IONOS vs Shift4shop: guide for 2024

Final verdict

IONOS and Shift4shop both offer unique advantages, but they cater to different user needs and preferences.

IONOS (Overall Grade: 6.9/10)

is a versatile website builder and hosting platform that excels in ease of use and hosting quality. It provides a wide range of customizable templates and reliable hosting services, making it ideal for users looking to create professional websites without coding knowledge. IONOS also offers strong AI capabilities and a straightforward interface, making it suitable for beginners and small to medium-sized businesses.
Shift4shop (Overall Grade: 6.4/10)

is a comprehensive ecommerce platform that stands out with its extensive ecommerce features and robust security measures. It offers a variety of professional, customizable templates and supports multiple business models, including dropshipping and print-on-demand. Shift4shop is particularly strong in marketing features and customer support, making it a great choice for businesses focused on online sales and growth.

	Overall grade: 6.9	Overall grade: 6.4
Design functionalities & templates	7.2	7.5
Ease of use	7.8	7.0
Ecommerce	7.1	7.6
Website Editors	7.8	7.2
Product testing options	6.5	5.0
Price	7.8	6.7
Hosting quality	8.8	7.8
Website speed optimization	7.2	6.3
Plugins and integrations	6.5	7.3
Marketing features	7.5	8.0
Customer support	7.3	7.9
Security	7.5	8.9
AI capabilities	7.2	0
User Management	3.1	7.9

Best for ecommerce

7.1

7.6

Verdict

: When comparing IONOS vs Shift4shop, Shift4shop slightly outperforms IONOS in ecommerce capabilities, making it a better choice for businesses looking for comprehensive ecommerce solutions.

IONOS

: IONOS offers a solid set of ecommerce features, including store management, marketing tools, and various payment and shipping options. It is suitable for users who need a reliable website builder with ecommerce capabilities. However, it falls short in some areas compared to Shift4shop, particularly in payment processing and product page customization.
Shift4shop

: Shift4shop excels in providing a wide range of ecommerce features, including advanced payment gateway integrations, inventory management, and abandoned cart recovery. It is designed specifically for ecommerce, making it a more focused and robust solution for online businesses. Shift4shop’s higher scores in key ecommerce areas make it a better option for those looking to scale their online stores.

Best for informational & business websites

7.4

7.2

Verdict

: When it comes to IONOS vs Shift4shop for informational and business websites, IONOS slightly edges out Shift4shop with a score of 7.4 compared to 7.2. Both platforms offer robust features, but IONOS is more user-friendly and better suited for creating professional-looking informational sites.

IONOS

: IONOS is a versatile website builder and hosting platform that excels in creating professional and visually appealing websites without any coding knowledge. It offers a wide range of customizable templates and drag-and-drop functionality, making it easy for users to design their websites according to their preferences. With features like ecommerce capabilities, contact forms, and social media integration, IONOS ensures that websites are optimized for search engines, providing maximum visibility online. Its user-friendly interface and reliable hosting services make it a strong choice for informational and business websites.
Shift4shop

: Shift4shop is primarily an ecommerce platform but also offers tools for creating professional, customizable, and mobile-friendly websites. It supports various business models and provides comprehensive tools for website creation, payment processing, marketing, and business management. While it offers a wide array of features and customization options, it may present a steeper learning curve for beginners. Shift4shop’s focus on ecommerce makes it a powerful platform for online businesses, but it may not be as intuitive for creating simple informational sites compared to IONOS.

Detailed comparison

7.2

7.5

🏆

Winner: Shift4shop.

Although both platforms offer a variety of templates and designs, Shift4shop edges out IONOS with a slightly higher score in design functionalities and templates.

IONOS offers a wide variety of templates and designs for their website builder. With over 200 templates to choose from, users can find a design that suits their needs and preferences. The templates are categorized into different industries and styles, making it easy for users to find the perfect design for their website.

