# SamCart vs Shopify (2026) · Campaign Buyer > Source: https://campaignbuyer.com/compare/samcart-vs-shopify ## SamCart vs Shopify: a checkout or a full store By [Dana Rourke](/authors/dana-rourke), Lead Reviewer. Reviewed by [Campaign Buyer Editorial](/authors/editorial). Updated 16 October 2026\. **Disclosure:**We may earn a commission when you buy through links on this page. It never affects our rankings. SamCart home page. Shopify home page. Quick answer Pick SamCart if you buy paid traffic to a focused offer and need order bumps, one-click upsells and subscription recovery inside the checkout; pick Shopify if you run a catalog with SKUs, inventory, fulfillment apps and multichannel sales and want the native store checkout to be the system of record. [Compare the two plans](/compare/samcart-vs-shopify#pricing) ### Side by side | | SamCart | Shopify | | ---------------- | ---------------------------- | ------------------------------ | | What it is | Hosted checkout | Store and checkout | | Paid traffic | Bumps and upsells on Pro | Shop Pay on the store checkout | | Catalog | Products mapped into Shopify | Unlimited products | | Order bump | On Pro, at checkout | App, or a Plus checkout | | One-click upsell | On Pro | Up to three accepted | | Checkout test | A/B testing on Pro | Not built into checkout | | Order handoff | On order completed | The store itself | | Plans | Core and Pro | Basic, Grow, Advanced, Plus | | Processor fee | No added fee on SamPay | Fee if Shopify Payments is off | ### Shopify vs SamCart starts with the job You are down to two, and they are built for different jobs. SamCart is the checkout you put in front of a focused offer when you are buying the traffic. Shopify is the store: the catalog, the stock and the shipment. I would send that paid offer to SamCart when the bump, the follow-up charge and the renewal retry have to sit inside the checkout. I would keep Shopify when the products have to be stocked and shipped, including sales that leave through the store's own checkout. The two cards are under [Pricing](#pricing). The [SamCart review](/reviews/samcart) and the [Shopify review](/reviews/shopify) each stay on one product. ### SamCart when you are buying traffic to one offer [SamCart's pricing page](https://www.samcart.com/pricing) splits the software in two. Core is the lower card. Pro is where one-click upsells, order bumps, A/B testing, Subscription Saver, the Affiliate Center, the API and third-party processors are listed. The bump is a checkbox on the checkout step, so the buyer can add a companion product before paying. The upsell charges the card already used, after that first payment. Subscription Saver retries failed renewals. A comparison that stops at Core understates the product a media buyer is weighing. Those checkout tools are included on Pro. The trial length, the yearly discount and the processor rates are with the plan figures below. [Shopify sellers who have asked about SamCart](https://www.reddit.com/r/shopify/comments/nstyit/samcart%5Fanyone/) describe it as useful in a specific slot. Support comments in that thread run mixed and, on balance, positive. They describe a checkout beside the store, which is a different job from running the catalog. ### Shopify when the order has to ship [Shopify's plan cards](https://www.shopify.com/pricing) are Basic, Grow, Advanced and Plus. Grow is the name on the second card. Every paid tier includes unlimited products. Checkout customization is marked limited on the tiers below Plus, and fully customizable on Plus. [Shopify's checkout page](https://www.shopify.com/checkout) markets Shop Pay as one-tap checkout. The same page cites an April 2023 study. In that study, buyers finished Shopify's checkout 15% more often than they finished the competitors' checkouts. That figure is Shopify's, from the study the page names. A buyer can accept only so many offers after payment. [Shopify's developer docs](https://shopify.dev/docs/apps/build/checkout/product-offers) set that cap, and the number is in the table. An add-on shown on the checkout step, before payment, is a different slot. On Basic, Grow and Advanced, changing that step is the limited customization on the plan cards, so sellers usually reach for an app. Plus is where the checkout itself can be rebuilt. If Shopify Payments is off, the pricing page lists a third-party transaction fee. The rate is with the plan names below. [Merchants who test product pages](https://www.reddit.com/r/shopify/comments/1iin4o8/product%5Fpage%5Fab%5Fapp/) say the checkout itself has no native A/B test. The same thread describes a stack with a page tool such as Unbounce in front, this checkout in the middle, and Shopify as the store behind it. ### SamCart can create the Shopify order You can sell on SamCart and fulfill in Shopify. [SamCart's help article](https://help.samcart.com/support/solutions/articles/60001402244-shopify) names a single trigger and a single action. The trigger is order completed. The action is create order in Shopify. You map each product by hand. The order shows up in Shopify as paid and unfulfilled, which is the state a shipping app needs before it can pick the parcel up. Inventory and shipping stay in Shopify. The mapping is the overhead of running both. The completed sale lives in SamCart. Shopify receives a fulfillment order after that. Anyone buying ads then has the click in the ad account, the sale in the checkout, and the shipment in the store. ### Which checkout I would open A digital offer, or one SKU sold from an ad, with the bump on the checkout and failed renewals chased in the same account: open SamCart on the Pro card. [SamCart vs