A StartupInMinutes alternative with 17 templates and the integrations already wired.

What StartupInMinutes offers, as listed in August 2026

StartupInMinutes is aimed squarely at the seller who is tired of taking orders in DMs: one store link, UPI payments, made in India. The Free Forever plan is ₹0/month and includes a custom store name, unlimited products, up to three images per product, order management, a 0% platform fee and direct checkout. Pro is ₹999/month, shown as an early-bird price against ₹1,500, or ₹2,500 per quarter, and raises the image allowance to 150 while adding advanced order management, analytics, guided setup and priority support. Shiprocket and a custom domain sit on Pro. Paid plans also promise a dedicated onboarding specialist until your first sale. Those are the details as listed on their pricing page in August 2026; plans change, so confirm before you buy.

Two things they get right. A free plan that is actually free, with no trial expiry, is rarer than it should be among Indian store builders, and a named human walking you to your first sale is a real benefit for someone who has never set up a checkout. If that kind of hand-holding is what you are paying ₹999 for, it is a fair thing to pay for.

The other thing to know is that the product is early. The site shows two templates, a “Get Early Access” call to action, a “Stores Launching” label in place of a store count, a PWA install prompt rather than a native app, and a sitemap of four pages: home, how it works, terms and privacy. No blog, no integration pages. None of that is a criticism; every product starts somewhere. It does mean you are choosing a platform on what it might become, and the cap of three photos per product on the free plan is tight for a jewellery or clothing seller today.

Where SitesPlaced goes further

SitesPlaced is built for the same seller with a larger toolbox, and the free plan is where most of the difference sits.

• 17 storefront themes, not two. Jewellery, fashion, grocery, luxury and more, each with section and style variants. Every heading, paragraph, hero image, menu and footer column is editable, so two stores on the same theme do not look like twins.
• Photos are budgeted by storage, not per product. The free plan comes with 500 MB. Add as many images to a product as it needs.
• Payments and shipping are free. Razorpay (UPI, cards, net banking, wallets; Razorpay’s gateway fee applies), cash on delivery with an optional COD charge, WhatsApp checkout, and both Shiprocket and Shipmozo with AWB and a tracking page. Nothing here waits for a paid plan.
• Selling tools included. Variants, inventory, coupons, Buy-X-Get-Y offers, PDF invoices, product badges, newsletter capture and Standard or Express delivery with custom order IDs.
• Start from your Instagram. The importer reads your handle and builds the catalogue: products, prices, photos, categories. It also takes a website URL, a PDF price list, or a dm2buy or Shopexer store.
• Edit by chatting. Connect ChatGPT or Claude through the official MCP server and say what to change.
• A native Android app on Google Play for managing orders on the go; details on the app page. iOS is not available yet.

The ₹499/month Ecommerce plan is for the growth phase: your own domain with one-click DNS for Indian registrars, the SitesPlaced badge removed, AI copy, analytics, custom head code, Meta Pixel plus the Conversions API (server-side Purchase events, deduplicated, your own credentials), and WhatsApp Business API order alerts that reach you and your buyer from your own WhatsApp Business number through the Meta Cloud API. Every integration is described in one place.

Side by side

StartupInMinutes column from their public pricing page, August 2026. “Not listed” means we could not find it there. SitesPlaced facts are on our pricing page.

Three images per product, in practice

The image cap is worth dwelling on because it is the limit a seller hits first. A necklace listing usually wants a front shot, a worn shot, a close-up of the clasp and a scale reference. A kurta wants the front, the back, the fabric and a size chart. Three slots means choosing which of those the buyer does not get to see, and on Instagram-driven sales the buyer has often already seen four reels of the product and expects the store to match.

SitesPlaced’s 500 MB budget works differently. A well-compressed product photo is usually a few hundred kilobytes, so the budget is spent across the whole catalogue rather than rationed per listing. Upload what the product needs and let the catalogue, not a per-listing cap, decide how the budget is used.

Who should stay on StartupInMinutes

• You are on their Pro plan for the onboarding specialist and that relationship is getting you to sales. Do not trade a person who answers for a feature list.
• Two templates and three images per product fit what you sell, and your store is working. Working stores are not something to move for sport.
• You like being early on a product and want to shape it. Some sellers do, and the platform is at that stage.
• You do not need Razorpay cards, COD, shipping labels, Meta ads tracking or WhatsApp API alerts, now or soon.

Help is a WhatsApp message away

SitesPlaced does not promise a dedicated specialist, so we will not pretend to. What you get is a team you can message on WhatsApp at +91 95171 56355 when you are stuck connecting Razorpay, setting up DNS or deciding which theme suits a saree catalogue, plus a help centre for the step-by-step guides. Most questions get a reply in the same conversation you would use to talk to a customer.

The templates are also designed so you need less help: pick one, the default copy already reads like a real store, and you replace words rather than build layouts.

Real stores, not launching

Two sellers you can visit rather than imagine: The House of Urmila, a jewellery brand, and Surroor House, a t-shirt label. Both case studies walk through the theme, the catalogue and the checkout as they run today, which is a better basis for a decision than a pricing table, ours included.

How to start

1. Import or pick a template. Paste your Instagram handle at /import, or browse the 17 store themes and start blank.
2. Add the missing photos. Now that there is no three-image cap, give each product the shots buyers ask for in DMs.
3. Turn on checkout. Razorpay keys for UPI and cards, COD on or off, WhatsApp checkout for buyers who prefer chat. The WhatsApp checkout guide explains the flow.
4. Connect a courier. Shiprocket or Shipmozo, on the free plan.
5. Publish and share. The store is live on a sitesplaced.com URL. Put it in your bio and your WhatsApp auto-reply.
6. Grow into ₹499. When you buy a domain, run Meta ads or want automatic WhatsApp order messages from your own number, upgrade then.

Frequently asked questions