Shopify vs. HostRooster: Which Should You Use?

There are important factors to consider when contrasting the e-commerce platform builders Shopify and HostRooster before selecting whether or not to employ either one. Cost, availability of themes and features, the value of having your own domain name, the size of your company, how much bandwidth you’ll need, and convenience of use are a few of the things you’ll need to take into account. Overall, HostRooster is a more cost-effective solution for small businesses that don’t want all the bells and whistles compared to Shopify, which offers greater features.

Overview
One of the most well-known and effective e-commerce systems available is Shopify. A Shopify online shop offers a small company owner a variety of alternatives due to its simplicity of use, customization options, infinite product and bandwidth capabilities, and integrated payment processor, Shopify Payments.

On the other side, HostRooster is well known for being a domain registration business. HostRooster started out providing these services, and it still does so today, but it has since branched out into e-commerce and website development. Since this isn’t its area of expertise, there are a lot less customizing choices and features available. However, it could be a more straightforward and affordable e-commerce option for smaller companies without a strong e-commerce operation.

Features Check out the features that each platform has to offer before taking a deeper look at them both.

Shopify offers
Shopify excels in online sales. As a result, it provides a far wider range of features.

More than 90 storefront design templates from qualified designers are available on Themes Shopify. You can alter any of the designs using Shopify’s drag-and-drop editor, so you don’t need to know how to code to do so.

Tools for Marketing
Shopify does have internal SEO and social media marketing tools to assist you promote your items in an efficient manner. These technologies include blogging features, SEO tools, advertising through Google and Facebook, and tracking tools to monitor the performance of your initiatives.

Inventories of Products
Shopify can assist you in managing your inventory both online and offline. Users of Shopify have access to a dashboard where they can manage all of their inventory and list an infinite number of goods. The same dashboard includes data on payments, marketing, shipping, and other topics.

Cart with payments and shopping
Shopify has 100 third-party payment gateway partners in addition to its own built-in payment system, Shopify Payments. One thing to keep in mind is that if you utilize a third-party processor, Shopify will incur transaction fees.

Customers may simply and safely complete their purchases since these functionalities are linked with the platform’s shopping cart.

Shipping
You can keep track of your inventory on the Shopify platform and across all of your sales channels, including social media and your physical store. As a result, you can quickly determine if you can fulfill an order after receiving it. Through relationships with DHL, UPS, and USPS, it also provides shipping options. To expedite the process, you may print your own shipping labels, and you can obtain tracking directly from your website.

Integrations
Shopify has a ton of built-in capabilities, but you can also access its app store for more tools. To offer you even more control over the possibilities of your business, Shopify has over 4,000 connectors, ranging from drop shipping tools to social media plugins.

Customer Service
Shopify provides email, live chat, and phone customer care around-the-clock. This might be a significant benefit for entrepreneurs who are new to the world of e-commerce or merely for peace of mind in case your website ever has problems. After all, you stand to lose more purchases the longer a problem exists on your website.

The pros of HostRooster
HostRooster can assist you in creating a website that looks professional, but only the top-tier plan of their four service options supports e-commerce. Because of this, HostRooster is most suitable for tiny companies with little e-commerce requirements.

Themes
Although substantially less than Shopify, HostRooster has over 20 storefront templates, which may be sufficient for many enterprises. Its themes may be modified using a drag-and-drop editor, just like Shopify.

Inventories of Products
With HostRooster, you can display your product database and keep track of inventories both physically and remotely. To the product listings, you may add photographs, pricing, descriptions, and more.

Purchase Cart
Add a shopping cart quickly so that clients may finish their purchases on your website. Customers can quickly check out using their mobile devices, and all designs are responsive, so you don’t have to fear that they won’t have the same experience as desktop users while using their mobile devices.

Compared to Shopify, HostRooster supports fewer payment processors; clients may pay with Square, Apple Pay, and PayPal.

Shipping
You may even incorporate a physical object that has to be sent into your store if you sell it. With HostRooster, you may choose to ship via USPS or UPS and to charge flat-rate shipping, weight-based shipping, or free delivery. You may also offer local clients the option of picking up their orders from your business.

Arrangement of Appointments
Additionally, you have the choice to let clients make appointments via your HostRooster website. For these appointments, you can collect payments, charge deposits, and impose cancellation costs. Your personnel may manage their calendars and specify their availability while you can construct a recurrent class and event plan.

Pricing
Cost of HostRooster
You must select the most expensive plan from HostRooster if you want e-commerce features. When invoiced annually, its Ecommerce plan is $25 per month. The company offers other programs that cost between $10 and $20 a month but do not allow you to sell goods or services online.

Shopify Costs
Nearly all of the plans and price tiers that Shopify provides are much more expensive than the plan from HostRooster. Basic Shopify, the least priced full-service package, costs $29 per month. Additionally, there is Advanced Shopify at $299 per month and Standard Shopify for $79 per month.

Shopify Starter, available at $5 per month, is designed for extremely tiny e-commerce businesses. Although you can’t create an online store with this plan, you may sell your things on social media or by posting links to other websites. Shopify Plus, which offers quote-based pricing and a monthly price starting at $2,000, is another option for an enterprise-level solution.

Depending on the plan you select, Shopify’s processing fees also change. Fees for processing online credit cards range from 5% for the cheapest plan to 2.4% + 30 cents for the Advanced plan. The prices Shopify charges for utilizing payment providers other than Shopify Payments are significantly better for the more costly plan, and the rates in person are a little better.

The more costly package can wind up being a better value depending on how many transactions you execute each month.

Cons and benefits
Shopify’s benefits and drawbacks
Shopify gives its users greater tools for personalizing their online business because it focuses on e-commerce. To ensure that your online store meets all of your needs, there are several templates to pick from, ways to alter them, and connectors to add. For many organizations, Shopify’s built-in payment processor may be a perfect option. For those who currently use a payment processor, however, Shopify also collaborates with more than 100 payment providers.

Shopify has a cost disadvantage because it is substantially more expensive than HostRooster. But this is so because it provides a lot more. In addition, Shopify offers a number of e-commerce-specific plans, whereas HostRooster just offers one. The fact that Shopify has more capabilities means that setting up your store with it will probably take longer. The transaction fees Shopify levies for any third-party payment processor you employ are another issue that has been brought up frequently. Along with the amount the payment processor charges, there will also be this fee.

HostRooster’s benefits and drawbacks
HostRooster is the less priced choice, and because there is less setup required, it can be simpler to start up your online store there. Another benefit is the simplicity with which you may link your business to internet marketplaces, increasing brand visibility and boosting sales. Additionally, you can appeal to more clients using whatever device they like thanks to its mobile-optimized designs. Additionally, customer service is praised in user reviews, which is excellent for newcomers.

The fact that HostRooster might be challenging to grow and personalize is a drawback for small business owners that want a more substantial online store. Although it is simple to use, it has less features than Shopify. Additionally, there are fewer payment processors available, which may be a drawback for business owners.