Shopify vs. WordPress vs. Durable: Which is the Best Website Builder?

Shopify is a purely e-commerce website builder. So, to ensure a fair and insightful comparison, we'll focus on how each platform—Shopify, WordPress, and Durable—measures up in crafting and operating a seamless online selling experience.

WordPress, through WooCommerce, lets you build a complex website. It offers flexibility with a vast ecosystem of plugins and themes. It's the go-to for those looking for intricate customizations and robust blogging capabilities alongside their storefront. Therefore, if you’re looking for something simpler, it might be worth looking at WordPress alternatives.

Shopify, on the other hand, offers a streamlined approach to e-commerce. Built specifically for online selling, it provides merchants with out-of-the-box features like inventory management, payment integrations, and a user-friendly interface.

Durable revolutionizes the process with AI-driven designs. With Durable, you can set up an entire website in 30 seconds. Plus, with our capabilities in e-commerce, Durable is fast and versatile.

Let’s look at how these three website builders compare.

Shopify vs. WordPress vs. Durable at a Glance

• Shopify: Primarily tailored for online store creation and management.
• WordPress: Its open-source nature offers flexibility, allowing you to build anything from a simple blog to a complex e-commerce site.
• Durable: Durable merges traditional website building with cutting-edge AI technology. It lets you build a website in 30 seconds.

Durable Overview

Durable is an innovative AI website builder, designed to reshape how businesses approach their online presence.

With our platform, you can build your online store in 30 seconds with engaging copy and visually appealing images.

Our onboarding process is so easy. Starting with a simple click, our platform guides you through several prompts to help you create your website. We only ask you for three things:

• Your type of business
• Location
• Your business name

One of the Durable key differentiators is its ability to generate an entire website in just 30 seconds. This speed is unseen in the industry and especially appeals to users looking for immediate results without the fuss.

A platform like WordPress, while highly customizable, often requires a steep learning curve, especially for users unfamiliar with its interface or the basics of website creation.

Shopify, geared towards e-commerce, comes with its complexities. Durable simplifies the entire process, eliminating the need for coding or intricate design decisions.

Durable Core Features

• E-commerce Capabilities
• AI CRM
• Seamless Customization

1. E-commerce Capabilities

While our platform offers rapid website creation prowess, it hasn't stopped there. 

Recognizing the exponential growth of online shopping and the needs of modern entrepreneurs, Durable has integrated e-commerce functionalities within its AI-powered platform. 

This means businesses can establish an online presence quickly.

To handle transactions, Durable partners with Stripe—a trusted and secure payment gateway. 

To sell using the Durable website, create a Stripe account and list your products. Then, create a payment link for each product.

• Next, highlight your products effectively. Durable allows you to set up individual product pages to display product details and images and even directly integrate the Stripe payment link.

• Organize your offerings under one page by creating a dedicated shop page. You can showcase multiple products using the AI-generated list block, allowing users to browse easily. Customize each product listing with images, titles, and short descriptions to ensure potential buyers have all the necessary information.

• Then go back to Stripe and copy the payment links you had created. Create its corresponding product page on Durable, integrate the Stripe link, and list the product on your shop page. This streamlined process makes scaling your product range a walk in the park.

For a deep step-by-step process, see our guide on how to create an e-commerce website with Durable.

Durable goes beyond just product sales. Through an integration with Calendly, service professionals can allow customers to book appointments directly. Additionally, the Calendly-Stripe partnership ensures your customers a seamless booking and payment experience.

2. AI CRM

Customer relationships are the backbone of success. A study by 1st Financial Training Services showed that 96% of unhappy customers don’t even complain, and 91% leave and never return.

Considering these statistics, we’ve developed an AI CRM at Durable to enhance and streamline business relationships.

Our AI-driven CRM provides invaluable benefits, such as:

• Real-time Engagement with Leads: The online retail space is highly competitive. When a potential customer reaches out, it's crucial to respond promptly. With Durable AI CRM, any contact form submission is met with an immediate, automated response. This ensures customers feel heard and valued, even if unavailable.
• Smart Email Integration for Personalized Communications: Generic responses deter potential clients. But imagine if your CRM could analyze previous interactions and tailor each response accordingly. With Durable, by syncing your email, our AI CRM crafts unique customer communications, enhancing their experience and ensuring you remain top-of-mind.
• Boost Your Online Reputation: Reviews play a monumental role in influencing online purchasing decisions. Sending automated review requests with our CRM helps garner positive feedback, enhancing your Google reviews rating and fostering trust among potential customers.
• Efficient Lead Capture with AI Responses: Every visitor to your website is a potential lead. Durable includes a lead generation form on every website to capture and nurture these prospects. What sets it apart is the AI-powered response mechanism. Instead of generic replies, visitors receive contextually relevant communications, increasing the chances of conversion.
• Centralized Contact Management: The sheer volume of contacts and leads an e-commerce site can generate can be overwhelming. Our AI CRM organizes these contacts effectively and categorizes them based on various parameters, streamlining your outreach efforts.

