8 Best Ecommerce Website Builders for Your Online Store
Launching an online store might seem intimidating, but doing it right is a rewarding and profitable way to run a business. To help you get started, here are the best ecommerce website builders.
Shopify
Wix
Squarespace
BigCommerce
Square Online
If you're considering opening an online store to sell physical products, digital goods, individual pieces like art and books, or services, you need the best ecommerce website builder. Some top ecommerce website builders allow you to set up an online store within minutes, while others are robust with features for multichannel selling, booking appointments, and receiving payments.
This guide looks closely at the top ecommerce website builders for launching your business online. We selected them based on their scalability, user-friendliness, affordability, and robust ecommerce features. Plus, there is no coding required with these site builders.
Let's look at the best ecommerce website builders to launch your online store.
Overview of Top Ecommerce Website Builders
-
Shopify
Best Overall for Online Stores -
Wix
Best Drag-and-Drop Builder -
Squarespace
Best for Digital Products -
BigCommerce
Best for Large Online Stores -
Square Online
Best for Free Plan -
Shift4Shop
Best for B2B Ecommerce -
WooCommerce
Best Plugin for WordPress -
Big Cartel
Best for Selling Individual Pieces
Best Ecommerce Website Builders to Create Your Online Store
1. Shopify
Best Overall
- Over 6,000 plugins in the Shopify App Store.
- User-friendly online store editor with AI content writing.
- Offers shipping discounts of up to 88%.
- Robust order management, fulfillment, and shipping tools.
- Variety of marketing and promotional tools.
- A limited number of free themes.
- The high-tier plans are costly.
Shopify is an all-in-one solution for creating and running an online store, whether large or small. The website builder comes with all the tools you need to start an ecommerce store, including a drag-and-drop interface, various free and premium themes, and a wide range of ecommerce tools like shipping, inventory management, and multichannel selling.
Shopify is a reliable plug-and-play ecommerce website builder ideal for any store. Whether you want to sell physical products or digital goods and subscriptions, it's a suitable choice. The website builder has everything you need, not only to design your store and increase visibility but also to run it successfully. It has built-in marketing tools and supports over 100 currencies for fast-growing ecommerce websites.
Key Features
Easy-to-Use Online Store Editor
Shopify makes it easy to design an online store, regardless of your brand. It features a drag-and-drop editor that allows you to move blocks and sections anywhere on the layout. It also has over 100 themes, although only a few are free. Shopify also comes with an AI tool called Shopify Magic. This AI tool helps you generate product descriptions for your online store, shortening the time it takes to launch your store.
Robust Inventory Management
With Shopify, you can manage inventory of up to 1,000 locations, including warehouses, retail stores, and pop-ups. The website builder allows you to organize inventory based on colors and sizes and automatically hide out-of-stock products. Although no low-inventory alert feature exists, you can download a plugin from the App Store.
Convenient Dropshipping
If you want to launch a dropshipping business, Shopify makes it easy for you. The website builder offers tools to set up your online store and integrates with third-party dropshipping providers like Zendrop, Dropshipman, DropCommerce, Spocket, CJdropshipping, and Printful.
Pricing
- 100+ Templates
- Unlimited Products
- International Commerce
- 24/7 Support
- Shopify POS
- Ecommerce Automations
- up to 88% Shipping Discounts
- Standard Analytics Reports
- 5 Staff Accounts
- 1% Fees for 3rd Party Payments
- 0.5% Fees for 3rd Party Payments
- Lower Credit Card Fees
- 15 Staff Accounts
- Advanced Analytics Reports
- Duties and Import Taxes
Read more about Shopify pricing or successful Shopify stores
Shopify offers three pricing plans depending on your online store size and needs. Plus, there is a 3-day free trial.
- Basic: This plan suits new online stores and allows you to sell unlimited products. It is fitted with Shopify POS and international commerce features.
- Shopify: Fast-growing businesses can consider using this plan, which offers up to 88% shipping discounts. It offers ecommerce automation for convenience and fits five staff accounts.
- Advanced: Consider this plan for lower credit card and third-party payment fees. It provides advanced features like analytics reports and supports 15 staff accounts.
2. Wix
Best Drag-and-Drop Builder
- What-you-see-is-what-you-get editor for your storefront.
