Home Pricing Integrations Resources About Contact Request Access
Shopify alternative — for service-and-product businesses

Two great tools.
Different jobs.

Shopify is built to sell products. Rivera is built to run a business that sells products. If your business is more than just a catalog, this page is for you.

Let's be honest upfront: Shopify is world-class at e-commerce. We're not going to tell you it isn't. If your business is a product catalog and a checkout, Shopify is probably the right call and we'd tell you so.

But most small businesses aren't pure e-commerce. They sell some products, but they also book services, send proposals, sign contracts, chase invoices, manage a CRM, and talk to customers across email and SMS. That's where the "just use Shopify plus six other apps" model starts costing more than you realize.

If that's you, keep reading.

Side by side

The shape of each platform.

Structural comparison, not a feature checklist. Both tools are deep. The question is which shape fits your business.

Shopify
Rivera
Core focus
Product e-commerce specialist — the best in the world at selling physical and digital goods online.
Business operations generalist — built to run the whole business, not just the storefront.
Pricing structure
Tiered subscription plus payment processing plus per-app subscriptions from the app store. Check current pricing on their site.
One monthly subscription plus one unified transaction rate. Integrations and tools included.
E-commerce
Industry-leading. Scales from solo seller to enterprise.
Solid for typical small-to-medium catalogs. Stripe Connect, Stripe Tax, variants, shipping rate tables, reviews, Printful dropship — all built in.
CRM
Minimal. Customer list with purchase history.
Full CRM with lead pipeline, timeline per contact, email + SMS communication hub, notes, follow-ups.
Contracts & e-sign
Not native. Requires a third-party app or separate tool.
Native DocuSeal integration. Templates, multi-recipient routing, e-signatures, all in Rivera.
Service workflows
Limited. You'd add apps or a separate system for proposals, work orders, time tracking.
Built in. Work orders, proposals with e-signature, time tracking, calendar, tasks.
Ecosystem
Massive app and theme marketplace with thousands of third-party add-ons.
Core integrations bundled. No marketplace — fewer choices, less to maintain, one bill.
AI
Shopify Magic and similar — AI tools layered on the platform.
Lumo AI — knows your customers, orders, content, and metrics as context. Answers questions about your business, drafts communications, surfaces what needs attention.
Scale
Enterprise-grade infrastructure. Handles Black Friday and beyond.
Purpose-built for small and growing businesses. Not the right pick for Amazon-scale traffic.
Honest head-to-head

Where each platform actually wins.

This isn't "Rivera is better." It's "which tool is better for which business."

Where Shopify wins

If this is your business, pick Shopify.

  • Pure e-commerce at any scale. If your business is a product catalog and a checkout, no one does it better.
  • Massive app ecosystem. Whatever niche feature you need, someone has built a Shopify app for it. Trade-off: each one is a subscription.
  • International commerce. Multi-currency, multi-country, multi-language, global shipping, regional tax — Shopify handles them deeply.
  • Headless & advanced customization. If you have a developer and want custom storefronts or headless architectures, Shopify's platform is built for it.
  • POS / in-person retail. If you run a physical store or pop-ups, Shopify POS is mature. Rivera isn't there yet.
Where Rivera wins

If this is your business, pick Rivera.

  • Services + products in one system. You sell some products but also do service work. Instead of Shopify-for-products and something-else-for-everything-else, one platform covers both.
  • Real CRM, not just a customer list. Lead pipeline, communication timeline per contact, SMS + email hub, notes and follow-ups.
  • Contracts and e-signatures built in. No separate DocuSign or HelloSign subscription. Templates, multi-recipient flow, signed documents attached to the client record.
  • One transaction rate. No processor fees plus app fees plus subscription stacking. Math you can hold in your head.
  • AI that knows your whole business. Lumo has your customers, orders, contracts, and content as context — not just your product catalog.
  • Built for the operator. Designed for the person running a small business, not for merchandisers or scaled DTC brands.
The bottom line

Who should actually pick which.

Rivera doesn't need every business. It needs the right ones. Same goes for Shopify.

Pick Shopify

If selling products is the business.

E-commerce is 80%+ of what you do. You sell products primarily. You need multi-currency, international shipping, deep app extensibility, or POS for in-person retail. You're comfortable assembling Shopify plus whatever apps you need. The ecosystem is the feature.

Pick Rivera

If products are one part of the business.

You also book services, send proposals, sign contracts, run a CRM, send invoices, and talk to customers across channels. You want the whole operation in one system — not a Shopify store plus six other tools. You want the math simple.

Common questions from people moving off Shopify.

If yours isn't here, ask us directly.

Can I migrate from Shopify to Rivera?

Yes. We help migrate your product catalog, customer list, and order history. Themes and custom Liquid code don't transfer (different systems), so we rebuild your storefront to match during onboarding. Most migrations are done in 1–2 weeks.

What if I also sell a lot of physical products?

Rivera's shop handles product catalogs with variants, inventory tracking, shipping rate tables, Stripe Tax, reviews, and dropship via Printful. It's a real e-commerce system. If you're running a catalog of thousands of SKUs or doing complex international fulfillment, Shopify is still the stronger choice. For typical small-to-medium catalogs combined with a service business, Rivera is usually simpler and cheaper once app subscriptions are factored in.

Does Rivera have a point-of-sale?

Not today. Rivera is web-first. If your business is predominantly retail counter sales, Shopify POS is mature and Rivera isn't trying to compete with it. POS is on our longer-term roadmap for businesses that want one unified system; it's not available yet.

What about international commerce?

Rivera is US-focused today. Stripe Tax handles US state sales tax automatically, and Stripe Connect supports payments in multiple currencies, but we don't have the deep multi-country, multi-currency, multi-language infrastructure Shopify has. If you're selling into 20+ countries, Shopify is the stronger pick.

Different tools. Different jobs.

If Rivera is the right fit, request early access and lock in Founders pricing — $99/month for life. We'll help migrate your Shopify setup so nothing gets lost.

Request Early Access View Pricing