Stan Store Alternatives: 10 Best Options for Creators

Stan Store Alternatives: 10 Best Options for Creators

Stan Store is a platform where content creators can monetize their social media presence and sell digital products through a simple link-in-bio storefront – and it’s great for what it is. 

However, if Stan Store weren’t riding the wave of its viral TikTok success back in the time of the pandemic, it would have a hard time competing with a sea of options that exist out there.

First of all, it works best for influencers with large followings, but doesn’t cater to every type of creator, especially not for the up-and-coming. Second, it isn’t the most budget-friendly option on the market. Finally, it’s lacking some of the features you might be seeking for your business and monetization strategy.

Thankfully, there are so many flavors of digital storefronts you can choose from! In this post, I will focus on the best Stans Store alternatives by their intended user: casual creator, beginner but serious about growth, established entrepreneur, etc. Let’s find out what fits you best.

How did I review Stan Store alternatives?

Some platforms on this list are bit-for-bit direct Stan Store competitors. Others only tangentially overlap with it. Yet the most important thing I’ve been looking for is the possibility to sell digital products. This widened the pool and allowed me to handpick the most fitting solutions for each occasion.

My selection process

Platforms offer a range of tools and features designed for different businesses, in terms of niche, size, and scope. This makes them very difficult to compare, especially across intended users and functionalities. That’s why I’ve picked one nominee for each category.

I focused on the following:

  1. Ease of use
  2. Branding and customization options
  3. Value over price
  4. Types of products you can sell
  5. Integrations (native vs. third-party assisted)
  6. Marketing and sales tools
  7. Community features (DMs, blogs, forums, etc.)
  8. Financial management (taxes, invoicing, donations, etc.)
  9. Scalability (whether you can upgrade to a higher tier or need another platform)
  10. User profile (beginner, casual creator, educator, influencer, etc.)

Prices are particularly difficult to compare, so I will only give info on the cheapest entry-level tier and best value plan for selling digital products.

Disclaimer: All the details on pricing, features, trial periods, and platform names I give in this article are based on what was publicly available at the time of writing. Things are in flux, digital products are constantly updated, so some particulars might change by the time you read this. To make sure you have the most accurate information, I strongly recommend checking directly with each platform. Study product pages, contact support, and use your discretion.

My testing process

To test the platforms on this list, I went through the following steps for each one:

  1. Sign up for the free tier/trial period
  2. Personalize the page/build website
  3. Connect social media
  4. Connect payment processors
  5. Create products (I’ve used downloadable images)
  6. Set up blog/create course/test-drive any other available features
  7. Go live and see how the page looks for customers

Since the testing was limited in time, I didn’t have the opportunity to test the effectiveness of marketing and sales tools in action, so stats and analytics on the screenshots are flat-lining. 

However, I’ve thoroughly studied each platform’s offering in this domain: checked integrations, tried setting up email campaigns, and assessed the versatility of the toolkit, so I’m not getting my rating based on vibes.

Stan Store alternatives at a glance

Platform

Best for

Features

Pricing

The best all-around platform for creators

Digital, subscription, and POD products support; full storefront; built-in marketing & email tools

From $22/mo

 Selling digital courses & memberships

Advanced course builder; funnels; analytics; automations

From $71/mo

Custom design & link-in-bio store

Drag-and-drop editor; AI tools; email marketing

Free

Influencers linking multiple offers

Link-in-bio hub; basic shop; analytics

Free

Building fan communities

Membership tiers; donations; audience insights

10% commission

Casual creators & donations

Tips; memberships; simple store

Free

Free all-in-one business tool

Funnels; email marketing; automation; course builde

Free

Beginners selling digital goods

Simple setup, built-in marketplace, VAT handling

10% commission

Solo entrepreneurs

Course builder; memberships; blogging; built-in email marketing

From $33/mo

Businesses looking for a scalable online store

Website builder; POS; SEO; vast app ecosystem

From $5/mo
 

Top 10 Stan Store alternatives in 2025

1. Sellfy: The best all-around Stan Store alternative

Sellfy started as a platform for selling digital downloads and quickly became a leader in that niche. Eventually, it evolved into an eCommerce solution for digital creators, influencers, and artists. Now, on par with its top competitors, Sellfy lets you sell almost anything, including digital products, physical goods, subscriptions, and even print-on-demand items from your online store.

