Table of Contents
- Payhip vs Shopify: What Makes These Platforms Different?
- Selling Digital Products: Is Payhip or Shopify Better?
- What Makes Payhip Perfect for Digital Sellers
- How Does Shopify Handle Digital Products?
- Selling Physical Products: Why Shopify Dominates
- Can You Sell Physical Products on Payhip?
- What Makes Shopify the Best Platform for Physical Products?
- Payhip vs Shopify Store Design: Which Offers Better Customization?
- What Can You Do with Payhip’s Store Builder?
- How Customizable Is Shopify’s Store Design?
- Marketing Tools Comparison: Payhip vs Shopify
- What Marketing Tools Does Payhip Include?
- How Does Shopify’s Marketing Stack Compare?
- Payment Processing Fees: Payhip vs Shopify
- How Does Payhip Process Payments?
- What Payment Options Does Shopify Offer?
- Payhip vs Shopify Transaction Fees Compared
- Payhip vs Shopify Pricing: What Does Each Platform Really Cost?
- How Much Does Payhip Cost?
- How Much Does Shopify Cost Per Month?
- Payhip vs Shopify Cost: Real Numbers at Different Revenue Levels
- Which Platform Scales Better: Payhip or Shopify?
- How Well Does Shopify Support Business Growth?
- Can Payhip Support Your Growth as a Creator?
- Payhip vs Shopify: Which Platform Should You Choose?
- When Should You Choose Payhip Over Shopify?
- When Should You Choose Shopify Over Payhip?
- How to Decide Between Payhip and Shopify
- Your Decision Checklist: Payhip vs Shopify
- Payhip vs Shopify: Frequently Asked Questions
- Can I sell physical products on Payhip?
- Is Payhip or Shopify better for beginners?
- Can I migrate from Payhip to Shopify later?
- Boost Your Shopify Sales with Smart Checkout Links

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Picking between Payhip and Shopify really comes down to what you’re selling and where you want to go. If you’re a creator selling digital products like eBooks, courses, or memberships, Payhip offers a clean, affordable solution built specifically for digital sales. But if you’re building a brand around physical products and planning to scale across multiple channels, Shopify is the heavyweight champion of e-commerce.
This guide breaks down Payhip vs Shopify across features, pricing, and use cases so you can make the right call for your business.

Payhip vs Shopify: What Makes These Platforms Different?
Both platforms help you sell online, but they take completely different approaches.
Payhip is designed for creators. Think authors, coaches, artists, and solo entrepreneurs monetizing content. It’s built for selling digital downloads, online courses, and memberships. Everything you need for digital selling comes built-in.
Shopify is designed for merchants. It’s built for physical products and scaling a commerce business. Whether you’re a D2C brand, retailer, or dropshipper, Shopify gives you the infrastructure to manage inventory, shipping, and multi-channel sales.
Here’s how they compare at a glance:
Aspect | Payhip | Shopify |
Pricing | Free plan (5% fee), $29/mo (2% fee), $99/mo (0% fee) | Starting at $39/mo (fees waived with Shopify Payments) |
Customization | 8 free themes, template-based builder | 100+ themes, full code access, 8,000+ apps |
Scalability | Perfect for growing digital catalog | Built to scale from first sale to enterprise level |
Focus | Simplicity and direct-to-fan sales |
Payhip prioritizes simplicity. Shopify emphasizes scalability.
Selling Digital Products: Is Payhip or Shopify Better?
If you plan to sell digital products, Payhip is purpose-built for that experience. Shopify can handle digital sales, but it needs apps to match what Payhip does natively.
What Makes Payhip Perfect for Digital Sellers
Payhip revolves entirely around digital goods. Here’s what comes built-in:
→ Digital Downloads: Sell eBooks, PDFs, software, or any files up to 5GB each. Payhip includes PDF stamping which automatically stamps the buyer’s email and purchase date on each page to discourage piracy.
→ Online Courses: Payhip has a built-in learning management system. Upload course videos (hosted by Payhip for $5/month extra or linked externally) and create structured lessons with quizzes right inside the platform.
→ Memberships: Offer recurring subscriptions or paid memberships with automatic billing. Perfect for creators building paid communities.
