Mercantyl vs. Shopify Plus
Shopify Plus is the world’s best DTC platform. It is not a wholesale platform. The B2B Edition gets you about 60% of the way; the rest is paid third-party apps, custom development, and one Plus subscription per brand. If wholesale GMV is most of your business, the math stops working at some point.
The honest answer
Stay on Plus if you sell DTC primarily, run a single brand, and your wholesale buyers don’t need NET terms or MOQs or per-account pricing. Plus is genuinely excellent for that.
Switch to Mercantyl if wholesale is more than a side door. Multi-brand, NET terms, multi-user buyer accounts, RFQ workflows, EDI. Every one of those is native here and an app or custom build on Plus.
Capability comparison
Honest accounting. Plus is great at what it’s designed for. This is what it isn’t designed for.
| Capability | Shopify Plus | Mercantyl |
|---|---|---|
| Per-buyer custom pricing | Plus tier ($2K+/mo) plus B2B Edition | Native, every plan from $499/mo |
| Multi-brand catalogs | One store per brand at $2K/mo each | Unlimited brands per account, one bill |
| NET 30, 60, 90 invoicing | Not native, requires a third-party app | Built in with credit limits |
| Quote-to-order workflows | Workarounds via apps or custom dev | Native RFQ to quote to PO with approvals |
| MOQ enforcement | Wholesale Club ($79/mo) or B2B Ninja ($99/mo) | Native per SKU per buyer |
| Multi-user buyer accounts | Plus B2B Edition only, limited | Unlimited users per account, RBAC |
| EDI / Punchout | Third-party SaaS bridge ($500-2K/mo) | Native, no extra fees |
| B2B app fees | $500-2K/mo across 5-10 apps to fill gaps | $0. No app store, every B2B feature native |
| Setup time | 2-6 month Plus implementation plus an agency | Days. Self-serve in your browser |
| Annual cost (mid-market) | ~$50-120K (Plus + apps + agency + per-brand stores) | ~$18K (Professional plan, single bill) |
When teams switch from Plus to Mercantyl
You're assembling B2B from apps
If your Plus stack is B2B Ninja, Wholesale Club, Bold, ShipperHQ, and a custom app for quote-to-order, you're paying enterprise prices for a DTC platform with B2B duct-tape.
You run more than one brand
Each Plus store is its own bill, theme, and admin. We unify unlimited brands under one account, one catalog engine, one inventory.
You're paying agency fees
Plus implementations typically run $30-80K with a partner. Mercantyl is self-serve. You configure pricing, invite buyers, ship. No SOW.
Migrating from Plus
We import products, customers, and order history. Most migrations finish in 2 to 4 weeks with zero downtime on Plus until cutover.