6 Best Free Ecommerce Platforms 2024 | Save and Sell Today

Best for food businesses selling online and offline

Not ideal for creative freedom

Square Online

Best for food-related online stores

Very Good

4.2

out of 5

• Quick setup
• Easy to use
• Not very scalable

Free plan available

Paid Plans: $12 - $79 / month

Pros

• Easy to track sales and abandoned carts
• Responsive help and support
• Seamless payments system

Cons

• Limited design freedom
• Few payment processing options
• Not great for large volume selling

Square Online Review

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Overview of Square Online

From our experience, Square Online is the best ecommerce platform for letting you sell for free, with an overall score of 4 out of 5. For those starting their first online business or who want a fresh start, the luxury of not having to pay to sell is a huge advantage because you can utilize the money to cover something else.  

As Square Online is the only truly free ecommerce platform on this list, it places above Shopify and Wix, which are both stronger platforms overall. A real area it lacked was design flexibility, where it only earned a 2.6 out of 5. You can’t edit nearly as many elements on your site as you can with Wix or Shopify, leaving your store quite lackluster.

Square Online Sales Features

What’s fantastic about Square Online is you can start selling right away for free! Where it also succeeds is its range of POS systems, allowing you to take your products offline while still linked to your store. This makes Square Online the number one choice of food businesses, as they can bring a POS system and sell their food in person where customers can actually smell and taste the food.

Versus Shopify, Square Online’s sales features score is only 3.6 out of 5 compared with Shopify’s 4.7 out of 5, which highlights the point that you really do get what you pay for. Although you can accept payments through Square Online’s in-house payment processing system (as well as Google and Apple Pay), customers won’t be able to use PayPal. Additionally, users won’t be able to leave product reviews, there’s no abandoned cart recovery, and your site analytics will be basic, to say the least.

Square Online Free Plan Limitations

Some downsides to the free plan are there’s no PayPal payment option, no product reviews, and there’s no abandoned cart recovery. On the actual website-building side, you can’t implement professional branding, advanced site layouts, or connect a custom domain. You’ll need to upgrade to the Plus plan to access these features, with prices starting at $29 per month (billed annually).

There are also the commission fees, with free plan users still being expected to pay 2.9% + $0.30 on each card payment, meaning that even though the plan is advertised as free, there’s always some cost.

Square Online Gallery

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This is what a finished Square Online site can look like. Using large, professional images like this enforce your brand easily.

I found it really easy to add products to my Square Online store.

Once I uploaded a handful of products, I could then add sections for featured items or categories to the page.

It was great to see that I could connect with Facebook and Instagram to start selling on other channels.

I tested Square Online's email marketing tools to design an engaging campaign.

Square Online in Action: Key West Cocktail Company

Karen Moran

Founder

The Cocktail Queen of Key West, retired Chicago advertising executive Karen Moran has been featured on the Huffington Post, Martha Stewart Weddings and The Cooking Channel (twice!) for her hand-crafted, naturally sourced syrups that make her cocktails such a hit. You can shop her collection through her website, built with Square Online.

I encountered no obstacles when building. Zero. It’s seriously so easy!

Q&A

Why did you choose Square Online for your website?

I have been with Weebly (which was purchased by Square) for over a decade. I actually had a business creating websites for other small business owners like myself for the Weebly platform, so I’m well-versed in it.

What do you like about Square Online?

It’s beyond easy. Literally, drag and drop. I also love the SEO capabilities. I’ve had countless folks contact me claiming to want to recreate my site better than what I have, but every one of their sites ranked much lower than mine when running them through various SEO trackers.

Did you face any obstacles when building?

I encountered no obstacles when building. Zero. It’s seriously so easy!

How long have you been using Square Online?

I’ve been using it for five years now.

Would you recommend it to others?

Absolutely!

What do you wish you had known before you started?

I knew nothing before I started. If I did it, so can you! We got this.

