14 Best Shopify Alternatives (2023): Top Free and Paid Solutions

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While we simply can't deny the fact that Shopify is at least one of the top ecommerce platforms for creating and managing online stores today, there can exist some reasons for which you wish to explore its alternatives.

Shopify is one of the best products out there for building an ecommerce store, but it has its limitations too. Some people find Shopify too expensive, and go with platforms like Wix or Squarespace.

Others prefer the idea of having more customization options with a free solution like Square Online or an open source solution like WooCommerce or Medusa.js.

Thereโ€™s no one-size-fits-all when it comes to selling online, so why not experiment with the idea of which ecommerce service is best for you?

Best Shopify Alternatives

  1. Squarespace – Best Overall Shopify Alternative
  2. Wix – Best for Beginners
  3. BigCommerce – Best Shopify Alternative for Large Business
  4. Square Online – Best for Multi Channel Selling
  5. Ecwid – Best Budget Option
  6. Sellfy – Best for Selling Digital Products
  7. Adobe Commerce – Best for Extensive Customization or Development Work
  8. Medusa.js – Best Open Source Alternative
  9. WooCommerce – Best for WordPress Users
  10. Shift4Shop – Best Value
  11. Big Cartel – Best for Artists
  12. Pixpa – Best for Photographers
  13. PrestaShop – Best Open Source Alternative for Non-Programmers
  14. Weebly – Best Free Alternative

What is Shopify?

Before we dive into our list of the best Shopify alternatives, itโ€™s worth taking a moment to define Shopify itself.

  • Shopify is one of the most popular ecommerce platform providers in the world today.
  • The cloud-based platform is user-friendly and feature rich, with various options for companies of all sizes and backgrounds.
  • You can migrate your existing website to Shopify to boost your chances of sales, or add a sales button to your website on another platform. 
  • Merchants can use Shopify to accept payments in a range of currencies, and sell virtually anything they can think of.
  • The platform even supports multi-channel selling, with a free domain for your website, POS solutions for brick-and-mortar locations and integrations with social media channels.
  • With Shopify, you get everything you need to build a scalable store built into one package, from website templates and marketing add-ons, to payment processor tools and inventory management.

What to Look for when Choosing a Shopify Alternative?

For ecommerce companies, Shopify stands out as one of the best ecommerce platforms available. There are countless built-in features to explore, as well as easy-to-use interfaces to make your life easier. However, it does have some downsides, such as additional transaction fees if youโ€™re not using Shopify payments, and expensive enterprise plans. 

When looking for a Shopify alternative, youโ€™ll need to think carefully about what you need from your platform. Some important points to consider include:

  • Feature options: A wide range of features in your ecommerce platform will make it easier to build and scale your business. Make a list of the features important to you, such as omnichannel selling, multiple currencies, dropshipping integrations and so on. This way youโ€™ll ensure you selecting the right service for your specific needs.
  • Customer support: Even if you have quite a lot of experience running an ecommerce store, thereโ€™s a chance youโ€™ll need help from time-to-time. There are dozens of platforms out there which provide exceptional chat, email, and phone support. You can check the quality of the service youโ€™ll receive through review sites like Capterra and G2. 
  • Pricing: Although thereโ€™s more to choosing a great ecommerce platform than pricing, we all have budgets to consider. Make sure youโ€™re getting great value for money, by comparing the feature set to the price youโ€™ll be paying. Check for any add-on expenses you may need to consider, like payments for premium themes, add-ons, or transaction fees. 
  • Shipping options: The right logistics features will be crucial for any business selling physical products. Make sure you can choose from a wide range of different shipping options for your clients, including next-day and 2-day delivery where possible. An ecommerce platform that partners with a range of well-known shipping companies is often a good choice.
  • Ease of use: Simplicity is essential when youโ€™re building an online store. Youโ€™ll need to ensure the solution you choose is straightforward, convenient, and robust. The more complicated the technology, the more time youโ€™ll need to spend learning how to use it. A complex solution can also mean you need to pay more for help and maintenance.

What are The Best Shopify Alternatives for 2023?

1. Squarespace – Best Overall Shopify Alternative

shopify alternatives - squarespace

Not limiting itself as a generic ecommerce platform for traditional businesses, Squarespace also provides specific features for various types of professionals such as artists, musicians, bloggers etc. too, at a price range that starts at $26/mo, making it one of the top Shopify alternatives.

Squarespace is one of the better known website builders on the market today, particularly well suited to small businesses thanks to its ease of use.

If youโ€™re looking for an ecommerce solution that will help you to sell unlimited products online, then Squarespace could be just the tool for you. Great for use with a range of plugins and social media site, Squarespace offers access to a wide selection of helpful capabilities.

