In this guide, we get right into what you want from an ecommerce platform: top-notch features, affordability, and solid customer support.
Weโll explore the absolute best ecommerce platforms in general, then narrow them down based on certain use cases.
Top Ecommerce Platforms
After extensive research and testing, we narrowed the search for the best ecommerce platforms to these options:
- Shopify – Best overall ecommerce platform
- Wix – Best for Beginners
- BigCommerce – Best for mid to large business
- Squarespace – Best for Creatives
- Sellfy – Best for creators
- Simvoly – Best White Label Solution
- Square Online – Best for retailers
- Ecwid – Best for small business / startups
- EDD – Best for Selling Digital Goods
- Medusa.js – Best Open Source Platform
- WooCommerce – Best for WordPress Sites
- Webflow – Best for No-Code Store Design
Table of contents:
What are the Best Ecommerce Platforms in 2024?
1. Shopify – Best overall ecommerce platform
Best overall
Shopify is packed with many useful features, and its developers consistently gather feedback from users to release updates and new products that cater to their needs.
It's a popular choice for businesses around the world looking to create an online store, and in our view, it's the top ecommerce platform available.
Home to millions of merchants, Shopify fuels 10% of the entire ecommerce industry in the US. It also provides an impressive ecommerce community for business owners, developers, partners, and entrepreneurs.
The reason Shopify has grown in popularity is due to its sleek interface, reasonable pricing, and its flexibility with all types of stores.
For instance, you can run a retail point of sale with Shopify POS Go, while also handling a multichannel selling campaign through the Shopify dashboard.
Itโs one of the best ecommerce platforms for fulfilling orders affordably and quickly, and itโs definitely the best when it comes to managing your entire business in one place.
Pricing
Shopify offers monthly subscriptions, but you can save a significant amount of money by opting for the yearly plans (25% to be exact).
Here are the plans:
- ‘Starter‘: $5 per month; this is not a real online store, rather a selling option for influencers and content creators whoโd like to list and process payments for products on their current blogs or social pages. Itโs not for true ecommerce businesses. The plan features a sleek landing page and links to add to social sites, selling through WhatsApp and Instagram, order management, and Buy buttons to include on a blog.
- ‘Basic‘: Starting at $29 per month (for the yearly plan), this package is the standard for entrepreneurs to launch a real online store with a shopping cart and checkout module. You can list unlimited products, sell on sales channels, and build a website with a visual page builder. Other features include gift cards, manual order creation, abandoned cart recovery, and basic reports.ย
- ‘Shopify‘: Starting at $79 per month (yearly plan) for everything in the previous plan, plus more staff accounts (5), improved reporting, more shipping benefits, decreased credit card rates, and ecommerce automations (the best part about this plan).ย
- ‘Advanced‘: Starting at $299 per month (yearly plan) for more staff accounts (15), advanced reports, further decreases in credit card fees, and the estimating and collecting of duties and import taxes. Itโs a must-have plan for international business.ย
- Shopify Plus: Starting at $2,300 per month, the Plus plan is for rapidly growing brands and high-volume businesses with requirements for the utmost customization. You must contact Shopify to get a quote. Highlights include highly advanced automations, improved conversion elements, and the best optimization Shopify has to offer.ย
Shopify offers a free trial for 3 days without a credit card. It regularly has promotions (like the current one to enjoy your first month of Shopify for $1 ).
We recommend seeking out one of these promotions, and combining that with a yearly plan for the best value. Learn more about the trial here.
Pros ๐
- Shopify offers excellent value for money, particularly with its yearly subscription plans.
- Shopify consistently introduces new features based on user feedback, ensuring that the platform remains current and meets the needs of its users.
- Even with its Basic plan, users can access the abandoned cart recovery feature, which can help increase sales.
- Shopify offers ecommerce and marketing automation, providing users with streamlined workflows.
- The app store and theme store are among the best in the industry, offering a vast array of high-quality options.
- All Shopify users receive access to Shopify POS Lite for free and have the option to purchase the Shopify POS Go device for in-store retail purposes.
- Shopify offers world-class product shipping and fulfillment options, including the ability to use dropshipping or buy products wholesale through an app, and have Shopify manage the entire fulfillment process.
Cons ๐
- It's worth noting that there are fees associated with using payment processors other than Shopify Payments.
- While Shopify's website designer is user-friendly, it's not a fully customizable drag-and-drop builder like those offered by other platforms.
- While it's possible to avoid excessive expenses, the wide variety of app subscriptions available on Shopify can make it easy to overspend if you're not careful.
Who is it best for?
We confidently recommend Shopify as our top pick for an ecommerce platform, suitable for both current online store owners and anyone looking to start their own online store.
It's particularly well-suited for small businesses due to its user-friendly design process, and it's capable of scaling to meet the needs of mid-sized and enterprise businesses with its advanced reporting, automation, and international selling tools.
Further reading ๐
2. Wix
Best for Beginners
Saying Wix is for beginners is an understatement, and thatโs not a bad thing.
Wix has come the closest to perfecting the drag-and-drop editor; even a complete newcomer to the web design and ecommerce game can figure out how to make a beautiful, functional ecommerce store.
Wix offers plans for regular business and personal websites, but weโre more interested in its ecommerce packages.
Needless to say, Wix does ecommerce well, providing an all-in-one ecommerce platform; you can sell online, post to social media, launch items through sales channels, and even run a point of sale system.
It has a solid payment processing infrastructure, along with apps, themes, marketing tools, and a unified dashboard.
Pricing
Wix sells plans for personal and business websites (without ecommerce functionality). They range from Free to $45 per month. But to build an online store, you must opt for one of the Business and Ecommerce plans.
Here are the Wix ecommerce plans:
- ‘Business Basic‘: $27 per month for a complete online store, unlimited products, online payments, abandoned cart recovery, selling on social channels, online bookings, event management, reservations, art monetization, hotel listings, and fitness website management.
- ‘Business Unlimited‘: $32 per month for everything in the previous plan, plus automated sales tax, dropshipping, product reviews, subscriptions, multiple currencies, advanced shipping, and marketplace selling.
- ‘Business VIP‘: $59 per month for everything in the previous plans, plus customized reports, higher limits on things like dropshipping and reviews, and a loyalty program.
Wix has a free plan, but itโs limited in the realm of ecommerce. Wix is definitely one of the best ecommerce platforms around, but only with the plans meant to support online stores. The free plan, however, serves as a nice free trial.
Pros ๐
- Unlimited products
- Plentiful, and highly functional, themes and apps
- Thereโs a free plan to test things out
- Itโs the easiest design interface around
- Complete beginners can build beautiful websites with the drag-and-drop builder, themes, and apps
- The pricing is cheaper than most other competitors
- You receive essential tools like abandoned cart recovery and selling on social channels in the Basic plan
- There are unique tools built in for dropshipping, loyalty programs, and product reviews
- Wix has industry-specific dashboards and selling features for fitness, restaurants, and hotels
Cons ๐
- Limited on storage space and video hours in the Basic and Unlimited plans
- Separate dashboards for ecommerce and web design, making it a bit confusing
- Some flexibility issues, like how itโs difficult to change the theme after you picked one
- Limited access to coding files
Who is it best for?
Beginners. If you donโt know how to code, have never designed a website, or potentially never started a business, Wix is the best ecommerce platform for you.
Having said that, itโs not uncommon for more advanced users to consider Wix, especially since it released a more advanced builder with API access and developer tools.
Further reading ๐
3. BigCommerce
Best for mid to large businesses
Scaling your business should be priority #1 for you as an entrepreneur. So, why not choose a platform that pushes you to grow?
BigCommerce has long been the fiercest competitor to Shopify, but it has shifted its strategy as a platform that fosters rapidly growing online stores. Even its pricing is set up to raise as you increase your sales.
With both enterprise and essential pricing plans, small and large businesses alike can launch a store, grow their business, and utilize essentials like a conversion optimized checkout, an infrastructure built with native features (rather than relying on apps), and even headless commerce options for integrating your store with WordPress.
Pricing
The first pricing plan you see on the BigCommerce website is its Enterprise solution. Thatโs a highly customize system for high-volume businesses. You must request a demo to receive a price.
You can find the standard pricing plans under the Essentials tab on BigCommerce.com:
- ‘Standard‘: Starting at $29 per month for a complete online store with no transaction fees, unlimited staff, products, and storage, a POS, multichannel selling, multiple storefronts, social selling, Google Shopping, a single-page checkout, pro reporting, reviews, real-time shipping quotes, and a blog. This plan is for stores with up to $50k in sales per year.
- ‘Plus‘: Starting at $79 per month for everything in the previous plan, plus customer groups, segmentation, an abandoned cart saver, a persistent cart, stored credit cards, and lower credit card rates. This plan is for stores with $180k in sales per year.
- ‘Pro‘: Starting at $299 per month for everything in the previous plans, plus Google customer reviews, custom product filtering, and further decreases in credit card rates. This plan is for stores with up to $400k sales per year.