Best for selling manufactured products online

Less ideal for hand-crafted products or hobbyists

Shopify

Best for fast-growing stores

Excellent

4.8

out of 5

• Built for large stores
• Great inventory tools
• Recommended by real users

Free trial available

Paid Plans: $29 - $299 / month

Pros

• Sell across many social media channels
• Abandoned cart recovery on all plans
• Easily track stock levels and orders

Cons

• Some features come separately as apps
• Transaction fees for most payment tools
• Switching themes is a hassle

Shopify Review

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Overview of Shopify 

Shopify is a builder with powerful features and a wide range of themes, perfect for small online businesses and those seeking to create an ecommerce empire. It’s why we chose it as our best overall ecommerce website builder, tied with Wix at 4.8 out of 5. 

We recommend it for selling manufactured products. Thanks to its over 8,000 apps and integrations, setting up an online store with a supplier and shipping is easier than ever. For the same reasons, we don’t recommend Shopify’s alternatives for smaller stores or those with hand-crafted products: it is simply overkill, and it’s more expensive than average plans making it not worth the cost.   

Shopify Sales Features 

Shopify scores a solid 4.7 out of 5 for sales features, which is the highest score in our research for this category. Many of its sales features are tied to third-party apps that users also had to pay subscriptions for. However, Shopify has made many of these features internal, like selling digital products.

Users will still have to rely on apps and plugins, such as payment processors which incur transaction fees on each sale. Even Shopify’s in-house payment processor, Shopify Payments, has transaction fees:

• Online payment processing fees: 2.9% + 30¢ per transaction 
• In-person payment processing fees:  2.7% + 0¢ per transaction 

Shopify Free Plan Limitations 

While you can’t sell for free on Shopify, it does have a 3-day free trial, and new customers qualify for a $1 per month deal for the first three months. This is a great option for those starting an online business. 

The limitations include a Shopify-branded free URL and the inability to sell your items until you commit to a payment plan. This essentially means you can create your store for free but you can’t actually sell until you spend. 

Shopify Gallery

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Shopify is truly the full package. The aesthetic for this website totally suits the product, plus owners can advertise deals with banners.

I could choose from a range of professionally-designed online store themes.

I used Shopify Magic to help me write product descriptions for my test store.

When designing my test website, I added a range of elements to make my products pop on the homepage.

I had a look at Shopify's new feature which let me create product bundles.

Shopify in Action: Lucky Dog Design Co

Kayla Hutchinson

Owner

Lucky Dog Design Co.. has been sending colorful stationery and happy mail to customers and shops across the U.S. and Canada since 2017. Founder Kayla Hutchinson has been a graphic designer for more than a decade and has been a major crafter and maker since the age of 2. Her favorite part about snail mail is finding the perfect card to match the personality of the person receiving it. When Kayla’s not making cards or stickers, you can find her hula hooping, embroidering, drinking coffee, or getting lost in a good book.

I love how it creates a seamless process for shop owners and buyers. It is easy and painless to create new products, add specific shipping, and accept many different payments.

Q&A

Is there anything you'd change about it?

I would love more analytics. The analytics for Shopify users at the most common level seems to be cut off. Basic analytics you may want as a small business just does not exist.

What do you like most about Shopify?

I love how it creates a seamless process for shop owners and buyers. It is easy and painless to create new products, add specific shipping, and accept many different payments.

How long have you been using Shopify?

I’ve been a Shopify user for five years. I started with a template available on Shopify for free for three years, then migrated over to a custom website within Shopify to build my site.

Would you recommend Shopify to others?

I would recommend Shopify for product-based business owners 100% of the time. The cost per month is so worth it for what you get. There are apps available that fit almost every need, and the process of managing your shop is easy within Shopify.

What do you wish you’d known before you started?

I would not recommend Shopify for service-based business owners or those not selling anything at all. For service-based business owners, there are other website builders (such as Squarespace) that fit the bill much better than Shopify does. If you aren’t shopping, Shopify is not for you.