→ Coaching Services: Sell consulting sessions with integrated scheduling and client management features.
The best part? All these features are included on every plan, even the free one. No need to install plugins or pay for add-ons.
How Does Shopify Handle Digital Products?
Shopify can definitely sell digital products, but it’s not as seamless. You’ll need apps to deliver digital files (Shopify offers a free Digital Downloads app for basic needs). For online courses or memberships, Shopify has no native solution. You’ll need to integrate third-party platforms like Thinkific or install membership apps.
If your business is primarily digital products, Payhip gives you an intuitive, ready-made toolkit. Shopify can handle digital sales, but you’ll be adding apps and possibly extra costs to reach the same level.
Selling Physical Products: Why Shopify Dominates
If you’re dealing with physical products, Shopify is leagues ahead. Payhip does support selling physical items, but it’s fairly basic.
Can You Sell Physical Products on Payhip?
You can sell physical products on Payhip. An author could sell printed books or merchandise alongside digital downloads. Payhip lets you set up simple product listings with variants and track basic inventory counts. It also supports flat shipping fees or basic shipping rules.
This works fine for a small catalog. Many creators use Payhip for a few merch items (like t-shirts or mugs) in addition to their digital sales.
But Payhip lacks tools for complex physical operations:
- No support for large inventories with many variants (dozens of size/color combinations get clunky)
- No multi-location inventory management
- Limited shipping options (no real-time rate calculations or carrier integrations)
- No integrated fulfillment or shipping label purchase
What Makes Shopify the Best Platform for Physical Products?
Shopify was designed for selling physical goods, and it shows:
Robust Inventory System: Handle thousands of products and variants easily. Track stock across multiple locations (warehouses, stores) on higher plans.
Shipping and Fulfillment: Built-in shipping rate calculators, automatic tax calculations, and integrations with USPS, UPS, DHL, etc. Print shipping labels straight from Shopify and offer customers shipping options at checkout.
Dropshipping: Shopify integrates with dropshipping apps like Oberlo, Printful, and others if you want to sell without holding inventory.
Point-of-Sale: If you ever plan to sell in person (pop-up shop, market, retail store), Shopify POS syncs with your online store’s inventory. Payhip has no POS solution.

Shopify is built for the complexities of physical product retail. Payhip has the basics covered if you’re mainly a digital creator offering a few physical extras. But if physical products are your main business, Shopify is built for that job.
Payhip vs Shopify Store Design: Which Offers Better Customization?
Your storefront is your brand’s face. How do Payhip and Shopify compare?
What Can You Do with Payhip’s Store Builder?
Payhip includes a straightforward website builder that lets you create a full online store without coding.
Themes: Payhip provides 8 free themes. They’re modern and cover different styles, but obviously far fewer options than Shopify. There’s no paid theme marketplace.
Drag-and-Drop Customizer: Payhip’s site editor is surprisingly flexible. You can customize your homepage and pages by adding/removing sections, rearranging layout, editing text, images, colors, and fonts. All visual editing, no code required.
Blog and Pages: Payhip has basic blogging and lets you create custom pages (like About pages) that you can design in the editor.
Limitations: The main drawback is SEO controls. Payhip doesn’t allow custom URL slugs for products or pages. You’re stuck with the structure it gives, which isn’t ideal for SEO. You also have less control over meta tags and advanced SEO tweaks. Plus, you can’t edit raw theme code.
How Customizable Is Shopify’s Store Design?
Shopify offers a completely different level of customization:
Design Feature | Payhip | Shopify |
Themes Available | 8 free themes | 100+ official themes (free & paid) |
Code Access | No code editing | Full HTML/CSS/Liquid access |
Customization Depth | Visual editor only | |
App Ecosystem | None | 8,000+ apps for added functionality |
SEO Control | Limited (no custom URLs) |
Theme Editor: Shopify’s theme editor (especially Online Store 2.0) is a powerful drag-and-drop system. Customize layouts on almost all pages, add sections, and adjust colors, fonts, etc.
Custom Code: If you have coding skills or hire a developer, Shopify lets you edit theme code (HTML/CSS/Liquid). This means unlimited customization potential.
