6 Best Shopify Alternatives for Vape Brands in 2025

Vape brands face a unique set of challenges when selling online. Payment processing restrictions, platform policy limitations, complex product catalogs with hundreds of flavor and nicotine combinations, and heavy reliance on organic marketing due to advertising bans make choosing the right ecommerce platform critical. While Shopify dominates the general ecommerce space of all U.S. online stores, its limitations around transaction fees, product variants, and checkout customization push many vape businesses toward better alternatives. This guide examines six platforms that address the specific needs of vape retailers—from subscription management to high-risk payment processing.

Key Takeaways

• Transaction fee savings matter significantly: Shopify charges 0.6-2% additional fees on non-Shopify payment gateways, which adds up quickly for vape brands forced to use high-risk processors—alternatives like Swell and BigCommerce charge 0% platform transaction fees on external gateways
• Product variant limits restrict vape catalogs: Shopify caps products at 100 variants per listing, making it difficult to showcase extensive flavor, nicotine strength, and bottle size combinations—Swell offers unlimited variants while BigCommerce allows 600
• Native subscription capabilities reduce costs: Vape brands selling recurring e-liquid or coil subscriptions can save $3,500+ annually by choosing platforms with built-in subscription billing rather than paying for third-party apps
• Headless architecture enables compliance customization: API-first platforms allow vape brands to build custom age verification flows, regional product lockouts, and branded checkout experiences that traditional SaaS platforms cannot support
• Total cost of ownership varies dramatically: A vape business processing $500K annually could pay $33,736 in year-one costs on Shopify versus $26,476 on Swell or just $18,388 on Shift4Shop—platform choice directly impacts profitability

1. Swell — API-First Headless Platform with Native Subscriptions

Swell stands as the premier choice for vape brands seeking maximum flexibility, unlimited product complexity, and built-in subscription commerce without third-party app dependencies. The platform's headless architecture enables complete frontend customization while its native subscription engine handles the recurring revenue models essential to vape consumable sales.

Key Features:

• Unlimited product options, variants, and attributes—no arbitrary caps on flavor/strength combinations
• Native subscription billing with mixed carts supporting one-time hardware and recurring consumables in single checkout
• 0% platform transaction fees on external payment gateways including high-risk processors
• 230 currencies and 170 languages with manual price rules per currency for international optimization
• Fully customizable checkout via API for compliance-specific age verification and regional restrictions
• Custom data models for storing batch numbers, lab results, and compliance metadata per SKU

Pricing Structure:

• Starter: $29/month (up to $50K annual sales)
• Basic: $79/month (up to $250K annual sales)
• Standard: $299/month (up to $1M annual sales)
• Unlimited: $2,250/month (up to $5M annual sales)
• Custom: Negotiated pricing for $10M+ merchants

Swell's greatest strength for vape brands lies in its subscription commerce capabilities. Unlike competitors requiring third-party subscription apps, Swell includes mixed cart support, automatic payment retry, dunning rules, and customer self-service pause/resume functionality as standard features. For a vape brand offering starter kits with juice subscriptions, this native integration eliminates app costs while providing superior checkout flexibility.

The platform offers a 100% uptime SLA on Unlimited and Custom plans. Brands like Velobici have migrated to Swell specifically for its unlimited product modeling and multi-currency capabilities—the same features vape brands need to manage complex catalogs across international markets.

For developers, Swell provides RESTful Backend API with full CRUD access to all data models, Frontend API for browser-based usage, and webhooks for custom tax and shipping calculations essential for state-by-state vape excise tax compliance.

2. BigCommerce — Enterprise B2B Features Without Transaction Fees

BigCommerce has established itself as a leading traditional SaaS platform for vape retailers who need plug-and-play B2B wholesale capabilities alongside direct-to-consumer sales.