- Robust app market with tools to expand ecommerce functionality.
- Beginner-friendly with a drag-and-drop interface.
- Supports multichannel selling from the cheapest plan.
- Offers multilingual support and multiple currencies.
- There is no low-inventory alert.
Wix is a fantastic choice for small businesses that want to create and establish an attractive ecommerce brand. It has many ecommerce features, including 800+ free store templates, multilingual site support, advanced ecommerce tools, and multichannel selling. Plus, it comes with a robust app market for expanding the functionality of your store.
Wix is a feature-rich ecommerce website builder that offers creative control over your online store design. The website builder is a versatile tool with a drag-and-drop interface, over 800 free templates, and a free domain name. So, it offers all you need to launch your ecommerce business, although you cannot start with the free plan. The non-technical builder also has integrations for multichannel selling, over 80 payment options, and tools to build abandoned cart campaigns.
Key Features
Easy to Use With Design Tools
Wix offers all the design tools you need to customize and launch an online store. It has a drag-and-drop editor, so you can place elements on the structured template and customize your Wix ecommerce site. If you want to save time on your website design, you should use Wix ADI, which uses artificial intelligence to create a personalized website for your store.
Multichannel Selling
Without any plugins required, Wix supports multichannel selling. You can sell across social channels like Instagram, Amazon, Pinterest, and Facebook. It also supports third-party apps for selling on other platforms.
Wix Ascend
Aside from supporting your product and inventory management, Wix makes it easy to promote your products, services, and digital items with their marketing solution. The marketing service, Wix Ascend, comes with email marketing tools, online forms, video makers, online chat, social posts, and more.
Pricing
- 500+ Ecommerce Templates
- Unlimited Products
- Abandoned Cart Recovery
- Sell on Instagram, Facebook, etc.
- 20GB Storage Space
- Multiple Currencies
- Sell on Amazon & eBay
- Modalyst Dropshipping - 250 Items
- Sell Subscriptions
- 35GB Storage Space
- Priority Customer Support
- Unlimited Modalyst Dropshipping
- 50GB Storage Space
- Upload Unlimited Videos
- 500 Auto Sales Tax Calculations
Read more about Wix pricing or beautiful examples of Wix
If you want to sell products on Wix, you need the Commerce plans. There are three pricing plans available.
- Business Basic: This plan allows you to sell unlimited products and sell on Instagram and Facebook. It also features abandoned cart recovery, making it ideal for small or new stores.
- Business Unlimited: If you plan to reach an international audience, consider this plan. It supports multiple currencies, and you can sell on eBay and Amazon.
- Business VIP: This plan is great for those who want to start a dropshipping business, as it supports unlimited Modalyst dropshipping. You can upload unlimited videos, too, and it supports 500 automated sales tax calculations.
3. Squarespace
Best for Digital Products
- Easily create a beautiful and professional-looking web store.
- Ecommerce is fully integrated into all the plans.
- It offers unlimited bandwidth on all plans.
- You can easily sell subscriptions and reservations.
- It features several social media integrations and marketing tools.
- You cannot sell products on the Personal plan.
If you're considering selling digital products, services, or content, Squarespace is the best website builder for your ecommerce store. The ecommerce builder has limited product sales features, but it's a great choice for online appointment booking, selling subscriptions with Member Areas, displaying your portfolio, and more. Squarespace also comes with attractive templates that are great for highly visual websites.
Another top ecommerce website builder is Squarespace, which has a reliable drag-and-drop editor and attractive templates. Squarespace features 240 templates, and over 200 of them are free. You can easily find one to sell your digital services and content online. The ecommerce builder allows you to sell products from the Business plan, but the aesthetically pleasing templates make it great for digital and in person sales.
Key Features
Professionally-Designed Templates
Squarespace is the ideal choice if you're looking for the best website builder based on templates. The templates are great for stores focusing on visuals, as many are award-winning. You can customize the templates with the drag-and-drop functionality, easily add video content, and animate the image blocks.
Fully Integrated Ecommerce
Squarespace does not have a separate plan for its ecommerce functionality. Instead, these ecommerce features are included in the normal plans. You don't have to install a separate ecommerce plugin. With Squarespace, you can easily add products, accept payments, use the built-in shipping calculator, send abandoned cart emails, and more.
