INTRODUCTION
Looking for the best free ecommerce website builder and hosting provider? Chances are, you’re reading this for one of two reasons: To find the best ecommerce store builder to help you launch your online shop, or find a good website builder to help build a new website but don’t want to spend money on expensive hosting. Either way, Ecomdash has a lot to offer—more than 70 tools and features in total! We have made it our mission to provide you with the best free ecommerce website builder and hosting experience that no others can offer at such an affordable price.
We’ve tested all of the platforms on this list, meaning they’re the best of the best. Use the drop-down menus at the top of the chart to compare and take a look at each builder in more detail. We’re confident that we can help you find the one that’s perfect for your business!
Compare the Best Free Ecommerce Website Builders
4.2 out of 5 Unlimited Physical & Digital 4: Credit cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Square
3.9 out of 5 stars None 50+ See our Square Online Review
3.1 out of 5 5 Physical 5 including: Venmo, Apple Pay, Stripe
3.7 out of 5 stars None 18 See our Big Cartel Review
4.7 out of 5 Unlimited Physical & Digital 50+ including: PayPal, Stripe, Square
4 out of 5 stars None 500+ free See our Wix Review
You’ve Got Three Options
We’ll try to keep this short and sweet: There are three different ways to start an online store for free. In this post, we’ll cover:
Option 1: The best free ecommerce platforms – these builders let you sell with absolutely no costs, but will come with strict limits and/or charge commission fees. We’d only really recommend these for people selling “on the side.”
Option 2: The best ecommerce platforms with free trials – these are builders that offer more powerful paid plans, which you can try out for free. Free trials usually last for about two weeks, so these platforms are perfect for testing out a plan and deciding if it’s worth paying for.
Option 3: The best free ecommerce software – Software tools are different from website builders because they’re more powerful, more complicated platforms that are free to install, but will require some additional costs to get up and running.
We’ve split this page into three sections, so you can compare the best free ecommerce platforms in each of these categories. In each section, you’ll find a side-by-side comparison chart of each builder, plus individual reviews where we get into more detail. These are the platforms you’ll see on this page:
The 9 Best Free Ecommerce Website Builders
- Square Online – (free plan) – Most generous free ecommerce plan.
- Big Cartel – (free plan) – Best for independent artists.
- Wix – (free to build, not sell) – Best for small online stores.
- Shopify – (free trial) – Best for larger businesses.
- Squarespace – (free trial) – Best value for money.
- BigCommerce – (free trial) – Best for a purely online business.
- Constant Contact – (free trial) – Best for selling on the side.
- WooCommerce – (free to install) – Best WordPress ecommerce plugin.
- Magento – (free to install) – Best for enterprise-level businesses.
Let’s get started!
Option 1: Best Free Ecommerce Website Builders
In this section:
- Jump to Square Online
- Jump to Big Cartel
1. Square Online
Most generous free ecommerce plan
Square Online
Most generous free ecommerce plan Very Good
4.2 out of 5
- Quick setup
- Easy to use
- Not very scalable
Free plan available
Paid Plans: $16 – $79 / month
Pros
- Easy to track sales and abandoned carts
- Responsive help and support
- Seamless payments system
Cons
- Limited design freedom
- Few payment processing options
- Not great for large volume selling
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.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! Because Square is so easy to use, its website design process can be completely hands-off if you want it to be – but the tradeoff is that you won’t get a ton of design freedom.
Don’t get us wrong, you can customize Square templates in all of the most important ways, like:
- Changing color schemes
- Picking fonts
- Repositioning page elements
- Importing your brand logo
- Uploading photos
We just mean that if you’re really looking to get your hands dirty and create something unique, then you’re better off with Wix or Squarespace (both of which offer free trials for ecommerce).
Square templates are professional, just not completely unique. If you already have a brick-and-mortar store, and just want to test the ecommerce waters, Square is a great option – especially if you’re already processing your payments through Square’s POS system. You can integrate it with your website so that online and in-person orders are always in sync.
And even if you’re not already using Square products, its free plan comes with some great sales features:
- Sell unlimited products (rare for a free plan!)
