- Website creation
- E-commerce
Nuvemshop (Tiendanube): the platform for opening an online store in Latin America
Good tool
Nuvemshop, known as Tiendanube in Argentina, Mexico, Colombia and Chile, lets you build an online store without writing code: you pick a theme, add your products, then take payments and ship orders with services designed for each country. Payments, shipping, selling on WhatsApp and in-store point of sale all plug into the same dashboard. With more than 180,000 active stores, it is the most widely used e-commerce platform among small Latin American merchants, the regional counterpart of Shopify.
What is Nuvemshop (Tiendanube)?
One piece of software, two brands: Nuvemshop for Brazil, in Portuguese and Brazilian reais, and Tiendanube for the Spanish-speaking countries, in local currency. Either way, it is a hosted platform along the lines of Shopify: the merchant opens an account, picks one of more than seventy themes on the paid plans, adds an unlimited number of products and manages orders, inventory and customers from the admin. Around the store, the company has built its own services: Nuvem Pago (Pago Nube) to take payments, Nuvem Envio (Envío Nube) to ship, a point of sale for the brick-and-mortar store, Nuvem Chat to sell on WhatsApp with an AI assistant, plus an AI-powered theme editor and analytics tool. Anything missing goes through an app store of about 700 extensions.
The story begins in 2011 in Buenos Aires, where Santiago Sosa, Alejandro Vázquez and Martín Palombo, later joined by Alejandro Alfonso and José Abuchaem, launched Tiendanube from a project born during their engineering studies. The Brazilian version, Nuvemshop, followed in 2012, and Brazil quickly became its largest market. Next came Mexico in 2020, then Colombia and Chile. In 2021, a $500 million round led by Insight Partners and Tiger Global valued it at $3.1 billion and made it one of the region’s unicorns. The company, based in São Paulo and Buenos Aires, now claims more than 1,500 employees.
Nuvemshop (Tiendanube) at a glance
- Type
- Hosted online store platform
- Founded
- 2011
- Founders
- Santiago Sosa, Alejandro Vázquez, Martín Palombo
- Origin
- Argentina
- Headquarters
- São Paulo and Buenos Aires
- Countries covered
- Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Colombia, Chile
- Active stores
- More than 180,000
- Free plan
- Yes, with no time limit, with fees on each sale
- Starting price
- R$69/month in Brazil
What is Nuvemshop (Tiendanube) used for?
-
Open your online store
a catalog with unlimited products, customizable themes, and orders, inventory and customers managed from a single admin.
-
Get paid in local currency
Nuvem Pago, or Pago Nube, accepts the country’s payment methods, and other providers can be connected for a commission.
-
Ship your orders
Nuvem Envio, or Envío Nube, calculates shipping costs and prepares shipments with partner carriers.
-
Sell in-store too
a point of sale that shares the online store’s catalog, inventory and payments.
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Sell on WhatsApp and social media
a catalog synced with social networks, and Nuvem Chat, an AI assistant that answers customers on WhatsApp all the way to checkout.
-
Follow up with your customers
abandoned cart reminders and post-purchase messages with the platform’s marketing tools.
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Add apps
a store of about 700 extensions for invoicing, marketing or marketplaces.
Nuvemshop (Tiendanube) review
Good tool
For a small merchant in São Paulo, Buenos Aires or Mexico City, Nuvemshop has an advantage that neither Shopify nor WooCommerce offers out of the box: everything is already adapted to the country. Local payment methods, carriers, currency, language and support come built in, with nothing to plug in elsewhere. You open your store for free, fill it in an afternoon and often make sales in the very first week, on the site as well as on WhatsApp. That simplicity, more than any spectacular feature, explains its place in the region.
The downside shows as soon as the store grows. Customization remains much narrower than on Shopify, and nowhere near WooCommerce: themes you tweak within a fixed framework, store logic that is hard to take off the beaten path, fewer apps. For a brand that wants a custom shopping experience, the platform quickly becomes a straitjacket, and migrating elsewhere eventually comes up.
Above all, look at the total cost, not just the subscription. The free plan is paid for through a higher commission on every sale, and every plan adds a percentage as soon as you take payments through a provider other than the in-house one. Add the per-conversation fee for the WhatsApp assistant and, in Argentina, prices revised every quarter, and the monthly bill climbs faster than you might think. Funds held on the in-house payment service, with support sometimes slow to release them, are another point to watch.
