CommerceHQ vs Shopify Review – Which is better? Find out now

CommerceHQ Pricing

CommerceHQ’s starting plan costs $99/month, which is considerably more expensive than Shopify.

But what you need to take into consideration is that this entry price grants you FREE access to all of the apps in the AppStore.

Whereas with Shopify, you will have to pay “a la carte” for most of the necessary apps to optimize your shop. 

CommereHQ’s plan also limits your sales to $30.000/month. If you plan on going over that number, you will have have to opt for a more expensive payment plan. 

However, there’s one more thing to discuss when we are talking about pricing: the processing fees. 

Processing Fees

Shopify relies on third-party gateways for processing payments. This means that you will be charged for each of your transactions. 

Additionally, there’s a credit card rate that will add 2.9% to the costs as well as a $0.30 fee per transaction. And that is if you activate the Shopify Payments option, otherwise, an additional 2% will be deducted from your sales. 

CommerceHQ doesn’t charge any additional fees for transactions. As long as you are able to choose a payment processor with low fees, those will be the only surcharge you will be paying. 

In short, CommerceHQ might look more expensive than Shopify at first glance, but things aren’t quite that black and white. 

While you pay a larger entry fee with CommerceHQ, you get the full package with no extra fees. On the other hand, Shopify will charge you for additional apps and the processing fees can quickly pile up which might result in a larger bill in the end. 

This calculator will show you approximately how much your Shopify plan will cost you depending on your monthly revenue. 

Security – CommerceHQ or Shopify

Shopify is certified according to the Level 1 PCI DSS standard. It means that the stores are equipped with data encryption tools. There’s the protection of Shopify payment transfers, prevention of viruses at the servers, as well as constant security monitoring.

CommerceHQ stores your credit card data only as long as is necessary to complete your purchase transaction. It is encrypted through the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS). 

In conclusion, both platforms use the same encryption methods and have shown to be quite difficult to hack. They are safe from a technical point of view. However, you should always take special care of your credentials and access the stores through trusted computers only. 

App Store

Shopify comes with a huge app store (more than 2,500 different addons and plugins) that should cover anyone’s needs to optimize their online shop. From store design to billing, there’s something helpful for every user. Some are free to use, although most apps cost a monthly fee that adds up on top of your subscription model. 

CommerceHQ doesn’t have as an extensive app store like Shopify. However, they are quite useful and there’s no fluff here. Reviews, product customizing, abandoned cart, upsales hacks like timers and promo bars, etc. Everything one might need to set up a successful eCommerce business.

And of course, all of these are part of your subscription plan, so you won’t have to pay extra fees to use them within your store. 

Built-in Features

Shopify Top Features

Shopify has different payment plans that include different features for the price. In order to use the full extent of the built-in features of Shopify, you will have to opt in for a more expensive plan. The basic plan has only a limited number of useful features. 

Here’s what’s included in all of the Shopify plans: 

• Unlimited online storage
• Unlimited products
• Unlimited bandwidth
• Staff accounts
• Customer support
• Online sales channels
• Shopify point of sale
• Discount codes
• Manual order creation
• Finance reports
• Fraud analysis
• Overview dashboard

The two more expensive plans add some analytical features that any serious shop owner should use on a regular basis: 

• Professional Reports that gather valuable customer data like:
  • customers over time
  • first-time vs returning customer sales
  • customers by country
  • returning customers
  • one-time customers.
• A custom report builder
• Advanced customer reports
• Calculated carrier shipping

CommerceHQ Top Features

CommerceHQ plays the all-in-one card again when it comes to features, as all of the built-ins are available with the basic plan. 

Before we dig through the rest of the features in this CommerceHQ reviews, here’s a list of the most interesting features you will gain access to: 

• Automated Gift Cards
• Advanced Reporting 
• Abandoned Cart Recovery 
• CVS Export Builder
• Unlimited File Storage
• Unlimited Bandwidth 
• Unlimited Products 
• Unlimited Staff Accounts
• Inventory Management 
• 1-Click Upsells
• 99% Uptime
• Upsell Campaign Builder
• Native Apps 
• Related Products
• Visual Store Builder
• Currency Converter App
• Coupon Codes 
• SSL Secure Checkout
• Checkout Page

E-commerce Store Themes

Which tool has better themes you ask?

Well, let’s compare CommerceHQ vs Shopify to find out more.

Shopify proposes around 10 free themes for starting out your first eCommerce. While they are pretty basic, they will get the job done. 

Their styles range from vintage to modern, so there should be something to everyone’s liking. If you are a developer, you have access to the code and are allowed to build your template from scratch. 

Premium themes on Shopify are very well made and quite beautiful but might be a bit expensive for someone just starting out. However, if you are looking for a visual upgrade to your online shop, worth noting is that their prices range between $100 to $180. 

There are also third-party platforms like Envato that sell premium and compatible Shopify themes which are less expensive. 

CommerceHQ has its own theme store, with both free and premium themes. If you are a developer, you can use Twig to create a theme to your liking and set it up the way you want. But more importantly, there’s the drag-and-drop creation tool that allows anyone to quickly set up a great-looking store.

How to create the Shopify store

Creating a Shopify store is pretty straightforward. Begin by filling in your product database and choose a theme for your store. 

You will be able to customize this theme, but your options will be quite limited compared to what we’ve seen with CommerceHQ. You can change the texts, fonts and images but that’s about it. If you are a developer, you do have access to the code and can modify it that way.