I have been working on ecommerce websites for a while now. It all started when I was working with a client, who wanted to start an online store. I began my research, and eventually came up with a number of impressive platforms to build an ecommerce website. However, I soon realized that many of these platforms require a monthly fee – which immediately puts off a lot of smaller businesses.
A free ecommerce website is not possible until now. With this free platform you can create unlimited products and allow your customers to buy them easily. This truly is the best free platform for ecommerce website in terms of its user-friendliness and its efficiency.
An e-commerce website is an online shop and/or catalog of products that a company announces and offers for sale directly to the public. By doing so, they do not use physical retail stores as intermediaries. It’s easier to find information about e-commerce websites than you may think. You can go online and find a variety of resources that provide information on free website platforms, even free e-commerce websites.
Ecommerce is an important and vital step for a business when it comes to do online marketing. Ecommerce website is the best place to promote your business online. If you have been searching online best ecommerce platform, here is the right place to get the list of best free platform for ecommerce website. There are numerous ecommerce platforms available in the market with which you can create an online store.
Choose the Best E-commerce Platform According to YOUR Requirements
Each platform has its unique features and benefits, so select the best option that matches your business requirements.
WooCommerce
WooCommerce is the world’s most popular eCommerce platform. It’s a completely free software that you can download and run on any web hosting provider.
Since WooCommerce doesn’t provide hosting for you, you’ll need to buy web hosting and a domain name to make sure your website can be accessed by users worldwide.
We recommend using either Bluehost or SiteGround. They are both among the largest hosting companies in the world and are officially recommended by WooCommerce.
Bluehost is even offering WPBeginner users a free domain name + SSL certificate, and a generous 60% discount on hosting. Basically, you can get started for $2.75 per month.
Pros
- It’s easy to get started with WooCommerce. You can create an online store quickly even if you’re a total beginner.
- You’ll be hosting your website yourself, which gives you full control. Although you’ll need to pay for WooCommerce hosting, but this doesn’t have to cost a lot.
- There are loads of WooCommerce themes (designs), giving you the opportunity to create a store that truly reflects your brand.
- There are thousands of WooCommerce plugins that you can use to add new features and grow your business.
- You can sell anything with WooCommerce whether its physical products, digital downloads, membership plans, dropshipping store, or affiliate products.
- WooCommerce doesn’t charge you any transaction fees at all. You’ll only have to pay your payment service provider like PayPal or Stripe, or your bank.
Cons
- If you’re a total beginner, WooCommerce is a bit trickier to get started with than some other options. You’ll need to buy hosting and a domain name, for instance.
- You’ll be responsible for maintaining your online store as it grows. This might mean upgrading your hosting plan or paying for a security plugin for WordPress.
Web.com Website Builder
Web.com website builder doesn’t have a free plan, but it offers a very affordable plan that allows you to create an online store without spending a lot of money.
Web.com will host the store and even provide you with a free custom domain and free SSL certificate.
You’ll be able to have up to 500 products in your store, accept credit cards, track & manage your orders, link to Facebook marketplace, and more.
Pros
- You can build an online store for with Web.com drag & drop website builder. You can get a free custom domain name of your choosing.
- You can sell both physical and digital products through your store. You can use Web.com to track your inventory.
- There’s 24/7 email and live chat support available.
- You can add a blog to your store’s website for free, though the blogging software is very basic and doesn’t offer the same features as a blogging platform like WordPress.
- Pricing is very affordable starting only at $3.95 per month for eCommerce plan.
Cons
- The eCommerce features are not as powerful as WooCommerce or Shopify.
BuyNow Plus
BuyNow Plus is not a full eCommerce platform. Instead, it lets you create “buy now” buttons that you can put on any website.
You’ll need to create a free Stripe account in order to use BuyNow Plus.
Pros
- The transaction fee is pretty low at just 2% per transaction. Keep in mind that Stripe charges its own transaction fees on top of this, though.
- You can use BuyNow Plus to handle recurring payments on credit cards without your customers needing to set up an account. If you’re selling recurring memberships for offline items, then this is a really handy feature.
- You can put the button links on social media as well as on your website, or you can even use them in emails.
- There’s no limit to how many different products you can sell using BuyNow Plus.
Cons
- BuyNow Plus doesn’t offer anything extra, like inventory tracking or website creation.
- You could do something similar by using Stripe directly on your website. That way, you wouldn’t need to pay BuyNow Plus’s transaction fee. You’d need your own SSL certificate, but it’s possible to get an SSL certificate for free.
Ecwid
Want a store that plugs into your existing site? If that’s a yes, it’s Ecwid for you. No website? Not to worry, you’ll get an instant starter site too for free.
Free plan
Ecwid has a free plan that’s very usable. Once you sign up, you can set up a fully functional free eCommerce website that sells up to ten products in two categories. Here’s what you get:
- Mobile responsive customizable online store with product options
- Mobile responsive shopping cart
- Unlimited bandwidth
- Add it easily to WordPress or any other website
- Sell simultaneously on multiple sites
- Facebook Pixel
- Built-in support for SSL certification, security, server configuration, and hosting
- 40+ payment methods in multiple currencies
- Real-time shipping rates from some carriers
- Built-in Google Analytics integration
Free plan limitations
You won’t get access to digital goods, staff accounts, or promo codes. These features, along with many more, are available only in premium plans.
