Compare
IndieMade vs Shopify
Shopify is built to scale from kitchen table to Mattel, and priced and complicated accordingly. IndieMade is built for exactly one seller: you, the maker.
| Shopify | IndieMade | |
|---|---|---|
| Entry price | $39/mo ($29 billed annually), after the $1 promo ends | $15/mo ($12 annual) |
| Extra fee on your payments | Up to 2% on top of card processing unless you use Shopify Payments | None, with any of our processors |
| What the base plan needs | An app store of 21,000 add-ons, many with their own monthly fees | Everything built in. There is no app store. |
| Etsy | A 16-step migration guide and paid third-party apps, their pitch is leaving | Native two-way sync, keep your Etsy shop, both stay matched |
| Audience | "Entrepreneurs to enterprise", no maker language anywhere on the homepage | Handmade sellers. That's the whole roadmap. |
| Galleries & artist pages | Theme-dependent or app territory | Native, galleries, blog, pages, your story |
Shopify's published US pricing, August 2026. The third-party gateway fee is 2% on Basic, waived only with Shopify Payments. Payment processing is separate on both: you pay your own processor's standard rate, about 2.9% + 30¢ a sale with Stripe, Square or PayPal, and IndieMade adds nothing to it.
Where IndieMade wins for a handmade seller
A third of the cost, all-in
Basic Shopify is $348/yr billed annually, before apps, and before the 2% gateway fee if you don't use their payments. IndieMade is $144-180/yr, complete.
Keep Etsy instead of fleeing it
Shopify's Etsy story is a one-way migration ("most businesses migrate in under 3 months"). Ours is a sync. Your Etsy traffic keeps flowing while your own store grows.
No app tax
Reviews, galleries, promotions, back-in-stock, cart recovery, things that cost monthly app fees on Shopify are simply included here.
Built for how makers sell
One-of-a-kind stock reservation, made-to-order personalization with photo uploads, "in the kiln" as an order status. Shopify serves the median of a million stores; we serve you.
The math, at maker scale
At a typical maker's volume, say $500/month in sales, Shopify Basic runs about $29-39/mo plus app subscriptions plus up to 2% gateway fees. IndieMade runs $15. Over a year that difference is a craft-fair booth fee, a new kiln shelf, or simply your margin.
See it with your own products.
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