GrooveKart vs Shopify

GrooveKart and Shopify are two shopping cart software that let you sell your product online.

If you are looking for a comparison of these two shopping cart tools, you came to the right place.

In this GrooveKart vs Shopify post, I will explain the key features and differences of these two platforms to help you decide which one suits you better.

In recent years, the eCommerce industry has seen immense growth. Nowadays, more and more business owners are taking their businesses online for further growth.

Going online helps them with more opportunities to expand their foothold in the market.

You have many shopping cart software options to build your online store, such as Shopify, Magento, BigCommerce, WooCommerce, etc.

These are the renowned shopping platforms you must have heard about if you are in eCommerce.

Apart from these tools, there is a newer player in the market, GrooveKart, which is a promising platform and backed by marketing legend Mike Filsaime.

In today’s blog post, we will compare GrooveKart with Shopify. 

GrooveKart vs Shopify

Let’s start with GrooveKart.

What is GrooveKart?

GrooveKart is an online shopping platform that was created to compete with the ever-popular Shopify.

Being a free platform, it is considered the cheapest Shopify alternative.

This software was founded in 2018 by Mike Filsaime and John Cornetta. Mike Filsaime is a well-known face in the digital marketing industry and is the owner of popular sales funnel platforms like Kartra, webinar platform like WebinarJam, and Marketers Cruise. 

What Can You Do With GrooveKart?

Mike has been helping entrepreneurs create websites and sales funnels for many years. He is a legend in the digital marketing and sales funnel world.

Coming from a world-famous expert, you can expect a better future with GrooveKart. GrooveKart was initially released as a standalone platform, and now it also comes as an element of GrooveFunnels.

So when you sign up for GrooveFunnels, you get access to GrooveKart.

Key Features of GrooveKart

• Easy Shopify store import
• One-time payment
• Lifetime access
• Free built-in native apps
• Order bumps
• Pre-transaction upsells
• Fast loading pages
• Same page checkout
• Related items pre and post check out
• Social proof
• Mobile support
• One-click upsell and downsell

• Custom domain and hosting
• Pre-made block
• Drag and drop feature
• Google cloud platform
• Built-in print on demand and shipping
• Tracking pixels
• Affiliate management
• Countdown timers
• Start unit countdown
• GK Ali-connect
• Zapier integration
• Customizable checkout page templates

Read my indepth GrooveKart Review.

What is Shopify?

Whenever you search for “best eCommerce platform” or “e-commerce platform,” generally, you will see the top results are for Shopify. Shopify has been around since 2006 and is considered one of the best eCommerce platforms.

It was built by two youngsters searching for an online platform to sell their snowboarding equipment.

Many famous brands use Shopify to sell their products; some examples are KKW Beauty, Kylie Cosmetics, Raymond, Fitbit, Penguin Books, Hyatt Hotels Corp, Red Bull, Fashion Nova, etc.

What Can You Do With Shopify?

A lot of things. You can build a full-fledged store for your online business and sell any products, services, or subscriptions.

Even if you don’t have an online store, you can use other sales channels to sell products — on your website, in-person (with Shopify’s point of sale) on Facebook, on Messenger, and even on the Google platform. This feature is available with the “Lite Plan” that costs you 9 USD per month.

Shopify offers a 14 day trial period. After that period, you have to upgrade to a paid plan. The features of these plans are:

Instance 1

Basic Shopify Plan 

Basic Features $29.00 /mo

• Online store
• Unlimited products
• 2 staff accounts
• 24/7 support
• Sales channels
• Up to 4 inventory locations
• Manual order creation
• Discount codes
• Free SSL certificate
• Abandoned cart recovery
• Gift cards
• Up to 77% shipping discount
• Shipping labels
• Fraud analysis
• 2.9% + 30¢ USD online credit card rates
• 2.7% + 30¢ USD in-person credit card rates
• 2.0% transaction fee if not using Shopify Payments
• Shopify POS Lite
• Shopify POS Pro
• Sell in 133 currencies
• Sell in up to 5 multiple languages

Shopify Plan 

Additional Features $79.00 /mo

• 5 staff accounts
• Up to 5 inventory locations
• Professional reports
• Up to 88% shipping discount
• USPS Priority Mail Cubic® pricing
• 2.6% + 30¢ USD online credit card rates
• 2.5% + 0¢ USD in-person credit card rates
• 1.0% transaction fee
• International pricing

