Is Cardel an alternative to Medium or Shopify?

Cardel is a home for your craft: a site of your own with a blog, newsletter, shop, community, and one inbox. It can replace Medium or Shopify when you want your work, audience, and sales in one place. The feature list on this page shows where Medium and Shopify are marked.

Can I use Cardel with Medium or Shopify?

Yes. Cardel pages can link out to other products, so you can keep Medium or Shopify for what it does best and bring the rest of your work to Cardel.

How much does Cardel cost compared with Medium and Shopify?

You don't pay for Cardel until you publish. Choose Starter, Pro, or Studio when your site goes live. Medium and Shopify set their own prices, so check their pricing pages on this page for current plans.

How do I switch from Medium or Shopify to Cardel?

Start with Build Your Site, set up your home, and bring your work over at your own pace. You do not have to move everything on day one.

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MediumvsShopify

Medium gives writers a built-in readership and Partner Program earnings without a site. Shopify is the commerce platform: storefront, checkout, inventory, POS, email, and inbox.

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How Medium and Shopify compare

Medium is where a good essay can find readers on its own. The editor is calm, publications curate, the algorithm and topics surface work to members, and the Partner Program pays writers from member reading time. You bring words; Medium brings the audience and the distribution.

Shopify is what you use when the store is the business. World-class checkout, inventory and shipping, taxes, POS, thousands of apps, Shopify Email, Shopify Inbox, and a theme store make it the standard for merchants of every size. It scales from one product to a warehouse without changing platforms.

Where they are different

Medium

Medium owns the reader relationship.
Medium is one publication format.
Medium claps and responses stay on Medium.

Shopify

Shopify's blog and pages serve the store.
Shopify Inbox handles chat.
Shopify doesn't manage scheduling natively.

Choose Medium when you want readers and modest earnings without owning a site or a list.

Choose Shopify when you sell products at volume and need inventory, shipping, tax, and apps.

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What's on Medium and Shopify

A check means that capability is available. Medium and Shopify are marked only when the offer is comparable, not the same product.

Site and brand

Workspace site
Medium: Not included
Shopify: Included
Custom domain
Medium: Not included
Shopify: Included
Theme and fonts
Medium: Not included
Shopify: Included

Public content

Blog
Medium: Included
Shopify: Included
Reader engagement
Medium: Included
Shopify: Included

Reach and quality

SEO
Medium: Included
Shopify: Included

Audience and email

Audience
Medium: Not included
Shopify: Included
Marketing emails
Medium: Not included
Shopify: Included

Messaging

Messaging Center
Medium: Not included
Shopify: Included

Commerce

Shop payments
Medium: Not included
Shopify: Included

Team

Admin users
Medium: Included
Shopify: Included
Per-admin permissions
Medium: Included
Shopify: Included

Feature comparison for Medium and Shopify
Feature	Medium	Shopify
Site and brand
Workspace site	Not included	Included
Custom domain	Not included	Included
Theme and fonts	Not included	Included
Public content
Blog	Included	Included
Reader engagement	Included	Included
Reach and quality
SEO	Included	Included
Audience and email
Audience	Not included	Included
Marketing emails	Not included	Included
Messaging
Messaging Center	Not included	Included
Commerce
Shop payments	Not included	Included
Team
Admin users	Included	Included
Per-admin permissions	Included	Included

* Note: This table does not capture every feature of Medium or Shopify, and is not intended as a comprehensive list. We keep this page current, but Medium or Shopify may add or remove features that are not shown here.