Finally, outside its five countries, Nuvemshop makes little sense: no English-language site, no billing in dollars or euros. It is a very good gateway into Latin American e-commerce, not an international platform.
Strengths
- Payments, shipping, currency and support designed for each Latin American country.
- A free plan with no time limit and no cap on the number of products.
- Quick to learn, with no technical skills required.
- Online store, physical store and WhatsApp managed from the same admin.
- Subscriptions paid in local currency, with no currency conversion.
Weaknesses
- More limited customization than on Shopify or WooCommerce.
- Commissions on every sale on top of the subscription, especially outside the in-house payment service.
- Prices that change often, especially in Argentina.
- Held funds that can take a long time to resolve with support.
- Unusable outside Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Colombia and Chile.
Is Nuvemshop (Tiendanube) worth it?
Yes, if you are a merchant or a small brand based in Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Colombia or Chile and want to sell online fast, without a developer: the free plan lets you test your offer, and the paid plans lower the commissions once sales take off. It is also a good choice if you sell as much on WhatsApp as in your store.
Not necessarily, if you sell in the United States, in Europe or internationally, or if your store needs a custom shopping experience. Shopify offers more flexibility and global reach, WooCommerce almost complete freedom if you are willing to manage hosting, and Brazil’s large retailers tend to look at VTEX or Nuvemshop’s own Next offer.
In its own markets, Nuvemshop also has local rivals, little known in the United States but popular with the same small merchants: Loja Integrada in Brazil, Empretienda in Argentina. Comparing commissions on a typical sale, payment fees included, remains the best way to choose between these offers.
How much does Nuvemshop (Tiendanube) cost?
Nuvemshop publishes no prices in dollars: each country has its own price list, in local currency. In Brazil, the Começo plan is free, then Essencial costs R$69 a month (R$59 billed annually), Impulso R$164 (R$139) and Escala R$449 (R$382), with the Next offer priced on request. In Argentina, where prices are revised every quarter, Tiendanube charged 27,999, 79,999 and 244,999 pesos a month for the same three tiers as of October 31, 2026; in Mexico, 149, 374 and 999 pesos. On top of that come commissions on sales, which get lower as you move up the plans.
| Plan | Per month | Included | Who it's for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Começo (free) | €0 | Unlimited products, 1 theme, 4.69% commission with Nuvem Pago | Testing your offer without a subscription |
| Essencial | Custom pricing | More than 70 themes, 30 AI uses a month, 2% on other payment methods | A small store getting started |
| Impulso | Custom pricing | 150 AI uses, 2 distribution centers, 1% on other payment methods | A growing store |
| Escala | Custom pricing | Unlimited AI, advanced analytics, 0.7% on other payment methods | A store with established volume |
| Next | Custom pricing | Assisted migration and dedicated support | Large brands |
Source: official Nuvemshop pricing page, checked on October 31, 2026.
- Prices are published only in local currency: reais in Brazil, pesos in Argentina and Mexico. Paying yearly saves 15% in Brazil and 25% in Argentina; the Mexican price list only shows monthly prices.
- Nuvem Pago commissions drop from 4.69% (Começo) to 3.29% (Escala) in Brazil; in Argentina, Pago Nube charges from 2.99% to 2.65% plus VAT when funds are released.
- The Nuvem Chat WhatsApp assistant is billed per conversation, from R$1.50 on the free plan to R$0.70 on Next.
- Paid plans come with a 7-day free trial. In Argentina, prices are revised every quarter.
FAQ
Answers to questions about Nuvemshop (Tiendanube)
Are Nuvemshop and Tiendanube the same tool?
Yes. It is the same platform and the same company: Nuvemshop is the name used in Brazil, Tiendanube the one used in Argentina, Mexico, Colombia and Chile.
Is Nuvemshop free?
There is a free plan with no time limit and no cap on the number of products, but every sale carries a higher commission. The paid plans, starting at R$69 a month in Brazil, lower those commissions and add themes and features.
Can you use Nuvemshop to sell in the United States?
That isn’t its territory. The platform works in Portuguese and Spanish, bills in local currency and relies on payment and shipping services specific to its five countries. To sell in the United States or Europe, Shopify or WooCommerce are better suited.
Nuvemshop or Shopify?
Nuvemshop is simpler and better integrated with the payment methods, carriers and currencies of Latin American countries. Shopify offers more customization, more apps and international reach.
Information checked on October 31, 2026