HOW WE COMPARE
Not a storefront platform. A complete e-commerce operating system.
Shopify and BigCommerce build storefronts. Calisto builds storefronts and handles fulfillment, customer service, accounting, shipping, compliance, and marketing. One platform where you used to need fourteen vendors.
100 Products · 75 Payment Gateways · 26 Shipping Carriers · 8 Suites Integrated
- In-Person Retail
- Online Retailers
Feature by feature
Calisto Pro beside Shopify
- 17 Only in Calisto Pro
- 3 In both
| 20 features | Calisto Pro | Shopify |
|---|---|---|
| Storefront + Product Pages + Checkout | Yes | Yes |
| Built-in Email Marketing (No Klaviyo Required) | Yes | No |
| Built-in Review Aggregation (No Yotpo Required) | Yes | No |
| 26-Carrier Shipping with Cross-Border Customs | Yes | No |
| Multi-Warehouse Inventory Allocation | Yes | No |
| Built-in Customer Service Inbox + VoIP | Yes | No |
| Branded Native Mobile App | Yes | No |
| Live Shopping and Influencer Broadcasts | Yes | No |
| 50+ Regional Payment Methods at Checkout | Yes | No |
| Product Compliance Tracking (Food, Cosmetics) | Yes | No |
| Warehouse IoT and Cold-Chain Monitoring | Yes | No |
| Built-in Accounting + Tax Remittance | Yes | No |
| Dynamic Pricing and Flash Sale Engine | Yes | No |
| Referral and Affiliate Program | Yes | No |
| Own-Fleet Last-Mile Delivery Dispatch | Yes | No |
| Bring Your Own Database / Storage | Yes | No |
| Staff Training LMS (University) | Yes | No |
| Product SEO + Google Shopping Feed | Yes | Yes |
| Subscription / Recurring Billing | Yes | Yes |
| B2B / Wholesale Portal | Yes | No |
What replaces it
What runs in-person retail on Calisto
The apps that take over from Shopify, each in the words in-person retail businesses use.
- Register & storeCalisto Shop
- Store setupCalisto Purview
- Store standardsCalisto Blueprint
- PaymentsCalisto Payments
- Omnichannel distributionCalisto Sync
- Pricing & promotionsCalisto Pulse
- ProposalsCalisto Proposals
- Contracts & signaturesCalisto Sign
- Stock & purchasingCalisto Inventory
- Click and collectCalisto Orderflow
- Transfers & deliveriesCalisto Dispatch
- Accounting & drawer closeCalisto Ledger
Storefront platforms vs. a complete e-commerce OS
| The Old Way | The Calisto Way | |
|---|---|---|
| Storefront + checkout | Core feature | Native: Sites + 75 payment methods |
| Email marketing | Third-party (Klaviyo, $$$) | Native: Campaigns, included |
| Reviews + UGC | Third-party (Yotpo, $$$) | Native: Reputation, included |
| Shipping labels | Third-party (ShipStation) | Native: 26 carriers, rate-shopped |
| Customer service | Third-party (Gorgias) | Native: Inbox + VoIP, included |
| Mobile app | Third-party (Tapcart) | Native: Apps, included |
| Subscriptions | Third-party (Recharge) | Native: Purview recurring, included |
| Multi-warehouse inventory | Not available | Built-in with auto-allocation |
| Cross-border customs | Not available | 26 carriers, HS codes, duties |
| Accounting + tax remittance | Third-party (QuickBooks + tax tool) | Native: Ledger + auto tax |
| Product compliance | Not available | Assure: food, cosmetics, regulated |
| Data sovereignty | Platform-controlled | Your database or ours |
| B2B wholesale | Enterprise tier or a parallel stock pool | Native: the same stock pool as DTC |
What moves
Bringing your data from Shopify
Your data is read in your own browser and sent to your Calisto account. Calisto never sees your login for the old system.
From an export file
Export your data from Shopify and drop the file in. It is read in your browser and mapped onto Calisto.