Advanced Shopify Plan

Additional Features $ 299.00 /mo

• 15 staff accounts
• Up to 8 inventory locations
• Advanced report builder
• 2.4% + 30¢ USD online credit card rates
• 2.4% + 0¢ USD in-person credit card rates
• 0.5% transaction fee
• International pricing (per variant pricing)

Key Features of Shopify

• Wide range of themes
• Free SSL certificate
• Coupons codes and discounts
• Dropshipping
• 24/7 support
• Supports up to 15 staff accounts

• Variety of payment processors
• Sales channels
• Physical product deliverability
• Customizable checkout pages
• Inventory management
• Free 14-day trial

Read my indepth Shopify review.

GrooveKart and Shopify: Common Features

• Easy setup
• Online store
• Unlimited products
• Dropshipping
• Coupons codes and discounts
• Automatic sales tax calculation
• Sell on other platforms

• Abandoned cart recovery
• Shipping payment services
• Multiple payment processors
• Multiple languages and currency support
• Related items pre and post check out
• Mobile responsive

GrooveKart vs Shopify: Detailed Comparison

Now we will begin with a detailed comparison between the two shopping cart platforms starting with pricing plans.

Plan and Pricing Comparison

GrooveKart

The pricing plan of GrooveKart is noteworthy. With all the features that you get here, GrooveKart charges you nothing. The platform is free.

However, GrooveKart also comes as a part of the GrooveFunnels family, which is currently available for a lifetime plan:

• Platinum Lifetime – 1,397 USD
• Platinum Monthly – 299 USD per month (not yet available)

You have two pricing plan options. You can either go for the Platinum Lifetime plan for a one-time payment of 1,397 USD, or five easy monthly payments of 497 USD.

So once you have paid, that’s it, and you get all features for life. This lifetime offer will end soon, and GrooveFunnels will shift to monthly recurring plans like Kartra, ClickFunnels, etc.

You can use GrooveKart while staying in the free version, but you won’t get access to the other native apps and some advanced features unless you upgrade to the premium plan.

The free version does the job; if you want to expand your possibilities more and use GrooveKart to its full potential, go for the premium version.

If you upgrade to the premium account, you can use GrooveKart with the other native inbuilt apps of the group funnels:

• GrooveSell: GrooveSell is a shopping cart tool to sell digital products
• Groove Members: For memberships and replaces Kajabi
• GrooveMail: An autoresponder that replaces ActiveCampaign
• GroovePages: GroovePages is a page builder that replace Thrive Architect, Elementor, etc.
• GrooveAffiliate: An affiliate marketing tool that replaces TapAffiliate
• GrooveVideo: For video hosting and sharing that replaces Vimeo
• Groove Automations: Replaces Zapier and lets you integrate with other third-party platforms
• GrooveBlog: Replaces WordPress and saves you from paying separately for a website

Shopify

Shopify has four pricing plans:

1. Lite Plan – This plan is not listed on the pricing page of Shopify. It is more like a downgrade to your existing plan. You can see this option only after you have created an account. With this plan, you cannot have an online store but you can sell with Shopify using other sales channels. This plan costs you 9 USD per month.
2. Basic Shopify Plan – As the name suggests, this is the basic and cheapest plan. This comes at a monthly fee of 29 USD and has the most basic features of the platform. You can create an online store, sell unlimited products, recover your abandoned cart, sell and ship internationally, accept payments from various countries, etc.
3. Shopify Plan – The pricing is 79 USD per month. You get some additional features like international pricing, adding up to 5 staff, up to 5 inventory locations, an 88% discount on shopping, professional reports, and more.
4. Advanced Shopify Plan – The premium plan of the Shopify platform is priced at 299 USD per month. When upgraded to this plan, you can add up to 15 staff accounts, 8 inventory locations, the lowest transaction fees, etc.

Other than the plans, you have to pay for installing third-party apps. There are also many additional taxes involved.

Verdict

On the pricing front, GrooveKart wins over Shopify.

Though Shopify offers a free trial for 14 days, GrooveKart is free for life.

You can use GrooveKart without upgrading to the paid plans with all its features free of charge. 

