Weebly vs Shopify : Which platform is better

2024 is the year of the development of technology applications. Along with that, online shopping is becoming increasingly popular. The two names that people mention the most are Shopify and Weebly. They wonder what the difference between them is.

In this article, we will help you answer that question and provide information on which platform your business should use. Let’s compare them!

What is Shopify?

Shopify started back in 2006. It’s a platform for online stores and also for shops in real life. It offers a lot of services to online shops, like handling payments, helping with marketing, shipping stuff, and tools to keep customers engaged.

What is Shopify

Currently, Shopify has more than 5.4 million active websites, and many famous brands like Tesla, Netflix, BBC,… also use Shopify as a way to create an online website. Shopify is well known for its user-friendly interface, scalability, and lots of impressive features to make it easy for users

What is Weebly?

The story of Weebly comes from a familiar tech story that starts with a handful of college buddies messing around with new technology. It started with a group of 20-year-old students at Penn State University who set out to create software that is suitable for anyone to build a personal website, regardless of technology, comfort level, or experience. 

What is Weebly

Currently, Weebly is becoming the world’s first website builder, reaching more than 40 million users and 325 million visitors each month.

Shopify vs Weebly: Quick Assessment

As we know, Shopify and Weebly are e-commerce solutions for business owners to sell or showcase their products. But which one should they choose? A hard question! Yeah, we need to see if Shopify or Weebly is suitable for which types of business. Let’s check with us!

• Shopify may be more suitable for small or international businesses, anyone who doesn’t have any knowledge about codes, or businesses that just want to have a well-looked interface.
• Weebly may be more suitable for businesses that want to have an easy-to-use platform, don’t have too much money, and need e-commerce features at an affordable price.

Shopify vs Weebly: The comprehensive comparison

1. Price list

Shopify

Shopify’s plans start as low as $9 per month but increase quickly to $25 per month ($19 per month when paid annually) for those who want to build an online store. But Shopify costs don’t end at its subscription price. You’ll also need a domain name (around $10 to $15 per year) and potentially a premium theme and premium plugins to maximize your online store’s functionalities.

Prices for Shopify’s plans

Here is the overview of Shopify’s cost plans, and you’ll see there’s a big difference

Shopify Lite

• Monthly Cost: $9
• Suitable for: Those wanting to add a buy button to their existing website, or those who want to sell in person and need a point-of-sale (POS) processor. 
• Transaction Fees: With online credit card rates of 2.9% + 30 cents, or just 2.7% for offline transactions
• Features: Order management, analytics and customer support

Shopify Basic

• Monthly Cost: $25 and $19 if paid annually
• Suitable for: Looking to build a comprehensive online store with omnichannel selling capabilities
• Transaction fees: With online credit card rates of 2.9% + 30 cents, or just 2.7% for offline transactions
• Features: An online store, with both a website and blog, solutions for businesses interested in offering in-store transactions, such as card readers.

Shopify Standard

• Monthly Cost: $65 and $49 if paid annually
• Suitable for: Need to begin any international selling
• Transaction fees: 2.6% + 30¢ for online credit card rates or 2.5% + 0¢ for offline
• Features: everything you will get with Basic, plus performance reports, up to five staff accounts, and gift card purchase support.

Shopify Advanced

• Monthly Cost: $399 and $299 if paid annually
• Suitable for: Businesses that are selling large volumes both online and in person and need more advanced features.
• Transaction fees: 2.4% + 30¢ for online credit card rates or 2.4% + 0¢ for offline
• Features: Adds on advanced reports, third-party shipping and international duties and import taxes

Shopify Plus:

• Pricing: Custom pricing based on specific enterprise needs
• Features: Tailored solutions for high-volume merchants, with features like dedicated account management, customizable checkout, and advanced security.

In addition to the cost of Shopify plans, you often pay for a domain name ($15 per year) and premium theme ($75 – over $300 per year).

Weebly

Weebly’s price plans start at a fee for users, and the highest price your business needs to pay is $26.