IONOS Themes

On the other hand, Shift4Shop provides a selection of over 100 free eCommerce templates, catering to a wide array of design preferences and brand identities. These templates are professionally designed with an emphasis on optimizing sales, employing the latest in technology and design trends.

Shift4shop Themes

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7.8

7.0

🏆 Winner: IONOS

. Scoring a 7.8, IONOS is known for its straightforward and intuitive interface, making it suitable for users ranging from beginners to small and medium-sized businesses. Shift4shop, with a score of 7.0, offers a comprehensive ecommerce platform with a wide array of features and customization options, but it may present a steeper learning curve for beginners.

Learning Resources

🏆 Winner: Shift4shop

. Both platforms offer solid learning resources, but Shift4shop provides a wide range of resources, including articles, videos, and 24/7 customer support, making it easier for users to develop their online businesses.

Learn IONOS

Learn Shift4shop

7.1

7.6

When it comes to ecommerce, both IONOS and Shift4shop offer a range of features to help businesses set up and manage their online stores. However, Shift4shop slightly outperforms IONOS with a score of 7.6 compared to IONOS’s 7.1.


Ecommerce themes and templates	6.5	6.5
Product page customization	6.8	7.8
Payment processing and commissions	7.0	8.4
POS capabilities	5.5	7.0
Payment gateways	7.2	9.0
Product numbers	6.0	7.5
Additional ecommerce features	6.3	7.2

IONOS ecommerce features:

Store Management
Marketing Tools
Payment and Shipping options
Products and Inventory management

Ionos add a product

Shift4shop ecommerce features:

Payment Gateway integrations
Inventory management
Abandoned cart recovery
Order management

Ecommerce themes & templates

IONOS offers a variety of ecommerce themes and templates designed to help businesses set up their online stores efficiently and effectively. Their online store builder is tailored to support a range of ecommerce needs, from selling on social media platforms to managing a scalable ecommerce website without any coding or design skills required. On the other hand, all the templates of Shift4Shop are designed for online stores, providing a more focused approach to ecommerce design.

Product page customization

IONOS provides users with the ability to extensively customize product pages, including the flexibility to adjust the design and layout, ensuring that product images, descriptions, and specifications are displayed according to individual preferences. Additionally, IONOS allows for the setup and management of product options and variations, such as size and color. Shift4Shop also offers a variety of product page customization features, including advanced product options with inventory tracking, customizable product layouts, and the ability to showcase products through images, zoom, and video. The Product Designer app facilitates extensive customization for personalized products.

Payment processing

IONOS supports a wide variety of third-party payment processors, including PayPal, Stripe, and Square, without charging direct fees for payment processing. Users can choose from an extensive list of payment options to suit their business needs and customer preferences. Shift4Shop supports over 200 payment gateways, including major providers such as PayPal, Visa, and Stripe, offering a broad range of options for global markets without charging additional transaction fees from the platform itself. However, merchants may incur standard fees from their chosen payment providers.

7.8

7.2

🏆

Winner: IONOS

. IONOS, with a score of 7.8, provides an intuitive website builder equipped with AI assistance, designed for users to quickly create professional-looking websites without needing coding skills. This platform offers customizable templates, AI-generated content, and is optimized for mobile use, ensuring a responsive design across all devices. With features that cater to both basic and advanced website needs, including eCommerce capabilities, IONOS aims to simplify the web creation process.

Ionos editor

Shift4Shop’s editor, scoring 7.2, offers a comprehensive website builder with a focus on e-commerce, enabling the creation of various types of websites with an array of templates and customization options including a drag-and-drop editor. It integrates advanced features for product management, payment processing, and SEO optimization, alongside marketing tools for social media and email campaigns.

Mobile editor/app

4.5

🏆

Winner: IONOS

. When it comes to mobile editing capabilities, neither IONOS nor Shift4shop offers a dedicated mobile editor app. However, IONOS provides limited editing abilities through mobile browsers, allowing users to make basic adjustments to their websites on the go. This feature, although not as robust as a dedicated app, still offers some level of convenience for users needing to make quick changes from their mobile devices.

