Shopify was made because its two founders couldn’t find an easy-to-use e-commerce platform. The Shopify platform has come a long way since it was first made in 2006. It is now the most used online shopping platform in the world.
But what else can you do if you don’t want to use it?
Today, you’ll learn about the top alternatives to Shopify and why you should think about them. But first, let’s look at the different things you need to look at before picking one.
What to look for in an alternative to Shopify
Shopify is the best place to run an online store. If you want to use something other than Shopify, it should have at least some of the same features.
Store Size
Some online stores are very big. You might be building the next Amazon, for example. In that case, not all of the alternatives to Shopify are good options, since some of them are made for small stores.
Price Platform
Shopify’s Basic Plan costs $29. At this price, you get a full package that lets you build a store, take payments, have a blog, collect emails, and do search engine optimization (SEO). When looking for an alternative, you should look at how much it costs and make sure you still get the same services.
Simple to Use
Not every platform is simple to use. If you can, choose one with a drag-and-drop feature or a platform where all you have to do is choose a theme template and upload photos of your products.
Processor of payments
Shopify is home to a lot of different payment processors. Integration is easy because all you have to do is choose that payment processor from your dashboard and then enter a code. Choose an option that has more than one way to pay, so you can give your customers more choices.
Programs and add-ons
A simple website is one that you can get from any platform. It works, but you might want to add more features like a carousel, email subscription, discount and coupon generators, and so much more. Shopify has a lot of apps, so make sure that any platform you use instead of Shopify can do the same.
Now, let’s talk about the best alternatives to Shopify that you might want to use.
WooCommerce
WooCommerce was made to work with the WordPress platform at first. It has become the platform of choice for building e-commerce websites over time. It’s free, but your hosting plan costs money. Since the WooCommerce software is open source, a large group of people can make changes to it.
WooCommerce is mostly a plug-in. To make it work, you need to install it on your website platform and then download more plug-ins.
Pros
- Free plug-in
- It is always being changed. It works with WordPress.
Cons
- You have to get other add-ons for it to work.
- It’s not clear how to use it, so you have to look into it.
If you already have a WordPress site and want to turn it into a store, WooCommerce is the best way to do it. You don’t want to lose the people who visit your blogs, after all.
You can choose from dozens of free themes with WooCommerce, but the best ones cost money. Each theme costs between $50 and $100 or more. Also, you can’t use WooCommerce if you don’t pay for a web host. With Shopify, you pay for web hosting services no matter which package you choose.
3Dcart
Like Shopify, 3Dcart is a place where you can build and fix an online store all in one place. It doesn’t have a free plan, but its most basic plan costs $10 less than Shopify’s.
These are the four plans:
- Start-up is $19
- Basic is $29
- Plus is $79
- Pro costs $229.
All of these are paid for on a month-to-month basis. Your store would have a payment processor, help with SEO, a seller dashboard, and tools for managing orders if you used 3Dcart.
Pros
- The base price per month is only $19.
- Has a 14-day free trial Gives you a lot of free themes to use
- Safe and sound
Cons
- Only a small number of sales channels can be linked.
- If there is maintenance, it will affect your site.
You can connect your store to Facebook with the help of 3Dcart. The best part is that you don’t have to pay any fees to use the platform. You only pay fees that the payment processor, like PayPal, charges.
There are also no limits to worry about. On some store platforms, you can only sell up to 50 items before you have to upgrade. All of the themes in 3Dcart are mobile-friendly, so you can be sure that your shop will be easy to get to on phones.
Ecwid
E-commerce widget is what Ecwid stands for. Its main purpose is to let you make a widget that you can use with Facebook, Instagram, and other social media sites. This widget handles payments for you.
It also now has a different plan that can compete with Shopify. Ecwid can be connected to WordPress like WooCommerce, and you can also build a website on the Ecwid platform itself.