- ‘Enterprise‘: Custom pricing for everything in the previous plans, unlimited everything, the ShipperHQ shipping rules engine, price lists, unlimited API calls, express routing, priority support, a customer success manager, and the lowest credit card rates offered by BigCommerce.
The prices listed above are the yearly plans; the monthly plans are slightly more expensive (except for the Standard planโthatโs the same price).
The Plus Plan from BigCommerce is ideal for mid to large-sized businesses with its special credit card rates, abandoned cart saver, and customer groups and segmentation.
While it's pricier than the Standard Plan, the added features make it a worthwhile investment for businesses serious about growth and maximizing their online presence.
Pros ๐
- Itโs a platform that relies more on built-in features, instead of piecing together multiple apps
- The multi-storefront functionality is top-notch
- Numerous tools for international selling
- You get third-party calculated shipping rates regardless of your plan
- BigCommerce has no transaction fees, and doesnโt penalize you for using a third-party payment gateway (like Shopify does)
- Thereโs robust reporting in all plans
- You can integrate with WordPress, or use the blogging interface, which is better than the competition
- Beautiful ecommerce themesโsome of the most professional-looking templates on the market
Cons ๐
- You must upgrade to the Plus plan for abandoned cart recovery
- They make you upgrade your plan when you reach a certain revenue mark per year
- Limited shipping discounts
- No RSS feeds through the blogging interface
- No smart rules for product categorization
Who is it best for?
Seeing as how BigCommerce requires users to upgrade their plans as their businesses grow, it makes the most sense for mid-sized and large businesses.
High-volume ecommerce stores love BigCommerce for its customizable workflows, robust collection of built-in features, and conversion optimized checkout module.
Further reading ๐
4. Squarespace
Best for Creatives
With photo-centric themes and a true drag-and-drop builder, Squarespace is the place for creatives to show off their work.
On the other hand, itโs not a bad platform for any ecommerce business that plans to use high-resolution imagery on their website.
Squarespace sells all-in-one website building plans for personal, business, and ecommerce websites, yet weโll show you why it's considered one of the best ecommerce platforms (hint: much of it has to do with its themes/design, but we also like the unique products for reservations, subscriptions, and bookings).
Pricing
We wonโt list the Personal plan, even though you can embed a PayPal button on your site. Itโs more for simple business/personal websites.
Otherwise, Squarespace has three ecommerce-worthy pricing plans:
- ‘Business‘: Starting at $23 per month for a complete website with fully integrated ecommerce. Thereโs a 3% transaction fee, but you get templates, advanced analytics, a drag-and-drop editor, extensions, CSS/JavaScript customization, audience management, promotional popups, a video maker, and unlimited products.
- ‘Commerce Basic‘: Starting at $27 per month for an online store without any transaction fees (0%). You also receive everything from the previous plan, plus a checkout on your domain, powerful merchandising, a POS, limited availability labels, selling on Facebook and Instagram, customer accounts, and product reviews.
- ‘Commerce Advanced‘: Starting at $49 per month for everything in the previous plans, 0% transaction fees, advanced shipping, subscriptions, abandoned cart recovery, commerce APIs, advanced discounts, and advanced shipping.
These prices are for the yearly plans, which save you the most money. Itโs a little pricier to pay monthly.
Squarespace offers a free trial that lasts for 14 days; they give you an option to extend that free trial for 7 days.
Pros ๐
- Industry-leading templates with a flair for showing off high-resolution photos
- A true drag-and-drop builder
- Advanced website analytics for all plans with ecommerce support
- Unique features like subscriptions and bookings (things youโd usually need apps to get)
- Easy to navigate the dashboard
- Access to CSS and JavaScript tools in all plans
- Options for API access
Cons ๐
- The abandoned cart functionality requires the most expensive plan
- Thereโs a 3% transaction fee in the Business plan
- Higher pricing than alternatives
- Templates can be restrictive, meaning you should select one that you donโt intend to change much
- Limited payment processing options
Who is it best for?
We recommend Squarespace for:
- Businesses that sell subscriptions, since itโs built into one of the plans
- Stores with online booking or scheduling needs
- Creatives, or creative businesses that want to highlight beautiful artwork, photography, or general products in a stylistic manner
Further reading ๐
5. Sellfy
Best for creators
Sellfy is an intuitive and holistic eCommerce platform. Almost uniquely, it comes with all the features you need to sell physical, digital, subscription, and POD products without needing third-party integrations.
Instead, you can manage all the above product types from the convenience of your Sellfy dashboard.
At the time of writing, over 60,000 creators use Sellfy to fuel their online stores and have collectively generated more than $100 million in total revenue.
It's a good choice for those new to eCommerce. Its dashboard and website editor are intuitive to navigate, with some users claiming to have their online stores up and running within days.
In terms of in-built marketing features, you can generate and distribute customer discount codes.
You'll also have access to email marketing tools, allowing you to grow your email list and send customers product updates.
On top of that, you can upsell shoppers from their checkout page, which is handy for boosting average order value.
Lastly, you can add Facebook and Twitter ad pixels to your store to better monitor the performance of your ads.
Pricing
Sellfy offers monthly billing, but you can save money by opting for its yearly or two-yearly billing cycles.
Below are Sellfyโs pricing plans (quotes based on annual billing):
- โStarterโ: For $22 a month, you can launch an eCommerce store from which you can sell unlimited physical, digital, and subscription products that collectively generate up to $10,000 in sales a year. You can also connect a custom web domain and access email marketing features.
- โBusinessโ: At $59 a month, this package is described as Sellfyโs โbest value.โ You get everything in the Starter package. However, you can generate up to $50,000 in sales annually and remove Sellfyโs branding from your site. You also benefit from store design migration, cart abandonment functionality, and product upselling.
- โPremiumโ: For $119 a month, you get everything in the previous two plans, plus product migration, priority support, and you can generate up to $200,000 in sales a year.
If you make over $200,000 in sales a year, youโll have to contact Sellfy directly for a custom quote. It's also worth noting that Sellfy offers a free two-week trial with no credit card required, and if you decide Sellfy isnโt for you, you can fall back on their 30-day money-back guarantee.
Pros ๐
- Itโs super easy to get up and running with Sellfy
- Thereโs a generous 30-day moneyback guarantee
- You can add custom code for more granular customization
- Sellfyโs array of in-built marketing tools is handy
- Sellfyโs embedding features make it easy to sell on other websites
- Sellfy enables you to sell various product types from one storefront.
- You can list unlimited products
- You can provide customers a localized experience because Sellfy translates your online store as per your visitorโs location.
- If you sell digital products, youโll benefit from security features like PDF stamps, download limits, and SSL encryption.
Cons ๐
- You have to upgrade your pricing plan if you exceed your package's pre-determined yearly sales limit.
- There isnโt a freemium plan available.
- Although Sellfyโs themes are beautiful, there are only five to choose from
- You have to upgrade to Sellfyโs Business plan to remove Sellfyโs branding from your website.
Who is it best for?
Sellfy is best for those wanting to sell an array of product types from one online store (physical, digital, subscription, and print-on-demand products).
However, it doesn't integrate with any third-party dropshipping services, so if you're looking to start a dropshipping business, Sellfy isn't the platform for you.
That said, Sellfy is also an excellent choice if you already have other websites up and running and wish to embed your Sellfy products (or entire store) onto them.
6. Simvoly
Best white label solution
Best for eCommerce businesses looking for an all-in-one website and sales funnel builder with white-label options.
Businesses looking for a one-stop website building and eCommerce solution may benefit from considering the lesser-known Simvoly.
Itโs been around since 2016, and since Simvoly's launch, more than 1 million websites have been created using it.
Simvoly offers a range of features, including a drag-and-drop page builder, 200+ templates, custom checkouts (including one-click upsells and downsells), eCommerce functionality (including physical and digital products, services, and subscription memberships), email and automation flows, sales funnels, A/B testing, and even white-label options.
Pricing
Simvoly offers a range of pricing packages, but looking specifically at its eCommerce plans, there are four:
- Personal: $12/mo paid annually or $18 month-to-month – for one website, full eCommerce features, one funnel, 20 website pages, funnel analytics, A/B testing, CRM, 10GB bandwidth for up to 10,000 monthly site visitors, Access to the AI Assistant, SSL, 1,200 emails to 100 monthly subscribers, the ability to list five products, access analytics, quizzes and surveys, and 0% transaction fees.
- Business: $29/mo paid annually or $36 month-to-month – for all the above and five funnels, unlimited website pages, 60GB bandwidth for 60,000 monthly site visitors, bump offers, 1-click upsells, you can list 100 products, and manage recurring payments.
- Growth: $59/mo paid annually or $69 month-to-month- for all the above and 20 funnels, 6,000 emails to 500 subscribers per month, you can list unlimited products, and get 200 GB bandwidth for up to 200,000 monthly site visitors.
- Pro: $149/mo paid annually or $179 month-to-month – for all the above and three websites, unlimited funnels, unlimited pages, 12,000 emails to a maximum of 1,000 subscribers per month, and 400GB of bandwidth for up to 400,000 monthly site visitors.