Shift4shop, on the other hand, does not provide any mobile editing capabilities, which can be a significant drawback for users who require flexibility and the ability to manage their websites from mobile devices.

In summary, IONOS takes the lead in this category due to its limited mobile browser editing capabilities, while Shift4shop falls short by not offering any mobile editing options.

6.5

5.0

Overall Result

:

IONOS wins

. IONOS scores 6.5, offering a 30-day money-back guarantee and the possibility to test premium features during this period. Shift4shop scores 5.0, offering a free plan only for US customers and no trial version or money-back guarantee.


Free Plan	No	Yes, only for US customers
Trial Duration	No, 30-day money-back guarantee	No
Testing Premium Features	During 30-day refundable period	All features within its free plan
Money-back Guarantee	30 days	No

7.8

6.7

IONOS offers a range of pricing plans with discounts for annual subscriptions, while Shift4shop provides a free plan for users willing to use their payment processor.

	Offerings	Offerings
Free	No offering at this amount.	Free Plan ($0/month): Requires minimum $500/month processed payments with their Shift4shop payment with 2.90% + 30 Cents transaction fees. Unlimited Products, SEO & Marketing Tools, Unlimited Staff Users, Integrated Blog, Unlimited Bandwidth, 24/7 Customer Support, No Revenue Caps, API Access, Secure Online Payments. This plan allows to manage only 1 website and there is no limitation of number of pages offered.
$10-$15	Starter ($12/month): Basic for newcomers with 10GB space, 10 pages, 2GB email, free domain first year. Value for Price: 5.0	No offering at this amount.
$15-$20	Plus ($18/month): Enhanced with 50GB space, 200 pages, custom HTML, SiteAnalytics, online booking, AI Text Generator & AI Text Improver, AI SEO Text Generator Value for Price: 7.5	No offering at this amount.
$20+	Pro ($30/month): Advanced for scaling, unlimited space/pages, 50GB email, SEO tools, comprehensive marketing tools. Value for Price: 9.0	Paid Plan ($29/month): All features of the free plan with support for other payment processors such as PayPal. This plan allows to manage only 1 website and there is no limitation of number of pages offered. Value for Price: 8.5

In some cases companies have different prices based on various components like a
location. As a result in rare cases the prices displayed here can differ from the ones you see on their
websites.

8.8

7.8

🏆

Winner: IONOS

IONOS offers a diverse range of hosting services including shared, VPS, dedicated, and WordPress hosting, with features like daily backups, and unlimited traffic. It also boasts a 99.99% uptime guarantee and has 7 data centers in the EU and USA. On the other hand, Shift4shop offers managed cloud hosting with unlimited bandwidth and storage, and a 99.9% uptime guarantee. However, it does not disclose the locations of its data centers.


Do they offer hosting?	Yes, IONOS offers a diverse range of hosting services including shared, VPS, dedicated, and WordPress hosting.	Yes, with unlimited bandwidth and storage, daily backups.
Data Centers:	Total of 7 data centers in EU(Frankfurt, Berlin, Paris, Logroño) and USA(Las Vegas, NV; Newark, NJ; Lenexa, KS)	Shift4shop does not disclose the locations of its data centers
Type of hosting:	Shared, Dedicated, VPS, WordPress Hosting	Managed Cloud Hosting
Uptime:	99.99%	99.9%
Uptime Guarantee:	Yes, 99.99%	99.9%

7.2

6.3

🏆 Winner: IONOS

Both IONOS and Shift4shop prioritize website performance and page speed, but IONOS has a slightly higher website speed optimization score.


