Best Ecommerce Website Builders for Small Business (2026)

Starting an online store in 2026 means choosing from a dizzying number of ecommerce website builders — Shopify, Wix, Squarespace, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, and dozens more, all claiming to be the best.

If you're a small business owner trying to figure out which one actually fits your needs (and budget), the amount of noise out there can make the decision feel harder than it should be.

Having spent years testing and reviewing website builders, I'll save you the hassle, pain, and cost of choosing the wrong one.

Here I'll break down what each major ecommerce platform actually does well, what it doesn't, and who it's best for so you can make a confident decision and get back to building your business.

I tested all 8 platforms covered here and calculated what you'd pay on each at $3,000/month in sales, including the fees and add-on costs that don't show up on pricing pages.

The differences are significant: the same store can cost $23/month on one platform and $95/month on another.

Let's dive right in.

1. Shopify — Best for Dedicated Online Stores

Starting price: $19/month (Basic, billed annually) | $39/month billed monthly Transaction fees: 0% with Shopify Payments; 2% surcharge on Basic if using third-party payment providers Free trial: 3 days free, then $1/month for your first 3 months

Shopify is the default recommendation for a reason. It processed over $300 billion in sales in 2025, has 16,000+ apps, and supports selling on Instagram, TikTok, Google, Amazon, and in-person through Shopify POS — all from one dashboard.

The platform handles the technical side (hosting, security, speed) so you can focus on products and marketing. Every plan includes unlimited products, abandoned cart recovery, and multi-channel selling.

Where Shopify earns its reputation:

• Multi-channel selling is genuinely seamless. List products on your store, Instagram Shop, and TikTok in minutes — not hours of configuration.
• App ecosystem is unmatched. Need reviews? There are 50+ options. Subscription boxes? Covered. Print-on-demand? Multiple integrations. Whatever you need, there's an app.
• Shopify Payments eliminates the headache of setting up a separate payment processor. Activate it and you're accepting cards immediately at 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction on Basic.

The limitations you should qknow:

• The $19/month price is misleading. Most Shopify stores need 3-5 apps for basic functionality that other platforms include free — product reviews ($10-15/month), email marketing ($10-20/month), SEO tools ($15/month), and upsells ($10-20/month). A realistic Shopify store costs $50-100/month, not $19.
• The third-party payment surcharge stings. If Shopify Payments isn't available in your country or you prefer a different processor, Shopify charges an extra 0.6-2% on every transaction on top of your processor's fees. On $5,000/month in sales at the Basic plan, that's an extra $100/month.
• Design is good, not great. Shopify's free themes are clean but limited compared to Squarespace. Premium themes cost $180-350 one-time.

Best for: Businesses where selling is the primary activity — online-only stores, dropshipping, product-based businesses planning to scale, anyone who needs multi-channel selling.

2. Squarespace — Best for Brand-First Businesses

Starting price: $16/month (Basic, billed annually) Transaction fees: 2% on Basic plan; 0% on Core ($23/month) and above Free trial: 14 days

If your business depends on how it looks — photography, restaurants, creative agencies, consultants — Squarespace's design quality is hard to beat. Every template is free, every layout is polished, and the design editor gives you precise control without touching code.

Squarespace restructured its plans in May 2025. The new lineup is Basic, Core, Plus, and Advanced, replacing the old Personal, Business, and Commerce tiers.

Where Squarespace stands out:

• Design quality is the best. The templates are modern, the typography options are excellent, and your store will look professional without hiring a designer.
• Built-in features reduce costs. Email marketing, basic SEO tools, pop-ups, and appointment scheduling (via Acuity) are included — features that cost $30-80/month in Shopify apps.
• Blogging is excellent. If content marketing is part of your strategy, Squarespace's blog tools are far ahead of Shopify's. Is Squarespace good for blogging? — yes, it's one of the better options.

