Whop vs Shopify: which should I use?
Updated
The short answer
Shopify is a full online shop on your own domain, built first for physical goods with stock, shipping and a huge app ecosystem, paid monthly. Whop sells access: communities, memberships, courses and downloadable files, and you can set it up before paying anything. Pick Shopify to run a shop, Whop to charge a community.
Shopify is a storefront, Whop is an access system
Shopify assumes a catalogue, a cart, a checkout and a delivery address. Digital downloads work through an app, but they are not the thing it was designed around.
Whop assumes a member and a thing they have paid to reach. Access is granted on payment and taken away when payment stops, which no shop platform does natively.
Cost shape and branding
Shopify charges a monthly subscription plus payment processing, and many of the apps you will end up needing charge their own monthly fees on top. Those stack quietly.
Whop lets you set up before paying anything and takes a cut of sales. In exchange, the pages live under its structure rather than on a domain you control end to end.
When to use both
Sellers with physical products and a paid community often run both: a shop for the goods, a community platform for the members. They serve different customers doing different things.
One platform pretending to be the other is usually more work than two doing what each is built for.