Focus	HTML, CSS, and JavaScript Optimization	CDN, Code Minification
Performance Tools	Image and Multimedia Optimization, Caching, WordPress Optimization, CDN	Image optimization, Caching
Key Strategies	HTML, CSS, and JavaScript Optimization, Image and Multimedia Optimization, Caching, WordPress Optimization, CDN	CDN, Code Minification, Image optimization, Caching
Load Times	Varies widely, depending on the optimization and user’s location	Varies depending on optimization
Page Speed Scores Range	Varies widely, depending on the optimization and user’s location	Varies depending on optimization
Core Web Vitals Improvement	Emphasis on LCP, FID, CLS improvements	No information provided

IONOS focuses on HTML, CSS, and JavaScript Optimization, Image and Multimedia Optimization, Caching, WordPress Optimization, and CDN to optimize website speed. It places emphasis on improving Core Web Vitals, specifically LCP, FID, and CLS. However, both load times and PageSpeed scores vary widely, depending on the optimization and user’s location.

On the other hand, Shift4shop uses CDN, Code Minification, Image optimization, and Caching as its key strategies for speed optimization. However, it does not provide any information on their Core Web Vitals improvements. Similar to IONOS, Shift4shop’s load times and PageSpeed scores vary depending on optimization.

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6.5

7.3

🏆 Winner: Shift4shop.

With a score of 7.3, Shift4shop offers a wider array of plugins and extensions, catering to various online store enhancements. It also provides both free and premium options, making it a more flexible choice for businesses of different sizes. IONOS, scoring 6.5, also offers a good range of plugins, but falls short in comparison to the diversity and flexibility offered by Shift4shop.

Shift4shop Applications

Shift4shop integrations

7.5

8.0

🏆

Overall Winner: Shift4shop

. Shift4shop edges out IONOS with a slightly higher score, indicating a more comprehensive set of marketing tools. Both platforms offer a similar range of features, but Shift4shop’s emphasis on ecommerce and SEO optimization gives it an advantage.


SEO Tools	✓	✓
Email Marketing	✓	✓
Blogging	✓	✓
Social Media Integration	Direct sales on Facebook and Instagram	Linking to various social media platforms
Analytics and Reporting	Built-in metrics and SiteAnalytics	Comprehensive analytics and reporting tools
Ads and Promotions	Google Ads and promotional tools like coupons and special offers	Discounts, coupons, email marketing integrations, and a built-in affiliate program

7.3

7.9

🏆 Winner: Shift4shop

. In the IONOS vs Shift4shop comparison, Shift4shop takes the lead with a higher customer support score of 7.9. Shift4shop offers 24/7/365 support through various channels, including US chat support, US phone support, and European support. Their dedicated eCommerce support team ensures that users can get assistance at any time, making it a reliable choice for businesses needing constant support.

IONOS also provides 24/7 customer support with multiple contact numbers for immediate assistance. While their support is accessible and helpful, it falls slightly behind Shift4shop with a score of 7.3. IONOS users can still expect reliable support for their website builder needs, but Shift4shop’s comprehensive and always-available support options give it an edge in this category.

7.5

8.9

🏆

Winner: Shift4shop

. Shift4shop’s security measures are comprehensive, with a focus on PCI compliance, daily website data backups, advanced fraud protection, and DDoS defense. This makes it a reliable choice for ecommerce businesses that handle sensitive customer data. The platform also supports ADA compliance, ensuring websites are accessible to individuals with disabilities.

IONOS, while offering robust data storage and protection measures, falls slightly short in comparison. It provides secure file storage with options for backup, easy data transfer, and enhanced access security. However, its security score is lower than that of Shift4shop, making it the runner-up in this category.

7.2


Personalized Design	IONOS AI offers tailored design suggestions based on user inputs
SEO Optimization	AI-driven recommendations for better search engine visibility
Content Generation	AI assistance in creating and optimizing site content
Additional AI Features	AI Section Generator and AI Color Palette Generator

🏆 Winner: IONOS

. IONOS, with a score of 7.2, utilizes AI to enhance the website creation process. Its AI features focus on personalized design recommendations, content generation, and SEO optimization. Additionally, it offers unique features like the AI Section Generator and AI Color Palette Generator, which further streamline the website creation process.

Shift4shop, on the other hand, does not have any AI capabilities. This lack of AI features may limit the platform’s ability to provide a streamlined and efficient website creation process.