But don’t get me wrong, Sellfy isn’t just about creating an online store. It still lets you do everything Stan Store does, including selling on social media.

The best part? Sellfy’s set-up is as effortless as Stan’s. You can start selling in under 10 minutes by uploading your first product, customizing your store theme, connecting a payment method, and you’re ready to go.

Why I picked Sellfy

Sellfy simply gives you everything Stan Store does, but more and better. Sure, Stan Store is great for selling digital products through social media profiles. But Sellfy offers you a lot more as it allows you to launch your online business by building and customizing a complete online store.

On top of that, Sellfy offers a richer suite of eCommerce tools, including marketing features, affiliate programs, cart abandonment, advanced analytics, and print-on-demand service, perfect for managing an online business. Even Sellfy’s Starter plan includes essential features like email marketing and discounts.

Sellfy email marketing

Standout features

  • Fully-hosted eCommerce platform
  • Effortless setup
  • Sell anywhere (social media, existing website, blog, etc.)
  • White-label store (connect a custom domain, remove Sellfy branding)
  • Support for digital, physical, subscription, and print-on-demand products
  • 15-20GB per product
  • Native video streaming
  • Freebies and PWYW pricing
  • Built-in email marketing, discounts, cart abandonment, upselling, tracking pixels, and affiliate marketing
  • Digital security and anti-piracy features
  • Built-in print-on-demand service
  • Mobile app
  • Instant payouts

Products you can sell

Digital downloads (online courses, guides, templates, eBooks, music files, videos, links to exclusive content, VOD, etc.), subscription, physical items, and custom print-on-demand products.

Sellfy product types

Pricing 

Starter Plan: Starter

  • $22 a month
  • Up to $10k in sales per year
  • Sell downloads, subscriptions, physical items, and print-on-demand products
  • Store customization
  • Email marketing 
  • Core marketing features

Best Value Plan: Growth

  • $59 a month
  • Up to $50k in sales per year
  • Sell downloads, subscriptions, physical items, and print-on-demand products
  • Store customization
  • Custom fields
  • Email marketing 
  • Core marketing features
  • Product upselling
  • Cart abandonment
  • Affiliate marketing

I found Sellfy a perfect alternative to Stan Store as it manages to combine simplicity, robust marketing tools, and support for both digital and physical products. It makes Sellfy a top choice for creators looking not only to launch and manage, but also to grow their business efficiently.

2. Kajabi: Best for selling digital products

Kajabi is an established all-in-one platform targeting people who build serious digital business. It allows you to create full courses from scratch, promote them through automated emails, set up sales funnels that lead to a full website, and track your success with complex business analytics. 

It is more advanced and feature-rich than Stan Store, but it also means a steeper learning curve for newbies. However, if you are serious about building a complete educational program, Kajabi has more features and gives you more structure.

Why I picked Kajabi

Kajabi specializes in helping creators sell digital products. There are many native features to edit videos and podcasts, create great previews and descriptions for downloadable images, as well as marketing tools to promote them, and financial functionality to handle payments and taxes. It’s a full command center that goes way beyond what Stan Store can offer..

Standout features

  • Full website with landing pages, navigation, and blog
  • Drag-and-drop builder with polished templates
  • Built-in SEO tools
  • Professional marketing features (email campaigns, funnels, automations, events, forms, etc.)
  • Built-in analytics tools (overview, detailed reports)
  • Native course builder with robust educational tools (videos, quizzes, drop content, certificates of completion, comments, and community, etc.)
  • Functionality for podcast
  • Built-in blogging features
  • Creator studio for video editing

Products you can sell

Courses, coaching sessions, podcasts, and digital downloads.