Our integration of artificial intelligence with customer relationship management ensures businesses foster deeper, more meaningful relationships with their clientele.

3. Seamless Customization

After our AI generates a website for you, we allow you to customize it fully to match your brand. And you don’t need to know how to code.

To customize your website, you first need to sign up. You can change the theme and add sections, widgets, and pages.

After signing up, click on a section that you want to customize. A control panel appears on the right.

Here, you can change text, swap images, or adjust colors. Every change you make, you see it instantly.

Once done, click "Save" to update.

If you want a different look for a section or the whole site, use the "regenerate" feature. Our AI will redesign it for you instantly.

You can also add more pages to your website to make it more complex. The editor view has a "+" icon next to “Home.” Click it to see available page options suited for your business.

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Select one, and it will be added with relevant content and images.

With Durable, customizing your website is straightforward and efficient.

Durable Pricing

We offer three pricing plans:

• Free Plan: Aimed at individuals or aspiring entrepreneurs who are starting out and need a website right away, this plan is completely free of charge. ‍
• Starter Plan: Pay just $12 per month. This plan is tailored for swift setup, providing essential tools to get your website live.
• Business Plan: Aimed at growing businesses or those seeking to expand, our Business plan comes in at $20 per month. This plan lets you access a comprehensive toolkit, including unlimited storage, contacts, and invoices.

Our paid plans come with a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Positives of Durable

• Durable's intuitive AI-driven interface ensures quick website setup without the need for coding skills.
• With competitive pricing and flexible plans, users get value for their money.
• The platform allows comprehensive personalization, giving users control over their website's look and feel.
• Durable integrates more AI tools like AI Assistant, a conversational AI that helps you generate ideas, answer questions, and complete tasks; an invoicing tool to help you get paid faster; an AI Business Name generator; and an AI Blog Builder.
• With integrated e-commerce capabilities, users can set up online shops effortlessly.

Downsides of Durable

• There might be constraints in design variety compared to platforms with expansive template libraries.
• While Durable's generated websites are user-friendly and efficient, tech-savvy users might find them somewhat limiting in terms of intricate functionalities. However, Durable does allow comprehensive customization and editing to cater to more advanced needs.

Shopify Overview

Shopify is a dedicated e-commerce platform. This dedication shines through in every tool and feature it offers. 

Each functionality is crafted to simplify the online sales process, from product listing to final shipment.

You don’t need to be a tech guru with Shopify to get started. The platform is user-friendly and intuitive. Shopify provides a customizable storefront that mirrors your brand's identity. It allows for aesthetic adjustments, but beyond the looks, its back-end ensures smooth transactions and secure checkouts.

Integrated within the platform are powerful marketing tools that help draw attention to your products — email marketing integrations to built-in SEO tools, 

Plus, with its analytics dashboard, you can monitor traffic trends, sales, and customer behaviors, fine-tuning your strategies.

Shopify Core Features

• E-commerce Capabilities
• Shopify’s App Store
• Theme Library

1. E-commerce Capabilities

Shopify provides an arsenal of e-commerce capabilities, ensuring businesses sell and thrive. Here are some of them:

• Online Storefront: Shopify offers a user-friendly online store editor with a WYSIWYG-rich text editor. After signing up, Shopify gives you a default theme to build your shop. However, you can choose amongst the varied themes and tweak design elements to match your brand identity.
• Checkout: Shopify provides a one-click checkout experience that they claim outpaces other platforms by up to 36%. Beyond the basics, merchants can augment their checkout experience using various apps and branding tools. This adaptability means businesses can integrate features like upsells, cross-sells, and loyalty programs into their checkout flow.
• Order Management & Fulfillment: With the Shopify Fulfillment Network, businesses can automate order processing, making it easier to handle bulk orders, manage returns, and ensure products are stored adequately.
• Marketing: Shopify's suite of marketing tools offers merchants the resources to reach a wider audience and track the performance of their campaigns effectively. For example, the Shopify Collabs feature serves as a bridge, connecting merchants with influential figures in various niches. Also, with Shopify's marketing automation tools, businesses can fine-tune their outreach strategies. Merchants can set up custom automation triggers, ensuring that relevant emails are dispatched to the appropriate audience segments. 

