Side by side!
Copia vs a spreadsheet
Plenty of CSAs run on a Google Form, a spreadsheet and Venmo, and it works. Here’s when it’s enough, when it starts to strain, and what Copia does instead.
When a spreadsheet is enough
If you have a few dozen members on one share, they pay once for the season, and few of them skip or swap, a spreadsheet costs nothing and you already know how to use it. Copia starts at $49/mo plus a Shopify plan. It earns that when the weekly changes, the bills and the pack list start eating your evenings.
Keep the spreadsheet if…
- You offer one share size and members pay upfront for the season
- Members rarely skip, swap or change their pickup
- You don’t sell on Shopify and don’t plan to
- You’d rather spend the time than a monthly fee
Choose Copia if…
- Members skip, swap and pause most weeks, and you’re the one updating the sheet
- You offer several share sizes, and work out each one by hand
- You bill by the delivery or the month, and chase payments by text
- You already sell on Shopify and want members in the same store
What each costs your farm
Your numbers
A spreadsheet is free, so its cost is your time. Put in your own guess.
Spreadsheet
$0/mo
Google Forms and Sheets are free with a Google account.
Your time: 3 hours a week is about $325/mo at $25 an hour.
Venmo: 1.9% + 10¢ per payment on a business profile, so $0.86 on a $40 box. A personal account can’t take payments from members you don’t personally know, unless they’re marked as goods and services (2.99%).
Copia
Already on Shopify
$49/mo
Starting a Shopify store
$88/mo
Seedling plan $49/mo for 50 members. Shopify Basic is $39/mo if you don’t have it ($29/mo billed yearly).
Cards: 2.9% + 30¢ online through Shopify Payments (Basic plan), so $1.46 on a $40 box. Members pay each bill from an emailed Shopify invoice.
At 40 members, Copia costs about what 2 hours of your time are worth each month, if you’re already on Shopify. By your estimate, admin takes about 13 hours a month now.
Week by week
The jobs a CSA repeats every week, done each way.
- Signups
- SpreadsheetA Google Form; you copy each answer into the sheet
- CopiaA signup form on your Shopify store; members become your Shopify customers
- Payments
- SpreadsheetVenmo requests or checks, marked off in the sheet by hand
- CopiaA Shopify invoice emailed for each bill; when a member pays, Copia marks their box paid
- Skips and swaps
- SpreadsheetMembers text or email you, and you update the sheet
- CopiaMembers skip, swap or pause in their account, up to a cutoff you set
- Share sizes
- SpreadsheetYou work out each size by hand
- CopiaEnter a full share, and the other sizes follow
- Pack day
- SpreadsheetA count you tally from the sheet
- CopiaHarvest totals, then a slip for each member with their size, swaps and add-ons
- Pickup
- SpreadsheetA printed list to check off
- CopiaCheck-in on a laptop, a tablet or Shopify POS
- Reminders
- SpreadsheetEmails you write and send
- CopiaPickup and delivery reminders sent for you
- A full share
- SpreadsheetA second tab of names to email when a spot opens
- CopiaNew signups join a waitlist instead of being charged
Your spreadsheet is your import file
- 1
Download it as a CSV
In Google Sheets, File → Download → Comma-separated values.
Copia needs only an email column.
- 2
Match your columns
Tell Copia what each column is: name, email, phone, delivery address, size, add-ons. Ignore the rest. Then pick the season, billing and pickup or delivery for everyone at once.
How importing works - 3
Start with your next season
Date your first Copia delivery after your last one on the spreadsheet, so no box is billed twice or missed. Members manage their box from their account on your store.
Venmo’s fees and rules from its fees page and user agreement, checked October 22, 2026. Copia’s side from its own help center and pricing page. Your time is your own estimate: Copia doesn’t claim a number of hours it saves. Google Forms, Google Sheets and Venmo are trademarks of their owners; Copia isn’t affiliated with or endorsed by them. See something wrong? Email [email protected] and we’ll fix it.