- Automatic tax calculator (US only)
- Easily add products with different variations
- Simple inventory management
- Set free or flat rate shipping, or customize by weight, quantity, or order cost
Still, one drawback of the free plan is that you can only use Square’s in-house payment processing system. It’s a high-quality system, but if you (or your customers) would rather have more options (like PayPal or Apple Pay), then you may get a little frustrated. Square topped our research as the best free online store builder because it’s incredibly easy to use, and still doesn’t skimp on features.
If you start on the free plan and find your store growing, then you’ll want to consider what the cheapest paid plan can offer – including a free custom domain for your first year, and no Square ads clogging up your store’s branding.
Square’s cheapest paid plan costs $12/month, which is right on par with the best paid builders like Wix and Squarespace.
Square Gallery
Click the image below to expand
Want High Quality at No Cost?
Square offers a rare combination of ease of use and excellent features – we were very impressed!
More Information
- Check out our Square Online Review for more info.
2. Big Cartel
Best for independent artists
Big Cartel
Best for independent artists Standard
3.1 out of 5
- Good for artistic items
- Useful onboarding process
- Very limited free plan
Free plan available
Paid Plans: $9.99 – $29.99 / month
Pros
- No platform transaction fees
- Helpful tips throughout design process
- Individual products get the spotlight
Cons
- Five product limit on free plan
- Features and designs lack quality
- Difficult to customize your store
Overview of Big Cartel
Big Cartel is harder to use than Square, and its templates are still not very flexible. Still, Square is kind of an outlier when it comes to completely free ecommerce website builders – Big Cartel is a little less impressive, but it’s what you can typically expect for the price (or lack thereof).
Plus, BigCartel does have some impressive sales features, and its paid plans start from very cheap. We recommend Big Cartel if your store sells less than five products, and you don’t plan to expand in the near future. Big Cartel didn’t perform very well in our ease of use testing. It has plenty of strengths, but getting online quickly and simply is just not one.
Big Cartel themes aren’t very customizable, unless you know how to code (which you can’t do much of on the free plan, anyway). So if you’re in the majority of us without a computer science degree, you may want to stick to Square instead.
But something we did like about Big Cartel is its onboarding process when you first sign up, which uses pop-up prompts and tips to walk you through your dashboard. You’ll be shown all the basics, from adding products to creating discounts – it’s more the design process that we found clunky! Big Cartel’s template designs aren’t very customizable if you can’t code – so at least they’re stylish to begin with, right?
Well… kind of. Big Cartel’s themes are similar to Square’s, because they’re simple and professional, but lack originality. The difference is that Square’s templates are easier to set up, and you can customize them a little more without any knowledge of code. Big Cartel doesn’t charge any transaction fees, which is a major perk of using this platform. You’ll still have to pay fees to whatever payment processor you use, but unlike many ecommerce builders, Big Cartel won’t take a cut of your sales for itself.
The drawbacks of Big Cartel’s sales features are that:
- You can only sell up to five products on the free plan – any more than this and you’ll have to upgrade
- You can only upload one image per product, so multiple angles are a no-go
- You can’t sell digital items (like downloads of artwork) without a separate app, which comes at an additional cost of roughly $6/month
Big Cartel’s cheapest paid plan costs $9.99/month, which is very cheap for an ecommerce builder. You’ll get more features (and better templates) with the $12+ builders, but Big Cartel offers great value for the price: it comes with inventory and shipment tracking, and lets you upload five images per product.
Big Cartel Gallery
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Trying to Run a Small Store Successfully?
Big Cartel will help you out with small-scale inventory management and no transaction fees.
More Information
- Read our Big Cartel review. here.
Option 2: Best Ecommerce Website Builders With a Free Trial
In this section
- Jump to Wix
- Jump to Shopify
- Jump to Squarespace
- Jump to BigCommerce
- Jump to Constant Contact
1. Wix
Best for small online stores
Wix
Best for small online stores Outstanding
4.7 out of 5
- Plenty of design freedom
- Powerful features
- Easy to use
Free trial available
Paid Plans: $14 – $56 / month
Pros
- Can sell Wix products on Instagram
- Product videos add credibility
- Mobile editor for on-the-go changes
Cons
- No automated low stock alerts
- Not the best for very large stores
- Can’t change templates once site is live
Overview of Wix
88% of the Wix users we spoke to would recommend it to a friend, and for good reason: its templates are extremely flexible, but still easy to use, and its ecommerce features are perfect for any small or midsize store. If you can’t identify any one category that means the most to you (i.e., you can’t choose between features and ease of use), we recommend Wix for creating a well-rounded store.Wix is an easy-to-use builder with a true drag-and-drop template editor. In other words, Wix expertly combines beginner-friendliness with flexible design.
