For some e-commerce entrepreneurs, Shopify is a perfect fit: a simple-and-easy path to creating an online store, with no coding or design skills required. But for others, that straightforward-and-easy technique is slightly too simple. If you’re in need of additional options or functionality than what Shopify has to offer, you may want to compare the best Shopify alternatives.
In this comparison handbook, we round up the 7 best Shopify alternatives so you can discover the excellent fit for you, based on pricing, features, and your style of site management. But first, let’s talk about what you can expect from Shopify, and when to have some Shopify alternatives in your back pocket.
Why you might require Shopify alternatives
The most significant strength of Shopify is its clarity. With its user-friendly interface and fill-in-the-blank templates, you can have a fully useful site up and running in just minutes. That comfort is what makes it a famous option for both first-timers as well as skilled e-commerce sellers who don’t want much fuss.
But while clarity is Shopify’s most significant strength, it can be a downside if you want to build something very complicated. What if you want a rich, multi-faceted site with original design and unique style? In that case you might need to look for other Shopify alternatives.
One of the effects of Shopify’s system on site-building is that there’s a limit to how much you can customize. With only 60 themes distributed among 800,000 stores, there are a lot of sites using the same base templates, with only the images, colors, and copy to divide them.
If you’re examining for something snappy to build and effortless to handle, that’s not a big deal. But if your sales style incorporates stylistic visuals, heavy branding, or original UX ideas, Shopify’s limitations might send you examining for an alternative.
Then there’s the transaction fees, Shopify’s other big liability. Only Shopify’s native payment gateway Shopify Payments is free; for everything else—including PayPal—you must pay transaction fees of 0.5 – 2% per purchase (depending on which Shopify plan you use), in addition to the fees you’re paying to those gateways. If your specific customer base overwhelmingly prefers a particular payment system, Shopify’s transaction fees may not be cost-effective.
All in all, Shopify is a wonderful e-commerce website builder for speed and comfort, but if you want something more personalized and more forgiving of third-party payment gateways, check out the Shopify alternatives below.
1. Wix
Wix is one of the most famous all-around website builders, so when they started offering e-commerce powers, lots of online retailers relocated their stores to them.
Their victory comes from offering the exact easy and suitable template-style building as Shopify, except with a good degree more customization. There’s more to change than just images and text; Wix lets you fine-tune your layouts and add elements almost wherever you want. While this is excellent for somebody who wants to build a store their way, the extra options also mean extra effort and planning.
However, because Wix doesn’t specialize exclusively in e-commerce, they lack some of the e-commerce-specific features of Shopify, for example, Wix doesn’t accept Apple Pay or Google Pay. Still, it offers sufficiently to build a basic e-commerce site, and more to the point, you can build it your way.
Pros:
- highly customizable
- unlimited bandwidth
- unlimited product listings
Cons:
- bigger sites tend to load more slowly — especially if you list more than 50 products
- not many third-party plugins
- doesn’t accept Apple Pay or Google Pay
Pricing:
- Business Basic: $23/month
- Business Unlimited: $27/month
- Business VIP: $49/month
Recommended for:
- businesses who like Shopify’s simple-and-easy approach, but prefer more customization and design options
2. WooCommerce
Technically, WooCommerce isn’t a website builder at all; it’s actually just a WordPress plugin. What that means is that you can leverage the entirety of WordPress’s theme and plugin libraries to build a website the way you want, and then add WooCommerce to turn it into an online store.
WordPress, though, is a little more complicated than the other website builders, which is one of the reasons people prefer it. There’s a small learning arc to WordPress that needs some time to get used to, but once you do you can use it to develop sites with special qualities and amazing designs, using whatever bits and pieces you can find in the WordPress libraries.
And because WordPress is known for its blogging capabilities, WooCommerce online stores have a natural benefit when it comes to SEO and content marketing—as long as you utilize that blog space.
Pros:
- implements WordPress’s libraries of themes and plugins
- large support community of WordPress users
- unlimited product listing
- WordPress is great for blogging and SEO
Cons:
- slight learning curve and more time investment than other Shopify alternatives
- the more plugins you use, the more expensive it gets
Pricing:
- technically WooCommerce is a free plugin, but as with any WordPress site, you still need to pay for hosting and whatever not-free plugins you use
Recommended for:
- experienced WordPress users
- retailers who want to experiment with a broad range of features and effects not found on standard e-commerce website builders
- sellers who rely heavily on blogging and content marketing
3. GoDaddy
Although GoDaddy has been assisting people set up websites since the 90s, they only recently began with a website building service. Right off the bat, they offer a special e-commerce package with everything would-be retailers need to sell online.
GoDaddy’s interface runs a lot like Wix and Squarespace: you still use a template-style website builder, but it has more customization possibilities than Shopify. This makes it a good middle-ground between comfort and personalization.
The e-commerce plan is also the highest-tier payment plan (for better or worse) and contains all the features and bonuses of the other plans, such as marketing tools, 24/7 support, and built-in SEO. On top of that, there are also the e-commerce features like integration with famous payment gateways (Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal, etc.) and other marketplaces (Amazon, Etsy, Walmart, etc.)
