Shopify or ShopToWay? What a small Indian shop should compare
November 4, 2026
If you want to sell online in India, Shopify is usually the first name you hear. It is a big, powerful platform used by brands around the world. But a powerful tool is not always the right tool for a small shop that sells mostly through WhatsApp and Instagram. Here is a plain look at what to compare before you choose.
What Shopify offers
Shopify lets you build a full online store with themes, a product catalogue, checkout and an app store for extra features. On its India pricing page today, Shopify lists four plans: Basic, Grow, Advanced and Plus. It offers a 3-day free trial, followed by a low-cost introductory offer for the first three months.
Shopify is a good fit if you plan to grow into a large brand, sell in many countries, or need advanced features like detailed reports, many staff accounts or custom apps.
The cost most people miss: transaction fees
The monthly plan price is only part of the cost. Shopify’s own payment system, Shopify Payments, is not available to Indian merchants, so Indian stores collect payments through a third-party gateway such as Razorpay or PayU.
When you use a third-party gateway, Shopify charges its own fee on each sale, on top of what the gateway charges. According to Shopify’s India pricing page, this fee is:
- 2% on the Basic plan
- 1% on the Grow plan
- 0.6% on the Advanced plan
- 0.2% on the Plus plan
So on the Basic plan, a ₹1,000 order paid online can cost you ₹20 to Shopify plus the gateway’s own fee. For a small shop with thin margins, this adds up over a month of orders. Paid themes and paid apps can add more.
Questions to ask before you choose
Instead of asking “which platform is best?”, ask which one fits the way you sell today.
- Where do your customers come from? If most of them find you on WhatsApp or Instagram, you mainly need a clean shop link they can open on a phone.
- How do they pay? Indian customers often want UPI or cash on delivery. Check that both are easy to set up.
- What will you pay per order? Add the platform fee, the payment gateway fee and any app costs. Work it out for a normal month, not just the first month.
- Who will run it? If you will manage the shop yourself from your phone, a simpler dashboard saves time every day.
- Do you need more than a shop? Some businesses need a services website or a portfolio, not a product store.
How ShopToWay is different
ShopToWay is built for small businesses in India that want to get online quickly without learning a big system. You can make an online store, a business website or a portfolio, and manage it from your phone.
- No commission on sales. ShopToWay does not take a cut of your orders.
- Your own payment account. Customers can pay by UPI, cards and netbanking through Razorpay, and the money goes straight to your own Razorpay account. You can also turn on cash on delivery.
- Made for sharing. You get one link to share on WhatsApp and Instagram, and customers can order from their phone.
- Simple stock and variants. Add colours and sizes, and set stock for each.
ShopToWay does not try to match Shopify’s thousands of apps or its tools for large international brands. If you need those, Shopify may be worth the extra cost.
The honest answer
Choose Shopify if you are building a large brand and need advanced tools. Choose a simpler platform if you are a small shop, a home business or a local seller who wants to start selling this week and keep more of each sale. Whichever you pick, add up the real cost per order before you decide.
Want to see if ShopToWay fits your business? Start your free trial.