Starting an online business might seem overwhelming, but the right tools can make it a smooth and rewarding journey.
For budding ecommerce entrepreneurs, a website builder is an essential tool. It simplifies the creation of your online store, allowing you to focus more on your business goals rather than getting bogged down by technical details.
There’s a variety of user-friendly website builders specifically designed for online stores. However, not all of them are alike or suitable for every business.
This guide rounds up the best ecommerce website builders available today. Understanding that your ecommerce business has unique needs, we include detailed insights into the most beneficial features of each website builder to help you find the perfect match.
9 best ecommerce website builders
1. Shopify
Shopify is the best ecommerce website builder if you’re looking to set up an online store easily. It’s simple to use and doesn’t require a big budget or any coding knowledge.
With Shopify, you get to choose from over 100 professional templates. Each template has useful features like SSL certifications and domain hosting. They also make it easy to recover abandoned carts, which helps you close more sales.
You can list unlimited products and link your store to major marketplaces like Amazon, eBay, and Etsy. Shopify’s tools are designed to help you find customers, make sales, and handle your daily operations smoothly.
Shopify’s notable features include:
- Thousands of third-party apps, via the Shopify App Store, for diversifying your store’s functionality
- Multichannel selling across social media, marketplaces, and in-store point of sale
- Built-in search engine optimization to improve your store’s visibility
- Centralized business operations for inventory management, order fulfillment, logistics management, and other tasks, directly inside your dashboard
- Mobile app to manage your store on the go
- Shopify POS integration to connect digital and in-person storefronts
- Access to your store’s CSS and HTML for customizing different aspects of your website
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 an ecommerce website builder rather than an all-in-one business solution. It offers robust tools for creating a beautiful online store but lacks some of the comprehensive business features found on platforms like Shopify.
That being said, Squarespace does offer numerous useful features. For instance, it provides a user-friendly drag-and-drop builder to help you customize your store’s layout, and includes built-in marketing tools that make it easy to sell online, regardless of your industry.
Additionally, Squarespace offers a variety of themes categorized by style, store type, and functionality. Once you’ve selected a theme, you can customize it to suit your preferences, including adding your brand’s logo, imagery, colors, fonts, and more.
Squarespace’s key features include:
- Responsive web designs and image scaling
- Drag-and-drop builder with templates and starter layouts
- Ability to sell unlimited products
- Custom WYSIWYG editing for content types and layouts
- Automatic post-purchase email sequences
- Extensions for finance, marketing, shipping, and sales
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. Square Online
Square Online (formerly known as Weebly) is an online storefront builder. It’s free to get started, but you’ll need to buy a plan to use your own domain or remove ads. The free version includes features like real-time shipping and coupons, but for advanced features like reporting and analytics, you’ll need to upgrade.
Here are a few other top features of Square Online:
- Integrates with Square for payments
- Drag-and-drop builder and media library to assist with website creation
- Responsive ecommerce websites
- Bulk inventory features to import/export product information and edit items in bulk
- The ability to show customer reviews to boost social proof and build trust
Pricing: Square Online has a forever-free plan with limited functionality. Paid plans start at $29 per month when paid annually.
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 various helpful features, including:
- Multi-language and multi-currency support for international sales
- Checkout customization with API and SDK
- Visual editor to edit website pages with a drag-and-drop tool
- Omnichannel commerce (sell on Amazon, Google Shopping, etc.)
- Flexible themes built with Javascript, CSS, and HTML
- Digital wallet options such as Apple Pay, Amazon Pay, and more
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.
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.
GoDaddy’s notable features include:
- Digital wallet options such as Venmo and Google Pay
- POS integration to connect online and retail businesses
- Automatic inventory and sales management across all channels
- More than 100 mobile-friendly templates for store creation
- Integrations with social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram
Pricing: Website Builder plans start at $11.99 per month when paid annually.
