Comparing CSA Sales Platforms

This page contains referral links, which are marked with an asterisk. When you click on a referral link and make a purchase, Grapevine receives a small commission at no cost to you.

Since Booker T. Whatley of Tuskegee University first introduced the idea of a membership program as a sales channel for farms in the 1960s, there have been many creative iterations of the CSA – a box of farmers’ choice veggies you pick up each week.  Today, farmers can use technology to streamline the more challenging aspects of CSA programs, like offering customization in what customers receive, offering add-ons, and placing a vacation hold. 

There are many ways to categorize CSAs, and for purposes of this software comparison we’re grouping them as follows. The type of CSA you run will weigh heavily on your platform choice, and whether you choose specialty farm software (Farmigo, etc) vs. general e-commerce software (Shopify, etc.).

Traditional Farmer’s Choice CSA 

In this model, customers pay in advance for a share of items throughout a designated time period, and the farmer controls what each member receives. Some farms choose to offer payment plans. Add-ons are paid for in advance or can be purchased separately throughout the season for an additional cost
General e-commerce platforms like Shopify and Square are typically not a good fit for this model, because they have no management tools built in. You can create a product called “CSA share” and have people purchase it, but then you would manually have to keep track of order fulfillment and vacation holds etc. from there.

Specialty platforms like CSAWare, Farmigo, GrownBy, Local Food Marketplace, and others with CSA-specific functionality are the best fit for this type of CSA if you want built-in management. Scroll down for a detailed side-by-side comparison.

Customizable CSA

In this model, customers still pay in advance for a share of items throughout a designated time period, but they can customize what they receive each week. Customizable CSAs still require pre-payment (unless you want to offer a payment plan)

Depending on how the farm sets this up, customers can be offered flexibility to choose some but not all items, or it might be 100% customizable. This can be done online or at CSA pickup. 

Because of the need for upfront payment followed by ongoing management, platforms like CSAWare, Farmigo, GrownBy, Local Food Marketplace, and others with CSA-specific functionality are the best fit for this type of CSA. Scroll down for a detailed side-by-side comparison.

Subscription CSA (pay monthly)

The subscription model that’s become so popular for e-commerce in general can be a good fit for CSAs. The key difference here is that customers pay monthly rather than in advance.

This plus side of this type of CSA is that it can be more appealing to consumers — it’s something they’re already comfortable and familiar with. You can still choose whether to make it customizable from week to week or not. Since it’s paid monthly, the customer can cancel any time. You won’t benefit from having an upfront payment, but it may be much easier to sell.

Major e-commerce platforms like Shopify and Square, along with specialty platforms like Barn2Door and others below can all support subscription CSAs. Scroll down for a detailed side-by-side comparison.

Buy-Down CSA

In this model, a customer pre-pays for farm credit or a discounted gift card, and then uses that credit as they wish throughout the season. Depending on the farm, customers can use their credit on online orders for pickup or delivery, or in person at the farmstand or farmers’ market booth.

This is the easiest type of CSA to manage, especially if customers are only shopping in person or only shopping online. 

• If farm customers will shop in person only, platforms like Shopify and Square offer POS systems, so credit purchased through them could be used through the POS system you use at your farm store or at the farmers’ market. If you’re a farm trying to manage a buy-down CSA in-person, and you don’t need traditional CSA features, these platforms might be a good option for you. An added benefit of using a platform with an integrated POS system is that your inventory management and sales reports would be streamlined across your locations and sales channels, too. 

• If farm customers will shop online only, use a CSA-specific platform. They will have a login with an account credit, which is more streamlined than asking your customers to manually enter info of a physical gift card or click a link from their original digital gift card purchase every time they need to make a purchase. 

• If you want gift card holders to be able to shop both in person and online it can get a little trickier and there may be manual work to apply the credit across both channels.

Tables: Comparing CSA Sales Software

Click to jump straight to a comparison table:

• CSA Features

• Other E-Commerce Features

• Fulfillment & Logistics

• Marketing Support

• Administration

• Platform Pricing

Have updates or corrections to these details? Let us know!