Apps and Widgets: Many Shopify apps can add design elements (testimonial sliders, pop-ups, etc.). Payhip has no app store equivalent.

Shopify wins for store design and flexibility, especially if branding and unique design matter to you. The trade-off is the array of choices can be overwhelming for beginners. Payhip keeps things simple but caps you at “good enough” design with basic SEO options.
Marketing Tools Comparison: Payhip vs Shopify
Both platforms offer marketing features, but Payhip covers essentials for creators while Shopify provides a bigger toolkit for marketing at scale.
What Marketing Tools Does Payhip Include?
One of Payhip’s strengths is that it includes many growth features built-in which would often require apps elsewhere:
- Discount Codes: Create promo codes for percentage or fixed discounts with expiration dates
- Affiliate Program: Payhip has built-in affiliate management. Invite affiliates, set commission rates, and track referral sales without paying for external software. Shopify doesn’t include affiliate management by default.
- Email Marketing Integration: Capture customer emails and integrate with mailing list providers like Mailchimp
- Cross-Sells and Upsells: Suggest related products during the shopping process to increase average order value
- Basic Analytics: Simple store analytics like daily views, sales, traffic sources, and conversion rate in your dashboard
- Social Selling: Embed purchase buttons on other websites or blogs, and share product pages on social media
How Does Shopify’s Marketing Stack Compare?
Shopify’s approach is built-in basics plus a vast array of apps for advanced needs.
Built-In Features: Discount code generation, gift cards (on paid plans), and abandoned cart recovery emails on all plans.
Sales Channels: Shopify shines in multi-channel selling. Natively integrate with Facebook/Instagram Shop, TikTok, Google Shopping, Amazon, eBay, and more. Manage these channels in one place. Payhip doesn’t offer marketplace integrations.
Apps for Marketing: Need advanced email marketing, loyalty programs, or upsell funnels? Shopify’s App Store likely has it. Apps like Klaviyo for email campaigns, Smile.io for loyalty points, etc. The downside: many cost extra ($5-$50/month each).
Analytics: Shopify provides robust reports, especially on higher plans. Traffic and sales dashboards, product reports, and custom reports (Advanced plan). Easy Google Analytics integration.
If you use tools like Checkout Links for smart checkout URLs with automatic discounts and cart prefill, all sales still funnel into Shopify’s analytics for unified tracking.
Payhip gives you many marketer-friendly tools right out of the box at no extra cost. This helps creators who might not have a big marketing team or budget. Meanwhile, Shopify offers a far-reaching marketing ecosystem from multi-channel integration to thousands of apps. It’s more scalable for a growing brand, but you may need to invest in apps to unlock features Payhip includes.
Payment Processing Fees: Payhip vs Shopify
Both platforms let you accept payments online, but they handle payments differently.
How Does Payhip Process Payments?
Payhip uses PayPal and Stripe as its payment processors. You connect your own PayPal or Stripe account (or both) to the platform. Customers can pay with credit/debit cards (via Stripe) or PayPal.
Payhip handles EU/UK VAT for digital products by automatically calculating and remitting the tax, which is a great benefit for international sellers.
What Payment Options Does Shopify Offer?
Shopify has its own integrated payment system called Shopify Payments (powered by Stripe behind the scenes). If you use Shopify Payments, you can accept all major credit cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay, etc., with no additional Shopify transaction fees.
Beyond that, Shopify integrates with over 100 payment gateways worldwide: PayPal, Amazon Pay, Klarna, Afterpay, various local gateways depending on country.
Important: If you use a third-party gateway (not Shopify Payments), Shopify charges an extra fee on each transaction: 2% on Basic, 1% on Standard, 0.5% on Advanced. This fee is waived if you use Shopify Payments.
Payhip vs Shopify Transaction Fees Compared
Key Difference: Payhip takes a percentage of sales on lower-tier plans but has no monthly fee on the free plan. Shopify takes no cut (with Shopify Payments) but charges a monthly subscription. This fundamentally different approach affects you differently depending on your sales volume.
Payhip’s model: 5% fee on the free plan, 2% on Plus ($29/mo), 0% on Pro ($99/mo). These are on top of PayPal/Stripe charges (~2.9% + 30¢).
