Best Shopify Competitors & Alternatives

Shopify currently ranks as the undisputed leader in the ecommerce market. Merchants choose it for its user-friendly interface, extensive app ecosystem, flexible design capabilities, and easy scalability. This popularity is confirmed by the fact that currently, there are 2,353,057 live stores on the Shopify platform (according to a Storeleads report). 

However, more and more alternatives are emerging as serious contenders to Shopify. Why? Just because Shopify might not be the perfect fit for everyone. Some store owners may be looking for more customization, lower transaction fees, features specific to their industry, or simply for an option with no subscription fee. And there are other quite popular alternatives that may better meet your needs. 

Here are some of the top Shopify competitors and alternatives. 

• WooCommerce: Best for WordPress websites.

• Wix: Best for small businesses and solopreneurs looking for a do-it-yourself approach.

• Squarespace: Best for creative businesses like photographers, artists, and visual designers.

• Ecwid: Best for small businesses and existing websites looking for a free ecommerce component.

• BigCommerce: Best for large-volume sellers looking for a scalable solution.

We will explore them in detail below to help you find the best platform for your online store.

WooCommerce

WooCommerce is an open-source ecommerce plugin for WordPress, that has been created to transform websites and blogs into fully functional ecommerce websites. Although it is not a full-fledged SaaS platform, when integrated with WordPress, one of the most popular content management systems (CMS) on the market, it becomes a powerful ecommerce solution. If you're already familiar with WordPress or running a website on it and have some technical skills, then WooCommerce is the first tool you should consider as an alternative to Shopify. 

Pros:

• Highly customizable: As an open-source platform, WooCommerce is completely customizable. With thousands of free and premium themes in the WordPress ecosystem, you can easily adjust your store to fit your brand identity.

• SEO-friendly: WooCommerce is built with SEO in mind. You can install a special plugin, Yoast or RankMath, which allows you to fully optimize each page for the necessary queries and improve positions in the search results. 

• Completely free: The plugin itself is free to use with any WordPress site. However, you will have to pay for premium extensions and hosting.

Cons

• Learning curve: WordPress can be more complex when it comes to site building and maintenance, and the need to host your site separately requires more technical know-how compared to SaaS solutions. To make the most of your ecommerce store, you may need to hire a developer or designer, especially if you're not familiar with HTML or CSS.

• Paid hosting and domain: Many Saas solutions include everything you may need to establish an online store in their subscription fee, like domain name and hosting. With WooCommerce, the plugin itself is free, but you must pay extra for hosting rent, SSL certificate, domain name registration, finding an email provider, and other features.

• Security risks: Open-source platforms are often targeted by hackers. To keep your store secure, you will have to regularly monitor the relevance of plugins and theme versions and install updates timely.

Pricing: Free

Wix

Wix is a beginner-friendly website builder platform designed for creating different types of websites. As it also offers ecommerce capabilities, it becomes a potential Shopify competitor for small businesses and beginners. Wix offers an intuitive drag-and-drop interface and ready-made templates, so it becomes easy for anyone with little to no tech and web design experience to build their online presence. So, if you want to get your store up and running quickly and all this at an affordable cost, Wix could be a better option than Shopify.

Pros:

• Free plan: Wix has a forever-free plan. It is limited to Wix-branded subdomains and lacks advanced features like online payments. You have to select a paid plan once you need to accept payments, access more features, remove ads, and use a custom domain.

• Ease of use: Wix’s drag-and-drop interface and pre-designed templates make it easy to build and launch an online store for anyone, even without technical skills. 

• Highly customizable: Wix offers hundreds of industry-relevant themes with easy customization options, so you can place elements wherever you want and adjust the size, color, font, and even animations for each section.

• Cost-effective: Wix offers 800+ free website templates. In contrast, Shopify offers only 12 free templates, with the remaining templates requiring a one-time subscription fee. Wix’s plans came with many built-in features, while Shopify, for many features not directly related to selling, requires third-party plugins, often for a subscription fee.  Each pricing plan offers a free domain and SSL certificate for one year.

• No extra transaction fees: While the transaction fee structure for Wix Payments and Shopify Payments is similar in terms of the processing fees, Unlike Shopify, Wix charges no extra transaction fees on third-party payment providers. 

Cons:

• Limit on template change: You can only change your store’s template until it comes alive. It means that if you don't like it, you'll have to start again from the beginning.

• Limited advanced features: Compared to Shopify, Wix is limited in its support of high-level ecommerce features like international shipping, advanced inventory management, and advanced analytics. Its POS (point-of-sale) features are limited to within the US and Canada, and it offers considerably fewer ecommerce integrations. 

