20+ Best Shopify Alternatives to Consider in 2022 Free & Paid

Shopify is one of the best eCommerce platforms for all the business owners out there, and there is no doubt about that. Globally, thousands of online stores use it to enhance their business activities. In addition, people who have less experience selling online can use Shopify because it is an all-in-one solution.

Hence, it has become popular among non-tech-savvy people. But, even if it is enough of a standard eCommerce platform, there are a few drawbacks. Sometimes, it becomes expensive for people, and sometimes they don’t like the back-end interface. As a result, people look for the best Shopify alternatives.

So, to help you with this, or if you are looking for the other best options, we have researched and gathered the best Shopify alternatives. But, before that, let’s understand the meaning of Shopify from the following.

What is Shopify?

Shopify is an eCommerce platform that helps you run an online store or online business. Many online store builders choose Shopify because of its excellent features and website building options. You can also control products, compute shipping rates, and more.

Other than that, thankfully, Shopify serves small and large business organizations. So you can use Shopify eCommerce solutions for your tech skills when they are bare. You will also get the most user-friendly interface with many design tool options.

Still, it comes with benefits and drawbacks when purchasing a particular thing. Likewise, Shopify also has a few disadvantages. For example, it charges transaction fees, has less international support, and only the best features are open on costly plans. As a result, people go with the best alternatives to Shopify.

Is Shopify the Right for Your Online Stores?

To manage online stores, you need an excellent online source. Shopify fits your online stores because it is a type of SaaS for hosting online stores. In other words, Shopify is a hosted eCommerce option for individuals that don’t need any coding experience. You can do many things with Shopify, like creating a website, managing orders or products, payment processes, and more.

Besides that, you can get an easy-to-use interface, which one can learn without any skills. It comes up with the Shopify app stores to get what you need. It provides free and paid solutions to enhance your features like live chat, digital products, and more. Tons of professional designs and templates are available here.

On top of that, you can create a new template by using the Liquid Programming Language and get a 24-hour support team. Shopify Plus also offers the same features but is a bit different. Is it enough?

As you know, this is not enough for our online stores, and we need something more on this. It means something is left out somewhere in this range of features, which forces us to find another eCommerce platform. As a result, we look for many qualities in our next eCommerce platform, and some of them are as follows.

Features to Consider on Your Next eCommerce Platform

As we said above, you will try to avoid all those issues coming into your existing platform when you are thinking of the new one. So, here are the following three features you should consider while choosing your next eCommerce platform.

Multiple Payment Options

In the digital era, everyone has their way of paying online business bills. Most people rely on the payment options like Visa and PayPal. They come up with the advantage of purchasing without entering the card numbers.

Therefore, while searching for the new platforms, ensure that you will get the range of payment processing providers to pick from. One of the best platforms for these payment gateways is BigCommerce because it offers 55 payment options.

Also, when your activities increase, you can get better rates, and it will help reduce your cost. So it is excellent for all the business owners out there. Apart from that, consider a thing your next eCommerce platform will settle your transaction in many currencies.

Customization Features

When you are an owner of the business, what will be your first motive? It’s simple! To earn massive profit from the large customer base. Right? Therefore, you take care of each small thing of your business and its website rather than others. Therefore, customization is vital for your business and web design.

Along with the above reasons, you should also see third-party apps available for your comfort. So, while going with the other eCommerce platform, it should have easy customization options so that you can make changes. Coders can go with this option or mention this in their priority list. Also, it will not take too much time for an expert website builder to make changes.

A Catalog that can Grow as your Business Grow

Sometimes people dig for an alternative where they might have an expansive catalog. Still, if your record is small, you can go with Shopify, which works well. Most business owners expect additions and feel that they should execute different technologies. As a result, they go with an eCommerce choice that will help you there.

So, after knowing these features, let’s move on to our main topic. Keep your ocean eyes on the following to get the best choices of Shopify, including the best free Shopify alternatives.

Also Read: Best WordPress Popup Plugins.