CSA Features

Feature	Barn2Door	CSAware	Farmigo	Grown By	Local Food Marketplace	Shopify	Square
Traditional CSA (Pay 1x up front for weekly boxes)	❌  Use subscriptions instead (see below)	✅	✅	✅	✅	🟡  Can sell shares as a regular product with no built-in CSA management	🟡  Can sell shares as a regular product with no built-in CSA management
Traditional CSA: Customer vacation holds	n/a	✅	✅	✅	✅ 💰 Requires Subscription Success Package ($249-$499/year, and +$99-$149/mo)	❌	❌
Traditional CSA: Share dropdown choices (Variants like small vs. large etc. - makes page easier to use if many options)	✅	✅	❌ No, but a workaround is listing variants as different products.	❌  Regular products have dropdowns, but CSAs do not. Variants can be listed as different products instead.	✅	✅	✅
Traditional CSA: Custom payment plans (Can offer different payment terms to customers i.e. weekly, monthly, quarterly)	n/a	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅💰  5.9% + 30¢ with Shopify Shop Pay Installments	✅💰  6% + 30¢ Afterpay
Traditional CSA: Partial payment (Allow members to pay a deposit & collect full payment later)	n/a	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅💰 Yes, requires app (+$10/mo), or set up CSA deposits as a separate product and then manually send an invoice for remainder	🟡 Set up CSA deposits as a separate product and then manually send an invoice for remainder
Customizable CSA (Can allow customers to customize/make swaps)	❌	✅	✅	✅	✅	❌  Minor box edits possible, but complicated	❌
Subscription CSA (No upfront payment)	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅💰 Requires Annual Subscription Success Package ($249-$499/year, and +$99-$149/mo)	✅💰 Requires an app: $0-8/mo based on order volume, or more robust app: $99/mo + 1% per order	❌ Built-in subscription functionality on Plus plan and above but is to shippable orders only
Customizable CSA (Can allow customers to customize/make swaps)	❌	✅	✅	✅	✅	❌ Minor box edits possible, but complicated	❌
Buy-down CSA: Online shopping & balance management	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅ Issue store credit directly to customer accounts (new in 2025), or use gift cards (card info must be entered to purchase.)	🟡 To use the gift card online, customers have to manually copy and paste the card info from their email for each purchase.
Buy-down CSA: In-person shopping	🟡 CSA balance must be adjusted manually	🟡 CSA balance must be adjusted manually	🟡 CSA balance must be adjusted manually	🟡 CSA balance must be adjusted manually	🟡 CSA balance must be adjusted manually	✅ Store credit and gift cards (both physical and digital) can all be used in person, and gift cards can be added to Apple Wallet.	✅ Both physical and digital gift cards can be used in person.
Admin box/share builder tool (For the farmer planning what's in the weekly share)	❌	✅	✅	✅	✅ 💰 Requires Annual Subscription Success Package ($249-$499/year, and +$99-$149/mo)	❌	❌
Accept SNAP/EBT online for CSA membership (See more below)	❌	✅ SNAP customers receive automated weekly emails to opt-in to their share for the week and enter their EBT pin. Coordinated by Forage.	🟡 For one-time purchases less than 2 weeks from delivery date only; no built-in automations or prompts.	✅ SNAP customers receive automated weekly emails to opt-in to their share for the week and enter their EBT pin. Has supporting features for matching programs, like Double Up Food Bucks. Coordinated by Marketlink.	🟡 For one-time purchases less than 2 weeks from delivery date only. Does not send automated weekly reminders, but that can be handled through email platform.	🟡 Integrates with Forage app. Does not send automated weekly reminders, but that can be handled through email platform.	✅ Integrates with TotilPay

