FluentCart vs. Shopify
Own Your Storefront. Control the Rules.
| Features |  |  |
|---|---|---|
| Store Setup | ||
| Online Store | Full WordPress integration, self-hosted | Fully hosted, managed infrastructure |
| Templates & Themes | Any WP builder, Elementor, Divi, Bricks | OS 2.0 themes (Shopify-built) |
| Blog Support | Native WordPress blog, best-in-class CMS/SEO tooling | Separate, more limited blog module |
| Custom Pages | Native with WP | Drag-and-drop page editor |
| Product Management | ||
| Product Variants | Unlimited combinations, no fixed option cap | Up to 2,048 variants/product, but capped at 3 options per product |
| Hybrid Products | Physical + digital in one product natively | Not supported natively |
| Per-Variation Inventory | Independent SKU, stock qty, stock-management status, and availability per variation, included in Free/Core, with inline controls for high-variation products | Per-variant inventory tracking, included on all plans |
| Inventory Reporting | Operational dashboard, total/in-stock/low-stock/out-of-stock variants with percentages, committed/on-hold/available quantities, and full per-variation stock-adjustment history (previous/new stock, reason, date, user). No stock valuation, turnover, or historical trend reports yet | Standard reports on all plans; custom report builder and advanced analytics on Advanced/Plus |
| Multi-Location Inventory | Not yet supported (single location) | 10 locations (Basic–Advanced), 200 (Plus) |
| Product Licensing | Built-in (Pro) | Requires third-party apps |
| Checkout & Cart | ||
| Checkout UI | Fully customizable, no added cost | Checkout Extensibility gives all plans app-block/branding control, but full flow customization stays Plus-only |
| Subscription Payments | Included in core | Native subscriptions exist, but full-featured subscription management typically needs a paid app ($19–$99+/mo) |
| Payment Gateways | Stripe, PayPal, Paddle, Mollie, Authorize.Net, Paystack, Razorpay, Mercado Pago, SSLCommerz, or any custom gateway via hooks | Shopify Payments + 100+ third-party apps, but non-Shopify-Payments gateways add a 0.6%–2% platform fee on top of card processing |
| Cart Recovery | FluentCRM (integration) | Native, but only on Grow plan and above, not included on Basic |
| Marketing & CRM | ||
| Email Campaigns | FluentCRM (integration) | Shopify Email |
| Customer Segments | FluentCRM Tags (integration) | Segments |
| Automation | Workflows via FluentCRM (integration) | Native + Shopify Flow (Advanced/Plus) |
| Affiliate System | FluentAffiliate (free integration) | Requires paid third-party apps |
| Customization & API | ||
| Custom Apps | Full PHP, REST, JS, hooks, no rate limits, no permission needed | Full REST/GraphQL Admin API, but rate-limited by plan |
| Full Checkout Control | Customizable block, included at every tier | Deep checkout control still Shopify Plus only ($2,300+/mo) |
| API Rate Limits | Unlimited (self-hosted) | Tiered: 100 pts/sec (Basic–Grow) → 200 pts/sec (Advanced) → 1,000 pts/sec (Plus) |
| Internationalization | ||
| Duties & Taxes | Built-in, no added fee | Native duty calculator, now on all plans, but Shopify charges a 0.5% fee on orders where it calculates duty |
| Support | ||
| Community Support | 24/7 community/forum | 24/7 |
| Priority Support | Planned for Pro users | Live chat/phone included on paid plans |
| Costs | ||
| Licensing | One-time / annual | Monthly recurring, $39 → $2,300+ as you scale |
| Platform Fees | None, ever | 0% only if you use Shopify Payments; otherwise 0.6%–2% per order depending on plan |
| Card Processing | Standard gateway rates apply (e.g., Stripe ~2.9%+30¢), same either way | Shopify Payments: 2.4%–2.9% + 30¢ depending on plan |
What Will It Really Cost with Shopify?
| Feature | | |
|---|---|---|
| Basic store plan | $0 (self-hosted, pay only hosting) | $39/mo ($29/mo billed annually) |
| Subscriptions | Included | Native basics are limited; robust subscription management usually needs an app, $19–$99+/mo |
| Affiliate management | Included | $20–$89/mo app |
| Foundational B2B selling | Included | Included on all plans (as of April 2026) |
| Advanced B2B (unlimited catalogs, partial payments, deposits) | Included | Shopify Plus only, $2,300+/mo |
| API access | Full, unlimited | Tiered, 100 pts/sec on Basic/Grow up to 1,000 pts/sec on Plus |
| Custom checkout | Included | Branding/app blocks on all plans; full flow customization is Plus-only |
💡 A fully-featured Shopify store easily climbs past $105–$400+/month, and
$2,300+/month once you need full checkout control or advanced B2B.
FluentCart includes all under one purchase fee.
Built for WordPress
Manage your store inside the CMS you already use. No new systems. No learning curves
Developer Friendly
Add custom logic, integrations, and design without asking for permission or paying for APIs.
Hybrid Products
Offer licensing, upgrades, one-time fees, or recurring plans, your store, your pricing model.
Zero Platform Fees
Keep your revenue. Do not need to share any cuts from your own money. FluentCart do not cut from your sales.
Fluent Suite
FluentCRM, Fluent Support, FluentBooking, FluentSMTP, all natively integrated.
No Plugin Bloat
Avoid installing 5 apps to manage shipping, licenses, affiliates, and checkouts The basics.
Built for Flexibility, Designed to Stay Out of Your Way
Choose FluentCart If:
