Looking for the best free eCommerce platforms sometimes is frustrating. Which is the best eCommerce platform? How can you choose the most beneficial one?
Understand your struggle, LitExtension – #1 Shopping Cart Migration Expert, has spent a whole year (from February 2022) conducting in-depth research into the eCommerce world to select the 10 best free eCommerce platforms for your business.
Stay tuned to discover our recommendations of platforms divided into 3 main categories:
- Platforms that offer free trials
- eCommerce platforms with free plans
- eCommerce platforms that let you download free
- The pros and cons of free eCommerce platforms
Without further ado, let’s get started!
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10 Free eCommerce Platforms – Detailed Analysis
eCommerce Platforms with Free Trial
In this category of free eCommerce platforms with a free trial, you can try and experience the store for free before starting selling.
However, we think it's worth noting that they're not free websites to sell products. With free hosted eCommerce, you cannot sell unless you upgrade to premium plans.
Shopify
At the time of writing, Shopify powers over 4 million live websites and is one of the best online store platforms in the marketplace. No matter how big your business is, we believe Shopify is always an option worth considering. Shopify offers merchants a 3-day free trial when setting up a store using the platform.
Shopify puts itself in customers' shoes, creating tailor-made, mobile-responsive themes for various business fields. There are more than 120+ appealing themes on the Shopify Theme Store, both free and paid. In our opinion, Dawn, and Impulse are among the best Shopify themes with high loading speed and great customer support.
Are you ready to start a new adventure with Shopify? Check out our Shopify resources now to learn everything you need to know about this eCommerce platform:
Overall, we have no doubt that it is one of the easiest-to-use eCommerce platforms, with a vast range of third-party add-ons that help merchants empower their stores' capabilities to boost sales performances. Currently, this platform provides over 6000 plugins on its Shopify App Store, each comes with its own set of unique features to cater to every merchant's needs.
If you want to grasp the unique features of each Shopify pricing plan, check out the table that we summarized below:
Basic Shopify $39/month | Shopify $105/month | Advanced Shopify $399/month | |
Transaction Fees *if not using Shopify Payments | 2.9% + 30¢ online 2.7% + 0¢ offline | 2.6% + 30¢ online 2.5% + 0¢ offline | 2.4% + 30¢ online 2.4% + 0¢ offline |
Staff Accounts *assign & manage staff's activities | up to 2 | up to 5 | up to 15 |
Report Systems | Basic reports | Professional reports | Custom reports |
Workflow Automation *automatically manage & operate stores | — | fully supported | fully supported |
Shipping Discount *shipping subsidies with leading carriers | up to 77% | up to 88% | up to 88% |
Duties and import taxes | — | — | fully supported |
Third-party calculated shipping rates | — | — | fully supported |
Want to Migrate to Shopify?
If you are intending to migrate to Shopify, LitExtension offers a great migration service that helps you transfer your data from the current eCommerce platform to a new one accurately, painlessly with utmost security.
Wix
Celebrating its 15 years anniversary, Wix is proud to have 200+ million users covering 190 countries worldwide. With over 4 million live websites, we think it's safe to say this platform never leaves the top of the most popular eCommerce platform.
Let's discover more about Wix:
This budget website builder announced a new version named Wix eCommerce on June 30, 2020, for online retailers, companies, and merchants of all sizes all over the world. Wix eCommerce offers 3 pricing plans that range from $27 to $59. Based on our experience, Business Basic, Unlimited, and VIP are all ideal for different types of businesses.