You can access a cover-page builder, G-Suite integration, and Getty image installation. Thereโ€™s also a better blogging tool with Squarespace than you have with most of the best Shopify alternatives. If your plan is to build a reliable presence online with incredible content, then this could be the tool for you.

Pricing ๐Ÿ’ฐ

Pricing for Squarespace is simple enough to follow. You only pay for what you need and nothing else. Plus, customer support 24/7 comes as part of the package.

Thereโ€™s a plan that starts at $18 per month if youโ€™re looking for basic functionality, but prices can increase depending on the features you need.

Youโ€™ll need at least the Commerce plan if you want to start selling online. Remember that if you want to save money with Squarespace, you can pay annually and save up to 30%. Thereโ€™s also a free custom domain included.

Pros ๐Ÿ‘

  • Excellent integrations with social media tools
  • Templates to choose from for any industry
  • Plans to suit your budget
  • Great for 24/7 support
  • Free domain if you get an annual plan

Who is it Best For? โœ…

Squarespace is best for companies that want plenty of freedom to make creative changes to their site, and ensure they stand out from the crowd.

This incredible tool has a similar builder to Wix, and is very easy to use, but itโ€™s also limited in some functionalities when compared to options like Shopify. You wonโ€™t get the same access to ecommerce functions with Squarespace.

2. Wix – Best for Beginners

wix online store - shopify alternative

Last, but not least on our list of Shopify alternatives, is Wix. This state-of-the-art website building service offers an experience thatโ€™s very similar to Shopify, provided through a hosted service. You donโ€™t need to worry about things like back-end management and security when youโ€™re using a hosted service.

Wix isnโ€™t the most advanced option in the world, and it comes with limited access to various WordPress plugins and support.

However, as Shopify competitors go, this is one of the cheaper options on the market – making it ideal for small businesses and people on a budget. Additionally, Wix has a handy drag-and-drop builder included too.

There are transaction fees to consider with Wix, although you do get your hands on a free SSL certificate, which could help you to save some much-needed cash.

Pricing ๐Ÿ’ฐ

Wix is one of the more affordable alternatives to Shopify with a pricing plan that starts with a free option if you just want basic features.

To access ecommerce solutions, you will need to upgrade to the Business Basic plan starting at $23 per month. The more functionality you want, the more youโ€™ll need to pay. Thereโ€™s also a Business VIP suite with full functionality for those who canโ€™t afford to compromise on site performance

Pros ๐Ÿ‘

  • Lots of themes to customize your website
  • Various secure payment options for customers
  • Lots of plugins and apps to choose from
  • Starts with a free plan
  • Lots of ways to create loyal customers, like discounts

Who is it Best For? โœ…

Choose Wix as your Shopify alternative if youโ€™re looking for an easy and straightforward way to start building a store with minimal technical knowledge and support.

Thereโ€™s tons of themes to help you get started, and you get various features that will help you to strengthen your brandโ€™s position online, although the ecommerce functionality on Wix is a little limited compared to options like Shopify that focus heavily on sales.

Wix is great if you want basic features, with no complicated tools to discover.

3. BigCommerce – Best Shopify Alternative for Large Business

bigcommerce - best shopify alternatives

An industry leader with a comprehensive set of standard ecommerce platform features and some extras on top. The Standard plan is quite affordable at $29.95 per month, and the rich feature-list makes it a Shopify alternative worthy of your consideration.

BigCommerce stands out among the SaaS market as one of the leading tools for helping companies to build their own custom website. The product comes packaged with a wide selection of custom templates to help you get started. All you need to do is pay an affordable monthly subscription, and you get a sensational Shopify competitor and website builder perfect for larger companies.

The BigCommerce builder comes with support for unlimited bandwidth, search engine optimization, a range of checkout options and more. Itโ€™s great for building a user-friendly ecommerce store. On the downside, thereโ€™s no support for RSS feeds, and it can be difficult to manage your store on the go, as there arenโ€™t any mobile apps at this stage.

Pricing ๐Ÿ’ฐ

BigCommerce comes with a range of pricing options to choose from, starting at around $29.95 per month for the cheapest package. Although this might seem a little expensive at first, itโ€™s surprisingly good when you consider all the features you get. Some of the higher-end packages are a little pricey, starting at around $79.95 per month, and ranging up to $299.95 per month. If you want a custom solution, check out the Enterprise service available via quote.

Pros ๐Ÿ‘

  • In-built visual tools to help build your store
  • No transaction fees to worry about
  • Unlimited storage, bandwidth and product options
  • Large selection of free apps to choose from
  • Product review and rating options
  • Excellent for cross-selling purposes

Who is it Best For? โœ…

BigCommerce is a great choice if youโ€™re in the process of expanding your business and seeking new opportunities. There are tons of features already built into the experience, so you donโ€™t have to worry about using an app market like you would with something like Shopify. If you want everything in one place, BigCommerce will suit you.