Best for selling hand-crafted products online

Less ideal for high-demand products and very large online stores

Wix

Best for smaller stores

Outstanding

4.8

out of 5

• Plenty of design freedom
• Powerful features
• Easy to use

Free trial available

Paid Plans: $16 - $159 / month

Pros

• Can sell Wix products on Instagram
• Product videos add credibility
• Mobile editor for on-the-go changes

Cons

• No automated low stock alerts
• Not the best for very large stores
• Can’t change templates once site is live

Wix Review

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Overview of Wix 

Wix is joint first with Shopify in our research for ecommerce platforms and is our best-rated website builder overall. In our experience, Wix is the only website builder to offer a comprehensive package. It has just about every feature you could ask for without the need for third-party apps and is constantly adding new implementations.

However, we don’t actually recommend it for larger, enterprise stores. It can’t handle large volumes of products like Shopify or Magento can – it’s just not specialized enough. It doesn’t even have automated low-stock alerts. Wix is better suited for smaller stores or those with handcrafted products. These users will find Wix goes above and beyond for them, while still being easy to use.

Wix Sales Features 

With the cheapest Wix plan, you can sell an unlimited number of products as well as on socials like Facebook, Instagram, and more. You will get over 800 templates to choose from, a huge media library of images, and discounted shipping rates. 

Wix’s sales features versus Shopify’s may not be as strong, but they are not far off, scoring a solid 4.6 out of 5 in our overall ecommerce ranking. What Wix delivers as an ecommerce platform is personalization. From our experience, other ecommerce builders box you in for the sake of convenience, like Square Online and Shopify’s lack of customization in the editors. If you’re looking to add a personal touch to your store, Wix is the builder for you. There is very little that you won’t have a say in when building your online store with Wix, and its ease of use makes changing things simple.  

Wix Free Plan Limitations 

You can have a free plan with Wix, but you’ll have a Wix ad banner and branded URL on your website that could clutter your design. The biggest limitation – like with Shopify – is needing to upgrade your plan to accept payments.

Wix does offer a 14-day free trial of any premium plan, meaning you can test out these features, but you’ll be automatically put on the free plan afterwards.

Wix Gallery

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Wix has great design capabilities across a whole host of templates, even eco-based ones like for WasteX.

During the sign up process, Wix asked me a few onboarding questions to figure out what kind of online store I wanted to create.

I could work my way through Wix's checklist of steps to help set up my online store.

Adding a new product felt very user-friendly, I simply worked my way through the form.

I had the option to connect with Instagram to start selling via socials.

Wix in Action: WasteX

Bilqis Addiningrum

Digital Marketing Specialist at WasteX

Bilqis is the digital marketing specialist at WasteX. She handles the company website built using Wix. a climate tech startup operating in the Philippines and Indonesia. They provide bio-char solutions for agricultural producers to convert their biomass waste into bio-char, and apply the bio char on their farms for operational and economic benefits.

We chose Wix for its simplicity because we don’t have an in-house web developer, and any regular user can learn it in a few days to build a basic and decent website.

Q&A

Why did you choose Wix?

We needed a website to establish our brand, build an online presence, and drive leads. We chose Wix for its simplicity because we don’t have an in-house web developer, and any regular user can learn it in a few days to build a basic and decent website. The basic blog and SEO features available are also great, and the price is quite affordable for the features we get.

How long have you been using Wix?

Our company has been using Wix for almost a year now.

What is your favorite feature when using Wix?

What we like about Wix: the interface looks modern, and finding features is easy since there’s a search function. What I like the most is that the Wix community is pretty big, so there are a lot of tutorials available if I come across any issues.

Would you change anything about Wix?

Some content cannot be translated (the tables, for instance). This is quite an issue since I need to create a multilingual website.

Would you recommend Wix to others?

