Best Ecommerce Website Builder Shortlist
Here’s the shortlist of the best tools that I’ll cover in this article.
All ecommerce stores start from the same place—with an ecommerce website. Ecommerce website builders make launching a store online easy, even if you don't know a lick of code. So, if you’re considering selling products or services online, you’ll need an ecommerce builder to help you create your store.
In this article, I'll review the best ecommerce website builders and highlight best use cases, key features, pricing and free trial details, pros and cons, and anything else you need to know to help you make your decision.
What is an Ecommerce Website Builder?
An ecommerce website builder is an online platform that enables business owners to build their own online stores. These builders typically include website hosting, custom domains, and customer help and support. Owners can create a complete storefront without needing to know how to code or design it themselves. All tools and features required are either built into the platform or provided by the vendor via their app center or marketplace.
Overviews of the 10 Best Ecommerce Website Builders
Here’s a brief description of each best ecommerce site builder to showcase each one's best use case, some noteworthy features, screenshots, and pricing information.
Ecwid by Lightspeed
Best for adding ecommerce functionality to established websites
Ecwid is an ecommerce tool that allows users to set up product catalogs and add details for each item.
Why I picked Ecwid: It stands alone from most ecommerce website builders because it doesn’t build online stores; its design allows users to add online store functionality to an existing website. It provides you with a widget to add to your site’s HTML code. You can even use the widget to create a store on Facebook and Instagram; it’s also possible to use the widget code to create a mobile store app if you have the technical expertise or a development team.
Ecwid works with organizations of any size that already have a website ready and are looking to start selling online. The widget’s control panel provides everything you need to manage your ecommerce website. It also provides a list of tips to help set up your store, add products, update delivery settings, and implement payment options.
Ecwid Standout Features and Integrations
Features include buy-now buttons, point-of-sale tool, digital product sales, subscription tools, store management, multiple payment gateways, store management mobile app, and GDPR-compliant security.
Integrations include AfterShip, Stripe, Twilio, WordPress, Wix, Weebly, Yotpo, FreshBooks, Joomla, Mailchimp, 2Checkout, Square Point of Sale, and Zapier.
Price: Ecwid costs from $19/month when paying month-to-month or $14.08/month when paying annually.
Free Trial: Ecwid offers users a free forever plan with limited features.
Pros
- Almost endless ecommerce features.
- Mobile responsive shopping cart.
- Start with basic website knowledge.
Cons
- Key elements require payment.
- Free version allows 10 products.
Shopify
Best for managing large amounts of inventory
Shopify allows ecommerce stores to sell as many products as they want without any limits or trade-offs.
Why I picked Shopify: The platform is excellent at enabling the addition of large amounts of products and managing them effectively. The number of products you can add to your catalog is unlimited, making it an excellent choice when it comes time to scale. Shopify also allows business owners to sell products through various marketplaces, such as eBay, Amazon, and Etsy.
Shopify is a popular choice for users starting an online store because it’s easy to use, especially for those with no technological experience. But larger enterprises can also use it because it is easy to manage significant inventory levels. If you don’t have products to sell yet, Shopify can help because it has integrations with dropshipping marketplaces; you can also find dropshipping partners in the Shopify Apps Market.
Shopify Standout Features and Integrations
Features include marketing tools, social integrations, multiple sales channels, one-click checkout, flexible point-of-sales system, email marketing campaigns, messaging tools, customer data analysis, and content marketing tools.
Integrations include Chargify, PayPal, Mailchimp, Kissmetrics, QuickBooks, Birdeye, Constant Contact, Heartland Retail, Meta for Business, Privy, Sendinblue, and Zapier.
Price: Shopify costs from $29/month when paying monthly, with 2.9% + $0.30/transaction.
Free Trial: Shopify offers a three-day free trial from their website. But, if you do the proper research, you can find affiliates who offer 14-day free trials.
Pros
- The platform is very stable.
- Can manage all aspects of an online store.
- Capable of building customizable storefronts.
Cons
- The free themes are very basic.
- The extra fees can make Shopify expensive.
Squarespace
Best for building visually appealing storefronts
Squarespace enables store owners to create modern, visually appealing ecommerce stores.
Why I picked Squarespace: Users can customize every element of every page throughout their entire website. No matter your experience level, you can use Squarespace’s intuitive, highly responsive drag-and-drop website builder tool. Squarespace offers you stunning templates and combines them with an excellent inventory system with many features.