Other E-Commerce Features

Feature	Barn2Door	CSAware	Farmigo	Grown By	Local Food Marketplace	Shopify	Square
One-time orders & regular e-commerce (Anyone can order for pickup and drop points; shipping dependent on platform.)	✅ + Can offer shipping	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅ + Can offer shipping	✅ + Can offer shipping
Wholesale features (Set different product pricing by pickup location or customer type)	✅	✅	❌	✅💰 Available on $95/mo Plus plan	✅	🟡 Can be accomplished using product location exclusivity, but inventory will have to be tracked separately	🟡 Has location-specific automatic discounts, which can be used as a workaround to support wholesale sales
Invoicing	✅	🟡 A payment request can be sent to wholesale customers with an account.	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅ 💰 Invoices are free to send with Square, but there are higher transaction fees
One-time orders & regular e-commerce (Anyone can order for pickup and drop-points; shipping dependent on platform.)	✅ + Can offer shipping	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅ + Can offer shipping	✅ + Can offer shipping
Accept SNAP/EBT online for one-time orders (See more below)	❌	✅ Coordinated by Forage	✅ For one-time purchases less than 2 weeks from delivery date only.	✅ Also has supporting features for matching programs, like Double Up Food Bucks. Coordinated by Marketlink.	✅ For one-time purchases less than 2 weeks from delivery date only.	✅ Integrates with Forage app to accept SNAP payments.	✅ Integrates with TotilPay
Allow Cash on Delivery or offline payment	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	❌
Customer can choose to cover credit card fees	✅	🟡 Can optionally require customer to cover credit card fees. (May not be legal in all states.)	✅ For pre-payment offerings like CSA shares, not add-on products.	✅	❌ No, but can add a set fee to orders. (May not be legal in all states.)	❌	❌
Accept tips	✅	✅	🟡 Tips can be listed as an add-on product	✅	✅	🟡 Not available for subscriptions	✅

Want to explore more e-commerce features for selling non-CSA products online? Check out our comparison of farm website platforms!

Fulfillment & Logistics

Feature	Barn2Door	CSAware	Farmigo	Grown By	Local Food Marketplace	Shopify	Square
Local delivery	✅	✅ Orders within delivery areas you specify are automatically added to those routes. Also integrates with OptimoRoute for more advanced delivery support.	✅💰 Can integrate with Route Savvy or Cigo	✅	✅💰 Pair with Routific for route configuration, delivery status updates, pack order configuration, and more. (+49-69/mo; Routific pricing starts at $150/mo.)	✅💰 Can define delivery zones by zip or by radius. Date and time scheduling requires app (same app as below for inventory sync & local delivery) ~$10-17 per month.	✅ Can define delivery zones by zip or by radius
Drop points / pickup locations	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅ App needed for inventory sync - see note below.	✅💰 Starting Nov. 2025, Square plans are charged per location, which adds up fast. Plus: +$49/mo per location Premium $+149/mo per location App needed for inventory sync - see note below.
Sync inventory across pickup / delivery locations (Not an issue for shipping zone inventory)	✅	✅	✅ Can also hide items for specific pick up locations	✅	✅	✅💰 Requires app: ~$10-17/mo if more than 1 location	✅💰 Requires app: $35-39+/mo if more than 1 location
Advanced pickup scheduling	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅ 💰 Requires app (same app as below for inventory sync) ~$10-17 per month	✅
Pick lists (Get total quantity of each product needed to pack all orders)	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅ 💰 We can show you how to generate pick lists with a workaround (free), or use an app: $10/mo	✅ Download CSV
Packing lists / labels	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
Integrated POS (You can always use a separate POS; just consider the effect on inventory management.)	✅ 💰 For an additional charge, $59 special device. Transaction fees apply.	❌	❌	🟡 Integrated with Stripe. Transaction fees apply.	🟡 Integrated with Square. Transaction fees apply.	✅ 💰 $5/month for POS Lite plan, or $89/mo for POS Pro plan +$49 card reader (or use free Tap to Pay on newer phones). Transaction fees apply.	✅ All-in-one POS app included (or use free Tap to Pay on newer phones). Free basic magstripe card reader. Other hardware is available to purchase. Transaction fees apply.