Yes, I would. Especially for people just starting their businesses.

Best for photographers selling photos online

Less ideal for selling industrial and electronic components online

Squarespace

Best for selling art

Excellent

4.4

out of 5

• Great management features
• Best designs
• Great built-in tools

Free trial available

Paid Plans: $16 - $49 / month

Pros

• Powerful features included with plans
• The easiest ecommerce builder to use
• Insightful analytics tools

Cons

• Not many ecommerce-specific templates
• Fewer payment methods
• Editor doesn’t autosave your changes

Squarespace Review

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Overview of Squarespace 

Squarespace isn’t as powerful as Shopify but, as a website builder, it has always offered the most stylish templates on the market, making it perfect for photographers selling photos online. Much like Wix, Squarespace aims to appease both ecommerce and non-ecommerce users, which means its ecommerce store templates are not as finely tuned as Shopify’s, for instance. 

What Squarespace does get top marks for is ease of use. If you are worried about editing and building your website, then Squarespace is the platform for you. It scored 4.3 out of 5 for ease of use overall, reaching the number one spot in our research. If you couldn’t give less of a hoot about design, and just need a website to sell industrial or electronic components, you’d be better off with Shopify’s sales features versus Squarespace’s editing tools.

Squarespace Sales Features 

Squarespace’s 14-day free trial gives you unlimited products to sell. A real selling point is the new ways Squarespace lets you showcase your products, from videos to selling on other channels and creating social media campaigns with Squarespace Unfold. You can create video templates for Instagram and TikTok and promote your products with trend-setting video content.  

A disappointment we faced was a lack of payment options, only having PayPal, Stripe, and Square available. This ties into other reservations users had about Squarespace being unstable for larger ecommerce stores. Like Wix, you’ll get more out of this platform if you keep it on the smaller size.

Squarespace Free Plan Limitations 

Like Wix, you will need to upgrade plans to accept payments for your store with Squarespace. You will have a randomized Squarespace domain, and you won’t have capabilities like cart abandonment recovery. For new online business owners, Squarespace’s pricing can be frustrating, especially if you are on a budget, but you do have 14 days of a free trial to decide if you want to upgrade or not.  

Squarespace Gallery

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Squarespace has the strongest design flexibility in our research, though its ecommerce-specific templates could be stronger.

Like Wix, Squarespace gave me a checklist of steps to help me get started.

Adding a new product to my Squarespace store was simple and straightforward.

I loved browsing the stylish elements on offer by Squarespace, and there were plenty of sections for products.

I looked at Squarespace's product management dashboard and tools, and I liked the breakdown of product type to the side.

Squarespace in Action: The A.M. Contemporary Furnishings

Anibal Martinez

Owner

Anibal Martinez is the owner of a custom furniture business, The A.M. Contemporary Furnishings. They do woodworking and custom builds for home and business in Orange County, CA. He had trained and worked as a manufacturing engineer for 15 years now, working in the optics industry. When he's not running the business, he also consults in the making of aerospace seals.

I had heard about Wix and other website builders but I trusted the recommendations and decided on Squarespace. The key factor for me was the simplicity to set up the e-commerce and ability the flexibility of payment methods.

Q&A

How long have you been using Squarespace?

I started using Squarespace from the beginning at the start of my business, in 2021.

What do you like most about Squarespace?

Squarespace has been constantly improving and updating features and companion apps such as unfold, video stories, and bio sites. There is also a handy Squarespace app that gives some ability to edit on the go, which I never do. The app also gives some stats that come in handy while monitoring performance.

When it comes to editing, I can save my favorite sections, which was a welcome change when it was implemented. The formatting of the sections was also recently updated to a scaled/modifiable tile format, making the scaling of pictures, buttons, and other items somewhat easier. Formatting text font as well as color schemes has always been somewhat simple with the styles’ formatting options. So, making large-scale changes is somewhat quick and painless once you get used to the tools available.