Shopify’s model: No additional fee if using Shopify Payments (just the ~2.9% + 30¢ processing). 2% extra fee on Basic if not using Shopify Payments.

Payhip vs Shopify Pricing: What Does Each Platform Really Cost?
Payhip and Shopify have very different pricing philosophies. The sticker price doesn’t tell the full story.
How Much Does Payhip Cost?
Payhip’s pricing is straightforward:
① Free Forever: $0/month with 5% transaction fee
② Plus: $29/month with 2% transaction fee
③ Pro: $99/month with 0% transaction fees
Crucially, all plans have the same features. Even on the free plan, you get unlimited products, all digital selling tools, affiliate system, etc. The only reason to upgrade is to reduce the transaction fee cut.
This is huge for someone just starting out. You can launch a store and pay nothing until you make a sale. Your costs scale with your revenue, keeping risk very low for testing an idea.
If you make $0 in a month, Payhip costs $0 on the free plan. If you make $100, Payhip takes $5. Once sales grow, switch to Plus or Pro to save on percentage fees.
Payhip also includes stuff that might cost extra elsewhere (like no need for a separate course platform fee or affiliate software subscription).
How Much Does Shopify Cost Per Month?
Shopify’s pricing for 2025:
- Basic: $39/month (or ~$29/month annual)
- Standard: $105/month (or ~$79/month annual)
- Advanced: $399/month (or ~$299/month annual)
Each tier gives bigger features and lower transaction fees. There’s also Shopify Plus for enterprise (starting around $2,000/month).
Shopify’s plans don’t include many advanced features that Payhip includes out of the box. If you need subscriptions, courses, or affiliate programs on Shopify, you might need apps with their own costs.
Transaction fees: If using Shopify Payments, Shopify takes 0% transaction fee. You only pay credit card processing (~2.9% + 30¢ on Basic). If using PayPal or other gateways, Shopify charges its additional fee: 2% (Basic), 1% (Standard), 0.5% (Advanced).
Shopify is a fixed cost platform. You pay that $39 (or $29 annual) every month whether you make 1 sale or 1,000. Payhip is a variable cost platform. If you have a slow month, you pay very little. If you have a big month, you pay more.
Payhip vs Shopify Cost: Real Numbers at Different Revenue Levels
Let’s compare monthly costs at different revenue levels using Payhip Pro ($99/mo, 0% fees) and Shopify Basic (with Shopify Payments):
Monthly Sales | Payhip Pro Total Cost | Shopify Basic Total Cost | Winner |
$1,000 | $99 | ~$68 (processing + subscription) | Shopify slightly cheaper |
$5,000 | $99 | ~$184 | Payhip Pro clearly beats Shopify |
$10,000 | $99 | ~$329 | Payhip Pro way cheaper |
$20,000 | $99 | ~$619 | Payhip Pro absolutely |
Once your sales climb, Payhip’s 0% fee on the Pro plan becomes a massive advantage. That fixed $99 looks incredibly economical when you’re pulling in five figures a month.
For very low sales volumes, Payhip’s free plan keeps costs near-zero. Paying $39 for Shopify when you’re only making $200 means 19.5% of your revenue goes to the platform.
One more thing: the “app tax.” Shopify’s app ecosystem means you might pay for extra functionality. Selling courses on Shopify might require a course platform subscription. Want an affiliate program? You’ll pay for an affiliate app. These can add $50-$200/month as you grow. Payhip includes many of those things out-of-the-box.
If you’re small or unsure of sales, Payhip’s model is very low-risk. At moderate volume, Shopify’s flat fee can be cost-effective if you’re not stacking too many paid apps. At high volumes, Payhip Pro is a clear cost winner, though many merchants at that stage may have other reasons to be on Shopify.
Which Platform Scales Better: Payhip or Shopify?
How well can each platform support you as your operation grows?
How Well Does Shopify Support Business Growth?
If there’s one thing Shopify is engineered for, it’s ambitious growth. The platform can take you from a tiny startup to a global brand without needing to re-platform.