In addition to the above, there are price plans for additional email and automation capabilities if you exceed your monthโs subscription allowance.
Prices start at $9/mo for up to 500 more subscribers, rising to $399/mo for 100,000+.
Lastly, there are three price plans aimed at anyone after white-label options. This option is aimed at developers, SaaS, and agencies creating websites for multiple clients or those wishing to offer clients a DIY website-building solution.
These plans start at $59/mo paid annually or $69 if you pay monthly and rise to $199/mo paid annually or $249 if you pay monthly.
Pros ๐
- There's a decent choice of attractive, mobile, SEO-optimized, and customizable templates.
- The drag-and-drop page builder is effortless to use
- Simvoly is more than a website builder; each plan offers AI assistance, sales funnel building, analytics, full eCommerce capabilities, generous bandwidth, unlimited website pages on all but the cheapest plan, and more.
- Thereโs a free 14-day trial with no credit card needed.
- You can create quizzes and surveys to capture leads on all but the cheapest plan.
- Capterra and GetApp users each give it 4.8 stars out of 5
- You can set up an eCommerce store selling physical and digital products, membership plans, and services.
- Complete white labeling is available.
Cons ๐
- Thereโs a limit on how many products you can list on all but the two most expensive plans
- The White Label pricing structure is confusing
- Itโs a less well-known and, therefore, less explored option
Who is it best for?
Simvoly is best for eCommerce store owners with smaller product catalogs looking for a website platform that also offers sales funnel building.
It's also a good option if you need a white-label website-building solution.
However, some of its competitors (e.g., Wix) offer greater AI capabilities. Simvolyโs AI is restricted to generating SEO titles, descriptions, and product information. Unlike Wix, its AI Assistant wonโt create an entire website for you.
Simvoly also has a bit of a learning curve. So newbies may prefer one of the alternatives on this list. That said, the free trial offers plenty of time to get acquainted with how Simvoly works, so you have nothing to lose by trying it!
7. Square Online
Best for retailers
Square Online, from the well-known payment processing company, strives to provide as many free online selling tools as possible. This works out well, since merchants receive a free online store, payment processor, and promotional tools.
Square makes its money by collecting credit card fees. So, there are minimal upfront costs, but youโre limited to using Square as a payment gateway.
Having said that, the free plan isnโt the only option to consider. There are premium plans for more advanced ecommerce features. But for retail and most online stores, the free plan seems like a winner.
Pricing
The vast majority of online and retail selling tools are available for free. There are, however, two premium plans.
Hereโs the roundup:
- ‘Free‘: $0 for a website builder with SEO tools, acceptance of multiple payment types, Square processing already configured, a complete online store, social selling, shipping and pickup and local delivery, syncing with Square POS, order/fulfillment management, automatic tax calculations, donations, unlimited products, marketing tools, and more. This plan lacks analytics.
- ‘Plus‘: $29 per month for everything in the previous plan, plus expanded site customization, customer accounts, personalized ordering, advanced item settings, PayPal support, and self serve ordering. This plan also removes Square branding, allows for custom domains, and offers abandoned cart recovery.
- ‘Premium‘: $79 per month for all features in previous plans, plus a decreased credit card processing fee, and real-time shipping rates.
For each plan you get:
- An online store right out of the box; itโs great as long as you want to avoid customizing too much
- Intuitive interface for adding products
- You can actually integrate with other website builders and platforms
Pros ๐
- Competitive pricing, and a free plan with most features you need for selling online and in retail
- A powerful point of sale system (with industry-leading hardware)
- Mobile point of sale
- Direct integrations between online stores and retail point of sales
- One of the few platforms with in-house, curbside, and on-demand delivery options (and self-serve QR code ordering)
- Built in methods like Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Cash App Pay
- Most marketing features come with all plans (including the free one); like a blog, lead-capture forms, coupons, social ads, social selling, and SEO
Cons ๐
- No analytics in the free plan
- Youโre stuck using Square for payment processing (not a bad thing, but itโs nice to have options)
- Free plan doesnโt allow custom domains
- The online store designs are too simple
- Not enough credit card discounts to make high-volume processing cost-effective
Who is it best for?
Itโs tough to consider anything outside of Square if youโre running a retail/ecommerce hybrid. Square helps you launch a nice online store for free, while also running your entire point of sale. And it has a large selection of mobile hardware, along with unique features for self-serve ordering, in-house delivery, and order status alerts.
Further reading ๐
8. Ecwid – Best for small business / startups
Smaller businesses, startups, and content creators should flock to Ecwid due to its external platform compatibility.
Thatโs the entire idea behind Ecwid, to add ecommerce functionality to any website, whether itโs WordPress, Joomla, or even any of the ecommerce platforms on this list.
Ecwid offers a free plan, along with features for selling anywhere online. Pin products on social posts, sync with online marketplaces, or list products on your blog.
The entire platform is similar to the Shopify Starter plan, but with far more features. Thatโs why we like it as one of the best ecommerce platforms for small businesses and startups.
Pricing
- ‘Free‘: $0 for an online store, social advertising, Facebook pixel, tax invoices, support for 5 products, an instant site builder, the ability to add your store to any website, themes, Apple Pay, email support, and embedding on dozens of platforms.
- ‘Venture‘: Starting at $14.08 per month for everything in the previous plan, plus support for 100 products, a Facebook shop, Instagram store, TikTok ads, discount coupons, auto tax calculations, inventory tracking, mobile apps, chat support, custom fields, custom domains, advanced SEO, pre-orders, access to extensions, Facebook Messenger, discounts, and gift cards.
- ‘Business‘: Starting at $29.08 per month for everything in the previous plans, plus abandoned cart emails, a mobile POS, selling on Amazon and eBay, automated email marketing, phone support, subscriptions, multiple languages, manual order creation, product variants, filters, advanced inventory tracking, dimensional shipping rates, more staff accounts, scheduled order pickup, and wholesale pricing groups.
- ‘Unlimited‘: Starting at $82.50 per month for all features from previous plans, plus priority support, a POS like Square, Clover, or Alice, and a potentially free (and branded) mobile app.
The above prices are for yearly plans. Thatโs where youโll get the most savings. Monthly plans are available for a higher price.
Pros ๐
- Put an online store on platforms like WordPress, Wix, Weebly, Squarespace, Joomla, Blogger, Tumblr, and more
- Advanced inventory tracking
- Thereโs a completely free plan
- Pricing is inexpensive across the board
- Ecwid offers the simplest way to turn any site into an ecommerce store
- Decent point of sale support
- Multilingual store versions
- Automated tax calculations
- Respectable themes with a pretty nice โinstant siteโ builder (a great way to start your design)
Cons ๐
- The free plan limits you to 5 products (which is truly just for content creators who want to add a few items to their blog or social site)
- In fact, only the highest plan has unlimited product support
- You canโt sell digital goods on the free plan
- Abandoned cart recovery requires the Business plan
- SEO is limited, especially in the free plan
- Not many integrations
Who is it best for?
Ecwid was made for small businesses, startups, and content creators, and it has remained that way. Every feature that comes out is meant for the hustlers and entrepreneurs out there. Its flexibility is unparalleled; integrate the online store with any other platform, and donโt worry about compatibility.
Further reading ๐
9. Easy Digital Downloads (EDD) – Best for Selling Digital Goods
Easy Digital Downloads, or EDD, is your go-to solution for selling digital products. Itโs a WordPress integration (similar to WooCommerce, but focused primarily on digital downloads), that turns any WordPress site or blog into an online store. The simplicity of EDD makes it desirable for just about any content creator interested in selling digital goods with far more advanced features for that purpose when compared to other platforms.
With EDD, you can list products like PDF files, eBooks, audio tracks, and software. EDD provides tools for accepting payments, creating discount codes, and sending out the downloadable files after someone makes a purchase. Itโs one of the best ecommerce platforms in general, but primarily for digital goods.
Pricing
There is a free version, but itโs limited. We recommend using it as a free trial, then upgrading to a premium (and extremely affordable) subscription.
- Personal: Starting at $99.50 per year to support one site and receive a multi-currency interface, an โadd to cartโ popup, acquisition survey, free downloads, per product emails, cross-selling and upselling, a variable price switcher, and social discounts. You also get all email marketing extensions from EDD.
- Extended: Starting at $179.55 per year for everything in the previous plan, plus all payment gateway extensions, and an onslaught of other features like PayPal, Stripe, a wallet, conditional gateways, Zapier, a pro version for discounts, Dropbox storage, Braintree, recurring payments, content restriction, and support for Authorize.net.
- Professional: Starting at $269.55 per year for everything in the previous plans, plus custom deliverables, recently viewed items, EDD wishlists, checkout fields manager, file uploads, frontend submissions, purchase limits, recommended products, simple shipping, push notifications, software licensing, and commissions.
- All Access Pass: Starting at $399.60 for all previously listed features, plus a long list of advanced features such as re-sent receipts, slack integrations, campaign tracking, advanced reports, fraud monitoring, featured downloads, terms per product, coupon importer, widgets, Gravity Forms checkout, and more.