• Limited SEO for large sites: Wix is fine for smaller sites, but its SEO capabilities can feel limited for larger, more complex ecommerce stores.

Pricing:

• Free plan: limited to Wix-branded subdomains and offers no online payments. 

• Light -  $17/month 

• Core – $29/month 

• Business – $36/month

• Business Elite – $159/month

Squarespace

Similar to Wix, Squarespace is one more popular and beginner-friendly website builder.  It is actually the easiest platform on our list to build a website with or without ecommerce features. Known for its stunning templates, Squarespace is ideal for businesses focused on design and aesthetics, for instance, for artists wishing to sell their works or services. So, if ecommerce is only part of your business and content takes priority, Squarespace might be a better, cheaper solution than Shopify. You should also consider it if you need short-term promotion sites or have a small store for selling a limited range of products or services. 

Pros:

• Ease of use: Similar to Wix, Squarespace's drag-and-drop interface and pre-designed templates make it easy to build and launch an online store for anyone who doesn't have any technical skills. 

• Stunning templates: Currently, Squarespace offers for free 180 high-quality, responsive templates optimized for mobile and perfect for showcasing products visually. Templates are fully customized, allowing non-technical users to create a professional look.

• Template flexibility: You can change your template at any time. You should keep in mind, though, that as templates are not fully interchangeable, design adjustments and layout might not carry over smoothly, especially once your site is live. You may need to adjust the content and styling to match the new template.

• Cost-Effective: Affordable pricing plans with essential ecommerce features already included.

Cons: 

• No free plan: Squarespace offers a 14-day free trial, but in contrast to its main competitor, Wix, it doesn't offer a permanent, completely free plan.

• High transaction fee on the lowest plan: Squarespace has the highest amount of competitors'  transaction fees on its cheapest ecommerce plan in the amount of 3%. Upgrading to higher plans removes these fees.

• Limited integrations and advanced features: Squarespace doesn't have an extensive app store, and its ecommerce features are not as robust as Shopify’s, particularly for advanced needs like multi-channel selling or complex inventory management.

Pricing:

• Personal (no ecommerce features): – $16/month (billed annually)

• Business – $23/month (billed annually)

• Commerce Basic – $28/month (billed annually)

• Commerce Advanced – $52/month (billed annually)

 BigCommerce 

BigCommerce is one the most robust and feature-rich Shopify alternatives for creating online stores. Designed to suit the needs of larger businesses or those with complex ecommerce requirements, this fully-fledged ecommerce Saas solution focuses on advanced features for online stores, including multi-channel selling, scalability, and detailed analytics. While BigCommerce has an app store, most of its important features are built into the builder, unlike Shopify, which relies on third-party apps that often come at additional subscription fees. These apps can quickly increase costs, significantly exceeding the initial subscription fee. BigCommerce, like Shopify, is a fully hosted solution that takes care of hosting, security, and updates for you. It’s also the only Shopify alternative on our list with an enterprise-level plan for businesses generating $1M+ in annual sales. So, if you are a growing business looking for a comprehensive platform with robust, built-in tools or are already shipping a significant number of products, BigCommerce is an excellent choice. 

Pros:

• Customization: BigCommerce has a wide variety of free and paid themes and the ability to customize any of them through HTML, CSS, and JavaScript or with a page builder visual editor without any coding skills.

• Multiple payment gateways: BigCommerce supports more payment options than any other Shopify competitor. It offers over 65 payment gateways serving 100+ countries and over 250 local payment methods. 

• No transaction fees: Unlike Shopify, BigCommerce doesn’t charge extra transaction fees on any of its plans, which can result in significant savings over time. 

• Generous built-in features: BigCommerce offers a range of out-of-the-box features that are built into almost all plans. Some of its most impressive sales features include multi-channel integration, extensive reporting tools, abandoned cart features, multiple shipping options, in-app checkout for social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram. Additionally, all plans offer unlimited products and file storage, supporting your business growth without added costs.

Cons:

• No free plan: Like Shopify, BigCommerce does not offer a free plan. It offers a generous 15-day free trial, which, compared to Shopify’s 3-day trial, is at least sufficient to test the platform.

• Limited free themes:  BigCommerce has only 12 free templates, similar to Shopify. However, Shopify’s free templates feel thoughtfully designed, while BigCommerce themes can feel basic, making paid templates a better choice for a standout look. The number of paid themes is not as big as in Shopify. Premium themes are quite expensive, ranging from $200 to $400. 

