Shopify vs PrestaShop
Let's be honest: we're biased. As Made in Evolve, we're proudly a Shopify Partner, but our opinion is built on years of hands-on experience. We worked for more than 10 years with platforms like Magento, PrestaShop and WooCommerce before migrating fully to Shopify.
Today, we manage over 40 online stores for our clients, handling not just eCommerce, but also marketing and design. Our choice of Shopify wasn't random, but the result of a long journey full of challenges, during which we tested various platforms, always looking for the best solution to help our partners grow.
The comparison that follows isn't limited to a breakdown of technical features—it's validated by our experience in the industry, offering an authentic view of what actually works best for anyone looking to build a successful eCommerce store.
Ease of Use
Shopify
It's designed to be simple to use, with centralised technical management. Its "all-in-one" approach lets users focus on growth and marketing without having to deal with technical aspects like hosting, updates or security.
PrestaShop
Being an open-source platform, it requires independent technical management, including hosting, security and updates. Its complexity can be an advantage for those with technical know-how, but a drawback for anyone looking for a simple solution.
Studies and surveys back up the idea that Shopify is easier to use than PrestaShop, especially for users without advanced technical knowledge. According to a comparison published by Software Advice, Shopify scored 4.5/5 for ease of use, versus 4.2/5 for PrestaShop. Many Shopify users have praised the platform's efficiency and smart features, which make it easy to manage payments, orders and marketing. PrestaShop, on the other hand, while offering great flexibility for customisation, often requires a developer's intervention for updates and maintenance, making management more complex for beginners.
Additionally, a study by Creating a Website Today found that Shopify is particularly well suited to small and medium-sized eCommerce businesses, thanks to its intuitive interface and the ability to customise themes without touching any code. PrestaShop, on the other hand, is better suited to more experienced users who want greater flexibility and control over their online store.
Costs
Shopify
It's a paid platform with monthly plans starting at $29 a month for the basic plan, which includes essential features like hosting and automatic maintenance.
Beyond this, users may incur additional costs for third-party apps needed to extend the store's functionality, and if Shopify Payments isn't used, transaction fees are also added (around 1% on top of the payment gateway's fees).
That said, Shopify simplifies many technical aspects, offering an all-in-one service that justifies the cost, especially for those who want to focus purely on the business rather than the technical side.
PrestaShop
While it's free to download and use, the costs of running the store can quickly add up. Users have to separately purchase hosting, an SSL certificate for security, and various add-on modules to get functionality similar to Shopify's.
On top of this, the lack of built-in technical support often means having to hire developers or outside consultants, further increasing costs. Even though the initial cost may seem lower than Shopify's, it's important to factor in the long-term expenses associated with maintaining and continuously improving the site.
Technical Management
Shopify
One of Shopify's biggest strengths is its fully automated approach to updates, security and stability. Users don't need to worry about monitoring technical issues or performing periodic maintenance. Shopify handles all of this behind the scenes, including bug fixes and performance improvements, allowing merchants to focus entirely on business growth, marketing and optimising the user experience. This centralised management is especially valuable for those without technical skills or resources to dedicate to site maintenance.
Here are four innovations Shopify has recently released as apps for its merchants, designed to improve efficiency and the user experience:
- Shopify Bundle: This app lets merchants easily create product bundles directly from the Shopify interface, with no coding required. It's been highly requested and offers a simple way to combine products into bundles while managing inventory in real time.
- Shopify Flow: Shopify Flow is a powerful automation tool that lets merchants automate tasks such as inventory reordering and fraud detection without any programming. It's now available on basic plans too, allowing apps to be connected and complex workflows to be simplified.
- Shopify Magic: Shopify Magic is a built-in generative AI tool that helps merchants create product descriptions, tailored content and automated email campaigns. It's built on Shopify's proprietary data and OpenAI's ChatGPT model.
- Shopify Collective: This new dropshipping feature lets merchants sell products from other Shopify stores, which handle fulfilment and shipping. It's ideal for retailers looking to expand their catalogue without managing inventory.
PrestaShop
While it requires independent technical management, PrestaShop offers remarkable flexibility thanks to its open-source nature. Merchants and developers have full control over the code and can customise every aspect of the store, from backend functionality down to the smallest front-end design details. This makes PrestaShop an excellent choice for businesses with specific needs and for those who want to build unique features tailored perfectly to their business. Advanced customisation can be a huge advantage, but it requires technical skills or a developer's support.
Support and Assistance
Shopify
Shopify is known for its 24/7 customer support, available via chat, email and phone. This constant support is especially valuable for less experienced merchants or anyone needing to resolve technical issues in real time.
Shopify is known for its 24/7 customer support, available via chat, email and phone. This constant support is especially valuable for less experienced merchants or anyone needing to resolve technical issues in real time.Shopify is known for its 24/7 customer support, available via chat, email and phone. This constant support is especially valuable for less experienced merchants or anyone needing to resolve technical issues in real time.Shopify is known for its 24/7 customer support, available via chat, email and phone. This constant support is especially valuable for less experienced merchants or anyone needing to resolve technical issues in real time.
PrestaShop
PrestaShop, on the other hand, doesn't offer dedicated support like Shopify. Users have to rely on an online community and resources such as forums and documentation. This approach may be enough for experienced users, but for those less familiar with the platform or who need immediate assistance, the lack of dedicated support can slow down problem-solving.
For those needing more specialised help, outside consultants are also available offering paid assistance, though this increases operating costs.
This difference in support approach can significantly influence the choice of platform, especially for those who prefer immediate, ongoing support without having to turn to outside consultants.
Marketing and SEO Features
Shopify
Shopify includes built-in marketing tools that make it easy to recover abandoned carts, create discount codes and run email marketing. Shopify also offers a wide range of apps to enhance these features, such as social media integration and marketing automation tools.
