How about setting up your own online store and selling your products on multiple channels, effortlessly? Doesn’t that sound great? Well, that’s the reason why Shopify is so popular when it comes to an eCommerce platform. It has taken the online retail business to another level.
Shopify is the best but not the only one that could suit every type of eCommerce business. It has some competitors or let’s say alternatives that are worth checking out.
The overall flexibility, reliability, performance, and user-friendliness of Shopify makes it an absolute winner. However, it is not a one-size-fits-all solution and that’s where other alternatives hold a great advantage in providing eCommerce solutions.
Shopify Tool: Shopify Theme Detector
Here we have jotted down various alternatives to Shopify that will be beneficial for building an online store:
BigCommerce
If you are looking for a simple eCommerce platform that helps to expand your retail business online then BigCommerce is what you can opt for. Its store management capabilities and exceptional features make it a better alternative to Shopify. This eCommerce platform offers great commerce experience to both business and its customers.
The beautiful theme designs will make your store attention-grabbing. Many retail giants are already using BigCommerce. There are pricing plans for every budget.
Plus points of BigCommerce
- Unlimited product options
- Robust SEO
- No extra transaction fees
- Works smoothly on mobile
Downside of BigCommerce
- Need to pay a hefty amount for high volume stores
- Fluctuating speed
- Themes are a bit expensive
BigCommerce Pricing
- Standard: $29.95/month, unlimited products and bandwidth.
- Plus: $79.95/month, marketing tools to increase the conversion.
- Pro: $269.96/month, Google customer review and product filtering.
- Enterprise: Custom quote. A full service BigCommerce platform.
WooCommerce
A popular and most trusted plugin of the WordPress community, WooCommerce comes across as a perfect open-source eCommerce platform. This alternative is flexible, customizable and feature-rich. Basic WooCommerce plugin is available for free, however, you may have to pay for hosting and if you have a budget you can also opt for extra perks. If you are a big fan of WordPress then WooCommerce can be the best choice.
Plus points of WooCommerce
- It is available for free
- No extra transaction charges
- Easy to set up and user-friendly
- Suitable for content-heavy websites
- Gets effortlessly integrated with WordPress
- It’s open source, so you can customize it if needed.
Downside of WooCommerce
- Need to pay for hosting
- Troubleshooting issues
- Slightly slow page load
Volusion
Volusion is a cloud-based eCommerce platform serving more than 200,000 businesses around the globe. The robust SEO features and exceptional theme choice make Volusion a better alternative to Shopify. This eCommerce platform is actually very user-friendly as it offers drag and drop feature.
Not just Shopify but as compared to many other eCommerce plugins, Volusion is cost-effective. This platform also offers a slew of cool features while its mobile app helps you to manage your store effortlessly on the go.
Plus points of Volusion
- Simple to set up and use
- No extra transaction fees needed
- Unlimited product options
- Supports 30+ payment gateways
- Dedicated secured checkout
Downside of Volusion
- No built-in blog feature
- Comes with a monthly bandwidth limit
- Requires coding skills
- The poor product search function
3dcart
Even 3dCart comes across as a powerful eCommerce platform that can be an alternative to Shopify. The versatile functionality, robust features, and affordable pricing plans make this eCommerce platform stand out from the rest. With a library of themes and exceptional templates, it is easy to create a professional level design.
Plus points of 3dcart
- Easy to set up and use
- Quick hosting
- Suitable for businesses with a limited budget
- Not much coding and design experience required
- SEO friendly
- No transaction fees
- Offers additional features as compared to Shopify
Downside of 3dcart
- Poor mobile UX as compared to Shopify
- Weak drop shipping
- Lacks in the customer loyalty program
Magento
With versatile functionality and super flexibility, Magento serves as a powerful eCommerce solution. Even this is an open-source platform. Magento offers customization hence you can build an eStore completely as per your needs.
Magento tops in flexibility, scalability and optimization. You can download it for free but if you are planning to go for the enterprise edition then be prepared to shed a good amount on an annual basis. Small, mid-sized or enterprise-level, Magneto is best suited for any type and size of business.
Plus points of Magento
- A plethora of extensions and enhanced customization available
- Feature-rich and best in security
- Suitable for responsive designs
- Offers inventory management
- Mobile-friendly configuration
Downside of Magento
- Need coding knowledge and technical skills
- Requires hosting provider
- Complex coding makes Magento slow
- Requires dedicated/VPS server of high-speed
Wix
Not just a popular website builder, Wix is also a great choice for online store building with essential features. The user-friendly editor makes this platform best for even newbies. From business basic plan to an enterprise plan, Wix offers a variety of pricing plans to suit every budget. This eCommerce plugin is easy-to-use and comes with customization ability.
Plus points of Wix
- Drag and drop editor
- No technical expertise needed
- Offers around 500 templates
- Supports many payment gateways
- Super rich features
Downside of Wix
- Bandwidth limit
- Poor with SEO
- Limited scope for creativity
Squarespace
Even Squarespace is a website builder that offers now best in class eCommerce solutions. The wide variety of attractive templates helps to create a pretty impressive eCommerce website. With mobile-friendly features, you can attract a good number of customers. Though 3% of the transaction fees will be charged, Squarespace still turns out to be budget-friendly.
Plus points of Squarespace
- Easy to set up and use
- Ideal for novice businesses
- Attention-grabbing designs
- Unlimited product options
Downside of Squarespace
- Fewer add-ons as compared to Shopify
- Lack of payment gateway options
- Limited support
BigCartel
Artists, makers or anyone who is running a creative business can choose BigCartel as their online store partner. Since it is affordable, easy to use and customizable, it is mostly preferred as an alternative to Shopify. With this eCommerce store builder, you can easily set up a store and sell your work online for free.
Plus points of BigCartel
- No additional transaction fees
- Free plans to suit most of the creative businesses
- Extremely user-friendly
- Pocket-friendly
Downside of BigCartel
- Poor customer support
- Not suitable for big stores
- Limited features
Prestashop
Launch your store with this ready-made solution. Build a store using Prestashop, free of charge. Compared to Shopify, even Prestashop offers a decent variety of themes and templates. If you opt for the free plan, you will get limited modules, however, the paid version can be beneficial to expand your store. Prestashop supports 25 currencies and multiple languages.
Plus points of Prestashop
- Self-hosting available
- No additional transaction fees
- Best suited for international sales
- Unlimited product options
Downside of Prestashop
- Limited themes and templates
- Technical knowledge needed
- Limited features in free version
Weebly
It’s a refreshing and professional eCommerce platform with lovely customization. With 40 million active users, Weebly can certainly be considered as a better alternative to Shopify. Weebly has also become a very popular choice among startup businesses. With the easy to use editor, it is quite simple to build a professional-looking eCommerce website. It is not flexible but definitely easier.
Plus points of Weebly
- Free hosting
- Recommended for not so tech-savvy people
- Extremely user-friendly and pocket-friendly
- Beautiful modern themes available
Downside of Weebly
- Blog limitations
- Weak page management
- Poor backup ability
- Not suitable for big eCommerce stores
So if you are thinking of switching from Shopify or are looking for the best eCommerce platforms, you can certainly refer to this list and pick the one that best fits your business needs.