Marketing Support

Feature	Barn2Door	CSAware	Farmigo	Grown By	Local Food Marketplace	Shopify	Square
Full website	✅ Barn2Door will build and maintain a basic Squarespace website for your farm. 💻 Grapevine can also add special features like a recipe center or interactive harvest calendar.	❌ Full website must be built on a separate platform. You can use your existing website, build your own, or hire a professional to build one. 💻 Grapevine specializes in building and upgrading farm websites!	❌ Full website must be built on a separate platform. You can use your existing website, build your own, or hire a professional to build one. 💻 Grapevine specializes in building and upgrading farm websites!	❌ Full website must be built on a separate platform. You can use your existing website, build your own, or hire a professional to build one. 💻 Grapevine specializes in building and upgrading farm websites!	❌ Full website must be built on a separate platform. You can use your existing website, build your own, or hire a professional to build one. 💻 Grapevine specializes in building and upgrading farm websites!	✅ Shopify is an all-in-one website and e-commerce tool. You could build your own, or hire a professional. 💻 Grapevine specializes in building and upgrading Shopify farm websites!	✅ Square Online is an all-in-one website and e-commerce tool. You could build your own, or hire a professional. 💻 Grapevine specializes in building and upgrading Square farm websites!
Custom domain (has SEO benefits)	🟡 Domain format for the storefront is app.barn2door.com/yourfarmname, but you can use your domain name for your main website	✅ Domain format is yourfarmname.csaware.com or shop.yourdomainname.com	❌ Domain format is csa.farmigo.com/yourfarmname	❌ Domain format is grownby.app/farms/yourfarmname	✅ 💰 Standard domain format is yourfarmname.localfoodmarketplace.com. For an additional $99 a year, it can be shop.yourdomainname.com or yourdomainname.com	✅	✅  Included on Plus plan and up.
Integration with Google Analytics & Facebook Pixel	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
Mobile-friendly, responsive design	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
Automated abandoned cart emails	✅	❌	✅ Automated emails can be set up to send based on a variety of triggers, including failed sign up and low balance.	❌	✅	✅	✅
Email: Transactional (order) emails	✅ Sent directly through platform	✅ 💰 Via Constant Contact integration	✅ Sent directly through platform	✅ Sent directly through platform	✅ Sent directly through platform	✅ Sent directly through platform	✅ Sent directly through platform
Email: Marketing emails & automations	🟡💰 Can send campaigns via Mailchimp integration. Automations are limited.	✅ 💰 Can send campaigns and create automations via Constant Contact integration.	🟡 Can send campaigns through the platform, or integrate with Mailchimp. Automations are limited.	🟡 💰 Customer contacts can be manually exported and uploaded to other SMS platforms, like Klaviyo*. Automations are limited.	🟡 💰 Can send campaigns via Mailchimp integration. Automations are limited.	✅ 💰 There are many integration options for campaigns plus a full range of e-commerce marketing automations – our fave is Klaviyo*.	✅ Built-in email campaigns and automations on Plus plan and up. Can also use Klayivo or Mailchimp.
SMS: Transactional (order) texts	❌	✅ 💰 Via Constant Contact integration. Can configure automated SMS reminders for order deadlines, order pick up, and customization right in the platform.	❌	❌	✅ 💰 Via Twilio integration Set up fee of $49 per campaign. +$49/mo for up to 2,000 transactional messages +$15 per 1,000 messages afterwards	✅💰 Integrate with Klaviyo* for built-in transactional SMS automations.	✅ Built-in transactional SMS that's fully integrated with email. Available on Plus plan (500 messages included) and Premium plans (2,500 messages included). Automations are limited. Also integrates with Klaviyo*.
SMS: Marketing texts & automations	🟡💰 Can send SMS marketing via Mailchimp integration. Automations are limited.	✅💰 Can send SMS marketing and create automations via Constant Contact integration.	🟡💰 Customer contacts can be manually exported and uploaded to SMS platforms, like Klaviyo*. Automations are limited.	🟡 💰 Customer contacts can be manually exported and uploaded to SMS platforms, like Klaviyo*. Automations are limited.	✅ 💰 Via Twilio Integration Set up fee of $49 per campaign. +$49/mo for up to 2,000 marketing messages +$15 per 1,000 messages afterwards Automations are limited.	✅ 💰 Integrate with Klaviyo* for built-in SMS. Since it's fully integrated with email, your automations will be smart enough to choose email vs. SMS for each contact, and avoid overcommunicating.	✅ 💰 Built-in SMS marketing that's fully integrated with email. Available on Plus plan (500 messages included) and Premium plans (2,500 messages included). Automations are limited. Also integrates with Klaviyo*.
Marketing perks (Such as directory listings, CRM tools, or training)	✅ Barn2Door provides a monthly marketing toolkit with content you can use to promote your farm.	✅ Farms are listed on LocalHarvest.org directory, which sees 22k web visits per day.	❌	✅ Farms are listed on their directory and map.	✅ Local Food Marketplace hosts many free online webinars with helpful information to support you in growing your marketing strategy.	❌	✅ 💰 All Square Marketing plus Loyalty program features are integrated with your Square POS and other tools like their free CRM tool. Google Reviews integration is included.

