactions, effectively taking a percentage of your sales, and it’s pricier on the cheaper plans. The only caveat is that you won’t get charged a transaction fee when using Shopify Payments.

Sellfy offers the best value for money

Stan Store offers decent value for money since the cheaper plan offers basic features for those getting started. It’s ideal for small creators who want to dip their toes in the world of entrepreneurship. 

However, they may face obstacles to bringing their vision to life, because the premium plan lacks the depth of features you’ll find elsewhere. Although, the value isn’t bad since there are no ongoing or hidden fees. 

In comparison, Shopify offers the features that businesses need to scale such as 10 inventory locations and localized global selling with every plan. However, the most expensive plans are very pricey, and there are ongoing processing fees when not using Shopify Payments. This makes it harder to determine the value since the costs are unpredictable. 

Finally, Sellfy provides three pricing tiers that are the sweet spot in terms of pricing. You’ll have access to the most features on the cheapest plan. Once you hit this threshold, you’ll upgrade. Hence, you only pay more when your business grows. 

This alleviates the feeling of FOMO that other eCommerce platforms give due to locking important features at higher prices. At Sellfy every plan includes unlimited products, store analytics, different product types (digital, physical, subscription, print-on-demand), and custom domains. 

Stan Store vs Shopify vs Sellfy: Pros & Cons

Stan Store vs Shopify vs Sellfy: Final verdict

Stan Store is ideal for influencers and creators who want a simple way to begin generating income from their social media profiles, due to its focus on offering a link-in-bio feature without added complexity. In comparison, Shopify is great for larger businesses that are willing to pay extra for integrations and don’t mind the ongoing transaction fees. Finally, Sellfy hits the sweet spot in a lot of categories by positioning itself as an all-in-one eCommerce platform without the complexity or expensive pricing of comparable platforms. 

Use Stan Store if:

• You’re an influencer or social media content creator. 
• You want social media integrations that are simple to understand. 
• Having a link-in-bio tool is a bigger priority than an eCommerce platform.

Use Shopify if:

• You don’t mind dealing with a long learning curve. 
• Are willing to pay ongoing transaction fees or use their in-house payments platform. 
• You want access to a large library of app integrations. 

Use Sellfy if:

• You want to sell a range of product types as a small business, entrepreneur or content creator. 
• Don’t want to deal with a long learning curve or complicated features. 
• You need access to marketing tools to grow your business.