4. Square Online – Best for Multi Channel Selling

square online - best shopify alternatives

If youโ€™re a huge fan of the Square range of ecommerce and selling products, then youโ€™ll love this fantastic alternative to Shopify selling. Square Online is the free online store building service that comes with your Square POS. You can use this solution to build an immersive website for free, although you will need to pay for your own hosting.

Square Online is best suited to people who already feel comfortable and familiar with the Square experience. If you have a brick and mortar store, and you use your Square system to take payments in person, then Square will help you to transform your digital landscape too.

Although Square is free to access, you will have fees to pay – such as 2.5% for every transaction.

Square Online also comes with access to a variety of plugins to simplify your online experience. However, it wonโ€™t be the easiest option to use if youโ€™ve never experimented with Square before.

Pricing ๐Ÿ’ฐ

If you use Square to accept payments from offline customers, then it makes sense to use the same service for your online store too. The Square Online is a free-to-use service which comes with everything you need to start selling online. All you have to pay for is a small transaction fee whenever someone purchases something from you. The cost of Square can go up if you decide to add extra functionality and features into the mix, like integrations with advanced tools.

Pros ๐Ÿ‘

  • Convenient choice if youโ€™re familiar with Square already
  • Free to use until you want to upgrade your features
  • Easy to use for beginners in search of functionality
  • Fantastic range of inventory management tools
  • Combines offline and online selling
  • Fantastic for AI functionality

Who is it Best For? โœ…

Square Online makes the most sense as a Shopify alternative if youโ€™re already using the Square ecosystem to take payments in the offline world. If youโ€™re comfortable with Square payment processing and you feel like you want to take your store online too, then Square has you covered. Thereโ€™s also a robust range of features to connect online and offline selling. Weโ€™d definitely recommend this solution if youโ€™re selling offline from time to time. You can even sync your inventory and marketing features on the back end.

5. Ecwid – Best Budget Option

Ecwid - best shopify alternatives

When it comes to Shopify alternatives, there are plenty of names out there you probably know quite well, including Ecwid. One of the more popular options for business owners who already have their own website, Ecwid simply connects to the site youโ€™ve already built to give you new sales and ecommerce options. You donโ€™t have to build anything from scratch.

Ecwid benefits from being extremely easy to use, so if you want something thatโ€™s straightforward like Shopify, this is a good choice. Youโ€™ll also save time on learning how to access various features, because you simply use your eCommerce plugin through the website builder you already have. Itโ€™s a great easy-access solution.

Highly customizable, and available with a range of plugins so you can extend the functionality of your site however you choose, Ecwid offers business owners one of the fastest ways to convert a standard blog or website portfolio into a shopping experience for customers. There are even plenty of payment options to choose from too.

Pricing ๐Ÿ’ฐ

Pricing for Ecwid starts with a free service which allows you to access some basic functionality, although the capabilities are quite limited. The more you want to do with the service, the more youโ€™ll have to pay. The costs for premium plans start at around ยฃ15 per month, with a discount available if you choose to sign up with an annual package. You can also purchase a white label solution if youโ€™re an agency.

Pros ๐Ÿ‘

  • Great if you already have your own website
  • ย Suitable for multi-channel selling
  • Easy to get used to
  • No limit on product options
  • Lots of mobile app features
  • Fantastic multi-lingual support

Who is it Best For? โœ…

If you already have your own small website for blogging or portfolio purposes, then Ecwid is an obvious choice. You donโ€™t have to start building anything new from scratch, and you can easily add sales functionality in a matter of minutes. Ecwid is also particularly compelling for smaller businesses who donโ€™t have the most advanced sales needs.

6. Sellfy – Best for Selling Digital Products

sellfy - best shopify alternatives

Sellfy is a versatile online store builder that caters to merchants selling digital, physical, and subscription products. With its easy to use interface and numerous integrations, Sellfy is one of the best Shopify alternatives for selling digital products and offers an affordable pricing scheme.

After a 14-day trial, Sellfyโ€™s plans start at $19 a month. This enables you to sell an unlimited number of products with 0% transaction fees. However, you can only generate $10k in sales a year. If you want to sell more than that, you'll have to upgrade your subscription, but for small to medium-sized sellers, this is an affordable option.

Pricing ๐Ÿ’ฐ

Pricing for Sellfy starts at around $19 per month, which allows you to manage up to $10k per year in online sales with absolutely no transaction fees required. You can also access discount codes and connect your own domain. To upgrade to business, youโ€™ll need to spend around $29 per month, where as the premium option is available for $89 per month. The more you spend, the more you can sell each year with no limitations.