Seamless Upgrade Path: Shopify offers clear upgrades as you grow (Basic to Advanced to Shopify Plus). When you upgrade, you keep the same store and unlock more features.
Infrastructure: Shopify’s infrastructure handles Black Friday traffic for some of the world’s biggest brands. As of 2025, Shopify powers around 4.6 million active websites globally, with about 23% of the top 1 million e-commerce sites and roughly 29% market share in the U.S.
Shopify Plus: For merchants hitting consistent high volume (typically >$1-2 million/year), Shopify Plus provides enterprise features: dedicated support, custom checkout capabilities, advanced automations, ERP integrations. It’s not cheap (~$2,000+ per month), but it allows huge brands to stay on Shopify even as they reach tens or hundreds of millions in sales.
App Ecosystem: With over 8,000 apps, you can extend Shopify to do almost anything as you scale. When you encounter a new need, you’re likely a few clicks away from a solution.
Omnichannel: Growing often means selling in more places. Shopify excels at omnichannel: plug in Shopify POS for retail, integrate social channels, and unify all sales in one system. It supports multi-currency and multi-language for international growth.
In 2023, Shopify merchants collectively sold $235.9 billion worth of goods (GMV) through the platform, with 69% of Black Friday Cyber Monday sales on mobile devices.
Real-world examples: Gymshark, Tesla (for merch), Kylie Cosmetics, and many other high-profile companies run on Shopify Plus. It’s not just for small businesses.
Can Payhip Support Your Growth as a Creator?
Payhip takes a different angle. It’s not aiming to support Fortune 500 retail operations. Instead, it offers unlimited creative growth for individual creators and small businesses.
Unlimited Products and Revenue: Even on Payhip’s free plan, you can upload unlimited products with no revenue cap. This is great for creators who keep expanding their digital catalog.
Scale of Audience: Payhip can handle large audiences downloading files or streaming course videos. If one of your products goes viral and you suddenly have thousands of customers, Payhip’s infrastructure should handle it. Over 130,000 creators use the platform.
Staying Niche-Focused: Payhip’s idea of “scaling” is empowering you to expand your digital product line or subscriber base without hitting artificial limits. It’s fantastic if your growth means going from 1 course to 10 courses, or from 100 customers to 10,000 buying your eBooks.
Where Payhip Hits a Wall: If your growth path involves inventory management, international logistics, or custom integrations, Payhip will show its limits. Running a large physical product operation (lots of SKUs, complex supply chain) is not what Payhip is built for. If you need to integrate with an ERP or CRM, Payhip doesn’t have a robust API or app store. Multi-channel selling (like listing on Amazon) would all be manual.
Payhip scales “deep” within the creator economy space by letting a solo business grow revenue enormously by adding more content, without adding complexity. But Payhip does not scale “wide” into all e-commerce scenarios. If your vision includes warehouses, retail stores, or vast product catalogs with global distribution, Payhip won’t support that dream.

Consider where you want to be in 5 years. If you aspire to be a top creator, Payhip can likely handle that. If you aspire to run the next big D2C brand with worldwide shipping, you’ll need the heavy artillery that Shopify provides.
Payhip vs Shopify: Which Platform Should You Choose?
After all this comparison, deciding between Payhip and Shopify comes down to which is better for you. Ask yourself these questions:
When Should You Choose Payhip Over Shopify?
Choose Payhip if you resonate with these scenarios:
① Selling Digital Goods: You’re an author with an eBook or a series of PDFs. With Payhip, upload your PDF and start selling within minutes. It will even stamp buyers’ emails on your eBook to deter sharing. No need for a complex store.
② Launching Courses or Memberships: A yoga instructor can upload class videos, arrange them into modules, and sell a course or membership access. Payhip provides the course player and handles recurring billing. If you’ve looked at Teachable, Podia, or Kajabi and felt they were pricey, Payhip offers similar core functionality essentially for free until you have significant sales.
③ Simplicity First: You’re a solo entrepreneur or artist who doesn’t have time to fuss with lots of settings. Payhip’s interface is clean and stripped-down, so you can get your first product live in minutes. If you value short setup and minimal maintenance, Payhip is very appealing.
