Shopify vs Etsy vs Wix 2024: Let The Battle Commence!

Are you looking to get into online selling and want to find the right eCommerce platform for your wares? 

Or are you already trading online and searching for a new virtual home for your products? 

Either way, you're in the right place because I'm comparing three online sales platforms in this review: Shopify, Etsy, and Wix. 

Hopefully, by the end of my comparison, you’ll have a clearer idea of which (if any) are right for your business. 

That's enough groundwork; let’s get into the nitty-gritty of this Shopify vs Etsy vs Wix comparison:

Shopify vs Etsy vs Wix: Features

Due to time constraints, I won’t list every feature that Shopify, Etsy, and Wix offer. 

Instead, I’ve picked out the ones I think are the most relevant to eCommerce: 

Shopify's Core Features

Shopify is perhaps the best-known eCommerce platform, holding 10% of the global market share. Signing up is simple and quick, and it offers plenty of built-in online sales tools. 

As mentioned above, Shopify offers lots of in-built eCommerce features, including:

• Commerce Tools: You can sell unlimited physical and digital products online and access various order and inventory management tools. 
• Marketing: It’s easy to sell products on multiple sales channels, including Google Shopping, Amazon, Walmart, TikTok, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and more. You can also build custom, automated emails like welcome and abandoned cart messages. That’s as well as creating blog posts, setting product discounts, embedding promotional videos and 3D models on product pages, and more. 
• Analytics: Receive insights into your Shopify store’s performance – see which products are selling, get a better understanding of customer behavior, view total spending over set periods, and more. But please note: The specific analytics you can access will depend on your chosen subscription plan. 
• SEO: Optimize your store for SEO by editing your website’s URLs, meta descriptions, meta tags, product pages, and image text.
• POS: Shopify has a free POS app, enabling you to sync your in-person and online sales. 
• Store Management: Shopify offers a variety of customizable automation features to help you manage orders, returns, fulfillment, inventory, and so on from your dashboard. For example, you can use ‘automated collections’ to hide products that are out of stock. 
• International Commerce: Sell in up to 20 languages from a single Shopify store.

In addition to the breadth of in-built features available, Shopify’s App Store lists 8,000+ integrations. So, if Shopify is missing the functionality you need, you’re bound to find an app to help!

It’s also worth noting that 24/7 support is available (regardless of your Shopify subscription). You can contact Shopify 24/7 by email and live chat. 

Etsy’s Features

Unlike Shopify and Wix, Etsy is an online marketplace aimed at sellers and buyers of handcrafted products and digital downloads. 

Sellers simply sign up to Etsy and add their store name, profile picture, and bio. Once they have done this, sellers have to create their Etsy store.

This Etsy guide walks you through the setup process. 

Etsy’s core features include:

• SEO: Etsy has a seller handbook in which you’ll find a Google SEO guide and a guide to Etsy Searches. You can strategically edit your tags, titles, categories, and attributes to boost your SEO. 
• Audience: Etsy’s marketplace attracts millions of customers
• Ads and Marketing: You can run Etsy ad campaigns to advertise your products on Etsy’s marketplaces. You can also run off-site ads on Bing, Google, Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest. Etsy has a marketing guide to offer some pointers. 
• Pattern: This allows you to create your own eCommerce website. It's a separate entity from your Etsy store and is free to set up (for 30 days) until you publish IT; after that, you pay $15 a month. Pattern comes with its own features, including a blog, marketing tools, and the capability to sync your inventory with Etsy, empowering you to sell on Etsy and your Pattern website simultaneously. 
• Analytics and reports: Etsy’s search analytics (currently in Beta) provides insights into things like how many times customers browsed your shop during a specific time frame, average order value, total earnings, and more. You can also sync your Google Analytics with your Etsy shop to access more analytics.
• Store management: From your Store Manager (AKA your Etsy dashboard), you can create product listings, including uploading product images, videos, and adding product descriptions, tagging product categories, and so on. 