In fact, there’s so much design freedom that you might feel overwhelmed at first – but you’ll get the hang of Wix’s template editor in no time.
You can get your hands dirty with code if you want to, but it’s by no means required to create a unique, professional design. Wix’s 500+ templates – over 80 of which are specifically designed for ecommerce – are stylish to begin with. And as if that weren’t enough, the huge amount of design flexibility you get with Wix (which requires no coding) means you can customize your template and make it a unique representation of your business.
We were impressed with Wix’s wide range of templates and generous design freedom – it’s hard to find both of these qualities in one builder! Wix offers a great range of sales features on its cheapest paid plan:
- Sell unlimited products
- Automatically send abandoned cart recovery emails
- Let customers create accounts for faster checkout
- Sell on Facebook and Instagram
Wix isn’t a dedicated, ecommerce-specific website builder – it’s a regular website builder with some ecommerce-specific plans – so it doesn’t have the most scalable features on the market. But for small-to-medium sized stores, you’ll have all the features you need and then some. If you want to get the hang of Wix before committing to a paid plan, you can either:
- Design a site on Wix’s free plan, then upgrade to a paid plan to start selling
- Sign up for a paid ecommerce plan, and get all of your money back if you cancel in the first 14 days
If you finish the 14-day trial period and like what you’ve seen, then you can stay on Wix’s cheapest ecommerce plan for $23/month.
Wix Gallery
Click the image below to expand
Do You Value Creative Freedom?
Wix is an easy and flexible online store builder, meaning anyone can design their dream site.
More Information
- Read our full Wix Ecommerce Review for more information.
- Wix vs Shopify – A deep dive into the key differences between these two platforms, and which will be better for who.
2. Shopify
Best for larger businesses
Shopify
Best for larger businesses Outstanding
4.6 out of 5
- Built for large stores
- Great inventory tools
- Recommended by real users
Free trial available
Paid Plans: $29 – $299 / month
Pros
- Sell across many social media channels
- Abandoned cart recovery on all plans
- Easily track stock levels and orders
Cons
- Some features come separately as apps
- Transaction fees for most payment tools
- Switching themes is a hassle
Overview of Shopify
Shopify is a builder with powerful features and a wide range of themes. It has excellent inventory management support, so it’s a really reliable option for an established business. We recommend Shopify as a relatively easy way of building and maintaining a large store. Shopify is a “dedicated” ecommerce builder, meaning all of its plans are built for selling online (as opposed to just running a regular website). Many dedicated ecommerce platforms sacrifice ease of use for powerful tools, but Shopify strikes a really nice balance.
Whether it’s setting up your store’s pages or managing your inventory, Shopify has a clean and logical interface that makes every task as simple as it can be.
We also liked that Shopify’s dashboard is full of useful tips to help you get started – you won’t be left to learn your way around alone! Shopify’s themes are well-designed and come optimized for selling products effectively. However, there are only nine free themes. The rest cost between $140 and $180, which, even though it’s a one-time fee, can be a frustrating additional cost.
Each of Shopify’s free themes comes in multiple styles, so you still get a decent range to choose from. The main difference between a theme’s styles is the color scheme. For example, the Venture theme comes in three styles: Snowboards (blue), Outdoors (orange), and Boxing (black). Shopify offers some great sales features, even on its cheapest plan:
- Sell in 133 currencies and up to 5 languages
- Sell unlimited products
- Set up two staff accounts with access to the Shopify admin
- Sell on multiple channels (sync with online marketplaces and social media accounts)
One glance at these features, and it’s clear that Shopify is equipped to handle larger stores. Plus, we were really impressed with its inventory management, which makes it super easy to track stock levels and update product listings.
