What Are The Best E-Commerce Platforms in 2023?

Top e-commerce platforms make building a successful online store easy and affordable. With several good options available on the market, choosing the right system for user’s requirements can take time and effort.

The Best E-Commerce Platforms of 2022

Below is a list of the best e-commerce platforms available in 2022. These solutions include total features you need to launch your site faster, grow your traffic, and land more sales.

Squarespace: Best Overall E-Commerce Platform
Ecwid: Best for Existing Sites
Shift4Shop: Best Free E-Commerce Platform
Shopify: Best for Dropshipping
Wix: Best Drag-and-Drop Editor
Weebly: Best Value
BigCommerce: Best for Boosting Sales
WooCommerce: Best for Versatility

More Details on E-Commerce Platforms

The details of the best e-commerce platforms are explained below.

1. Squarespace

Squarespace is a top e-commerce platform due to its attractive templates, many of which are free. While it does not provide a free plan, its premium package starts at just $23 per month (if paid annually).

It comes with the ability to sell unlimited products, customization using CSS and JavaScript, and a professional email address from Google. It has a lower-cost plan that starts at $14 per month (paid annually) but doesn’t include e-commerce features.

Users will also get e-commerce analytics and the ability to tag their products in Instagram posts. The Advanced Commerce plan costs $49 per month (if paid annually) and lets them sell subscriptions and send automated emails when a customer abandons their cart without completing a purchase.

Who Can Use It?

Sellers just getting started or whose main business is in information and happen to sell products on the side.

Advantages

Affordable and robust e-commerce plans start at $23 per month
Beginner-friendly, no web design experience required
The free domain name and SSL certificate
No transaction fees
Unlimited bandwidth and storage
Top-notch templates are all free
Its Basic Commerce plan offers a POS

Disadvantages

No free plan
No multichannel selling
Lacks inventory management
Abandoned cart recovery does not come standard

2. Ecwid

Ecwid is a top-choice e-commerce platform since it has no transaction fees and offers a free plan. It is named an e-commerce widget because it’s meant for existing websites (such as a WordPress blog).

Using HTML, users can add Ecwid’s code to their site and have a fully functional e-commerce store to showcase the products without creating a new site.

Ecwid’s Venture plan is $15 monthly and allows multichannel selling and POS. Its premium plan allows for product variations, staff accounts, and abandoned cart emails for $35 per month. If you sign up for an annual Unlimited plan at $99 per month, you can get your own branded iOS or Android shopping app.

Who Can Use It?

Sellers who have a blog or website already.

Advantages

Affordable paid plans start at $12.50 per month if billed annually
No transaction fees
Inventory management available on all but the Free plan
Allows multichannel selling on paid plans
Has POS functionality with its Unlimited plan

Disadvantages

The free plan is limited to ten products
Can’t edit or place custom orders with the Free or Pro plan
Designs are limited

3. Shift4Shop

For US residents, the Shift4Shop plan is entirely free, provided the user uses its credit card processor. Users will have to pay credit card processing fees of 2.9% and $0.30 per order, which is standard across the industry. Features are robust; enjoy unlimited staff accounts, as many products as user needs, variations, and digital downloads.

You must sign up for a paid plan if you want to use your own payment processor. These start at $29 per month and go up to $229 per month, the more expensive the plan, the more staff accounts you have.

Who Can Use It?

Sellers on a tight budget.

Advantages

Robust free plan
Unlimited products
Unlimited users and bandwidth
Very easy to use
Over 100 free themes
No revenue caps
Includes fraud protection

Disadvantages

Its paid plans have a sales limit
There aren’t many apps available
Customization options are limited

4. Shopify

While Shopify does not have a free plan, it provides a 14-day free trial with no credit card required for most of its plans. There is a three day trial for the basic Starter plan. It has a comprehensive onboarding process to help the user make enough to cover the plan cost by the time the trial ends.

Many sellers find the $29 monthly plan over sufficient to handle their store’s requirements. It includes up to two staff accounts, shipping discounts, and POS access through Shopify POS Lite, which works fine for small events and abandoned cart recovery.