Top 21 Shopify Alternatives

Once you get bored with Shopify, you look for the next eCommerce platform with many exciting features. You will get the perfect overview of these alternatives, including features and pros & cons. So, without giving any time to others, let’s dive into

BigCommerce

BigCommerce is amongst the best and most popular competitors of Shopify. It provides suitable choices like hosting, software updates, and many more. Moreover, BigCommerce is ideal for a smooth and elastic drag and drops editor. The themes are pretty, but only seven themes are free and open for all industries.

In addition to this, you will get the content-marketing features that help you boost your products or services on the web. Along with that, you can make an online shop without having any coding knowledge or advanced technical experience with BigCommerce. Therefore, you can essay that it comes with a user-friendly interface for beginners. Let’s collect more information from the following pros & cons section.

Pros

• Every plan of BigCommerce offers you robust features, and it does not need any coding knowledge.
• It works for many business models.
• You will get a strong SEO performance.
• It comes with stunning templates and designs.
• You don’t need any additional transaction fees.
• Over 80% of issues are solved through phone calls because they have 24/7 customer support.
• You will get many built-in features, including review functionality.
• Fully customizable URLs and SEO functions are available for your comfort.
• It is ideal for different business models.
• You will get up to 600 product varieties.

Cons

• You may find that the pricing is a bit complicated.
• The store theme looks the same.
• The speed is not consistent.

Besides that, it supports multi-channel selling. So, if you want to start a large eCommerce site, you can rely on BigCommerce.

WooCommerce

WooCommerce is another best eCommerce platform as compared to Shopify. It is a WordPress plugin that provides an eCommerce store built on WordPress. But, as you know, you need enough knowledge about a particular thing to run. Likewise, WooCommerce also requires some skills in hosting, domain names, and design.

The best thing about WooCommerce is its versatility. It provides freedom in terms of customizing your stores. Also, it is an open-source platform that comes with many features. You can also see the premium add-ons for annual subscriptions or one-time payments. So, without wasting time, let’s take a look at the following pros and cons.

Pros

• You can use WooCommerce as a free plugin with any WordPress site.
• It becomes easy to combine WooCommerce with any existing WordPress site.
• You can fully customize your store code with WooCommerce because it is an open-source platform.
• You will get access to many free and paid extensions.
• There are tons of add-ons available.
• Coding skills will help you to customize it 100%.
• You can get the free plans also.
• It becomes easy to set up this WooCommerce plugin.
• You will get the Post Purchase/1-Click Upsells.

Cons

• Although this plugin is free, you have to pay for the domain hosting, SSL certificate, Etc.
• You will not get direct technical support on this platform.
• Beginners may find it challenging to run this platform.

If you want to use the WordPress plugin with eCommerce functionalities, you can rely on WooCommerce.

Also Read: Best WooCommerce Spin to Win Plugins.

Magento

Most people have misunderstood that Adobe created Magento. But, it is not true at all. Magento was founded in 2007, an eCommerce platform designed on open-source technology, and taken over by Adobe in 2018. It offers Magento Commerce for large business organizations and Magento Open Source for small business enterprises.

You can see that it is the complete solution for online stores because of its various features and functions. First, however, you have to download the program and install it on a web server. And the wildest parts are product browsing, customer accounts, inventory management, payment and shipping, catalog management, and more.

You can also know more about this platform from the following pros and cons.

Pros

• You can access the back-end to customize everything in your store because this is open-source.
• It will give you access to an extensive partner ecosystem for third-party apps and add-ons.
• You don’t have to pay the transaction fees.
• Unlimited customization options are available.
• You will get the flexibility and most extensive features.
• Many marketing tools are available.
• You can enjoy the free plans as well.
• You will get the API for web services.
• You will experience better community support.
• You can get affordable alternatives in terms of programs and prices.

Cons

• You should have the professional web development skill to set up your online store.
• It needs a hosting service.
• It may be expensive for a few users.

So, adobe lovers can rely on this platform if they look for an adobe eCommerce platform.