Sell Subscriptions and Appointments
If you want to sell digital products, services, and content to special members, Squarespace allows you to create a Member Area. You can provide access to specific members to view some content, remove permissions, and track their activity. There are also tools for appointment scheduling, managing reservations, and taking online orders.
Pricing
- Mobile-Friendly Websites
- 100+ Templates
- Free Custom Domain
- Unlimited Bandwidth
- 2 Contributors
- Ecommerce Functionality
- Unlimited Products
- 3% Transaction Fees
- Custom Code (CSS & JS)
- Unlimited Contributors
- 0% Transaction Fees
- Point of Sale
- On-site Checkout
- Product Reviews
- Facebook and Instagram Selling
- Abandoned Cart Recovery
- Advanced Shipping
- Advanced Discounts
- Subscription Selling
- Commerce APIs
Read more about Squarespace pricing or Squarespace ecommerce examples
Squarespace has four pricing plans, but the first one is unsuitable for ecommerce stores.
- Personal: This plan does not have ecommerce features but is a good choice for portfolios and anyone displaying their digital work. It offers a free custom domain, two contributors, and unlimited bandwidth.
- Business: If you want to launch a small-scale ecommerce site, start with this plan. It comes with ecommerce functionality and unlimited products. Plus, it supports unlimited contributors.
- Commerce Basic: This plan is great for those who want to sell online without transaction fees. It supports Instagram and Facebook selling, product reviews, and on-site checkout.
- Commerce Advanced: Consider this plan for larger online stores, as it comes with advanced shipping and discounts. It offers subscription selling and abandoned cart recovery.
4. BigCommerce
Best for Large Online Stores
- Robust entry-level pricing plan for fast-growing businesses.
- Drag-and-drop builder with customization tools.
- Offers blogging and SEO tools.
- Multichannel selling includes selling on Walmart.
- Strong reporting functionality for businesses.
- Abandoned cart recovery is not available on the entry-level plan.
- Free themes are limited.
BigCommerce offers everything you need to support a fast-growing and large online store. The website builder is easy to use in designing your template, from the free templates to the blogging and SEO tools. But it also supports all your ecommerce needs, including multichannel selling ecommerce automation, and removes transaction fees.
BigCommerce is a feature-rich ecommerce website builder that offers a convenient interface. It's ideal for fast-growing online stores that already have a payment processor and don't want to change it. The ecommerce website builder has over 200 themes, but most are paid. You can search for a theme based on your industry and switch the template whenever possible. Aside from that, it is loaded with product and inventory management tools, sales tools, and a wide range of payment options.
Key Features
Easy Customization with Store Design
Aside from offering over 200 templates with mobile optimization, BigCommerce makes it easy to customize and build your storefront. The website builder has a visual merchandising tool called Store Design, which allows you to pick out parts of your page and customize them. It offers complete control over the design of ecommerce sites, from the background colors to the navigation arrow colors.
Robust In-House Sales Features
BigCommerce is known for its extensive in-house sales features, more than most ecommerce website builders. This way, you won't have to use plenty of third-party apps. These ecommerce features include abandoned cart recovery, POS integrations, an in-built shipping app that connects with FedEx, USPS, and DHL, and marketing tools. It also supports physical, digital, and service-based products, but not subscriptions.
Multichannel Selling
BigCommerce makes it easy to sell on different marketplaces from one place. It is integrated with Facebook, Amazon, eBay and Instagram. BigCommerce seamlessly integrates, so your inventory and product listings would sync across all platforms. Also, it allows you to sell directly on Walmart Marketplace with an expedited application review, unlike other ecommerce builders.
Pricing
- 200+ Store Templates
- 24/7 Chat & Phone Support
- No Additional Transactions Fees
- Unlimited Bandwidth & Storage
- Annual Sales Limit - $50k
- Clients' Credit Cards Storage
- Abandoned Cart Saver
- 5 Storefronts & Inventory Locations
- Customer Segmentation
- Annual Sales Limit - $180k
- Google Customer Reviews
- Price Lists for B2B & B2C
- 8 Storefronts & Inventory Locations
- Filtering with Custom Product Filters
- Annual Sales Limit - $400k
BigCommerce offers three pricing plans depending on your annual sales limit.