Pros ๐Ÿ‘

  • Support for selling physical and digital goods
  • Simple and convenient user interface
  • Lots of buy now button embedding options
  • Mobile app for on-the-go management
  • Unlimited product options
  • Hassle-free checkout

Who is it Best For? โœ…

Weโ€™d recommend Sellfy if youโ€™re looking to sell a wide range of products online, including physical items, digital products and subscriptions. Every pricing package comes with access to unlimited products, and you get an embeddable buy now button too. Thereโ€™s a shopping cart for quick checkout, and you can access mobile tools too.

7. Adobe Commerce – Best for Extensive Customization or Development Work

adobe commerce - best shopify alternatives

Formerly known as โ€œMagentoโ€, Adobe Commerce is one of the most popular tools on the market for sellers in search of scalable functionality and comprehensive feature sets. With Adobe Commerce, you can create a highly customized, efficient website to sell virtually anything you can think of. 

Like with Shopify, youโ€™ll be able to explore multichannel sales options, as well as selling unlimited products across various categories. The ecommerce software leverages advanced AI and data sharing capabilities to create powerful B2B and B2C customer experiences. You can create content and customize your website using a simple drag-and-drop builder. 

Thereโ€™s a visual merchandiser tool, to help you customize your pages according to your specific needs. Plus, Adobe Commerce has itโ€™s own dedicated inventory management tools, as well as reports and analytics to assist you in growing your store. The intelligent reports provide behind-the-scenes insights into your customers, so you can adapt your store according to their needs. However, compared to Shopify, you may find the functionality a little more complex. 

Pricing ๐Ÿ’ฐ

One potential downside for Adobe Commerce is the pricing options arenโ€™t particularly transparent. There are no fees posted on the website for any of the companyโ€™s plans. This means youโ€™ll need to contact the team if you want to start planning your budget. 

There are two primary options available for Adobe Commerce. The first is โ€œAdobe Commerce Proโ€, which offers complete access to a range of tools, from image optimization to a dedicated staging platform and automated backups. The second option, Managed Services, provides all of the features of Adobe Commerce Pro, with some additional specialist support. 

Youโ€™ll get access to a more comprehensive cloud infrastructure, planned event management support, uptime SLAs, and comprehensive assistance for scaling your store. 

Who is it Best For? โœ…

Adobe Commerce is a good option for larger businesses looking to create highly customized and scalable websites. The technology is extremely flexible, and thereโ€™s even the option to tap into headless commerce features if you want to create truly unique experiences across a range of channels. However, you may need a bit more technical knowledge and support to get started. 

8. Medusa.JS

medusa js - best shopify alternatives

Medusa is a relatively new solution for ecommerce companies in search of an alternative to Shopify. What makes this solution particularly unique is its open source structure. Unlike other Shopify alternatives, Medusa is an entirely customizable and composable engine, designed specifically for developers with a knowledge of code and programming features. 

Built on JavaScript technology, Medusa allows companies to build virtually any kind of store they can think of. The coding infrastructure is relatively straightforward, with simple commands and tools. Thereโ€™s also support for integrations, and a headless API system if you want to build an entirely unique online experience for customers. 

With Medusa, youโ€™ll have complete control over currencies, payment and fulfilment providers, shipping options, and taxes. You can import and manage endless orders from different environments, and leverage automation flows to save your business leaders time. Users can even segment their customers to offer them unique discounts and vouchers. 

Pricing

As an open source solution for ecommerce sellers, Medusa is free to use, with absolutely no payments required whatsoever. Once you sign up for an account, youโ€™ll gain access to a huge range of features, from dedicated APIs to MIT license technologies, multi-regional support, and advanced promotion features. Thereโ€™s also a dedicated community for extra support. 

The only thing you may need to pay for with Medusa is premium customer service. If you need dedicated IT support to help you make the most of the open source environment, youโ€™ll need to contact the team for a quote to discover how much your assistance will cost.

Who is it Best For? โœ…

Despite having a relatively straightforward coding environment, Medusa is still primarily intended for people with comprehensive developer knowledge. If you donโ€™t know your way around open source code, you might find it quite difficult to use this service. Thatโ€™s where the premium customer service options come in. However, if you have the right knowledge, you can create a highly scalable and unique online store, which integrates with multiple channels. 

9. WooCommerce – Best for WordPress Users

WooCommerce - best shopify alternatives

If you're using (or can use) the WordPress CMS as the basic platform for hosting your store, the wooCommerce plugin can be a good Shopify alternative for you. This plugin not only provides the regular ecommerce features, but also comes free.

WooCommerce is easily one of the best solutions on the market for lovers of WordPress that want to build their own online store from scratch. One of the most reliable WordPress plugins there is, WooCommerce makes it easy to build on your site with ecommerce functionality. WooCommerce is also open-source, which sets it apart from other online store builders that work with WordPress, like BigCommerce and Shopify.