PinnacleCart

Suppose you want to expand your business activities to the enterprise level. In that case, PinnacleCart is the best self-hosted eCommerce platform for you. You can also rely on this to make or launch your online store. The newbies can enjoy its built-in features and user-friendly dashboard. Along with that, it supports many languages and currencies.

It is fit for those who have at least experience in online selling. But, we would like to mention one thing: a novice can face the problem of making a store. So, with that, let’s move on to the pros and cons of PinnacleCart.

Pros

• People can select the hosting on Pinnacle or use hosting independently.
• You will meet with SEO-friendly features on this platform.
• You can enjoy the endless products and categories on each plan.
• It supports many other languages.
• Excellent tools like HTML, CSS, and code editing are available on this platform.
• You will get customizable themes.
• It is fit for the bigger stores.

Cons

• You will get only 20GB bandwidth with the standard plan of PinnacleCart.
• You have to make updates on this.

So, if you need a marketing and conversion leader from the eCommerce platform’s market, this would be your choice.

MemberPress

We are sure that most people don’t know about MemberPress. It is a WordPress membership site plugin and LMS. It helps to ask for your access to content and digital products like software, e-books, and your online courses. See the following pros and cons for more details.

Pros

• You can make and sell your courses.
• It becomes easy to set up this platform.
• It will give you effective accessing rules.
• You can meet with various premium community forums.
• You will get customizable code.
• The pricing pages are pretty.
• It is a WordPress-affiliate plugin.
• It has all payment processors.
• It is fit for any booking website.
• It offers tons of add-ons.

Cons

• It becomes expensive to use.
• It does not offer the friendliest interface.

When it comes to any payment option like credit card payments, MemberPress plugins make it easy. So, choose this platform if you have many customers who use credit card payment options.

Easy digital downloads

Easy Digital Downloads is amongst the free eCommerce plugin. It makes it easy to sell online products with WordPress. It also comes with the base plugin that has a detailed reporting and downloads tracking system. Other than that, you can experience the full shopping cart with exciting coupon codes. See the following pros and cons of easy digital downloads.

Pros

• It is easy to set up.
• It comes up with excellent features and a pretty interface.
• You can set the recurring charges.
• It supports PayPal, stripe, and other major payment processors.
• It works with all themes.
• You can make product reports and check out the pages.
• Various extensions and articles are available for you there.

Cons

• You will get only a limited licensing.
• Lifetime plans are not expensive.

Online store builders can choose Easy Digital Downloads to help sell digital products.

Shift4Shop

If you need a SaaS eCommerce platform with full features and no drawbacks to other websites like Shopify, you can go with this. You can focus on increasing the business activities because you don’t have to handle the software updates, web hosting, and security options. Shift4Shop behind the scenes drives them all.

It is reliable and stable, and with Shift4Shop, you can get access to an entire site of inventory management tools, marketing features, and built-in SEO. People can also get many features compared to any other website like Shopify to get better values. If you want to know more about it, get down to see the pros and cons.

Besides that, we would like to add a critical thing about Shift4Shop. It Was formerly known as 3dMart, but the name has been changed, and now it is called Shift4Shop.

Pros

• It does not charge any transaction fees from you.
• You can come into the atmosphere of more built-in features.
• Experience a better SEO.
• You will get a free domain name on Shift4Shop.
• A single-page check-out option is available.
• You will get customization freedom.
• Get more optimized designs on Shift4Shop.
• It comes with more payment processors than any other eCommerce platform.
• It is free for US residents

Cons

• It isn’t easy to get where to create & edit pages.

If you think the drop-shipping business can’t use this alternative, you are wrong. People can use this best Shopify alternative to dropshipping firms.

Wix

We have mentioned another eCommerce solution for you, founded in 2006. The Wix platform has become one of the most famous eCommerce markets. Wix was created to make websites, and inexperienced people can also use them. Moreover, it offers affordable eCommerce plans for all business owners.

