Ecommerce has grown to become an unstoppable force, with $1.03 trillion (with a T) in sales in the US alone in 2022. With more people shopping online than ever, most businesses are looking to start their own online store.
Shopify is one of the leading ecommerce platform globally with hundreds of thousands of vendors and stores. That doesn’t mean it’s your only option as there are plenty of full-featured platforms available, and even some unlikely competitors offer better solutions for specific audiences. Without industry experience, many business owners only have a vague idea of what a platform like Shopify can provide them with.
So, if you’re wondering “What can I use instead of Shopify?”, we have this article that’s right for you as we’ll cover the top Shopify alternatives with pros vs cons, user experience, and pricing breakdowns.
Ready? Let’s get started!
1. WooCommerce
WooCommerce is a self-hosted ecommerce platform that’s built on top of WordPress. It’s open source and scalable, suitable for serious ecommerce entrepreneurs and enterprises that want full control and ownership of their content.
Pros
- Free and open source.
- 100% ownership and control of content.
- Freely choose a payment processor based on fees.
- Cheaper for large-scale stores.
- Extendable with a huge variety of free plugins and extensions.
- Choose the look you want from a variety of free and paid WooCommerce themes.
- Use the powerful foundation of WordPress for content marketing and SEO.
Cons
- Without a dedicated WooCommerce host, like Kinsta’s WooCommerce Hosting, it can be slow.
User Interface
WooCommerce’s dashboard is built straight into WordPress and is intuitive and easy to use.
Plans and Pricing
WooCommerce is free, with no required monthly fees, as long as you already have a website and a web host. Note: You have to use an external payment processor which will charge a percentage fee on transactions based on the provider you choose.
Read more about the pros and cons of WooCommerce vs Shopify in our dedicated comparison.
2. BigCommerce
BigCommerce is a dedicated ecommerce platform with advanced marketing features, like shopping cart abandonment emails, built into its core. The advanced features make it a great choice for savvy digital marketers and companies that want to scale their ecommerce sales.
Pros
- Marketing features included in core (cart abandonment, Google AMP pages).
- Freely choose the payment gateway of your choice without extra fees (unlike Shopify).
- Native support for multi-channel commerce.
- Extendable through a variety of addons and third-party partners.
Cons
- Limited ownership and control over content and functionality.
- Steep monthly fees to access advanced features ($79.95 to $299.95).
User Interface
The BigCommerce user experience is just as straightforward as Shopify’s, with clear navigation and simplistic flat design.
Plans and Pricing
For limited features and up to $50k annual revenue, the standard plan starts at $29.95 per month. Plus includes marketing features like automated cart recovery, and costs $79.95 per month. Payment processing: third-party payment gateways starting at 2.9% and $0.3 per payment.
3. Volusion
Volusion is an ecommerce platform focused on small and medium businesses that need an easy to use solution. The simple interface and step-by-step tutorials make it easy to create your first store.
Pros
- Simple interface.
- Interactive step-by-step tutorials to help you get started.
- Phone orders and CRM.
- Supports multi-channel commerce (business plans and above).
- In-house marketing team you can easily hire to help (with ads, creative, Analytics, and more).
Cons
- Advanced features only included in business ($299/month) and above.
- Limited to 100 products for the basic plan.
- Limited integrations.
User Interface
Volusion’s main selling point is its ease of use, and it delivers with a step-by-step tutorial and simple to use interface to help anyone get started quickly.
Plans and Pricing
Volusion starts at $29 a month for the personal plan, which covers up to 100 products and $50,000 in annual sales. For phone sales and CRM, you need to upgrade to the $79/month professional plan. Payment processing: Third-party solutions starting at 2.9% and $0.3 per payment.
4. PinnacleCart
PinnacleCart advertises itself as a marketing and conversion leader in the ecommerce platform market. With in-house design and marketing services, it’s a good choice for store owners that need assistance in those areas.
Pros
- Includes SEO tools, cart recovery, and other advanced marketing features in core.
- Easy-to-use interface.
