We’ve come a long way. If you want to have a website up and running by the end of the day, there are tons of tools to help you do that. (Of course, the quality you get is often matched by the time you put into it, but that’s another article for another day.)
For those who don’t have the skills and expertise in web development, building an ecommerce website can be daunting and even overwhelming. It can seem like there are an infinite amount of options to choose from.
That’s why we’re going to take a look at some of the best ecommerce website builders. You’ll then be better equipped to craft your masterpiece store with minimum stress and maximum benefit.
7 best ecommerce website builders
1. Shopify
As the best ecommerce website builder, Shopify is designed to be a one-stop-shop for online store owners. It offers a native feature, customization, or integration for virtually any business function you could want, including:
- An intuitive drag-and-drop builder
- Thousands of third-party apps, via the Shopify App Store, for diversifying your store’s functionality
- Multi-channel selling across social media, marketplaces, and in-store point of sale
- Built-in marketing tools to take your business growth to the next level
- Centralized business operations for inventory management, order fulfillment, logistics management, and other tasks, directly inside your dashboard
Plus, Shopify integrates with more than 100 payment gateways to ensure a smooth experience for you and your users.
Pricing: Plans start at $29 per month if you pay annually ($39 a month if you pay monthly), with a free trial.
2. Squarespace
Squarespace is primarily designed to be an ecommerce website builder instead of an all-in-one business solution. So while you’ll get great building features for a beautiful store, you won’t necessarily find the same business features as on a platform like Shopify.
That said, you’ll find tons of great features, like an easy to learn drag-and-drop builder and built-in marketing tools to help you sell online.
Squarespace also offers several themes, like many of the other ecommerce website builders, categorized by style, store type, and functionality. Once you choose, you can customize as you wish, with your brand’s logo, imagery, colors, fonts, and more.
Pricing: Plans start at $16 per month if you pay annually ($23 per month if you pay monthly), with a 14-day free trial.
3. Weebly
Weebly is a drag-and-drop builder that offers several designs and themes to jump-start your path to a shiny new ecommerce store. It also offers marketing tools, like email, SEO, and analytics to track and measure your progress.
Here are a few other top features Weebly offers:
- Shipping tools for domestic and international shipping
- Inventory management to stay on top of your products
- Coupons and gift cards to grow sales and customer loyalty
- Checkout using Stripe, PayPal, or Square
- The ability to show customer reviews to boost social proof and build trust
- Product search and badges to show customers more relevant product info
Pricing: Weebly has a forever-free plan with limited functionality. Paid plans start at $10 per month if you pay annually ($13 per month if you pay monthly).
4. BigCommerce
BigCommerce may be a great option for larger companies, as it’s more equipped with the types of tools you’ll need for more complex store management. These features also better equip larger businesses to scale as necessary, instead of scrambling to find new tools to meet their needs.
The ecommerce platform also boasts a robust partner ecosystem that includes top-notch tech providers, marketers, and ecommerce developers and designers. You can tap into these resources to fill any gaps you have within your own team.
BigCommerce offers enterprise options like:
- B2B features
- International selling
- Multi-storefront features
- Omnichannel selling
- Offline to online
- Wholesale
- Headless commerce capabilities
- Commerce-as-a-service
Pricing: Plans start at $29 per month if you pay annually ($39 per month if you pay monthly). BigCommerce offers a 15-day free trial. Enterprise customers should contact the company directly to discuss your needs and get a quote.
5. GoDaddy
GoDaddy is best known for basic website building, but it does offer capabilities to help get an ecommerce business off the ground. Just keep in mind that ecommerce capabilities are limited in comparison to many of the other site builders we’re touching on in this list. So we primarily recommend GoDaddy for beginners and those with light needs.
GoDaddy lets you add up to 5,000 products with 10 images per product, which is more than enough if you’re a small or boutique store. You can collect payments from customers via credit card, Google Pay, and Apple Pay. The platform also lets you calculate shipping costs using a fixed rate or weight-based rate.
In terms of marketing, you’ll be able to use tools that leverage email, social media, and SEO.
Pricing: Ecommerce plans start at $24.99 per month. GoDaddy offers a 30-day free trial.
6. Wix
Wix may be a great option if you’re an individual seller or a small business. This is because it offers some great features and tools for building and growing an ecommerce store, but the functionality can be limiting if you’re a larger-scale business.
Here are some of the things Wix’s ecommerce builder offers:
- Building tools like 500+ templates, APIs, and inventory management
- Sales help from 80+ payment options, multichannel sales, and worldwide partners
- Growth tools like built-in SEO and analytics, social media advertising, and product subscriptions
Pricing: Wix has a free version as well as affordable pricing for basic websites, but to run an ecommerce store, you’ll need one of the Business plans (and you can’t use a free plan, unfortunately). Business Basic starts at $17 per month.
7. WooCommerce
Are you a WordPress seller in need of ecommerce features? Look no further than WooCommerce, an open-source platform that adds these capabilities to your website as a plug-in. With this ecommerce website builder, you gain the flexibility to manage various website features, including payments, inventory and tax management, and shipping integrations.
Notable features of WooCommerce include:
- Exclusive to the WordPress ecosystem
- Responsive website themes
- No third-party software access (you have complete control over your business and customer data
- A global community of 350+ contributors
- 100% open source code, giving you complete control over your website’s functionality
Pricing: WooCommerce is a free WordPress plug-in, meaning you don’t have to pay anything to access its core functionality. However, adding ecommerce features on top requires purchasing different extensions, which cost upward of $70, on average.
There’s a site builder for everyone
While you may feel a bit intimidated choosing the right ecommerce site builder, rest assured that the top tools all offer amazing features and functionality. This is especially true if you have no coding or development skills, as many are ready out-of-the-box with drag and drop capabilities.
Spend some time weighing the pros and cons of the apps you come across. You should also consider your own unique needs, goals, resources, and budget. But don’t overthink it and launch your store so you can start selling online.
Ecommerce website builder FAQ
Is it easy to create an online store?
Yes. Website builders like Shopify allow you to launch a store within minutes. You just have to pick a template, customize your store, and add your products to start an ecommerce business. Start building with Shopify.
How much does it cost to build your own ecommerce website?
Not much if you use an ecommerce website builder to create one. Many platforms like Shopify cost less than $30, which gives you an affordable way to create a professional online store for your business.
What are the best free ecommerce website builders?
- Shopify
- Squarespace
- Weebly
- BigCommerce
- GoDaddy
- Wix
- WooCommerce