Zarii vs Shopify for sellers in the Philippines

Shopify’s plan prices and the Shopify and PayMongo rates below were checked on 25 October 2026. The steps for switching GCash on come from PayMongo’s guide, checked on 9 October 2026. Prices and fees change, so look at the sources before you decide.

Open your store by telling your AI what you sell

Zarii is in open beta. This is what zarii.ai says it does today.

1. Sign up, pick a store name and upload your payment QR.
2. Connect ChatGPT or Claude. Your plan needs to allow custom connectors, and there is a guide to connecting your AI. You can also add products by hand in the admin.
3. Tell the AI what you sell. It adds your products with photos, variations, prices and stock, and puts them up at yourname.zarii.store.

What your Zarii store has

The Zarii home page lists what a store has today:

• A catalogue, with a page and photos for each product.
• Variations up to three levels, such as size and colour, each with its own price and stock.
• Collections that group your products.
• A cart, so buyers can add several items before they order.
• Ordering without an account.
• Digital products, with unlimited copies or a fixed number. You send the file or link in your chat.
• Store policies, such as returns and shipping, and a size guide for each product.
• A look that fits your industry. You pick the industry, and Zarii handles the colours.
• Up to three stores on one account.

Prices are in your own currency, and buyers pay a local QR.

No platform fees, and your own QR

Your buyer opens your link and sees your own QR, exactly as you uploaded it, with the exact amount and an order code. You can use the QRs you already have, such as InstaPay or GCash. They pay and send you a screenshot. You check your own account, tap Confirm, and only then does your stock go down, once.

Zarii has no platform fees. The money goes from your buyer to your account, and Zarii keeps the order record, not the money. You need a payment QR from your bank or e-wallet to use Zarii. Your store, orders and buyer list are yours. Zarii says it never sells that data and never uses it for ads.

If you want the longer version, read how to accept GCash payments. For sellers who live in Messenger chats, see how to sell on Messenger.

Shopify works from ChatGPT and Claude too

Opening a store from an AI chat is not unique to Zarii. Shopify’s help page says the Shopify plugin for ChatGPT and the Shopify connector for Claude can build a store from a storefront preview and manage a store that you own. Shopify’s page lists Basic as “Sell online, in person, and in AI chats”. Shopify’s own assistant, Sidekick, is included with your Shopify plan. Features and usage limits vary by plan.

So the difference is what happens after the store is open. Zarii is built around these:

• Buyers order from your link without an account.
• They see your own InstaPay or GCash QR with the exact amount and an order code, and pay you straight, with no gateway in between.
• You confirm in your own account, and stock goes down once.
• It is made for sellers who sell in chat.
• No platform fees. Shopify lists a third-party fee on top of a payment provider.

What Shopify costs

Shopify’s Philippines page shows prices in pesos, except Plus, which is still in US dollars:

• Basic: ₱1,550 a month, or ₱1,350 a month billed yearly.
• Grow: ₱3,990 a month, or ₱3,590 billed yearly.
• Advanced: ₱24,500 a month, or ₱21,900 billed yearly.
• Plus: starts from $2,300 in US dollars a month.

POS Pro, for selling in a physical shop, is ₱5,490 a month per location. Shopify’s page also lists a 3-day trial, then ₱59 a month for 3 months.

Shopify Payments is not available here

Shopify Payments is Shopify’s own payment service. Shopify’s help page lists the countries where it works, and the Philippines is not one of them. For countries that are not listed, Shopify says you need to use a third-party payment provider. The other route is a manual payment method, covered below.

If you use a third-party provider, Shopify charges its own fee on top of whatever the provider charges. It depends on your plan:

• Basic: 2%.
• Grow: 1%.
• Advanced: 0.6%.
• Plus: 0.2%.

How GCash gets onto a Shopify store

There are two ways.

Way one: a manual payment method

A Shopify seller can take GCash without a gateway. You add a custom manual payment method with your own payment instructions. Shopify shows them on the order confirmation page after the customer completes the order. Shopify says you are not charged third-party transaction fees for manual payments, and that after you receive payment you need to mark the order as paid yourself. You still pay Shopify’s monthly plan.

Way two: a payment provider

Cards and e-wallets come in through a payment provider. PayMongo is one example. PayMongo’s Shopify docs list cards, e-wallets, online banking and BNPL. You turn GCash on in your Shopify settings under Payments, then third-party providers.

PayMongo lists these rates, all before VAT:

• QR Ph: 1.34%.
• GCash: 2.23%.
• Maya: 1.79%.
• Cards: 3.125% + ₱13.39.

PayMongo adds 12% VAT on the fee. Other providers set their own rates.

Here is the arithmetic for PayMongo’s GCash rate plus Shopify’s third-party fee, before VAT:

• Basic: 2.23% + 2% = 4.23%.
• Grow: 2.23% + 1% = 3.23%.
• Advanced: 2.23% + 0.6% = 2.83%.

That is on top of the monthly plan price, and it applies to the provider route. It is a worked example, not a quote, so check the current rates yourself.

Where Shopify is the better choice

In these cases Shopify is the stronger pick.

Themes and apps

Shopify has a large theme and app ecosystem. Zarii has no themes and no app store.

Card checkout

Through a payment provider, Shopify can take card and e-wallet payments at checkout. Zarii does not take card payments at checkout.

Confirming payments

On Zarii, you check your own account and confirm each payment by hand. That is fine for a few orders a day. It takes more of your time as the orders pile up. Shopify’s manual payment methods work the same way, and you mark each order as paid yourself.

Scale and POS

Shopify has plans from Basic up to Plus, and POS Pro for selling in a physical shop. Zarii has no POS, no marketplace sync and no delivery integrations. It lets you run up to three stores on one account.

Selling abroad

If many of your buyers are overseas and pay by card, Shopify’s card checkout is the more natural fit. Zarii works in the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand and Australia, with prices in your own currency and buyers paying a local QR.

Open beta

Zarii is in open beta. Expect it to keep changing.

Which one fits

Zarii fits if you sell in chat, want no platform fees, want your buyers to pay your own QR straight to you, and are happy to check your own account before you confirm.

Shopify fits if you want card checkout, themes, apps, POS or a bigger operation, and the fees above work for your margins. Both can open a store from ChatGPT or Claude.

If you are not sure, write down your last ten orders. Count how many came from chat and how many paid by QR. That tells you more than any comparison page.

Selling in more than one country? The Southeast Asia overview puts the five countries side by side.