Integrations

Creator.io, Zapier, Drip, MailChimp, Google Tag Manager, Segment, Meta Pixel, Stripe, ConvertKit, AWeber, Google Analytics, ActiveCampaign, PayPal, etc.

Pricing 

Starter Plan: Kickstarter

  • $71 a month
  • 1 website, product, community, extra admin user
  • 250 contacts
  • Unlimited marketing emails, landing pages, and funnels
  • Kajabi AI features
  • Creator studio

Best Value Plan: Growth

  • $199 a month
  • Everything Kickstarter has
  • 50 products
  • 25,000 contacts
  • 10 extra admin users

If you are focused on creating digital products and don’t want to pay for extras like free delivery, Kajabi has you covered. It’s built for creating, promoting, asd selling, but it’s pricey. If you need something simple, fast, and more social, go with Stan Store.

Read a more detailed comparison of Stan Store vs Kajabi here.

3. Beacons: Best for design customization

Beacons, like many on this list, started as a simple link-in-bio tool. However, the platform quickly grew past that into a powerhouse where you can sell digital products, build a website, conduct email marketing, and create media kits. 

Compared to Stan Store, Beacons offers the same functionality, but with more advanced features packed into each subscription tier. That said, Stan Store is more recognizable, has a bigger community, and overall is easier and more welcoming to a newbie.

Why I picked Beacons

Beacons is an all-in-one solution for creators, very similar to Stan Store, but it just gives you a little more, especially in terms of customization. It has a lot of beautiful templates, many more color schemes, and seamlessly built-in AI design suggestions if you don’t want to handpick every little detail. 

Standout features

  • Customizable link-in-bio + website
  • Simple and intuitive dashboard
  • Drag-and-drop design
  • Built-in AI tool for product description and email generation, design choices, etc.
  • Free templates + starting from scratch
  • Built-in analytics on engagement and sales
  • Native email marketing tool
  • Seamless financial management (taxes, invoices, payouts, etc.)
  • Quick import of products from Gumroad, Etsy, Stan Store, Payhip, Snipfeed, etc.
  • Built-in referrals
  • Google Workspace, extra storage space, and onboarding from the Beacons team (with Beacons Pro)

Products you can sell

Courses, memberships, one-on-one appointments, digital downloads, as well as physical products through integrations with Etsy, Shopify, and other stores.

Integrations

Google Analytics, Google Calendar, Shopify, Stripe, GoCardless, PayPal, Zettle, MailChimp, Sendgrid, Dotdigital, Wix, WordPress, Zapier, Xero, Sage, QuickBooks, etc.

Pricing

Starter Plan: Free Plan

  • Free with 9% commissions on all sales
  • Customizable link-in-bio with 3 sub-pages
  • Unlimited digital products, contacts, and AI email generations
  • 1 course
  • 50 emails per month
  • 5 email automations
  • 10 AI image and text generations
  • Real-time analytics
  • Customizable media kit
  • Auto-reply DMs
  • Invoice management

Best Value Plan: Store Pro

  • $25 a month
  • No transaction fees
  • Everything in the free plan
  • Custom domain
  • 10 sub-pages
  • Integration with Klarna and Affirm (buy now, pay later)
  • Memberships (weekly, monthly, and yearly access to exclusive content)
  • Multiple calendar integrations
  • Unlimited videos with hosting, AI generations, emails sent
  • 20 automation sequences
  • Speedier customer support

Both Beacons and Stan Store have intuitive dashboards, drag-and-drop design, and similar user experience. Beacons is a bit less optimized for social media and trickier to master, but it offers more advanced features, customization, flexibility, and overall more bang for your buck than in Stan Store. Plus, a free tier to start.