Business Basic Accept Online Payments | Business Unlimited Grow Your Business | Business VIP Get the Full Suite | |
Pricing | $17/month | $25/month | $35/month |
FEATURES | |||
Secure online payments | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Plans & recurring payments | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Customer accounts | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Custom domain | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Free domain for 1 year | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Remove Wix ads | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Bandwidth | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
Storage space | 20 GB | 35 GB | 50 GB |
Video hours | 5 hours | 10 hours | Unlimited |
Customized reports | — | — | ✓ |
Customer care | 24/7 customer care | 24/7 customer care | Priority customer care |
Complete eCommerce Platform Build, manage, and scale your business with Wix | |||
Unlimited products | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Abandoned cart recovery | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Subscriptions | — | ✓ | ✓ |
Multiple currencies | — | ✓ | ✓ |
Automated sales tax | — | 100 transactions/month | 500 transactions/month |
Sell on social channels | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Sell on marketplaces | — | ✓ | ✓ |
Dropshipping by Modalyst | — | Up to 250 products | Unlimited products |
Product reviews by KudoBuzz | — | 1,000 reviews | 3,000 reviews |
Loyalty program by Smile.io | — | — | ✓ |
In our assessment, one feature that makes Wix the best free eCommerce platform lies in its wide selection of themes. There are over 500 website templates on the Wix theme store, divided into different categories that can cater to your specific needs. All of them are well-designed and customizable, allowing e-merchants to create a stunning eCommerce website with Wix.
Want to migrate to Wix?
If you are intending to migrate from Shopify to Wix, LitExtension offers an excellent migration service that helps you transfer your data from the current eCommerce platform to a new one accurately with utmost security.
BigCommerce
Being home to over 50,000 live businesses, we must say that this platform ranks high among the top popular eCommerce platforms. BigCommerce is a well-known hosted eCommerce platform that includes everything you need to get started with an online store. This platform is ideal for stores with hundreds or thousands of products at any scale.
Want to know more about BigCommerce? Take a look at our essential BigCommerce resources and rocket your sales:
You can also check out this table below to have an overall view of all BigCommerce Pricing plans that we have come up with based on our testing of the product.
Standard | Plus | Pro | |
Pricing (monthly) | $39/mo | $105/mo | $399/mo |
Pricing (annually) | $29/mo | $79/mo save up to 25% | $299/mo save up to 25% |
FEATURES | |||
Transaction fees | 0% | 0% | 0% |
Products, file storage & bandwidth | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
Staff accounts | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
Sales Channels | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
BigCommerce mobile app | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Multi-Currency | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Customer groups & segmentation | — | ✓ | ✓ |
Abandoned cart saver | — | ✓ | ✓ |
Stored credit cards | — | ✓ | ✓ |
Google customer reviews | — | — | ✓ |
Product filtering | — | — | ✓ |
PayPal credit card by Braintree | 2.59% + $0.49 | 2.35% + $0.49 | 2.05% + $0.49 |
Online sales per year Calculated on a trailing 12-month basis | Up to $50k | Up to $180k | Up to $400k |
Squarespace
According to Builtwith, this platform currently powers over 85,000 live stores worldwide.
Find out more about Squarespace with Squarespace Review – Is It Worth Your Money?
Or, if you want to look at the Squarespace Pricing Plans quickly, our summary below will help you.
Personal | Business | BASIC Commerce | ADVANCED Commerce | |
Pricing monthly paid | $23/month | $33/month | $36/month | $65/month |
Pricing annually paid | $16/month save 30% | $23/month save 30% | $27/month save 25% | $49/month save 25% |
FEATURES | ||||
Free Custom Domain (annually paid ONLY) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
SSL Security | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Unlimited Bandwidth | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Mobile-Optimized Websites | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Complete Customization with CSS and JavaScript | — | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Advanced Website Analytics | — | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Squarespace Video Studio App | Limited Access | Full Access | Full Access | Full Access |
Fully Integrated eCommerce | — | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Sell Unlimited Products | — | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Point of Sale | — | — | ✓ | ✓ |
Customer Accounts | — | — | ✓ | ✓ |
Powerful E-Commerce Analytics | — | — | ✓ | ✓ |
Abandoned Cart Recovery | — | — | — | ✓ |
Advanced Shipping | — | — | — | ✓ |
Transaction Fees | — | 3% | 0% | 0% |
eCommerce Platforms with Free Plans
These free eCommerce platforms let you start your store at no initial cost. However, we must say that there will be some limitations in storefront customization and selling features. Yet, these platforms offer you enough freedom and pre-built functionality to display and sell products quickly.
Square Online
With Square, you can build your website without coding skills when it is user-friendly for small businesses.
Square Online Features for eCommerce
With Free Plan, merchants can sell unlimited products online. What is charged is 2.9% + 30¢ for each transaction, and you will get 500MB of bandwidth and storage.