- Standard: This plan is ideal for those with an annual sales limit of $50k. It offers unlimited bandwidth and unlimited storage, with over 200 store templates.
- Plus: Online stores with an annual sales limit of $180k can consider this plan. It provides an abandoned cart saver, customer's credit card storage, and five inventory locations.
- Pro: Large online stores with an annual sales limit of $400k can consider this plan. It supports eight inventory locations, custom product filters, and price lists for B2B and B2C.
5. Square Online
Best Free Plan
- A generous free plan that allows you to start selling.
- Sell unlimited products on all plans, including on Facebook and Instagram.
- Built-in marketing features like pop-ups.
- Advanced reports for growing businesses.
- A free domain name is available on the paid plan.
Limited customization options for the design.
Transaction fees can add up.
If you're looking for an ecommerce website builder that allows you to start selling online from the free plan, you should consider Square Online. The website builder has built-in inventory management and a POS system, and you can accept payments online. It's also a good choice for those running a brick-and-mortar shop or selling on Instagram and Facebook.
Square Online is one of the best ecommerce website builders, especially since it's free to start. The free plan offers unlimited products, but you must consider transaction fees and sell on a Square-branded site. The ecommerce builder is flexible for mobile sellers, online retailers, restaurant owners, and physical stores. It also includes SEO, payment options, coupons, and marketing tools for your free online store.
Key Features
Easily Design From Scratch
Square Online comes with a wide range of templates depending on your type of business. There are pre-designed templates with much white space that you can use or choose to design from scratch. It also comes with drag-and-drop tools; you can customize your desired colors, images, and fonts.
SEO and Marketing Features
Square Online has good marketing tools, including SEO features. The SEO features are sufficient for a small business. You can also add pop-ups to your website to collect emails, make an announcement, offer coupons, and verify your age. Also, you can email customers for order confirmation, items shipped, refunded and canceled, item reviews, and abandoned carts.
Suitable for Brick-and-Mortar Businesses
The ecommerce website builder is great for brick-and-mortar businesses that want to create an online presence. It features an online ordering system for restaurants and food delivery businesses. It also offers online booking services for service businesses like spas, salons, and more. With the Square POS, you can sell in-store and online.
Pricing
Square Online offers three pricing plans, and the first one is free.
- Free: This entry-level plan is suitable for new businesses that can't spend money on a website builder yet. But you have to consider the processing fees and Square branding.
- Plus: Restaurants, retailers, and appointment-based businesses can consider this plan. It has advanced POS features, inventory tools, retail reports, online booking, and Square Team Management.
- Premium: Larger businesses should consider this plan because it allows you to customize your services. It also involves custom pricing.
6. Shift4Shop
Best for B2B Ecommerce
Next on our list is Shift4Shop, a top choice for business-to-business ecommerce stores. It is a fully scalable platform for all businesses to sell anywhere and to anyone. Shift4Shop offers built-in SEO tools, inventory control, unlimited products, and an affiliate program. It is one of the few ecommerce website builders with a CRM system for your online business and offers a generous free plan. The website builder supports unlimited products and variants, product reviews, digital downloads, and a GDPR toolkit.
Key Features
Mobile Responsive Website Design
Shift4Shop has over 100 free templates covering almost every industry. It includes apparel, fashion, firearms, photography, electronics, auto parts, sports, gardens, and more templates. You can add carousel banners, wish lists, product image animations, and an integrated blogging platform to your website.
B2B Features
When running a B2B company, you should consider using Shift4Shop. The website builder offers rich content and product pages, tiered bulk price discounts, and powerful SEO and marketing tools. You can access multichannel sales, built-in email newsletters, abandoned cart recovery, Google Shopping, and Facebook integrations. Shift4Shop also allows you to create customer-specific price lists, tax management, sales rep management, and advanced shipping.
Robust Product Management
You can easily manage your products with Shift4Shop. The website builder supports unlimited products, images, and categories. It also allows you to upsell and cross-sell products, sell digital products, and offer discounts. You can create a waiting list and manage customer accounts.