Where integrations are concerned, you can integrate Etsy with the aforementioned social media platforms and other solutions, including accounting software, order fulfillment, print-on-demand, etc. 

As for support, Etsy has an online Help Center. Aside from articles on various topics, including shop management and marketing, sellers can contact Etsy support via a button in the Help Center.

Etsy will then decide which type of support (phone, chat, or 24/7 email) is best for your query. But you have to go through a series of multiple-choice options before you get to that. When we tried it, the only type of Etsy support available was email, with a response time of 1-2 days. 

Wix Features

Wix is a well-known website-building tool and eCommerce solution famous for its ease of use. 

You can easily manage your eCommerce shop via an intuitive dashboard and design your store using Wix’s intuitive drag-and-drop editor. 

Wix’s core eCommerce features include:

• Marketing: You can create Facebook, Instagram, and Google ads from your Wix dashboard. You can also run automated email campaigns and connect with customers via instant live chats to send coupons and discounts. You can also boost your local SEO with Google Search and Maps using Wix’s integration with Google Business Profile. 
• SEO Wiz: Wix provides you with a step-by-step checklist to help you improve your site’s SEO. While we’re on the subject of SEO, it’s worth highlighting that you can edit meta tags and descriptions, create URL redirects, and customize URLs. Also, Wix automatically adds Social Share meta tags to your pages. It also automatically optimizes images too. 
• Sales: Sell on multiple channels, including eBay, Facebook, Amazon, and more.
• Reports and Analytics: View site traffic, sales figures, sales by item, which traffic sources work best for your marketing campaigns, how people navigate your store, and more. 
• POS: Sell in person and online via Wix POS. This is available only in the US and Canada at the time of writing. 
• Cart and checkout: Wix provides a secure checkout, including a free SSL certificate. You’ll also benefit from automated sales tax, a currency converter, free shipping options, an express checkout option, abandoned cart recovery functionality, and more. 

Like Shopify, Wix also has an App Market comprising 500+ add-ons organized into categories like marketing, media and content, online selling, shipping, delivery, and more.

Where customer support is concerned, Wix has an online support center plus 24/7 customer care via live chat and email. Enterprise and Business Elite plan subscribers also have access to phone support. Operating times for this vary depending on which country you’re in.  

Shopify vs Etsy vs Wix: Design and Templates

Shopify Design and Templates

Shopify offers 12 free themes and a further 161 that range from $140 to $400 (one-off fee). 

They come in various categories, including clothing, toys and games, pet supplies, restaurants, outdoor and garden, and many more. 

You can customize themes to change typography, layout, colors, social media links, checkout settings, etc. 

However, unlike Wix, there isn’t a drag-and-drop editing function, and you’re limited to the design restrictions of your chosen theme. 

In addition, Shopify offers an image editor that allows you to crop and resize images, draw on them, and change their orientation.

Etsy Design and Templates

Where design and templates are concerned, Etsy's offering is more straightforward than Wix and Shopify. When you register for an Etsy seller account, you follow several steps to set up your store. This doesn’t include design/template choices. In other words, your Etsy store will basically look like every other Etsy seller.

However, you can add a profile picture and bio, so it’s essential these stand out. The same applies to your product images. 

In contrast, with Etsy Pattern (as mentioned earlier), you can edit your Pattern Homepage and About page using the Website Editor via your Pattern dashboard. You can also change fonts and colors to suit your brand. Etsy Pattern offers five mobile-friendly customizable themes to choose from. 

Wix Design and Templates

Wix offers, by far and away, the most significant number of templates. There are 800+ to choose from, 500+ of which are for eCommerce, and they’re all free. These are categorized into home decor, arts and crafts, fashion and clothing, and more.  

Unlike Shopify and Etsy, Wix offers a drag-and-drop website editor to freely play around with your site’s layouts, elements, and aesthetics. 

