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Authorize.Net vs Shopify
March 15, 2025 | Author: Sandeep Sharma
10★
Authorize.Net provides payment solutions that save time and money for small- to medium-sized businesses and organizations. Accept credit cards and electronic checks securely and easily from your website. Solutions range from simple Buy Now buttons to more sophisticated subscription and tokenized payment products.
35★
Simple, Beautiful, and Flexible End-to-End E-Commerce Solution. Simply choose a stylish ecommerce website design, easily customize your online store, add products, and you're pretty much ready to accept payments. Whether you already have products, are looking to sell digital goods or are interested in drop shipping — Shopify has a complete solution for you.
Imagine, if you will, two clever and thoroughly modern solutions to the ever-present question of "How does one sell things on the internet without completely losing one's sanity?" Authorize.Net and Shopify both share a rather remarkable similarity in that they help people sell stuff online, whether it’s a quirky T-shirt or an entirely unnecessary gadget. They’ve both been designed with e-commerce in mind and come with a whole suite of tools to help manage payments, stop fraudsters in their tracks and allow you to take your money from anywhere in the world. All in all, they’re like the Swiss Army knives of the online selling universe.
However, there’s a distinct difference between the two. Authorize.Net, which has been around since 1996 (presumably with a lot of floppy disks and dial-up internet in tow), is not so much a store as it is a highly efficient payment processor. It’s aimed more at businesses who want to take payments online without worrying too much about, you know, building an actual website or figuring out how to run an e-commerce empire. You get the payment gateway and the tools to manage the merchant account, but the rest of the work is still very much up to you. Not the best solution if you’ve got no time for anything other than counting your money.
On the other hand, Shopify arrived in 2006 (a decade later, possibly with faster internet speeds and fewer dial-up modems) to simplify the lives of budding online entrepreneurs. With Shopify, you’re not just getting a payment gateway—you’re getting a full-on e-commerce platform. You can build your store, manage your inventory and run marketing campaigns all from one place. It’s like getting a spaceship with the ability to zoom from idea to fully functional online store and it’s aimed at everyone from small shops to massive enterprises, all with a much slicker user experience than a vast array of other solutions.
See also: Top 10 Payment Processing platforms
However, there’s a distinct difference between the two. Authorize.Net, which has been around since 1996 (presumably with a lot of floppy disks and dial-up internet in tow), is not so much a store as it is a highly efficient payment processor. It’s aimed more at businesses who want to take payments online without worrying too much about, you know, building an actual website or figuring out how to run an e-commerce empire. You get the payment gateway and the tools to manage the merchant account, but the rest of the work is still very much up to you. Not the best solution if you’ve got no time for anything other than counting your money.
On the other hand, Shopify arrived in 2006 (a decade later, possibly with faster internet speeds and fewer dial-up modems) to simplify the lives of budding online entrepreneurs. With Shopify, you’re not just getting a payment gateway—you’re getting a full-on e-commerce platform. You can build your store, manage your inventory and run marketing campaigns all from one place. It’s like getting a spaceship with the ability to zoom from idea to fully functional online store and it’s aimed at everyone from small shops to massive enterprises, all with a much slicker user experience than a vast array of other solutions.
See also: Top 10 Payment Processing platforms