Weebly’s price plans

Weebly Free Plan

• Monthly Cost: Free
• Suitable for: Users who are on a budget and don’t mind having Square ads on their site.
• Features: Connect a custom domain, Digital goods, Shipping labels
• Missing: Phone support, Free domain, Remove Square ads

Weebly Professional Plan

• Monthly Cost: $16, and $12 if paid annually
• Suitable for: Users who want a custom-branded experience without Square ads.
• Features: Unlimited storage, No square ads, Phone support
• Missing: Abandoned cart emails, Item reviews, Accept payments through Paypal

Weebly Performance Plan

• Monthly Cost: $29, and $26 if paid annually
• Suitable for: Users who want the best e-commerce experience.
• Features: Abandoned cart emails, Item reviews, Accept payments through Paypal
• Missing: Advanced customization

2. Ease of use

Shopify

• Onboarding: As we know, it is more difficult to build an online store than to build simple websites. Therefore, Shopify’s onboarding is more in-depth than Weebly’s
• Building and running your website: It is more clunky to use, splitting its building tools between a backend and frontend editor

Weebly

• Onboarding: It will lead you through the process, from choosing your theme, to in-editor support that shows you how to carry out different tasks.
• Building and Running your website: It is easy to use for testing with its simple drag-and-drop editing and easy customization tools.

3. Template Choice

Shopify

Shopify’s choice of templates is more impressive. It has 74 themes in its library – most themes come with multiple design options, so there are plenty of styles to choose from. All of Shopify’s themes are designed for online stores – while some may feature a blog, primarily they’re meant for selling products. Shopify has nine free themes at the time of writing, and 65 paid themes – premium designs range in price from $100 to $180 one-off payment.

Read more: Discover The 25 Best Shopify Themes For SEO

Weebly

Weebly has around 50 themes to choose from, including various industries such as business, portfolio, and blogs. Its designs are all free for users, whether you’re on the free plan or using a paid subscription.

Weebly has 50 themes in its library

4. Customization

Shopify

Shopify’s editor has more of a divide. You enter product information in the backend, which populates your storefront. You can customize your storefront design, but it’s not as free as Weebly’s drag-and-drop editor, and certainly not as easy! Shopify’s editor is clunky and your design options are a lot more limited.

Weebly

Weebly uses drag-and-drop editing tools, which is a super easy way to customize your theme. Simply click on the elements (such as text boxes) you want to add or move and drop them where you want them on your page. This is exactly how visitors will see your design once it’s live – there’s no back and forth between a backend and a frontend preview.

5. Marketing Features

Shopify

Shopify was a close runner-up with its large range of marketing integrations and international selling options. Shopify has more third-party marketing apps if you want a tailored marketing strategy.

Shopify will help you reach your potential customers

Weebly

Weebly is the standout winner for marketing features – we were impressed by its thorough but beginner-friendly SEO guides, its comprehensive blogging tools, and its built-in email marketing suite Weebly Promote. Weebly has superior blogging tools – you’ll find features that Shopify doesn’t provide, including:

• Archive feature
• Social bookmarking
• Search feature

6. Apps and Integrations

Shopify

Shopify is no usual competitor – it blows Weebly’s app store out of the water with over 5,000 apps in total! In Shopify’s app store, you can easily see the filter including Category, Price, and Popularity or you can use the search bar to find the information you want. Currently, 3000+ Shopify apps are free, which means that over half of Shopify’s stores are free. About Shopify’s premium apps, they have a wider price range, starting at $3 per month to $1500 per month

Read more: Top 30+ Must-have Shopify Apps for 2024 [Free & Paid]

Weebly

Weebly has nearly 400 apps in total

Weebly usually wins the apps and integrations around head-to-head with other platforms – it has a well-stocked app store with nearly 400 apps in total. Weebly has nearly 60 free apps available. In general, Weebly’s apps tend to be on the cheaper side than Shopify’s, varying between $3 and $300+ per month.

Shopify vs Weebly: Which is the best for you

Considering to use Shopify or Weebly, it is hard for your business to choose. You need to understand clearly each platform’s strengths and weaknesses, and how they are suitable for your specific business too.

Shopify is best for businesses that

• Are small to mid-sized businesses due to its user-friendly interface and easy setup process
• Be suitable with Limited Technical Expertise. Shoptify’s user-friendly interface makes it a perfect choice for businesses with limited technical expertise. 
• Want to get an online store up and running quickly
• Have a large product portfolio with lots of variants

Weebly is best for businesses that

• Looking for a simple website builder with e-commerce features at an affordable price
• Want to create a website quickly and easily, without having to learn to code 
• On a budget and want to keep costs low
• Be a beginner and want a basic, easy-to-use website builder

Wrap up

Overall, there’s no clear winner in the Weebly vs. Shopify battle. That’s because these are two well-performing options for many small businesses. Weebly might be easier for beginners to use, as it holds your hand more through the design process. But Shopify’s nearly endless customization features through apps can help you take total control of your online store.