Pricing
Shift4Shop has a unique pricing model. The website builder is free if you use Shift4 as your payment processor. But, you need to have a minimum amount of $500 being processed per month. Then, if you want to use PayPal, it costs $29 per month. You also need to consider the payment processing costs.
Pros
- Offers the extensive plan for free.
- Easily upsell and cross-sell.
- Comes with a built-in CRM.
- Robust B2B and B2C features.
- Easily set up waiting lists and customer accounts.
Cons
- No mobile app for managing your store.
- Design features are not flexible.
7. WooCommerce
Best Plugin for WordPress
If you own a WordPress website, you can add an ecommerce plugin with WooCommerce. This is the best ecommerce plugin for WordPress users, allowing you to add an online shopping cart to your website. It allows you to customize your checkout pages, provide coupons, send emails for abandoned carts, and provide customer rewards. Plus, it's free – the only catch is that you need to be on the WordPress Business plan at $25 per month.
Key Features
Easy to Get Started
As long as you have a WordPress website, you must add the WooCommerce plugin. WordPress has many ecommerce themes you can use to design your site. After designing your ecommerce site, you can set up the WooCommerce plugin and get started. But keep in mind that not all WooCommerce templates are free and you need to get web hosting for your WordPress site.
Robust Marketing Features
It's easy to market your products with WooCommerce. The ecommerce plugin has over 160 marketing extensions that you can add to your website to promote the store and get more online sales. You can create coupons and discounts, set up loyalty programs, and give gift cards. Selling online on Etsy, Walmart, and eBay is possible with WooCommerce.
Efficient Product Management
WooCommerce allows you to sell physical and digital products, services, subscriptions, and memberships. You can upload products in bulk, add product descriptions, insert product galleries, and separate them into categories. It also allows you to add upsell and cross-sell suggestions, enable reviews, and create product search filters.
Pricing
WooCommerce is a free plugin that you can add to your WordPress website. You can only do so on the WordPress Business plan. The Business plan allows you to install plugins and themes and offers built-in SEO tools. Plus, it offers stronger security and performance for your ecommerce site.
Pros
- Completely free and easy to install.
- Over 1000 themes for your online store.
- Easily add product descriptions and galleries.
- Includes a mobile app to run your store from anywhere.
- Sell through Etsy, eBay, and Walmart from WooCommerce.
Cons
- Only works through WordPress Business plan.
8. Big Cartel
Best for Selling Individual Pieces
If you're running a micro-business or an artist, hobbyist, or maker who wants to sell your artwork or individual pieces, you should consider Big Cartel. The website builder suits solopreneurs and artists with very limited products. It specializes in helping artists create online stores with custom templates, accept online payments, promote products, and even collect sales tax.
Key Features
Intuitive Design with Free Themes
Big Cartel is intuitive, easy to use, and ideal for beginners with minimal technical skills. The website builder has only 18 themes, but they are all free. You can change the different parts of your website as long as you use the paid plans. The themes are not as stunning as Squarespace or a variety like Shopify. However, the theme has features embedded into the design.
Customize Discounts and Preferences
The online store builder makes it convenient for hobbyists and artists to meet the needs of their customers. You can offer site-wide discounts to customers, apply them to specific items, or give shipping discounts to your customers. Also, consider using Big Cartel Preferences, which allows you to customize your contact preferences and set up a customer base.
Wide Range of Integrations
Big Cartel offers over 30 direct integrations. Although this is small compared to other ecommerce website builders, it integrates with Zapier, connecting you to thousands of popular third-party apps. Some direct integrations include Mailchimp, Poptin, LiveChat, and Instagram for adding pop-ups and forms, Printful and Art of Where for print-on-demand, and even ShipStation and ShipRush for shipping.
Pricing
Big Cartel comes with three pricing plans; the first is free.
- Always Free: This plan allows you to sell five products. It's suitable for hobbyists and artists who don't have a lot of products. You can add one image per product and use a custom domain.
- $9.99/Month: This plan is suitable for selling 50 products, with five images per product. It allows you to offer discounts and run promotions, track inventory and shipment, and connect to Google Analytics.
- $19.99/Month: Artists and hobbyists with many products can consider this plan, as it supports 500 products.
Pros
- The free plan allows you to sell and connect a custom domain.
- You can sell online or in person.