These are some of Shopify’s e-commerce features. Shopify has features to ensure every aspect of online selling, from listing products to managing orders, is handled with precision and efficiency.

2. Shopify’s App Store

Shopify has an expansive marketplace with over 8,000 apps. It has apps that range from inventory management to advanced marketing tools.

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Before any app is available on the Shopify App Store, it passes a rigorous 100-checkpoint review. 

To help you choose the right apps, Shopify uses merchant-powered algorithms. These smart algorithms analyze the success stories of businesses like yours and provide tailored app recommendations.

3. Theme Library

Shopify’s theme library offers users 159 professionally designed themes. Businesses from various sectors can find a design that resonates with their brand and products.

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Each theme in Shopify’s collection meets strict standards of quality and accessibility.

The themes come equipped with 19 essential e-commerce features. This includes tools for discounts, dynamic checkouts, and options for currency and language selection. This ensures your store is ready for business from the moment you choose a theme.

These themes also have built-in marketing features. Inherent SEO capabilities, social media links, and other marketing integrations mean promoting your store becomes an integrated part of the design process.

Shopify Pricing

Shopify offers three plans:

• Basic Plan: For Individuals & Small Businesses: $32 monthly. Provides all the essentials to help you launch your store.
• Shopify Plan: For Small Businesses: $92 monthly: Aimed at growing businesses.
• Advanced Plan: For Medium to Large Businesses: $399 monthly: Tailored for larger operations looking for the most comprehensive tools.

Shopify lets you start on $1 monthly for the first three months and get a 3-day free trial.

Positives of Shopify

• Easy integration with platforms like Facebook and Instagram.
• User-friendly interface with simple drag-and-drop functionality.
• Robust third-party API integrations and comprehensive marketing software.
• Easy to set up and deploy.

What Could Be Better

• Limited features, especially in the customer options. Users would appreciate more capabilities like setting appointments with suppliers.
• While the platform is user-friendly, it can be restrictive for those wanting highly specialized or unique store designs.
• Over-reliance on apps for certain features. Some functions competitors offer as integral parts of their platforms are relegated to apps in Shopify.

WordPress Overview

WordPress.org is a content management system (CMS) that originated as a simple blogging platform.

Over the years, it has become a powerful tool for building websites — personal blogs, expansive corporate sites, and even e-commerce stores.

The platform's success lies in its flexibility and adaptability. Users can choose from thousands of themes to design their site and add functionalities through plugins. This vast ecosystem ensures that whatever the requirement, a plugin or theme will likely match it.

One major strength of WordPress is its open-source nature. Developers worldwide contribute to its growth, constantly enhancing its capabilities. This collaborative effort means continuous improvements, making the platform more robust and versatile.

E-commerce on WordPress is made possible through plugins like WooCommerce. This integration transforms a standard site into a fully functional online store. And while there are platforms dedicated solely to e-commerce, the power of WordPress lies in its ability to integrate commerce with content seamlessly.

So, while Shopify and Durable offer streamlined, specialized solutions for online selling, WordPress shines in its broad capabilities.

WordPress Core Features

• E-commerce Capabilities
• Versatile Content Integration
• Extensive Themes and Plugins

1. Ecommerce Capabilities

WooCommerce is what gives WordPress e-commerce capabilities.

This powerful plugin transforms the standard CMS into an e-commerce powerhouse, allowing website owners to blend content with commerce seamlessly.

Here's a rundown of its primary features:

• Flexible and Secure Payments: WooCommerce is ready for business. You accept the standard payment methods like major credit cards and bank transfers, but it also supports a vast range of region-specific gateways. Additionally, features like subscriptions and deposits add another convenience layer for the store owner and the consumer.
• User-friendly Dashboard: The Woo dashboard makes Managing an online store simpler. Tailored for ease of use, store managers can quickly update products, check inventory, and oversee order fulfillment without any hassles.
• Woo Marketplace: As your business grows, so can your website. The Woo Marketplace offers free and premium extensions to enhance your store, incorporate marketing tools, or expand to multichannel selling.
• Jetpack Integration: By integrating Jetpack, store owners can fortify their sites. Features like authenticated customer logins, anti-spam measures, and protection against brute force attacks, ensure your site remains secure. Plus, Jetpack offers backups, real-time downtime alerts, and even assistance with tax and shipping calculations.

