For China′s wholesale market information, visit Soudangkou.com at www.soudangkou.com . Specializing in apparel, streetwear, and replica luxury goods sourcing, the platform provides contact details for factories and wholesale market stalls across Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Shenzhen, Dongguan, Putian, Yiwu, and Changshu. Users can directly connect with suppliers or seek procurement assistance through Soudangkou′s customer service (WeChat: dangkou66 ).
This article provides a brief overview of the top 15 Shopify competitors to consider as you establish your online business. Although Shopify is one of the most popular e-commerce systems, it is not right for everyone, therefore I hope this post will assist you in determining what is right for you.
Table of contents
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What is Shopify?
Why are you Looking for Shopify Alternatives?
Top 15 Shopify Competitors in 2023
Factors to Look for Other Ecommerce Platforms Like Shopify
Which Shopify Competitor Should You Choose?
How does Shopify compare to competitors?
Conclusion
FAQs about shopify competitors
What is Shopify?
Shopify is a full-featured e-commerce platform that allows you to build, grow, and manage a company. Millions of merchants on this platform have contributed to our expertise and leadership in commerce. Their achievements enable Shopify to foresee and design the features that will not only fuel commerce today, but also help shape and define the industry’s future.
Why are you Looking for Shopify Alternatives?
Shopify has arguably become the most popular eCommerce platform for businesses and entrepreneurs across the world. Given how easy it is to get an online store up and running on the platform, it’s no wonder why. Their business model is simple yet effective, and the user experience is made enjoyable through an easily navigable interface.
In an ever-developing online world, a number of Shopify competitors have emerged. Whether you are looking for something in the niche of dropshipping competitors or an Amazon eCommerce-type platform, it’s likely there is a solution out there for you.
With so many alternative options available, it can be hard to know exactly which website is going to fit you and your ecommerce business needs best.
Let’s take a look at the best options available today.
Top 15 Shopify Competitors in 2023
1. Wix – Best for Simplicity
2. Squarespace – Best for Web Design
3. Weebly – Best for Quickest Launch
4. Square Online – Best for Offline and Online Sales
5. Big Cartel – an eCommerce Solution for Small, Basic Stores
6. Big Commerce – Best for High Sales Volume
7. Ecwid – Online for Free
8. WooCommerce – Best for Customization and Control
9. Zyro – Best for Ease-of-Use
10. PrestaShop – Best for Open Source/Self-Hosting
11. OpenCart – Best for Dropshipping
12. Volusion – Best for analytics
13. Shift4Shop – Best for SEO
14. PinnacleCart – Best for Marketing Tools
15. Adobe Commerce – Best for Scalability
1. Wix – Best Shopify Alternative for Simplicity
One of the most popular website builders on the planet, Wix has boiled down the process of creating an eCommerce store to simple science. They offer the choice of over 500 specially designed templates to customize your store. You can personalize every unique part of the experience: storefront, product pages, shopping cart, members pages, checkout, and more. They allow you to create beautiful looking websites without any coding knowledge required.
As one of the top Shopify competitors, Wix is the secure and highly trusted eCommerce platform on the market. The company gives its users the ability to sell up to 50,000 products in its online store. The platform also has its own communication channels so business owners can source products directly from the website.
In addition, there is a handy convenience factor to Wix. It has the ability for taxes to be accounted for in every dollar of revenue, so come tax season there is much less of a headache. It has a number of useful tools available, including the Wix Logo Maker, Business Name Generator, and of course a custom domain name builder.
Pros:
- Multiple online payments guaranteed security through Wix Payment Solution
- Easy to use
- Drag-and-drop functionality
- Not locked into long-term purchasing agreements
Cons:
- The entry-level plan includes unavoidable advertisements
- No drop shipping capabilities
Pricing:
- $16-$45/month
2. Squarespace – Best Shopify Alternative for Web Design
Aesthetic and cleanly designed online stores are what make Squarespace stand out from the crowd. Squarespace is one of Shopify’s biggest competitors, its streamlined templates and elegant style bring the attractive look that every ecommerce business owner is looking for in an online store. You can choose from over 100 templates and use Squarespace’s simple drag-and-drop builder to customize each aspect of your store.
It caters to both service-based businesses and those who sell physical products. Social media channels are easily integrated, and business owners can collect customer emails and build custom newsletters. The site also integrates a scheduling feature, which essentially acts as an online booking system.
Pros:
- The free domain name (with an annual plan)
- Reliable website performance
- 2-week free trial
- Highly rated inventory/scheduling system
Cons:
- Pricing is on the more expensive side
- Lacks advanced marketing tools
- Editing content after site launch can be troublesome
Pricing:
- $14-$49/month
3. Weebly – Best Shopify Alternative for Quickest Launch
Looking to get your eCommerce store up and running as soon as possible? You may want to take a look at Weebly. The company automates a large part of the website building process, creating ready-to-launch templates and a very functional drag-and-drop feature. Shopping cart features, inventory management, filtered searches, and easy-to-apply themes are already integrated with each template. This means you spend less of your efforts on the time-consuming details, and more time selling your products and services.
The speed of launch doesn’t come without a price though. What you gain in time saved, you lose in customization. While Weebly is handy and easy to set up, the platform also offers fewer options for themes, background images, and fonts.
Pros:
- Great value for money
- Simple and quick to use
- Has additional blogging feature
- Sell products on a free plan
Cons:
- Limited customizable options
- A lack of analytical tools makes it unsuitable for large businesses
- No integration with Facebook and Instagram
Pricing:
- $0-$26/month
4. Square Online – Best Shopify Alternative for Offline and Online Sales
This Shopify alternative excels in helping with the transition and coordination of offline to online sales. It is a widely used solution for any business with a brick-and-mortar location in addition to their online store. As shopify competitors-Square Online offers sleek checkout tools for both online and offline applications that synchronize transactions, so you have all your sales data in one place.
While Square Online’s cross-commerce integration comes with some powerful tools, it should be mentioned that they lack the number of customizable templates and themes that other alternatives like Wix offer. Right now, you only have the choice of 15 color themes and five template options.
Pros:
- Synchronizes physical and online store
- Free URL
- Inventory management and tracking
Cons:
- Rigid Customization
- Shipping and transaction fees
Pricing:
- $0-$72/month
5. Big Cartel: an eCommerce Solution for Small, Basic Stores
Big Cartel claims to be “designed to stay small,” and its platform is best suited to individuals just getting started with sales. Merchants on Big Cartel have access to a variety of basic eCommerce features, such as discount codes and the ability to sell on Facebook.
Big Cartel makes setting up an online store a breeze, with prompts and reminders to help you along the way. The disadvantage of using this Shopify competitor is that you’ll have to learn how to code in order to manage some elements.
Big Cartel, for example, allows you to upload your own photographs to your own online store. However, you can only use code to edit images. Additionally, HTML/CSS editing is only available to customers who have purchased a subscription plan. If you start with the free plan, make sure you won’t need to customize anything in the near future.
Pros:
- An easy-to-use onboarding method
- Themes that are simple and responsive
Cons:
- There is no image editor
- Allows up to 500 goods to be added
Pricing:
- $0–$19.99/month
6. Big Commerce – Best Shopify Alternative for High Sales Volume
This eCommerce platform is built for the companies that are already, or soon plan to be selling large volumes of products. Big Commerce has a large range of ecommerce tools designed to help manage inventory, categorize products, and perform deep dives into data analysis. The platform is currently supporting hundreds of online retailers that are each selling over a thousand products apiece.
Big Commerce even comes with some marketing and sales funnel tools to help you target certain customer demographics and improve sales.
