Shopify vs. Etsy

Shopify is a commerce platform for running your own online store, plus sales on social channels and in person.¹ Etsy is a marketplace where you sell items you make, design, or handpick from a shop on etsy.com.²

Download your active listings from Etsy as a CSV file, edit any variants to match Shopify’s product CSV format, and import the file in your Shopify admin, following the Etsy migration guide.⁴ Etsy’s export only includes listings that are currently for sale. Shopify’s Store Migration app, in early access for some stores, imports the Etsy CSV without edits.⁴

Yes. You can keep your Etsy shop open and keep selling there while you run your Shopify store.⁴ The Shopify Marketplace Connect app isn’t accepting new Etsy connections, but stores already connected to Etsy through it can keep syncing listings, orders, and inventory in the Shopify admin.⁵

In the US, Etsy takes $9.75 from a $100 sale paid through Etsy Payments: a 6.5% transaction fee ($6.50) and a 3% + $0.25 USD payment processing fee ($3.25). That’s on top of the $0.20 USD fee to list the item, and Etsy adds a 12% or 15% Offsite Ads fee when the sale comes from one of its offsite ads. The same $100 online sale costs $3.20 on Shopify’s Basic plan with Shopify Payments (2.9% + 30¢ USD), with no listing fee or commission. Higher Shopify plans charge less: $3.00 on Grow and $2.80 on Advanced. If you process with an outside provider instead, Shopify charges a third-party transaction fee of 2% on Basic, 1% on Grow, or 0.6% on Advanced, and that provider charges its own rate separately.⁶

Choose Etsy if you sell items you make, design, or handpick and want to list them in an existing marketplace.² Choose Shopify if you want your own online store and domain, with unlimited products and no listing fees.¹

No. Shopify doesn’t charge listing fees, and it doesn’t add a transaction fee on sales when you use Shopify Payments, though card processing rates apply.¹ For US sellers, Etsy charges $0.20 per listing and a 6.5% transaction fee on each sale.³

For beginners, Shopify offers extensive support and resources to guide new merchants through setting up and scaling their online stores, making it user-friendly for those starting their ecommerce journey.

Selling on Etsy provides immediate access to a built-in audience but comes with higher competition, which might reduce profitability. It's great for specialized or niche items, while Shopify offers more customization, and is better suited for establishing a unique brand and scaling business operations.

Shopify is beneficial for artists looking to sell without constraints, as it allows for selling unlimited items without listing fees, giving you the freedom to offer more artwork and potentially reach a larger audience.

Not automatically. Review apps in the Shopify App Store, such as Reputon Etsy Reviews and Shuttle, can import your Etsy reviews into your Shopify store.⁴

Yes, with a third-party app. Apps in the Shopify App Store, such as Shuttle and ShopList, import Etsy customers and past orders into Shopify.⁴

Yes, through channels that already have shoppers. Eligible Shopify stores and products are listed in the Shop app, where customers discover new stores, and Shopify’s agentic storefronts let customers find and buy your products in AI channels such as ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, and Meta.⁴ You also bring shoppers to your own store with Shopify’s email, ad campaign, and SEO tools, plus social media and marketplace channels.¹ Etsy has about 87 million active buyers browsing its own marketplace.²

It can be at low sales volume, because Etsy has no monthly plan. Shopify takes less from each sale ($3.20 vs. $9.75 on a $100 sale), so the more you sell, the more Shopify’s monthly plan pays for itself.⁶