The limitations you should know:

• Payment processor options are severely limited. Squarespace supports Squarespace Payments, Stripe, PayPal, and Square — that's it. Shopify supports 100+. If you need a regional payment gateway, Squarespace won't work.
• No multi-currency support. You can only display prices in one currency. If you sell internationally, this is a dealbreaker.
• Digital product fees are a hidden cost. On the Basic plan, Squarespace charges a 7% fee on digital product sales. On Core, it's 5%. Selling $2,000/month in digital downloads on Basic costs you an extra $140/month in fees alone. You need the Plus plan ($39/month) to bring that down to 1%.
• POS is US-only. If you're outside the United States and want to sell in-person, look elsewhere.

For a deeper look at selling on Squarespace, read our full guide: Is Squarespace Good for Ecommerce?

Best for: Creative businesses, brand-focused companies, restaurants, photographers (see our Squarespace templates for photographers guide), service providers who also sell products, and anyone who values design over ecommerce depth.

3. Wix — Best All-in-One Website + Store Builder

Starting price: $0 (free plan with Wix branding) | $29/month for Core with ecommerce Transaction fees: 0% on all paid plans Free trial: Free plan available indefinitely; paid plans have a 14-day money-back guarantee

Wix sits between Squarespace's design polish and Shopify's ecommerce depth. It's the most flexible platform here — 900+ templates, a drag-and-drop editor with pixel-level control, and an AI website builder that generates a working site in under 60 seconds.

Where Wix wins:

• Flexibility is unmatched. Unlike Squarespace's structured layouts, Wix lets you drag any element anywhere on the page. This is both its strength and weakness — more creative freedom, but easier to create messy designs.
• Zero transaction fees on all paid plans. With 90+ payment processor integrations, you'll never pay Wix a cut of your sales.
• The free plan is functional for testing. You get a Wix-branded subdomain and ads on your site, but it's a real way to build and test your store before paying.

The limitations you should know:

• Ecommerce requires the $29/month Core plan minimum. The free and Light ($17/month) plans can't accept online payments. For abandoned cart recovery, you need Business at $39/month.
• You can't switch templates. Once you've built your site on a template, switching to a different one means rebuilding from scratch. Pick carefully.
• Design quality varies wildly. Of those 900+ templates, many look dated. Squarespace's 100-something templates are more consistently polished.
• Serious ecommerce sellers outgrow Wix. The platform works well up to a few hundred products and moderate traffic, but businesses scaling beyond that tend to migrate to Shopify.

If you're torn between Wix and Squarespace, we have a detailed comparison of the two.

Best for: Small businesses that want a full website with a store attached — local businesses, restaurants, service providers, and anyone who wants maximum design flexibility on a budget.

4. Square Online — Best Free Option and Best for Brick-and-Mortar

Starting price: $0 (free plan with Square branding) Transaction fees: 0% platform fees; payment processing at 2.9% + $0.30 (standard Square rates) Free trial: Free plan available indefinitely; 30-day trial on paid plans

Square Online is the most overlooked platform in this comparison. Its free plan is genuinely functional — not a stripped-down demo, but a real store with unlimited products, order management, and Square payment processing at no monthly cost.

The catch: Square Online is part of the Square ecosystem. You must use Square for payment processing. If you already use Square for in-person sales, this is a feature, not a limitation — your online and in-store inventory, orders, and customer data sync automatically.

Where Square Online shines:

• The free plan is the best in ecommerce. Unlimited products, integrated payment processing, pickup/delivery options, and order management — all at $0/month. Wix's free plan can't accept payments. Shopify's cheapest option is $5/month (Starter) with a 5% transaction fee.
• In-person + online integration is seamless. If you have a physical store with Square hardware, adding online sales takes minutes. Inventory syncs in real time.
• Simple enough for anyone. The editor is more limited than Wix or Squarespace, but that also means less to configure. You can have a working store in under an hour.

The limitations you should know:

• Square is your only payment option. No Stripe, no PayPal, no alternative processors. If Square holds your funds or closes your account, your entire store goes down.
• Design options are basic. You're building a functional store, not a beautiful brand experience. If design matters, choose Squarespace.
• No multi-currency. Like Squarespace, prices display in one currency only.
• Paid plans got expensive. The Plus plan is $29/month and Premium is $79/month.

Best for: Brick-and-mortar businesses adding online sales, food businesses (restaurants, bakeries, food trucks), and anyone who wants to test ecommerce with zero upfront cost.