Pros:
- Advanced inventory management system
- Marketing features and sales funnels
- WordPress integration
- No transaction fees
Cons:
- Not designed for small businesses
- Slightly more complex site development than Shopify
Pricing:
- $29.95-$299.95/month
7. Ecwid -Online for Free
Ecwid is a useful tool for selling a variety of things online. It’s simple to use, has a lot of features, and is perfect for novices. Ecwid is different from some of the Shopify competitors on the market because it integrates with your existing CMS. This implies you won’t have to start from scratch if you already have a website. Instead, you can add sales capability to your website and begin selling right away.
Ecwid is a powerful and versatile platform with a number of features, including the ability to customize your checkout pages and enhance your transaction procedure. The number of product possibilities you may give clients is limitless, and the user-friendly backend integrates with the CMS you already use, so you won’t have to learn any new technology from start.
Ecwid is a simple and effective shop solution that may not have as many advanced features as other of the leading store solutions on the market, but it will provide you with all the support you need for a successful sale. You can also accept a variety of credit cards and payment methods, so you won’t turn away consumers due to a lack of options.
Ecwid could transform an existing site into an online store Unlimited bandwidth comes standard Industry-leading drag-and-drop editor Paid plans include mobile POS GDPR compliant, No support for its free plan.
Pros:
- For up to ten things, it’s completely free
- Most plans are less expensive than Shopify
- Make an online store out of an existing website
- Sell on a variety of venues, including social media.
- There are no transaction costs if you use a third-party payment gateway
- When selling digital products, Ecwid allows for higher file sizes
Cons:
- Only the most expensive options include phone help
- While the multi-currency capabilities are generally good, the local currency is not displayed at the last level of checkout
- Product variants are not available on the free or entry-level plans
- The SEO features might be improved
- Only iOS devices are compatible with the mobile POS integrations
- In the Ecwid App store, there are a limited amount of apps and integrations
- You can’t change product URLs or create redirects, which is inconvenient for SEO
- Ecwid does not allow you to generate AMP versions of product pages
- You can’t use any of the SEO capabilities in the free version
Pricing:
- Ecwid bills you according to how many things you sell, with rates ranging from free to $99 per month.
- Free — Free for up to 10 products
- Venture — $15 per month for up to 100 products
- Business — $35 per month for up to 2,500 products
- Unlimited — $99 per month for unlimited products
8. WooCommerce – Best for Customization and Control
WooCommerce is a free WordPress plugin that allows you to add eCommerce capabilities to your site. It enables product variations, displays ratings, and reviews, and comes with a variety of add-ons to help you grow your business.
WooCommerce is appealing for many reasons than just its eCommerce features. WooCommerce, like the WordPress platform as a whole, is extremely adaptable. To make your pages more effective and entertaining, you can add custom widgets like share buttons. To further personalize your storefront, you can change your WooCommerce theme or even develop your own custom theme.
WooCommerce is a plugin that can be added to an existing WordPress site. Once installed, you have full control of the design and development of your shop as it’s built on an open source platform. While WooCommerce is free to use, there are costs associated with keeping your shop running, such as hosting, a domain name and SSL certificate. Most host companies include a free SSL certificate, otherwise, you can manually install a Let’s Encrypt SSL certificate for free.
However, WooCommerce adds to the time it takes to create a store by forcing you to set up hosting and install WordPress webiste. WooCommerce’s learning curve may drive you to search elsewhere if you’re new to eCommerce platforms.
Pros:
- A wide range of themes and plugins
- It’s simple to connect with WordPress
- There’s a vibrant developer community
Cons:
- There is no built-in hosting
- The user is in charge of the website’s upkeep
Pricing:
- $0 per month plus the cost of web hosting
9. Zyro – Best Shopify Alternative for Ease-of-Use
The simple and friendly eCommerce site, Zyro, makes it easy to build your store through drag-and-drop tools and an intuitive interface. Their goal is for the site to be easily navigated and the user experience to be fun; this goes for both the front and backend of the business. With Zyro, you can select from a handful of templates and apply them to your store with just a few clicks.