The above prices are the regular promotions, so you may see slightly higher prices. But EDD has frequent discounts similar to whatโs listed. Each plan allows for an unlimited number of products.
Pros ๐
- It integrates with WordPress, which should be a comfortable interface for most content creators looking to sell digital products
- Although itโs limited in its features, EDD offers a free plan thatโs suitable for testing the platform
- Easy setup
- Itโs ready to go right out of the box
- Excellent reporting
- Far more features for digital sales than any other platform
- Highly customizable checkout module and product pages
- Dozens of extensions for things like recurring payments, software licensing, comparing products, and generating QR codes (there are also numerous third-party extensions to seek out)
- Multivendor support for building a marketplace
- Secure file storage and pirating protection
Cons ๐
- You canโt add it to any other platform besides WordPress
- Limited customer support (they typically just try to send you to online documentation)
- The list of extensions gets confusing (weโd rather many of these features were built into the platform)
- Many users say the default checkout and page designs seem outdated
Who is it best for?
Easy Digital Downloads stands strong as the top contender for digital sellers. If you create eBooks, PDFs, music, videos, courses, or anything that requires email delivery, EDD makes it all happen.
For that reason, we like it for content creators everywhere. If youโve ever tried to use Shopify or WooCommerce for digital downloads, youโll know that there are many features missing. EDD covers it all for you.
Further reading ๐
10. Medusa.js – Best Open Source Platform
Billed as an open-source alternative to Shopify, Medusa.js provides developers an opportunity to build ecommerce sites for free. Itโs similar to WordPress, but with a more advanced interface.
Weโd argue it replaces Magento as the #1 open-source ecommerce platform, since Magento is now owned by and sold by Adobe.
Having said that, the Medusa.js website is rich with development documentation. You can build and integrate anything you want with the system, and thereโs a strong community to fall back on for questions and discussion.
Pricing
- The self-hosted version is free forever.
- You must contact Medusa.js for a price quote to get premium customer support.
The creators of Medusa also offer referrals to developers if you need someone to create a site for you.
Pros ๐
- Itโs extremely fast
- The frontend is unattached from the backend, making for a less bulky interface
- Deployment only requires three commands
- Itโs designed for developers
- Build a completely custom website, with endless integrations
- Itโs completely free
Cons ๐
- The built-in features are limited; youโll find it pretty barebones if just moving from a platform like Shopify (The point, however, is to build from the ground up with Medusa.js)
- The themes are fairly rudimentary
- There arenโt many plugins to choose from
- You must have a developer, or be a developer yourself, to use Medusa.js; itโs too complicated otherwise
Who is it best for?
We like it for developers who want a free, open-source system with more potential than WordPress and advanced customization you canโt find from some of the best ecommerce platforms like Shopify and Bigcommerce. This definitely isnโt a platform for beginners.
Further reading ๐
11. WooCommerce – Best for WordPress Sites
WooCommerce falls between Shopify and Medusa.js in terms of its user base and user-friendliness. WooCommerce turns any WordPress website into an online store.
WordPress is open-source and free. The WooCommerce plugin is also free. It works well right out of the box, but most legitimate online stores require additional extensions for full functionality.
WordPress offers the best blogging platform in the business. Itโs wonderful for content creation, but you must keep in mind that itโs highly customizable.
This is a good thing for some people (like developers), but may feel intimidating to others. For example, you must go out and get a theme, a hosting package, and site optimization plugins.
Pros ๐
- Sell anything, and make any type of online store; from marketplaces to digital goods, and physical items to auctions, itโs all possible with WooCommerce
- The plugin is free
- Themes and extensions are affordable and readily available
- Thereโs a strong community and plentiful documentation about WooCommerce online
- Limitless customization, with access to site files and coding areas
- Integrate with any of the popular payment gateways
- Solid โgetting startedโ guide
- Quality security
- Unlimited products
- Solid reporting and inventory management
Cons ๐
- Extras are almost always necessary; youโll end up installing things like optimization plugins, along with ecommerce extensions for subscriptions, payment gateways, and merchandising
- Extra costs can build up, whether itโs for development fees or extension subscriptions
- It takes a considerable amount of work to make a functional, good-looking store
- Shipping rates arenโt included out of the box
- You canโt easily sync with marketplaces like Etsy or Amazon
- Speed and performance is heavily reliant on your host
Who is it best for?
If youโre comfortable creating content on WordPress, or already have a website running on WordPress, WooCommerce is the marquee solution for selling online.
The main reason youโd go elsewhere is if only selling digital goods (in that case, go for Easydigitaldownloads).
WooCommerce is also popular with developers, or merchants who crave full control over the customization of their websites.
Itโs not quite as simple as Shopify or Squarespace, but you have significantly stronger customization tools.
Further reading ๐
12. Webflow – Best for No-Code Store Design
If your main priority is to avoid code altogether, take a peek at Webflow. Itโs a highly customizable, drag-and-drop website builder that automatically adjusts website coding based on the visual modifications you make.
Essentially, Webflow reverses the development process, building visually first, then generating the necessary code.
Due to this methodology, itโs possible to never touch a line of code while constructing a Webflow online store.
We wonโt say itโs necessarily good for beginners, but rather a speedier option for developers to make highly customized sites. For that reason, Webflow is one of the best ecommerce platforms.
Pricing
General websites have their own pricing packages, ranging from free to $49 per month, but ecommerce plans are a different story.
You have three Webflow subscriptions to choose from for an ecommerce store:
- Standard: Starting at $29 per month for 500 products, 2,000 CMS items, a 2% transaction fee, custom checkout, custom shopping cart, email product fields, email customization, Stripe, PayPal, Apple Pay, auto tax calculations, unlimited sales, social selling, Mailchimp integration, custom code integration, manual shipping rules, and 3 staff accounts.
- Plus: Starting at $74 per month for everything in the previous plan, plus 0% transaction fees, 5,000 products, 10,000 CMS items, unbranded emails, and 10 staff accounts.
- Advanced: Starting at $212 per month for 15,000 products, 10,000 CMS items, and 15 staff accounts.
The above pricing is for yearly billing, which gets you the best rate. Pricing goes up if paying on a monthly basis.
Pros ๐
- Absolutely no need for coding
- Highly customizable online stores with excellent SEO
- Integrations with numerous third-party extensions and widgets
- Dynamic content and product collections
- Live prototyping for visualizing every change you make to your ecommerce site before publishing
- Excellent collaboration tools for building online stores with a team
- Web hosting is included, fast, and secure
- You gain access to thousands of templates
Cons ๐
- When you need to edit code, itโs not all that intuitive
- Although itโs a no-code designer, there is a fairly steep learning curve
- Thereโs an arbitrary limit of 100 static pages
- Some basic ecommerce functionality isnโt built into the system, like filters and subscriptions
Who is it best for?
Webflow is an interesting case because you can customize anything on your website (giving you more control than from a platform like Shopify), yet it doesnโt use any code (so itโs actually somewhat like Shopify with visual building).
However, itโs not quite as user-friendly as Shopify.
So, weโd argue that Webflow is for intermediate users who want a faster way to develop incredibly customized online stores.
Weโd recommend Webflow for online store owners who intend to hire a developer, but they still would like to learn how to customize the site themselves. Itโs a middle ground platform where both developers and beginners can dabble.
Other Ecommerce Platforms to Consider
If you havenโt found a solution from our list of the best ecommerce platforms, here are some other options that are widely used and recommended from our testing.
Adobe Commerce
Adobe Commerce used to be called Magento. It was an open source, highly customizable ecommerce platform that fueled millions of online stores.
After its purchase by Adobe, things have changed a bit. You can still technically download the open-source version of Magento, but all updated features come in the Adobe Commerce Pro package.
The pricing is customizable, and requires a demo and quote. Having said that, itโs a powerful online store building solution with image optimization, deployment tools, API access, and extreme customization.
We like it best for B2B merchants, but it stands strong for B2C due to its agility, integrations, and handling of spikes in traffic.
Podia
Podia has its footing in the online course market, but actually serves as an all-in-one ecommerce platform.
It has a free plan with extremely high transaction fees, along with two other plans that start at $33 per month.
We recommend Podia for online course sellers, or those with digital downloads. Itโs popular with merchants selling webinars as well.
Some benefits of Podia include its built-in community features, where you can create topics, accept members, and upload videos to the community.
Thereโs also email marketing, coupons, affiliate marketing, and sales tracking. Not to mention, Podia offers advanced tools for PayPal, social tracking, Zapier triggers, and third-party code.
Gumroad
Gumroad is one of the most popular places for content creators to sell online. For one, itโs free to use. The startup costs remain low (Gumroad makes most of its money from slightly higher than average transaction fees).
The beauty of Gumroad is its simplicity. Youโre definitely not making a fully branded online store, but you receive a landing page shop and payment processing right off the shelf.
The pricing is straightforward: 10% of all sales, and thatโs it. No monthly subscriptions involved.