5. BigCommerce — Best for Growing Businesses With Large Catalogs

Starting price: $29/month (Standard, billed annually) | $39/month billed monthly Transaction fees: 0% on all plans, with any payment provider Free trial: 15 days

BigCommerce is the platform for businesses that have outgrown the basics. It packs features into its base plans that Shopify charges extra for — real-time shipping quotes, faceted search (filter by size/color/price), customer groups, and multi-storefront support.

The zero-transaction-fee advantage is significant. BigCommerce is the only platform here that charges absolutely no transaction fees regardless of which payment provider you use. Shopify charges 0.6-2% if you don't use Shopify Payments. On $10,000/month in sales, that saves you $60-200/month compared to Shopify Basic with a third-party processor.

Where BigCommerce wins:

• Built-in features others charge for. Real-time shipping quotes from carriers, product filtering, customer groups with custom pricing, abandoned cart recovery, and product comparison — all included on Standard.
• Multi-storefront on Plus. Run up to 5 separate storefronts from one dashboard on the Plus plan ($59.96/month annual). Shopify charges $299/month (Advanced) for a similar capability.
• 65+ payment gateways with 0% surcharge. Use whatever processor works best for your region without penalty.

The limitations you should know:

• Annual sales caps trigger automatic plan upgrades. Standard maxes out at $50K/year, Plus at $180K, Pro at $400K. Cross the threshold and you're bumped to the next tier — no option to stay.
• Steeper learning curve. The dashboard has more options, more settings, and more terminology than Shopify or Squarespace. Non-technical users may feel overwhelmed.
• Smaller app ecosystem. 1,500+ apps vs. Shopify's 16,000+. Most essentials are covered, but niche integrations may not exist.
• Design is functional, not inspiring. Only 15 free themes, and they look dated compared to Squarespace or even Shopify. Premium themes cost $150-399.

Best for: Businesses with large product catalogs (100+ SKUs), B2B sellers needing customer groups and custom pricing, and multi-storefront operations.

6. WooCommerce — Best for WordPress Users Who Want Full Control

Starting price: Free (plugin) + hosting ($7-40/month) + domain ($12-20/year) Transaction fees: 0% (only your payment processor's fees) Free trial: N/A (self-hosted)

WooCommerce is an open-source WordPress plugin that powers 37% of ecommerce sites globally. It gives you complete control over your store — every feature, every design element, every line of code. That control comes with a tradeoff: you're responsible for everything.

Where WooCommerce wins:

• Unlimited customization. With 59,000+ plugins and full code access, WooCommerce can do anything. Subscription boxes, membership sites, marketplace features, custom checkout flows — if you can imagine it, WooCommerce can build it.
• No platform lock-in. You own your store, your data, and your code. Move to any host, modify anything, integrate with anything.
• Lowest possible cost at scale. A basic WooCommerce store costs $6-15/month (shared hosting + free theme + free plugins). At high volume, it's dramatically cheaper than Shopify or BigCommerce because there are no percentage-based platform fees.

The limitations you should know:

• "Free" is misleading. The plugin is free, but a realistic small store costs $75-920/year once you add hosting, domain, a decent theme, and essential plugins (security, backups, SEO). That's $6-77/month — the range is enormous depending on your choices.
• Technical overhead is real. You manage hosting, plugin updates, security patches, site backups, and performance optimization. Plugin conflicts can break your store without warning. There's no support number to call.
• Not recommended for non-technical users. Every Reddit thread recommending WooCommerce comes with the caveat: "only if you're comfortable with WordPress." If terms like "PHP version," "SSL certificate," and "database optimization" sound foreign, choose a hosted platform.

Best for: WordPress users who already manage their own site, developers building custom stores, and businesses that need highly specific functionality no hosted platform offers.

7. Ecwid — Best for Adding a Store to an Existing Website

Starting price: $5/month (Starter, 10 products) Transaction fees: 0% on all plans Free trial: N/A .

See Ecwid Pricing

Ecwid solves a specific problem: you already have a website (WordPress, Wix, a custom site, even a single landing page) and you want to add ecommerce without rebuilding everything. Ecwid embeds as a widget into any existing site.