④ Budget-Conscious or Testing an Idea: You’re just starting out as a side-hustle and not ready to commit to monthly fees. Payhip’s free plan means you pay nothing until you start making sales. This reduces your financial risk.
⑤ Digital Sales with a Bit of Merch: You’re a content creator who mostly sells digital downloads but also wants to offer some physical merchandise like t-shirts to your fans. Payhip will handle those few physical item orders and shipping basics. You keep everything under one roof.
In all these cases, Payhip keeps the focus on your content and removes roadblocks. Many users report that Payhip is extremely easy for beginners and “literally anyone can use” it.
When Should You Choose Shopify Over Payhip?
Opt for Shopify if you see yourself in these situations:
→ Building a Brand for Physical Products: You’re launching a clothing line, beauty product, or any tangible goods. Shopify handles all the moving parts of a growing product business. A growing apparel brand with dozens of styles and sizes will benefit from Shopify’s ability to track complex inventory across warehouses.
→ Need a Robust Ecosystem: A direct-to-consumer company often relies on specialized marketing and analytics tools. Shopify’s app ecosystem lets you connect to services like Klaviyo for email marketing, install upsell apps, loyalty programs, reviews widgets, and more.
If you’re looking to maximize your Shopify checkout conversions, tools like Checkout Links help you recover more abandoned carts with smart, pre-filled checkout URLs.
Create custom links with automatic discounts, cart prefill, and UTM tracking to boost sales.
→ Omnichannel Retail: If you intend to sell on your own website and on marketplaces like Amazon, or open a physical retail space, Shopify is geared for that. Shopify POS syncs your inventory so an in-person sale reflects online stock.
→ Deep Care About Customization: If having a pixel-perfect, highly customized website is important, Shopify gives the tools to do it. A boutique brand that wants a very specific look or interactive features will benefit from Shopify’s theme code editing and the community of developers/designers familiar with Shopify.
→ Scaling a Large Catalog or Global Audience: If you plan on having hundreds or thousands of products, Shopify’s backend handles that more elegantly. If selling internationally (multiple currencies, languages, regional tax regulations), Shopify has more features to accommodate that.
Shopify’s Gross Merchandise Volume was about $236 billion in 2023, indicating many businesses trust it for huge sales. Shopify is continuously investing in tech (AI tools, headless commerce capabilities) that big merchants can leverage.
If your vision involves complexity (catalog, channels, customization, or integrations), Shopify is built to handle that complexity. It’s the platform to choose when you need your e-commerce foundation to be virtually limitless in potential. Payhip is the platform when you want a contained, streamlined setup that covers exactly your current needs with no fuss.
How to Decide Between Payhip and Shopify
At this point, deciding between Payhip and Shopify is less about which is “better” overall and more about which is better for you. Here’s your final checklist:
Your Decision Checklist: Payhip vs Shopify
1. What is my primary product type?
If you’re selling ebooks, video courses, templates, or any digital download, Payhip is the clear winner in terms of built-in convenience. It was made for this.
If you’re selling physical products (your own handmade goods, retail merchandise, or dropshipped items), especially if they come in many variants or require shipping logistics, Shopify is the undisputed leader.
2. What are my long-term ambitions?
Is your goal to build a huge library of digital products and monetize your creative work directly? If so, Payhip gives you essentially unlimited room to grow that catalog.
If your vision includes building a brand across multiple channels, maybe expanding into retail stores or managing a supply chain of physical goods, you’ll need Shopify’s powerful infrastructure.
3. What is my tolerance for complexity and cost?
Be honest here. Payhip is all about simplicity. It bundles everything together and pricing is straightforward (you can even start free). If you prefer to keep things simple and costs minimal, Payhip is very appealing.
Shopify offers immense power, but it comes with more moving parts. There’s a monthly fee, likely a few app subscriptions, and more settings to learn. If you enjoy tinkering and optimizing, and you’re prepared to invest money to make money, Shopify can be extremely rewarding.
Bottom Line: The right platform will be the one that removes obstacles for your specific business. If you’re a creator who just wants to create (and not become an IT admin), Payhip’s lean setup removes many technical and financial hurdles. If you’re an entrepreneur building the next big commerce empire, Shopify’s robust toolset removes the limitations that might otherwise cap your growth.
