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Ecommerce platform

Swell

Managed headless, purpose-built for subscription DTC.

Also known as Swell Commerce

  • Starting priceFrom $29/mo
  • ModelSaaS subscription
  • Sold toSmall business to mid-market
  • Last checkedOctober 2026
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At a glance

Commercial model
SaaS subscription
Architecture
API-firstA headless back end. Storefronts are built separately, usually from a starter kit.
Deployment
Cloud SaaS
Headless
Headless nativeBuilt API-first. There is no bundled storefront to work around. Yes (headless native)
Founded
2013
Headquarters
San Francisco, California, USA

Who it suits

Subscription-first DTC brands wanting headless flexibility without self-hosting overhead.

Approximate fit by business scaleGuidance from vendor positioning and documented merchants, not a guarantee. Complexity matters as much as revenue.

  • Under $50K GMVPossible fit
  • $50K to $500KStrong fit
  • $500K to $10MPossible fit
  • $10M to $100MLess typical
  • $100M+Less typical

Strong fit at $50K to $500K GMV.

Strengths

Native subscriptions and mixed carts, no infrastructure burden, flexible data modelling, no platform fee below the plan's revenue ceiling.

Limitations

Smaller ecosystem than Shopify, newer brand versus incumbents.

Pricing

From $29/mo

Published starting price for the software or plan only. It does not include hosting, apps, implementation, development or running costs.

Plans
Starter $29, Basic $79, Standard $299, Unlimited $2,250, Custom quote. Billed yearly; monthly billing costs more.
Transaction fees
None up to the plan's annual revenue ceiling ($50K to $5M); above it 2% (Starter), 1.5% (Basic), 1% (Standard), 0.4% (Unlimited)
Billing
billed yearly; monthly billing costs about 25% more
Hosting included
Yes
Quote only
Top tier only

Capabilities

Recorded as built in, in a paid tier or first-party module, through third-party apps only, or not documented.

  • B2B / wholesale

    Built in

    Built in. Documented: Customer-specific pricing. Quotes, net terms, company account hierarchies not confirmed in docs reviewed.

  • Multi-currency

    Built in

    Built in. Pricing table: multi-currency display on all plans; "Priced currencies" (explicit prices per currency) not on Starter.

  • Multi-language

    Built in

    Built in.

  • Multi-store

    Built in

    Built in. Developer docs say combining multiple storefronts into one store ("Portals") is coming soon.

  • Point of sale

    Not documented

    Not documented.

  • Subscriptions

    Built in

    Built in.

  • Multi-vendor marketplace

    Built in

    Built in. Built by developers on Swell's data model, not a turnkey vendor portal.

Market position and merchants

Raised a $20M Series A in January 2022, led by VMG Catalyst and Headline.

Documented merchants

  • Smashing Magazine
  • Velobici
  • Infinitas Learning

From vendor case studies or platform signals on the merchant's live site. Examples, not endorsements.

Platforms to compare

Sold to the same segment, ordered by how many of the same capabilities the vendor provides.