Choosing between Webflow and Shopify? Dive into our detailed analysis to make an informed decision for your design and frontend needs.
Irvin Zhan
•
2025-01-13
When it comes to building and managing online stores, Webflow and Shopify are two top contenders. Both platforms offer unique features and cater to different needs. This article will compare their key features, pricing, limitations, and user reviews to help you make an informed decision.
Webflow: Overview and Key Features
Webflow is a versatile platform known for its advanced design capabilities and flexibility in website creation.
Visual Design Tools: Webflow lets users create professional-grade websites visually. Its interface allows detailed customization of HTML, CSS, and even animations without writing code.
Custom Interactions and Animations: A standout feature is Webflow's ability to create complex interactions and animations visually. This can elevate the look of your site beyond basic templates.
CMS (Content Management System): Webflow's integrated CMS allows easy creation, editing, and management of dynamic content. It's especially useful for blogs, portfolios, and news sites.
Hosting and Performance: Webflow provides secure, reliable hosting with built-in security features, SSL certificates, and excellent load speeds. It leverages AWS infrastructure for reliability.
E-commerce Capabilities: Though initially focused on websites, Webflow has robust e-commerce functionality, suitable for small to medium-sized online stores. It supports custom checkout pages, product variants, and inventory tracking.
SEO Optimization: Webflow includes built-in SEO controls, enabling customization of meta descriptions, titles, URLs, and structured data directly within the visual editor.
Code Export Option: Webflow uniquely allows users to export clean, semantic HTML/CSS code, giving designers and developers additional flexibility.
Webflow's Reviews
Overall, user feedback on Webflow highlights its powerful design capabilities and flexibility, though some users find it challenging to learn and expensive.
G2: 4.4/5
Darya K. (Small-Business, 50 or fewer employees) - 5/5: "Webflow is my perfect tool for work. I like the fact that there are virtually no limits in Webflow. I can do anything as a designer and get a good result."
Verified User (Mid-Market, 51-1000 employees) - 4.5/5: "Mostly very intuitive way to manage a website. No need to know HTML and like the online help."
Regie F. (Small-Business, 50 or fewer employees) - 5/5: "Webflow enables users to build professional websites even when they do not possess programming skills through its effective platform. Easy to manage."
Leon B. (Design Lead, Mid-Market, 51-1000 employees) - 4/5: "Great platform — enabler of productivity and design success, sometimes unreliable pricing."
Fernando C. (Webflow Engineer, Mid-Market, 51-1000 employees) - 4/5: "A Powerful Tool for Building Modern Websites. Webflow is an excellent platform for quickly building layouts and UI without sacrificing design control."
Positive Aspects:
High design flexibility and customization
Intuitive and easy-to-use interface
Comprehensive features for building and managing websites
Strong support and active community
Effective SEO tools and integrations
Common Concerns:
Steep learning curve for beginners
High cost and confusing pricing structure
Some missing or underdeveloped features
Limited support for non-enterprise customers
Performance issues with large or complex projects
Shopify: Overview and Key Features
Shopify is a leading e-commerce platform designed to help businesses create and manage online stores efficiently.
Storefront Customization: Shopify offers a wide range of themes and templates, allowing users to customize their storefronts to match their brand identity. Users can also modify HTML and CSS for more advanced customization.
Product Management: Shopify simplifies product management with features like bulk product uploads, inventory tracking, and variant options. Users can also categorize products and manage collections easily.
Payment Processing: Shopify supports multiple payment gateways, including Shopify Payments, PayPal, and Stripe. This flexibility ensures that businesses can offer various payment options to their customers.
SEO Tools: Shopify includes built-in SEO features such as customizable title tags, meta descriptions, and alt text for images. It also generates a sitemap.xml file to help search engines index the site more effectively.
App Integrations: Shopify's App Store offers thousands of plugins and integrations, such as Oberlo for dropshipping, Klaviyo for email marketing, and Yotpo for customer reviews. These apps extend the platform's functionality.
Analytics and Reporting: Shopify provides detailed analytics and reporting tools, including sales reports, customer insights, and traffic analysis. These tools help businesses make data-driven decisions.
Customer Support: Shopify offers 24/7 customer support through various channels, including live chat, email, and phone. The platform also has a comprehensive help center and community forums.
Shopify's Reviews
Overall user feedback on Shopify highlights its ease of use and comprehensive features, though some users find it expensive and limited in customization.
G2: 4.4/5
Shimonta D. - 5/5: "Love this software for my business. Shopify is relatively easy to use and provides a professional look for my business."
Verified User - 5/5: "The only real option to start up an ecommerce site. Scales with the business and relatively easy to set up."
Ashley C. - 2.5/5: "It's fairly easy to use. The page is very easily learned and trained."
Keyan S. - 5/5: "Comprehensive Ecom Platform for Small Businesses. The features and built-in functions are just so comprehensive and helpful."