4. Linktree: Best link-in-bio solution

Linktree is just what you imagine it to be from the name: a centralized hub for all your links. It is popular among creators on social media like Instagram, TikTok, and X, where the number of links you can share in your bio is limited. Instead, you can share a single link to your Linktree page where everything else is stored.

Linktree can help you monetize your social media through affiliate links by driving traffic to an Amazon storefront, Patreon, Etsy, or other social media channels. It’s less suited for creators but is ideal for influencers. What makes Linktree better than Stan Store for this purpose is a free plan and great customization.

Why I picked Linktree

Linktree lets you build a beautiful, customized page where followers can see everything you offer. It’s not a store or a website, it’s a simple page, but sometimes that’s all you need, especially if you aren’t creating digital products but promoting something for a commission. That said, you can also sell products through Linktree Shops or direct links to checkout on PayPal or Square.

Standout features

  • All-in-one place for social media and product links
  • Quick and easy setup
  • Intuitive and clean interface
  • Robust customization even in the free tier
  • Native analytics tool for clicks, views, etc.
  • AI tool for social media posting

Products you can sell

Digital downloads. But, you will have to do this through integrations.

Integrations

Audiomack, Bonfire, Bookings, Calendly, Cameo, Course, Gleam, Discound Code, Klaviyo, Google Sheets, GoFundMe, Laylo, Shopify, Vimeo, and many more.

Pricing

Linktree offers 4 plans: Free, Starter, Pro, and Premium.

Best for Beginners: Linktree Free

  • Unlimited links
  • Dozens of customizable templates and themes
  • Linktree Shop for selling digital products and courses

Best Value Plan: Linktree Pro

  • $7.50 a month with (7-day free trial upon registering)
  • Possibility to remove Linktree logo
  • Social media scheduling tool
  • Automated Instagram DMs
  • Email integrations (Mailchimp, Google Sheets, Kit, Klaviyo)
  • Lower seller fees on digital products and courses (9%)

Linktree is great as a free portfolio tool. It allows you to show everything you have to offer without pressuring visitors to convert. It’s not as robust as Stan Store as a selling tool, but it can be a good place to start monetizing your social media following.

5. Patreon: Best for transitioning to a full-time creator

Patreon is arguably the most well-known platform for creators to generate a predictable income by selling membership access to their pay-walled content. It is centered around building a community of enthusiastic supporters willing to give regular donations. However, there is also one-time purchase functionality, so you can sell any digital content here to more casual audience members. 

Patreon is simple and intuitive, with easy page setup, but has barebones customization and built-in tools. It is a stepping-stone, giving your time and money to build something more profitable and sustainable.

Why I picked Patreon

Just as Stan Store, Patreon relies on your already prominent presence on social media, but shapes a steadier stream of income with recurring monthly payments from your patrons. This gives you enough stability to plan a transition from part-time content creation to full commitment. At the same time, it gives you tools to sell products individually, as one-time purchases, rivalling Stan Store.

Standout features

  • Customizable system of membership tiers
  • Native audience analytics, insights into content performance and earnings, etc.
  • Built-in marketing tools (teasers, membership upgrade and cancellation offers, discounts, and gifts) and blogging functionality
  • Streamlined community engagement tools and direct chat with fans 
  • Mobile app for patrons

Products you can sell

Memberships, standalone videos, podcast episodes, digital downloads, one-on-one sessions, as well as physical goods through your Patreon merch shop.

Integrations

Vimeo, Keeper, Discord, Creative Juice, 99 Designs, Crowdcast, Fourthwall, AudioMob, Clippad, Bonjoro, WordPress, Collective, ConvertKit, Creator Metrics, etc.

Pricing

There is no subscription or upfront payment, but Patreon takes a standard 10% platform fee on your income +any relevant taxes (VAT, GST, or sales tax) depending on your location. There are also payment processing fees (varies by currency) and 2.5% currency conversion fees.

