Shopify vs Jimdo: Which Platform to Use and When

Shopify vs Jimdo: Which solution should you use, and when?

Shopify is my top pick for anyone in search of a feature-rich, flexible, and scalable ecommerce solution. It’s brimming with powerful features, integrates with a range of tools, and even allows you to sell both products and services on a range of platforms.

Jimdo, on the other hand, is a website builder, with integrated ecommerce capabilities. It makes it simple to design a custom website, with AI tools and templates, but lacks the advanced sales features of Shopify, for things like inventory, order, and shipping management.

Let’s dive into the comparison.

When to Use Shopify and When to Use Jimdo

When to Use Shopify

Shopify is the best option for:

• Companies in search of comprehensive ecommerce and business management features (such as inventory management tools).
• Integrating multiple tools into a single ecosystem (you can access apps for everything from marketing to accounting).
• Selling various types of products on multiple platforms, such as social media and marketplaces.

When to Use Jimdo

Jimdo is the best option for:

• Accelerating the website building process with AI and templates. You can even create a logo and legal pages in seconds.
• Selling products with no transaction fees, and integrating your store with social media.
• Extra support in the form of professional design analysis, advanced SEO support, image libraries, and free business tools.

Shopify vs Jimdo: The Pros and Cons

Shopify Pros and Cons

Jimdo Pros and Cons

Shopify vs Jimdo: Overview and Pricing

Ease of Use	User-friendly with a learning curve for advanced features	Very user-friendly, suitable for beginners
Pricing	Plans range from $29 to $299 per month	Plans range from $9 to $39 per month
Customization	Highly customizable with a wide range of themes and apps	Limited customization options
Templates	Over 70 professional themes available	Fewer templates with limited design flexibility
E-commerce Features	Comprehensive e-commerce tools including inventory management, abandoned cart recovery, and multi-channel selling	Basic e-commerce features suitable for small stores
Payment Options	Supports over 100 payment gateways including Shopify Payments, PayPal, and Stripe	Limited payment options, major ones included
SEO Tools	Advanced SEO features including customizable title tags and meta descriptions	Basic SEO tools
App Store	Extensive app store with thousands of apps	Limited app store with fewer integrations
Mobile Responsiveness	All themes are mobile-responsive	Mobile-responsive templates available
Customer Support	24/7 support via phone, email, and live chat	Support via email and live chat, no 24/7 support
Blogging Capability	Built-in blogging platform	Basic blogging features
Analytics and Reports	Detailed analytics and reporting tools	Basic analytics, integration with Google Analytics
Scalability	Highly scalable, suitable for small to large businesses	Suitable for small to medium-sized businesses
Multi-language Support	Available through third-party apps	Limited multi-language support
POS Integration	Integrated POS system available	No native POS integration
Free Trial	14-day free trial	Free plan available

What is Shopify?

Shopify is an omnichannel commerce platform which combines comprehensive selling tools, with a website builder, CMS (with blogging features), inventory and order management, and marketing solutions.

It’s ideal for any business model, allowing you to sell various products (including dropshipping and POD items), services, and subscriptions.

Plus, with Shopify, you can also sell through multiple channels, such as social media platforms, marketplaces (like Amazon or Ebay), and in-person, using Shopify POS.

Shopify is my favorite ecommerce platform out of all the options I’ve reviewed, and it’s also one of the highest-rated solutions out there. Prices for the solution start at $5 for the Starter plan, if you just want to sell through social media and messenger app links.

Alternatively, the core plans include:

• Shopify Basic: $39 per month
• Shopify: $105 per month
• Shopify Advanced: $399 per month
• Shopify Plus: Custom pricing starting at $2,300

Notably, there may be some additional fees to pay with Shopify too. For instance, you’ll need to pay for fulfillment services, Shopify Expert assistance, and there are transaction fees ranging from 0.15% to 2% per transaction if you don’t use Shopify Payments.

MORE: Check our our latest Shopify tutorial for beginners.

What is Jimdo? Overview and Fees

While Shopify is a commerce solution first and a website builder second, Jimdo takes the opposite approach.

It’s essentially a convenient and user-friendly solution for designing a custom website, offering companies templates and features for portfolios, blog sites, and more.

It does allow companies to launch ecommerce stores, however, with built-in payment processing options, product pages, product variants, and social selling options. However, it lacks the robust inventory, employee, and order management tools offered by Shopify.

If you just want a basic website, Jimdo has a free plan (although you’ll have to use a .jimdosite.com domain). Paid website plans range from $21 to $28 per month (this is for USA, keep in mind that pricing in Europe is different).

If you want an online store, there are 3 plans to choose from:

• Business: $21 per month
• VIP: $28 per month

Jimdo doesn’t charge any transaction fees, and all of its basic features are available on every plan, although the cheapest plan removes discount codes, product variants, and social selling.

Shopify vs Jimdo: The Core Features

Jimdo and Shopify might seem pretty similar at a glance. After all, they both combine website builders with ecommerce tools, but the core features are very different. Overall, Jimdo is a much more basic solution for ecommerce, with very few advanced features.

The Main Features of Shopify

The website builder

Shopify’s website builder makes it easy to design an attractive store, with a range of customizable free and paid themes. You also get blogging functionality, and SEO capabilities built-in, options to create your own domain, and AI tools for creating copy.

Omnichannel selling

As well as selling products and services through your online store, you can sell through social media, and marketplaces with Shopify. Plus, there’s a built in Point of Sale solution, for in-person selling (Shopify POS).

Marketing tools

Shopify is SEO-friendly, and supports content marketing, with a built-in blog. It also has its own email marketing (Shopify Email) and chat tools (Shopify Inbox), and integrates with social channels, Google Analytics, and other marketing software.

Business management

Shopify features comprehensive tools for inventory and order management, allows companies to create product variants and shipping rules, and even has solutions available for order fulfillment, customer, and employee management.

App Marketplace

One of Shopify’s biggest selling points is its flexibility. The platform can integrate with thousands of different tools for customer service, website design, accounting, reporting, marketing, and more.

Customer service

Shopify offers 24/7 customer service through chat, email, and phone, and users can also access a huge range of self-help resources (like guides and FAQs) or the Shopify Community for extra support.

The Core Features of Jimdo

AI-powered website creation

Jimdo uses templates and artificial intelligence to rapidly craft a basic website layout for you. You can then customize the design of your website, add pages, and integrate your own custom domain.

Sales solutions

Jimdo’s ecommerce plans allow companies to accept various payment methods (PayPal, credit card, etc.), design product pages and variants, increase conversions with discount codes, and sell through social media.

Marketing tools

Jimdo has some basic marketing tools, such as an integration with Google Ads, built-in SEO solutions, and customizable contact forms. You can also promote your website through integrations with channels like Facebook and Instagram.

Industry specific features

With Jimdo, you can leverage specific features for different types of businesses. For instance, you can add online booking to your website, list your website on directories, and instantly generate legal documents.

Customer support

Jimdo offers decent customer support, although response times vary depending on your plan. There are knowledge guides and free resources to help you on the platform, and you can reach out to the team via live chat, or email.

Shopify vs Jimdo: Final Thoughts

Jimdo and Shopify both have pros and cons to consider. I think Shopify is the best ecommerce platform overall, offering exceptional sales and business management features, fantastic scalability, and ease of use to beginners.

Jimdo isn’t as strong as an online store solution, but its website builder is easy to use for beginners, and the AI tools make launching your business quick and painless.