Three other plans are priced at $5, $79, and $299 per month. The more expensive the plan, the lower the transaction fees and credit card processing fees. Additionally, these plans have an even more considerable discount on shipping. Its Starter plan lets users sell through social media and messaging apps without their dedicated website.

Who Can Use It?

Shopify is best for omnichannel sellers and sellers who want a user-friendly way of building a dropshipping business. It has numerous dropshipping integrations.

Advantages

Free 14-day trial
The most dropshipping integrations
Omnichannel selling
Offers POS functionality
Customers can pay in four methods with Klarna, Sezzle, Afterpay, or Shopify Payments

Disadvantages

No free plan
Sellers must buy a custom domain name or import one
A limited selection of free themes

5. Wix

Wix is a leading all-in-one website builder that provides a highly customizable drag-and-drop site editor. It is easy to use, with tons of high-quality online store templates to opt from for free, but it also provides feature-rich plans that help make online selling easier.

The drawback of Wix is that storage is limited to 50 GB, and the price for unlimited storage increases up to $59 monthly. It will be costly for online stores with a huge inventory and content-heavy sites, like those that use several product photos and a blog for content marketing.

Who Can Use It?

Wix is the best e-commerce platform for businesses that want an easy-to-use site builder with everything they need to build and manage an online store.

Advantages

Beginner-friendly site editor
All-in-one pricing includes hosting, a domain, and an SSL certificate
All templates are free
Sell unlimited products
Accept recurring payments

Disadvantages

The entry-level e-commerce plan has a storage limit of 50 GB
Limited dropshipping integrations

6. Weebly

Weebly is a top-rated website builder known for its simplicity and ease of use. The same company owns it as Square. However, both the e-commerce platforms provide various product offerings.

In terms of pricing, it provides one of the best values on the market. It provides a free forever plan with unlimited products, which buys users a lot of time to build an online store without an upfront investment.

Who Can Use It?

Weebly is the best e-commerce platform for small businesses just starting a website and wanting an affordable and ultra-easy way of building an online store.

Advantages

Free basic plan available
Competitively priced plans begin at $12 monthly
Unlimited storage and bandwidth
Unlimited items
The free domain name and SSL certificate
Sell physical and digital goods
Accept recurring payments
Automatic tax and shipping calculator

Disadvantages

Cannot connect a custom domain to a free plan
Some of its themes look cheap

7. BigCommerce

BigCommerce is designed for selling online. It’s plans come packed with the features retailers require to promote leads and land sales. Plans start at $29.95 monthly and include unlimited storage, bandwidth, and products.

It offers flexible selling with multiple currencies for international sales and many ways for customers to pay, such as Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Amazon Pay.

The difference is that BigCommerce plans limit the number of sales you make per year, so its entry-level plan has a cap of $50,000 in annual sales.

Who Can Use It?

BigCommerce is best for online retailers utilizing built-in sales and marketing tools to foster leads more effectively and increase sales.

Advantages

Feature-rich e-commerce plans
Free 15-day trial
Tons of built-in sales and marketing tools
User-friendly page builder
Unlimited products, storage, and bandwidth
No transaction fee
Accept Apple Pay, Google Pay, Amazon Pay

Disadvantages

The cheapest plan begins at $29.95 monthly
Premium themes are expensive
Plans do not include a domain name
Plans have a cap on annual sales

8. WooCommerce

WooCommerce is a plugin that lets users transform a WordPress website into an online store. Its basic version is free but highly customizable with its extensive extensions.

For instance, with WooCommerce extensions, you can accept online bookings, sell subscriptions and agree recurring payments.

It is one of the most customizable and versatile CMS on the market. It will also need user to purchase a domain name, an SSL certificate, and web hosting separately. Many businesses opt for a premium theme to build a fantastic online store with fewer design customizations.

Who Can Use It?

WooCommerce is the best e-commerce solution for building and managing a highly customizable and versatile online store.

Advantages