The honest comparison.

Four real ways to run a D2C store — Shopify plus an app stack, a DIY builder, Amboras (a US AI-native store builder that generates a store from one sentence), or a growth hire — laid out feature by feature. No dunking. Just what each one actually includes.

Book a founder call See full pricing

Feature by feature.

Every row traces to something real — ours or theirs. No fabricated numbers, no invented competitor prices, no dunking on a name.

Feature

CharvaX

Shopify + apps

DIY builders

Amboras

A hire

Store & checkoutThe foundation everyone needs — some of it comes assembled, some of it you assemble yourself.

Full storefront + on-brand page builder

✓85 sections, no code, done for you

✓you assemble the theme

✓you're the designer

✓

—

UPI, COD & cards — zero platform fee

✓

via paid apps

cards + 150 methodsno COD or UPI published

—

GST-correct pricing, extracted from MRP

✓

via paid apps

—

not in their published product

—

COD phone-OTP anti-fraud, server-verified

✓

via paid apps

—

not in their published product

—

The AI layerOurs ships with a working crew. Theirs is a canvas, a to-do list, or one action without a review step.

A merchant-command AI, human-in-the-loop

✓BarhaX — reviews before it acts

via paid apps

—

acts without a review step

—

A working crew — recovery, RTO defense, reviews, win-back, SEO & more

✓10 agents, one bill, off until you flip it on

via paid appsone app per job

—

cart recovery, reviews & SEOno RTO defence or win-back

one function, not a crew

Buyer-facing AI concierge, grounded

✓never invents a price

via paid apps

—

admin-side AI onlytheir assistant serves the merchant

—

Every AI answer cites its evidence

✓grounded, never a black box

—

not published

—

Data ownershipWhoever owns the customer data owns the compounding advantage.

Same-origin first-party data collector

✓not a third-party script

via paid apps

—

not published

—

Server-side purchase capture

✓survives a closed tab

via paid apps

—

not published

—

One customer profile — a first-party CDP, on data you own

✓known + anonymous, one feature store

via paid apps

—

platform-owned

—

Written export guarantee for your data, brand & domain

✓

✓on their platform

not published

—

Built for how the world actually sellsCOD, UPI, GST and WhatsApp — first-class, not a plugin you bolt on.

COD & UPI as first-class, not an add-on

✓

via paid apps

—

cards + 150 methodsno COD or UPI published

depends who you hire

RTO risk-scoring before the label prints

✓history + pincode area-risk

via paid apps

—

not in their published product

manual, if at all

WhatsApp order updates, same trigger as email

✓

via paid apps

—

email only, per their site

manual

GST invoicing, built in

✓

via paid apps

—

not in their published product

manual

What it costsThe setup fee buys a professionally-built store — here’s what the alternatives cost instead.

Monthly

₹5,999–₹19,999Staffed → Sovereign (coming soon), one bill

≈ ₹42k–1.7L in appstypical app-stack spend

the builder's planplus your time

₹4,630–₹37,700published — you build the store yourself

₹30,000–₹60,000one function, no nights or weekends

One-time setup

₹39,999–₹99,999a professional build, included (Sovereign: coming soon)

—

₹40,000–₹2,00,000if you hire it out

—no setup fee — and no build

—

Time to live

7, 14 or 21 business daysby plan, guaranteed from your build-start date, or 2 months free

weeksof assembly + app setup

weeksof DIY, still not on-brand

~2 mintheir claim — a generated shell, not a built store

—

✓ included · muted text = a qualified answer, read it literally · — not part of that option.

Amboras figures and features were checked against amboras.com on 7 September 2026 — their published pricing page and product pages. Where a row says “not published,” it means exactly that: we could not find it stated either way, so we do not assert they lack it. Prices on their site are shown in INR and billed in USD, so the rupee figures move with the exchange rate.

You don’t need another app. You need the outcome.

A premium store, built for your brand, staffed with a working crew — done for you, live in 7, 14 or 21 business days by plan. You get the outcome, not the homework. And it’s yours to run and edit after.

Book a founder call See the full pricing