However, it’s worth noting that you’ll have to check out some third-party apps from the Shopify App Store in order to really maximize your store’s potential. That’s where you’ll find features like email marketing and dropshipping.
You’ll also have to pay transaction fees unless you use Shopify’s in-house payment processor, Shopify Payments. That means popular third-party tools like PayPal will cost you up to 2% of each sale!
In short, Shopify can offer tons of features for larger stores, you’ll just have to download some of them yourself! Shopify’s free trial lasts for 14 days, after which you can choose a paid plan starting from $29/month. This is more expensive than Wix and Squarespace, but pretty on par with BigCommerce – which makes sense, since Shopify and BigCommerce are more suited to larger stores.
Shopify Gallery
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Want Your Online Store to Thrive?
Shopify is the overall best ecommerce platform on the market, and it has the tools to accommodate a bigger business.
More Information
Like to know more? Read our full Shopify review.
Or, if you’d like to branch out, discover the best Shopify alternatives.
3. Squarespace
Best value for money
Squarespace
Best value for money Very Good
4.5 out of 5
- Great management features
- Best designs
- Great built-in tools
Free trial available
Paid Plans: $12 – $46 / month
Pros
- Powerful features included with plans
- Industry-leading ecommerce templates
- Insightful analytics tools
Cons
- Easier than BigCommerce, but not Wix
- Fewer payment methods
- Editor doesn’t autosave your changes
Overview of Squarespace
Squarespace isn’t as powerful as BigCommerce, but it has the best-designed templates on the market, and offers great ecommerce features for a low price. We recommend Squarespace for businesses in a creative industry, because you can really walk the walk with its amazing template designs. Squarespace is easier to use than BigCommerce, but not as simple as Wix. It sits in the middle of this category, and the payoff is that you’ll end up with a beautifully designed store, even if it takes an extra hour that you wouldn’t have spent with Wix.
Squarespace’s drag-and-drop template editor is better than BigCommerce’s, because you can see the changes you make to each page in real time as you make them.
But it’s not as good as Wix’s, because Squarespace’s editor is more section-based. This means you have to figure out where you can and can’t place different elements, rather than dragging them absolutely anywhere. Squarespace has the best template designs of any ecommerce website builder. Its online store templates expertly combine style and ecommerce capability.
As we mentioned in the ease of use section, Squarespace’s template editor is section-based, meaning that you can customize and reorder different parts of a page, but you can’t completely overhaul the actual layout.
You won’t get quite as much design flexibility as you would with Wix, but the benefit is that you won’t have to worry about making a design faux pas or not following ecommerce best practices. Once you choose a Squarespace template, you can customize it “inside the lines,” without having to worry about messing up the general style. Squarespace offers excellent features, especially for a builder whose main reputation is in design. One the cheapest plan for selling online, you can:
- Sell unlimited products
- Sell digital gift cards
- Accept donations
Squarespace’s ecommerce plans also come with seamless inventory management. Managing products and variants is super simple, and you can even automatically display “limited availability” labels when your stock levels are low.
Just note that this plan charges a 3% transaction fee, and you’ll have to upgrade to a more advanced ecommerce plan in order to waive it. Squarespace’s free trial lasts for 14 days. After that, you can start selling on the Business plan for the cheap price of $18/month. Top Tip: this reduces to just $16.20/month if you use our exclusive Squarespace discount code.
Squarespace Gallery
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Wow Your Customers With a Squarespace Design
On top of its ecommerce features, Squarespace offers expert designs that are both stylish and professional.
More Information
- Interested in Squarespace for your online store? Read our ecommerce review here.
- See how Squarespace compares to Shopify here.
4. BigCommerce
Best for a purely online business
Heads Up: Savings Alert! Get 2 Months Free
New stores can get two months free on BigCommerce if you sign up before January 31st. Get two months free when you choose your BigCommerce premium plan. Simply start your free BigCommerce trial today to claim this limited time offer!
