Digital product stores
MailerLite vs Shopify compared on 13 fields
- MailerLite score
- 97/100 (5 of 7 criteria)
- Shopify score
- 63/100 (5 of 7 criteria)
- Fields won by MailerLite
- 4 of 10
- Fields won by Shopify
- 1 of 10
MailerLite
Shopify
Data checked Oct 14, 2026 against the vendors' own pages. How we verify
MailerLite and Shopify are both digital product store tools. We compared them on 13 fields read from each vendor's own pages.
On the digital product store tools scorecard MailerLite scores 97/100 (5 of 7 criteria) and Shopify 63/100 (5 of 7 criteria) (ranks 1 and 10 in the category).
Of the 10 fields with a clear rule (lower price, higher count, yes over no), MailerLite wins 4, Shopify wins 1 and 5 are ties.
MailerLite scores clearly higher on free plan or trial and entry price.
Shopify scores clearly higher on pricing transparency.
Side by side
| Field | MailerLite | Shopify | Winner and basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheapest paid plan (billed monthly) | ✓ $12/month | $25/month | MailerLite |
| Same plan, per month billed annually | ✓ $10.80/month | $19/month | MailerLite |
| Free plan | ✓ Yes | No | MailerLite |
| Free trial | ✓ Yes | No | MailerLite |
| Trial length (days) | 14 | – | No winner: needs a value on both sides |
| Platforms supported | 1 | – | No winner: needs a value on both sides |
| Integrations (vendor count) | 100 | ✓ 21,000 | Shopify |
| Public API | Yes | Yes | Tie |
| Data export | reports | – | No winner: needs a value on both sides |
| Analytics | Yes | Yes | Tie |
| Team access | Yes | Yes | Tie |
| Templates | Yes | Yes | Tie |
| AI assistant | Yes | Yes | Tie |
– = not published by the vendor, or not verified yet.
Sources: MailerLite pricing page, checked Oct 14, 2026; Shopify pricing page, checked Oct 14, 2026. Each feature value links its own source on the tool's page.
Scorecard, criterion by criterion
| Criterion | Weight | MailerLite | Shopify |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entry price | 25% | 100$12/month billed monthly on Comfort; $10.80/month billed annually on Comfort (scored on the monthly price) | 48$25/month billed monthly on Basic; $19/month billed annually on Basic (scored on the monthly price) |
| Free plan or trial | 15% | 100Free plan (Free) | 0No free plan or free trial shown on the pricing page |
| Pricing transparency | 10% | 803 of 4 plans have a public price (1 "contact sales") | 1004 of 4 plans have a public price |
| Verified features | 15% | 1004 of 4 tracked features verified: analytics, team access, templates, ai assistant | 1004 of 4 tracked features verified: analytics, team access, templates, ai assistant |
| API, integrations and export | 10% | 100public API, 100 integrations, documented data export | 100public API, 21,000 integrations |
| Total score | 100% | 97/100 (5 of 7 criteria) | 63/100 (5 of 7 criteria) |
MailerLite plans
| Plan | Billed monthly | Billed yearly | Charged per | Published limits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | Free | Free | per workspace |
|
| Comfort | $12 | $10.80 | per workspace |
|
| Power | $25 | $22.50 | per workspace |
|
| Enterprise | Contact sales | Contact sales | Not stated | None stated |
Prices in USD per month, before tax. Read from the vendor's pricing page on Oct 14, 2026. "Not stated" means the page does not publish it.
Shopify plans
| Plan | Billed monthly | Billed yearly | Charged per | Published limits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | $25 | $19 | per workspace | None stated |
| Grow | $65 | $49 | per workspace |
|
| Advanced | $399 | $299 | per workspace |
|
| Plus | $2,300 | Not stated | per workspace |
|
Prices in USD per month, before tax. Read from the vendor's pricing page on Oct 14, 2026. "Not stated" means the page does not publish it.
How we picked
Every one of these digital product store tools is scored by the same 7 criteria (scorecard v1). Each criterion gives 0 to 100 from the vendor's published data; the total is the weighted average. A criterion without verified data is left out and the other weights are re-normalised. A tool with under 60% of the weight covered is listed as not ranked, and so is a tool with no verified price and fewer than 2 verified features (“needs a verified price”); each score shows how many criteria it is based on. The core criteria are the same in every category; the category criteria are specific to digital product store tools. Nobody gets custom weights, including our own products.
| Criterion | Weight | Type | What we measure |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entry price | 25% | Core | Price per month of the cheapest paid plan, against the prices of other digital product store tools on the same billing basis (monthly-billed prices against monthly, annual-billed against annual).Log scale. Billed monthly: $12.09/month or less = 100, $48.37 or more = 0. Only billed annually: $8.85/month or less = 100, $35.39 or more = 0. Only free plans = 100. Usage-priced and one-time plans are not scored. |
| Free plan or trial | 15% | Core | Whether you can use the tool before paying: a free plan, or failing that a free trial, as shown on the vendor's pricing page.Free plan = 100. No free plan but a free trial = 60. The pricing page lists plans but shows neither = 0. No plans read = not scored. |
| Pricing transparency | 10% | Core | How much of the pricing is public: the share of plans with a published price ("contact sales" counts against), and whether there are at least 3 published tiers.80 x (plans with a public price / plans listed) + 20 x (public plans, up to 3) / 3. No plans read = not scored. |
| Verified features | 15% | Core | How many of the 4 features we track for this category the vendor's own pages verifiably show (analytics, team access, templates, ai assistant). This counts verified features only: a tool that documents less scores lower here, and only here.Linear: verified features / 2 (half the tracked list) x 100, capped at 100. No tracked feature verified = not scored. |
| API, integrations and export | 10% | Core | Whether a public API exists, how many integrations the vendor states, and whether the vendor documents a way to export your data.Average of the parts with data: public API yes = 100, no = 0; integrations on a log scale (100 or more = 100); a documented data export = 100. None verified = not scored. |
| Fee on sales | 15% | Category | The percentage of each sale the platform keeps, as the vendor states it (the cheapest paid plan that states a fee).Linear, lower is better: 0% = 100, 10% or more = 0. No stated fee = not scored. |
| Products per plan | 10% | Category | Products for sale included on the cheapest paid plan that states a limit.Log scale: 100 or more (or unlimited) = 100. No stated limit = not scored. |
Sources are vendor pricing pages, docs and changelogs, each with the date we checked it. We did not test these tools hands-on unless a listing says so. Full formulas: methodology.
Questions, answered from the data
Is MailerLite cheaper than Shopify?
MailerLite starts lower: $12 per month billed monthly ($10.80 billed yearly) on the Comfort plan, against $25 per month billed monthly ($19 billed yearly) on the Basic plan for Shopify. Check the unit: per-user and per-account prices scale differently.
Do MailerLite and Shopify have free plans?
MailerLite has a free plan; Shopify does not.
Which is better, MailerLite or Shopify?
On our scorecard MailerLite scores higher (97/100 (5 of 7 criteria) vs 63/100 (5 of 7 criteria)). The score weighs every criterion the same way for every tool; check the rows above for the ones that matter to you.