Pros:
- highly customizable
- unlimited product listings
- integrates with other marketplaces for multichannel selling
Cons:
- only one e-commerce plan, and it’s pricier than other Shopify alternatives
- lackluster SEO tools
Pricing:
- Ecommerce plan: $24.99/month
Recommended for:
- multichannel retailers who want list their products on several marketplaces
4. Squarespace
Squarespace is most comparable to Wix, and incidentally one of their top rivals for general website builders. The major difference between Wix and Squarespace, although subtle, is that Squarespace is a little more developed, with a slightly greater learning arc and time investment. Squarespace is also more costly than Wix and most other Shopify alternatives.
As a Shopify alternative, Squarespace appeals to retailers who like Wix’s model, but prefer something with slightly more precision. Wix is more effortless to use, but Squarespace has better visuals and more customization options, including powers for selling digital content, subscription services, and synchronization with in-person POS sales. However, Squarespace doesn’t offer much for plugins and third-party add-ons, so you’re stuck only with what they have.
Pros:
- highly customizable
- unlimited bandwidth
- unlimited product listings
- can sell subscriptions and digital content
Cons:
- more learning curve and time investment than other Shopify alternatives
- on the expensive side
Pricing:
- Basic Commerce: $26/month
- Advanced Commerce: $40/month
Recommended for:
- serious-minded retailers who don’t mind paying a little extra for a few more extra features
5. Volusion
Volusion has the clarity and user-friendliness of Shopify, but with the evolved features of some of the more involved Shopify alternatives. If that sounds too good to be true, look at the price tags; it’s also one of the more costly items on our list.
Where Volusion really stands out is its Quick Wins, a series of services desired to help out newbies in e-commerce. For example, one of the Quick Wins services has an experienced team design your homepage, another offers a one-hour tutorial on Google Analytics. These are quite costly, though, most costing hundreds of dollars (and honestly, you could also get a high-quality design from Our professional designers & Developers Contact here).
Pros:
- unlimited bandwidth
- can sell subscriptions
- Quick Wins can be a great help for beginners
Cons:
- expensive
- to get innate product reviews and ratings, you must buy Professional plan or higher
Pricing:
- Personal: $29/month
- Professional: $79/month
- Business: $299/month
- Prime: based on Gross Merchandise Volume (GMV)
Recommended for:
- beginners and people fond of outsourcing (with some extra cash in their budgets)
6. PrestaShop
PrestaShop is most equal to WordPress (or WooCommerce) because it’s another open-source website builder that needs outside hosting. However, unlike WordPress, PrestaShop deals exclusively in e-commerce, so the entire software is much more focused and specialized for selling online instead of, say, running a blog.
Although coding skills aren’t needed to use PrestaShop, if you know HTML and CSS you can take full advantage of PrestaShop’s customization options, inputting more precise features than Shopify or drag-and-drop editors like Wix and Squarespace. Of course, that means more work, too, so it depends on how much time you’re willing to invest.
Just like WooCommerce, the price is variable; technically it’s free to use, but you have to pay for hosting and whatever extras you want
Pros:
- highly customizable
- E-commerce-focused
- lots of add-ons to choose from
- can build a basic site cheaply
Cons:
- not as user-friendly as the other Shopify alternatives
- can get expensive if you purchase a lot of add-ons
- requires technical skills to make the most out of it
Pricing:
- technically free, but you still need to pay for hosting and add-ons
Recommended for:
- people with coding skills
- people looking for an alternative to WooCommerce (for example, if WordPress doesn’t have the plug-in you need)
7. Weebly/Square Online Store
Using Square Online Store, the general website builder Weebly now offers e-commerce abilities, making it a viable Shopify alternative for a more custom site. It’s another good middle-ground solution for people who like the ease of Shopify, but want something that stands out more.
Weebly is also one of the cheapest eCommerce site builders on the markets, at least for their lowest-tier plan. That makes it an attractive Shopify alternative for businesses on a tight budget, although you have to pay more for features like product reviews, gift cards, and coupon codes.
However, Weebly/Square Online Store gives you a lot for a little. It’s not quite as quick and suitable as Shopify, but offers a bit more in the way of personalization and standing out.
Pros:
- highly customizable
- inexpensive
- user-friendly interface
Cons:
- only accepts payments through Square, Stripe or PayPal
- most of the good features—including product reviews and coupon codes—are only available in the higher-paid tiers
Pricing:
- Pro: $12/month (paid annually)
- Business: $25/month (paid annually)
- Business Plus: $38/month (paid annually)
Recommended for:
- retailers on a tight budget who want more customization than Shopify
Beginner platform—expert design!
Anyone can use Shopify or the Shopify alternatives above to make a site, but you need some design skills to make a really good site. A unique and professional-looking website design builds trust and brand awareness—and it makes customers remember your shop and come back for more.
But if web design is not your strong suit, don’t worry! You can always enlist the help of a professional to create the site of your dreams. If you want your e-commerce store to look its best, hire a professional designer to build it on whatever website builder you choose.
