WholeShellCreate your free store →WholeShell vs Shopify: why pay $39/month?
Shopify's Basic plan is listed at about $39/month when billed monthly, and many stores add paid apps on top. If you are a small seller who mainly needs a fast store, orders and simple tools, WholeShell lets you start on a free plan and upgrade only when you grow.
Side-by-side
| WholeShell | Shopify Basic | |
|---|---|---|
| Start price | Free plan available | About $39/month (monthly billing) |
| Built-in AI store manager | Yes — descriptions, pricing, SEO, stock | Partly, more via apps |
| WhatsApp ordering | Built in | Via apps |
| Point of sale, invoices, CRM | Included in the dashboard | POS and some features cost extra |
| Dropshipping import | CJ import with automatic repricing | Via apps |
| Setup time | About one minute | Usually hours |
Shopify prices change; check shopify.com/pricing for current numbers.
Savings calculator
How much do you spend on your store platform and apps each month?
USD / month
Over 12 months that is $468 you could keep while you start on WholeShell's free plan.
When Shopify is still the right choice
- Large catalogs with complex wholesale rules
- Teams that depend on a specific Shopify app
Moving later? WholeShell's Migrate tool imports products, branding and contact details from public Shopify stores.
Everything WholeShell includes
- AI Store Manager: change prices, rewrite products, manage stock, create coupons and redesign your store from one chat message
- Dropshipping from CJ with variant sync, automatic repricing and one-click fulfilment
- B2B wholesale: approved business buyers, tier prices, minimum order quantity and pay later
- POS counter, staff accounts, invoices, shipping labels and courier tracking
- COD, bank transfer, payment links and WhatsApp orders
- Abandoned cart emails, email campaigns, coupons, reviews, SEO center and AI blog
- Migration from Shopify, Wix and WooCommerce
- Push alerts, analytics, profit reports, custom domain and Android app