E-commerceBy Federico Noya · 9 min read
Shopify vs. Tienda Nube: which one fits your e-commerce
Short answer: if you sell only in Argentina, with a standard catalog and a tight budget, Tienda Nube is the better call; if you sell (or plan to sell) internationally, or your brand needs a fully custom shopping experience, go with Shopify. Choosing an e-commerce platform is one of those decisions that looks technical but is actually about the business: it sets your fixed costs, your fees per sale, and how much freedom you'll have to grow.
The usual two contenders in Argentina and Latin America are Tienda Nube and Shopify, and here's an uncomfortable spoiler: they're both good platforms. The problem isn't picking a bad one — it's picking the wrong one for your operation. This is our honest comparison after building online stores on both: real costs, local payments, apps, SEO, and scalability, with no bias toward either.
Key takeaways
- Tienda Nube makes sense if you sell only in Argentina: native integration with Mercado Pago and Mercado Envíos, plans priced in pesos, and local support from day one.
- Shopify makes sense if you sell internationally or need a fully custom shopping experience: multi-currency, world-class checkout, and the largest app ecosystem on the market.
- Shopify's real cost is the subscription in dollars plus the apps that keep piling up; Tienda Nube's is a plan in pesos plus a per-sale commission depending on the plan.
- Migrating platforms is possible — catalog and customers can be exported — but it costs time, design work, and SEO: better to choose well from the start.
- The third option is headless: a custom frontend running on Shopify's or Tienda Nube's engine behind the scenes. It's the most expensive and the most powerful option.
- A professional, turnkey online store costs between USD 3,000 and 8,000 in Argentina, on either platform.
Tienda Nube: the home-team advantage
Tienda Nube is the most widely used e-commerce platform among small and medium businesses in Argentina, and one of the largest in Latin America. Its strength is no mystery: it's built for local operations, with everything that implies — installment payments, bank transfers, Mercado Pago, Argentine shipping carriers, and invoicing in pesos.
- Native integration with Mercado Pago, Mercado Envíos, and local carriers: it works on day one, no plugins or odd configurations needed.
- Prices in pesos and local invoicing: no exchange-rate surprises in your monthly fixed cost.
- An ecosystem built for how Argentina and Latin America actually shop: installments, discounted bank transfers, pickup at point of sale.
- Support in Spanish and a huge community of businesses like yours, with local agencies and experts in every industry.
The downside? Less design flexibility and a smaller app ecosystem. The themes look fairly similar to each other, and when you want a highly customized shopping experience — a product configurator, an editorial-style homepage, fine-tuned animations — you hit the ceiling sooner. For most stores just starting out, that ceiling is far away; for a brand with design ambitions, it shows up fast.
Shopify: the one that scales globally
Shopify is the largest e-commerce platform in the world, with millions of active stores in more than 170 countries. Its pitch is different: enterprise-grade infrastructure for a store of any size, and an ecosystem where there's an app for pretty much anything you can think of.
- The largest app and theme ecosystem on the market: there's a solution for almost everything.
- World-class checkout, optimized across billions of transactions.
- Multi-currency, multi-language, and serious tools for selling outside your home country.
- A Storefront API to go headless: a 100% custom design running on Shopify's back end.
The downside? Everything is billed in dollars: the subscription, the premium themes, and the apps, which have a nasty habit of piling up at USD 10 or 20 a month until the fixed cost starts to hurt. On top of that, local payments require extra setup. For a small store selling only in Argentina, it can mean overpaying for power you're never going to use.
How much does Shopify cost per month in Argentina?
Shopify's basic plan starts around USD 25–40 a month depending on how you contract it, and that's just the base. On top of that, add whatever apps your operation needs — reviews, installments, shipping, marketing: between USD 10 and 50 each — and, if you want one, a premium theme that's a one-time payment, also in dollars.
And here's the detail a lot of people discover too late: Shopify Payments — Shopify's own payment gateway — isn't available in Argentina, so you'll be charging through a third-party gateway like Mercado Pago. It works fine, but Shopify charges an extra transaction fee for that (around 1–2% depending on your plan), on top of the gateway's own commission. On a store with thin margins, that extra point and a half stings every single month.
How much does Tienda Nube cost per month?
Tienda Nube runs plans priced in pesos that get adjusted periodically, from accessible entry-level options for small businesses up to corporate plans. The structure is familiar: cheaper plans charge a higher per-sale commission, and as you move up in plan tier, the commission drops or disappears. The payment gateway's fee is separate, just like on any platform.
The math you actually need to do isn't "which plan is cheaper" but "how much does each platform cost me at my sales volume." A per-sale commission is basically free when you're billing little and brutally expensive when you're billing a lot: at some point on your growth curve, upgrading your plan — or rethinking the platform altogether — pays for itself. Run the numbers against the revenue you expect a year from now, not today's.