WooCommerce provides a comprehensive toolkit for anyone venturing into the e-commerce world with WordPress.

The platform's flexibility and WooCommerce's features ensure a smooth and scalable online retail experience.

2. Versatile Content Integration

The adaptability of WordPress in handling diverse content types offers a distinct advantage over many other platforms, including some e-commerce-specific ones like Shopify or niche platforms like Durable.

WordPress allows users to maintain an e-commerce store, blog, gallery, and other page types within one consistent interface. This approach ensures uniformity in design and user experience without juggling multiple platforms.

By providing varied content — articles, videos, galleries, products, and more — businesses can engage different audience segments more effectively, leading to longer site visits and potentially higher conversion rates.

Remember, regularly updated content, like blogs or portfolios, paired with an e-commerce store on the same platform can boost organic traffic. Search engines value varied and updated content. This makes WordPress's native blogging capability a powerful tool.

3. Extensive Themes and Plugins

WordPress's richness in customization options stems from its vast array of themes and plugins.

It has 11,299 free themes and 59,697 free plugins that let users curate a website that mirrors their vision.

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WordPress's extensive theme library ensures a design fit for every need. You get themes for a professional blog, portfolio, e-commerce store, or any other type of site.

Each theme has features and design elements, making it easy for users to pick one that matches their brand and purpose.

On the other hand, plugins allow users to add specific functions to their site without diving into complex coding. 

Some of the standout plugins you might come across include:

• Yoast SEO: It guides users in optimizing their content for better visibility on search engines.
• W3 Total Cache: Aimed at improving site speed by caching elements, thus ensuring a smoother user experience.
• Contact Form 7: A simple yet powerful tool for creating and integrating contact forms, ensuring visitors have a direct line to reach out.
• SellKit: Specifically designed to enhance WooCommerce checkout processes. It introduces personalized offers, conditional discounts, and RFM segmentation to improve conversion rates.

While specialized platforms offer integrated solutions, WordPress's strength lies in its adaptability. 

Users aren't limited by the core functionality. They can continuously expand and refine their site's capabilities by tapping into the themes and plugins.

WordPress Pricing

WordPress is an open-source platform, meaning its core software is free.

However, it’s not entirely free to run a WordPress website. The overall cost varies based on various factors, like hosting, domain, themes, and plugins.

Some common expenses associated with setting up and running a WordPress site include:

1. Hosting: This is where your website files are stored online. There are various types of hosting services available:

• Shared Hosting: Ranges from $3 to $10 per month.
• VPS Hosting: Starts at around $20 per month.
• Dedicated Hosting: Can start from $100 and go up.
• Managed WordPress Hosting: Typically costs $20 per month and can go up to $100 or more for high-traffic sites.

2. Domain: This is your website's address. A new domain costs between $10 to $15 per year, though premium domains are much more expensive.
3. Themes: While thousands of free themes are available, premium themes offer more features and dedicated support. Depending on the developer and features, they can range from $25 to $100 or more.
4. Plugins: As with themes, numerous free plugins are available. However, premium plugins offering advanced features and support can range from $15 to $200 or more. Some plugins operate on a subscription model, requiring yearly renewals.
5. Additional Costs: Depending on your website's needs, you might also incur expenses for:

• SSL Certificate: For secure data transfer, typically costing $10 to $50/year.
• CDN Services: Prices vary based on traffic to speed up content delivery.
• Backup Solutions: Ranging from $20 to $100/year or more.
• Security Plugins: To protect against malware and attacks, prices vary.
• Maintenance: Regular updates, backups, and other maintenance tasks might require hiring a developer or using specialized services, adding to the cost.

Positives of WordPress

• A vast and supportive community provides ample resources and troubleshooting help.
• Built to be SEO-optimized, further enhanced with plugins like Yoast SEO.
• Different user roles, from administrators to subscribers, ensure tailored site access.
• Provides tools for fostering and moderating user discussions on your content.

