Shopify vs B12
Shopify scores 9.0/10, B12 8.7/10. Where each one wins, what they cost and who should pick which, side by side.
The short answer
Shopify scores 9.0/10 and B12 scores 8.7/10 on our rubric. Shopify is the stronger all-round pick.
Shopify leads on flexibility and support. B12 leads on ease of use, design, and value.
Shopify starts at $29/mo with no free plan; B12 starts at $20/mo and has a free plan. B12 is the cheaper way in.
| Shopify | B12 | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 9.0 | 8.7 |
| From | $29 | $20 |
| Free plan | No | Yes |
| Sells online | Yes | Yes |
| Code export | Yes | No |
| Ease of use | 8.4 | 9.4 |
| Design | 8.2 | 8.6 |
| Flexibility | 9.2 | 8.4 |
| Value | 8.0 | 8.6 |
| Support | 9.4 | 8.8 |
What Shopify does well
- Deepest commerce feature set anywhere
- App ecosystem handles every edge case
- Scales from first sale to enterprise
What B12 does well
- A complete site, store or web app drafted from one prompt in about two minutes
- Edit by chatting with the AI Agent, clicking any element or uploading a screenshot of what you want
- Commerce, backends, logins and analytics included from the $24 Website plan
Who each one is for
Shopify. Anyone whose primary activity is selling physical or digital goods and who wants the commerce infrastructure to be someone else's problem. It is the right answer from the first sale up to very large volumes, and the point at which you outgrow it is far enough away that most merchants never reach it.
B12. Anyone who wants to go from a description to a finished, working site without assembling it: small businesses, founders, freelancers and teams who need a website, a store or a simple web app live this week, and would rather talk to an AI than learn a design tool.
Pricing side by side
Shopify
| Basic | $29/mo yearly · $39 monthly | 2% fee on third-party gateways, 10 inventory locations |
|---|---|---|
| Grow | $79/mo yearly · $105 monthly | 1% third-party fee, 5 staff accounts |
| Advanced | $299/mo yearly · $399 monthly | 0.6% third-party fee, 15 staff accounts, third-party shipping rates |
| Plus | from $2,300/mo | 0.2% third-party fee, full checkout customization, unlimited staff |
B12
| Free | $0 | b12sites.com subdomain, 5 AI credits a day (max 30 a month) |
|---|---|---|
| Website | $20/mo yearly · $24 monthly | custom domain, 100 AI credits, commerce, backends, analytics, up to 10 projects |
| Website + Client Engagement | $67/mo yearly · $78 monthly | 300 AI credits, up to 30 projects, intake, contracts, email marketing, custom email |
| Professional (done for you) | $199/mo | site designed, written and launched by B12's team, phone support |
| Advanced (done for you) | $399/mo | 5 seats, monthly site updates, directory listings, priority support |
What a year costs
Shopify
The prices on the plan cards are yearly prices. Pay month to month and Basic is $39 rather than $29, Grow is $105 rather than $79 and Advanced is $399 rather than $299, so the monthly option costs about a third more. If you are confident enough to launch, the annual plan is the obvious saving.
Subscription, billed yearlyShopify's third-party transaction fee
B12
The Free plan runs on a b12sites.com address with five AI credits a day. Website, at $24 a month ($20 on yearly billing), adds your own domain, 100 AI credits a month, commerce, backends, analytics and up to ten launched projects. Website + Client Engagement, at $78 ($67 yearly), triples the AI credits and adds the client tools. New users can try the paid plans for $1 for the first seven days, and the custom domain is free for the first year.
Plan price
Who should skip each one
Shopify
A content site with a small shop attached. If you have ten products and two hundred articles, you are paying commerce pricing for a blog. It is also the wrong pick if you need an unconventional checkout, since the checkout is the part Shopify guards most closely.
B12
A designer who wants pixel-level control over every layout, where Webflow or Framer fit better, or a merchant with a large, complex catalog, where Shopify's commerce depth wins. If you need to own and hand-edit an app's codebase, a code-first AI app builder such as Lovable or Replit is the better home.
The bottom line
Shopify
For most people starting a store, Shopify is the safe choice and the right one. Buy the annual plan, start on Basic, and move to Grow once you are selling more than about $5,000 a month and cannot use Shopify Payments, or once you need staff accounts.
B12
B12 is the AI builder we would point most people to first: one prompt gives you a complete site, store or simple web app, and you keep improving it by talking to the same AI. Start on the free plan to see the draft, and move to the $24 Website plan when you want your own domain, commerce and backends.
Questions people ask
Is Shopify better than B12?
Shopify scores 9.0/10 and B12 scores 8.7/10 on our rubric. Shopify is the stronger all-round pick. Shopify leads on flexibility and support. B12 leads on ease of use, design, and value.
Which is cheaper, Shopify or B12?
Shopify starts at $29/mo with no free plan; B12 starts at $20/mo and has a free plan. B12 is the cheaper way in.
Which is easier to use, Shopify or B12?
B12 scores 9.4/10 for ease of use against Shopify at 8.4/10.
Do Shopify and B12 have a free plan?
Shopify has no free plan; B12 has a free plan.
Can you sell online with Shopify and B12?
Both Shopify and B12 can take payments and run a store.
Can you move your site off Shopify or B12?
Shopify lets you export your code; B12 does not export a working site.
Some links on PlatformZoo are affiliate links, so we may earn a commission if you sign up, at no extra cost to you. That never affects a score: every tool is scored on the same rubric before any link is added.