3.1

7.9

🏆 Winner: Shift4shop

. Both IONOS and Shift4shop allow multiple users to manage and edit a website. However, Shift4shop provides a more comprehensive user management system, offering multiple user roles with customizable permissions, while IONOS does not specify user roles or permissions.

IONOS permits multiple users for website editing. However, there is no mention of user roles and permissions, nor is there information about limitations on the number of users allowed to edit a website.
Shift4Shop allows for multiple users to manage and edit a website, with the number of staff user slots varying by plan. Additional users can be added as needed through the purchase of extra Staff User seats at $10 per user per month. This system is designed to accommodate business growth by enabling the distribution of website management tasks among staff members with customizable roles and permissions.

Shift4shop User Roles and Access Levels:

Role	Description	Access Highlights
Admin	Full control over the platform, responsible for setting up and managing all aspects of the online store.	Complete access to all areas including configuration, order management, product listings, user management, and analytics.
Manager	Oversees day-to-day operations, including order processing, inventory management, and customer service.	Access to order management, inventory, reports, and limited settings for day-to-day operations. Does not have access to high-level configurations.
Sales Rep	Focuses on customer interaction, order entry, and sales tracking.	Access to customer information, order creation, and sales reporting tools. Cannot alter product listings or configurations.
Content Creator	Generates product descriptions, blog posts, and marketing material.	Access to content management systems, blog, and marketing tools. No access to order management or configurations.
Customer Service Rep	Handles customer inquiries, returns, and complaints.	Access to customer information, order status, and communication tools. Limited access to order modifications.

Additional Features


SSL Certificate	✓	✓
Custom Domain	✓	✓
Free Custom Domain Included	✓	X
International Domains	✓	✓
Mobile Responsive	✓	✓
Page Speed	✓	✓
Website Builder Mobile App	X	X
Convert a Website To An App	X	X
Website Analytics	✓	✓
Multilingual Sites	✓	✓
Multiple Users	✓	✓

User Feedback

IONOS

20 reviews

3.9 out of 5 stars

Shift4shop

34 reviews

3.9 out of 5 stars

IONOS users have mixed experiences, with many reviews focusing on its hosting services rather than its website builder. While praised for its comprehensive packages, personalized support, and user-friendly interface for IT professionals, some users report issues with backend functionality and find customer service representatives overly pushy. Despite occasional short outages, the overall reliability and responsiveness of the service are appreciated.

Shift4Shop reviews also present a mixed but generally positive perspective. Users appreciate its feature-rich storefront capabilities, ease of use, and versatility in integrating various services, which facilitate online sales and efficient eCommerce management. However, critiques include a less intuitive user experience, occasional technical issues like slow site loading, and a perceived decline in customer service quality since the Shift4Shop takeover. Despite these criticisms, Shift4Shop is recognized for its cost-effectiveness and ability to support various business models, enhancing online sales capabilities and operational efficiency.

The making of this blog

We followed a clear, step-by-step process to write and research this article.

Our Ranking Criteria

FAQ

Which platform is easier for beginners, IONOS or Shift4shop?

IONOS is generally easier for beginners due to its user-friendly interface and straightforward website building tools. It scores higher in ease of use, making it suitable for users with limited technical skills.

Can I use both IONOS and Shift4shop for ecommerce?

Yes, both platforms support ecommerce. However, Shift4shop is specifically tailored for ecommerce with more advanced features like extensive payment gateway support and advanced product page customization, making it ideal for more demanding ecommerce needs.

How do IONOS and Shift4shop differ in terms of customization and design flexibility?

Both platforms offer a range of templates and customization options. Shift4shop, however, provides a slightly better experience in design functionalities and templates, especially for ecommerce-focused websites.

What are the major differences in pricing between IONOS and Shift4shop?

IONOS offers various pricing plans with discounts for annual subscriptions, while Shift4shop provides a free plan for users willing to use their payment processor. Shift4shop’s free plan includes comprehensive ecommerce tools, making it a cost-effective option for users starting out in ecommerce.