Standout Capabilities:

• Zero transaction fees regardless of payment gateway
• Native B2B Edition with invoice portal, custom catalogs, and customer-specific pricing
• 600 product variants per listing—six times Shopify's limit
• Native multi-storefront for managing separate vape brands or B2B/B2C operations from one backend
• Age verification apps available through established marketplace
• Advanced SEO features built into the platform

2025 Pricing:

• Standard: $39/month (up to $50K annual sales)
• Plus: $105/month (up to $180K annual sales)
• Pro: $399/month (up to $400K annual sales)
• Enterprise: Custom pricing for larger operations

BigCommerce excels for vape distributors selling to retail shops through its native B2B Edition. The built-in invoice portal, custom net terms, and customer group pricing eliminate the need for expensive B2B apps that would cost hundreds monthly on Shopify.

The platform's multi-storefront capability proves particularly valuable for vape brands operating in multiple regions with different compliance requirements. Merchants can maintain separate storefronts for different markets while managing all inventory, orders, and customers from a unified backend.

However, BigCommerce lacks native subscription billing—vape brands selling recurring e-liquid deliveries must add third-party subscription apps, increasing total cost of ownership compared to Swell's integrated approach.

3. Shift4Shop — Zero Platform Cost for U.S. Vape Merchants

Shift4Shop stands alone as the only major ecommerce platform with dedicated vape and CBD landing pages, explicitly welcoming high-risk merchants that other platforms treat with ambiguity. For U.S.-based vape brands, the platform's $0 pricing model delivers enterprise features without monthly software costs.

Core Strengths:

• $0 platform cost for U.S. merchants using Shift4 Payments (must process $1K+/month)
• Explicit vape industry support with dedicated how-to guides and merchant showcases
• 100+ payment gateway integrations including high-risk specialists
• Native Autoship subscription functionality included at no extra cost
• Best-in-class SEO tools emphasized for industries restricted from paid advertising
• Unlimited products, categories, and bandwidth on all plans

Pricing Structure:

• Free tier: $0/month (transaction limits apply)
• End-to-End: $229/month (premium features)

The platform's dedicated vape focus means merchants won't face the policy uncertainty that plagues relationships with more restrictive platforms. Shift4Shop actively showcases vape merchants and provides compliance guidance specific to the industry.

The main limitation: Shift4Shop uses traditional SaaS architecture rather than headless/API-first design, limiting customization options for brands wanting bespoke shopping experiences or complex frontend integrations.

4. WooCommerce — Complete Ownership with WordPress SEO Power

WooCommerce powers one-third of all online stores globally with over 5 million active installations, making it the most widely deployed ecommerce solution. For vape brands with technical resources and a content-driven marketing strategy, WooCommerce's WordPress foundation offers unmatched SEO capabilities critical for businesses restricted from paid advertising.

Key Advantages:

• Open-source with self-hosted flexibility
• Unlimited product variants and customization options
• WordPress integration for superior content marketing
• 0% platform transaction fees (only pay gateway rates)
• Full data control for compliance documentation and audit requirements

Cost Structure:

• Hosting: $15-$200/month depending on traffic
• Premium plugins: $50-200 as one-time purchases
• Specialized Subscriptions: Industry-specific solutions like Bookings ($249/year) or Memberships ($199/year)

WooCommerce's greatest advantage for vape brands lies in its content marketing capabilities. With advertising restrictions limiting paid acquisition channels, organic search traffic becomes the primary growth lever. WordPress's blogging foundation and extensive SEO plugin ecosystem provide tools that purpose-built ecommerce platforms cannot match.

Age verification implementation requires plugins like Age Gate or third-party integrations, and merchants must configure regional shipping restrictions manually. These compliance requirements are achievable but demand technical expertise or developer resources.

The platform's weakness surfaces in its self-hosted nature: merchants bear responsibility for hosting, security, updates, and performance optimization. Heavy plugin usage can create performance bottlenecks during traffic spikes—a significant concern during vape product launches or promotional periods.

5. Commercetools — Enterprise Composable Commerce

Commercetools represents the enterprise tier of headless commerce, serving large vape operations requiring maximum flexibility, global scalability, and best-of-breed integrations across their technology stack.