Features include a custom landing page, embedding on other websites, simple memberships, subscriptions, multiple currencies, payment processing, coupons, and digital products (in fact, thatโs what youโll mainly sell on Gumroad).
Zyro by Hostinger
Zyro is a website building and ecommerce platform solution from Hostinger. Itโs mainly a way for Hostinger to get you to sign up for their website hosting, but Zyro is actually a powerful tool in itself.
Pricing starts at $3.59 per month but, in typically Hostinger fashion, will increase after the promotional period. For the Business (Ecommerce) plan, expect to eventually pay $14.99 per month.
Other than that, we consider it one of the best ecommerce platforms if you like a simple setup, intuitive inventory management, and automated selling tools.
You get paid instantly using methods like Google and Apple Pay, and have hundreds of ecommerce templates to choose from.
Not only that, but the shipping and delivery gets handled within Zyro, with automated shipping statuses, payment tracking, and order histories.
What is an Ecommerce Platform?
Letโs start with the basics โ what actually is an ecommerce platform?
An ecommerce platform is a software solution, designed to provide business owners with the tools they need to set up a digital store and begin selling online.
Each platform on the market today comes with its own unique set of capabilities.
However, virtually every ecommerce tool will have the core functionality companies need to manage an online retail business.
Most solutions will allow you to build online stores (with your own custom domain name), complete with blog pages, product pages, and checkout options.
Theyโll also feature tools for managing transactions, order fulfilment, customer support, and returns.
Some offerings can also include advanced solutions for specific business needs, such as POS integrations or options for multi-channel selling across marketplaces and social media platforms.
The overall โbestโ ecommerce platform for you will depend on your business model, sales strategy, and overall plan for growth.
Weโve chosen the best options above based on their ability to appeal to a wide range of business types.
Keep reading to learn about which are the best ecommerce platforms for:
- General use
- Beginners
- Mid to large businesses
- Creatives
- Retailers
- Small businesses and startups
- Selling digital goods
- Running your site on an open source system
- WordPress sites
- No-code store design
What to Look for When Choosing the Best Ecommerce Platforms
It's important to recognize that not all ecommerce platforms are equally suitable for all brands.
Therefore, it's recommended to compile a list of essential features that you require before beginning your platform search.
What may be the best ecommerce platform for one store could potentially result in higher expenses for other businesses in the future.
Here is a list of must-have features to guide your search:
- Reasonable, scaleable pricing: within your budget and flexible enough to grow with your business
- Support for enough products: do you need to sell 10 or 1,000 products?
- Payment gateways that work for your business: some payment processors only work in some countries, or for certain industries. Make sure you check to see that your ecommerce platform supports the payment gateway you want.
- Design elements suitable for your skill level: are you a developer who wants full coding customization, or a complete beginner? Do you want a drag-and-drop builder or a visible section-based builder? And does the platform provide quality templates?
- Integrations and built-in tools: You want to ensure that your ecommerce platform has all the unique features you need to run your business. If not, make sure it has a large collection of apps or integrations to complete the construction of your store.
- Great customer support: online documentation is good; chat/email support is better; phone support is best, especially when money is on the line.
- Marketing tools: like email marketing, social selling, and search engine ads.
- Ways to source products and ship them to customers: these often come in the form of apps or integrations.
Keep reading to learn all about the best ecommerce platforms from our in-depth testing.
Our Methodology
Frequently asked questions ๐ค
If you encounter specific questions during your research, read through the following FAQs to help you along the way.
In this section, we provide honest answers to the most pressing questions. This way, you have ideas for which ecommerce platforms to utilize based on your industry, the size of your business, and which types of features you may need.
Many of the FAQs serve as summaries of what was outlined above, but we also touch on the best ecommerce platforms for things like SEO, dropshipping, and more.
So, if you're still struggling to narrow down your search, use the FAQs to help!
What's The Best Ecommerce Platform for SEO?
What's The Best Ecommerce Platform for Small Business?
What's the best Ecommerce platform for Dropshipping?
What's the Best Free Ecommerce Platform?
What's the Best Platform for B2B?
What's the Best Open Source Ecommerce Platform?
What are the Best Ecommerce Platforms for Startups
Best Ecommerce Platform for Selling Digital Products
“Can you help me to create a store using Shopify / BigCommerce / Wix?”
Yes, I do work with experts knowledgeable in each of these popular ecommerce platforms. Please fill out this form to make sure I will be able to recommend you the right people to work with.
Thanks for this honest comparisons! I think that WIX might be a better fit for me to create an ecommerce store. This was very helpful ๐
Thanks for sharing!
Interesting post karol
Rhanks Rakesh!
Wow, impressive post! Really appreciate the effort spent on comparing all these platforms. Sometimes it’s really hard to decide which one would fit your expectations and needs. Therefore, I often use Cart2Cart’s migration preview service and migrate some of the data to their test store without even installing the platform. It’s really convenient, especially for those who are still at a crossroads. I did migrate my store to Shopify and the platform is awesome!
๐๐๐
I am running an eCommerce business. This post really helps me a lot.
Happy to hear that!
Intersting post Karol ! Thanks from France !
You’re welcome!
So many details about custom PHP web development are well-covered! I’d also add WooCommerce to the list, though, however, that’s just my personal opinion.
Good comparison. However, Iโd like to say the “best eCommerce platform” is something that fits your business model. Best to sell products on facebook is Ecwid, best to embed products is abantecart, best for startups and newbies is Shopify or bigcommerce of course.
Hey there!
Thanks so much for this article! Very informative, and a ton of great comparison data on these products. I think it’s worth noting that Ecwid actually recently released a variety of simple themes for their Instant Site tool that are pretty cool and simple to use. Just my two cents!
Nice article, I like this comparison guide.
Thanks Katarina!
Correct pretty detailed info for sure. Nice read from my end. Keep up the good work
thanks for sharing such a helpful article.
Youโre welcome!
very nice and helpful article.thank you so much.
You’re welcome ๐
This is an informative article! I have an e-store on bigcommerce and considering to move to Shopify and Magento, one friend recommended me to use an automated migration tool called Litextension. I tried its free demo to transfer limited entities from my bigcommerce store to shopify and magento test store, furthermore, I can preview how the data is arranged and managed in the platform backend. Honestly, I agree that choosing which one is better platform between shopify and magento is tough because these both ecommerce platforms really gave me great experience. After reading this article, I will try the demo migration on each those platforms to see what are the differences by this tool.
Awesome, let us know what you decide.
Such an informative article! This article can show the best feature of each platform because there are too many platforms in the marketplace which confuse me a lot. I’m considering to transfer data from my old Woocommerce store and can’t make a final decision yet. I found that there is an automated migration tool called LitExtension which provides free demo for customers to use its test store features to preview how each platform works. Does anybody use full migration of this service? Because my friends recommend me this tool for me so who are in the same case should try its free demo because it’s free.
Nice article! I think AmeriCommerce has all of them beat. I have experience with Shopify, and I think it’s a nightmare for users with minimal experience. Also, AmeriCommerce doesn’t charge based on sales volume. So you are getting “punished” for having a successful business. You pick your plan, and that is it.
Hey Catalin, First of all, thanks for the great post, which is extremely useful and knowledgeable.i have really enjoyed to read this article. keep sharing.
Thanks Sara, glad you liked it!
Bigcommerce and shopify both are good place to start the online business but as compare to pricing. I suggest to go with bigcommerce. I have been working with small business owner’s and they are very happy the way are earning. By using paid and organic methods, they are achieving good in bigcommerce.
Excelente Articulo.
Thank you!
Good one article. I got good information about Magento big cart.
Glad you liked it!
Amazing..! It’s quite lengthy but enjoyed..!
Glad you liked it!
Can you tell me; where I can find data about how many people make a purchase online?, which are the most purchased items? and so on.
Hello Andres,
Here’s a recent article from BigCommerce that might answer some of your questions.
nice article, keep it up.
Thank you Nilesh, glad you liked it!
I think something is wrong with this Shopify Pricing: $9 dollars. For me the Basic Plan is $29 or Do you have some promotion code? Thank you!
Hello Leonardo,
The $9/month is the Lite Plan. Check out this post for more info.
–
Bogdan โ Editor at ecommerce-platforms.com
Hello,
I am an owner of the Vrinsoft in Melbourne Australia, and I have been developing e-commerce website, so my question is my client asking me a platform that has good speed to build an eommrce website, so please give me advice which will best in the comparison of speed.
Hi Jay,
We havenโt got the chance to do a comparative speed test on the platforms listed here, so I canโt say which one is the absolute best. What I can say is that speed shouldnโt be a problem for any of them.
–
Bogdan โ Editor at ecommerce-platforms.com
Hi,
Loved your review. We are trying to setup an online shop for customised goods. What will happen is our customer needs to upload a photo, then through a software (which we haven’t developed yet) the photo will be edited (resized, color changed, etc.) and be displayed to the customer within seconds, then we they approve, the order will be finalised. My question is, do you know if any of these platforms will support such a customized-external plug-in? Thanks.
Hello Soroush,
Glad you liked our article! Custom features can be implemented for all platforms listed here.
