Alidropship vs Shopify: Which One Is Right For You?

In this article, I will try to compare the two most popular e-commerce platform used in dropshipping today – Shopify and WordPress with Alidropship Plugin.

The internet has leveled the playing field when it comes to starting a business these days.

For that, we will compare Alidropship vs Shopify below.

Before you used to have access to a mountain of capital just to open up a small shop that would let you advertise, market to, and sell to people in your local area – and if you wanted to go global, you either had to really strike it hot with a product or service that people couldn’t find literally anywhere else or had to sell out to a major multinational company that would handle all of the heavy liftings for you.

Today, nothing could be further from the truth.

With the power of the internet in your back pocket, you have the opportunity to reach truly global markets on a 24/7 basis without having to have a fortune to rely on. In fact, some online businesses startup with a $100 (or less) operating budget – going from a vague concept to global reality in an afternoon.

A lot of this is because of the rise in dropshipping operations. Essentially a business plan that allows you to carry no stock or merchandise on your own but instead acts as an intermediary between wholesalers, shippers, and logistics companies and your customers. You can sell anything and everything that can be produced today as a drop shipper – all from the comfort of your online storefront.

I’ve been in the drop shipping game since 2015, though not that successful, I was able to take advantage of all the leverage that this business model has to offer. I’ve worked with partners all over the world, sold products to people all over the planet, and was able to make some money online with the help of dropshipping.

If you want to enjoy the kind of financial freedom that most people only ever get a chance to dream about, without having to have access to a pile of capital and worry about all the headache and hassle involved in hiring employees and handling product creation or fulfillment on your own, the world of dropshipping is perfect for you.

Of course, you’ll want to make sure that you are setting up a shop with the right kind of drop shipping platform.

Over the years I’ve been at this game I’ve used pretty much everything under the sun when it comes to starting an online business, managing a drop shipping business, and pulling in legitimate online money. But at the end of the day two and only TWO drop shipping platforms really separated themselves from the rest of the pack:

AliDropship vs Shopify.

Both of these platforms are incredibly popular (and it’s easy to see why), but if you really want to hit the ground running you’re going to need to pick one or the other. Hopefully, by the time you’re done with this guide, you’ll understand precisely what both bring to the table, where they are shortcomings are, and how you can utilize either one of them to make your financial future a reality.

Shall we dive right in?

Alidropship

Breaking down everything AliDropship has to offer

Far and away one of the most popular dropshipping / e-commerce platforms on the planet today, AliDropship is a game-changing solution that gives you instant and effortless access to everything available on AliExpress while at the same time giving you the freedom to utilize pretty much any other wholesaler or drop shipping program you are thinking about taking advantage of.

Easy to Use

Beautifully designed and engineered, all of the online storefront and wholesale/drop shipping management tools provided by AliDropship are about as easy to use as you could ever hope them to be. You don’t need some degree in computer science to start your online storefront, you don’t need a world of business experience to start drop-shipping all over the planet, and you don’t have to have all kinds of advertising and marketing experience to get the word out about your new offers and start bringing in new sales.

One time Fee

AliDropship does a lot of the heavy lifting for you, and all for a one time fee.

The plugin only costs $89.00, which already includes support, updates, and access to their online community. If you want, you also have the option to add in 1 year of hosting, which only costs $48.00 and includes installation of the plugin and free SSL certificate.

Your initial cost will only be $137.00 (plus around $9.00 for the domain registration)

This is in some membership program that you have to sign up for, and it isn’t a program that is going to take a cut of your profits or cause you on necessary business expenses every single month. Some of the other options out there are going to do precisely that, which is why you want to stay as far away from them as humanly possible.

Comes with free themes

The online storefront building tools are super simple and straightforward to make the most of, and right out of the box, you’re going to be able to utilize any of the free online storefront themes that have been designed for the AliDropship platform. You can, of course, completely customize these themes as much as you like all on your own – and thanks to the Woocommerce Integration version, you can also capitalize on the functionality of the Woocommerce platform, thus giving you more options with regards to choosing themes for your store.

Bulk Import from Aliexpress

The bulk import tool allows you to pull information about all of the products that you are looking to sell from Alibaba or AliExpress, and you’ll also be able to use this tool to import information about the products you are selling from other wholesaler/drop shipping partners as well. This makes it really easy to manage your inventory and add new products to your storefront without having to do so manually.

Great Customer Service

The customer service and technical support from AliDropship are top-notch, too. You won’t have to wait forever to get responses about any of the technical issues you may be dealing with, and you also don’t have to worry about glitches shutting down your operation for extended amounts of time, either.

Online Community

The community support is fantastic, and you’ll really feel like you are a part of the AliDropship community right from the moment that you first sign up. You’ll be able to share your experiences about drop shipping, learn from the experiences of others, and really take advantage of all the lessons – and mistakes – made by those before you to build and grow your online empire.

Integration with Popular Payment Gateways

AliDropship integrates tightly with all major payment gateways (including Stripe and PayPal, just to name a few), giving you the opportunity to accept payment in the most convenient ways for your customers – boosting your marketability and increasing your sales at the same time.

Some of the drawbacks of the AliDropship platform

On the flip side of things, not all is sunshine and roses when it comes to AliDropship.

Needs to Know A bit of Website Management

Because this is a standalone solution, you’re going to need to know how to set up a website. This is going to require you to sign up for new web hosting, handle the domain registration process, install WordPress to your server, and then start integrating it into your platform.

WordPress Knowledge Required

Because AliDropship works as a WordPress plug-in, you’re also going to need to understand how to use that incredibly popular CMS. You’ll have to learn how to troubleshoot WordPress, you’ll have to learn how to secure any potential security holes or flaws, and you’ll have to use the administrative backend of that CMS to make the most of AliDropship.