BigCommerce
Best for a purely online business Very Good
4.1 out of 5
- Scalable features
- Not reliant on apps
- Helps businesses grow
Free trial available
Paid Plans: $29.95 / month
Pros
- Fantastic SEO tools
- No in-house transaction fees
- Seamless multi-channel integration
Cons
- Not the easiest to use
- Uses complex terminology
- No mobile app
Overview of BigCommerce
BigCommerce is extremely scalable, with tons of built-in apps to help you reach your full potential. It’s not the easiest ecommerce builder to use, but if you can get the hang of it, then the sky’s the limit. We recommend BigCommerce for stores planning for growth in the long term. BigCommerce isn’t the simplest ecommerce platform ever – the users we spoke to found it 14% more difficult to use than Shopify. It excels in other areas, like sales features.
Users’ biggest complaint with BigCommerce was that its product management dashboard and actual storefront section feel like two very separate areas. While builders like Shopify offer a better integration between the two, BigCommerce makes products and design feel a little disconnected.
This setup can be a little frustrating, but it’s by no means too difficult to use – BigCommerce’s interface just takes more getting used to! BigCommerce offers 12 free themes and over 100 paid themes, which range from $145 – $235. You can filter themes by industry and store size to narrow down your options.
Each theme comes in multiple shades, so you can have some control over the general color scheme. When it comes to customizing each page, BigCommerce’s editing tools allow you to make changes to the layout and style.
BigCommerce’s template editor isn’t as seamless as Wix’s or even Shopify’s, but the templates themselves are perfectly suited for ecommerce success. BigCommerce has the best built-in sales features of any builder on this page. You’ll have everything you need to grow your store, including:
- Optional digital wallet payments (like Apple Pay)
- POS integrations (sync your online and offline payments)
- Create 70+ native discounts and promotions
BigCommerce’s built-in tools mean that you won’t be as reliant on third-party apps as you would be with Shopify. But if you ever want to add even more functionality, then BigCommerce’s Apps Marketplace has you covered with over 600 apps to choose from. BigCommerce’s free trial lasts for 15 days, after which you can commit to a paid plan starting at $29.95/month – a great price for midsize and large stores.
BigCommerce Gallery
Click the image below to expand
Reach Your Potential With BigCommerce
This powerful builder has the in-house tools and ecommerce-ready themes to help you succeed.
More Information
- Check out our full BigCommerce review.
- Read our Shopify vs BigCommerce article here.
5. Constant Contact
Best for selling on the side
Constant Contact
Best for selling on the side Standard
3.6 out of 5
- Beginner-friendly
- Limited features
- Least user-recommended
Free trial available
Paid Plans: $20 – $335 / month
Pros
- Plenty of help with website design
- Great in-house email marketing tools
- Easy-to-understand analytics
Cons
- 3% transaction fee on all sales
- Three product limit on free plan
- Very limited customization
Overview of Constant Contact
Constant Contact is a pretty limited platform, but the features it does offer are high quality. We recommend Constant Contact for small projects and side gigs, because it has quality features but limited growth potential. Contact Contact uses an ADI tool similar to Square’s, so getting your website up and running is no problem. Tweaking the resulting design is also a simple, step-by-step process. You’ll get to:
- Write a website title
- Add a main image
- Add your business’s logo
- Choose colors and fonts
Editing your site after it’s been set up can be a little frustrating, because you have to choose between a few specific layouts for your page elements (by “elements”, we mean things like text boxes and images). You won’t get the freedom of a true drag-and-drop builder, but on the whole, Constant Contact is still really easy to use. Constant Contact is not a very flexible website builder, so you can’t change much about the template you choose. The templates are very structured, so the best opportunity you’ll get to put a personal spin on things is by adding a cover image and picking from a generous range of font styles.
Constant Contact is actually primarily an email marketing tool – its website builder is kind of like an additional offering. But the upside to this is that its website templates are made with good brand-building and marketing techniques in mind! Constant Contact’s online store builder comes with all of the sales necessities you’ll need, like:
- Accept payments through PayPal and Stripe
- Group related products into categories, like “Under $10”
- Use mobile-responsive product layouts
We also really liked its LogoMaker tool, which will generate a stylish logo for your business based on just the industry and name. It’s free to test out this tool, but if you end up wanting to use one of these logos, you’ll have to sign up for a paid plan and then purchase the logo separately.