Their older tiered commissions system was made obsolete in August 2025, but is maintained for pages published before that.

Patreon is a streamlined solution for part-time creators. It allows you to start getting income through donations with minimal time and effort invested. However, the platform becomes limiting once you transition to full-time content creation. If you want to provide a more premium branded experience for your fans and attract new audiences, Patreon might not be enough.

6. Ko-Fi: Best for casual creators

Ko-Fi is more of a fundraising platform with goal setting, donations, and tips. However, it can be used to sell digital products through a shop and offer membership access to exclusive content. 

Ko-Fi is like a hybrid of Patreon and Stan Store. From Stan Store, it takes ease of setup, social media focus, and a clean dashboard. From Patreon, it takes the core of its functionality and a focus on community building.

Why I picked Ko-Fi

Ko-Fi is a fundraiser first, so you can ask your supporters for help without offering something in return immediately. It’s perfect for beginners because you don’t even have to have a ready-made product. Instead, you can pitch the idea (a book, charitable projects, or community-benefiting service) and work on it while people donate towards this goal. 

Standout features

  • Free plan with no listing fees
  • Quick setup and intuitive navigation
  • Combines donations with storefront and membership tiers
  • Tips and pay-what-you-want functionality
  • Instant payouts without a threshold
  • Built-in blogging and portfolio functionality
  • Feed from the creators you follow
  • Widgets, embeds, and shareables for promotion of your page
  • Community engagement tools (on-platform messaging, interactive polls)
  • Discord monetization
  • Basic marketing tools (discounts, commissions, etc.)

Products you can sell

Memberships, courses, video tutorials, digital downloads, as well as physical items.

Integrations

Twitch, Discord, Google Analytics, PayPal, Stripe. All the other integrations are only available through Zapier (Google Sheets, Mailchimp, Trello, etc.)

Pricing

Starter Plan: Contributor

  • $0 a month
  • 5% transaction fee on sales and tips
  • All features are available without caps

Best Value Plan: Gold

  • $12 a month 
  • 0% service fee
  • All features are available without caps

Ko-Fi is deliciously simple and great for streamers and casual creators, allowing donations, commission requests, and crowdfunding. However, marketing, sales, and analytics are rudimentary here. A full-time creator with a strong social media presence will do better with Stan Store or another alternative platform.

7. Systeme.io: Best free Stan Store alternative

Systeme.io is not only the best free Stan Store alternative, but also a comprehensive platform for building your business up with all the robust features at your fingertips. It’s one of the most basic professional tools on the market that is accessible enough, but at the same time allows you to create a more polished product than Stan Store does. 

Why I picked Systeme.io

Systeme.io is an entire business ecosystem with many professional tools. It’s free to start with almost all the features available, and each next subscription tier depends on the scale of your business in terms of numbers. 

If you don’t mind the learning curve, Systeme.io gives you more value than StanStore. Its free-forever feature is also great for someone who is only starting and doesn’t have disposable income or a large social media following.

Standout features

  • Freemium model
  • Full website for your online store
  • Native marketing tools (email marketing, sales funnels, affiliate management, etc.)
  • Business automation
  • Built-in blogging features 
  • Native course builder and student management
  • Easy automation settings
  • Integrations through webhooks
  • Sales funnels (not just checkout pages like in Stan Store)

Products you can sell

Online courses, webinars, digital downloads, as well as physical products (either your own or as a dropshipper).

Integrations

Zoom, Google Meet, Google Sheets, Google Calendar, Active Campaign, PayPal, Stripe, Mercado Pago, Razorpay, Flutterwave, Mollie, GoCardless, Paystack, Secure and Pay,  etc.