Other key features
- Sell on the go with Ecwid mobile
- Store management app
- Multiple sales channels like Facebook, Instagram, or other POS
- Unlimited products, including digital goods
- Inventory management, automated tax calculation
- Order creation, product filters, and variations
In short, Ecwid’s free plan can be a fine option for small merchants who have basic selling requirements.
Price & transaction fees
Beyond the free plan, three paid plans are available:
- Venture – $15 per month
- Business – $35 per month
- Unlimited – $99 per month
Transaction fees:
None of them are charged directly by Ecwid, but your chosen payment processor will likely charge fees.
Big Cartel
If you’ve got T-shirts, paintings, jewelry, or other crazy stuff to sell, you’ll feel at home with Big Cartel.
Free plan
With the free Gold plan, you can:
- Start your free store with up to five products
- Pick a theme and customize
- Add one image per product with product options and categories
- Sell in person and on Facebook
- Choose to accept credit card or PayPal payments, or both
- SSL encryption
- Basic order management via the Big Cartel dashboard
- Email support
Free plan limitations
On the free plan, it’s not possible to have a custom domain. Nor will you be able to add multiple images per product or track inventory.
Other key features
- Enable inventory tracking
- Offer discount codes
- Google Analytics
- Full code customization
Since minimalism is Big Cartel’s forte, you won’t find the platform weighed down by too many features. At the same time, the free plan gives you enough to set up a shop, sell, and receive payments.
Price & transaction fees:
Three premium plans are available that allow you to sell different numbers of products
- Platinum – you can sell up to 25 products at $9.99 per month
- Diamond – 100 products at $19.99 per month
- Titanium – 300 products at $29.99 per month
Transaction fees:
None charged directly by BigCartel, but your chosen payment processor will likely charge fees.
Gumroad
Gumroad is a suitable platform to sell digital, physical, and creative goods, though the emphasis is more on digital products and creative stuff, like photographs, writing, podcasts, and designs.
It lets you create a free eCommerce website upfront, but they charge a commission on everything that you sell, unlike the other open-source eCommerce platforms on this list.
Free plan
- Create and customize your storefront
- Sell as many products as you want
- Send out four updates each month
- Setup one automated workflow
Free plan limitations
Besides missing out on some key premium features, you’ll also pay a higher transaction fee in a free account.
Other key features
- Import email lists and rely on powerful analytics
- Sell physical product variants, track inventory, manage shipping, and restrict to countries
- Digital products sellers have a lot going – multiple versions, generate license keys, and offer discount codes
- With a simple ‘+’ sign, ask customers to pay what they wish
- Built-in abuse prevention with PDF stamping or turning off downloads
- Sell goods before they are ready and schedule future payment receipt
- Support for recurring subscriptions and membership plans that offer access to content libraries and license keys for software
- Multiple payment options and easy checkout
- Customers can create an account and keep all content in one place
Moreover, Gumroad promotes product branding with custom URLs and markets your products with customized previews for social channels like Facebook and Twitter. Thank you notes and updates in automatic workflows help you stay engaged with your customers.
Price & transaction fees
Professional features will cost you just $10 per month.
Transaction fees:
The fee on each sale for free accounts is 8.5% + $0.30 (USD) per sale.
It’s lower on premium plans at 3.5% + $0.30 (USD) per sale. There’s an additional 10% charge on first-time purchasers for sales that come through browsing Gumroad.
Square Online
Most generous free ecommerce plan
Square Online
Most generous free ecommerce planVERY GOOD
4.2out of 5
- Quick setup
- Easy to use
- Not very scalable
Free plan available
Paid Plans: $16 – $79 / monthSEE PROS & CONS
Overview of Square Online
As far as free online stores go, you can’t beat Square. It’s easy to manage inventory and design a professional site. Square templates aren’t super customizable, but that means you can get online quickly with a template that’s guaranteed to look good. Plus, Square offers a remarkable amount of features on its free plan. We recommend Square if you want to grow your business as much as possible before you start paying for a website.
Ease of Use
Setting up a Square Online store is very quick and easy. Square uses Artificial Design Intelligence, or ADI, which is basically technology that can automatically create a site for you based on your answers to a few questions (it’s more convenient than creepy, we promise!).
Other website builders, like Wix and Weebly, offer ADI as an option. But with Square, it’s the main route. ADI means you’re guaranteed to end up with an ecommerce-optimized design, with minimal work on your end!
Benefits of Using Website Builder for Online Stores
Website builders are designed for individuals with little to no coding skills or designing experience.
A lack of technical know-how or the budget to hire a professional to build an E-commerce website shouldn’t get in the way of creating an essential online store for transitioning online and selling products across the internet.
Besides, if you do intend to learn how to sell online, what better way to practice than to start with free E-commerce platforms?
It’s a faster, easier, and effective way of building an E-commerce store to get your online business off the ground and making sales.
Conclusion
As a business owner you always look for making profit, so you should be careful from the very moment when you plan to start ecommerce website. If you want to run an online commerce business, then it is important to build your own platform for running your small enterprise. There are many options available for small business owners, but choosing the right one will help you attract maximum customers and boost your sales.
Ecommerce is a fast moving business, there are several changes being made in the traditional model like absence of intermediaries and rise of mobile commerce. Nevertheless, these are major milestones towards a dynamic experience for buyers and merchants.