Find Your Online Store Builder: Our Side-by-Side Comparison

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:

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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
  • Unlimited products
  • AI-powered Shopify Magic tool
  • 100+ payment options
  • Huge app market
  • Mobile-responsive store
Pros
  • Best online store templates
  • Great for new and small businesses
  • Features cater to a variety of industries
  • Personalized SEO support
Pros
  • Schedule appointments with Acuity Scheduling
  • Stylish templates for online stores
  • Unlimited products & storage
  • Easiest to use editor
Pros
  • Local promotional tools
  • Fastest way to set up an online store
  • Great for beginners
  • Personalized SEO support
Pros
  • Easy-to-use editor
  • Impressive suite of AI tools, especially for products
  • Sell unlimited products
  • Affordable online store builder
  • No transaction fees
Cons
  • Limited customization options
  • Additional app costs
  • Lacks built-in features
  • Most templates cost extra
Cons
  • Editor can feel cluttered and overwhelming at first
  • Low storage space on cheaper plans
  • Limited to 50,000 products in catalog
Cons
  • Not ideal for larger stores
  • Basic internationalization options
  • Limited scalability
  • Advanced sales tools only on Commerce Advanced plan
Cons
  • Limited customization options
  • Lack of scalability for growing businesses
  • Outdated and dull designs
  • No way to remove transaction fees
Cons
  • Limited scalability for larger stores
  • No app market
  • Simple templates and designs
  • No advanced sales features
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.

Written by:
Headshot of Emma Ryan
Emma is Lead Writer at Website Builder Expert, having first joined the team in 2022. She manages the website's topical content strategy to help website owners navigate the highs and lows of being online. Emma also specializes in following the development of leading website builders Wix, Squarespace, and Shopify, through hands-on testing and research. Her work and expertise have been featured in Startups.co.uk, Digiday, TechRound, Industry Today, and Digital Information World.

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