Shopify is the stronger fit for merchants who want managed infrastructure; PrestaShop is the stronger fit for teams that need source-code control and can take responsibility for technical operations. Shopify’s subscription includes hosting and SSL, while PrestaShop’s open-source project is free to download, modify, and use. The practical choice is how much infrastructure work your business wants to retain—and what it will cost to support that choice.
PrestaShop vs. Shopify: two different operating models
PrestaShop’s open-source project gives your team access to software it can modify. For a self-managed installation, hosting and ongoing technical work sit outside the software license. You can arrange those services yourself or pay a provider to handle them.
Shopify’s US plans bundle secure hosting, unlimited bandwidth, and a TLS/SSL certificate for connected domains. TLS/SSL encrypts the connection between a shopper’s browser and the store. You pay a recurring subscription for the hosted service rather than selecting and maintaining the underlying server environment.
This comparison focuses on PrestaShop’s downloadable open-source project. PrestaShop also names separate Classic and Hosted offers; the responsibilities of a self-managed installation should stay attached to that deployment model.
For an owner-operator, the distinction changes the work behind the storefront. With Shopify, infrastructure is part of the service bundle. With self-managed PrestaShop, infrastructure becomes a business responsibility that needs an owner, whether that is you, an employee, a developer, or a hosting partner.
Who handles setup and infrastructure?
Shopify reduces the infrastructure work your team needs to arrange. PrestaShop gives you more direct control over a self-managed installation, with responsibilities that depend on your hosting and maintenance agreement.
Shopify: delegate infrastructure, retain store operations
Included hosting and SSL remove two separate infrastructure purchases from the platform setup. They do not remove the merchant’s work of building the catalog, choosing a theme, configuring payments, and selecting extensions.
For a small team whose owner also runs marketing and fulfillment, that separation is valuable: time spent administering a hosting environment competes with time spent operating the store. Shopify’s managed model is a reasonable fit when server control is not a business requirement.
PrestaShop: assign technical ownership before launch
A self-managed PrestaShop store needs someone responsible for hosting, updates, security maintenance, and module compatibility. The division of work varies with the installation and service providers you choose.
Before committing, define that division in the implementation scope. Who maintains the hosting environment? Who applies software updates? Who resolves problems between a module and the installed platform version? An agency or managed hosting arrangement can take on work, but that work belongs in the budget and service agreement.
PrestaShop includes an Update Assistant among its project features. A tool for updates is useful, but the operational decision remains who will manage the store’s installation and extensions over time.
How much can a store customize?
PrestaShop is the more direct fit when modifying the platform’s source code is a requirement. Shopify supports theme customization and APIs, with plan-based boundaries around checkout changes.
PrestaShop: source-level changes
PrestaShop permits modification of its open-source software. That gives a technical team a different starting point from configuring a hosted service: the team can change the software itself.
PrestaShop 9 is described by the project as built on Symfony 6.4 and PHP 8.1+. It includes an Admin API, the Hummingbird theme, a redesigned back office, SEO controls, and an Update Assistant. An API is an interface software systems use to exchange data or request actions; its presence is relevant when a developer is planning custom integrations.
For a merchant, these details matter chiefly through the development relationship. If your store requires source-level changes, ask the implementation team to scope both the initial development and the maintenance of those changes.
Shopify: check the plan against the required change
Shopify’s US feature grid lists limited checkout customization on Basic, Grow, and Advanced, and full checkout customization on Plus. Theme and API customization also have plan-specific capabilities.
That makes the exact requirement more useful than a broad request for a “custom store.” A storefront design change and a checkout change are different projects. Identify which part of the buying experience must change before choosing a plan or commissioning development.
The core differences are:
| Decision factor | PrestaShop open-source project | Shopify |
| Platform model | Downloadable, modifiable software | Hosted subscription service |
| Software and infrastructure costs | Free software; hosting and technical services are separate | Recurring subscription includes hosting, bandwidth, and SSL |
| Technical ownership | Self-managed deployments require assigned hosting and maintenance responsibilities | Shopify supplies the hosting infrastructure as part of the service |
| Customization model | Source code can be modified | Theme and API customization; checkout capabilities vary by plan |
| Extension budget | Modules and implementation work depend on the chosen setup | Apps and customization work sit alongside the subscription |
Store management, security, and support
Shopify’s US plan grid provides concrete catalog, staff, security, and support terms. For self-managed PrestaShop, the team also needs to arrange operational support around its installation.
Catalog size and staff access are separate decisions
Shopify lists unlimited products on Basic, Grow, Advanced, and Plus. Additional staff accounts differ: Basic has none, Grow allows five, Advanced allows 15, and Plus allows unlimited additional staff accounts. Collaborator access is listed separately.
This matters before you compare subscription prices. A solo merchant and a business with several employees working in the admin have different access requirements. Basic’s lower subscription price does not solve a need for additional staff accounts.
PrestaShop 9’s redesigned back office is part of its project feature set. For a PrestaShop implementation, include the team’s administrative workflow in the setup scope rather than treating source-code access as the whole decision.
Security responsibilities follow the operating model
Shopify states that its platform is Level 1 PCI DSS compliant and includes SSL. PCI DSS is the payment-card industry’s data-security standard. These are specific service attributes, distinct from a claim that one platform is universally safer.
With a self-managed PrestaShop installation, hosting and software maintenance need an assigned technical owner. Put security maintenance into that responsibility, including how the provider handles the platform and installed modules.
Support is a service you need to scope
Shopify lists 24/7 live chat on Basic and Grow, enhanced live chat on Advanced, and priority support on Plus. PrestaShop’s open-source project offers developer documentation and community resources.