Administration

Feature	Barn2Door	CSAware	Farmigo	Grown By	Local Food Marketplace	Shopify	Square
Pairs with Quickbooks	✅	❌	❌	❌	✅ 💰 Yes, with Advanced Accounting add-on for $149 set up fee + $59-$69/mo thereafter.	✅ 💰 Requires app: $0-45/mo, based on your needs.	✅ 💰 Full integration with app: $0-13/mo, based on your needs.
Reporting	✅	✅ Delivery, income, member retention, and sales reports.	✅ Farmigo team can help set up custom reports.	✅ Detailed sales, distribution and transaction reports.	✅ Robust reporting, especially helpful for managing CSA, wholesale, and other direct to consumer sales channels.	✅ Robust e-commerce reporting. See Shopify reporting.	✅ See Square reporting.
Support options	✅ Email support available (reply in ~1 business day) Live video call support during "Office Hours" whiuch are offered M-F. Premium accounts get a dedicated contact.	✅ Email & phone support available. Personal account manager assigned to all farms.	✅ Email support available M-F. Phone & video call support by request (usually same-day).	✅ Email, phone, and video call support available, or submit a support ticket for email follow-up.	✅ Email & phone support available M-F, or submit a support ticket online for email follow up.	✅ Live chat with support advisors available 24/7 for most plans, or ask questions on Shopify Community forums.	✅ Live chat, email support (~24-48hr response time), and access to the Square Community forums are available for all plans. Phone support is available on Plus plan and above (and for first 90 days on Free plan).

Platform Pricing

Feature	Barn2Door	CSAware	Farmigo	Grown By	Local Food Marketplace	Shopify	Square
Pricing link	barn2door.com/pricing	csaware.com/#pricing	farmigo.com/pricing	coop.grownby.com/pricing	home.localfoodmarketplace.com/pricing	shopify.com/pricing	squareup.com
Core platform fee	$99 – $299/month +$399 – $599 one-time setup fee	2% of your sales through CSAware (minimum of $100/month) Only charged for months when your CSA is in operation.	2% of your sales through Farmigo (minimum of $150/month) Only charged for months when your CSA is in operation.	The $50/mo CSA plan is a fit for many farms. The $95/mo Plus plan includes both CSA and Wholesale functionality.	$129 - $349/mo for base packages. Add-on modules for scalability have extra costs.	$29/mo Basic Plan is a fit for many farms. Apps with additional monthly costs are needed for many features commonly used by CSAs, such as scheduling order pickups or subscriptions.	$49/mo per location Plus Plan has been a fit for many farms – but as of Nov 2025, plans are charged per location, so farms with lots of pickup locations or drop points may have a high monthly platform cost.
Transaction fees for online sales	Credit card fee: 2.9% + 30¢ per transaction ACH: $1 or 0.1% per transfer Transfer funds to your bank account: 0.20% fee, +$2 per month	Credit card fee: Depends on POS system used.	Credit card fee: 2.9% + 30¢ per credit card transaction. Payments are processed through Paypal.	Per-order fee: 2% platform fee Credit card fee: 2.9% + 30¢ per transaction ACH transactions: +1% ($5 max) Offline payments: Free	Credit card fee: Depends on chosen merchant service. Uses Authorize.net payment gateway and farms choose their own merchant service provider (Square, Stripe, Paypal).	Credit card fee: 2.9% + 30¢ per transaction	Credit card fee: 2.9% + 30¢ per credit card transaction (drops to 2.6% on top plan)