Other eCommerce features that we like about Square Online
- Selling on social media channels
- Multiple sites management
- In-house delivery; On-demand delivery
- Curbside pickup
- Automatic tax calculator (US only)
Square also offers its own Payment Platform, designed to save you time and money. This payment platform offers at-any-scale payment solutions, PCI compliance, AML, KYC checks, battle-tested security data, and payment risk, and more, all customized to your business needs. Moreover, you can also get access to major payment options like PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Cash App Pay, and BNPL (Buy Now Pay Later).
If you want to have a custom domain with no Square Online branding & ads on your site, our advice is to upgrade to premium plans:
Square Online Pros & Cons
Pros:
- It's simple to sign up and get started
- No payments are needed when registering for free online stores
- Connected to its own payment processing
- It offers viewable design on desktop and mobile screens
- Multiple payment methods
Cons:
- Limited basic store designs
- Lack of quality templates as compared to Wix, Squarespace, or Shopify
You must be wondering, why to choose Square Online? Well, based on our experience, this is the cheapest eCommerce platform. Thus, it is excellent for those who have just started out and can satisfy fundamental eCommerce needs.
Do you also want to try out another platform that is both easy to use and beginner-friendly? Shopify is an optimal choice! Check out eCommerce website comparison – Shopify vs Square to know which one is more suitable for your online store.
Ecwid
Ecwid (eCommerce widget) is a SaaS solution geared toward small businesses. Beginning the journey in 2009, currently, there are over 900,000 live websites using Ecwid. In all honesty, this platform is a top choice for small company merchants looking to set up a store and start selling quickly. Specifically, Ecwid lets you create a free account and keep it forever.
Ecwid Features for eCommerce
This platform is easy to use with its user-friendly interfaces. Thus, getting started with Ecwid and developing your own store is a piece of cake, based on our testing of the products.
Ecwid has a lot of quality eCommerce management features. For example, you can add unlimited product options together with their various attributes such as weight, price, size, and so on.
With Ecwid free plan, you can create a free online store on this platform that can be promoted on major websites like Facebook, Google, Pinterest, and Snapchat. Besides, you can add up to 10 products to your store that can be displayed in mobile optimization.
In our humble opinion, what sets Ecwid apart from other eCommerce sites is that this platform charges you no transaction fees on any plan (even with the free one!).
Other eCommerce features that you might like about this platform:
- Unlimited bandwidth
- You can add your store to any website
- You can sell simultaneously on multiple sites
- One-tap checkout with Apple Pay (via Stripe)
- Chat support
You can also integrate your Ecwid store into other platforms such as WordPress, Wix, Weebly, Joomla,…. If you want to sell on other places such as Amazon, Facebook and Instagram, you can consider updating to a higher plan.
Ecwid Pros & Cons
Pros:
- Very easy to navigate and set up
- Great built-in app store
- Frequently upgrading the system with new features
- Selling in multiple languages
- Top-notch customer service
Cons:
- Lack of 3rd party tool support
- Code skills required to customize the store further
- Lack of integration when compared to other eCommerce platforms
Why Ecwid? If you want to sell limited products for trial, we think Ecwid can satisfy almost all your needs among other free eCommerce platforms. Do you want to have more insights? Check out these articles below:
Big Cartel
Compared to other free eCommerce platforms, Big Cartel is an excellent platform for small businesses. My take is that this platform keeps things easy and economical for all merchants, especially for artists and craftsmen.
Let’s see with the free plan, which eCommerce features this best free eCommerce platform offers.
Big Cartel Features for eCommerce
If you are new to online selling, this Big Cartel free plan can provide you with a plethora of benefits and essential features. You have 5 products with 1 image per each.
What is more, product option groups can be used to establish groupings such as size or color and then add variations such as small, medium, black or white. Then, each option group will be displayed in a separate list in your storefront, making it easy for your consumers to find their ideal combination.
Furthermore, Big Cartel also generously gives merchants 18 free artistic, aesthetic and mesmerizing themes.
Adding a custom domain on free eCommerce websites sets Big Cartel different from other free eCommerce platforms. Thus, if you already have a registered domain somewhere else, our suggestion is to connect yours with Big Cartel.