Lastly, Wix also offers a free AI-fuelled logo maker. 

Shopify vs Etsy vs Wix: Pricing

Shopify Pricing

Shopify offers three main pricing plans. You can access Shopify’s core eCommerce features across all three plans and pay either monthly or yearly, the latter offering a 25% discount. 

At the time of writing, there’s a free 3-day trial with no credit card needed. After that, the first three months are $1 a month. 

The prices quoted below are yearly:

• Basic: $29/mo plus a 2.9% + 30¢ crest card rate. This provides plenty of eCommerce features, two staff accounts, unlimited product listings, up to 77% shipping discount, and more. 
• Shopify: $79/mo plus a 2.6% + 30¢ credit card rate. This plan unlocks five staff accounts, professional reports, up to 88% shipping discount, and more. 
• Advanced: $299/mo plus a 2.4% + 30¢ credit card rate. Other features include a custom report builder, 15 staff accounts, and more. 

On top of that, there are two additional plans, including:

• Starter: $5/month for which you can sell via social media, messaging apps and events
• Retail: $89/month, for which you get two staff accounts, one POS location with unlimited POS logins, and a basic online store using the Spotlight theme. 
• Shopify Plus: $2,000/month for high-volume businesses. Contact Shopify sales for a custom quote. 

Unfortunately, we don’t have time to list everything in each plan. However, you can see a full breakdown of what you get for your money here. 

Etsy Pricing

It’s free to set up an Etsy store. 

There are, however, Etsy fees to consider. For example, you pay a $0.20 listing fee per product and a 6.5% transaction fee per sale. 

Fees on Pattern are slightly different. It’s free to set up an Etsy Pattern store for the first 30 days; after that, it’s $15/month. There are no transaction fees for selling on Pattern. Listings that only appear on Pattern are also free. 

There are also fees for processing payments on Etsy and Pattern, which vary by country.

Wix Pricing

It’s free to set up a Wix eCommerce store. However, once you’re ready to publish it live, you’ll have to subscribe to one of its five plans. In each instance, there’s a 14-day money-back guarantee. 

All plans remove Wix’s branding from your site, provide a custom domain for a year, and offer 24/7 support.

Pricing is as follows:

• Light: $16/mo, for which you receive two staff accounts and what Wix calls a “light marketing suite.” You can’t accept payments on this plan. 
• Core: $27/mo – you can start accepting payments, receive five staff accounts, and access basic eCommerce, analytics, and marketing features. 
• Business: $32/mo- includes ten staff accounts and standard eCommerce, analytics, and marketing features. 
• Business Elite: $159/mo for 15 staff accounts, advanced eCommerce, analytics, marketing features, and access to the Wix advanced developer platform. 
• Enterprise: Custom pricing is available from Wix sales. You can access all the above, unlimited staff accounts, and more. 

Wix also charges transaction fees per payment method and location; its help center has a guide that fully outlines this. 

Like Shopify, unfortunately, we don’t have time to list everything in each Wix plan. So, check out Wix’s pricing page to better understand what you’ll get for your hard-earned cash.

Shopify vs Etsy vs Wix: Pros and Cons

Shopify Pros

• Access to attractive and customizable themes
• Access to a large App store
• There are plenty of in-built eCommerce features
• It’s easy to sign up to and use Shopify

Shopify Cons

• There are only 12 free themes to choose from
• There’s no drag-and-drop editor
• If you don’t opt for Shopify Payments, you incur more transaction fees

Etsy Pros

• You’re part of a vast creator marketplace that’s already attracting shoppers
• It’s quick and easy to set up an Etsy store
• It’s a good home for creators of handcrafted products with smaller inventories.
• There are no monthly subscription charges (if you want to sell on Etsy rather than Pattern).

