Shopify is the gold standard for e-commerce. But if you're an author selling books, a purpose-built platform saves you time, money, and headaches. We know because we tried Shopify first.
| Feature | Books.by | Shopify |
|---|---|---|
| Built For | Authors & books specifically | Any product, any industry |
| Annual Cost | $99/yr | $348+/year (Basic plan $29/mo) |
| Transaction Fees | None | 0.5–2% (unless using Shopify Payments) |
| Print-on-Demand | ✓ Built in | ✗ Requires 3rd-party app (Lulu, Printful, etc.) |
| Cover Builder | ✓ Built in | ✗ Not available |
| Free ISBNs | ✓ No restrictions | ✗ |
| Book-Specific Features | ✓ Trim sizes, paper types, binding | ✗ Generic product listings |
| Custom Storefront | ✓ | ✓ (more customizable) |
| Customer Data | ✓ | ✓ |
| Payout Speed | Daily | Daily (with Shopify Payments) |
| App Ecosystem | Book-focused, all built in | ✓ Thousands of apps (many cost extra) |
| Non-Book Products | ✗ Books only | ✓ Anything |
| Setup Complexity | Minutes — upload & publish | Hours — themes, apps, integrations |
Shopify is excellent at what it does. Full credit:
Infinite customization. Themes, custom code, thousands of apps — you can build virtually any online store imaginable. If you need pixel-perfect control, Shopify delivers.
Sell anything. Books, merch, courses, downloads, physical products, subscriptions — Shopify handles it all. If books are just one part of a larger product line, Shopify's flexibility is a real advantage.
Massive ecosystem. Payment processors, shipping providers, marketing tools, analytics — Shopify's app store has an integration for nearly everything.
Proven at scale. From solo creators to billion-dollar brands, Shopify powers millions of stores worldwide. It's battle-tested.
Shopify wasn't built for books, and that shows up in a few ways:
No built-in print-on-demand. You'll need a third-party app like Lulu Direct, Printful, or BookVault. Each has its own pricing, quality, and reliability. You're stitching together what Books.by offers out of the box. More than 70% of Books.by authors previously tried selling on a general e-commerce platform before switching.
No book-specific tools. No cover builder, no ISBN management, no trim size selection, no paper type options. Your book is just another "product" in a generic catalog.
Monthly fees add up. Shopify Basic is $29/month ($348/year). Add a POD app ($0–50/month), a backup app, maybe a reviews app — you're looking at $400–600/year easily. Plus transaction fees if you're not using Shopify Payments.
Setup time. Choosing a theme, configuring a POD app, setting up shipping rules, connecting payment processing — it can take hours or days to get right. On Books.by, you upload your files and you're selling.
Ongoing maintenance. App updates, theme updates, compatibility issues, broken integrations. Shopify stores need tending. Books.by just works.
From our team: "Before we built Books.by, we tried running an author storefront on Shopify. The POD app broke twice in the first month, the theme didn't handle book metadata well, and we spent more time maintaining the store than selling books. That experience is why Books.by exists." — Ash Davies, Founder
Same 200-page B&W paperback. Both platforms let you keep 100% of profit — but the total cost to sell each book differs.
Books.by earns ~$1 more per book and costs $249+ less per year. The savings come from lower payment processing fees and no third-party POD app markup.
Books.by has everything you need to sell books and nothing you don't. $99/yr, 100-day money-back guarantee. Our median author earns back their subscription within 47 days. Also compare with Lulu.
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