WooCommerce makes it easy to customize every aspect of your WordPress online store, from beginning to end, additionally, itโ€™s flexibility means that you can build extra features into your WooCommerce experience with CSS, HTML, and plugins. You can even use WooCommerce to track things like abandoned carts.

Pricing ๐Ÿ’ฐ

Because WooCommerce is open source, you donโ€™t actually have to spend anything to get the software, you can download and use the service for free. However, you will need to pay for other things to get your website up and running. For instance, you need to find your own hosting plan for your online business. An open-source platform also comes with the need to implement various payment options and other premium tools.

Pros ๐Ÿ‘

  • Unlimited creativity options to suit your needs
  • All the extra features you could find with open source access
  • Tons of affordable hosting options
  • No limit on your products or services
  • Builds on WordPress for freedom and creativity

Who is it Best For? โœ…

WooCommerce is a state-of-the-art tool for people who have the creativity and professional skills to build various aspects of their own online store from scratch. If you love WordPress and you feel comfortable handling your entire business backend on your own, then WooCommerce could be the perfect choice. There are so many different ways to customize and improve your store with this solution. However, you will need to get some extra help, and use more technical knowledge than you would with a hosted solution.

10. Shift4Shop – Best Value

shift4shop - best shopify alternatives

Loaded with all the standard features of an online shopping cart service with some extras like affiliate marketing program creation, dropshipping support etc. and priced just about at par with the average industry rates ($19/mo. To $129/mo.), Shift4Shop is another worthy substitute for Shopify.

One of the things that really makes Shift4Shop so compelling is how accessible the company makes its website design experience. You have complete control over your storefront. Whatโ€™s more, youโ€™ll have access to SSL certificates and advanced security, just like you get with Shopify. Despite supporting more than 100 different payment gateways, Shift4Shop doesnโ€™t charge any transaction fees. However, youโ€™ll still have fees to pay, such as the transaction costs of your payment gateways, and shipping rates.

On the plus side, for small businesses in search of a Shopify competitor, Shift4Shop will ensure that you can take credit card payments with ease, thanks to comprehensive payment processing that go beyond Shopify Payments. Thereโ€™s also a range of knowledge base solutions to choose from when you need help learning how to use this service.

Pricing ๐Ÿ’ฐ

Prices for Shift4Shop are extremely reasonable, which is part of why many people consider this product to be an excellent choice for online selling. Prices range all the way from the $29 per month option to the $229 per month for the Pro store option which comes with multiple accounts for your staff.

Pros ๐Ÿ‘

  • Excellent solution with tons of different ways to customize your store
  • Lots of features to explore on the lower plans too
  • Affordable for beginners and larger companies
  • Support for selling offline and offline
  • Free trial so you can test the tech first
  • Unlimited bandwidth and products

Who is it Best For? โœ…

Shift4Shop is a good choice for business owners who want an all-in-one solution or selling. This sensational product comes with a wide range of features to explore, including inventory management tools to help you keep track of your products. You can also access a selection of customization options too, so you donโ€™t have to worry about your store looking the same as countless competitors online.

11. Big Cartel – Best Shopify Alternative for Artists

big cartel - best shopify alternatives

Big Cartel offers not only the usual ecommerce platform features at slightly less-than industry average prices ($9.99/mo. to $29.99/mo.), they even offer a free plan if you sell less than 5 products. If you do not sell โ€“ or plan to sell โ€“ over 300 products (the max limit at Big Cartel), this can be a good Shopify alternative for you.

Big Cartel is a state-of-the-art tool for ecommerce businesses, WordPress websites, and blogging. Like Shopify, it offers access to SEO tools, payment processing, and your own domain name, as well as SSL certificates. Also like Shopify, Big Cartel is a fully-hosted service, which means that you donโ€™t have to worry about the learning curve that comes with hosting your own online store.

As Shopify alternatives go, Big Cartel is probably one of the easiest to use. Created for simplicity and ease-of-use, there are no transaction fees, and youโ€™ll have no trouble managing things like unlimited products, order processing, and more. Inventory management is as smooth and simple as it gets, and there are plenty of plugins for things like SEO tools.

Although Shopify has a very simple experience to offer todayโ€™s business owners, Big Cartel is arguably a lot simpler to use, particularly for creative people who want to design very unique websites without worrying about the advanced features of other ecommerce website builders.

Pricing ๐Ÿ’ฐ

For smaller companies just getting started with online sales, Big Cartel is an excellent choice. You can sell up to five products for free without needing to enter any credit card details. 50 products will cost you $9.99 per month, and 250 products costs $19.99 per month. For $29.99 per month, you can sell up to 500 products, with no listing fees.