Constant Contact isn’t a very standout builder for features, and it charges a 1.5% transaction fee for each purchase. But you can sell unlimited products on its paid plan, which is a nice plus. Constant Contact’s free trial lasts as long as you want it to – you’ll just need to upgrade to a paid plan when you’re ready to start selling.
Plans start at $10/month, which is a really good price for selling online. If you’re not concerned with growth in the near term, then this is a good place to start!
Constant Contact Gallery
Click the image below to expand
Want to Get Started With a Side Hustle?
Constant Contact’s quick setup and useful feature make it perfect for selling a few items on the side.
More Information
- Take a closer look with our Constant Contact website builder review.
3
Option 3: Best Free Ecommerce Software
In this section:
- Jump to WooCommerce
- Jump to Magento
1. WooCommerce
Best WordPress ecommerce plugin
WooCommerce
Best WordPress ecommerce plugin Very Good
4.2 out of 5
- Very WordPress-compatible
- Extremely scalable
- Helpful setup wizard
Free plan available
Paid Plans: $12.95 / month
Pros
- Huge variety of plugins
- Lots of payment options
- Tools for selling internationally
Cons
- Have to install most features yourself
- Cost of plugins and tools can add up
- Only works with WordPress
Overview of WooCommerce
WooCommerce requires more technical skill than a website builder, but it’s still pretty easy to install. You’ll have to rely on extensions for most features, but there are seemingly endless options to choose from. We recommend WooCommerce for anyone selling on WordPress. Website builders are the easiest way to start an online store, so WooCommerce naturally can’t compare to the likes of Wix or even BigCommerce.
However, if you need the more advanced capabilities of a WordPress site, then WooCommerce is as easy as ecommerce will get. WooCommerce is a plugin for WordPress, meaning you can add it as an additional feature to any WordPress site. It comes with a helpful setup wizard, so you won’t have to worry about learning the ropes on your own.
Once you’ve successfully installed WooCommerce, adding and managing products is really straightforward. There are only three free themes in the WooCommerce marketplace, but they’re extremely customizable – as long as you have some knowledge of HTML and CSS code, which is basically the norm for open-source platforms.
If you’re willing to go for a paid theme, you can expect to pay between $39 and $79 for one. WooCommerce comes with a decent amount of features built-in, like the ability to add unlimited products and users. But the real benefit of this software is the huge amount of additional functions you can add if you want to.
The WooCommerce Extensions Store covers everything from abandoned cart recovery to multi-channel integrations, so the sky’s the limit in terms of features. Just note that not all of these extensions are free, so be sure to budget for the ones that you really want! If you’re running a WordPress site, then you’ll need to pay for your own web hosting (a web host is a company that manages the server where your website’s content is actually stored). No website can get live on the internet without a host, so even with a free software like WooCommerce, you’ll have to pay a separate hosting fee (this is already included in the cost of a website builder).
We recommend using Bluehost with WooCommerce, because it’s an officially recommended provider by WooCommerce itself.
Bluehost has plenty of WooCommerce-specific plans, starting at $12.95/month.
WooCommerce Gallery
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Want to Start Selling on WordPress?
WooCommerce and Bluehost are a powerful combination for an online store, and they’re surprisingly easy to use.
More Information
- Top 6 WooCommerce Hosting Providers – Find out why Bluehost is our top-rated hosting provider for WooCommerce, and which other providers we’d recommend.
- Bluehost Pricing Review – A full breakdown of all the costs you can expect when you sign up to a Bluehost plan.
2. Magento
Best for enterprise-level businesses
Magento
Best for enterprise-level businesses Good
4 out of 5
- Very customizable
- Very scalable
- Not very easy to use
Free plan available
Paid Plans: $6.99 / month
Pros
- Powerful features to support huge stores
- Can manage thousands of products
- Trusted by brands like Nike and Samsung
Cons
- Difficult setup and installation process
- Beginners will need to hire a developer
- No help and support
Overview of Magento
Magento is not for small stores, or beginners – it’s pretty difficult to use if you don’t have some level of tech skill going in. However, the payoff is that Magento is the most powerful ecommerce platform on this list. We recommend Magento for very large stores who already have a strong base of loyal customers. We’ll be honest: Magento is not for beginners. It’s a hugely powerful platform, but it’s also complex – so the amount of effort required to use Magento just wouldn’t be worth it for a small store that doesn’t need so many heavy-duty features.