6. Wix
Wix may be a great option if you’re an individual seller or a small business. It allows you to create an ecommerce site using its drag-and-drop builder for free. However, you need to upgrade to a paid plan to begin selling.
Wix provides several tools to manage your ecommerce business. Users can track orders, accept online payments, create abandoned cart campaigns, and sell on multiple channels. However, Wix’s basic plan lacks some inventory management features. Stores with extensive inventory might prefer ecommerce software with more comprehensive inventory-tracking tools.
Wix’s key features include:
- Templates to tailor your site from design to checkout
- User-friendly editor to build online stores
- Integrates for selling on eBay, Google Shopping, Facebook, and Instagram
- SEO-optimized product pages to drive customers via search engines
- Free SSL certificate to safeguard your personal and payments’ data
- Option to import CSV files of store inventory
Pricing: Wix’s ecommerce and business plans start 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 to make products shoppable on any device
- 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, but leveraging its ecommerce features can cost upward of $70, on average.
8. Shift4Shop
Shift4Shop (formerly 3dcart) is a shopping cart tool for retailers looking to sell online fast. It comes with ecommerce features and mobile-responsive themes, but offers limited customization in terms of design. Those with technical skills might be able to tweak its themes to better align with their brand image.
Shift4Shop’s key features include:
- Integrated SEO tools to improve your store’s search visibility
- 90+ free templates to offer design flexibility
- Zapier integrations to empower your store with additional functions
- Abandoned cart recovery for revenue capture
Price: Shift4Shop’s plans start at $29 per month.
9. Ecwid
Ecwid, owned by Lightspeed, provides an easy way to start an online store. You can list up to five physical products for free, which is ideal for new businesses.
Ecwid works with your existing website on platforms like WordPress, Weebly, or Drupal. Alternatively, you can create a new store on a company.site domain and later upgrade to a custom domain if you prefer.
Ecwid supports selling across various channels. You can connect your store to social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram, as well as marketplaces like Amazon and eBay. The platform automatically handles taxes, offers discounts, and tracks your inventory.
Ecwid’s other key features include:
- Abandoned cart recovery to help capture lost sales
- Connectors for more than 500 local and global marketplaces
- Option to convert store into a mobile app for on-the-go sales
- Integration with Lightspeed retail POS for in-store and online sales
Price: Ecwid offers a free forever plan with limited features. Its paid plans start at $21 per month when billed annually.
How to choose an online store builder
When choosing a platform for your ecommerce store, consider these key factors:
- Budget and growth plans. Determine how much you can spend annually on your store. Also, think about your growth goals. Some platforms increase fees as you expand your product range. It’s important to balance your immediate needs with your future plans.
- Technical skills. Evaluate your technical skills. Many platforms offer user-friendly drag-and-drop interfaces, yet you’ll still need to manage tasks like creating product pages and adding products. Consider how comfortable you are with software and back-end tools.
- Customization needs. Decide if you need a simple website just to showcase products or a more complex site with features like size charts on product pages or live chat. Think about the specific functionalities that will make your website both effective and appealing.
- Payment options. Secure and convenient payment methods are vital. Platforms like Shopify enhance the checkout process and offer compatibility with more than 100 payment gateways, giving you the flexibility to serve customers worldwide.
- Support availability. If you’re new to ecommerce, support is crucial. Check if your potential platform offers live help and tutorials. Choose a service that provides quick and easy solutions to problems, helping you get your store up and running smoothly.
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 features of the store builders 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
- Square Online
- BigCommerce
- GoDaddy
- Wix
- WooCommerce
What are the main fees associated with an ecommerce website builder?
- Monthly fee: Ranges from free to a couple of hundred bucks, typically $30 to $40 for a basic plan.
- Payment gateway fees: Around 2.9% plus 30¢ per credit card charge, varies based on sales volume and upfront payments.
- Transaction fees: Extra percentage fee on top of gateway fees, some platforms claim 0%, while others may charge 1% or 2% if their gateway isn’t used.