The first step to starting a successful ecommerce website is building it with an industry-leading and scalable ecommerce platform. The problem is that most online store builders aren’t free, and those that are, don’t offer enough tools to make your website successful at selling.
Finding the best free ecommerce website builder online can be overwhelming. It’s not uncommon to find yourself not sure what website builder to use, let alone finding a free ecommerce site builder online. That’s because there are thousands of options which all have different features, prices, and they offer different plans as well. That’s why you need a list of the best free ecommerce website builders.
Many of us are interested to learn about the best free ecommerce website builder which helps you to start your business online without spending your money. Because setting up an online business is the big task so many people need online help and suggestions now On Internet, there are a number of questions like how to build a website, how they can manage their stocks & sales with minimum investment and so on.
The Ultimate Guide on eCommerce Site Builder There is an ongoing debate about the best Ecommerce Website Builder among internet marketers. Plenty of experts and novices alike have their opinion as to what they think is the best option, however most people do not have all the information necessary to be able to make a proper educated decision.
Why are they offering free stores?
Good question. Most of the time, the platforms operate on a freemium model. Your basic site is free, but when you want to expand (add more products for example,) you have to pay. And you’re more likely to choose the easy option of paying a bit more with the same provider than moving your entire store to an entirely new host.
This is why we recommend you take into account the premium plans as well as the free ones. It might be highly beneficial in the long run. If you are serious about ecommerce, we’d suggest you to check our store builder comparison tool to find the best solution for your project.
Shopify
Shopify recorded its billionth order in the second quarter of 2018.
That single statement says a lot about Shopify and why we’re mentioning it in this list.
Shopify comes with an entire eCommerce solution that allows you to set up an online store with complete ease. It gives you the freedom to organize your merchandise, easily customize your storefront, track records for orders and to accept payments with few clicks.
The administrative interface of the store comes in English, all other things like email conversation, checkout, etc. comes in other languages. Just like BigCommerce, Shopify is one of the very few platforms that can be used by all three kinds of businesses – small, medium & large. BigCommerce and Shopify are often compared as both the eCommerce platforms are widely accepted and offer superiority to the users.
So, what’s new with Shopify?
It has Shopify Plus – an eCommerce platform with advanced functionality. It helps in growing your business by providing a large space of 2 terabytes of storage. Shopify Plus simplifies your backend workflows and lowers down complexity, and some other features like:
- Going international with a multi-lingual store.
- For high-value customers, set a wholesale channel.
- As your team grows, feel free to create unlimited staff accounts.
- Transaction fees are lower with Shopify Plus.
- Shopify Plus has a higher level of support
Along with BigCommerce, Shopify has captured a large portion of eCommerce industry today. You can safely say, these are the two best eCommerce platforms for all three size of business viz. Small, Medium, and Large.
PSDCenter has a broad panel of Shopify experts, and we have developed some outstanding themes for future stores. Don’t forget to check them out.
Here are some advantages and disadvantages of Shopify you should know:
Advantages
- You can set up an online store instantly.
- You don’t need any coding knowledge to set up your store.
- The customer support of Shopify is very good.
- Just like BigCommerce, so many cool Shopify themes are available.
- The platform has tons of apps and add-ons to give more power to your online store.
- Shopify Lite plan is available that can be a great option for many small businesses.
- Shopify also offers great SEO features, just like BigCommerce.
- Shopify has a PoS system that can be integrated with your online store as well.
Disadvantages
- You often have to rely on third-party apps to get things done.
- Transaction fee on every payment gateway transaction.
- You may face content limitations in many Shopify themes.
3dcart
3dcart combines everything you need to sell products online. It helps you in creating, designing, marketing, and managing your store with built-in features. It allows you to control online as well as offline payments, deal with your inventories, set up real-time delivery options etc. You don’t have to worry if you don’t know HTML, CSS, JavaScript or any other programming language.
Just like Shopify, 3dcart has a wide field for developers, so there’s much external help you can take for theme development or any other modification for your online store. PSDCenter is one of the biggest certified developers in 3dcart for more than 10 years, so you can safely rely on us when it comes to 3dcart. Check out our themes and development services for 3dcart.
Here are some advantages and disadvantages of 3dcart you should know:
Advantages
- Variety of checkout options are available in 3dcart.
- 3dcart offers unlimited storage to the users.
- Great SEO features and social media integrations.
- You can develop a decent looking responsive store with 3dcart.
- 3dcart is continuously updating the platform to offer the best services.
Disadvantages
- There are free themes available, but you might be disappointed with the quality.
- The dashboard is not very interactive and informative.
- You might need to invest some time in understanding the entire platform, unlike BigCommerce or Shopify.
nopCommerce
Suppose, when it comes to picking an eCommerce platform, price is your primary consideration. In that case, nopCommerce may be an attractive option. It’s completely free, entirely customizable, and, at the time of writing, used by over 60,000 small and medium-sized businesses worldwide.
nopCommerce boasts lots of eCommerce features. For example, you can list unlimited products add as many product attributes as you like (color, size, price, availability), and it’s a fully mobile-friendly platform.
