Miva vs Shopify
How the real costs of a Miva store are lower than a Shopify store.
VS. 
Average annual revenue
of a Miva store:
$650,000
Average annual revenue
of a Shopify store:
$21,000
The Real Cost of Miva vs. the Real Cost of Shopify
The average Shopify merchant ($21,000 a year in annual revenue) would qualify for Miva's Starter Plan, pay $79.95 a month, and enjoy Miva's entire suite of built in functionality (real-time carrier shipping rates, enterprise-grade merchandising functions, wishlists, saved baskets, marketplaces, and more).
To get even basic functionality such as real-time carrier shipping rates on Shopify, a merchant would need to purchase Shopify's Unlimited Plan ($179 a month) and purchase more than a dozen 3rd party applications for additional required functionality.
Miva Starter Plan
Includes Miva's entire suite of built-in functionality.
Actual Cost of Comparable Shopify Plan
per month
Number of Shopify add-ons needed to match an out-of-the-box Miva Starter Plan: 14.
Average cost per app: $17.99
Miva vs. Shopify Functionality Comparison
Miva's focus is to build a robust core software platform that does not heavily rely on 3rd party add-ons. Shopify's business model is to build a “minimum viable product” and add functionality through 3rd party applications.
Here's why this difference matters:
-
Disjointed Support Issues
Apps are supported by the company that built them – not your ecommerce platform. So, each app means a different development team and customer service center.
Add this to the reality that an ecommerce store using Shopify will likely have 20+ apps, and now imagine trying to sort out the root of a major technical problem with 20+ different vendors. The results would be catastrophic, and all the while your business is suffering.
-
Hidden Costs
With each additional Shopify app comes an additional fee, adding to your monthly bill.
-
Fragmented Look & Feel
Not all apps are created equal. Add-ons can present design challenges and limitations leading to inconsistencies with the design of your store and less trust by visitors.
Miva Store vs. Shopify Store
The following example uses a relatively simplistic function which Miva offers in its core software.
With Miva, you don't have to use 3rd party apps for key wholesale / retail features like:
- Giving your customers the ability to buy multiple quantities of your product, at the attribute level (i.e., 5 medium t-shirts, 6 large t-shirts, etc.), with a single click.
- The built-in Wishlist allows your customers to create one or more wishlists which can be either public or private. You can even save your entire cart to a wishlist.
The Cost of Add On Apps
To achieve the above functionality with Shopify, you'd need to purchase 3 apps, for a cost of $36.94 a month.
Shopify Assistant
by Shopify Concierge
App Features
Schedule tasks such as changing prices or showing / hiding products
Synchronize inventory for combo / bundled products.
Hide or show products automatically based on inventory count.
$7.95/monthProduct Bundles
by BOLD
App Features
Create “Bundle” sales to encourage customer to buy the package or set.
Bundles can be created with specific products, or by collections.
“One-Click” add bundle to cart button.
$15.99/monthWishlist
by microapps
App Features
Add a wishlist to your store.
Motivate your customers to make bigger orders.
Average increase of cart size: 200%
$13.00/monthTotal Extra Monthly Cost for These Three Basic Shopify Add-ons: $36.94
Miva is Ready for Your Business
“[Miva] is constantly evolving and incorporating new features with the latest technology.” – Jim Cockerham, Miva User (3rd party verified G2 Crowd review)
Consider the reality of adding dozens of apps, and it's going to be nearly impossible to calculate the true cost of running your ecommerce platform on Shopify.
Meanwhile, Miva continues to develop new features and seamlessly build them into your core platform without add-on costs or customer support headaches, saving you time and money.