Is there anything you'd change about Squarespace?

There is a learning curve to using a website builder so when they roll out a new way to do things some may not like having to relearn using their tools. Using the old tools already took time to get comfortable with. They give you the option to keep using the old tools, but you’ll feel like you’re missing out if you don’t. Once you make the upgrade you also get a warning that you can’t go back, so there is some stress whenever they roll out the new features.

I also think the shipping options are limited. My products sometimes require special arrangements because of their size and weight. Special freight requirements or unique cases for shipping would have been a nice feature.

Would you recommend Squarespace to others?

On a scale of 1 to 10, I’d say I’m at a 6 with my overall satisfaction with Squarespace. I think Squarespace is good for specific kinds of business, though in hindsight I probably would have spent a little more money and developed a website with better ecommerce options as well as shipping options.

What do you wish you had known before starting?

Customer service is non-existent. I tried once to get into contact with a help number and realized Squarespace is so cheap because there is little to no user support. Expect to spend lots of time watching youtube tutorials.

Best for international sellers

Less ideal for beginners and smaller stores

WooCommerce

Best for large online businesses

Very Good

4.2

out of 5

• Very WordPress-compatible
• Extremely scalable
• Helpful setup wizard

Free plan available

Paid Plans: $12.95 / month

Pros

• Huge variety of plugins
• Lots of payment options
• Tools for selling internationally

Cons

• Have to install most features yourself
• Cost of plugins and tools can add up
• Only works with WordPress

WooCommerce Review

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Overview of WooCommerce 

WooCommerce is a plugin for WordPress, and you can try it out for free for 14 days. However, you are going to need to find a hosting provider, a store theme, and subscriptions to whatever extensions you need. A benefit of this is that WooCommerce can be endlessly integrated and altered via code, which means its users can run bigger online stores than competitors who are tied to one particular platform, like Wix or Shopify. For example, WooCommerce has great access to international selling tools, like automatic currency calculators or multilingual options, opening it up to hundreds of different markets.

A downside to this is that you have to work through WordPress, whose mileage is dependent on how much you know about coding. For users with no experience with coding, we recommend you sign up with a builder like Wix or Squarespace before taking on WooCommerce. 

WooCommerce Sales Features 

Sales features that have become expected of ecommerce website builders need to be downloaded as an extension. WooCommerce doesn’t even have abandoned cart recovery built into the platform.  The problem is that many of these features are not free. You may end up paying an average of $79-$299 per year for each one.

However, if you can get past this technical hurdle, you get rewarded with one of the best ecommerce platforms, perfect for high-stakes international commerce. In our research, we awarded its sales features an overall score of 4.1 out of 5, coming in third on this list for this category. 

WooCommerce Free Plan Limitations 

Not all features you can add with WooCommerce will be free, some will be paid. The average price you’ll be paying for a WooCommerce extension is around $79 per year, but that could go up to about $299 per year for the premium options.  You’ll need a hosting provider with plenty of storage to add the features you need to make your store the best it can be. We recommend Bluehost because it’s the best overall hosting provider in our research and is even recommended by WooCommerce and WordPress! 

WooCommerce Gallery

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WooCommerce is a WordPress plugin, meaning you will have to use code to design your site, but you have more freedom than with other platforms.

I took a look at the stylish themes on offer with WooCommerce.

You can quickly fill out basic product details to start building your store inventory.

To add WooPayments, I just needed to enter a few details.

We could easily optimize workflows using WooCommerce automations.

WooCommerce in Action: Grill Party BBQ

Ankur K. Garg

Owner

Ankur K. Garg is digital marketing wiz. He's created countless WooCommerce sites for brands over the years, but Grill Party BBQ is his own invention. Their unique BBQ since blends which you can purchase through their website promise to add excitement to any BBQ, cookout or summer sesh!

I choose WooCommerce when it’s a personal project because there are no monthly costs if you know how to code a bit. There are some one-off plugins, but you’re up and running quickly and you can customize everything.