Ecwid has a free account, but this one is the only one that lets you make a widget. This free widget also gives you a landing page, but nothing else. You have to pay for a plan to get the most out of Ecwid.
Pros
- Free Works on a number of platforms
- Has a POS and accepts a number of payment methods
Cons
- The free version doesn’t do enough.
- has only a few things to offer
The least expensive plan on Ecwid is called Venture. It only costs $15. You can build a store, charge customers, and connect the platform to other sites with this. You can only add up to 100 products with this plan. You can also sell digital files up to 25GB per file.
If you need more space, you have to upgrade. The most expensive plan, “Unlimited,” costs $99 per month.
Wix
Wix is also a popular choice, and it competes with Shopify in a tough way. There are a lot of ads for Wix on YouTube now.
On Wix, you can choose from three plans that cost between $17 and $35 per month.
Not to be mixed up with Wix. It has two different kinds of services. The first is for websites, and the second is for doing business online.
You can’t sell anything with the website bundles; they can only be used to build websites.
The Business Basic Plan costs $17 per month and lets you build a store with 20GB of storage. You can add Google Analytics to your store, and you also get a free domain for a year.
Pros
- Simple to use
- There are no limits on your subscription.
- Shopify is more expensive than this.
Cons
- Payment processors have few options.
- Not many plug-ins or apps to choose from
Here are some of the things that make up the Wix website builder:
- Custom domain name
- Wix chat comes with
- Stats about a website
- Hosting for free
- SSL Certificate
- Mailbox
- Sign-in options for members
The most expensive plan is Business VIP, which gives you unlimited video uploads, 50 GB of storage, priority support, VIP support, and all the other features of Business Basic and Business Unlimited.
Weebly
Weebly is mostly a website builder, but it now also lets you sell things online. You can make a website on Weebly, but you can also make online courses that your students can watch online.
The thing about Weebly is that it is owned by Square, a company that handles payments. So, you have no choice but to use Square as your payment processor.
Weebly costs $12 per month to use. The name of this plan is “Pro.”
With this plan, you can build an online store, get a free SSL certificate, have unlimited storage, and a payment system.
The prices for the other plans range from $25 to $38 per month.
Pros
- Simple to use
- Only $12 per month, which is cheap
- There are a lot of features, and if you only need a simple store, you don’t have to pay more.
- No fees to do business
Cons
You have to pay once a year; you can’t pay each month.
If you don’t mind using Square as your payment processor, Weebly is a great choice.
If you have a storefront, you can order a Square POS device and take payments there. Weebly is a great place to start, but if you need more services, you’ll have to pay more.
BigCommerce
This company is one of the world’s biggest store platforms. Like its name, it works best for big businesses. This doesn’t mean, though, that you can’t use it for your business.
You can sell digital goods on BigCommerce as well as physical goods.
There are apps for BigCommerce that can make your store look more professional and work better.
It also works well for dropshippers because you can find apps here that help you do that.
The lowest plan costs $29.945 each month. Standard is the name of this plan.
With this plan, you can have a store, connect it to Facebook, eBay, or Amazon, and then have unlimited bandwidth and storage.
Pros
- Cheap and simple to set up
- does not charge fees to do business
- There are many apps to choose from.
Cons
- Low-tier plans don’t come back for carts that were left behind.
- Has no mobile app
The prices for the other plans range from $79.95 to $249.95 per month. BigCommerce is great because it works together with shipping couriers.
You can save money on shipping if you use BigCommerce. It is also a great place to sell digital goods that can be downloaded right away.
Magento
Magento is a pricey platform that works for both small and big businesses. It’s a very flexible platform, and it’s easy to change how your store looks so that it doesn’t look like everyone else’s.
If you choose to use Magento, you can code your website yourself or work with Magento Partners.
Members of Magento Partners offer their services so that they can help you build your website.
Magento has a product for small businesses, but just like with the other plans, you will be paired with a Magento expert who will build it for you in as little as ten weeks.