ThriveCart](/compare/samcart-vs-thrivecart) is the comparison if the other option is also a checkout. [SamCart vs Gumroad](/compare/samcart-vs-gumroad) is the one if you are looking at a creator storefront. [Unbounce vs SamCart](/compare/unbounce-vs-samcart) prices a page tool in front of this checkout. [Order bump vs one-click upsell](/compare/order-bump-vs-upsell) separates the checkbox from the charge that fires after payment. A catalog that has to be stocked and shipped, with Shop Pay on the store's own checkout: open Shopify. [Landing page builders for Shopify stores](/best/landing-page-builder-shopify) covers page tools that sit on a theme. [ClickFunnels vs Shopify](/compare/clickfunnels-vs-shopify) asks the store question of a funnel builder. The rubric is on [how we evaluate tools](/methodology). If you buy the traffic and the shipment still has to leave from Shopify, the section after the prices is the third path. The catalog stays on Shopify. A checkout-only offer can stay on SamCart. [All head-to-heads](/compare) lists the rest of the pairs. ### SamCart ##### What works * Built to raise order value. Order bumps add a companion product with one checkbox at checkout, and one-click upsells charge the same card after the first purchase. SamCart reports up to a 98% lift in average order value when a seller runs both. * Reliable at its core job. Long-term users describe it as dependable for checkout, one calling it "no frills but fine", which is what you want from the page where the money changes hands. * Sells more than downloads. Courses, memberships, subscriptions and physical goods all run through one checkout, with a members area and course hosting built in, so there is no second platform to hand customers off to. * Defends recurring revenue. Subscription Saver retries failed payments and handles dunning, and cart abandonment recovery emails are included, so lapsed cards and stalled carts are chased automatically. * Flexible payment options. Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal, Venmo and Buy Now Pay Later are supported, and Pro adds payment routing across several processors. ##### What to watch * Expensive for what it is, and the good parts are gated. Core is $79/mo, well above single-purpose carts, and one-click upsells, order bumps, A/B testing, Subscription Saver and the Affiliate Center are all Pro-only at $199/mo. * Billing and refunds draw the recurring complaints. Unexpected renewals and slow refund resolution turn up across Trustpilot and BBB records. The vendor's own docs confirm that cancelling through the customer portal stops future billing. Charges already taken stay charged. Read the renewal terms before the trial ends. * It stops at the checkout: there is no built-in CRM, email automation or multi-step funnel management. Sellers who want lead capture, nurture sequences and funnels in one place report reaching for something broader. * Payments run through SamPay, Stripe, PayPal and similar processors. A product category those gateways refuse cannot be sold through SamCart. ### Shopify ##### What works * Every paid tier includes unlimited products. A funnel that sells one offer is a separate job from that catalog. * Shop Pay comes with Shopify's checkout, and Shopify cites its own study for the conversion rate on that page. * Sellers add checkout steps the plan does not include by installing an app from Shopify's app store. * People selling physical goods point to logistics, delivery and shipping. ##### What to watch * Checkout customization is limited on Basic, Grow and Advanced. Grow is the name on the second card. Shopify says the checkout is fully customizable on Plus. * A third-party transaction fee applies when Shopify Payments is off. * A checkout bump on Basic, Grow or Advanced usually means an extra app alongside the store plan. ### Pricing SamCart: Core is $79 a month. Pro is $199 a month, and that is the card with the checkout tools named above. Yearly billing is 25% off. The trial lasts 7 days. SamPay is 2.9% plus 30 cents, with no added platform fee on SamPay. Other processors bill their own rates. Shopify: The cards are Basic, Grow, Advanced and Plus. There is a 3-day trial. The third-party transaction fee when Shopify Payments is off is 2%. ### Buying the ads, fulfilling in Shopify Shopify holds the catalog and the shipping. SamCart holds a checkout built for one offer. A team that buys its own ads, and still wants the paid order to land in Shopify, is a third case. ElasticFunnels is a funnel platform for that team. Pages, checkout, CRM and attribution sit on one data layer, so a click, an order, a rebill and a refund are one record. Same-URL split testing is the part that matches the ad. Variants rotate on the server under one campaign link, so Meta, Google and TikTok keep their learning and a test does not send the ad back through review. The builder can write a page from a prompt or clone one from a URL. The hosted checkout can add a companion product on the payment step and charge a follow-up on the same card, and it can bill a subscription. The checkout charges through Stripe, NMI, PayPal, Klarna or Authorize.net. It can also send the buyer to Shopify Checkout or Shop Pay. Sales that close on those external checkouts are not charged ElasticFunnels' checkout fee. If you already hold several NMI merchant accounts, the first sale can be split across them by weight, card brand, product and amount, with a daily cap on each account. Later charges stay on the account that took the sale. Stripe, PayPal, Klarna and Authorize.net are one account each. That split does not pool them with NMI. [Native order sync](https://elasticfunnels.io/) writes each paid