Features Comparison

I have already mentioned all the features of both platforms; I won’t be going into detail here, instead, I will discuss the unique features of both platforms. 

GrooveKart

Some unique features of GrooveKart are:

• Use native apps that don’t require third party integration
• Fast loading pages
• Same page checkout

Shopify

Some unique features of Shopify are:

• Free SSL certificate
• Shipping discounts
• Advanced report builder
• International domains
• Sales channels
• In-person selling with the point of sale

Verdict

Shopify is an older, bigger, and wider user base; it wins this round. Though GrooveKart lags here, it is catching up with regular feature updates.

Payment Methods / Options

Payments play an integral part in any business, be it offline or online. They are a medium for you to accept payments from customers.

With offline stores, you don’t worry about the payments as you can get cash or use the POS machine; this may get tricky with online stores since it mostly depends on online payment.

The shopping cart platform must let you accept payments through different methods.

Both platforms let you accept payments through cash on delivery and debit or credit card. Other than that, you have the option to accept payments by connecting your Shopify or GrooveKart account with third-party payment processors.

GrooveKart

GrooveKart can use the following payment processors:

• Stripe
• PayPal
• Authorize.net
• Nuvei
• Uviba
• Card PMT
• Nemi Gateway
• Banxate

GrooveKart has an in-house payment gateway called GroovePay.

Since GrooveKart is a part of GroveFunnels, you can have a GroovePay account if you want a seamless payment option.

This is cheaper than other payment gateway integrations. 

Shopify

Shopify also has its own payment processor called Shopify Payments. Here you don’t require a Shopify Payments account to connect with other third-party processors.

The only downside is that you will have to pay a fee for transactions made via third-party payment processors.

On the other hand, Shopify lets you connect with many processors. Some of them are:

• 2Checkout
• Bitpay
• Airpay
• SagePay
• PayU
• payUbiz
• iCounti

• Braintree
• SecurePay
• Cashfree
• MoneyPay
• CorvusPay
• Pay88
• Paytm

Verdict

Transaction fees aside, Shopify wins this round since it offers integration with numerous payment processors as compared to GrooveKart.

Some country-specific payment processors available with Shopify are not available in GrooveKart.

Store Themes Comparison

Both platforms offer store themes that you can customize to suit your requirements.  

GrooveKart

GrooveKart has GrooveKart Studio.

This tool lets you design your store with the available design templates, clip art, and images. With this, you can set up your store quickly. You can also create your design for free from scratch.

GrooveKart offers many free templates. Some of them are categorized as Shoes, Sports, Nutrition, Watches, Fashion and many more. 

Shopify

Shopify offers a wide range of beautiful themes for your storefront. Here, you will find the themes categorized under different industries to match and define your business.

So you have categories like Clothing and Fashion, Art and Photography, Food and Drink, and Health and Beauty, to name a few.

All these themes have proven to be high converting. However, one downside is that not all templates are free. Free themes are limited, and the premium ones cost you 180 USD, which is pricey.

However, you can upload your own template design if you created one outside of Shopify.

Verdict

If we are talking about quality and quantity, Shopify wins this round. Shopify offers more templates than GrooveKart.

Also, all of them look pretty attractive. However, as I mentioned before, you need to pay 180 USD to access some of those templates.

Ease of Use

No matter how great a platform is, it needs improvement if the users have trouble using the platform.

GrooveKart

When using GrooveKart, I had little to no trouble navigating through it. Creating an account and setting up the store took me a few minutes.

Other than that, I had no trouble setting up the payment processor and shipping method, creating a product, or customizing the storefront and checkout pages.

Every step was smooth sailing. 

Shopify

While using Shopify, I had a little trouble getting my head around some features. Signing up and creating products was easy, but I found it a bit hard to navigate other settings.

Shopify is useful for advanced users who want all features of an e-commerce platform, and if you are a beginner, you may find it a bit complicated to use.

In fact, many users hire professionals to set up their Shopify store.

Verdict

GrooveKart wins this round. I found GrooveKart easier to use compared to Shopify.

Shipping and Fulfilment

This is an important feature of any e-commerce platform because you want to deliver your products to your customers. 

GrooveKart

GrooveKart lets you connect with some of the popular carriers when it comes to shipping and fulfillment services.

You have USPS, FedEx, DHL, and UPS. You can set up additional shipping according to the total price of the product or total weight. You can also set up the prices individually for every continent manually.