Pros
- Customizable
- Multiple store management system
- mobile use.
- Made just for you
- Great support from the community
Cons
- Too expensive you’ll have to pay at least $1,000 a month
- You can’t use a shared hosting plan; you need a dedicated server, which is more expensive.
- Not many people make apps.
Magento is a very professional platform for online stores. There is no price list on the site because the prices for each website they build are different.
Big Cartel
Big Cartel was made for creative people. Here, templates and themes for painters, craftspeople, and even musicians were made.
This is the best place to sell your paintings, glasswork, or even t-shirts that you made yourself.
Big Cartel has three different plans to choose from. Here are the plans and a brief description of what they offer:
- Platinum: costs $10 a month. You can only sell up to ten different kinds of goods with this plan. You can put Google Analytics on your website and build your store. Each product can only have five images, so make sure you choose the ones that best show what the product is.
- Diamond: This plan costs $19.99. Diamond. You can create discounts and get real information about your sales and traffic, just like with the Platinum Plan. But here, you can only sell 100 items instead of just ten.
- Titanium: The monthly price for Titanium is $29.99. With this plan, you can add up to 300 items. On top of that, you get all the features of the first two plans, and there are no other differences in services or features.
Pros
- Simple to set up.
- At $10 a month, it’s really cheap.
- You can sell either online or in person.
Cons
- Not much difference in the things they have.
- If you want to sell more, you need to improve.
- Has no app store that can help you improve your site.
Big Cartel was made for artists, so it is a place where your art is the main focus. Still, it doesn’t have as many fancy apps as Shopify.
Pinnacle Cart
Shopify is a little cheaper than Pinnacle Cart. It does, however, have a full set of features that are on par with Shopify.
With Pinnacle Cart, you can build an online store, have a secure website with SSL, get hosting services, get free themes, and do a lot more.
You can also connect your store to Google and Facebook. And, like Shopify, you have a dashboard where you can manage your inventory, fill orders, and add products.
Pros
- It’s easy to use Pinnacle Cart.
- You can sell an unlimited number of products with the base plan.
- With more expensive plans, you can get unlimited bandwidth.
Cons
- Too pricey
The Start-Up plan, which costs $44.95 per month, is the least expensive. But with this, you only have 1GB of bandwidth and 2GB of storage space.
This space isn’t big enough for a store, so you have to use a lot of pictures.
You can get the Standard plan, which costs $94.95 per month, at most. This plan lets you store up to 20GB of data and gives you 10GB of bandwidth.
If you want to save money, you should buy hosting services from a different company, like Bluehost. But this will only work if you know how to link the two together. If not, you should get this service from Pinnacle instead.
Shopify vs. the Biggest Rivals
It’s going to be a nightmare to compare all nine of them. Their prices are different, and they are going after different groups of people.
For example, WooCommerce is great, but it’s not as easy to use as Shopify. You don’t have to pay for WooCommerce, but you do have to pay for hosting services.
Ecwid, on the other hand, is a bit more expensive than Shopify, but it focuses on giving you the marketing tools you need.
BigCommerce and Magento are the best choices for big businesses. But if you run a small or medium-sized business, the rest of the options are great.
Which one should you pick?
You have to choose the Shopify competitor that meets your needs the best. To answer this question, you need to make a list of the things that are most important to you.
Here’s what I mean:
- Price
- Apps and plug-ins
- payment processors
You can get Ecwid if you want to sell things for free. WooCommerce is a great choice if you don’t mind spending a little money.
In the end, all of these alternatives to Shopify let you sell. They have different features, but they all do the same thing: they let you make a website to sell things online.
Summary
Due to the success of Shopify, more and more companies are making their own store-builders or platforms.
Even though many of these companies may have lower prices, you should know that online, you get what you pay for.
This means that even though they cost less, they don’t do as much. With Shopify, you get a package that has everything you need to build a store that can make you money.