Eric W. - 5/5: "Ease of use, integrates with everything, and has a huge community."
Positive Aspects:
Ease of use and professional look
Comprehensive features and built-in functions
Quick setup and scalability
Good customer support
Integration with various sales channels
Common Concerns:
Expensive pricing and additional costs for apps and themes
Limited customization options
Issues with data access and privacy concerns
Some reports of poor customer support
Fee structures can be confusing
Feature Comparison: Webflow vs. Shopify
Similarities
Despite targeting slightly different audiences, Webflow and Shopify share some important similarities:
User-friendly Interfaces: Both platforms offer visual, drag-and-drop interfaces, enabling non-developers to build and manage professional-looking sites.
Hosted Platforms: Both provide secure, managed hosting, which means users don't have to worry about server maintenance, security, or performance optimization.
E-commerce Functionality: While Shopify is more advanced in this area, both platforms support selling online, including features for inventory management, payments, product variants, and shipping.
SEO and Marketing Features: Each platform provides built-in SEO tools, customizable metadata, URL structures, and integrations with external marketing platforms to drive traffic and conversions.
Extensibility: Webflow and Shopify both allow additional functionality through third-party integrations. Shopify has apps, while Webflow integrates via external services like Zapier and custom code.
Customer Support: Both platforms offer extensive customer support options, including help centers, community forums, and direct support channels.
Differences
Critical differences between Webflow and Shopify will likely influence your choice.
Primary Focus:
Webflow: Primarily a website builder emphasizing visual design freedom.
Shopify: Focused primarily on e-commerce, optimized for selling products online.
Customization and Design Flexibility:
Webflow: Offers greater design freedom, allowing extensive customization down to CSS-level details.
Shopify: Provides design flexibility through themes but generally requires code customization for advanced changes.
Content Management System:
Webflow: Integrated CMS for managing dynamic content, suitable for blogs, portfolios, and news sites.
Shopify: Lacks a built-in CMS, focusing more on product and inventory management.
App Integrations:
Webflow: Integrates with external services like Zapier and custom code for additional functionality.
Shopify: Extensive app store with over 13,000 apps for various functionalities, including dropshipping and email marketing.
Payment Processing:
Webflow: Limited to a few payment gateways, primarily Stripe and PayPal.
Shopify: Supports multiple payment gateways, including Shopify Payments, PayPal, and Stripe, offering more flexibility.
Pricing Comparison: Webflow vs. Shopify
Webflow Pricing
Webflow offers a range of pricing plans tailored to different needs, from personal websites to large e-commerce stores.
Site Plans:
Starter: Free - Includes Webflow.io domain, 2 pages, 20 CMS collections, 50 CMS items, 50 form submissions (lifetime), and 1 GB bandwidth.
Basic: $14/month (billed yearly) - Custom domain, 150 pages, unlimited form submissions, 10 GB bandwidth, and surge protection.
CMS: $23/month (billed yearly) - Custom domain, 150 pages, 20 CMS collections, 2,000 CMS items, unlimited form submissions, 50 GB bandwidth, surge protection, 3 legacy Editor users, and site search.
Business: $39/month (billed yearly) - Custom domain, 300 pages, 40 CMS collections, up to 20,000 CMS items, unlimited form submissions, up to 500 GB bandwidth, surge protection, 10 legacy Editor users, site search, and form file upload.
Enterprise: Custom pricing - Includes custom solutions, advanced collaboration, guaranteed SLA, enterprise security, customer success, and enterprise support.
Ecommerce Site Plans:
Standard: $29/month (billed yearly) - 500 ecommerce items, 2,000 CMS items, 2% transaction fee, and all CMS plan features.
Plus: $74/month (billed yearly) - 5,000 ecommerce items, 10,000 CMS items, 0% transaction fee, $200K annual sales volume, and all Business plan features.
Advanced: $212/month (billed yearly) - 15,000 ecommerce items, 10,000 CMS items, 0% transaction fee, and all Business plan features.
Workspace Plans:
Starter: Free - Unlimited paid hosted sites, 2 webflow.io staging sites, 2 pages per staged site, 50 CMS items per staged site, 1 full seat, and 2 Agency/Freelancer guests.
Core: $19/month (billed yearly) - Unlimited paid hosted sites, 10 webflow.io staging sites, 300 pages per staged site, 50 CMS items per staged site, custom code, 1 full seat, 2 Agency/Freelancer guests, and code export.
Growth: $49/month (billed yearly) - Unlimited paid hosted sites, unlimited staging sites, 300 pages per staged site, 50 CMS items per staged site, custom code, site password protection, 301 redirects, 1 full seat, 2 Agency/Freelancer guests, site-specific access, site-level roles, publishing permissions, code export, and shared libraries.
Enterprise: Custom pricing - Includes custom solutions tailored to large organizations with specific needs.