Right now, Zyro only offers social media integration with Facebook and Instagram. They are also limited to five variations of drag-and-drop elements: image, video, text, map, and button. In all, this is a great platform to get started in the eCommerce space, especially with its reasonable pricing plan. But the limited customizable features will deter it from being a great long-term solution for many medium-large-sized businesses.
Pros:
- Takes tedious decision-making out of the building process
- 100% commission-free
- AI marketing tools (logo + slogan creation)
Cons:
- Inability to switch templates once the site is live
- No phone support
- Limited customization
Pricing:
- $9.90-$14.90/month
10. PrestaShop – Best Shopify alternative for Open-Source/Self-Hosting
While they have a Software as a Service (SaaS) version available, PrestaShop is known for its self-hosted platform, which gives you more access to the backend of your online store. This allows you to build a store that has a unique, one-of-a-kind feel to it in a highly competitive eCommerce industry.
PrestaShop is currently supporting over 300,000 online merchants that sell across the globe. The eCommerce site has fantastic integration with all social networks and provides store owners with statistics on their products, sales, and customer relationships.
Pros:
- The open-source model offers the most available customization
- Marketing tools: email, affiliate, gift wrapping, free shipping, etc.
- Ability to translate website information into 195 different languages (free)
- Over 60 secure payment methods
Cons:
- Backend heavy work often requires a web-developer
- They charge for customer support that requires technical assistance
Pricing:
- $0-$500/month
11. OpenCart – Best Shopify Alternative for Dropshipping
This eCommerce platform offers all the flexibility needed in an online store and is free to set up. It does use an open-source building model, but it is much easier to navigate when compared to sites like Adobe Commerce. OpenCart comes with free downloads, updates, and charges zero monthly fees. The site claims to have the biggest selection of themes and modules out of any eCommerce site, including some themes and templates specifically designed for dropshipping businesses.
The website is flexible in its nature, servicing small and large companies. It’s also great for international business, allowing you to host your store in multiple languages and currency options.
One aspect of OpenCart that can be difficult to adjust to is its fulfillment center. You don’t have access to things like order management and fulfillment center on the main dashboard. Instead, you have to find the appropriate plug-in to access that information.
Pros:
- 13,000+ themes and modules
- SEO tools
- Support Forums
- Free to use, only pay for hosting and add-on modules
Cons:
- Limited marketing features
- Missing modern themes/templates
- Many of the add-on modules are necessary for the functionality
Pricing:
- $0/month to use, variable pricing for add-ons, and development support
12. Volusion – Best for Analytics to Track your Stores’ Data
Volusion could be exactly what you’ve been looking for if you need great service to support your internet business but don’t have a lot of additional cash. This product’s pricing is quite similar to Shopify’s, with lower-level packages starting at roughly $15 per month.
Volusion, like Shopify, will provide you with a plethora of amazing back-end customization choices, including responsive theme options for your web store. Volusion has a considerably longer eCommerce track record than Shopify. However, while the company typically presents itself as the greatest solution for SMBs, it hasn’t gotten as much attention. Shopify, on the other hand, tries to be everything to everyone.
Volusion, as a hosted service, will relieve you of a lot of the burden of maintaining your website, including platform maintenance, secure checkout experiences, Integrate ecommerce functionality for free of course and more. Volusion, on the other hand, does not have the same level of the community as Shopify.
Pros:
- Excellent analytics: You can keep track of stock and revenue, as well as conversions
- Payment tracking: Keep everything organized by personalizing invoices, packing slips, and POS receipts
- Sales features: Only BigCommerce beats it when it comes to power tools
Cons:
- No free SSL certificate: Volusion is one of the few eCommerce platforms that does not include a free SSL certificate
- Limited phone support: Volusion requires a lot more getting used to than Shopify
- Poor ease of use: Volusion requires a lot more getting used to than Shopify. The cheapest package does not include this feature
Pricing:
- $29 – $299/month
13. Shift4Shop – Best for SEO
Shift4Shop has been providing eCommerce software with an emphasis on SEO since 1997.