- Unlimited products for all plans.
- In-house design, development, and marketing services available.
Cons
- Limited integrations.
- Standard plan only includes 20GB bandwidth.
User Interface
The PinnacleCart dashboard is intuitive and easy to use and understand, with powerful reports for both sales and marketing.
Plans and Pricing
PinnacleCart’s standard plan costs $79.95 per month and includes all features, unlimited products, and up to $250,000 in sales. The hosting is limited to 10GB disk space and 20GB bandwidth.
The advanced plan includes private SSL and unlimited drive space and bandwidth. There’s also an on-premise option through a Perpetual License, for which you’ll need to contact their sales team. Payment processing: Third-party solutions starting at 2.9% and $0.3 per payment.
5. Simvoly
Simvoly is a website and funnel builder that also offers support for ecommerce and online stores. It’s a great choice for entrepreneurs and businesses that are used to working with ClickFunnels or similar software, but also want to create an online store with multiple products.
Pros
- Powerful checkout flows with upsells to maximize average order value (AOV).
- Full-featured funnel builder.
- Intuitive and powerful drag-and-drop store builder.
- Simple interface.
Cons
- Limited ecommerce management features (like inventory management and more).
- Limited ecommerce and marketing analytics and reporting.
User Interface
Simvoly’s standout feature is its advanced page and funnel builder, which is great for companies that focus on a few products or have a long sales process.
Plans and Pricing
The personal plan only supports up to 5 products, 20 pages, and 10GB bandwidth, but only costs $12 per month. The business plan is a reasonable $24 a month, with unlimited pages, up to 100 products, and 60 GB bandwidth. Payment processing: Third-party solutions starting at 2.9% and $0.3 per payment.
6. Big Cartel
Big Cartel is a simple ecommerce solution aimed at artists, creatives, and influencers. The limited features make it easy to use, but also makes it a poor fit for established businesses and stores.
Pros
- Simplistic and easy to use.
- Free plan available (up to 5 products).
- Cheaper than alternatives (starting at $9.99 a month for full-featured plans).
Cons
- Limited integrations.
- Limited marketing functionality and apps.
- Lack of native analytics and testing (although it integrates with Google Analytics).
User Interface
Big Cartel’s UI is colorful, simple, and easy to navigate, but it doesn’t have the power or in-depth data of most competitors. It’s perfect for artists selling merchandise, but not for full-fledged ecommerce businesses.
Plans and Pricing
With Big Cartel you can create a free store with up to five products and limited features. The paid plan starts at $9.99 per month for up to 50 products and includes all features, including inventory tracking and discounts. Payment processing: Third-party payment processes starting at 2.9% and $0.3 per payment.
7. PrestaShop
PrestaShop is a 100% free and open source ecommerce platform, with comparable features to most paid solutions. Since it’s open source, it’s a suitable option for companies that want ownership of their content, that don’t already use WordPress for their site.
Pros
- Free and open source.
- 100% ownership and control of content.
- Extendable with a large number of modules and themes (5,000+).
- No limits on products, sales volume, or traffic.
Cons
- Need your own hosting.
- Can be challenging to set up for a beginner.
- Doesn’t integrate with existing CMS like WooCommerce.
User Interface
Information-rich dashboard which could be overwhelming for some users. Yet, having the possibility to browse through all data in a matter of few clicks is something data-thirsty store managers will love.
Plans and Pricing
PrestaShop is 100% free to download, install, and use. You’ll need to pay for your own hosting, themes, and the extensions you’re going to use which range from $30 up to $550+. Payment processing: Third-party solutions starting at 2.9% and $0.3 per payment.
8. Squarespace
Squarespace is a leading website builder that also offers full-fledged ecommerce support through its Squarespace ecommerce plans. For smaller teams with no design experience, the Squarespace builder can be a powerful tool.
Pros
- Powerful, intuitive drag-and-drop builder.
- Easy to use interface.
- Powerful analytics and marketing features built-in.
- Native integration with Squarespace Email Marketing.