Etsy Cons

• The Etsy help center isn’t the easiest to navigate
• Profile, product images, and bio aside, your Etsy store will look like everyone else’s
• Etsy’s 6.5% transaction fee is steep
• Etsy is a competitive marketplace to establish yourself on

Wix Pros

• Access to 800+ free (and attractive) website templates
• Wux’s drag-and-drop website editor is intuitive
• There are 300+ apps in Wix’s app market
• One of its newly launched features is the opportunity to sell branded e-gift cards.
• You don’t have to pay anything until your store goes live. 

Wix Cons

• Once you’ve chosen your template, you can’t change it without starting from scratch
• Some reviewers say that a few of Wix’s themes aren’t fully responsive. 
• Only basic eCommerce features are available on the lower-priced plans.

Shopify vs Etsy vs Wix: The Alternatives

When comparing different eCommerce platforms, I like to cover as many bases as possible. So here are a few popular alternatives to Shopify, Etsy, and Wix:

1. Squarespace

Squarespace offers 165 customizable templates, 40 aimed explicitly at eCommerce store owners. Templates are designer-created, contemporary, and attractive. 

You can customize templates using Squarespace’s drag-and-drop editor, Fluid Engine, which is accessible on all Squarespace plans. 

You can sell physical and digital products and access marketing features, including built-in SEO tools, social media integrations, email functionality, site analytics, and more. 

Squarespace has a free 14-day trial. Prices vary for its four plans depending on if you opt for monthly or annual billing. The latter unlocks a discount ranging between 24%-30% depending on the plan.

Prices start from $16/mo (paid annually) on the Personal plan, but you can’t sell with this plan. To unlock fully integrated eCommerce, you need one of the remaining plans, with prices starting at $23/month (paid annually) for the Business plan.

2. Amazon Handmade

Launched in 2015, Amazon Handmade is an Amazon-based marketplace aimed at craft and artisan item sellers. Creators use it to sell products via an Amazon storefront. However, unlike Etsy, you have to apply to join because the platform is strictly aimed at artisan-only products. 

Examples of the kinds of products listed include shoes, toys, jewelry and watches, party supplies, and so on. 

There’s a hefty 12.24% fee when you make a sale, but no monthly subscription plans.

To apply, you need an Amazon Seller Central account first. After that, you can apply to Amazon Handmade. If accepted, you’ll gain a Prime Badge and access to FBA (Fulfilled by Amazon). 

3. WooCommerce

WooCommerce isn't a standalone eCommerce platform (it’s an open-source WordPress plugin). As such, you need a WordPress website to use this eCommerce solution.

WooCommerce is free to download and use, and its features include access to 80 WooCommerce themes. Three of these are free, and the rest range from $59 to $99 annually. 

WooCommerce boasts an ‘optimized shopping cart experience,’ the ability to quickly customize your product pages using module blocks, sell physical and digital goods, and more. 

In addition, because it’s attached to WordPress, you can access 8,077 eCommerce and business-related apps listed in WordPress’s plugin directory. 

Shopify vs Etsy vs Wix: Final Thoughts

That brings us to the end of my comparison! Hopefully, my Shopify vs Etsy vs Wix review has provided enough information to help kickstart your research. 

My advice is to always test each platform you’re interested in before diving in. See how easy it is to customize a template, for example, or upload products. Check what the dashboard offers regarding store management and how easy it is to navigate its interface. That way, you’ll hopefully have no regrets once you sign up for a paid plan. 

Ultimately, it’s up to you which eCommerce platform you go for. However, suppose you’re looking for an eCommerce solution that offers tons of in-built sales features. In that case, Shopify has the most to offer, although it could do with a few more free templates! 

If, however, you’re a creator and want to sell your own products, Etsy may be a better community for you. 

Alternatively, suppose you’re after an eCommerce solution with greater design flexibility, hundreds of templates, and supreme ease of use. In that case, Wix might suit you better.

Are you ready to try Shopify, Etsy, Wix, or one of their alternatives? Let us know which one is right for you in the comments below!