Banikh vs Shopify
Shopify is the most mature ecommerce platform on earth — but it wasn't built for Bangladesh. No Shopify Payments here, no native bKash or Nagad, no native Steadfast or Pathao booking, and you'll need an international card just to pay the monthly bill. Banikh was built specifically around how Bangladeshi merchants actually sell.
Build your free store →Verdict
| Banikh | Shopify | |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly fee | None. First 25 delivered orders free, then ৳5 or 1.5% of order value (whichever is higher) — only when an order is delivered. Currently free for everyone during our launch offer. | From $29/mo (annual billing) or ~$39/mo billed monthly — paid in USD |
| Cash on Delivery | Live on every store today, with phone-OTP verification to screen out fake orders | Not built in — needs a third-party app, no native phone-OTP fake-order screening |
| bKash / Nagad | Rolling out through payment gateways (not yet live) | No native support — requires a third-party payment app |
| Card / online payments | Rolling out through payment gateways | Shopify Payments not available in Bangladesh; third-party gateway needed, often with an extra transaction fee |
| Courier booking (Steadfast, Pathao) | Built into the dashboard — one-click booking and status sync | Not native — manual booking or third-party apps |
| Paying the platform bill | No bill to pay upfront — fee only applies per delivered order, in BDT | Needs an international or dual-currency card to pay a USD subscription |
| Product catalog limit | None — add as many products as your store needs | None on paid plans, but higher tiers unlock more staff accounts and features |
| Language | Fully bilingual Bangla/English storefront and dashboard, by default | English-first; Bangla requires manual translation setup |
| Theme and app ecosystem | Growing set of templates built for local selling patterns | The largest ecosystem in ecommerce — thousands of themes and apps |
Shopify's Basic plan starts at $29/mo on annual billing (around $39/mo if you pay monthly), and that's before themes or apps that add their own monthly cost. You're billed in USD, which means you need an international or dual-currency card — genuine friction for a lot of Bangladeshi merchants, and a bill that arrives whether you sold anything or not. Banikh has no monthly fee: your first 25 delivered orders are free, and after that you pay ৳5 or 1.5% of the order value — whichever is higher — only when an order is actually delivered. Right now, during our launch offer, every order is free.
Shopify Payments isn't available in Bangladesh, so you'd need to connect a third-party gateway, which can mean an extra transaction fee on every sale. There's no native Cash on Delivery flow, and no built-in way to screen out the fake COD orders that cost merchants real delivery fees. Banikh ships with Cash on Delivery and phone-OTP verification live on every store today — customers confirm their order by OTP before it's booked, so you're not sending a courier out for an order that was never going to be accepted. bKash, Nagad, and card payments through payment gateways are rolling out on Banikh.
Booking a delivery with Steadfast or Pathao from Shopify usually means a third-party app or manually creating the shipment on the courier's own portal. Banikh has Steadfast and Pathao booking built into the dashboard — book in one click and get status sync back automatically, without leaving your store's admin.
Shopify is the right call if you're selling internationally, need a specific app from its huge ecosystem, already hold a USD-capable card, or are planning for scale that needs the most mature ecommerce infrastructure in the world — it earned that reputation. Banikh is built for merchants whose customers are mostly in Bangladesh, who sell on Cash on Delivery, and who want courier booking and fake-order defense working out of the box, without a USD subscription to manage first.
You can sign up and run a Shopify store from Bangladesh, but Shopify Payments — Shopify's own payment processor — isn't available here, so you'd need a third-party gateway. Billing is also in USD, which requires an international or dual-currency card.
Not natively. There's no built-in bKash or Nagad integration — you'd need a third-party app, if one that fits your needs exists in the Shopify App Store.
Not out of the box. You'd typically use a third-party courier app or book manually through each courier's own portal. Banikh has Steadfast and Pathao booking built directly into the dashboard.
For most Bangladeshi merchants, yes. Banikh has no monthly fee — your first 25 delivered orders are free, then ৳5 or 1.5% of the order value (whichever is higher), only charged when an order is delivered, and currently free for everyone during our launch offer. Shopify's Basic plan starts at $29/mo billed annually, paid in USD, whether or not you make a sale that month.
If most of your customers are outside Bangladesh, you need multi-currency selling, or you depend on a specific app or theme only available in Shopify's ecosystem, Shopify is a genuinely strong choice — it's the most mature ecommerce platform in the world for a reason.
Bangladeshi merchants are launching real stores in minutes — bKash, Nagad, courier integrations, and your own domain. No monthly fee — pay a small flat rate per order, free during launch.