Pricing

Starter Plan: Freemium

  • $0 a month 
  • 2000 contacts
  • 3 sales funnels
  • One digital store, course, blog, and community
  • 3 products with 50 physical product variations
  • 1 email campaign, A/B test, coupon code, etc.
  • Custom domain

Best Value Plan: Webinar

  • $47 a month
  • 10,000 contacts
  • 50 sales funnels
  • 20 blogs and courses
  • 10 digital stores, custom domains, and webinars
  • 50 products with 250 product variants
  • 100 tags, email campaigns, order bumps, etc.
  • 50 A/B tests and coupon codes

Systeme.io can give you everything Stan Store free and then some. Why isn’t it at the top of the list, then? First of all, it’s not as mobile-optimized as other contenders. Second, it takes some time to learn the ropes in Systeme.io, while Stan Store is more limited but works out of the box. So, if you want to set up your store from your phone in 10 to 15 minutes, Systeme.io isn’t the best choice. 

8. Gumroad: Best for beginner creators

Gumroad is very popular among creators of all kinds: artists, musicians, writers, designers, and even software developers. Its no-frills approach and user-friendly interface allow creating listings and uploading products in a couple of clicks, making Gumroad a beginner favorite.

Gumroad is a great alternative to Stan for creators who are only starting out. While Stan Store provides a nice and shiny storefront to funnel your existing audience to, Gumroad creates an incubator environment to get your online selling business off the ground and attract your first customers.

Why I picked Gumroad

Gumroad is a better option for beginners because it is risk-free with no monthly payments, very user-friendly, and seamlessly handles your taxes for you. Plus, the platform comes with its own marketplace where you can show off your products and gain the attention of the Gumroad community. 

Standout features

  • Free membership
  • Full website within the ecosystem 
  • Option to embed your existing website under a unique domain name
  • Gumroad Discover marketplace, where you can gain visibility and start promoting your products
  • Flexibility and simplicity
  • International tax compliance management
  • Possibility of adding collaborators
  • Native email marketing and analytics tools

Products you can sell

Digital downloads and subscriptions.

Integrations

Mailchimp, Google Ads, AWeber, ConvertKit, Circle, Discord, Slack, Campaign Monitor, GetResponse, Flodesk, beehiiv, Teachable, Pinterest, Facebook Conversions, etc.

Pricing

Gumroad does not have any monthly charges or premium plans. It’s free, however, you pay a 10% flat sales fee + $0.50 commission per transaction for the sales from your profile or direct links. The commission can vary depending on the payment processing platform in your country.

There is also a 30% fee per transaction when new customers find you through the Gumroad Discover marketplace. This is the minimal amount, but you are encouraged to set a higher fee in return for better visibility and promotion perks.

Gumroad is a comfortable and risk-free option for an absolute newbie: you don’t pay anything unless you sell, and you are free from many overwhelming chores like taxes and promotion. On the other hand, Stan Store offers more in terms of streamlined sales, email marketing, affiliate marketing, and social media integrations. 

To learn more about Gumroad, read this detailed comparison of Sellfy vs. Gumroad.

9. Podia: Best for solo entrepreneurs

Podia is a platform for creators and entrepreneurs who want to sell online courses, digital downloads, and memberships. Its strongest feature is simplicity and ease of use with a comprehensive built-in toolset for email marketing, blogging, affiliate management, etc.

Podia is better suited for scaling up and growing your online business than Stan Store. While Stan Store functions primarily as a link-in-bio tool for monetizing your social media presence, Podia gives more advanced features: a full website and comprehensive marketing functionality.

Why I picked Podia

Podia either wins you over with its simplicity or feels restrictive because of it. That’s why I’ve picked this platform for solo entrepreneurs. If you run a one-man show, especially as a beginner, you will appreciate having all the key features in one place and an easy setup. Podia is simple, straightforward, and affordable.

