UpMinutes vs Shopify for Indian businesses: an honest comparison

If you sell mainly to customers in India, UpMinutes will usually cost you less and need fewer add-ons, because UPI, cash on delivery rules, GST invoices and Indian-language storefronts are built in and plans have no commission on sales. Shopify is a powerful global platform and is the better choice in some cases: when you need checkout in many currencies, point-of-sale hardware for several shops, or a particular app from its app store. This post sets the two side by side as fairly as we can.

A note before we start: we make UpMinutes, so read this with that in mind. Every Shopify detail below comes from Shopify's own India pricing page and help centre as listed on 20 October 2026. Shopify changes prices and offers from time to time, so check Shopify's current pricing before you decide.

How much does each cost per month?

UpMinutes has three plans, and every price includes 18% GST:

• Starter: ₹500 a month or ₹5,000 a year, up to 100 products, 2 people.
• Growth: ₹999 a month or ₹9,990 a year, up to 300 products, 5 people, all 150 themes.
• Pro: ₹2,000 a month or ₹20,000 a year, up to 1,000 products, 15 people, brand styles and priority WhatsApp support.

Yearly billing is ten months' price for twelve. There is a 14-day free trial on any plan with no card needed. Full details are on the pricing page.

Shopify's India page lists four plans. Prices as listed on shopify.com/in/pricing on 20 October 2026 (the page does not say whether GST is added, so check):

Shopify's page also offered "Try 3 days free, then ₹20/month for 3 months" with no credit card needed for the trial, and states there are no setup fees.

Why does the payment provider fee matter so much in India?

This is the line most Indian sellers miss. Shopify Payments, Shopify's own gateway, is not available for businesses in India; India is not on its list of supported countries. So an Indian Shopify store takes payments through a third-party provider such as Razorpay, PayU or Cashfree. When you do that, Shopify charges its third-party transaction fee on top of the gateway's own fee: 2% on Basic, 1% on Grow, 0.6% on Advanced.

Here is a simple example. Say you sell ₹2,00,000 a month through Razorpay:

• On Shopify Basic, billed monthly: ₹1,994 for the plan, plus 2% of ₹2,00,000 = ₹4,000 in third-party fees, plus Razorpay's own fees, plus any paid apps.
• On UpMinutes Growth: ₹999 including GST, no commission, plus Razorpay's own fees.

Gateway fees apply with both platforms. The difference is the percentage Shopify adds and the apps you may need. We explain the difference between a platform commission and a gateway fee in more detail in transaction fees vs commission.

Which is better for UPI and cash on delivery?

Both let Indian shoppers pay by UPI once a gateway like Razorpay is connected. On UpMinutes, UPI, cards, EMI where your Razorpay offers it, net banking and wallets go through your own Razorpay account, and the money settles to your bank.

Cash on delivery is where the difference shows. Shopify offers COD as a manual payment method. Rules such as a COD limit by cart value or turning COD off for certain PIN codes often need an app. UpMinutes has these built in:

• switch COD on or off, and set "Cash on delivery up to ₹" a limit you choose
• allow or refuse COD per delivery zone (zones outside India are online-only)
• an optional email asking COD shoppers to confirm their order
• courier "undelivered" and RTO statuses flagged in your orders

If returned COD parcels are eating your margin, read how to cut COD RTO.

What about GST invoices?

UpMinutes creates a numbered GST invoice PDF for every order with your logo and GSTIN, CGST and SGST or IGST worked out from the shopper's state, HSN code and rate per product, and bulk invoices and tax reports. Prices can be GST-inclusive or have GST added on top.

On Shopify, Indian sellers commonly use an app for GST-format invoices. Whether you need one, and what it costs, depends on the app you pick, so add it to your sums. Our guide to paid apps lists the features Indian sellers often end up paying extra for.

Languages and selling abroad

UpMinutes storefronts work in English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada, with buttons, checkout, emails and policies translated; you translate your own products by hand or with machine translation that you review. Shopify lists storefront translation and Shopify Markets on all plans.

For customers abroad, UpMinutes delivery zones can cover other countries, and visitors can see guide prices in up to 12 currencies such as USD, GBP, AED and SGD. Orders are always charged in rupees through your Razorpay account. If you need shoppers to check out in their own currency, Shopify is the stronger fit.

Side-by-side summary

When is Shopify the better choice?

Shopify may suit you better if:

• you sell in many countries and need local currencies at checkout, not just guide prices
• you need point-of-sale hardware for several physical shops
• you rely on a specific app from Shopify's app store
• you have a large in-house development team building a custom storefront

If none of those apply and most of your customers are in India, UpMinutes is likely to be simpler and cheaper to run. Our longer guide on when Shopify is the better choice goes through each case.

How do I move from Shopify if I decide to switch?

Export your products from Shopify as a CSV and import them into UpMinutes; the Handle, Title, Variant Price, Variant SKU and Option columns map across. Upload photos in bulk, matched by SKU or name, and add redirects from your old Shopify addresses so links and Google rankings carry over. Your old store keeps running until you point your domain. The switch page has the eight steps, and our moving guide covers the details.

The fairest test is to try both with your own products. Start an UpMinutes free trial, add ten products, place a test order by UPI and COD, and download the GST invoice. Then compare with what you would pay elsewhere, apps included. The full side-by-side table is on UpMinutes vs Shopify.

Shopify is a trademark of Shopify Inc. UpMinutes is not affiliated with Shopify.

Filed under Comparisons. More guides on the UpMinutes blog.