Q&A

Why did you decide to use WooCommerce?

I choose WooCommerce when it’s a personal project, like my website, because there are no monthly costs if you know how to code a bit. There are some one-off plugins, but you’re up and running quickly and you can customize everything.

What do you like the most about WooCommerce?

I love the fact that I can customize anything I want without having to pay a premium, like Shopify. Additionally, I love that because it’s built on WordPress I can work with almost any freelancer I want at any given time because 90% of the creator community knows how to use WordPress.

Did you come across any obstacles when building?

The biggest obstacle with WooCommerce is that you have to spend the extra time needed to customize everyone if you’re obsessed with branding like I am. That means everything from the product pages to the 20 automated emails that go out throughout the shopping process all require custom UI/UX.

How long have you been using WooCommerce?

I’ve been using WordPress since 2003 and WooCommerce since 2008 when it was called WooThemes.

Would you recommend WooCommerce to others?

100% if you know HTML/CSS, as it’s the only way to go.

Was there anything you wish you had known beforehand?

I wish I had known about my hosting provider WPEngine earlier. I only discovered them two years ago and it changed everything for me.

Best for businesses making +$250K per year

Less ideal for those with less than 100 products to sell

Adobe Commerce (Magento)

Best for enterprise-level businesses

Very Good

4

out of 5

• Very customizable
• Very scalable
• Not very easy to use

Free plan available

Paid Plans: $6.99 / month

Pros

• Powerful features to support huge stores
• Can manage thousands of products
• Trusted by brands like Nike and Samsung

Cons

• Difficult setup and installation process
• Beginners will need to hire a developer
• No help and support

Magento Review

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Overview of Magento 

Magento is not for small stores or beginners because it’s pretty difficult to use if you don’t have some level of tech skill going in. However, the payoff is that Magento is the most powerful ecommerce platform on this list, even versus Shopify.

Nestlé, Coca-Cola, and Land Rover all run on Magento, but it still operates a free-to-install open-source option for businesses that are starting out. However, its enterprise-focused selling can cost up to $10,000 per year, so we’d only recommend Magento for very large stores with a strong and loyal customer base. 

Magento Sales Features 

Magento does have some built-in features, but you’ll still need to add extensions that aren’t cheap. Some features included are free shipping options, bundle products, and access to GA4 (formerly Google Universal Analytics), which are all essential for having a successful online business. These features are designed to handle some of the biggest brands and corporations around the world, so you can expect them to be top quality.

In our research, Magento scored 4 out of 5 for its sales features, but remember the need for extensions, as some of the plugins like Amasty to add a blog to your site can cost $405 per year.

Magento Free Plan Limitations 

While Magento’s open-source version is free to install, you’ll need a hosting provider and to incorporate plenty of plugins to get the features you need, which can really increase the overall cost. Our recommendation is A2 Hosting, a solid host that is better suited for large websites – something you’ll want to get the full use out of Magento.

Magento Gallery

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Before signing up to Magento, I could explore its interactive tour.

Using Magento's interactive tour, we checked out its ecommerce features.

We explored Magento's support resources for online stores.

If your store needs additional features, Magento offers plenty of extensions.

It was reassuring to see that I could manage omnichannel sales from a single dashboard.

Unlocking extra features is key for a successful online store. And, with the website builders around today, it’s cheaper than ever to do so. Remember, Shopify’s paid plans start from a mere $5 per month (with the Starter plan). So if you’re wondering whether it’s worth upgrading to a paid plan, the answer is almost definitely “yes!” 

In short, upgrading to a paid plan will upgrade your business. How is that so? Like any subscription, if you pay more, you get more. Below, we’ve listed five of the best features you can get on a paid plan: 

1. No ads

You may have a really small or totally new business, but nobody will actually know that unless you’re using a free plan on an ecommerce builder as your site will be plastered with ads. There’s an element of ‘fake it till you make it’ as a new business, and an unprofessional website isn’t going to give off the right signals. 