Mercado Pago, installments, and shipping: the game is won locally
In Argentina, checkout is won or lost on three things: installment payments, alternative payment methods, and clear shipping costs. Tienda Nube plays this game at home: installments show up natively on the product page, discounted bank transfers are set up in two clicks, and Mercado Envíos calculates shipping cost by postal code with no third-party apps needed.
On Shopify, all of that can be done too — there's an official Mercado Pago integration and apps to display installments — but it takes extra configuration work and, sometimes, an additional monthly cost. If your customer base is 100% Argentine and installments are central to your offer, that "it can be done too" needs to be fully sorted out before launch, not after you've lost sales.
The quick comparison
- You sell only in Argentina, simple operation → Tienda Nube wins on cost and local integration.
- You sell (or plan to sell) internationally → Shopify wins on multi-currency and international logistics.
- Tight budget and standard catalog → Tienda Nube: lower fixed cost, faster to launch.
- A strong brand that needs a unique experience → Shopify headless or custom development.
- A non-technical team that's going to self-manage everything → either one works; both are user-friendly.
Can you migrate from Tienda Nube to Shopify (or vice versa)?
Yes, migrating between Tienda Nube and Shopify is possible and it happens often: products, customers, and order history export and import with standard tools. What doesn't migrate on its own is everything else: the design gets rebuilt, apps get swapped for their equivalents, and every old URL needs its own 301 redirect so you don't throw away the search rankings you've built.
Our rule: migrate for a concrete reason — you started selling internationally, you hit the design ceiling, the commissions no longer make sense at your volume — and never just because it's trendy. A migration done well takes weeks; one done poorly shows up in Google for months.
The third option: headless
When the brand carries weight and the shopping experience is part of the product, there's a third path: separate the visible front end (a custom website built with Next.js, fast and designed however you want) from the sales engine (Shopify, or even Tienda Nube, via API). That's the headless architecture: the catalog, stock, and checkout live on the platform; the design has no limits.
It's the most expensive option — it falls into custom-development territory, starting at USD 8,000 — and the most powerful: excellent load speed, fine-grained SEO, and zero visual constraints. It makes sense for established brands where every tenth of a second and every design detail moves the needle, not for validating a business that's just getting off the ground.
The best platform isn't the most famous one: it's the one that fits your operation today and your ambition tomorrow.
Frequently asked questions
Does Tienda Nube charge a commission per sale?
Yes, Tienda Nube charges a per-sale commission that depends on the plan: entry-level plans have a higher commission, and higher-tier plans reduce or eliminate it. On top of that comes the payment gateway's fee, which exists on any platform. Before choosing a plan, run the numbers against your projected revenue, not your current one.
Does Shopify work with Mercado Pago in Argentina?
Yes, Shopify has an official Mercado Pago integration and it works well in Argentina, including installments. The catch: since Shopify Payments isn't available in the country, Shopify charges an extra transaction fee (around 1–2% depending on the plan) for using a third-party gateway, on top of Mercado Pago's own commission.
Which is better for SEO, Shopify or Tienda Nube?
Neither platform will make or break your SEO: both cover the basics (clean URLs, editable metadata, sitemap). Shopify offers more fine-grained control via themes, apps, and the headless option. But most of the result still depends on the usual factors — speed, product page content, and domain authority — not the platform's logo.
Can I start on Tienda Nube and switch to Shopify later?
Yes, it's a common path: validate the business on Tienda Nube selling in Argentina, then migrate to Shopify once international sales come into play or you hit the design ceiling. Migrating catalog and customers is standard; what takes real work is rebuilding the design and redirecting every old URL to preserve your Google rankings.
How much does it cost to build a professional online store in Argentina?
A professional, turnkey online store — custom design, initial product upload, payment and shipping integration, analytics set up — costs between USD 3,000 and 8,000 in Argentina, on either Shopify or Tienda Nube. A headless e-commerce site with a custom front end falls into custom-development territory, starting at USD 8,000. On top of that, add the monthly cost of whichever platform you choose.
Which platform is better for selling internationally from Argentina?
For selling internationally, Shopify is the more solid option: multi-currency, multi-language, checkout adapted to each market, and integrations with international logistics. Tienda Nube is focused on domestic operations in the Latin American countries where it operates. If your export plan is concrete — not a "someday" — starting directly on Shopify saves you a future migration.
If you're about to launch your online store or thinking about migrating the one you already have, at loco22 we deal with this all the time: on the first call — free, no strings attached — we'll tell you which of the three options makes the most sense for your case, with real numbers on the table. Get in touch and let's figure it out together.