Enterprise Capabilities:

• MACH architecture (Microservices, API-first, Cloud-native, Headless)
• Unlimited scalability for high-volume international operations
• Advanced multi-region deployment with localized compliance configurations
• Enterprise-grade SLAs and dedicated support
• Extensive marketplace of pre-built integrations
• B2B and B2C capabilities in unified platform

Commercetools suits vape enterprises processing tens of millions annually who need absolute flexibility in their technology architecture. The platform's composable approach allows brands to select best-in-breed solutions for each function—payment processing, subscription management, content delivery—while maintaining a unified commerce core.

For most vape brands, however, Commercetools represents significant overengineering. The implementation timeline stretches to months rather than weeks, and ongoing management requires dedicated development teams. Swell provides comparable headless flexibility at a fraction of the cost and complexity for merchants under $10M annual revenue.

6. Saleor — Open-Source Headless Alternative

Saleor offers an open-source headless commerce framework for vape brands wanting complete code ownership and customization without proprietary platform constraints.

Open-Source Advantages:

• Full source code access for unlimited customization
• No platform licensing fees (self-hosted)
• GraphQL API for modern frontend development
• Active developer community and documentation
• Multi-channel and multi-warehouse support
• Extensible plugin architecture

Cost Considerations:

• Sandboxes: Free
• Select: $1,599/month
• Volume: $3,999/month
• Enterprise: Custom pricing

Saleor appeals to vape brands with in-house development teams seeking maximum control over their commerce infrastructure. The platform provides flexibility comparable to Swell's headless architecture while eliminating SaaS subscription costs—though this savings comes at the expense of implementation complexity and ongoing maintenance burden.

For vape brands without dedicated developers, Saleor's learning curve and management requirements make it impractical. Swell's managed headless approach delivers similar architectural benefits with significantly lower operational overhead.

Why Vape Brands Leave Shopify: The Core Limitations

Understanding why 1.75 million merchants use Shopify helps contextualize what vape brands sacrifice by choosing it—and what alternatives must deliver to justify switching.

Transaction Fee Erosion: Shopify's 0.5-2% additional fees on non-Shopify payment gateways hit vape brands particularly hard. Since Shopify Payments typically declines high-risk merchants, vape businesses must use specialized processors and pay the surcharge. On $500K annual revenue, this translates to $5,000-10,000 in additional platform fees that alternatives like Swell and BigCommerce eliminate entirely.

Product Variant Ceiling: Shopify's 100-variant limit per product forces vape brands into awkward workarounds. A single e-liquid product with 10 flavors, 5 nicotine strengths, and 3 bottle sizes requires 150 variants—exceeding Shopify's cap. Merchants must split products or sacrifice options, degrading customer experience and complicating inventory management.

Subscription App Dependencies: Vape subscription boxes and recurring e-liquid deliveries require third-party apps on Shopify. Popular subscription apps can add significant monthly costs, while Swell's native subscription engine eliminates this expense while providing superior mixed-cart functionality.

Checkout Restrictions: Even Shopify Plus at $2,300+/month limits checkout customization. Vape brands needing custom age verification flows, compliance messaging, or regional product restrictions hit walls that API-first platforms like Swell eliminate through full checkout API access.

Total Cost of Ownership: Platform Comparison

For a vape subscription business processing $500K annually with a 5-person team, year-one costs break down as follows:

Swell:

• Platform: $3,588 (Standard tier)
• Transaction fees: $14,500 (gateway only, 0% platform fee)
• Subscriptions: $0 (native)
• Age verification: $1,200
• Tax compliance: $1,188 (TaxJar)
• Implementation: $5,000
• Total Year 1: $29,988

BigCommerce:

• Platform: $1,260 (Plus tier)
• Transaction fees: $14,500 (0% platform fee)
• Subscriptions: $2,400 (third-party app)
• Age verification: $1,200
• Tax compliance: $1,188
• Implementation: $2,000
• Total Year 1: $26,560

Shopify:

• Platform: $4,788 (Shopify tier)
• Transaction fees: $24,500 (gateway + 2% platform fee)
• Subscriptions: $2,400 (third-party app)
• Age verification: $1,200
• Tax compliance: $1,188
• Implementation: $2,000
• Total Year 1: $36,088

Shift4Shop:

• Platform: $0 (with Shift4 Payments)
• Transaction fees: $14,500
• Subscriptions: $0 (native Autoship)
• Age verification: $1,200
• Tax compliance: $1,188
• Implementation: $1,000
• Total Year 1: $19,900

The savings compound significantly at higher revenue levels. A $2M vape business would pay approximately $40,000 more annually on Shopify than on Swell or BigCommerce due to transaction fee structures.

Choosing the Right Platform for Your Vape Business

Selection should align with your specific business model, technical resources, and growth trajectory:

Choose Swell when:

• Subscription revenue drives your business model
• You need unlimited product variants for complex catalogs
• International expansion with multi-currency pricing is planned
• Custom frontend experiences differentiate your brand
• You have developer resources or agency partnerships

Choose BigCommerce when:

• B2B wholesale represents significant revenue
• Multi-brand or multi-region storefronts are required
• Plug-and-play features outweigh customization needs
• Your team lacks dedicated development resources

Choose Shift4Shop when:

• Minimizing platform costs is the top priority
• U.S.-only sales with Shift4 Payments fit your model
• Explicit vape industry support provides peace of mind
• Traditional SaaS architecture meets your needs

Choose WooCommerce when:

• Content marketing and SEO drive acquisition
• Technical team can manage hosting and maintenance
• Complete ownership and data control are non-negotiable
• Plugin extensibility enables specific feature needs

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the main limitations of Shopify for vape brands?

Shopify presents three critical limitations for vape businesses. First, 0.5-2% additional fees on non-Shopify payment gateways erode margins since vape brands typically cannot use Shopify Payments. Second, the 100-variant limit per product constrains complex flavor and strength catalogs. Third, checkout customization restrictions prevent implementing custom age verification flows without expensive Shopify Plus upgrades.

How do Swell's transaction fees compare to Shopify's?

Swell charges 0% platform fees on all external payment gateways, meaning vape brands only pay their payment processor's rates. Shopify adds 0.5-2% on top of gateway fees when merchants use non-Shopify Payments processors—a requirement for most vape businesses. On $500K annual revenue, this difference represents $5,000-10,000 in annual savings with Swell versus Shopify.

Can Swell support complex product options and variants for vape products?

Swell offers unlimited product options, variants, and attributes with no platform-imposed caps. A vape brand can create products with dozens of flavors, multiple nicotine strengths, various bottle sizes, and additional customizations without workarounds. Custom attributes also enable storing compliance data like batch numbers and lab results directly in product records for regulatory audit trails.

Does Swell provide built-in subscription management for recurring vape sales?

Yes, Swell includes native subscription billing as a core platform feature rather than requiring third-party apps. The subscription engine supports mixed carts combining one-time hardware purchases with recurring consumable subscriptions, flexible billing intervals, automatic payment retry, dunning management, and customer self-service for pause/resume functionality.

Is headless commerce necessary for my vape brand?

Headless commerce becomes valuable when you need custom frontend experiences, unique age verification flows, regional product restrictions, or multi-channel sales across web, mobile app, and IoT devices. Swell's headless architecture enables building storefronts in any JavaScript framework while maintaining a unified commerce backend. For vape brands primarily selling through a standard online store, traditional platforms may suffice, but headless architecture provides future flexibility as regulations and customer expectations evolve.

What support options does Swell offer for growing vape businesses?

Swell provides email and chat support across all pricing tiers, with priority support starting at the Standard plan ($299/month). Developer support becomes available on the Unlimited plan ($2,250/month) and above, along with 100% uptime SLA guarantees. Custom and Enterprise tiers include negotiated priority technical support and custom SLAs tailored to high-volume merchant requirements.