Besides that, Wix eCommerce does not have advanced options. But, it becomes cheaper as compared with Shopify. You can use the free plan for experience and decide to continue it or not. The following are the pros and cons of Wix.

Pros

• It offers the drag-and-drop website builder that helps run your store faster than before.
• You can get six options per product.
• Wix comes with a robust and well-arranged Help Centre.
• You can enjoy free domains for one year with every premium plan offered by them.
• You will get an extensive add-ons library.
• You can enjoy the latest templates here.
• It will provide you with the API for advanced customizations and integrations.
• The free plans are available with Wix branding.

Cons

• You have to face the Bandwidth and Traffic limits.
• It does not handle high-volume stores.

The best part is that it comes with a mobile app to use anywhere.

Web.com

When it comes to web.com, it provides a professional online store builder and a suite of business tools. Further, they will help make you and increase your business activities online. It comes with a primary website builder with more than 150 templates for your professional website and online stores. The following pros and cons can give you more information on this.

Pros

• You can get the cheapest Intro offers on this.
• You can publish a site online instantly.
• It provides 24/7 phone support to its users.

Cons

• You will not get the free plans there.

You can choose this platform if your preference is not getting the advanced features, and it offers the basic ones.

Weebly

When it comes to the attention-grabbing eCommerce website, Weebly fits there. Affordable pricing, a user-friendly interface, and better features make it more comfortable for users, and they won’t think twice about going this.

It is also a hosted platform for the Shopify alternative searchers who want it for free. So, it may be easier to make an eCommerce website by using the simple website builder; Weebly is an excellent option for you.

Pros

• Weebly offers affordable plans.
• It is easier to get started from.
• You can make and launch your website within minutes.
• You will find a range of tools and apps that you can choose from.
• You can enjoy the free domain names.
• A free trial is available.

Cons

• You will get only a 3 GB file size limit for digital products.

If you are a beginner and want to get started with ease, Weebly can help you there.

Also Read: Weebly vs WordPress Which Webdesign Platform is Best For You.

Squarespace

Squarespace offers the best website builder with pretty themes and templates. You can create a store that looks like you can spend a future on it. Many facilities are available there, including SSL security, unlimited pages, galleries, blogs, bandwidth, storage, contributors, and much more.

It does not charge any extra transaction fee, but it is limited to PayPal and Stripe payments. Also, the one point where you can disappoint with Squarespace is that it has limited marketing features.

Pros

• It is easy to install.
• Simple stores can use it.
• You will get impressive designs and templates.
• No need to pay extra transaction fees.
• No need for coding knowledge.

Cons

• The marketing tools are missing.
• Third-party payment gateways & app limitations.

Small stores can use it for their business purpose.

Sellfy

Sellfy is an excellent choice for artists selling illustrations, music, or video courses. It is an eCommerce platform. You will see the monthly subscription and credit card processing fee separate here, like Shopify. But, Sellfy also comes up with the immediate solution to immerse the products and buy onto an existing site. You can get the free trial for 14 days too. So, let’s see the following pros and cons.

Pros

• It is easy to install and use.
• Automated products and downloads are available to save your time.
• It comes with eCommerce tools to run your eCommerce firm.
• You will get many integration options.
• It is integrated with the Wix App.

Cons

• It helps to sell digital products only.
• It becomes expensive in terms of the functions offered.

If you want to take advantage of the best designs and themes, you can go with Sellfy.

Volusion

Volusion is a SaaS and cloud-based platform like Shopify. It means you don’t need to get web hosting or software updates, and you can concentrate on your business because the software does its work itself. Also, you can start your business without any downloads and installation, and it is user-friendly.

Pros

• Monthly fees are low.
• It becomes easier to use as compared to Shopify.
• It comes with specific features.
• There are many shipping options available.
• The plans are affordable.
• The free and pretty themes are available.

Cons

• You may face the problem of the monthly bandwidth limit.
• You need some coding skills to run it.

Although it has only a few features, shipment tracking business and new business can take advantage of it.