There are plenty of integrations to choose from when adding payment options to your online store, including PayPal, Stripe, and Braintree. In addition, if you have plans to expand, you’re in luck. nopCommerce allows you to run more than one store from a single nopCommerce installation. I.e., you can have different websites across several domains and manage all operations from one panel.
As for SEO, nopCommerce integrates with Google Analytics, and nopCommerce users benefit from keyword tags, a customized URL section, and product pages with SEO-friendly names all out-of-the-box.
Lastly, nopCommerce has a 250,000 strong community of web developers.
All in all, nopCommerece is a feature-rich free eCommerce platform; it’s definitely up there as an attractive option for small businesses keen to expand. However, regarding nopCommerce’s website, beginners may find its terminology somewhat complex, which may prove a stumbling block for some.
Pricing: nopCommerce is entirely free to use. However, if you want to opt for premium support (where you’ll hear back from someone within 24 hours of a query). Prices cost $83.25 a month for a year’s support or $999 upfront. Alternatively, you can pay for three months of support, costing a flat fee of $499 or $166.33 a month.
Pros
- nopCommerce is an excellent option if you already have some technical knowledge or are a seasoned web developer
- Users benefit from unlimited product listings and product modifications
- It’s free
- It has a multi-store feature.
- Users get access to built-in SEO features
- It’s open-source, so customization freedom is unlimited
- There are lots of integrations available
Cons
- Premium customer support is expensive.
- Its website is written in less user-friendly language than some of its competitors
- nopCommerce isn’t aimed at small business owners who aren’t tech-savvy. As such, the steep learning curve may take you away from your core business.
PrestaShop
PrestaShop is an open-source ecommerce platform. Specifically, it’s an open-source shopping cart solution. That means, like WooCommerce, it’s 100% to download and use, but there are additional costs to consider. Alternatively, you can invest in the cloud-based version, but it comes with a lot of restrictions.
Design and Ease of Use
Inside the PrestaShop store, you’ll find over 2,210 mobile-responsive web design templates. The majority of the templates come from third-party developers. The themes range from $75 to $740. You’ll get the only free option when you download the PrestaShop software.
You can use a WYSIWIG editor to customize your theme, such as adding your logo and changing your page layout. However, more extensive customizations will require a developer.
Features and Integrations
PrestaShop has nearly 4,000 third-party applications and integrations available in the PrestaShop’s Official Add-ons Marketplace. Many of them are available in many other languages other than English, so you can cover international audiences as needed.
Of the total, only about 150 of the integrations are free. The lower-priced options tend to start at around $50, with the most common price point being $65. The most expensive option is listed at $860. If you want to add Zapier, you’ll pay $100. Want to connect to Salesforce? You’ll pay $310,
Adding integrations will increase your overall price point. Depending on what you need, it may not be more affordable than using another ecommerce platform that includes more out-of-the-box. Fully-hosted solutions may or may not be cheaper than PrestaShop. It depends on your situation. The reality is that you’ll likely have to pay for a few add-ons to customize your online store no matter which platform you use.
Here’s another point to consider:
Since hundreds of developers developed these third-party add-ons, they may or may not work together seamlessly. If you add a lot of modules, you may run into glitches. And customer support may not be available if you have an issue. One way to mitigate this risk is to pay close attention to the reviews in the app store. If you notice that lots of people had problems with it, try finding an alternative.
Pros
- A detailed demo is available.
- It works as a cloud-based or locally installed solution.
- Sell internationally with ease.
Cons
- Quality hosting solution can add up quickly. You need a domain name and SSL certificate, too.
- Add-ons can get quite expensive.
- Only one free theme option.
- The cloud-based version eliminates the need to deal with technical aspects but is highly restricted. For example, you cannot later migrate your installation to a self-hosted option to bypass those restrictions.
- You’ll need a merchant account or third-party payment processor for payment processing.
PrestaShop is best for people who are comfortable selling online and dealing with the technical aspects of running online stores. All open source ecommerce platforms require you to handle the technical side yourself.
What will I miss with a free online store?
Selling online can be difficult if people don’t trust your business, and the main problem here is with the domain name. Most free online stores won’t get you a .com or a .net. These always cost money. Instead, you’ll piggyback on the provider’s domain, so your store URL will be something like: www.yourname.freecommerceplatform.com.
Providers who offer free online stores also make up some of the cost by selling advertising space. Most of the time it’s just for their own platforms, but sometimes it’s for other services. In any case, adverts don’t look super professional.
Finally, you’re pretty likely to miss out on features. Most providers will reserve their best templates or options for paying users only. Likewise, SSL, or secure encryption is a must-have for online stores, and you won’t always get it for free.
Conclusion
Ecommerce site building is a process that requires a certain degree of planning and technical expertise to ensure the future of your online venture. It will easily help you define a budget of your business, attract more customers, optimize your site for mobile devices and increase productivity. If you are considering building an e-commerce site for your business or for someone else, a free online shopping cart builder is the best place to start.
If you are planning to build a website for an online store, but do not have enough capital to invest in it, don’t worry. There is a solution for that. You could use best free ecommerce site builder. While the name seems to make it obvious, there is always a myth among newbies about how to choose ecommerce platform that best suits their requirements.