You’re not marrying the platform forever. Some businesses start on Payhip and later migrate to Shopify when they hit a certain scale. Others start on Shopify to be future-proof from day one. It’s about what makes sense for where you are right now and in the near future.
Payhip vs Shopify: Frequently Asked Questions
Can I sell physical products on Payhip?
Absolutely. While Payhip is a powerhouse for digital goods, it has the basics covered for selling physical products too. You can list tangible items, manage simple inventory counts, and set flat shipping rates or free shipping.
It’s a great fit if you’re primarily a creator but want to offer some merchandise on the side (an author selling a few print-on-demand t-shirts or mugs, or an artist selling prints in addition to digital files).
However, remember Payhip’s limitations: It doesn’t support advanced product options very well. If you had dozens of size/color combinations, it would get unwieldy. It lacks real-time shipping integrations (you can’t get live USPS/UPS rates or print shipping labels). Inventory management is basic and single-location.
For a small catalog of physical items, Payhip is fine and keeps it simple. But if physical products are your main business, Shopify was built for that scenario.
Is Payhip or Shopify better for beginners?
For someone just starting out with limited experience, Payhip is usually the easier choice. The interface is very beginner-friendly. There are fewer things to configure, and you can literally go from sign-up to having a product for sale in under an hour.
Payhip handles all the heavy-lifting in the background (file hosting, delivery, VAT tax for EU, etc.) without requiring you to set those up. As one user put it, Payhip is so straightforward that “literally anyone can use” it, even if it’s their first time selling online.
Shopify is also designed to be user-friendly given its scope, and many beginners start on Shopify. It has guided onboarding and tons of documentation. But compared to Payhip, Shopify has a lot more depth (more settings, more features, more decisions like which theme to pick, which apps to install).
For a “true beginner,” that depth can be intimidating at first. It might take you a few days to fully get comfortable and launch your store, especially if you’re trying to customize things.
If you want the path of least resistance to launch, Payhip is great. If you’re okay with a slightly longer learning process for the sake of Shopify’s capabilities, Shopify is fine too.
Can I migrate from Payhip to Shopify later?
Yes, you can migrate from Payhip to Shopify if you decide to switch platforms down the road. It’s definitely possible, but it’s not a one-click easy button. It requires some manual effort and care.
Products: You can export your product list from Payhip as a CSV file (titles, descriptions, prices, etc.). Then import that CSV into Shopify using Shopify’s Import tool. If you have downloadable files, you’ll need to re-upload those in Shopify since the files themselves won’t transfer through a CSV.
Customers: Export your customer list from Payhip (emails, names) and import to Shopify. Shopify might send those customers an account activation link.
Orders: Past order history usually isn’t imported fully into Shopify in a way that ties to analytics. You might choose not to import old orders and just keep them archived from Payhip.
Content: If you had blog posts on Payhip, you’d manually copy those over to Shopify’s blog. Any pages or imagery might need recreating on the new site.
There’s no direct integration between Payhip and Shopify to sync or transfer data automatically, so it’s a hands-on project. However, Shopify provides tools (like the Store Importer app) and there are third-party migration services that can assist.
Many merchants successfully migrate from simpler platforms to Shopify as they grow. It’s doable, but be prepared to roll up your sleeves. If you only have a dozen products, it’s actually pretty quick. If you have hundreds, allocate a few days to the task.
Boost Your Shopify Sales with Smart Checkout Links
If you decide Shopify is right for you, don’t miss out on tools that can boost your sales. Checkout Links helps you recover more abandoned carts and increase conversions with custom, pre-filled checkout links.
Create smart URLs that direct shoppers to a pre-configured purchase flow. Each link can prefill carts, apply discounts or free gifts, enforce usage limits, personalize for customers, and attribute revenue in native Shopify analytics.
It’s like giving your customers a shortcut to purchase with less friction and more sales. Start converting more customers today with a 7-day free trial. Plans start at $15/month.
The platform is just the foundation. Whichever you choose, success lies in what you build on it: great products, great customer service, and great marketing. Now you know which foundation might suit you best.