Other eCommerce features that this platform comes with:
- Free customizable themes
- Real-time stats; shipment tracking
- Sales tax autopilot
- Product option groups
- Offer discounts & run promos
Like Ecwid, Big Cartel also charges merchants no transaction fees on any plan (even with the free one!), and personally, we think that's why it's among the generous free selling platforms!
If merchants want more robust eCommerce features (Google Analytics, inventory tracking), go for higher plans. You can add more goods and photos, link a custom domain, utilize Google Analytics, enable inventory tracking, offer discounts, and even alter the code of your theme when you upgrade.
Still concerned about what will be included in each premium plan of this platform? The infographic below will let you fully grasp all the latest features of Big Cartel.
Big Cartel Pros & Cons
Pros:
- Ranking in the top easy-to-use website builders
- It's super simple and easy to navigate eCommerce sites
- No transaction fees
- Free themes available
Cons:
- It costs a lot more to store additional items, and the subscription plan only allows you to list 500 products.
- After-pay cannot be used
- Prefab options limit sites customization
- Selling in person, on your site, Facebook, and Instagram only
- No 24/7 live chat, and phone support
Want To Migrate To Big Cartel?
If you are intending to migrate to Big Cartel, LitExtension offers a great migration service that helps you transfer your data from the current eCommerce platform to a new one accurately, painlessly with utmost security.
eCommerce Platforms with Free Download
This part includes free eCommerce platforms that let you download it free. However, you may have to pay for hosting, apps, integrations, etc., to have a full-fledged selling platform. What is more, I feel it's worth noting that you may need some coding skills or need to hire developers or outsource agencies to complete the task.
WooCommerce
Currently, we think it's safe to say this is now one of the most popular platforms and is unlikely to be dethroned in the near future. Being a WordPress plugin, it is free to download and use. But first, you must install WordPress, which requires specific associated fees to construct a website, such as hosting, domain name, etc.
If you want to manually set up your website, LitExtension has a detailed tutorial video that guides you through the process from start to finish.
WooCommerce Features for eCommerce
Basically, you can get:
- Great source of both free & paid plugins from WordPress
- Easy inventory management
- Various shipping options: Flat Rate Shipping, Free Shipping, and Local Pickup
- Great source of payment processors available
- Powerful store analysis tools
- Multi-site selling
- Dropshipping with reasonable cost, no product restrictions, and high customizability
- Powerful CMS, SEO & Marketing
You can extend your knowledge of WooCommerce before deciding to choose this platform by reading the below articles:
WooCommerce Pros & Cons
Pros:
- Great flexibility
- Wide variety of themes and plugins
- Automating virtual features
- Strong SEO performance
- WooCommerce community forum support
Cons:
- Coding skills required
- Lots of plugins needed
- Frequency of updates
- Easy to lose sight of security
One of the Simplest Plugin to Kick Start Your Ecommerce Business With WordPress
Mohit G – Director of a Small Business
Want To Migrate To WooCommerce?
If you are intending to migrate to WooCommerce, LitExtension offers a great migration service that helps you transfer your data from the current eCommerce platform to a new one accurately, painlessly with utmost security.
OpenCart
This platform is now home to 451,456 businesses all over the world. OpenCart is a PHP-structured open-source platform specifically tailored for online businesses. Not only does offering website design customization, but this platform also being as well as a modern, user-friendly dashboard interface, in our opinion.
Like WooCommerce, OpenCart is free to download and install. However, to create an OpenCart store, you might need to pay for some extras such as a hosting plan, domain name, SSL certificate, and eye-catching templates. To fully set up OpenCart, you will need to refer to the detailed tutorial on installing OpenCart.
OpenCart Features for eCommerce
Basically, you can get the following:
- Google Analytics (Track the activities of both admin and customers, enable/disable modules at any time,…)
- POS (Point of Sale)
- Proper inventory management system
- 51 payment gateways that are pre-installed
- Powerful CMS, SEO & Marketing
In all honesty, OpenCart is everything about extension. If you want a fully-fledged eCommerce store, you must depend on extensions. Fortunately, OpenCart brings a vast range of out-of-the-box features and over 13,000+ additional extensions available to download.