What Could Be Better

• Frequent updates can sometimes disrupt site functionality.
• Easy to overburden sites with unnecessary plugins.
• Popular platform, and this means higher susceptibility to attacks.
• Free core software, but plugins, themes, and hosting costs can accumulate.

Shopify vs. WordPress vs. Durable: Ease of Setup and Use

Shopify's platform offers a user-friendly dashboard where sellers can easily list their products, set up payment gateways, and configure shipping settings. Though the platform offers a step-by-step guide during the setup process, newcomers might feel overwhelmed with all the e-commerce-specific details they need to consider.

WordPress, however, can handle any website, from blogs to e-commerce. But its versatility comes at a cost: a steeper learning curve. Users must grapple with hosting decisions, domain setups, theme installations, and plugin configurations. The experience can be daunting, especially for those without technical backgrounds.

Durable distinguishes itself with its AI-driven setup. Users can go from zero to having a functional website in 30 seconds. Its intuitive interface means that even those new to website creation can easily navigate the platform. The AI assists by tailoring the website creation process to the specific needs and preferences of the user, simplifying decisions that are more complex on other platforms.

Shopify vs. WordPress vs. Durable: E-commerce Capabilities

E-commerce is the core of Shopify's design. It's packed with tools and features that cater specifically to online sellers. Payment gateway integrations are seamless, providing many options for businesses of all sizes. However, this comprehensive suite can sometimes be too much for smaller operations or those looking to make a few sales.

WordPress primarily relies on plugins like WooCommerce to equip its platform with e-commerce capabilities. While this adds flexibility, it also brings in complexity. The initial setup of WooCommerce can be challenging, and businesses need to configure many elements to get their store running manually.

Durable offers a more balanced approach but doesn’t boast the extensive e-commerce features of Shopify and WordPress. However, Durable ensures that users can set up online stores without the bloat or unnecessary complexity.

Shopify vs. WordPress vs. Durable: Customization and Design

Shopify provides a variety of themes for users to choose from, but customization can sometimes be confined to the theme's inherent design. Though the themes are professional and adaptive, more profound customization often requires knowledge of Liquid, Shopify's templating language.

WordPress excels in the customization department. The platform's vast array of themes and plugins means businesses can achieve virtually any design or functionality. However, this flexibility often demands a more profound knowledge of web design, including CSS and sometimes PHP.

Durable leverages AI to simplify the design process. While not as open-ended as WordPress, Durable's AI-driven design process ensures websites are visually appealing and tailored to individual users and industries. Customization is direct and user-friendly, eliminating the need for any coding knowledge.

Shopify vs. WordPress vs. Durable: Pricing and Value

Shopify's basic plan starts at $32/month, but this can quickly escalate by adding premium themes and apps. While it offers a comprehensive e-commerce solution, smaller businesses might find it pricier than they'd like.

WordPress is open-source, so the software itself is free. However, costs accumulate when you factor in hosting, domain registration, premium themes, and plugins. The pricing structure is variable and can fit a range of budgets, but there's a potential for hidden costs.

Durable's pricing strategy sticks to it's value of helping out small businesses and entrepreneurs. If you just need a website, you're set you up with a domain and a website free of charge. And, when it comes time to grow your website, paid plans start at just $12/month. Durable offers competitive pricing without hidden fees and provide excellent value for money.

Shopify vs. WordPress vs. Durable: Integration and Plugins

Shopify has a robust app store catering to various e-commerce needs. From marketing to sales, there's an app for almost everything. However, these can come with additional costs.

WordPress is renowned for its vast plugin library, offering solutions for almost every conceivable website functionality. But this abundance can be a double-edged sword, with concerns over plugin compatibility, potential security issues, and sometimes degraded website performance.

Durable doesn’t have the extensive library that WordPress boasts. However, it offers focused integrations, like Stripe and Calendly, ensuring you have access to the tools you need to run an online store without the potential pitfalls of an overwhelming number of choices.

Shopify, WordPress, or Durable: Which Should You Choose?

To help you make an informed decision, here's a scoring table, based on a 5-point scale, that provides a comparative view of their features.

Get Started with Durable

Durable uses the power of AI to streamline every step, from conceptualizing your website to managing daily tasks such as product listings and client interactions using AI CRM.

When building your website, Durable understands the intricacies of your business, tailoring every element to be SEO-optimized and resonate with your audience.

For an entrepreneur, time is precious, and with Durable, you get more of it. Looking to generate an AI website completely free of charge? Click below.