Cons
- 3% transaction fee on the Business plan.
- Limited addons and integrations.
User Interface
The elegant dashboard allows you to easily add, remove, update, and manage your product or services. In addition, you could take advantage of Squarespace Analytics, the built-in reporting tool providing advanced reporting like breaking down revenue and orders by traffic sources or campaigns.
Plans and Pricing
The Personal plan doesn’t include ecommerce features while the Business plan has no ecommerce analytics and comes with a 3% transaction charge. So they’re not viable choices. The Basic Commerce plan starts at $26 per month with unlimited products and traffic.
For cart recovery, advanced shipping options, and more, you need to upgrade to Advanced Commerce at $40 per month. Payment processing: Third-party solutions starting at 2.9% and $0.3 per payment.
9. Square Online Store
Square Online Store is Square’s basic ecommerce solution that offers a 100% free plan. It’s a viable choice for fresh entrepreneurs that want to sell a limited number of products or test a product idea.
Pros
- Includes free plan.
- Intuitive and easy to get started.
- Native integration with Square’s dashboard and reports.
Cons
- Limited integrations and extensions.
- Lackluster marketing and optimization features.
User Interface
The online store’s user interface is simple enough, but you can also access powerful financial dashboards from Square’s main product.
Plans and Pricing
The free plan includes basic ecommerce features, but you can’t tie it to a custom domain. The professional plan includes a custom domain and removes Square ads and branding. Payment processing: Square payments starting at 2.9% (2.6% with premium plans) and $0.3 per payment.
10. Sellfy
Sellfy is another simplistic Shopify alternative solution for those looking that caters to creators and artists. Step-by-step tutorials on everything from store setup to digital marketing makes it a very beginner-friendly solution.
Pros
- Easy to use and set up your first online store.
- Great drag-and-drop store builder.
Cons
- Limited integrations and extensions.
- Very basic marketing and analytics functionality.
User Interface
The dashboard is clean, intuitive, and includes all key features to manage, run, and grow your online store.
Plans and Pricing
The starter plan at $19 per month only covers up to $10,000 in annual revenue, along with the most basic features. To access email marketing functionality, you need the business plan at $39 a month, which covers up to $50,000 in annual revenue. Payment processing: Third-party solutions starting at 2.9% and $0.3 per payment.
11. Selz
Selz is a complete ecommerce platform with native cart recovery and other advanced marketing features. With a smart drag-and-drop builder, it’s a solid Shopify alternative ecommerce entrepreneurs should consider.
Pros
- Sleek drag-and-drop store builder.
- Marketing automation features like shopping cart recovery.
- Multi-channel selling for all plans.
- WordPress plugin to incorporate products and make sales on existing sites.
Cons
- Shipping-label integrations limited to Advanced plan ($179/month) or above.
- 0.5-2% transaction fees for using other providers than Selz Pay.
- Limited integrations and addons.
User Interface
The Selz dashboard is really intuitive. Thanks to the setup checklist and other resources, you’ll have everything you need for setting up your very first ecommerce store.
Plans and Pricing
The Basic plan starts at $26 a month and includes most of the features, with unlimited products, bandwidth, and sales. The Standard plan will set you back $53 per month but includes tax invoices, custom fields, and more.
To use a shipping label integration to speed up fulfillment, you’d need to upgrade to the Advanced plan at $179 per month. Payment processing: Selz Pay starts at 2.9% (2.7% with Advanced) and $0.3 per payment. 0.5-2% additional fees for using third-party payment gateways.
Summary
It’s more important than ever to have an online storefront for your business. Making sure that you get all the features you need for shipping, marketing, taxing, etc., from the beginning can save you a ton of time and future headaches.
There are plenty of solutions to choose from. That’s why we created this list of Shopify alternatives to help you make the right choice. And if WooCommerce intrigued you, don’t forget to check out its long list of extensions and themes available to enhance your online store.
Head of Content at Kinsta and Content Marketing Consultant for WordPress plugin developers. Connect with Matteo on Twitter.
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