Pros ๐Ÿ‘

  • Free plan to help get you started
  • Lots of custom domain options for branding
  • Great for making your website look unique
  • Easy to use with a convenient back end
  • No transaction fees required
  • Easy inventory management

Who is it Best For? โœ…

Weโ€™d recommend Big Cartel as the go-to- choice for smaller companies that are just getting started in online sales. You can potentially run your store for free if you have a limited number of products to sell. Plus, Big Cartel makes scaling easy once you get the hang of the available features, so you can build your store however you choose.

12. Pixpa – Best Shopify Alternative for Photographers

pixpa - best shopify alternatives

Pixpa is an all-in-one website builder for photographers and creators to create an online store, website, blog, and client galleries. With Pixpa, you can create a powerful, full-featured eCommerce website and start selling products, services, images and digital downloads in minutes. It is specifically aimed at entrepreneurs in creative fields such as artists, photographers, designers, and creators.

Your online store will look just like the rest of your website so that customers experience a seamless transition between your products and website content.

Pixpa doesn't require any coding skills. Instead, you get access to an intuitive drag and drop website builder and attractive website templates. All of which boast contemporary and responsive design. So rest assured, your website and online store will be mobile-friendly. You can also brand your online store and accompanying blog/website with your logo image, bio, and title text.

When you start selling your artwork/photography/creative services, you can connect your PayPal or Stripe account to Pixpa to collect payments directly.

Pricing ๐Ÿ’ฐ

Pixpa's prices fall firmly within the affordable bracket. First, there's a 15-day free trial, requiring no credit card. After that, prices start at just $2.57 a month for the Basic Plan, paid annully or $1.93 a month, paid for 2 years . Next, there are four plans, rising to $12.86 a month for the Advanced Plan if you pay annually. However, the Professional Plan costing $7.72 a month if you pay annually, is the most popular plan.

Pros ๐Ÿ‘

  • 15-day free trial with no credit card required
  • Access to attractive and responsive mobile-friendly templates
  • No coding experience needed
  • SSL security certificates are included in all the price plans
  • You get a free custom domain on all packages (except the Light Plan)
  • Access to a complimentary website setup service with the Expert and Enterprise Plans from a Pixpa expert
  • Pixpa doesnโ€™t charge commissions on your sales
  • 24/7 live chat and email support

Who is it Best For? โœ…

Pixpa is best for anyone working in a creative industry looking to run a website and a store. Its structured price plans make it easy to sell low-volumes of work without paying for the most expensive plan.

In addition, anyone wanting to sell:

  • Physical products
  • Digital content
  • Take payment for services like workshops or design projects
  • Sell images as prints or downloads

…could all benefit from Pixpa for setting up and running their online store.

13. PrestaShop – Best Open Source Alternative for Non-Programmers

Prestashop - best shopify alternatives

Another feature-rich and free platform that even gives you a choice to use their hosted service or go the self-hosted way. While their add-ons will cost you money, the basic platform usage is free. Certainly a viable alternative to Shopify.

Similar to WooCommerce, PrestaShop is another open-source solution that works well with plugins for Google analytics, eBay, Amazon, and many others. Unlike WooCommerce, however, you donโ€™t have to be running a WordPress website to use PrestaShop, this tool works well with a range of other solutions too, such as Wix, and Magneto.

Because the open-source software comes with access to the internal coding for developers, youโ€™ll be able to really transform every detail of your store. However, you will be required to set up your own solutions for things like hosting, security, and compliance. You will also need to remember that although the code is free to access, youโ€™ll have to pay for your own web hosting, professional support and SSL for this website.

On the plus side, PrestaShop could be a great option for those with a little coding knowledge.

Pricing ๐Ÿ’ฐ

PrestaShop is one of the most attractive alternatives to Shopify available on the market today, because itโ€™s totally free too use. There arenโ€™t any pricing plans to worry about. Instead, you get powerful ecommerce features for free. However, you still need to pay for things like hosting and security on your own. As an open source product, PrestaShop doesnโ€™t handle any of the back-end functionality for you.

Pros ๐Ÿ‘

  • Free-to-use open source solution
  • Access to tons of creative options
  • Easy to install and use for beginners
  • Minimal technological knowledge required
  • Support for multiple currencies and languages
  • Choose your own hosting

Who is it Best For? โœ…

Weโ€™d recommend PrestaShop as a Shopify alternative for smaller business owners that want a lot of freedom. The add-ons cost you a bit with this product, but you can launch your store for free, and start editing whenever you want. Thereโ€™s also a lot of access to internal coding so you can adjust how everything works without having to deal with paid plans.

14. Weebly – Best Free Alternative

weebly - best shopify alternatives

If you are looking for another easy to use platform then Weebly is a great alternative to the other platforms. You don't get close to the amount of features as Shopify, but their highest plan is a bit cheaper than the Shopify Basic Plan, so if you're short on money, Weebly is a solid choice.