ElasticFunnels order into the Shopify store, with the customer, the SKU, shipping and tax. It merges the main sale and its upsells into one Shopify order. A full refund cancels that order. A partial refund is recorded in Shopify as a refund, so the store's shipping apps can fulfill from it. The sync has four limits: it does not import products from Shopify, synced orders do not decrement Shopify stock, tracking numbers do not come back, and the store connects through a custom app set up per brand with the ElasticFunnels team. Those limits sit on the sync. The pages, the same-URL tests and the hosted checkout still run if you fulfill somewhere else. [Starter](https://elasticfunnels.io/pricing) is $97 a month, Growth is $197 a month, and Scale is $497 a month. A yearly bill comes to $937, $1,891 and $4,771\. Every feature is on every plan. The plans differ by page views, brands, domains, seats and automation runs. If you cross a limit, you pay the overage and you keep the same plan. The trial lasts 14 days, with no credit card required. Pages, funnels and a custom domain can be set up during the trial. Revenue through ElasticFunnels' own gateways carries a 0.5% fee. ElasticFunnels is newer than SamCart and Shopify, and there is very little independent review coverage to check its claims against. Until you run real volume through it, you are largely taking the vendor's word. ElasticFunnels launched in 2023, and outside reviews are still scarce. The gap is the outside writing you can read before you pay. The pages, the checkout and the order sync are on the product either way. I would look here when the ad test has to stay on one URL and the paid order still needs to land in Shopify for shipping. A pure catalog, with stock counts and the store checkout, stays on Shopify. A single offer with no store behind it stays on SamCart. The [ElasticFunnels review](/reviews/elasticfunnels) goes further, and [funnel builder alternatives](/alternatives/funnel-builder) lists the other platforms in this slot. [Try ElasticFunnels free (opens in a new tab) ](https://www.elasticfunnels.io/?utm%5Fsource=campaignbuyer.com&utm%5Fmedium=affiliate&utm%5Fcampaign=comparison-segment) Our pick ### SamCart SamCart's Pro plan is my pick for a cold-traffic offer that needs the bump and a retry on failed renewals at checkout. Shopify is my pick when the products have to be stocked and shipped through the store. ### Frequently asked questions Which is cheaper, SamCart or Shopify? For a digital offer, use SamCart's Pro card. Pro is where the bump, the upsell and subscription recovery sit. A Shopify store plan is the base, and those checkout steps usually mean an extra app. Processor rates sit on top of either subscription. Can I use SamCart with Shopify? Yes. When a SamCart order completes, the integration can create a paid, unfulfilled order in Shopify after you map the products. Stock and shipping stay in the store. Does Shopify have order bumps? Shopify documents a cap on how many follow-up offers a buyer can accept in one checkout. The number is in the table. On Basic, Grow and Advanced, an add-on on the payment step is usually an app. Plus is the card that opens the checkout to a full rebuild. When does ElasticFunnels fit if I already have both in mind? When you are buying ads, the test has to stay on one campaign URL, and the paid order still needs to land in Shopify so a shipping app can fulfill it. A catalog that never leaves the store can stay there. A single checkout with no store behind it can stay on SamCart. ### Sources #### Vendor pages 1. [SamCart pricing](https://www.samcart.com/pricing) Vendor 2. [SamCart help: Shopify integration](https://help.samcart.com/support/solutions/articles/60001402244-shopify) Vendor 3. [Shopify pricing](https://www.shopify.com/pricing) Vendor 4. [Shopify checkout](https://www.shopify.com/checkout) Vendor 5. [Shopify developer docs: post-purchase offers](https://shopify.dev/docs/apps/build/checkout/product-offers) Vendor 6. [ElasticFunnels](https://elasticfunnels.io/) Vendor 7. [ElasticFunnels pricing](https://elasticfunnels.io/pricing) Vendor ### Reader threads #### Other sources 2 discussions and reviews read for this page. Quotes are excerpts; open a link to read the original in context. 1. \[r-stack\] [Merchants stacking a page tool, SamCart and a Shopify store ](https://www.reddit.com/r/shopify/comments/1iin4o8/product%5Fpage%5Fab%5Fapp/) Reddit, 16 Oct 2026 2. \[r-samcart-fit\] [Shopify sellers discussing whether SamCart replaces the store ](https://www.reddit.com/r/shopify/comments/nstyit/samcart%5Fanyone/) Reddit, 16 Oct 2026 [SamCart review](/reviews/samcart) [Shopify review](/reviews/shopify) [Best ad tracker ranking](/best) [All head-to-heads](/compare) Written by Dana Rourke Lead Reviewer Dana Rourke is the lead reviewer at Campaign Buyer. She covers trackers and attribution on this site: she reads what long-term users report about each tool, checks its documentation and pricing, and verifies prices with the vendor before writing the verdict. Keeping the rankings honest mostly means writing down what the top pick gets wrong, so she does that first. [danar@campaignbuyer.com](mailto:danar@campaignbuyer.com) Last checked 2026-10-16 --- Campaign Buyer reviews the trackers, landing page builders, attribution tools and ad-spy software that performance media buyers actually run. We read what long-term users report and verify pricing with each vendor, so every pick names what it is bad at, not just what it sells. [Campaign Buyer](/) © 2026 Campaign Buyer. Independent and reader-supported. We may earn a commission when you buy through links on this page. It never affects our rankings.