As for SEO, Shopify offers basic features such as customising title and description meta tags, but has limitations on things like URL structure, which is fixed and less flexible than on open-source platforms. That said, numerous apps are available to extend SEO capabilities, and Shopify makes optimisation management easier for non-experts.
PrestaShop
PrestaShop, on the other hand, doesn't offer dedicated support like Shopify. Users have to rely on an online community and resources such as forums and documentation. This approach may be enough for experienced users, but for those less familiar with the platform or who need immediate assistance, the lack of dedicated support can slow down problem-solving.
Although many of these tools require installing additional modules, the platform's flexibility allows for building an advanced SEO strategy without limitations imposed by the platform's structure.
Sales and Growth Data for Shopify and PrestaShop
According to a recent report, Shopify processed over $235 billion in sales in 2023, with impressive growth in both users and merchants. It currently counts over 4.6 million active sites using the platform worldwide. Shopify is also continuously expanding and has overtaken giants like Amazon in the volume of sales handled by individual merchants, with a customer base that prefers to directly control its online shopping experience.
As for PrestaShop, while its numbers aren't as high, it's a very popular platform in Europe and has seen significant growth thanks to its flexibility and customisation options. In 2024, PrestaShop is estimated to be used by around 300,000 merchants worldwide.
- Statrys - Shopify vs. Amazon: A Comparison Guide for 2024: This article examines the comparison between Shopify and Amazon, highlighting how Shopify has overtaken Amazon in handling direct sales from merchants. It highlights the advantages of Shopify for sellers who want full control over their selling experience.
- Global Ecommerce Sales Growth Report (2024): This report illustrates the growth of global e-commerce sales, revealing that worldwide e-commerce will reach $6.3 trillion in 2024. Shopify emerges as one of the market's leading players, contributing significantly to this trend.
- BSS Commerce - Shopify vs PrestaShop Comparison 2024: This report illustrates the growth of global e-commerce sales, revealing that worldwide e-commerce will reach $6.3 trillion in 2024. Shopify emerges as one of the market's leading players, contributing significantly to this trend.
Scalability and Performance
Shopify
Thanks to its integrated, optimised hosting system, Shopify guarantees high performance and excellent operational stability, making it ideal for small and medium-sized stores. The platform is able to handle significant traffic spikes without issue, as demonstrated by various merchants who have dealt with thousands of simultaneous visitors during sales events without encountering technical difficulties.
However, for larger businesses requiring complex customisations, Shopify may prove limiting due to its closed structure. That said, it offers a vast range of apps and integrations to extend its functionality and adapt to different needs.
PrestaShop
As an open-source platform, PrestaShop offers greater scalability and flexibility, making it particularly well suited to stores with complex configurations and advanced customisations. With the ability to independently manage hosting and optimise the platform, PrestaShop can grow without limits, provided the technical expertise is available to manage the infrastructure and high traffic volumes.
This makes PrestaShop an excellent choice for businesses expecting steady growth or that already have a large customer base and high traffic volumes.
When comparing the average performance of Shopify and PrestaShop, significant differences emerge related to infrastructure and hosting type. Shopify is a fully hosted platform, meaning it independently manages all server resources. Thanks to this setup, it offers fast loading times, backed by an optimised infrastructure and the use of a Content Delivery Network (CDN). This allows Shopify to maintain good performance even during traffic spikes, making it ideal for merchants who want a turnkey solution with stable performance, especially during high-traffic events like Black Friday.
Customisation
Shopify
Shopify, being a SaaS (Software as a Service) platform, offers customisation options that are limited compared to PrestaShop, but still powerful. Users can modify certain aspects of their store through theme settings and minor code tweaks using the Liquid language.
However, for more advanced customisation, Shopify relies on APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) that let developers build custom modules or use headless solutions (where frontend and backend are separated) for greater control. Although these options are powerful, they require a level of technical expertise and the use of third-party apps to extend functionality.
PrestaShop
Thanks to its open-source nature, PrestaShop offers total customisation flexibility. Users have full access to the store's code, and can modify any aspect of the site's design, functionality and operations.
This freedom makes it possible to build a fully bespoke eCommerce experience, without the limitations imposed by closed platforms like Shopify. However, customising PrestaShop requires advanced technical skills or the involvement of a developer.
In Conclusion
Shopify and PrestaShop each have distinctive advantages, and the choice between the two platforms should be guided by specific business needs and long-term strategy.
Shopify stands out for its robustness. With over 4.6 million active stores and more than $235 billion in sales processed in 2023, Shopify is backed by a powerful, continuously evolving infrastructure. Its SaaS structure, with built-in hosting and automatic updates, makes it an ideal option for those seeking a ready-to-use solution with the ongoing support of an industry-leading company.
Shopify also significantly simplifies management for merchants, offering powerful tools that require minimal technical skills. However, for more advanced customisation, it may be necessary to turn to APIs or headless solutions, which introduce a certain amount of complexity.
PrestaShop, on the other hand, draws its strength from the open-source community. This platform is fully customisable and hosts over 300,000 merchants globally, who value the freedom to modify any aspect of their store. The community continues to update PrestaShop, developing new modules and solutions.
However, this freedom can come with challenges, as the coexistence of multiple developments can create conflicts and incompatibilities, requiring care and technical skills to manage.
In both cases, the key difference lies in the agency or team managing the project. However powerful a platform may be, it can't make up for inadequate management.
Working with experienced professionals who thoroughly understand the platform and can offer guidance and support is what drives an eCommerce store to success. Whether you choose Shopify or PrestaShop, having a clear strategy and a reliable team is crucial to making the most of the platform's potential.