If you’re an SEO nerd who relies significantly on organic search, Shift4Shop may be a better fit for you than Shopify.
Pros:
- A wide range of SEO solutions is available, including Google AMP for products and 301 redirects.
- Every plan includes a built-in blogging platform.
- On Shopify, you can purchase a full eCommerce platform for less than the Basic plan for extremely small businesses.
- There are more than 100 online payment options available, including foreign processors.
Cons:
- The limited number of staff users; each additional user costs $10 per month.
- The store builder has a steep learning curve, making it tough to browse and discover the tools you need.
- The free themes all have a similar design that isn’t as current as Shopify or BigCommerce’s premium themes.
Pricing:
- $0 for an enterprise-grade plan with unlimited products, users, features, and bandwidth
14. PinnacleCart – Best Shopify Alternative for Marketing Tools
This is an eCommerce platform that marketing professionals developed, and it has the features to prove it. It offers integration with multiple 3rd parties such as Mailchimp, AddShoppers, and Google Ads. These help boost conversion rates and ultimately revenue.
One of PinnacleCart’s most advanced features comes with its social media integration. The platform automates much of the social media marketing process, converting product posts to social media posts that can be shared and turned into sales.
PinnacleCart also has a close partnership with McAfee, making their platform one of the most secure on the market. It also has tight integration with Google Analytics, which gives business owners a much deeper look into their customer and product performance.
Pros:
- Advanced social media marketing
- Many useful 3rd party integrations
- Intuitive interface
- Utilizes HTML, CSS, and code editing tools
Cons:
- Doesn’t have to host on its own server
- Not an international solution
Pricing:
- $44.95-$199.95/month
15. Adobe Commerce – Best Shopify Alternative for Scalability
Formerly Magento, Adobe Commerce is a commerce platform built to satisfy every business’s needs, big or small. This is another open-source building model that brings all the value and versatility you could want. Supporting unlimited products, extra-fast loading times, and advanced security, Adobe Commerce brings the depth an online store needs for quick growth.
Although it offers advanced store-building capabilities, this isn’t a platform for those without coding experience. The open-source model fits large businesses best. Adobe Commerce’s Enterprise plan comes with a development team that handles much of the building process.
Pros:
- A comprehensive set of eCommerce tools
- Active and helpful community
- Well adapted to mobile interaction
Cons:
- Not beginner-friendly
- No set pricing (variable)
- Requires advanced web-development skills and resources
Pricing:
- Variable pricing/based on sales volume
Factors to Look for Other Ecommerce Platforms Like Shopify
Whatever issues you’re having with Shopify, be sure your future platform solves those issues rather than creating new ones. While each internet business is unique, there are some elements that you should examine.
1. Possibilities for customization
Your company is one-of-a-kind, and you want to let your customers know that. Plus, the way you run your business is probably not the same as how someone else does. That is why site design personalization is so vital.
Make sure you can readily make modifications that work for your business model and individual clients when choosing an eCommerce platform. Make it a priority if you’re a programmer who wants to develop something unique.
2. Various methods of payment
Each client has a preferred method of payment. One individual may like to use their Visa to earn points, while another may prefer to use PayPal since it allows them to make a transaction without having to physically enter their credit card data.
As a result, when you’re looking at new platforms, ensure sure they offer a diverse range of payment processing options. BigCommerce, for example, accepts over 55 different payment methods. Plus, when your company grows, you’ll usually be able to negotiate better rates, lowering your costs. Don’t rule out international expansion just because you’re not selling cross-border right now. Consider platforms that provide multi-currency payment gateways.
3. A catalog that can expand as your business expands
We’ve already discussed the case of a large catalog, but what if your catalog is extremely small? Then Shopify could be ideal for you. But don’t let where you right now determine where you’ll be in the future.
As a business owner, you must plan for expansion. Consider the various sorts of technologies that will be required. Then consider whether your eCommerce platform is compatible with those technologies.
