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E-Commerce · head to head

3dcart vs Heartland Retail

3dcart logo

3dcart

E-Commerce

All-in-one ecommerce platform for online retailers

From
$19/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Heartland Retail logo

Heartland Retail

E-Commerce

Cloud point of sale and inventory management sold alongside Heartland card processing

From
$150/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: 3dcart limited scalability compared to enterprise e-commerce platforms; Heartland Retail the software is sold as part of a card processing relationship, so the monthly licence understates the real cost and the processing rate is the number that determines what you pay over a year.
  • They diverge on capability: 3dcart covers Store builder, Heartland Retail covers Multi-store inventory.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which 3dcart and Heartland Retail actually diverge.

Attributes where 3dcart and Heartland Retail differ
Attribute3dcartHeartland Retail
Starting price$19/month$150/month
Pricing modelUnknownsubscription

Identical on both: free tier (No), platforms (Web), user rating (Not yet rated), category (E-Commerce), founded (1997).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in 3dcart

  • Store builder
  • Unlimited products
  • Shopping cart
  • Payment processing
  • Inventory management
  • Email marketing
  • SEO optimization
  • Mobile responsive

Only in Heartland Retail

  • Multi-store inventory
  • Cloud point of sale
  • Purchasing and receiving
  • Customer records
  • Sales and stock reporting
  • Integrated card processing
  • E-commerce integrations

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

3dcart

  • Building multi-channel stores across Facebook, eBay, Amazon in parallelnot Heartland Retail
  • Recovering abandoned shopping carts with automated email sequencesnot Heartland Retail
  • Calculating real-time shipping costs and integrating carrier APIsnot Heartland Retail
  • Protecting payment processing with VISA PCI certificationnot Heartland Retail

Heartland Retail

  • A specialty retailer opening a third or fourth site that needs one stock position across all of themnot 3dcart
  • Replacing a legacy on-premise till system that requires a server in the back office of every storenot 3dcart
  • A retailer whose buying team needs purchase orders and receiving rather than just a cash registernot 3dcart
  • An existing Heartland processing customer consolidating software and payments under one suppliernot 3dcart

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

3dcart

  • Limited scalability compared to enterprise e-commerce platforms
  • Payment processing tied to Shift4 Payments after acquisition
  • Fewer advanced marketing and analytics features than competitors

Heartland Retail

  • The software is sold as part of a card processing relationship, so the monthly licence understates the real cost and the processing rate is the number that determines what you pay over a year.
  • Leaving means changing till software and merchant account together, and since the payment terminals, the reporting history and the staff training are all tied to the same supplier, the switching cost is far higher than a software migration alone.
  • It is not an online store platform, so a merchant selling on the web still buys and maintains a separate e-commerce platform, and the stock and order integration between the two is an ongoing operational dependency rather than a one-off setup.
  • Historical sales and customer purchase history rarely migrate cleanly out of a point of sale system, so a retailer who switches typically starts with an empty history and keeps the old system read-only, paying for it, for years.
  • Heartland sits within Global Payments, a group that has repeatedly restructured its portfolio through acquisitions and divestitures, so which entity owns and invests in this specific product is not stable over a long contract term.

Pricing, plan by plan

3dcart

$19/month
  • Starter$19/month
    • Unlimited products
    • Basic templates
    • Email support

Heartland Retail

$150/month
  • Core$150/month
    • POS system
    • Inventory management
    • Customer management
  • Professional$350/month
    • All Core features
    • Omnichannel
    • Advanced analytics

Which should you pick?

Choose 3dcart if

  • You need store builder.
  • You also want unlimited products.
3dcart review

Choose Heartland Retail if

  • You need multi-store inventory.
  • You also want cloud point of sale.
Heartland Retail review

Questions people ask

Is 3dcart or Heartland Retail better?
Neither clearly leads. 3dcart starts at $19/month and Heartland Retail at $150/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, 3dcart or Heartland Retail?
3dcart starts at $19/month and Heartland Retail at $150/month.
Does 3dcart or Heartland Retail run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
What is 3dcart best used for?
3dcart is most often used for building multi-channel stores across facebook, ebay, amazon in parallel, recovering abandoned shopping carts with automated email sequences, calculating real-time shipping costs and integrating carrier apis, protecting payment processing with visa pci certification. Of those, building multi-channel stores across facebook, ebay, amazon in parallel and recovering abandoned shopping carts with automated email sequences are not what Heartland Retail is typically brought in for.
What can 3dcart do that Heartland Retail cannot?
3dcart covers Store builder, Unlimited products, Shopping cart, Payment processing. Heartland Retail covers Multi-store inventory, Cloud point of sale, Purchasing and receiving, Customer records.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

3dcart: What is the starting price for 3dcart?

3dcart (now Shift4Shop) starts at $19/month with no setup fees, transaction fees, or hidden fees.

Source
Heartland Retail: Can I use it as my online store?

No. It manages the shop floor and stock. Selling online means a separate e-commerce platform and an integration to keep the catalogue and stock aligned.

3dcart: Does 3dcart include hosting?

Yes. 3dcart includes web hosting, domain support, and built-in website building tools with no separate hosting costs.

Source
Heartland Retail: Do I have to use Heartland for card processing?

The product is sold as part of a payments relationship, and that is where the supplier's margin sits. Ask explicitly what the software costs standalone before assuming you have a choice.

3dcart: What happened to 3dcart?

Shift4 Payments acquired 3dcart in November 2020. The platform is now operated under the name Shift4Shop but maintains the same core functionality and pricing.

Source
Heartland Retail: What should I negotiate hardest on?

The card processing rate and the contract term, not the software subscription. Ask for interchange-plus pricing in writing rather than a blended rate.

3dcart: Does 3dcart offer free templates?

Yes. 3dcart provides dozens of professionally designed, industry-specific templates that are mobile-friendly, SEO optimized, and highly customizable.

Source
Heartland Retail: What happens to my sales history if I leave?

Assume products and current stock export cleanly and that years of transaction history do not. Budget for keeping the old system available read-only during any transition.

3dcart: What payment methods does 3dcart support?

3dcart integrates with multiple payment gateways including Shift4 Payments, Stripe, PayPal, and other major payment processors.

Source
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