Hi,
I am going to launch a single product business. Which platform is the best?
I am thinking of a wix website with buy button from shopify. Is it weird?
For a single product Wix would be the cheapest option. You can read our full Wix review here.
โ
Bogdan โ Editor at ecommerce-platforms.com
I think shopify is better than others. I want to learn magento also. How can I learn magento ? Can anyone help me ?
Hello Hemant,
There are tons of Magento courses and tutorials available. You can start by browsing their developer documentation.
We always prefer shopify. Aslo we direct our customers to use shopify for their e-commerce projects.
Always a good choice, Boฤaziรงi!
Thanks for all the work. We are an independent wholesale auto parts store that would like to get back into e-commerce. We hired someone to set up our site and they used woocommerce on wordpress. This site has generated 0 yeas ZERO sales in 18 months. We are looking at Shopify, Bigcommerce and volution. We have approx. 1200 different parts, and are novices with CSS and HTML, but we don’t want that to keep us from picking the best site for our needs. We are trying supplement our current business and grow. Any suggestions?
Hi Geoff,
Starting with the cheapest plan, both Shopify and BigCommerce have no limits when it comes to number of products, file storage and bandwidth. Volusion is a bit behind, limiting the number of products and your bandwith depending on the plan you choose.
I would recommend choosing between Shopify and BigCommerce, here are our full reviews:
https://ecommerce-platforms.com/articles/shopify-review
https://ecommerce-platforms.com/articles/bigcommerce-review
https://ecommerce-platforms.com/compare/bigcommerce-vs-shopify
Best,
โ
Bogdan โ Editor at ecommerce-platforms.com
How long has it been since you evaluated these eCommerce platforms?
It just seems that more recently I have noticed sites who use Shopify seem to have a lot more problems.. error messages that never seem to be resolved, etc.
I am trying to select a new platform for my website and have pretty much crossed Shopify off my list due to all the troublesome sites I have encountered.
I was using 3dCart.. but they do not treat their customers well at all. Considering BigCommerce if I can find a template that suits me.
Hi Sherry,
We review our posts regularly. For most ecommerce entrepreneurs, Shopify is one of be the best choices. You can find here more than 500 examples of stores using Shopify. BigCommerce comes close, but it’s main problem are the templates. Here you can find around 50 exapmples of stores built using BigCommerce.
Hope you’ll find this useful!
–
Bogdan โ Editor at ecommerce-platforms.com
Hi Catalin
This post is so helpful especially for people who know nothing about programming, and making website like me. I have fashion biz company, and joined alibaba for 2 years, but since they increase their price, I can’t afford it any longer. I am looking for e-commerce platform that suitable for my biz. Yea I also thinking about my shopify, but is it possible to join myshopify if I am going to sell as wholesaler – OEM service?
this is really nice post! Thank you for sharing!
Hi Ericka, you can do this using Shopify and an app like Wholesaler: https://apps.shopify.com/wholesaler
Best,
โ
Bogdan โ Editor at ecommerce-platforms.com
Hey,
Thanks for the post!! We are using Tictail for long time. It is working good till. Any suggestions for us.
Thanks,
Mya
Hey Mya,
Shopify and Big Cartel might be some great alternatives.
Hi,
I was wondering if you could elaborate on some industry standards that us “newbies” are not familiar with. such as:
1. Is there companies that have stock, and drop ship the product for us , so all we have to do is get the “click” sales, and the other distributor, or whatever send s the product. (much like amazon fulfillment, but using there own stock) – if these types of products do exist, what are they called? what is the terminology? I dont know how to look for options of businesses with that type of structure (vs having my own inventory, and no drop ship). – can you elaborate on this terminology, and what its commonly refereed to? is there a site that lists these types of vendors/distributors/ suppliers?
2. If I choose to own all of my inventory, and warehouse the stock, and ship it out on my own, what software can help take the clicked order, and print out an invoice automatically, so I can ship it out with ease, much like amazon would i suppose.
3. What other common knowledge basic differences are there? can you throw up a basic education in eCommerce options, and the step=>step process entailed? I think this would help immensely!
Thank you,
B
Hello Ben,
You should definitely find the guides below useful:
Choosing Between Self-fulfillment, 3rd-party Logistics and Dropshipping
Dropshipping Definition: The Best Way to Setup a Drop shipping Business Quickly
Guys, good review overall. However, I noticed a bit of a “bias” toward Shopify and was wondering whether that bias is purely driven by the advantages of that platform as you see it, or by other factors. No, I am not saying some of the information was incorrect, but at times the features were not fully highlighted to be compared fairly.
For example: looking at the quick comparison table above, I would assume that Shopify is offering much better pricing plans compared to let’s say BigCommerce (starting from $9 for Shopify, and $29 for BigCommerce). In reality though, both Shopify and BigCommerce offer the store hosting plans starting from $29 (Shopify’s basic plan of $9 does not give you a storefront, only the “Buy” button, that you can integrate on your own site).
Also, I found little info about important store functionality such as multi-channel support, price tiering etc. At least when it comes to these two features, I can see BigCommerce winning over Shopify:
Tiered pricing allows you to set different price points / discounts to specific user groups (say regular customers vs distributors), or offer volume or event driven pricing changes. BigCommerce has this feature integrated with their plans, whereas Shopify relies on 3rd party plugins for that functionality, and at additional monthly fees.
Multi-channel support (cross-sell the items from your storefront on ebay, Amazon, Facebook, etc) – comes integrated with BigCommerce at no additional cost, and is missing from the Shopify feature list. I talked to Shopify support and was told that while Amazon integration is coming soon, ebay has not been even announced yet.
Disclaimer: I do not represent any of the above e-commerce companies, I am merely comparing the platforms to identify the one that is most optimal for my future store. At this moment, I am on the fence between Shopify and BigCommerce. Just thought a more fair overview of features would benefit us all.
I am on the fence as well…I tried shopifys trial but not bigcommerce yet. I agree that the review seems a little one sided toward shopify
Thanks for this incredibly useful and insightful resource for those of us interested in entering the world of e-commerce.
I just wanted to note that at time of writing there appears to be an error in the URL linking to your Bigcommerce review; the link in the text: Bigcommerce (full review here) is to https://ecommerce-platforms.com/go/TryBigcommerce
I believe the correct link is:
https://ecommerce-platforms.com/articles/bigcommerce-review
Thanks for the heads up, will update the post as soon as possible.
I think Shopify is the number one ecommerce software in the world.
I totally agree Golam.
Great article but do you have an updated version? I have a 3dcart store and they now offer an updated admin panel which looks similar to shopify and bigcommerce. Additionally their theme store has many new themes and I don’t believe they offer those old designs mentioned in the article. I would suggest doing a more recent article or updating the information if you have reviewed the platforms since the time you published this. Great job with the comparisons none the less.
Hi Johnson,
Thanks for letting us know, will make the modifications as soon as possible!
Bogdan โ Editor at ecommerce-platforms.com
Great article, I recommend to all mys clients the Shopify Platform, due to your flexibility, with the API you can extend and add new features.
Maikel, glad you liked it โ thanks for the feedback.
Bigcommerce and Shopify are great options for ecommerce website development. As a developer I worked on 4 of the above mentioned platforms I feel using Bigcommerce is very easy and reliable for ecommerce development.
Sarah, thanks for the feedback!
Hi,
I got a problem in defining/finding keywords for the platform I’m looking for, can you help me?
I once had a ‘micropayment’ platform selling one-time private accesses to specific urls, and I’m looking for something like that again.
Meaning I built a page containing php/sql stuff, and the product on platform was selling the access to that page, securing it by generating a unique random code, verified then “burnt” upon arrival at said page (through a back-script from platform I had to include in the page’s code).
This way, it ensured, well, one-time access to a private url, that I could use for various purposes after that.
Is there still a platform doing that kind of stuff (potentially with paypal linkage). With generated codes or not, I don’t mind, I just need to sell secured access to private page somehow, even complicated ? What would be the keywords to look for such platforms ?
Thanks a lot
Hi Mattan,
This article covers some of the best options for easily selling digital goods online:
Top 10 Best Ways to Sell Digital Goods Online
You might find it helpful, cheers!
Bogdan โ Editor at ecommerce-platforms.com
Hi Bogdan, 3DCart has updated the pricing and the cheapest plan is $19 http://www.3dcart.com/pricing.htm
Hi Denis,
Thanks for the heads up, we have made the necessary changes.
Cheers!
Hi, how does Shopify compare with Wix? Is there any particular reason as to why you did not include Wix for comparison in this article? Thanks.
Hi Yoshi,
You can check out our in-depth comparison of Shopify and WIX. We have also separate reviews for Shopify and Wix.
Hope this helps!
I Found interesting to read comparison of different ecommerce store,when it comes to ecommerce store fees, we have to renew monthly or annually,Please solve my doubts,
Hi there, most of the services have a monthly fee but most of them offer a discount if you pay for a whole year in advance. Cheers!