Where Ecwid is unique:

• Works with any website. Drop a code snippet into your existing site and you have a store. No migration, no redesign, no new platform to learn.
• Sell everywhere from one dashboard. Your Ecwid store syncs across your website, Facebook, Instagram, and Amazon — inventory updates everywhere simultaneously.
• Zero transaction fees on all plans. Like BigCommerce, Ecwid never takes a cut of your sales.

The limitations you should know:

• Product limits on lower plans. Starter allows only 10 products. Venture (100 products) costs $29/month annually. For unlimited products, you're paying $119/month annually.
• The free plan is gone. Ecwid killed its "Forever Free" plan in 2025. The $5/month Starter plan is now the cheapest option.
• Prices increased March 2026. Venture, Business, and Unlimited plans all got price bumps.
• Design depends on your host site. Ecwid's embedded store takes on the look of your website, which means design quality is only as good as the site it's embedded in.

Best for: Businesses with an existing website that want to add ecommerce without starting over, and multi-channel sellers who need one inventory across multiple platforms.

8. Big Cartel — Best for Artists and Makers With Small Catalogs

Starting price: $0 (Gold plan, 5 physical products) Transaction fees: 0% (only Stripe/PayPal processing fees) Free trial: Free plan available indefinitely

Big Cartel is intentionally simple. It's built for artists, makers, and independent creators who sell a small number of products and don't need inventory management for 10,000 SKUs.

Where Big Cartel fits:

• The free plan is genuinely usable. List up to 5 physical products, accept payments via Stripe or PayPal, and run a real store — no monthly cost.
• Paid plans are the cheapest here. Platinum at $12/month (annual) gives you 50 products, custom domain, digital products, and discount codes. Diamond at $24/month (annual) adds abandoned cart recovery and 500 products.
• Simplicity is the feature. No app ecosystem to navigate, no complex settings to configure. If you just want to sell your art/crafts/prints with minimal fuss, Big Cartel removes the noise.

The limitations you should know:

• Hard product limits. Maximum 500 products on the most expensive plan. If you're planning to scale beyond that, start elsewhere.
• Minimal features. No real-time shipping calculations, no advanced inventory management, no multi-currency, no built-in email marketing. You get a store and that's it.
• Free plan is physical products only. Digital goods and services require the $12/month Platinum plan.

Best for: Artists, illustrators, small-batch makers, bands selling merch, and anyone with fewer than 50 products who wants the simplest possible setup.

Pricing comparison

Pricing pages show you the base subscription. Here's what you'll pay in practice.

Base Plan Pricing

Platform	Cheapest ecommerce plan	Mid-tier plan	Transaction fees
Shopify	$19/mo (Basic, annual)	$49/mo (Grow, annual)	0% w/ Shopify Payments; 2% without
Squarespace	$16/mo (Basic, annual)	$23/mo (Core, annual)	2% on Basic; 0% on Core+
Wix	$29/mo (Core, annual)	$39/mo (Business, annual)	0%
Square Online	$0 (Free)	$29/mo (Plus)	0% (2.9% + $0.30 processing)
BigCommerce	$29/mo (Standard, annual)	$59.96/mo (Plus, annual)	0% always
WooCommerce	~$7-15/mo (hosting)	~$25-50/mo (premium setup)	0% (processor fees only)
Ecwid	$5/mo (Starter, 10 products)	$29/mo (Venture, annual)	0%
Big Cartel	$0 (Gold, 5 products)	$12/mo (Platinum, annual)	0% (processor fees only)

Hidden costs you should know

Shopify's app tax. The $19/month Basic plan is functional, but most stores add: product reviews ($10/month), email marketing ($10-20/month), SEO tools ($15/month), and upsell/cross-sell apps ($10-20/month). That's $45-75/month in apps on top of your $19 subscription. Squarespace includes most of these features in its $23/month Core plan.