Weebly is a fantastic option for anyone in search of simplicity straight out of the box. Weebly is a user-friendly experience for website designers, with ease access to everything from social media plugins, to Google analytics, and payment processing tools.

One of the cheaper options on the market today, Weebly is an immersive ecommerce platform excellent for any business that needs help getting started online. If youโ€™re looking for a simple service that will help you to get started quickly, then Weebly could be just the thing. Thereโ€™s even a free trial to help you test out your Shopify alternative before you invest.

Pricing ๐Ÿ’ฐ

Pricing for Weebly is very reasonable, starting at around $9 per month, although there is a free tier if you just want very basic features. The personal plan allows you to add a custom domain, while the professional plan for $16 per month comes with extra business features. If you want to run an online store, then youโ€™re better off choosing the $29 per month plan instead. The more you spend, the more features you get.

Pros ๐Ÿ‘

  • Excellent for beginners and one of the simplest tools on the market
  • Lots of responsive theme options to choose from
  • Wide selection of apps to explore
  • Team collaboration and membership areas
  • Affordable pricing with a free tier

Who is it Best For? โœ…

Weebly is an excellent choice for beginners that donโ€™t have a lot of cash to spend on their store, you can build a decent website without having to spend a fortune, and thereโ€™s even a free tier available to get you started. The environment is very easy to use, and the lack of a learning curve means that you can jump into action very quickly.

Just before you go, you might want to take a look at our Shopify reviews and Shopify Pricing guide.

Btw, here's a video review of Shopify created by my colleague Joe. ๐Ÿ™‚

YouTube video

Best Shopify Alternatives: FAQ

What are the best Shopify alternatives for large business?

There are a lot of things to consider when choosing the perfect Shopify alternative. The kind of website that youโ€™re building will play a big part in finding the tool that works best for you. If youโ€™re a particularly large company that needs to sell to customers around the world, youโ€™re likely to have a better experience with solutions like BigCommerce and Magneto, than you would with Wix or Weebly.

What are the best open source Shopify alternatives?

Choosing the right Shopify competitor isnโ€™t just about looking for something simple like Ecwid, or finding something that supports Shopify payments. If youโ€™re looking for a Shopify alternative that gives you more freedom to customize, then you might want to opt for an open-source service, rather than something thatโ€™s hosted. WooCommerce and Magento, for instance, are both excellent open source tools which give you complete freedom over your website.

What is the best free Shopify Alternative?

There are a couple of free alternatives to Shopify available on the market today. Just keep in mind that although these tools appear to be free at first, they will come with costs for your online store, such as the price of premium wordpress plugins, or transaction fees for shopify payments. Square Online is one of the best free options for people who already take payments in-store and in person with a Square point of sale solution.

What is a cheaper Shopify Alternative?

When searching through tools like Ecwid, BigCommerce, Shift4Shop, Volusion, and more, youโ€™re probably going to be keeping a close eye on the tools that match your budget. There are a more cheaper Shopify alternatives out there, from Weebly to WooCommerce. However, Big Cartel is one of the cheapest of all.

Best Shopify Alternatives: Conclusion

As you would have noted above, you're not without options or alternatives to Shopify โ€“ not by a long shot. I hope my post above helps you find the platform that is most suited to your needs and budget. If it does, I'll graciously accept a pint from you one evening.

Pint or no pint, please do share your views below.

header image courtesy of Glenn Jones

Rebekah Carter

Rebekah Carter is an experienced content creator, news reporter, and blogger specializing in marketing, business development, and technology. Her expertise covers everything from artificial intelligence to email marketing software and extended reality devices. When sheโ€™s not writing, Rebekah spends most of her time reading, exploring the great outdoors, and gaming.

Comments 32 Responses

  1. Lynn Creger says:

    Shopify is at least one of the top eCommerce platforms for creating and managing online stores today. Of all the alternatives in this article, Wix, Weebly, WooCommerce are the best. Thanks for sharing this nice article.

    1. Bogdan Rancea says:

      ๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿ‘

  2. the word count says:

    Thanks for sharing shopify alternatives, however i am using shopify for last 3 years and i have a great experience in shopify but i also love wix platform, its an easy and good platform! Thank you.

    1. Bogdan Rancea says:

      Awesome, thanks for sharing! ๐Ÿ™‚

  3. Christina says:

    I’m looking at starting an online boutique for women and children. I like the idea of invoicing through a website, accepting multiple payment options, lowest transaction fees, cheapest fees per month, extensions for rewards for customers, etc. What are your top choices for me and why? Thanks!

    1. Bogdan Rancea says:

      Hello Christina, Shopify would be the best option for starting an online boutique, but Square Online and Wix could be some great options as well.