For a PrestaShop store supported by an agency or hosting partner, specify which problems that provider handles and how support is delivered. Hosting support, module troubleshooting, and custom-code maintenance are different jobs; a useful service agreement identifies the owner of each.
What does each cost category cover?
PrestaShop’s free software and Shopify’s subscription price are different kinds of costs. A store budget needs the services and payment charges around them.
PrestaShop: budget beyond the download
PrestaShop’s open-source software is free to download, modify, and use. A self-managed store can still incur costs for:
- Hosting and infrastructure services.
- Paid modules and other selected extensions.
- Payment processing.
- Initial implementation and custom development.
- Ongoing updates, troubleshooting, and maintenance.
Build the budget from your actual store scope. A deployment with paid technical support has a different cost structure from one maintained by an employee, even though both use the same freely downloadable software.
Shopify: US subscription prices and payment rates
As of October 7, 2026, Shopify’s US pricing page displays the following prices and rates. Annual-billing figures are monthly equivalents of a yearly-billed subscription.
| US plan | Monthly equivalent with annual billing | Price with monthly billing | Shopify Payments standard online-card rate | Additional third-party transaction fee |
| Shopify Basic | $29 | $39 | From 2.9% + $0.30 per payment | 2% |
| Shopify Grow | $79 | $105 | From 2.7% + $0.30 per payment | 1% |
| Shopify Advanced | $299 | $399 | From 2.5% + $0.30 per payment | 0.6% |
For Shopify Plus, the US page lists a standard online-card rate of 2.25% + $0.30 and an additional third-party transaction fee of 0.2%.
The subscription is one budget line. Apps, implementation work, payment charges, and other store expenses sit alongside it. Higher plans also change capabilities and access, so the decision is not solely whether a lower card rate offsets a higher subscription.
Processing and third-party transaction fees follow different paths
With Shopify Payments, you pay the applicable processing charge. Shopify says these orders generally do not incur its additional third-party transaction fee.
With an external payment provider, the provider charges for processing, and Shopify’s applicable third-party transaction fee is a separate platform charge. On US Basic, the listed platform rate is 2%.
Shopify’s fee documentation describes payment-method exceptions, including certain gift-card or store-credit payments for stores created on or after May 12, 2025. The payment method and plan affect whether a third-party transaction fee applies.
Processing charges also vary by card type and card location. Cross-border payments can have different rates, and accepting a currency different from the payout currency can add conversion fees. For the international-sales conversion circumstance described in its fee documentation, Shopify lists a 1.5% conversion fee for the US.
A US Shopify Basic payment example
Consider a US store on Shopify Basic with annual billing at the displayed $29 monthly equivalent. In one month, it receives 100 domestic standard online-card orders at $50 each, producing $5,000 in gross card sales.
The calculation excludes refunds, cross-border cards, apps, taxes, and other costs.
Path 1: Shopify Payments
At the displayed starting rate of 2.9% + $0.30 per payment:
- Percentage charge: $5,000 × 2.9% = $145.
- Per-payment charge: 100 × $0.30 = $30.
- Total processing: $145 + $30 = $175.
- Processing plus subscription allocation: $175 + $29 = $204.
The $29 is the monthly equivalent of the annual subscription, not a monthly-billed plan charge. Choosing monthly billing at $39 would make the same processing-plus-subscription calculation $214.
Path 2: an external payment provider
For the same $5,000 in sales, assuming the payments incur Basic’s listed 2% third-party transaction fee:
- Shopify’s platform fee: $5,000 × 2% = $100.
- Platform fee plus annual-plan monthly equivalent: $100 + $29 = $129.
- Add the external provider’s own processing charges.
The external-provider scenario therefore has a $129 platform subtotal plus provider processing. The $204 Shopify Payments scenario already includes its $175 processing charge. Obtain the external provider’s rate for the same order and card mix to calculate that payment path’s complete cost.
Which platform fits your team?
The best fit comes from matching a real operating requirement to the platform model, then checking the budget and plan boundaries.
| Your operating requirement | Stronger starting point | Reason |
| Delegate hosting infrastructure while running the store with a small team | Shopify | Hosting, bandwidth, and SSL are bundled into the subscription |
| Modify the platform’s source code and manage the deployment | PrestaShop | The open-source project permits software modification |
| Use an external processor on Shopify | Evaluate the intended Shopify plan | The platform transaction fee changes by plan and sits alongside provider processing |
| Make checkout changes on Shopify | Evaluate the exact checkout requirement against the plan | Basic, Grow, and Advanced list limited customization; Plus lists full customization |
Choose Shopify if managed infrastructure is the priority
Shopify is a practical starting point when the business wants to spend its time on catalog, marketing, orders, and fulfillment rather than hosting administration. Budget for the subscription and chosen apps, then calculate payments using the intended provider.
For a team with employees working in the admin, check staff access before settling on Basic. Its lack of additional staff accounts is a concrete constraint even when its payment and subscription costs fit the budget.
Choose PrestaShop if source-code control justifies technical ownership
PrestaShop is a practical starting point when modifying the software is a genuine requirement and a developer or service partner can maintain the installation. Include hosting, modules, implementation, and ongoing support in the scope.
For an existing store, translate the reason for changing platforms into specific requirements. Frank Gosdschan, General Manager at Veneta Blinds, described the company’s previous PrestaShop setup as increasingly cumbersome to maintain and said Shopify automated manual processes and provided useful reporting. That is a company-specific operating experience; a migration brief should identify the particular maintenance tasks and workflows your business wants to change.
Bottom line: make technical ownership part of the contract
For a PrestaShop implementation, require a named owner for hosting, updates, module troubleshooting, and custom-code maintenance. For Shopify, document the required staff access and checkout changes before choosing a plan. Those requirements determine the services or subscription tier your store actually needs.