Square online

The Square Online store is the best choice if you want to have an all-in-one solution for your eCommerce needs. First, Square is famous for its POS systems, but its eCommerce plans and offers have become popular. You have to pay for the transaction fees if you choose the free plan, and you will get a shopping cart email functionality to it.

Pros

• It is easy to set up and install.
• A free plan is available.
• It helps to provide direct integration with Square.
• It is better for AI functionalities.
• It integrates online and offline selling.
• It is beginner-friendly.

Cons

• Customization options are limited.
• Payment processing will be done by using Square.

If you want unlimited product listings and more features like this, you can go with Square Online.

BigCartel

BigCartel offers unlimited bandwidth, Inventory tracking, HTML and CSS customization, and many more. As a result, it becomes famous for the artists of the overall world. Although it comes with limited features, it is fit for solopreneurs, and small business owners can also try this. In addition, it is integrated with Google Analytics, Facebook, and PayPal for their convenience.

Pros

• You don’t have to pay the extra transaction fees.
• It comes with many integration options.
• It offers a free plan for shops.
• It is user-friendly.
• It does not require coding knowledge.

Cons

• It is not for large enterprises.
• Limited choice of themes.

The shops with fewer products and want to sell them can try this with affordable plans.

Prestashop

When it comes to PrestaShop, it is known as a firm candidate for business owners and entrepreneurs on a tight budget. Although it is free, you have to pay for domain names and web hostings. However, the usability is ideal and helps 25 languages with many currencies options, international sales, endless products, and more. Users can also get the benefit of installing a third-party theme.

Pros

• You can use it without any cost.
• You will get self-hosted and paid host offers.
• No need to pay the extra transaction charges.
• It supports multilingual and international sales.
• For free, you will get enough features.

Cons

• Limited themes and templates.
• Advanced eCommerce features are available on premium.

With minimal capital, you can make your online stop by using guides and tutorials on PrestaShop.

OpenCart

OpenCart is the best choice when it comes to creating professional-looking websites. You can also customize them as per your choice. You can benefit from the robust user base and vital documentation. It supports hundreds of add-ons and third-party modules, which eCommerce clients need nowadays. Besides that, you will get a user-friendly dashboard to control an existing shop.

Pros

• You can use it for free.
• You will get a variety of extensions.
• It supports multilingual and many currencies.
• You will get unlimited products.
• It is ideal for many eCommerce stores.
• Easy to set up and quick launches.
• Many payment gateways are available.

Cons

• You need to have skills like a developer.
• Customer support is missing.

If you have a tight budget and desire to increase your customization, you can rely on OpenCart.

X-Cart

If you need an eCommerce platform that manages all sizes of sales orders and routes real-time payments, you should go with X-Cart. It can provide you with an in-built website builder to create customizable websites and online stores. It is not done yet. SEO, catalog management, A/B testing, data import and export, inventory management, Etc., features make it more unique. The customers can use the mobile app on Android and iOS devices to get promotional messages, add items to the cart, and process payments.

Pros

• It is a scalable and friendly platform.
• Easy to use platform.
• It offers good customer support.
• It provides many out-of-the-box functionalities.

Cons

• It takes time to set up.
• It offers limited functions only.

If you want to use a base shopping cart platform, this is what you need.

Dukaan

Nowadays, WhatsApp has become an essential source of providing information. Do you know why we are saying this?

Well, Dukaan helps to run your offline stores online through WhatsApp. It helps to make catalogs of your products or services on your phone, and after that, you can share them with your customers. In addition to this, like WhatsApp, a Dukaan app is available for free of cost in India and open in the English language. Today, more than a million stores sell their products on the Internet.

Pros

• You can get a home delivery service.
• It has an easy-to-use interface.
• No third-party integrations.
• COD is available.
• Many payment options are available.

Cons

• Sometimes you can face a poor user interface.

If you want to convert your business activities offline to online, you can choose the Dukaan app.