Squarespace's digital product fee. If you sell digital products (courses, downloads, templates), Squarespace charges an additional percentage on each sale:

Plan	Digital product fee	Cost on $2,000/mo digital sales
Basic ($16/mo)	7%	$140/mo
Core ($23/mo)	5%	$100/mo
Plus ($39/mo)	1%	$20/mo
Advanced ($99/mo)	0%	$0/mo

If you sell more than $600/month in digital products, the Plus plan pays for itself through lower fees. For a deeper look at free platforms to sell digital products, see our dedicated guide.

Shopify's third-party payment surcharge. If you don't use Shopify Payments (because it's not available in your country, or you prefer another processor), Shopify charges an extra fee on every sale:

Plan	Surcharge	Extra cost on $5,000/mo sales
Basic ($19/mo)	2.0%	$100/mo
Grow ($49/mo)	1.0%	$50/mo
Advanced ($299/mo)	0.6%	$30/mo

This is on top of your payment processor's own fees. BigCommerce charges 0% regardless of which processor you use.

WooCommerce's "free" reality. The plugin is free. Everything else isn't:

Item	Cost
Hosting	$7-40/month
Domain	$12-20/year
Theme	$0-100
Security plugin	$0-100/year
Backup plugin	$0-100/year
SEO plugin	$0-100/year
Realistic total	$10-50/month

Total Monthly Cost at $3,000/Month Revenue (Worked Example)

Here's what a small business doing $3,000/month in sales would pay on each platform, including base plan, typical add-ons, and payment processing fees (at standard 2.9% + $0.30/transaction, assuming 100 transactions/month):

Platform	Plan	Base	Add-ons	Processing	Platform fees	Total/month
Shopify	Basic	$19	~$45 (apps)	$117	$0 (w/ Shopify Payments)	~$181
Shopify (no SP)	Basic	$19	~$45 (apps)	$117	$60 (2% surcharge)	~$241
Squarespace	Core	$23	$0	$117	$0	~$140
Wix	Business	$39	$0	$117	$0	~$156
Square Online	Free	$0	$0	$117	$0	~$117
BigCommerce	Standard	$29	$0	$117	$0	~$146
WooCommerce	Self-hosted	$15	~$10 (plugins)	$117	$0	~$142

The processing fees ($117) are roughly the same everywhere — that's your payment processor's cut, not the platform's. The big variable is the platform subscription + add-ons.

Key takeaway: Square Online's free plan is the cheapest at $117/month total (just processing fees). Squarespace Core at $140/month gives you a far better-looking store with built-in features. Shopify costs $181-241/month once you add the apps most stores need.

Which Platform Fits Your Business?

Your business type	Best platform	Why
Online-only store (selling is the main thing)	Shopify	Best ecommerce tools, largest app ecosystem, multi-channel selling
Brand/portfolio site + shop	Squarespace	Superior design, built-in features, lower total cost
Local business with a website + store	Wix	Flexible website builder, solid ecommerce, 0% transaction fees
Physical store adding online sales	Square Online	Seamless POS integration, free to start
Budget-conscious first store	Square Online (free)	$0/month to test ecommerce
Artists/makers (<50 products)	Big Cartel	Simple, cheap, purpose-built
Existing website, need to add a store	Ecwid	Embeds into any site without rebuilding
Large catalog / B2B / wholesale	BigCommerce	0% transaction fees, customer groups, multi-storefront
WordPress user wanting full control	WooCommerce	Integrates with existing WP site, unlimited customization
Service-based business (booking + products)	Squarespace	Acuity Scheduling built in — see our guide on website builders with booking systems
International seller (multi-currency)	Shopify	Multi-currency support, 100+ payment gateways, global POS
Digital products (courses, downloads)	Shopify for volume; Squarespace for design	Squarespace charges 1-7% on digital sales depending on plan
Membership/subscription business	Squarespace	Built-in membership features on Plus plan

Bottom Line

For most small businesses selling products online, Shopify is the safest choice — it has the deepest ecommerce features, the largest app ecosystem, and the most resources for learning. But it's not the cheapest.

If design and branding matter as much as selling, Squarespace Core at $23/month gives you a more polished store with more built-in features at a lower total cost than Shopify.

And if you just want to test whether your products sell online before committing to a monthly subscription, Square Online's free plan lets you launch a real store at $0/month — the only cost is the standard payment processing fee on each sale.