If you can’t code, we don’t recommend Magento. It’s aimed at developers and enterprise-level businesses, and it shows.
If you can code, Magento offers scalability and customization that’s unrivalled by any other ecommerce solution, open-source or otherwise – but don’t expect the setup to be easy. In fact, unless you have experience in web development, you won’t be able to set it up at all, far less customize it to your liking. Only one of the themes in the Magento Marketplace is free, and the rest cost anywhere from tens to hundreds of dollars. Once you’ve chosen a theme, you can customize it yourself – if you’re comfortable with CSS.
If you’re not super tech-savvy, then the best way to get the most out of your Magento design is to hire a web developer to tweak the theme for you. Just note that you can expect to pay at least a few hundred dollars for this option! Magento comes with some built-in features – more than WooCommerce, in fact – but for real power and customization, you’ll still need to add extensions from the Magento Marketplace. These can be pretty pricey (its multichannel integrations alone can cost up to $499 each), but there are 1,970 free ones to choose from, so you have plenty of options. Just like with WooCommerce, you’ll need to pay for your own web hosting in order to get your Magento site up and running.
There aren’t many hosts that cater for Magento, which is why installation can be so difficult. We recommend SiteGround’s Magento hosting plans for easy installation – it’s one of the few hosts with Magento-specific plans, and prices start at a modest $6.99 per month.
Magento Gallery
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Need an Enterprise Ecommerce Solution?
Magento is the best ecommerce platform for very advanced stores – it can help you take your online store to the next level!
More Information
- Best Magento Hosting Providers – HostGator came out top for Magento hosting – see who else made the cut!
- Magento vs Shopify – A complete comparison of two very big players in the ecommerce world.
WooCommerce and Magento are the standout ecommerce software providers – they’re powerful and each integrate with a variety of tools. Plus, they’re very popular – so if you ever get stuck, chances are someone on an old help forum will have been through the exact same thing.
Still, they’re not the only ecommerce software options available. So if you’d like to broaden your horizons before making a decision, here are a few software options that are decent, but didn’t make our top two.
OpenCart
If your store is too large for WooCommerce, but too small for Magento, then OpenCart is worth a look: it’s a powerful platform, with a ton of scope for customization and additional features. In fact, there are over 13,000 OpenCart integrations available.
Just keep in mind that OpenCart itself is very light on built-in features, so you’ll need to make use of these add-ons. There’s a fairly steep learning curve though, and unlike WooCommerce, you probably won’t be able to ‘muddle through’ without any developer experience.
PrestaShop
PrestaShop is an open-source software that pitches itself as more of a website builder. As you’ve seen with the platforms above, ease of use can be a real sticking point when it comes to using open-source software, so combining open-source power and potential with website builder simplicity sounds like a winning recipe.
Unfortunately, while a good platform, PrestaShop kind of misses the mark on both fronts. If you’re set on an open-source software, pick from one of the platforms above (depending on your business size). And if you’re after something that’s as easy to use as a website builder, why not pick… a website builder! The ones we featured at the very top of this article will be a safe bet. Go to the top
Is It Worth Upgrading to a Paid Plan?
Unlocking extra features is key for a successful online store. And, with the website builders around today, it’s cheaper than ever to do so. Remember – Constant Contact’s plans start from just $10 per month, while Big Cartel’s start from a mere $9.99 per month. So if you’re wondering whether it’s worth upgrading to a paid plan, the answer is almost definitely: yes!
In short, upgrading to a paid plan will upgrade your business. How is that so? Well, like any subscription, if you pay more, you get more. Below, we’ve listed five of the best features you can get on a paid plan…
1. No ads
You may be a really small or totally new business, but nobody will actually know that – unless, of course, you’re using a free plan on an ecommerce builder, and your site is plastered with ads as a result. There’s an element of ‘fake it till you make it’ as a new business, and an unprofessional website isn’t going to give off the right signals.