Best CSA platform for…

Best platform for the farmer who prefers simple tech

Farmigo, CSAware, and GrownBy all tie here. Their user interfaces are simple, easy to navigate, and have straightforward functionality. Because all these platforms do is manage CSAs, you will need to plan to handle everything else (POS, website, etc.) through other platforms.

Best platform for accepting SNAP online

As a heads up, your business must be authorized by the USDA to accept SNAP/EBT benefits, and additional authorization is required to accept online payments specifically.

GrownBy and CSAware both have features where SNAP customers are sent automated weekly emails to enter their PIN and opt into their share for the week. 

This is important because customers using SNAP funds can’t be charged for anything more than a week in advance or on an automatic system without them taking action. The idea behind this is SNAP customers aren’t locked into something if money is tight, their life circumstances change, and/or they need to adjust how they use their benefits. 

Local Food Marketplace can also accept SNAP online, but only for purchases ordered one at a time, not on a recurring basis.

Best for sending member notifications by SMS text message

CSAware and Local Food Marketplace are the only platforms that offer automated SMS features directly through the platform. Other platforms require you to download contacts via a report and upload them to outside SMS platforms like Klaviyo. 

GrownBy has an app, and if customers have the app on their smartphone, they will receive automated push notifications.

Best for add-on products priced by the pound

Local Food Marketplace and Barn2Door both have features to support variable-weight products like meat, priced by the pound that a farmer may want to offer as a one-time add-on to their CSA members.

Best for farms and food hubs that aggregate  

Local Food Marketplace is the platform for farms and businesses aggregating products across a network of farms or food hubs — and the only one that enables the individual producers to manage their products directly in the platform.

Best for supporting a cooperative business

GrownBy is the only farmer-owned cooperative e-commerce in the country. They are cooperatively owned by farmers and their staff. Any farm using GrownBy can join their co-op with an optional contribution of $250.

A note on using Shopify and Square for CSA management

We include Shopify and Square — which are e-commerce and point-of-sale (POS) platforms, not CSA platforms — in this comparison because many farms ask us about this. While it may seem simpler to use these platforms to manage a CSA because you’re already using them for POS or online sales, the reality is Shopify and Square can only work for buy-down CSAs, and they lack a lot of the functionality that software built for CSAs has.

Have updates or corrections to these details? Let us know!

Taking the next step, marketing your CSA 

A strong farm website will form the foundation for marketing your CSA. Your website tells your story and gets your farm to show up on Google and other search engines, so it’s worth getting right.

Already have a solid website and just looking for some help marketing your CSA? Our expert team has helped dozens of farms grow their sales via email and SMS marketing, search engine optimization (SEO), digital advertising, and organic social media campaigns. 

Join the dozens of other farms that partner with Grapevine to build a strong website and marketing program!

---

Find out how this CSA farm increased sales by 30%

“We suddenly stopped wondering if we're going to be here next year. And now we just have this feeling of yes, we're here. We got this. And we have the people and we have the power to continue.”

Read more about Winterspring Farm’s success →

---

More Farm Marketing Resources