Zarii vs Shopify for sellers in Singapore

All Shopify and HitPay facts below were checked on 25 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, such as your PayNow QR, exactly as you uploaded it, with the exact amount and an order code. 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.

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 PayNow 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 Singapore page shows prices in Singapore dollars:

• Basic: S$39 a month, or S$29 a month billed yearly.
• Grow: S$132 a month, or S$99 billed yearly.
• Advanced: S$531 a month, or S$399 billed yearly.
• Plus: starts from US$2,300 a month.

POS Pro, for selling in a physical shop, is S$129 a month per location. Shopify’s page also lists a 3-day trial, then $1 a month for 3 months.

Shopify Payments works in Singapore

Shopify Payments is Shopify’s own payment service. Shopify’s help page lists the countries where it works, and Singapore is one of them. That sets Singapore apart from the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand, where it is not available.

Shopify lists these online card rates in Singapore:

• Basic: 3.2% + S$0.50.
• Grow: 3.1% + S$0.50.
• Advanced: 3.0% + S$0.50.
• Plus: 2.9% + S$0.50.

This page does not say whether PayNow works through Shopify Payments, because we have not confirmed it. Check Shopify’s help page if that is how your buyers pay.

How PayNow gets onto a Shopify store

There are two ways.

Way one: a manual payment method

A Shopify seller can take a QR payment without a gateway. 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

HitPay is one example of a provider. HitPay lists PayNow QR online at 0.9% (minimum S$0.20) under S$100, and 0.65% + S$0.30 at S$100 and above. HitPay says its Shopify app adds 0.5%.

Shopify’s Singapore page also lists a third-party transaction fee by plan: 2% on Basic, 1% on Grow, 0.6% on Advanced and 0.2% on Plus. This page does not add these up for PayNow, because how they combine depends on your setup. Check Shopify’s page and HitPay’s page before you count your costs.

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

With Shopify Payments, Shopify takes card payments at checkout in Singapore. 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.

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.