2. Better sales tools

A paid plan won’t just make you a website that looks more professional – it will make you a website that acts more professional, too. Ecommerce platforms withhold premium features, like the ability to send abandoned cart recovery emails, for paying members – and with good reason. In fact, 70% of online carts are abandoned (i.e. the customer leaves the site without paying for the items they have collected in their cart). Emails sent to these customers can have an impressive open rate of 45%, and are hugely effective in re-engaging these customers. 

3. Sell more products

Most free ecommerce plans put a cap on the number of items you can sell. By opting for a paid plan, you’re giving yourself more freedom, and offering your customers more choice. 

4. Get better support

Paying customers tend to be able to access support in more ways, such as over the phone. Even if you get the same help and support options as premium customers, you better believe you’re not going to be on top of the priority queue when you need help. Don’t wait until your site is down, or until you can’t get an answer to something that’s driving you nuts before you upgrade – do it now, and your future self (and site) will thank you! 

5. Increase payment methods

Paid plans typically allow you to connect more payment methods. This, in turn, makes for an easier shopping experience for your customers, increasing the likelihood that they’ll come back. 

6. Don’t forget your hosting

If you choose to build your ecommerce store using one of the open-source software platforms we have listed here, you’ll know that you need to arrange hosting separately. We recommend Bluehost across the board for this, although A2 Hosting also has brilliant Magento-specific plans. 

Our top tip would be to review your hosting plan on a regular basis, as your store’s size can put a strain on your hosting plan which, in turn, can lead to problems such as: 

• A slow-loading website, or users being timed out 
• Your site crashing when too many people are using it 

Before we summarize this list and you can make your verdict, let’s go over what the most important factors are for picking a free commerce platform, as well as cover some pressing user questions:

How Do I Choose a Free Ecommerce Platform?

• Can I sell online for free?
• Does it offer a free trial?
• If not, how expensive is it?
• What are its limitations in its sales features?
• How much is it to upgrade my plan?
• How easy is it to build my online store?

At Website Builder Expert, we do the research to give you the most informed answer to these questions possible, but ultimately everyone is made differently. If you’re still unsure, the best option is to test them and decide for yourself.

How Long Does it Take to Build an Online Store?

It depends on the platform. Creating a Shopify store takes a couple of hours, thanks to the visual cues and simple language. On the other hand, Square Online uses artificial design intelligence (ADI) to build your store in minutes.

What Ecommerce Plan Has The Lowest Upgrade Cost?

WooCommerce technically has the lowest upgrade cost. As it is open-source software, it only costs $9.95 per month to host an online store. However, you will need integrations to actually run a successful store, plus the monthly hosting costs. In the end, your monthly bill will be higher than just the $9.95 per month.
 
In terms of a complete ecommerce package, Squarespace has the cheapest upgrade cost: its basic ecommerce plan, Business plan, costs $23 per month to sell online, allowing users to create and design their own stores with unlimited products.

Can I Avoid Transaction Fees?

Transaction fees are charged every time a customer makes a purchase from you. For example, Shopify charges 2% for the Basic Shopify plan and 0.5% for the Advanced plan.

While most ecommerce platforms will charge them, Squarespace won’t on its two Commerce plans.

While free plans make perfect sense for money-conscious business owners, they do have their limitations. Square Online provides the best deal by letting you sell for free, but you are cut off from a lot of essential features and have to feature ads with no custom domain. This will make your site look unprofessional to consumers.  

With other platforms like Wix or Shopify, you can only build your store for free, but to actually make money through your online store, you’ll need to spend some. Overall, we recommend signing up for a free ecommerce plan today – or testing a free trial – to really get the most out of selling your products online. 

Still unsure about which platform to choose? We’ve done the research for you, and created this quick quiz to help!