Hi,
And thanks for your post. It was a very interesting comparison. I live in Japan and we don’t have very good platforms like the west for online sales. I’m pretty new to all the options that everyone is talking about. My big question if it sounds foolish, sorry, but which one do customers tend to gravitate to online the most? Who gets the most activity when it comes to customers finding what they are looking for? That is the big question I have with these platforms that I can’t seem to get answered. Yes, each site is its own and seo’s etc… But what do customers seem to be tapping into?
Hi Ben, Shopify and BigCommerce are among the most used. You should have no problem setting up an online store in Japan with any of these services. Cheers!
Hi Catalin,
So between Godaddy and shopify, which one would you say to go for. (sorry, I know Godaddy is not mentioned on here but i just wanted to know your thoughts)
Thank you.
Hi Angleica, Shopify and GoDaddy are two completely different products: Shopify is a complete ecommerce solution that allows you to set up an online store and GoDaddy is an Internet domain registrar and web hosting company. Hope this helps!
Hi Bogdan,
Thank you for this. Yes, i do know. Got my domain from Godaddy and was looking to start an online store. Noticed Godaddy have a product similar to ecommerce if not the same (called online store) and since I’m not entirely sure, I was looking to weigh it against that of shopify to see which one is better in terms of features and what it offers.
Do you know of this product at all?
Attached the link: https://uk.godaddy.com/websites/online-store#features
Thanks a lot.
Hi Angelica, I did a research and I would definitely recommend choosing Shopify. The templates available are more appealing, customization is much easier, there are more pricing plans, not to mention all the apps and extentions available in the Shopify App Store. You can check out our Shopify review for more info. Best.
Hi Bogdan,
thank you, for taking the time to answer. You’ve been very helpful ๐
I am leaning towards Shopify now, most of their themes are pretty clean looking at the demos.
Is there any any SEO or traffic benefit for using any of the above stores as compared to own ecommerce store? I Know the SEO. I have my self-hosted store http://gladiatorsguild.com/
Opening another store on any of the above mentioned can benefit me further? I always wondered, if I should head to shopify and create a store over there. But then I think of how it draws traffic. Is it like Amazon, eBay etc or like own store that requires SEO?
Enjoyed the overview of top platforms. Have had good success at Go Daddy. But I now want to develop different content new stores but not use Godaddy.
It seems we should learn Word Press and Shopify. ecommerce-platforms.com is excellent source of information.
Good afternoon,
First, thanks for the post, which is extremely useful and interesting.
Second, I wanted to ask for help, because I want to create an online store and have some questions.
I would like to have my own domain and I know that it is possible to buy it through the many e-commerce platforms that exist (eg. Shopiffy or big cartel). But I have heard that it is best to buy through platforms such as godaddy. What is your opinion and what is the difference?
These sites to create online stores (eg Shopify) function as hosting right? In this case no need to buy the hosting, in another right site?
I apologize for the issues, but would like to know a little more about domains and hosting and understand what the best alternative for me.
Thank you
Marisa
Hi Marisa,
You can purchase a domain name within Shopify, this will make administration and renewal easier since you have access to all settings from a single admin account. With BigCartel you’ll have to purchase your domain from a third-party service like GoDaddy or Domain.com.
Hope this helps,
Great post Catalin,
But I should agree with some of the commenters above – Magento should probably be added to the list. Especially now, when there are plenty of tools that allow even non-techies to fully experience the platform. For example, Zoey is based on Magento and can be run/ managed by someone, who’s not a developer or a certified specialist.
Hi there, we did list Magento but had to remove it when they decided to close their โconsumerโ product, see this post: https://ecommerce-platforms.com/ecommerce-news/magento-closes-prostores-go-partners-bigcommerce
I used to sell through both Big Cartel and Magento and find BC more user friendly. It only lacks good reporting. I’m not very good with Google Analytics, would appreciate something easier where I could also control over my other channels, i.e. Facebook and Twitter. Is there anything like Compass but more complex?
Anyone heard about DuckSell? I’m done with those crazy platforms, I want to sell directly on my website.
for those who only need a simple business with limited options the Prestashop is indeed ok within its limits. Personally i think woocommerce, and shopify are perhaps the second choice to ecwid, but having been testing all the above platforms for some years now, i can say that for me at least, Ecwid is the only Option with the Power i need to run my online businesses. Shopify comes second but is much more expensive, and less mobile ready. It is also not yet ready for mobile and semantic seo, but Ecwid is at the forefront of new cutting edge web technologies, and constantly expanding its scope and ability to absorb all future technologies, api’s and so on..
Prestashop is however not even 10% of the power-tool Ecwid is when it comes to seo, marketing, adding products to other marketplaces (Ebay, Amazon, wix, weebly, Faceboook, Blogger, WordPress)
Prestashop is easy for beginners as well (IMHO) – not much of a learning curve for novices. There are plenty of online learning resources available and it has an active online community (for helping novices and experts alike). Other major pluses are that, it’s free (open source), facilitates the use of many modern looking templates and is supported by many hosting companies like Godaddy, Hostgator, etc.
I currently use Ecwid and am considering switching to Shopify. The one thing I find hard, mostly because I am limited in my computer knowledge, is getting my products indexed on Google. Hoping that maybe the SEO with Shopify is better or at least easier! Any thoughts?
Hi Emily,
Yup Shopify is most certainly the easiest to use platform of the ones I’ve reviewed over the years. That includes managing the on-site aspects of SEO.
Best of luck!
Hello Emily!
Wendy from Ecwid is here. We are sorry to learn that you faced difficulties with SEO in your Ecwid store.
In general, Google can index Ecwid stores and you do not need programming skills to get your store indexed. For more details, refer to this post on our forums: https://www.ecwid.com/forums/showthread.php?t=35739
Please, post here the link to your Ecwid store and I will inspect it. I will reach out to you via email shortly. Thank you!
To Emily Elllingwood
i have tried all the choices mentiuoned in this blog, and Ecwid is the only one that gets my products listed in google
I use various methods because i own 5 Ecwid stores, and i can tell you, Shopify does not have half the power, and will end up twice as expensive.
Ecwid is like a youtube embed code, and i have my store inserted into well over 30 websites
The SEO is fantastic and much better than Shopify
Most of my competitors use shopify and zen cart and magento, and they all dont come anywhere near me on first page.
I would seriously reconsider changing from Ecwid to Shopify, or any other platform.
If the SEo isnt working for you in Ecwid, then it is not Ecwid that is doing the wrong thing, its You (no offence intended). If you do the wrong thing with Ecwid, then Shopify won’t be any different
The best way to seo anything is to make a single blog post or page about it and insert the product into the post
but the store itself does get indexed, if it is inserted into an seo friendly page
Really good article! I would add in that on Bigcommerce, the pro plan ($199.95) scales up to 1 million in revenue – so it’s entirely viable to put off a bump to a higher pricing plan. Phone support on Bigcommerce is also 24/7 save for the few times when they need to do a company meeting.
Thanks for sharing you thoughts Brian, we’re really glad you enjoyed our article!
I have read that WooCommerce is perfect for beginners. WordPress is so easy to use and WooCommerce is simply an extension of that. Customizing your site through WordPress is really simple due to the number of plugins available. Plus, WooCommerce has tutorial videos to help with the set up. But Magentoโs interface is also really easy to use and it comes with tutorial videos and documentation. It has a full installation wizard too. However, Magentoโs difficulty is increased when you want to start adding extensions to your site. In this instance, you might want to think about hiring a Magento-specialist developer.
Please advise if you are familiar with both what to choose for small business – Magento or Woo-Commerce platform and why???
If you are already familiar with WP, yeah it’s quite easy to use, but if you’re just starting out using a CMS, jumping straight to WooCommerce, the learning curve is a lot higher than using a native ecommerce solution like Shopify.
Between WP and Magento, in terms of how easy it is to work with in the long term, I would go with WP + WooCommerce.
Best of luck John!
Any thoughts on Soldsie or Spreesy which treats social media accounts as a sales channel? It seems risky to have a third-party take email address comments to send an invoice, though it’s convenient.
Shopify has a lot of ongoing charges that are NOT obvious at first glance. For starters they charge 1.4% + 30c on all credit cards and this is in addition to the usual bank credit card charges. If your store trades $500,000 per year which is not that high you will pay $7000 per year and that’s not including the 30c per transaction fee.
To make matter worse they offer no way to charge extra for certain payment methods like amex or paypal and if you put shopify as a POS system instore you will be charged a fee on EVERY transaction even if your customers pay cash. Shopify does mention their fees clearly but they don’t mention that these credit card fee’s DO NOT replace the bank charges. So you need to pay credit card fees twice, once to your bank and once to shopify.
Im not saying shopify is a bad product, they offer a very good product which is fine for small businesses with low turn over or people with no computer skills but for me these costs are not sustainable in a very competitive market. My suggestion is go with a platform like Prestashop. Its more expensive upfront but has no ongoing costs.
Great post, thanks for sharing!
You’re welcome William!
