Shopify alternatives for small businesses
Shopify lets you export your store data. Your theme downloads too, but it is not a portable site. Here is what you can take and what your options are.
What you can take from Shopify
Products, customers, orders, discount codes and inventory all export as CSV files. Read Shopify on this.
- Products, customers and orders
- Discount codes and inventory
- The theme file, as a .zip sent to your email
The gift card export shows only the last 4 characters of each code, so it cannot recreate cards. Blog posts and pages are copied and pasted by hand. Themes use a Shopify-specific version of Liquid, so a theme file is a design reference and not a portable site.
What to ask before you switch
What happens to your address?
Your domain is what people and Google know you by. Find out where it is registered and how to move or point it before you change anything else.
What happens to your URLs?
Every old page needs a new home or a redirect. A page that disappears takes its search traffic with it.
Who does the work?
Moving a site is a project. Decide who writes down every page, moves the content, tests the forms and checks it after launch.
Your real options
We are not moving stores with this tool yet. If you run a store, talk to us first.
Another website builder
You build and maintain the site yourself, on someone else's platform. Before you commit, look up what that platform lets you take with you. This is the same question you are asking now.
WordPress on your own hosting
You hold the files and the database, so you can move them. You also take on the hosting, the updates and the security yourself, or you pay someone to.
How WordPress exports workA site someone builds and runs for you
We rebuild your site on our platform and run it. You tell us what to change and a person does it. Call the office in Doylestown and someone picks up.
Talk to usLeaving Shopify
Can I take my Shopify theme with me?
You can download it as a .zip, which is emailed to you. It leaves out products, pages, blog posts and images. Shopify says the version of Liquid used in themes adds tags, filters and objects specific to Shopify stores. If it came from the Theme Store, check its licence: those themes are licensed to one store.
Do my orders transfer?
You can export them, but Shopify says orders cannot be imported through the admin, and discount codes and issued gift cards do not transfer between stores.
Can I keep my domain?
Yes. A domain managed by Shopify can be transferred to another provider, and it can take up to 7 days. A domain from elsewhere is removed in Shopify and pointed at the new site at your registrar.
Still have questions? Call the office or send us your site and a person will take a look.
Where these facts come from
Checked against the official help pages on November 2, 2026. Platforms change these pages, so read the source before you act on it.
Find out what you actually own
Type in your address. We tell you what it is built on, what you can take and what you would lose. It is free and takes a few seconds.