• Learning Curve: BigCommerce is very robust and can inevitably feel more complex, especially for users with no technical expertise. Design flexibility is not as intuitive as in platforms like Squarespace or Wix, especially for users unfamiliar with coding. Even if compared to Shopify, it has a steeper learning curve because you get so many more out-of-the-box features.

• Fewer Integrations: While it offers many built-in features, BigCommerce’s app store is smaller than Shopify’s, which may limit options for niche tools.

• Pricing Tiers Based on Sales: BigCommerce’s pricing is tied to your annual sales. If your store exceeds the sales limit for your plan, you’ll be automatically moved to a higher tier, which can get expensive as your business grows.

Pricing:

• Standard – $21/month (billed annually)

• Plus – $39/month (billed annually)

• Pro – $89/month (billed annually)

• Enterprise - custom pricing 

Ecwid

Although not as well-known as Shopify, Ecwid is one more popular ecommerce Shopify alternatives on our list. Similar to Woocommerce, it is not a standalone website builder, rather an ecommerce widget to add an online store to your existing website or social media channel. It's quick, easy to set up, and flexible in terms of design. You can integrate it directly with your existing website, or you can build your own from scratch. Ecwid is compatible with most CMS platforms like WordPress, Wix, Joomla, Weebly, Blogger, Tumblr, and more. So, if you already have a website that you're happy with and want to quickly add ecommerce capabilities without the need for a complete website overhaul and a ton of upfront financial investment, this Shopify competitor may be one of the best choices for your ecommerce plan. 

Pros:

• Budget-friendly: Ecwid offers a free plan, although it has very limited features and no social selling. It also offers over 30 free design themes and provides free domains on all plans, even the free one.

• Easy to Use: Ecwid is beginner-friendly, and no coding skills are needed for most features. Its easy-to-use interface allows anyone to set up a store really quickly.

• Multichannel Integration: Ecwid allows businesses to sell not only on their own websites. For all paid plans, it also allows selling across multiple platforms such as social media, online marketplaces, etc. Integration with social media and marketplaces means you can generate sales through Google, Facebook, Amazon, eBay, and even TikTok. Marketing tools like email campaigns and automatic ads are also built in.

• Multiple payment channels: Ecwid integrates with over 70 third-party payment systems to process your transactions, including Stripe, Amazon Pay, and PayPal. You can accept cards, Google, and Apple Pay, and you can manage all payments directly from Ecwid. Ecwid's parent company, Lightspeed, has released Lightspeed Payments to automatically record transactions across all channels and help you minimize human errors, though it's limited to certain countries for now.

• Mobile-friendly: The platform is mobile-responsive, so customers can easily shop from any device. Besides, store owners using paid plans can manage their stores on the go with a mobile app (currently available only via iOS). 

• No transaction fees: Unlike Shopify, Ecwid doesn't charge additional fees for processing payments.

• Comprehensive inventory management and reporting: Ecwid offers robust tools for managing your inventory and orders, as well as detailed analytics.

Cons:

• Limited Design Flexibility: While Ecwid is easy to use, it may not offer as much design flexibility as platforms like Shopify or BigCommerce. For more advanced customization, such as changing button colors, font sizes, or hiding elements on certain pages, you will need to add custom CSS code or third-party apps.

• Limits on product numbers: The free plan has product limits, and even paid plans, except the unlimited one, have restrictions on the number of products you can add.

• SEO limitations: While Ecwid offers basic SEO tools, its capabilities aren't as robust as those of its competitors. For example, you may have less control over URL structures, which can affect your store's SEO performance.

• Fewer ecommerce features: If compared to platforms like Shopify or BigCommerce, Ecwid has fewer advanced ecommerce tools, such as native abandoned cart recovery (only available on higher paid plans) or advanced marketing tools. Like with Shopify, for some advanced functionalities, you may need to rely on third-party integrations or apps, which can increase complexity and costs.

Pricing:

• Free plan with limited features and no social selling

• Venture - $21/month

• Business - $39/month

• Unlimited - $89/month

Conclusion 

Picking the right ecommerce platform is key to your business success. While Shopify is a popular choice, it’s not for everyone due to its costs and limitations. The best platform depends on your needs and goals. For easy customization or integration with an existing site, WooCommerce and Ecwid are great options. If you’re after enterprise-level features, BigCommerce has you covered. Squarespace and Wix shine for small businesses or creatives who want beautiful, design-focused sites. If we had to pick one, Wix offers the best value—it’s super beginner-friendly and has everything an online store needs. Luckily, all of the platforms on this list offer free trials, so you can explore and make a decision risk-free.