Standout features

  • Unlimited products and bandwidth
  • Full website with link-in-bio page, landings, checkout, blog, etc.
  • Intuitive drag-and-drop website builder
  • Clean and beautiful layouts
  • Native features for selling courses, memberships, webinars, coaching, downloadable files, etc.
  • Smart design customization 
  • A host of built-in features, like the course builder, SEO
  • Dedicated email marketing tool with segmentation, funnels, lead magnets, etc.
  • Supports selling anywhere (existing website, blog, social media, affiliates, etc.)

Products you can sell

Digital downloads, online courses, and subscriptions. Yet the best built-in features focus on educational content.

Integrations

MailChimp, Drip, AWeber, GetResponse, Flodesk, Stripe, PayPal, Zoom, YouTube Live, Discord, Google Analytics, Calendly, Facebook, Pinterest, etc.

Pricing

The cheapest option: Mover

  • $33 a month
  • 5% transaction fees
  • Website with a custom domain
  • Online store with unlimited products
  • Built-in blog
  • Email marketing (up to 100 subscribers)

Best value option: Shaker

  • $75 a month
  • Everything from the Mover plan + 
  • Affiliate marketing
  • PayPal payments
  • No transaction fees

Compared to Stan Store, Podia wins by providing a full online store website functionality with landing pages, blog, etc. It also has advanced email marketing features built in, so no outside integration is required. It’s clean, simple, quick to set up, and has a trial period to give you a taste of what its features are like. All that, only at a marginally higher cost.

If you are interested, you can find more details about Podia in another comparison Sellfy vs. Podia.

10. Shopify: Largest Stan Store competitor

Shopify is arguably the most popular e-commerce platform in the world, and for a reason. It has almost everything a business needs neatly bundled up together. You can create a nice-looking and fully functional online store in minutes without any web design or other technical skills.

Why I picked Shopify

Shopify is simply the biggest on the market. Another reason I decided to include it in this overview is an apparent imbalance in reviewing. You see, they have a great referral program bringing in a ton of positive reviews. Yet this incentivized feedback can skew towards uncritical praise, so I decided we needed to look a bit deeper under the hood.

Standout features

– White-label customizable store

– Intuitive and clean drag-and-drop website builder

– Comprehensive native apps for everything sales-related (blog, SEO, analytics, taxes, emails, marketing campaigns, abandoned cart recovery, discount codes, etc.)

– Thousands of app integrations and themes

– Support for multiple geos and currencies 

– Substantial discounts from major delivery services

– Mobile app for iOS and Android

Products you can sell

Unlike Stan Store, which was made with creators and educators in mind, Shopify caters most to businesses that sell physical merchandise. It offers inventory tracking, selling in brick-and-mortar stores with POS systems, etc. That said, it is possible to sell digital products like downloadable files, online courses, or one-on-one calls on Shopify, but you will need to set up specific apps for that.

Plus, there are some unwritten limitations. Shopify has been known to suspend accounts for no apparent reason if it deems your activity even remotely controversial. So carefully assess what you plan to sell and maybe look into other platforms.

Integrations

TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Etsy, Mailchimp, Google Ads, QuickBooks, HubSpot, Salesforce, Smart SEO, Avada, and many more.

Pricing

The cheapest option: Starter

  • $5 a month
  • Link-in-bio page to sell on social media (no website)
  • Easy and quick setup
  • Order management
  • Key analytics
  • Limited customization

Best value option: Basic

  • $29 a month
  • Fully functional online store
  • 24 free themes
  • Collaborator accounts
  • Analytics
  • Sales channels and customer segmentation
  • Abandoned cart recovery

So, do I recommend Shopify? Let’s sum up.

Overall, Shopify has the most value for money for a bigger business with a steady monthly turnover. If you are a beginner at the entry-level subscription tier, Shopify’s functionality might be insufficient compared to Stan Store. Shopify also takes longer to set up and lacks native functionality for digital products like courses and downloadables.

More on how Shopify compares to Sellfy

How to migrate from Stan Store

To migrate from Stan Store, first pinpoint which features are must-haves for your unique situation and choose a platform that offers those. Then, export your data (CSV files with customer lists, reports, sales records) and backup your digital products. After setting up a new platform, uploading your data, and adding the products, don’t forget to let your customers know where to find you now and explain all the changes.