Security and Stability Issues Could Arise

You obviously also have to purchase a separate SSL certificate to provide encryption across your domain and to protect the personal, private, and payment information of your customers. Uptime of your site is going to be dependent entirely upon the web hosting that you have selected.

Obviously, these issues are going to be deal-breakers by any stretch of the imagination as they exist almost entirely in the setup phase of AliDropship. If you really aren’t comfortable with these technical aspects, AliDropship has a service actually to handle all of the set of the heavy lifting for you, of course, for a fee, but this still,  this is another big benefit of using this platform!

Shopify

Breaking down everything that Shopify has to offer

Shopify is easily one of the world’s most popular e-commerce platforms, and for a good reason. This is actually the first platform I used in 2015 when I started my e-commerce venture using the dropshipping model.

Below you’ll see the things that I really liked about Shopify:

Easy to Setup

Stupidly simple to take advantage of, effortless to upgrade, and completely self-contained – with the folks at Shopify handling all of your technical needs and know-how while at the same time enhancing the platform on an almost daily basis – it really doesn’t get any easier than this when it comes time to set up your global online operation.

No Need To Worry About Hosting

Right out of the gate, you are going to be able to take advantage of all the Shopify tools you are provided with – all without having to sign up for any web hosting, all without having to do any technical set up, and all without having any specific technical knowledge or know-how.

Option for Custom Domain Names

Shopify is an entirely self-contained and self-hosted system, and while you can take advantage of a Shopify domain name even also add a layer of professionalism by registering your own domain name and having it point to the Shopify store that you have established.

User-friendly Interface

A lot of people also absolutely LOVE the simple and straightforward tools that Shopify provides for getting your business up and running. Regardless of whether or not you’re talking about building the bones of your new store, adding different design elements or functionality, or creating a storefront that looks like some of the most expensive and well-developed online storefronts on the web today, Shopify makes bringing your online business dreams to reality about as easy and as straightforward as possible.

Support is Great

The support provided by Shopify is untouchable, too. They have live chat available on a 24/7 basis, and a number of different languages so you can get native language help and support around-the-clock and every day of the year. The people that you will connect with through support are incredibly friendly and very helpful and will either be able to resolve your solution right away or related to someone on the support team that will be able to do precisely that.

Integration with Payment Gateways

Payment integration is effortless with Shopify. It supports all of the major payment gateways, including Stripe, PayPal, and even a merchant account that you sign up for independently. They also have a payment gateway API that you can use to plug into almost any payment gateway imaginable – offering you the kind of freedom that just aren’t going to find anywhere else.

The Store is Secured with Guaranteed Uptime

On top of all of that (as if it wasn’t already unknown), Shopify also sets you up with hosting, a 100% safe and secure online environment, a free SSL certificate that is regularly updated and audited, and tools including fraud detection to protect you and your customers no matter what.

Some of the drawbacks of the Shopify platform

Though Shopify is really a great e-commerce platform, there are still some things about Shopify that I find unappealing such as the ones I listed below:

Monthly Recurring Fee

Compared to AliDropship, Shopify doesn’t have a lot of drawbacks or downsides – but one of the most significant issues you were going to bump up against if you choose to go with Shopify is the monthly recurring fee you’re going to have to pay to take advantage of all the e-commerce and drop shipping tools they provide.

Their Basic plan starts at $29.00 per month, but if you want to have access to more features, then prepare to shell out $299.00 a month for their Advanced plan.

This fee isn’t unmanageable, but when you stack it up against the one time only cost of AliDropship it can get to be a little bit annoying to have to spend money every month on an e-commerce platform.

Most of the Shopify Apps for Dropshipping are not Free

At the same time, a lot of the Shopify apps specifically designed to be used with for drop shipping like Oberlo, in particular, aren’t going to be 100% free and available to use right out of the gate. Some of the best apps can set you back a decent chunk of change, and if you want to really extend your Shopify set up it can get pretty pricey.

You Could Get Rejected for Dropshipping

You also might have to worry about your dropshipping business getting rejected by the Shopify platform entire if you are selling the “wrong” kind of merchandise or seen as a risky endeavor. Shopify, above all else, wants to protect Shopify.

AliDropship vs Shopify…Which One?

All things considered, both of these platforms make getting your dropshipping business up and running about as easy as it could be.

When you compare AliDropship vs Shopify, you can see that both provide you with all the tools you need to get started, both provide you with the tools you need to grow and succeed, and both make it effortless to start a drop shipping business this afternoon without having to spend a mountain of money along the way.

Shopify is probably best for those that don’t want any headache or hassle when it comes to the technical side of things, though it is going to cost a bit more, in the long run, to own and operate a dropshipping business on Shopify.

If flexibility, freedom, and expense are prominent on the list of your concerns, you’re going to want to get set up with AliDropship probably. It has a lot of the same advantages as Shopify with a much smaller price tag – and their customer support team can also handle all of the technical stuff for you if you want (for a nominal fee).

AliDropship vs Shopify: And the Winner Is…

What it all boils down to I guess is what you are hoping to do as an online business owner and entrepreneur.

For my money, AliDropship is perfect for what I’m trying to do. It’s helped me build a practical store, a store with plenty of flexibility, and a dropshipping business that gives me all of the freedom and potential for profit that I am after.

So yes, in my case AliDropship is the right tool for me.

You can also check out my review on the AliDropship plugin by clicking the button below

Read my AliDropship Review

How about you, have you tried using any of the two? Which of the two platforms do you think suits you best? Share your answer in the comment section below.