  4. Palle says:

    Hi Catalin,
    we have a company in South Africa and like to sell up to 20 different non-alcoholic beverages (amount of beverages is growing) via an online shop. Which platform would you recommend?
    Thanks for your support,
    Palle

    1. Bogdan Rancea says:

      Hello Palle, in your case, I would go with Wix. Good luck with your business!

  5. Jhon says:

    Hi i want to start a business selling T shirts and other thing with PrintFull, what of these is the best options that works with PrintFull, consider that i want PayPal like my Main payment method.

    1. Bogdan Rancea says:

      Hello John, Iโ€™m not sure I understand your question.

  6. azbondi says:

    Which platform is best that accepts Paypal payments but is for small startups – about 7 items only

    1. Bogdan Rancea says:

      Hello, you can use PayPal with any of the platforms listed here. In your case I would go with Weebly or Big Cartel.

  7. Zoltan says:

    Hi!
    I would like to start my eShop in Hungary. Which is the Top3 you would suggest from the known platforms and what are their pros/cons? Goal is to buy goods in other country (member of EU) cheap and sell it in Hungary (also EU member) on a real price. I do have contact to shipping company too and I would like to offer online payment too.
    Thanks in advance!
    Z

    1. Bogdan Rancea says:

      Hello,

      Hello Soltan,

      My top three would be Shopify, BigCommerce and Squarespace.

      Good luck with your business!


      Bogdan โ€“ Editor at ecommerce-platforms.com

  8. Jimmy Silva says:

    Hi Catalin!

    What would you recommend for selling coffee online?

    Thank you!

    1. Bogdan Rancea says:

      Hello Jimmy,

      If youโ€™re on a bugdget you may start with Big Cartel (see our review here). They have a free plan if you sell 5 products or less.


      Bogdan โ€“ Editor at ecommerce-platforms.com

  9. Candy says:

    Hi and thank you, Bogdan! I have been searching for this type of info for some time now. Greatly appreciated!

    1. Bogdan Rancea says:

      Glad you liked it Candy ๐Ÿ˜‰

  10. Jacques Louis says:

    Hey I can’t use my Shopify payment Gateway because of some reasons Could you give me the best payment gateway I could use There’s too many Gateway’s to choose from and most of them I seen have bad complaints and bad review thanks.. (Located in the US)

  11. Jessica Paton says:

    Hello! I am in the beginning stages of starting a business selling early years (0 to 6) nature based, Waldorf inspired curriculum/resource packages. The target audience is both families and educators. These packages include original recorded songs, poems and stories along with lyrics, activities related to the five senses and craft suggestions. They will be available to purchase monthly, seasonally or yearly. I was curious if you could suggest the best online distributor to use! Thank you in advance!

  12. Alan says:

    Hi Mikel, I am trying to set up a website for a supplement product line with 5 products only. I will need a payment system, several tabs to house the text and youtube video, rather than many space for new products. In my case, which e-commerce site would you recommend? Thanks for your feedback.

    1. Bogdan Rancea says:

      In your case, LemonStand might be a good option. You can read our full review here.

      Best,

  13. oliver white says:

    I have a problem with shopify in that, apparently, it cannot calculate my VAT or give me a current stock holding valuation meaning I will have to do manual stock takes, whats the point of doing all the work to switch to a new system when it doesn’t offer this vital but very basic feature ! Does anybody know of another platform that does offer this feature ?

    1. Bogdan Rancea says:

      Hi Oliver, have you tried contacting their support?

      โ€“
      Bogdan โ€“ Editor at ecommerce-platforms.com

    2. nb says:

      my friend has it and she said it works perfectly with the stock count and billing info

  14. Oscar says:

    Hello Catalin,
    Which one would you choose or recommend to start a drop shipping store?

    Thank you,

    1. Bogdan Rancea says:

      Hi Oscar,

      I would go with Shopify ๐Ÿ™‚

      Check out this post for more info.

      Cheers!
      โ€“
      Bogdan โ€“ Editor at ecommerce-platforms.com

  15. Mikel says:

    Hi Catalin! Thank you very much for all the useful info. I was planning to use the Shopify Buy Button on e-commerce site that has been already created, but payments are not supported in my country. Do you if any of the mentioned platforms offers a similar solution? Thank you very much again!

    1. Bogdan Rancea says:

      Hi Mikel, where is your business based?

      1. Mikel says:

        Hi Bogdan! Is based in Spain. I’ll really appreciate any advice. Thank you very much!

        1. Bogdan Rancea says:

          Only Shopify Payments are not accepted in Spain but you are free to use an external payment gateway (you’ll pay a 2% transaction fee). Most of the major payment gateways are supported in Spain. Check out the complete list here
          Cheers!

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