Which Shopify Competitor Should You Choose?
Selecting the best eCommerce solution may necessitate much research on your part. Many of the eCommerce solutions mentioned above provide free trials, allowing you to test the drag-and-drop capabilities and back-end performance before making a purchase. Testing tools before purchasing them might assist you in making a better-informed purchase.
At the same time, make sure you have a strategy in place for narrowing down your choices. Do you, for example, require anything to be hosted so that you don’t have to worry about security or hosting providers? Do you prefer the customizing choices that an open-source service provides?
Is a basic website builder with a few customization capabilities more than adequate, or do you require an eCommerce solution with a wide choice of payment methods and delivery solutions? The more information you have about your company and how you want to sell, the easier it will be to find a Shopify alternative that fits your needs.
And if you are someone who wants to do business with light-hearted, a good sourcing agent is also a choice.
How does Shopify compare to competitors?
There isn’t a single solution that is suitable for selecting online eCommerce stores. Although Shopify is one of the best-selling software products on the online retail market, the tool is still available to many people in other industries. Depending on where you decide to invest in e-commerce, it is determined by what functionality you want. For example, for businesses that are selling less than 50 product lines, Wix might be your ideal Shopify solution. In contrast you can opt for something like BigCommerce for your company that needs specialised features or customization for specific needs.
So you have to decide which platform you use to start your business according to the functional features of each platform and whether its target customers match you.
Conclusion
With so many Shopify competitors available, it can be hard to know which is the right one for you. Hopefully, after seeing where each of the strengths lies in each Shopify alternative, you feel a little better about your decision moving forward.
Some are tailored to bigger businesses or companies that are looking to scale quickly and effectively. Others are better suited as dropshipping competitors. Some even liken themselves to that an Amazon eCommerce site with their vast product listings and marketing tools. There are also plenty of options for the smaller businesses, looking to sell just a handful of products and put up an online store in a timely manner.
In today’s world, we have a never-ending list of choices. This is true as much for online stores as it is for anything else. Luckily, we are so developed now that there is a platform out there to suit your business and online sales vision, no matter how big or small. It’s safe to say that whatever your needs are for an eCommerce store, the right fit is out there.
FAQs about shopify competitors
Here are answers to some frequently asked questions:
Q1: Who is Shopify’s main competition?
Six Top Shopify competitors: Wix – ideal for small online stores. Squarespace – best designs for stunning storefronts starting at $23. Starting at $1 a meter Square Online offers the cheapest prices. BigCommerce – The most responsive e-commerce site building tool for growing companies starting from $29.95/mo.
Q2: Is Shopify a competitor of Amazon?
Shopify has a big difference with Amazon because Amazon is an eCommerce platform whereas Shopify is a market. With Shopify, you can create an online store, while Amazon lets you buy from the marketplace along the way, But I believe the two must be competitors in the future.
If you are familiar with the rise of Shopify, you will find that the evolution of Shopify is partly due to Amazon’s stupidity. You should know that after the rise of Shopify, Amazon actually launched a similar service. This is to provide software tools to help sellers on its platform to build an independent backup site. At that time, Amazon’s service was once used by 80,000 merchants, including big names such as French crocodiles.
But Amazon did it for a while and decided that the value of this business was too small compared with its other businesses, so it decided to shut down in 2015. It doesn’t matter if it shuts down. Amazon also took the initiative to recommend Shopify as the preferred diversion option to its 80, 000 customers. I quit here, you can go to Shopify. Because at that time, Amazon thought that Shopify was just a small company with a market capitalization of about 2 billion and only about 200k customers. This could not be a competition at all. What did Shopify pay for the 80k visitors at that time? A mere $1 million, with a per capita cost of $12.50.
Then Amazon’s intestines turned green. By 2023, there was news that Amazon planned to bring the site-building service back to market. But at this time it faces Shopify, which has saved more than 2 million seller users. It will be too hard to persuade these sellers to switch to Amazon.