Can I migrate from Shopify to NaiForge later?

Yes. We export your products (CSV), rebuild on our stack in your chosen tier, and point your domain. Migration takes 3-10 days depending on catalog size. Most Shopify merchants who migrate do so after realizing the USD monthly subscription is eating their margin.

Why doesn't Shopify support M-Pesa directly?

Shopify Payments, their native processor, is not available in Kenya, so you are forced onto a third-party gateway — and Shopify charges a surcharge on top of that gateway's own fee. Worth being precise, because it is often quoted as a flat 2%: it is 2% on Basic, 1% on Grow, 0.6% on Advanced and 0.2% on Plus, so it falls as your subscription rises. NaiForge's default M-Pesa is Pay-to-Till — no gateway, no surcharge at all. Want the automatic STK push pop-up instead? That is a KES 20,000 add-on, included in Premium, and you still skip the Shopify surcharge entirely.

Is NaiForge as reliable as Shopify?

Infrastructure: yes. We build on enterprise-grade global edge hosting — same tier used by Fortune 500 sites. Shopify runs on Google Cloud. Uptime in practice is indistinguishable. The difference is what happens when something breaks — we're on WhatsApp in Nairobi hours; Shopify email support is US time zone.

Can I use Shopify's themes on NaiForge?

No — Shopify themes are Liquid-based (Shopify's proprietary template language) and can't run on our stack. But we build custom designs per project anyway, so you don't need their themes. Send us references and we design yours.

Comparison

NaiForge vs Shopify

Global SaaS with polished templates — but USD-billed monthly forever.

See NaiForge pricing All comparisons →

The cost reality

What you actually pay

NaiForge

KES 30,000-95,000 one-time

Recurring

Zero. You own the code.

Per-transaction

M-Pesa via Pay-to-Till by default — no gateway, no gateway fee (just Safaricom's own ~0.55%). Automated M-Pesa (gateway STK push): KES 20,000 add-on, included in Premium, a gateway rate that depends on the provider (published: Paystack 1.5%, Flutterwave 2.9%, IntaSend 3%, Pesapal 3-3.5%) — and no Shopify surcharge stacked on top either way. Cards (Premium): ~3.5% via gateway.

Upfront

50% deposit (KES 15,000-47,500+), balance on delivery. That's it.

Shopify

From ~USD 27/month (~KES 3,500)

Recurring

Published August 2026: Basic USD 27/mo, Grow USD 72/mo, Advanced USD 399/mo, Plus from USD 2,300/mo. Annual billing cuts those to USD 19 / 54 / 299. All in USD, so the KES cost moves with the exchange rate.

Per-transaction

Shopify Payments is not available in Kenya, so M-Pesa always goes through a third-party gateway — and Shopify adds a surcharge on top of that gateway's own fee. The surcharge is tier-dependent, not flat: 2% on Basic, 1% on Grow, 0.6% on Advanced, 0.2% on Plus. It shrinks as you pay more subscription, which is the trade.

Upfront

First month (USD 27 on Basic, or USD 1/mo for the first three months on the current intro offer) + a theme if you want bespoke (~USD 180-350) + gateway setup (~USD 100-300 if outsourced). Realistic first-month cash out: KES 10,000-40,000.

Break-even — ~9 months

At Shopify Basic USD 27/mo you cross NaiForge Starter's KES 30,000 one-time somewhere around month 8-9, depending on the exchange rate. The 2% third-party payment surcharge on Basic pulls that in further. Standard (KES 55,000) lands around month 15; Premium (KES 95,000) around month 25 — a longer horizon, though Premium includes things Shopify gates behind Grow or Advanced. Note the surcharge falls to 1% on Grow and 0.6% on Advanced, so at higher plans the per-sale gap narrows even as the subscription rises.

Side by side

Feature by feature

Feature	NaiForge	Shopify
Pricing model	KES 30,000-95,000 one-time	USD 27-399/mo recurring (USD 19-299 billed annually)
Platform recurring cost (year 1)	KES 0 (one-time site cost only)	~USD 324 on Basic monthly, ~USD 228 billed annually, + theme/apps
M-Pesa checkout	Lipa Na M-Pesa Online via gateway — KES 20,000 add-on, included in Premium	Third-party gateway + Shopify surcharge (2% Basic / 1% Grow / 0.6% Advanced)
Currency	KES native	USD-billed
Code ownership	Yours, exportable	Locked to Shopify
Time to launch	5-7 days (Starter) to 3-4 weeks (Premium)	Days to weeks (DIY) or KES 50k-300k via agency
Support channel	WhatsApp, EAT hours	Email/chat, global time zones
Cross-border USD	Add-on	Built-in
Apps ecosystem	Not needed for 90% of Kenyan SMBs	8,000+ apps (many paid)

Where NaiForge wins

One-time payment, no recurring fees — you own the site
No Shopify third-party payment surcharge at all — 2% on Basic, 1% on Grow, 0.6% on Advanced
KES pricing, no FX risk on monthly bills
Shopify Payments isn't available in Kenya — you'd use a third-party gateway either way
No app-store sprawl — everything on the three tiers is built-in
Local support in Nairobi time zone via WhatsApp

Where Shopify wins

Massive app ecosystem (if you actually need 12 plugins)
Battle-tested at scale (millions of stores)
Built-in multi-currency for cross-border selling
Themes marketplace if you want to DIY

The honest answer

Who should choose what

Choose NaiForge if…

You're selling to Kenyan customers paying via M-Pesa, want predictable one-time cost, and don't want to babysit a plugin stack. 90% of Kenyan SMBs fit this.

Choose Shopify if…

You're selling to USD/EUR markets primarily, need Shopify-specific integrations (Klaviyo, specific dropshipping apps), or your team already runs on Shopify.

Verdict

If your customers pay with M-Pesa, NaiForge wins on platform cost and ownership — usually in under a year. Shopify wins for cross-border USD/EUR businesses with complex app needs.

Questions