It can feel daunting to pay for an ecommerce platform before you’ve got any guarantee of customers and income, but think of this as a small but necessary investment. And remember, all these platforms will allow you to pay month by month, so there’s no pressure to commit to something long term if you’re not sure it’s going to work out.
2. Better sales tools
A paid plan won’t just make you a website that looks more professional – it will make you a website that acts more professional, too. Ecommerce platforms withhold premium features, like the ability to send abandoned cart recovery emails, for paying members – and with good reason. In fact, 69% of online carts are abandoned (i.e. the customer leaves the site without paying for the items they have collected in their cart). Emails sent to these customers can have an impressive open rate of 45%, and are hugely effective in re-engaging these customers.
Even upgrading to the cheapest ecommerce plan will get you a ton of better features. For example, Wix’s Business Basic plan piles on features like five hours’ worth of video and a free domain name for the first year.
3. Sell more products
Most free ecommerce plans put a cap on the number of items you can sell. By opting for a paid plan, you’re giving yourself more freedom, and your customers more choice.
4. Get better support
Paying customers tend to be able to access support in more ways, such as over the phone. Even if you get the same help and support options as premium customers, you better believe you’re not going to be top of the priority queue when you need help. Don’t wait until your site is down, or until you can’t get an answer to something that’s driving you nuts, before you upgrade – do it now, and your future self (and site) will thank you!
5. Increase payment methods
Paid plans typically allow you to connect more payment methods. This in turn makes for an easier shopping experience for your customers, increasing the likelihood that they’ll come back.
6. Don’t forget your hosting
If you choose to build your ecommerce store using one of the open-source software we have listed here, you’ll know that you need to arrange hosting separately. We recommend Bluehost across the board for this, although SiteGround also has brilliant Magento-specific plans.
Our top tip would be to review your hosting plan on a regular basis, rather than signing up and considering it a job ticked off.
As your ecommerce business grows, this can put a strain on your hosting plan, which in turn can lead to problems such as:
- A slow-loading website, or users being timed out
- Your site crashing when too many people are using it
Providers like Bluehost are great because they cover websites of every size, and offer excellent customer support to walk you through the different stages.
Best Free Ecommerce Platforms: The Verdict
This post has walked you through the key pros and cons of the best free ecommerce platforms and software on the market.
By now, we hope you have a really clear idea of which will work for your budget and your store. Here’s a quick recap:
The 9 Best Free Ecommerce Website Builders
- Square Online – (free plan) – Most generous free ecommerce plan.
- Big Cartel – (free plan) – Best for independent artists.
- Wix – (free to build, not sell) – Best for small online stores.
- Shopify – (free trial) – Best for larger businesses.
- Squarespace – (free trial) – Best value for money.
- BigCommerce – (free trial) – Best for a purely online business.
- Constant Contact – (free trial) – Best for selling on the side.
- WooCommerce – (free to install) – Best WordPress ecommerce plugin.
- Magento – (free to install) – Best for enterprise-level businesses.
While free plans make perfect sense for money-conscious business owners, they do have their limitations.
Firstly, with Wix, you can only build your store for free. In other words, to actually make money, you’ll need to spend some.
Secondly, on Big Cartel’s free plan, you can only sell five products. This isn’t really feasible for businesses looking to scale; If this is your aim, you’re better off trying Shopify or BigCommerce using their free trials.
So why should you think about upgrading? Because, for just a few extra dollars per month, you’ll have access to a wide range of features. The most important include more sales tools, better customer support, and the ability to actually sell more products.
CONCLUSION
Free means free, so let’s get that out of the way. I’m not going to ask you for your social security number and then bill you $50/month for this service. I don’t need your credit card to charge you a monthly fee. What I’m proposing is a free ecommerce solution, built on top of the Shopify platform, which is 100% free from their basic services. This includes hosting, domain purchasing and registration, website builder and whatever else you might want or need from an ecommerce point-of-view. Furthermore, it’s all 100% SEO ready so that your store can rank well in search engine results.
Easy and Free – PrestaShop is an easy to use ecommerce website builder which lets you build you e-store free of cost. You don’t need to be a web development expert to build your online store with PrestaShop – building an e-store has never been this simple!