GrooveKart currently operates in over 200 countries. This lets you ship your products anywhere.

Shopify

In Shopify, you don’t have to worry about the shipping because Shopify has an inbuilt shipping option called Shopify Shipping where it automatically works with popular carriers and helps your product reach your customers.

Shopify ships to over 175 countries; you don’t have to worry about delivering your products to international customers.

Shopify also offers a discount on shipping rates, and this is different for all plans. You get a 77% discount on the basic plan; for an advanced plan, it is 80% on shipping.

Verdict

Shopify wins this round because, for shipping, Shopify is more advanced. 

Affiliate Program Comparisons

Affiliate programs are a great way to earn extra money.

Both platforms have different affiliate management.

GrooveKart

GrooveKart has an inbuilt system called Groove Affiliate Program. This program is a part of GrooveFunnels.

One cool thing about this feature is that, unlike some other platforms, you don’t need to pay for their affiliate program or pay any taxes on the money you earn.

Under this program, you have different tools to promote the platform — Links, Swipes, Blog Reviews, Articles, Banners, Thank You Page Ads, Logout Page Ads, Social Media, Video Reviews, Facebook Ads, and Signatures.

So if someone joins the platform using your promotions or upgrades to a paid plan, you get a full commission. If you are a free member, you get 20% commission, and if you are a lifetime member, you get 40% on the sale.

If your referral becomes an affiliate and closes the sale, you get another 10% or 20% commission (for free and lifetime plan, respectively).

Shopify

Shopify also has an inbuilt affiliate program called Shopify Affiliate Program.

It is for entrepreneurs, educator influencers, and content creators who can send a referral to Shopify.

You can sign up for this program for free and apply for approval. You get paid via PayPal on a bi-weekly basis and might also have to pay taxes for these earnings.

Verdict

GrooveKart is the winner of this round. Unlike Shopify, you don’t have to apply to be approved for the GrooveKart Affiliate Program.

Anyone can be an affiliate, whether they are a free user or a paid user. Also, the payout terms are generous and straightforward.

Plus, you don’t have to pay any additional taxes.

Transaction Fees

Both platforms charge fees for transactions if certain conditions are not fulfilled.

GrooveKart

For free users, GrooveKart takes 2% of the transaction fee and it is billed monthly.

The good news is, you don’t have to pay a transaction fee until and unless you sell something.

However, if you want to avoid that cost, you are always free to upgrade to the paid plan.

Shopify

If you don’t have Shopify Payment, you have to pay a certain percentage of transaction fees for every sale. This percentage varies from plan to plan.

So in the Basic Shopify plan, you have to pay a 2% transaction fee, 1.0% in the Shopify plan, and 0.5% in the Advanced Shopify plan.

If you want to avoid this unnecessary fee, you need to have a Shopify Payments account. 

Verdict

I would like to declare this stage a draw.

Normally this round would have gone to Shopify because the fees decrease as you upgrade to the higher plans, but Shopify Payments is not available for everybody.

In such an instance, this fee becomes unavoidable.

Who is Shopify Good For?

• If you are ready to spend 29 USD per month and you have no problem paying this fee regardless of whether you make any sales or not.
• If you want to have numerous options to accept payments, and you want to avail every known feature you need for your eCommerce business.
• If you want to join the trend using the most popular platform, join Shopify.

Who is GrooveKart Good for?

• If you want to save money and are looking for a platform that works just fine with basic features.
• If you do not want to pay recurring fees every month.
• If you do not want to pay extra money for third-party apps, integrations or any unnecessary fees for every transaction.
• If you want an easy and convenient shopping cart software.
• If you want an all-in-one platform that fulfills all your requirements, including a complete sales funnel.

GrooveKart vs Shopify: Final Thoughts

Both platforms are great in their ways and have their own merits. Shopify offers many features, and it is versatile, while GrooveKart offers many of the same features free of charge.

You will find many Shopify alternatives similar to GrooveKart, but no one can compete with GrooveKart on the pricing front.

In fact, it was mainly created to be a replacement for Shopify.

In this post, I have given you the facts regarding GrooveKart and Shopify; now what best suits you depends on you and your business needs.

What would you prefer for your online store, Shopify or GrooveKart?

Please share your thoughts through the comments section.