Shopify B2B & Wholesale Apps Compared: Wholesale Club vs Wholesale Gorilla
Running wholesale through Shopify requires either a paid third-party app or Shopify Plus (for native B2B). Here's an honest breakdown of what each option actually costs and delivers — and who should wait before investing in B2B infrastructure.
Shopify's Native B2B: Plus-Only
Shopify's native B2B features — customer-specific price lists, net payment terms, draft orders with B2B checkout, company profiles — are exclusively available on Shopify Plus ($2,300+/mo). If you're not on Plus, you need a third-party wholesale app to replicate this functionality on a standard Shopify plan.
The upgrade math: if your B2B volume justifies Shopify Plus, the native B2B tools are significantly more capable than any third-party app. If you're on a standard Shopify plan and running B2B, a wholesale app at $40–90/mo is the only viable option short of a Plus upgrade.
Pricing Comparison
| Option | Monthly Cost | Shopify Plan | Key Limitation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shopify B2B (native) | Included | Plus only ($2,300+/mo) | Not available on standard plans |
| Wholesale Club | $39–$79/mo | Any Shopify plan | No net terms on lower tiers |
| Wholesale Gorilla | $39.95–$89.95/mo | Any Shopify plan | Higher price for advanced features |
| B2B Wholesale Solution (BSS) | Free–$25/mo | Any Shopify plan | Less polished UX, limited support |
Prices as of May 2026. Wholesale Club and Wholesale Gorilla are the two most-used third-party B2B apps. BSS is a budget alternative with more limited features.
Wholesale Club
Wholesale Club (by Orbit) is the most installed Shopify B2B app and the one most merchants encounter first. Its core mechanism: tag-based pricing. You assign a customer tag (e.g., "wholesale" or "retailer") to a customer account, and Wholesale Club applies pre-configured discounts when that tagged customer logs in and shops. The customer sees wholesale prices; untagged customers see retail prices.
This approach is elegant and reliable on standard Shopify plans. The Basic tier ($39/mo) covers percentage-based discounts by tag. The Professional tier ($59/mo) adds per-variant pricing — essential for stores with complex price lists where different wholesale customers need different prices on the same SKU.
The Enterprise tier ($79/mo) adds net payment terms and custom checkout. If you have accounts that pay on Net 30/60, this is the tier that matters. Below that, standard payment at checkout applies.
Best for
- • Standard Shopify plan + B2B needs
- • Tag-based wholesale pricing
- • Stores with 5–100 wholesale accounts
- • Clean UX without complex setup
Not ideal for
- • 100+ wholesale accounts with individual price lists
- • Complex EDI / purchase order workflows
- • Stores needing a fully separate B2B storefront
Wholesale Gorilla
Wholesale Gorilla takes a similar tag-based approach to Wholesale Club but adds a wholesale-specific storefront section — a separate wholesale "store within a store" that wholesale customers access through a dedicated login. Retail customers never see wholesale pricing, which is more secure than purely tag-based approaches where a retail customer who obtains a wholesale tag would see discounted prices.
The Pro tier ($89.95/mo) adds custom order minimums per customer, sales rep assignment, and draft order management from within the app. For stores with a dedicated wholesale sales team (where different reps manage different accounts), these features are genuinely useful. For stores without a sales team, they're excess capability at a premium price.
At $89.95/mo Pro vs Wholesale Club's $79/mo Enterprise, Wholesale Gorilla is slightly more expensive. The premium is justified if you need the dedicated storefront isolation or sales rep assignment — otherwise Wholesale Club covers the same ground at a lower price.
When to Wait Before Investing in B2B Apps
B2B wholesale apps make sense when you have consistent wholesale volume and enough accounts to justify the setup overhead. Below that threshold, manual discount codes or draft orders (both free in Shopify) handle occasional wholesale transactions without a monthly subscription.
Approximate threshold: 5+ active wholesale accounts placing orders regularly. With 1–2 wholesale buyers, the $39–79/mo app subscription cost exceeds the time savings it provides compared to creating draft orders manually.
Which Option Should You Use?
Paying for a Wholesale App with Inactive Accounts?
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