The main thing Shift4Shop might have going over Shopify is that it can be free to use. However, that only for US customers and only if you process at least $500 worth in payments per month with a payment solution called Shift4 Payments, which is a payment solution owned by the same company that owns Shift4Shop. Otherwise the cost is at least $29/month.
For Shopify the minimum normal cost is $5/month, however the $5-plan is not suitable for building a stand-alone ecommerce store. For that you need to use the “Basic” plan or a more advanced plan. The Basic plan costs $29+taxes/month with an annual subscription and $39+taxes/month with a monthly subscription. Result: In terms of the platform cost there isn’t a huge difference for at least a lot of store owners between Shift4Shop and Shopify. And the possible advantage Shift4Shop might have is made even smaller by the fact that Shopify gives new customers a 3-day free trial and 3 months for $1+taxes/month. Try Shopify for free.
In terms of quality of the admin interface Shopify is even much better. The Shift4Shop-platform appears to have improved since Shift4 bought 3dcart and renamed it Shift4Shop, but the platform is in my opinion still far behind Shopify.
All the Shift4Shop themes in its theme store are free, while Shopify offers only a very limited number of free themes. Shift4Shop’s themes can be used to create a professional looking online store as can Shopify’s themes. However, Shift4Shop wins in regard to themes by bit. Regarding Shopify, it might be good to know that you can buy Shopify themes for cheaper than what they cost in Shopify’s own theme store, where the cost can be more than $300 per theme.
Ecommerce platform apps can be used to improve an online store. Stores created with Shopify can be intregrated with a much larger number of apps than stores created with Shift4Shop. The latter also offers nice app intregrations, but at least as far as I know, the quality and quantity is still very much in favor of Shopify.
In terms of how easy to use the platform is, there doesn’t seem to be a large difference. However, thanks to how Shopify helps new customers get started with the platform, Shopify might be a bit easier to use.
Result of Shift4Shop vs Shopify comparison
Shopify is a better choice for all but those who want to use an ecommerce platform without paying for it, are from US and are able to process at least $500 worth in payments per month with Shift4 Payments when using Shift4Shop. Open Shopify account.