Simvoly

Simvoly is one of the best Shopify alternatives comes with around a 13,000 users base. Although it does not offer applicant tracking, it provides many benefits. Entrepreneurs who are working with ClickFunnels or any other similar software, then they can use it for their comfort. It does not offer advanced eCommerce features but has only limited and specific options.

 

Pros

• You will meet with the robust flows with upsells to increase the AOC.
• It is a full-featured funnel builder.
• Easy to use and simple interface is available,
• You will get the drag-and-drop store builder.
• Simvoly offers a built-in email marketing feature.

Cons

• Only limited features are available.

If you want to get more control over your design and layouts, you can choose Simvoly.

Ecwid

If you look at Ecwid, it is amongst the high-rated e-commerce tools and offers many affordable plans. It does not take any extra fees from you, and the free program allows you to list up to 10 products with no objections from visitors. In addition, you can use discount coupons like gift cards, and it combines with PayPal. But, most importantly, it does help you with your website. Of course, you have to make a site first and add Ecwid to an existing place.

 

Pros

• A free plan is available.
• It offers cheap products as compared to others.
• Multi-Language support is available.
• You will get fully responsive designs.
• Many plugins and apps are available.

Cons

• Only expensive plans offer phone support.

You can start selling online with high-rated tools at affordable plans with Ecwid.

So, these are our best picks for 2022. You can use them to make your offline store online and earn into many currencies. Now, let’s move to a few required questions.

Which is the best Shopify alternative for your online store?

It depends on the desires of users. Some want a simple alternative, some go with full-featured options, and some want a user-friendly admin dashboard and easy-to-use interface. As a result, it becomes difficult to suggest you only one amongst them.

However, we have researched and come up with the following Shopify alternatives for dropshipping as well that may be the best for you.

• BigCommerce
• WooCommerce
• Wix
• MemberPress
• Magento

FAQs

Are Wix and Shopify competitors?

Wix and Shopify are the best in their places and offer great features to users. But now, Wix overtakes Shopify in terms of better designs. In addition, small business owners are using it for its simplicity in design.

However, if you need themes for your online store that are more optimized for sales, you should go with Shopify.

What are the best eCommerce platforms to use?

Nowadays, it becomes easier to start your eCommerce site and make money. But, the biggest problem is that you don’t know about the best eCommerce platforms to use. The best eCommerce platforms help sellers meet customers from all over the world. So, we have the following suggestions for you here.

• BigCommerce
• Shopify
• Squarespace
• Wix

Which eCommerce is best for selling?

Advanced commerce has changed everything from challenging access to online selling. Now, people can easily use eCommerce platforms to sell their products or services online through these sites. But, choosing one eCommerce site for selling is quite a difficult task. Therefore, we would recommend the following eCommerce.

• BigCartel
• Magento
• WooCommerce
• Wix
• Shopify

Is there any way to use Shopify for free?

Shopify is one of the best platforms for eCommerce sites. The only way of using Shopify is a 14-day free trial. You can start a 14-days trial before signing up with a monthly plan. The free trial will begin with the signing up process. And your completed work will remain as it is while using the free trial.

Conclusion

Shopify is amongst the all-inclusive eCommerce platform that controls all the technical details of an online store like hosting, domain names, maintenance, software updates, and more. As a result, it becomes popular among business owners, entrepreneurs, and solopreneurs.

However, it lacks when it comes to flexibility and complete freedoms like other eCommerce options. So, you opt for the best Shopify alternatives for your online stores. Therefore, we have the following best Shopify Alternatives for you.

• BigCommerce
• WooCommerce
• Magento
• Pinnacle Cart
• MemberPress
• Easy Digital Downloads
• Shift4Shop
• Wix
• Wbe.com
• Weebly
• Squarespace
• Sellfy
• Volusion
• Square Online
• BigCartel
• PrestaShop
• Opencart
• X-Cart
• Dukaan
• Simvoly
• Ecwid

Business owners, entrepreneurs, and solopreneurs can choose one among them. And at last, we hope you will find the best alternative to Shopify from this article.