For the best ecommerce website builder, Shopify is our top choice thanks to its excellent sales features, large app store, and scalability for long-term growth.
Our comparison chart below gives you the essential details for each of our top five ecommerce builders, helping you make an informed decision so you can find the right fit for your online store:
BEST IN TEST | | |||
Shopify | Wix | Squarespace | GoDaddy | Hostinger |
Overall rating 4.8 | Overall rating 4.8 | Overall rating 4.7 | Overall rating 4.2 | Overall rating 4.0 |
Best For Best for selling physical products | Best For Best for selling digital products | Best For Best for selling services | Best For Best for selling locally | Best For Best for selling as a side hustle |
Starting Price $29 | Starting Price | Starting Price | Starting Price $20.99 | Starting Price $3.99 (+ 3 months free) |
Pros
| Pros
| Pros
| Pros
| Pros
|
Cons
| Cons
| Cons
| Cons
| Cons
|
Transaction Fees 2.9% + $0.30 | Transaction Fees 2.9% + $0.30 | Transaction Fees 0% – 3% | Transaction Fees 2.7% + $0.30 | Transaction Fees None |
Free plan or free trial | Free plan or free trial Free plan | Free plan or free trial 14-day free trial | Free plan or free trial Free plan | Free plan or free trial Free trial |
Number of templates 200+ | Number of templates 900+ | Number of templates 150+ | Number of templates 100+ | Number of templates 100+ |
Payment options 100+ including: Shopify Payments, Paypal, Klarna | Payment options 80+ including: Paypal, Wix Payments, Stripe, Square | Payment options 5+ including: Squarespace Payments, Stripe, Square, PayPal | Payment options GoDaddy Payments, PayPal, Stripe, Square | Payment options 20+ including: PayPal, Stripe, Apple Pay, Google Pay |
Abandoned cart recovery | Abandoned cart recovery | Abandoned cart recovery | Abandoned cart recovery | Abandoned cart recovery |
Number of products on cheapest plan Unlimited | Number of products on cheapest plan 50,000 | Number of products on cheapest plan Unlimited | Number of products on cheapest plan 5,000 | Number of products on cheapest plan 500 |
Free SSL | Free SSL | Free SSL | Free SSL | Free SSL |
Visit Shopify | Visit Wix | View Squarespace | Visit GoDaddy | Visit Hostinger |
How We Test Ecommerce Website Builders
We believe that any and all recommendations we put forward to our readers should be backed by data. Our research process into the best ecommerce website builders is carried out regularly to ensure that the information we provide is honest and up-to-date. We want to make sure you know what you’re getting when you commit to a builder.
Over hundreds of hours, we analyze each website builder across seven main areas of investigation. Each category has a unique weighting, based on what’s important to online store owners:
- Sales Features: 40%
- Website Features: 15%
- Help and Support: 12%
- Design Functionality: 10%
- User Experience: 10%
- Customer Score: 8%
- Value for Money: 5%
We then award each builder with a score for each category to contribute to its overall rankings.
Our Roundup of the Best Ecommerce Website Builders
Choosing the right online store builder isn’t always easy – the best option for you might not be the best for another business, and it might not be our top-ranked option.
Our comparison table gives you a side-by-side look at the ecommerce website builders we recommend the most. To recap, Shopify is our top choice overall for online stores because of its impressive sales features and flexibility for all business sizes.
For more beginner-friendly options, consider Wix or Squarespace which have simple drag-and-drop editors. And if you want to get online quickly and cheaply, GoDaddy or Hostinger will be your best bet thanks to AI building support and affordable starting plans. That said, these two builders lack the advanced sales features and scalability of a builder like Shopify.
Shopify won’t be the right fit for every business, so play around with any available free plans or trials to see what works best for your business needs.
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