Workspace Plans for Freelancers & Agencies:
Starter: Free - 2 staging sites on webflow.io domains, 2 Agency/Freelancer guests, and 1 full seat.
Freelancer: $16/month (billed yearly) - 10 staging sites on webflow.io domains, free guest access in client Workspaces, 1 full seat, full CMS access on staging sites, and client payments.
Agency: $35/month (billed yearly) - Unlimited staging sites on webflow.io domains, free guest access in client Workspaces, 1 full seat, full CMS access on staging sites, client payments, advanced roles and permissions, and shared libraries.
For custom pricing and enterprise solutions, users are encouraged to contact Webflow sales through the provided links on the page.
Shopify' Pricing
Shopify pricing is structured to accommodate various business needs, from small startups to large enterprises:
Basic Plan: $29/month (billed yearly)
Up to 77% shipping discount
10 inventory locations
24/7 chat support
Localized global selling (3 markets)
POS Lite
Shopify Plan: $79/month (billed yearly)
Up to 88% shipping discount and insurance
10 inventory locations
24/7 chat support
Localized global selling (3 markets)
5 additional staff accounts
POS Lite
Advanced Plan: $299/month (billed yearly)
Up to 88% shipping discount, insurance, 3rd-party calculated rates
10 inventory locations
Enhanced 24/7 chat support
Localized global selling (3 markets) + add markets for $59/month each
15 additional staff accounts
10x checkout capacity
POS Lite
Plus Plan: Starting at $2,300/month (on a 3-year term)
Up to 88% shipping discount, insurance, 3rd-party calculated rates
200 inventory locations
Priority 24/7 phone support
Localized global selling (50 markets)
Unlimited staff accounts
Customizable checkout with 40x capacity
Up to 200 POS Pro locations
Sell wholesale/B2B
Starter Plan: $5/month
Sell instantly through social media and messaging apps or a simple online store
Retail Plan: $89/month
In-person selling tools with advanced staff, inventory, and loyalty features
Enterprise Commerce: Custom pricing
Custom features tailored to enterprise organizations
Subframe, a Better Alternative to Webflow and Shopify
Subframe is a UI design tool that makes it easy to create and code interfaces. We combine a drag-and-drop editor with real, component-based design, giving you precise control for pixel-perfect, responsive layouts. Our platform instantly translates designs into clean, production-ready React and Tailwind code, speeding up your workflow and eliminating the need for handoff.
Subframe's Features
Subframe is the UI design tool for the AI era, offering a seamless blend of design and code.
Component-Based Design: Subframe allows the creation of user interfaces with real, reusable components, ensuring designs are not just static mockups.
Pre-Built UI Templates: A library of customizable templates inspired by established design patterns speeds up the design process.
Code Export: Generates clean, production-quality React and Tailwind code, reducing the time spent on handoff and manual CSS adjustments.
Free to Get Started: Offers free access to its visual design tools with no credit card required, making it easy to begin.
AI-Powered Design: Utilizes AI to quickly transform ideas into interfaces, featuring real prototypes and adaptive design capabilities.
Subframe's Pricing
Subframe pricing offers flexible options to suit different needs:
Free: $0 per user/month - 1 project, up to 3 page designs, up to 3 team members, 100s of UI templates, limited AI features.
Pro: $29 per user/month - Up to 3 projects, unlimited page designs, unlimited team members, custom components, 100s of UI templates, full AI beta access.
For more details, visit the Subframe pricing page. Book a demo with Subframe to see how it can transform your design workflow.
Subframe's Reviews
Users have shared positive feedback about Subframe, noting its user-friendly interface, time-saving tools, and the quality of the UI designs it produces. The platform has earned a 5/5 rating on Product Hunt. Customers especially value the visual editor, drag-and-drop functionality, and AI features that help refine designs based on user input.
"Without Subframe, the frontend build of this tool would've taken a lot longer and a lot more financial resources." - Erin Kim
"Subframe helped us make a super clean UI for our console without designers." - Carl Peterson
"Huge shoutout to Subframe guys! Super easy to create UI, and the support is great. Highly recommend!" - Amartya Jha
Webflow, Shopify or Subframe? Which is The Best Tool For You
Webflow excels in offering extensive design flexibility and customization, making it ideal for designers who want detailed control over HTML and CSS without writing code. Shopify stands out for its comprehensive e-commerce features, making it the go-to platform for businesses focused on selling products online.
Subframe seamlessly integrates design and code, combining real component-based design with AI-powered features to generate production-ready React and Tailwind code. If you prioritize design flexibility and efficient code generation, Subframe is the best choice.
Get started on Subframe for free to see how it can streamline your workflow and elevate your design and development process.
Join thousands of happy builders.
Subframe lets you build stunning UI with beautifully crafted components and a drag-and-drop visual editor.