A word of warning, though: not everything runs on automatic, and for some platforms, the process will be semi-manual. Still, nothing is impossible, especially if you are determined enough to try something better.

What you can (and cannot) migrate from Stan Store

 Data/asset

Exportability

Caveats

Digital products (images, PDFs, videos, templates, etc.)

No

Stan Store doesn’t allow downloads of the files you’ve previously uploaded. You need to have a backup, host them on an alternative cloud platform, or set the price to $0 and “buy” them.

External file links

 Yes

 Only if you used “Redirect to URL” in product settings and hosted them elsewhere

Subscriber/email list

 Yes

 To do that, go to the “Customers” tab on your main menu, then, click on the three-dot icon on the left above the customer list and choose “Download CSV” in the dropdown menu.

Customer/order data

Partially

 You can export your customers and lead magnets in CSV. Custom field responses appear in a “Notes” column in the export CSV.

Sales/Revenue history

Yes

 You can download reports or export CSVs

Custom fields, checkout configurations, upsells, email flows, membership rules

No

 There is no fully exportable plug-and-play way, but you can try to do this via support of your new platform. Otherwise, you will need to rebuild them manually.

5 Steps to migrate from Stan Store

Stan Store doesn’t offer a “deep full site export” (no one makes it easy to leave), but here is what you can do:

Audit your Stan Store and back up your assets

  • Export what you can automatically (product files, customer CSVs, reports, etc.)
  • List all your products with names and prices, descriptions, etc. (that includes downloadables, membership tiers, courses — everything). It’s tedious, but recreating from scratch will be even more exhausting. Create a spreadsheet, preferably in the cloud.
  • Document checkout flows, email automations, custom funnels, etc.
  • Save any URLs to outside storage you’ve used

Set up your new chosen platform

  • Create your new storefront/website
  • Use CSV import or built-in migration tools if your new platform supports it
  • If there are no automated solutions, request help from the customer support of your new platform and follow their instructions
  • If everything else fails, manually recreate product listings, membership tiers, upload files, and replicate checkout flows

Test everything

  • Log in as a user and place test orders
  • Check email delivery, downloads, membership access, etc.

Announce the move to your audience

  • Warn your customers about the changes and give them overlap timelines
  • Invite them by email and give them instructions on how they can access your content now, including previous purchases
  • Prepare FAQ  and be ready to give support to people who will struggle adjusting

Switch links/finalize your move

  • Update your social media/bio/website links to the new platform
  • If possible, keep your Stan Store running for about 1-2 weeks to smooth the transition
  • When you are positive that everything works, cancel Stan Store

Which Stan Store alternative should you choose?

That depends entirely on your goals, the specifics of the products you intend to sell, and your personal preferences. By now, your head must be spinning from all the information, but I still encourage you to treat this article as a starting point for your own research.

If you are pretty comfortable with the scope and pricing of Stan Store, but wish for something more robust and professional, Sellfy is a winner here, hands down. 

Even Sellfy’s Starter plan comes with more features and tools than Stan Store, offering rich email marketing options, affiliate programs, print-on-demand services, and everything in between that a digital creator, influencer, and artist might want for their online store.

If you are a beginner and don’t know where to start, look closer at the platforms that offer a free tier, like Gumroad, Beacons, Patreon, Ko-Fi, or Systeme.io. 

If you already have a polished product that sells well and you don’t mind paying a premium price, Kajabi offer some pretty sophisticated tools to grow your revenue.

Aleksey is a Content Marketing Specialist at Sellfy. He loves using language and the power of words to make even the driest eCommerce topics fascinating. Using his degree in literary studies and passion for the latest trends, he creates well-researched and structured content to inspire other people and help them grow their eCommerce business.