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Stape vs Walityk: Which Server-Side Tracking for Shopify?

An honest comparison of Stape (managed sGTM) and Walityk (no-code server-side): architecture, setup, compliance, and who each one is for.

· 8 min read · The Walityk Team

If you’re looking to move to server-side tracking, two names come up often: Stape and Walityk. Both solve the same underlying problem — recovering conversions lost to ITP, ad blockers, and CMPs — but with different philosophies. Here’s a factual comparison so you can choose with eyes open.

Two approaches to the same problem

  • Stape is a server-side Google Tag Manager (sGTM) hosting provider. It gives you a hosted sGTM container, a subdomain, and tooling around it (Power-Ups). You keep full control over the GTM configuration.
  • Walityk is a no-code server-side solution. You install a native app (Shopify or WordPress), connect your destinations, and tracking flows server-side without touching GTM or a container.

The difference fits in one sentence: Stape gives you the infrastructure, Walityk gives you the result.

Setup

This is the most concrete difference.

With Stape, you still have to:

  1. Know (or learn) server-side GTM: clients, triggers, tags, variables.
  2. Configure each server tag (Meta CAPI, Google Enhanced Conversions, TikTok Events API…) by hand.
  3. Handle data mapping, PII hashing, and event_id deduplication.
  4. Wire up Consent Mode v2 yourself inside GTM.

Stape makes the hosting easy, but not the configuration: you need a technical profile (or an agency) who knows GTM.

With Walityk, you:

  1. Install the native app.
  2. Connect your destinations via OAuth or a token paste.
  3. That’s it — deduplication, SHA-256 hashing, Consent Mode v2, and the first-party endpoint are handled.

If you have a data team who knows GTM, Stape’s approach gives you more freedom. If you just want it to work without becoming a GTM expert, Walityk removes the configuration step.

Architecture and ownership

With Stape, the sGTM container runs on their infrastructure (or yours via Cloud Run if you self-host). You set up a CNAME subdomain for first-party.

With Walityk, the first-party endpoint and the relay to the platform APIs are managed for you. You provision no container, no CNAME, no DNS.

In both cases, data flows to your domain, then to the platforms — it’s genuine server-side. The difference is who assembles and maintains the plumbing.

Compliance (GDPR / Consent Mode v2)

  • Stape: Consent Mode v2 is possible but it’s on you to wire it correctly inside GTM. Done wrong, the consent signal and the events drift out of sync.
  • Walityk: consent is deny by default, buffered, then applied server-side deterministically before anything is sent. No advertising event leaves without a legal basis.

For the details, see our Consent Mode v2 guide for Shopify.

Who is each for?

Choose Stape if:

  • You (or your agency) know server-side GTM.
  • You have very specific configuration needs and want full control.
  • You already run multiple GTM containers and want clean hosting.

Choose Walityk if:

  • You’re on Shopify (or WordPress) and want server-side without standing up infrastructure.
  • You don’t have a data team dedicated to GTM.
  • You want deduplication, hashing, and Consent Mode handled by default.

In short

There’s no wrong choice — there’s a choice that fits your team. Stape is excellent for those who want to host and pilot their own sGTM. Walityk is built for merchants who want the benefit of server-side without the configuration and maintenance burden.

To see the no-code approach, check out Walityk’s Shopify install or read our complete server-side tracking guide.