- Offers a mobile app for iOS and Android.
- All templates are free and easy to customize.
- Intuitive dashboard that is easy for beginners.
Cons
- There is a limited inventory on the highest plan.
How to Choose An Ecommerce Website Builder
If you're choosing an ecommerce website builder, you need to consider several factors. Whether starting a startup, establishing a large business, or selling products you made yourself, an ecommerce website builder will be a good choice.
Your Product or Service
For one, you need to consider the product or service you are selling. If you sell physical products, you cannot use a site builder suitable for selling tickets or appointments. But if you provide services, you might not need inventory tools. Shopify is a good choice for physical products, while Squarespace is great for digital products. If you're selling subscriptions, consider Square Online, while Big Cartel is good for selling artwork.
Pricing
You won't want to run your business at a loss, so it's important to check how much the ecommerce website builder costs. Consider how much you will spend yearly and if the cost would increase based on the number of products. The fees for payment processing are also important to consider.
Ease of Use and Design
Another factor to consider is your skill level. Rather than using an ecommerce website builder based on only the ecommerce features, ensure you can easily design your website. The learning curve should not be steep, and the software should be easy to use. This way, you can save time and quickly launch your online store.
Customer Support
If you're building an ecommerce site, you will need some help, especially if it's the first time. The website builder should come with live support and tutorials. Some website builders have a wizard that puts you through the website-building process.
Scalability
Another thing you should consider is if you will outgrow your website. Switching from one ecommerce site builder to another is difficult, so choose a scalable option. This way, even if your brand is small now, it might need new features in the future.
Payment Getaways
Every online store needs reliable payment getaways to receive payments from their shoppers. Thus, you should consider an ecommerce website builder that supports different payment methods. For instance, Shopify supports over 100 payment gateways, making it ideal for all types of customers.
FAQ
The best ecommerce website builder depends on your needs, but you should consider Shopify as the top option. It is one of the favorite ecommerce website builders, ideal for all kinds of businesses, regardless of the type of product and service that you sell.
The best free ecommerce website builder is Square Online. The site builder allows you to sell and receive payments from the free plan. But you need to consider the payment processing fees and the Square branding.
An ecommerce website is an online store allowing businesses to sell their products to customers online. It allows you to sell physical products, digital products, and services online.
If you're using a website builder, building an online store can cost an average of $29 per month. But, hiring a professional developer can cost between $5,000 and $200,000, depending on the project's complexity.
Wix is good for ecommerce. It's a great choice for small to medium businesses that want to set up an online store. It has different ecommerce tools like inventory management, dropshipping, catalog management, marketing, payments, orders, and fulfillment.
Shopify is better than Wix for ecommerce because it is specifically created for online stores. It has more features, tools, and integrations for ecommerce, with better inventory and product options. However, it is better equipped for medium to large ecommerce businesses, especially those reaching a multinational customer base.
You can find ecommerce website templates from the website builder that you are using. Website builders come with templates to customize and set up your ecommerce site. You can also consider using third-party templates from sources like Theme Forest.
The easiest ecommerce website builder is Shopify, with a drag-and-drop interface and AI functionality. Wix is also easy to use, with no-code templates and extensive customization. Other ecommerce website builders include BigCommerce and Squarespace.
Summary of the Best Online Store Builders
With our complete guide, we've introduced the best eight ecommerce website builders you can consider using. You won't waste time on inferior website builders. The best ecommerce platforms feature reliable payment getaways, tools for orders, fulfillment, inventory, and multichannel selling. Plus, they come with customization and editing tools to design your website.
Here are the best online store builders:
Shopify
Wix
Squarespace
BigCommerce
Square Online
Remember that every website builder on this list comes with either a free trial or a free plan, giving you the chance to try it. You should test the website builder if you're unsure about using it and then make your decision.
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Martin Luenendonk
Martin loves entrepreneurship and has helped dozens of entrepreneurs by validating the business idea, finding scalable customer acquisition channels, and building a data-driven organization. During his time working in investment banking, tech startups, and industry-leading companies he gained extensive knowledge in using different software tools to optimize business processes.
This insights and his love for researching SaaS products enables him to provide in-depth, fact-based software reviews to enable software buyers make better decisions.