You can extend your knowledge of OpenCart before deciding to choose this platform by reading the below articles:
OpenCart Pros & Cons
Pros:
- Multi-store support
- Reporting tools provided
- 50+ payment gateways supported
- Great flexibility and customization
Cons:
- Complicated installation
- Slow loading page
- Difficult to import inventory list
OpenCart is free and open-source. It is customizable with various extensions that are usually very reasonable in cost.
Jeffry T – Digital Marketing Specialist
Magento Open Source
It seems to me that Magento Open Source (by Adobe) has a well-deserved reputation for its scalability, customizability, and robust built-in features. The download and installation are both free. However, you must still pay for your hosting, domain, and security, as well as any web development assistance if you lack the time or skill level to build your site the way you want.
The installation of Magento 2 Open Source will truly let you drown. So, LitExtension Team has a super detailed guide for you to do so:
Magento Open Source Features for eCommerce
After installing, you can get:
- POS (Point of Sale)
- Integration with global shipping carriers
- Powerful inventory management system & sales channels
- Automated & regularly updated analytics & reports
- Integration with multiple payment gateways, including PayPal, Braintree, Authorize.net, CyberSource, and WorldPay
- CMS, SEO & Marketing tools
Our further exclusive resources for Magento (Adobe Commerce):
Magento Open Source Pros & Cons
Magento is a very famous and secure platform as compared to other electronic commerce providers. It helps to create your separate IDs and admins for easy use.
Niraj S – Magento and Larvel Solution Specialist
Free eCommerce Platforms – Pros & Cons
Free eCommerce Platforms Pros
Basically, all free online selling platforms will offer:
- Easy to start and navigate storefront for new users
- Frequent upgrades for new features
- Top-notch customer service
Free eCommerce Platforms Cons
On another side, free eCommerce website will bring inconvenience:
- Cannot sell in the free trial
- Limited product number at the free plan
- Limited sites customization
- Multi-channel selling limitation
- Lack of integration with some other services as compared to other paid eCommerce plans
Is It Worth Upgrading Your Premium Plans?
The answer may depend on your current needs. If you’re starting and want to try out eCommerce words, there’s no need to go for a premium plan.
A free website to sell products is fine however, subscribing to premium plans would be well worth it if you're serious about your business and want to scale it. This is because you can eliminate the following:
- Ads (from your free eCommerce website builder providers)
- Products limitations
- Poor customer support
- Limited themes & design
- Insufficient sales tools
Need Help to Migrate Your Store?
Don’t have time to switch to another platform? Opt-in for our All-in-One Migration Service and have a Personal Assistant carry out the migration process for you without having to lift a finger.
Free eCommerce Platforms – FAQs
Can I create an eCommerce website for free?
Absolutely yes. You can create a free eCommerce website forever with Square Online, Ecwid and Big Cartel. If you just want to try out eCommerce platform features, Shopify or BigCommerce with free trials will satisfy your needs.
Should I choose free eCommerce platforms?
If you just want to sell a small amount of product, you should definitely choose free eCommerce platforms because it can satisfy all basic needs. Otherwise, you can go for premium plans with more exclusive features.
What are the advantages of eCommerce?
eCommerce can offer your business some serious advantages. It’s cheap, it’s fast, and it’s incredibly flexible with seamless shopping experience and no geographical restrictions.
Final Words
Overall, depending on your purposes of choosing to sell online, each platform in our free eCommerce platforms list can satisfy you in its own ways. If you are getting lost, here are our recommendations based on our testing of each platform.
- Small businesses (and artists!) will be suited with Square Online, Ecwid, Squarespace & Big Cartel
- WooCommerce, OpenCart & Magento Open Source are more suitable for larger businesses that want flexible website customization.
- Shopify, Wix & BigCommerce are tailored for businesses at any scalability.
We hope that this article about free eCommerce platforms could help you to decide whether you should open eCommerce businesses or not, whether it’s worth your investment or not. Thus, you're able to create the best free online store!
If you have other inquiries, please don’t hesitate to contact our 24/7 customer support. Last but not least, don't forget to check out our LitExtension blog and join our Facebook Community now to get more eCommerce tips and news.