I am glad you mentioned the dramatic increase in cost for higher revenue stores on BigCommerce. I am one of the long-time BigCommerce customers who is now leaving for Shopify because of the pricing increase. As far as I can tell, BigCommerce has nothing over Shopify in terms of service that would justify spending four times as much per month. There are some annoying switching costs in terms of time, effort, and template purchase, but it seems well worth it to me. And Shopify has some features (buy now on Pinterest, etc) that people have been asking for at BigCommerce for months and months to no avail. Anyway, we’ll see how it goes, but so far I’m pleased with what Shopify has to offer me in comparison to BigCommerce.
Glad I ran across this article. Familiar with a couple of them, although we use woocommerce for WordPress was thinking about trying Shopify or BigCommerce for a potential new client. All the comments are extremely helpful in deciding, Thanks so much for sharing!
I found this article because I am looking for a better platform. We have been on BigCommerce for nearly 4 years now. In general it is a decent platform but it has MANY flaws. As we have grown, these flaws are becoming more and more apparent.
Most frustrating has been the CONTINUED promises without any being achieved in the shipping module.
Frankly I have found Bigcommerce to have become increasingly ARROGANT!!! They more or less forced us off GOOD credit card processors in favor of their “favorite” because they cut a deal with them. That CC processor being WORLDPAY. Worse, they did so by embedding Worldpay personnel at BigCommerce and sent out information that was misleading, and made it look like the old processor was not going to be supported. Very sleazy.
Having gone to the recommended CC processor Worldpay…it has been nothing short of HELLISH…they are HORRIBLE and its as if you are dealing with a “mickey mouse” company.
We’ve been so peeved by that, that we’ve been wanting to leave ever since, but as you all would understand, moving to another platform or CC processor is not exactly an easy task for a small business.
However…..today I was given notice that BC is changing policies and was given 60 days notice that my monthly fee is rising nearly 250%
That is the LAST STRAW!!!!
Too many bugs, too many flaws, TOO MANY PROMISES and they have become TOO ARROGANT and have forgotten about their customers who put them where they are.
So long BigCommerce!
I will be curious to hear update from you once you switch to shopify and compare two platforms.
If customer service is at all important to you, then I would stay away from 3DCart. I have been working on a issue with them since October 2015 and it is still broken. It is very important for me to be able to import my orders into my accounting system. They often don’t even respond to inquiries. My boss which has been with them for many years says the support has always been terrible.
Same here. And if there’s one thing that’s a deal breaker for me, it’s a bad support system. Nothing is more frustrating than when you have an issue and no one replies to your ticket! It’s not like I expect an instantaneous response, but I think a response within 24 hours should be more or less mandatory.
Anybody know of a good platform for building a price comparison / affiliate product feed site?
Thank you for your time and efforts here!!! I do have a question to ask which it will be essential for my selection.
Are there any eCommerce platforms aimed at dynamic database/live feed from supplier that you recommend for larger quantities of products (1000+)?
Great info at the perfect time….thank you.
Glad to be of service Renee!
This article is really worth for new comers to E-commerce business. Thank you for comparison,pros and cons.
With the launch of Magento 2, I think the idea of an SaaS Magento (Go) should be revisited
Hi Catalin,
Great summary of the differences, pros & cons of the various platform. It has been very helpful to me while I have been researching the various hosted platforms!
One question though. How did you compile (or where did you get) the info for where Shopify is gaining clients from/ losing them to?
Thanks again!
Cheers,
Dave
I’ve been using volusion for the past 6 months and I feel like I’m getting nowhere. Thanks for the article. I think its finally time to give shopify a try. I need something much more user friendly. I just wanna sell my clothes. I’m not an IT expert and I don’t want to waste time trying to be one.
Thanks for this great post. I think nowadays most of people 1st choice is Magento or Shopify Platform.
Both are user-friendly & SEO friendly platfrom
Thanks for the in dept reviews on each platform! Definitely helpful when deciding what to choose!
You’re welcome ๐
Thanks for this comparison! Its useful to see the statistic and read about the usability before committing to a platform!
We prefer to use Magento for our clients for several reasons, let us list some of the reasons:
a. Magento platform is an effective e-commerce platform for customized websites.
b. Lots of templates available and easy to modify.
c. Several easy to use plugins available.
d. From the conversion rate optimization point of view can be customized as per testing results. (as a conversion optimization specialist we tests before we implement)
and many more.
Overall, thank you for sharing such a wonderful comparative analysis for different eCommerce platforms.
Nice Job!
It was helpful for me.
Thank You CATALIN.
Glad you like it Farshid!
Great and timely article. I have been with 3D cart for about 3 years and am beginning the search for a more mature company. I will be checking the companies mentions. Thanks!
Cool, good luck SV!
Hey there,
Wow, that’s a nice analysis. Perhaps, it’s the most detailed one. Helped a lot. I think, I should expand my business to all the mentioned platforms though.
Cheers,
Angel
Hi!
Thanks for this article.
I have a question – how important do you think the 24/7 customer support is?
I am and have been using Tictail for about 1,5 years and I really love their community and their webshop solutions. They go kind of big on their community feeling – with meet ups, blogs, pop up shops etc. You should really look in to it and consider writing about them too:)
Thanks for a good article!
Caroline
Hi there, thanks for pointing that out, will definitely add Tictail to our site.
Re: your question I think support is crucial but you should test everything not listen to advice from ppl who don’t know anything about your business ๐
I’d be interested in hearing more on Tictail too.
Hi Kristy, here’s out our latest Tictail review. ๐
Magento Community Edition is a great way to get started but is generally aimed at larger retailers who need more flexibility with their code.
In my opinion Magento is one of the best and noticeable CMS for developing an eCommerce website. Magneto is essentially an open-source (only community edition) PHP and MySQL based feature enriched platform. It has a wide range of template system and can empower your website with an impressive range of functionalities. The primary benefit with Magento is its flexibility that let you have complete control on your e-business. The extreme scalability of Magento further ensures that, as per your business growth you can create additional resources in your Ecommerce site.
I think bigcommerce is going much better than others.
Yes, correct
I think it is better to have something like shopify thats ready to go dealing with html and css is not easy and requires time so it is better to go with shopify and bigcommerce
Bigcommerce has 24/7 phone support.
I am also suggested Magento is the best platform for E commerce. Some reasons why magento?
Magento Does Not Penalize You For Growing Bigger
Easy To Integrate Third Party Apps
Freedom To Choose Hosting Service
Modular And Customizable
Fast. Really Fast.
Built For SEO
I think you misunderstood the idea of this post.
He was comparing platform ready to go, not custom solutions you need to build yourself to get it running.
To archieve what you described in Magento you have to hire some company to:
Install, to start using.
Upgrade, if you get bigger.
Pay: to migrate between hosting services
Get advanced knowledge to customize.
Backup, etc.
We have been trying for several days to import an excel spreadsheet into Shopify and with 5 different support members we are no further ahead. The gurus that provide 24/7 support are simply other shop-owners taking calls from home to uphold the 24/7 but most with limited or no knowledge. ( I knew more after 1 day of reading the material online than 4 of 5 gurus I connected with.. to give you an idea) So if you go with Shopify – be prepared to figure things out on your own…
Sorry to hear that Victoria, hopefully the problem is solved by now…
Why would you not include Magento on this list? It’s hard to take the comparison seriously without it including the leading e-commerce solution.
Hi Gizamo, Magento is a very powerful ecommerce CMS, but we’re only discussing ecommerce platforms that can be used by anyone to build an online store. As you know, Magento is aimed at experienced developers, and Magento Go will shut down in a few months. For the full list of reviewed platforms please check out my comparison chart: ecommerce-platforms.com/comparison-chart
what do you mean magento will shutdown? Magento already lunched Magento2 in 2015. And Magento will stop support for Magento1 in 2018. And ofcourse he will stop support because if he will not stop support for Magento1 Most poeple will stay with Magento1
Only “Magento Go” shut down in February 2015. https://magento.com/blog/magento-news/important-announcement-about-magento-go-and-prostores
Best,
Bogdan โ Editor at ecommerce-platforms.com
Hi Bogdan, I have a question that I’d like to contact you directly about. I’ve tried using the contact page instructions, but haven’t receive a response. Is there a good contact address for you? Thanks in advance for your help. ๐
People who want to get their shop up and running fast don’t have time to learn a technology and deal with it’s headaches. I know Drupal but after fighting with it to build a decent store for months, I was able to very quickly build a shop in Shopify. How quickly? 4 days. Yes, including beautiful theme, products, variants, discount prices, inventory etc.
Thanks for sharing your experience with us! Totally agree!
Second that, there is no excuse to dismiss the nr1 used eCommerce solution Magento Community to even Magento Enterprise. Even with the difficulty (which is not difficult at all to setup plus enterprise…), you cant just go past something like that in a blog called top6 ecommerce platforms on a ecommerce-platforms.com website. Unless there is a personal reason…
Hi there, we did list Magento but had to remove it when they decided to close their “consumer” product, see this post: https://ecommerce-platforms.com/ecommerce-news/magento-closes-prostores-go-partners-bigcommerce