Products
Products with variants and images
Orders
Orders with line items, fulfillments, transactions
Customers
Customers with addresses and order history
Discount Codes
Price rules and discount codes
Pricing, side by side
What Shopify publishes, beside what Calisto Pro charges
Each figure as its publisher states it, in your currency only. Nothing is converted between currencies.
Calisto Pro
Revenue share on Commerce
Storefront + Full Operations
Storefront + Full Operations
Shopify and BigCommerce build storefronts. Calisto builds storefronts AND handles fulfillment, customer service, accounting, shipping, compliance, and marketing. One platform where you used to need fourteen vendors.
Storefront + Full Operations
Shopify and BigCommerce build storefronts. Calisto builds storefronts AND handles fulfillment, customer service, accounting, shipping, compliance, and marketing. One platform where you used to need fourteen vendors. 75 payment methods including regional rails. 26-carrier rate shopping with cross-border customs. Built-in customer service inbox + VoIP. Accounting + automated tax remittance.
Global from Day One
Most e-commerce platforms assume US-first or US-only. Calisto supports multi-language storefronts, multi-currency checkout with regional payment methods (PIX, UPI, M-Pesa), 26 shipping carriers across continents, and data residency where GDPR, PIPEDA, or LGPD require it. Multi-language storefronts with currency localization. PIX, UPI, M-Pesa, iDEAL, Bancontact at checkout. Cross-border customs documentation automated. Customer PII residency for GDPR / PIPEDA / LGPD.
Honest answers
Common questions about switching
What does Calisto replace that Shopify does not include?
Shopify provides a storefront and checkout. Everything else requires third-party apps: Klaviyo for email, Yotpo for reviews, ShipStation for shipping, Gorgias for customer service, Recharge for subscriptions, Tapcart for a mobile app. Calisto includes all of these natively: Campaigns for email, Reputation for reviews, Orderflow for shipping, Inbox for customer service, Purview for subscriptions, Apps for mobile. One subscription replaces fourteen.
Can Calisto handle the same transaction volume as Shopify Plus?
Yes. The same data model that powers multi-country hotel operations and festival ticketing platforms handles high-volume e-commerce. Multi-warehouse inventory allocation, 26-carrier shipping, and multi-currency checkout are native capabilities, not bolt-ons. You do not need to upgrade to a separate enterprise tier to access fulfillment, compliance, or customer service tools.
Does Calisto support Shopify apps and themes?
No. Calisto is a complete platform, not a Shopify alternative with an add-on marketplace. The 14 categories of third-party apps that Shopify sellers typically install (email, reviews, shipping, support, subscriptions, mobile app, loyalty, affiliates, photography, SEO, ads, accounting, tax, analytics) are all native products within Calisto. You do not need an app store because the functionality is already built in.
Learn more
Everything Calisto does here
The pages behind this comparison: the sector, the apps and the guides.
- Calisto ShopCalisto for Online Retailers
Calisto Pro connects inventory counts, multi-channel storefronts, automated fulfillment, and margin analytics into one high-speed engine, keeping your scale completely smooth.
Open - PricingPricing for Online RetailersOpen
- Calisto ShopCalisto for In-Person Retail
One catalog behind the counter, the website, and every location. Turn any tablet or phone into a register with Station, stock it from one inventory, and run the floor on a standard the system enforces rather than one somebody remembers.
Open - In-Person RetailInventory, Purchasing & Transfers
The sale drops the count and the threshold raises the order, with receiving that records what arrived and transfers tracked in transit.
Open - In-Person RetailCatalog & Omnichannel
Photograph once and publish everywhere, with the web store selling from the same stock as the shop floor and a locator that knows which branch has it.
Open - PricingPricing for In-Person RetailOpen
- AppCalisto Shop
Online retailers and in-person retail: the register and the cash drawer, orders picked, packed and shipped, returns in one list, products with variants and barcodes, gift cards and subscriptions, stock, discounts and every sales channel on one live stock.
Open