Squarespace is an excellent choice for small businesses thanks to its ability to easily get online stores up and running. The platform’s user-friendly content management system can help you operate your new store without needing technical expertise. It also offers built-in SEO features to help you improve your store’s ranking on search engines so you can drive more traffic to your site.
Squarespace Standout Features and Integrations
Features include customizable website templates, flexible galleries, blogging tools, SEO tools, in-depth analytics, logo maker, and mobile editing.
Integrations include Mailchimp, Klaviyo, Zendesk Suite, Salesforce, Trello, Xero, ActiveCampaign, Basecamp, Constant Contact, Google Analytics 360, AWeber, ShipStation, Stripe, and Zapier.
Price: Squarespace costs from $23/month when paid monthly or $16/month when paying annually.
Free Trial: Squarespace offers a free 14-day trial for new users.
Pros
- 0% transaction fees.
- Intuitive interface.
- Create websites without any coding.
Cons
- Add-ons can be pricey.
- Limited number of templates.
3dcart
Best for brick-and-mortar stores looking to develop an online presence
3dcart is a straightforward online shopping cart that helps retailers sell online.
Why I picked 3dcart: It’s an ideal option for brick-and-mortar stores looking to create an online ecommerce website fast. 3dcart’s built-in features, such as reporting tools, SEO capabilities, and automated email marketing, help store owners establish their online presence quickly. It’s a comprehensive solution for stores looking to fully control their site’s experience.
3dcart offers numerous functionalities that suit medium businesses or larger enterprises. The platform does provide a drag-and-drop building tool to accommodate beginners, but it’s powerful enough to support developers’ and designers’ requirements.
3dcart Standout Features and Integrations
Features include mobile responsive storefronts, secure hosting, marketing and SEO tools, product management, order management, content management system, shipping tools, and built-in payment processing.
Integrations include Authorize.net, Quickbooks, PayPal, Sellercloud, Shipwire, Stripe, TaxCloud, Meta for Business, Nextopia, Mailchimp, and Google Analytics 360.
Price: 3dcart costs from $29/month when using with PayPal.
Free Trial: No free trial data.
Pros
- Extremely scalable.
- No transaction fees.
- Flexible features.
Cons
- Limited integrations.
- Steep learning curve.
Wix
Best for starting a new online store in minutes
Wix is a popular ecommerce website builder that makes creating a site easy.
Why I picked Wix: Their online store solution, Wix eCommerce, makes it easy for you to start selling your products or services online right away. You can use one of the hundreds of templates available; just change the colors and add a logo to match your brand and add your products. You could use their ADI builder, which uses AI to create everything for you in minutes after you answer some questions.
Wix is an excellent website builder for smaller online stores because although it has impressive features and tools, it works better with smaller inventories. It helps these businesses manage their operation with features such as order tracking, multiple sales channels, and abandoned cart campaigns. It also provides a mobile-optimized editor to help you build an ecommerce store that looks great on mobile devices.
Wix Standout Features and Integrations
Features include store analytics, marketing and SEO tools, store management, cart and checkout tools, ecommerce application add-ons, multiple payment gateways, and a media library.
Integrations include Klaviyo, Easyship, AfterShip, Privy, SoundCloud, Mailchimp, Importify, Cart2Cart, Dropbox, Google Drive, AdScale, 123FormBuilder, JivoChat, Meta for Business, and Eventbrite.
Price: Wix costs from $21/month.
Free Trial: Wix offers a free refund within 14 days after signing up for a premium plan.
Pros
- Easy payment gateway setup.
- Free-to-use vector graphics library.
- Straightforward user interface.
Cons
- Sites can be slow.
- Can’t change between templates.
Weebly
Best for drag-and-drop editing
Weebly is a basic ecommerce website builder that provides a drag-and-drop editor to get a website started immediately.
Why I picked Weebly: The platform is famous for its straightforward drag-and-drop editor that can help you start an online store without any technical knowledge. It’d powered by Square, which means that store owners will have features that will help them manage their inventory, implement coupons, capture leads, and add unlimited products. Weebly makes it easy for entrepreneurs to develop an online presence and get started with a polished ecommerce website.
Weebly is best for small and medium businesses looking to create a small online store without losing themselves in technical elements. It offers a user-friendly interface, easy setup, and several free template designs for those working with a limited budget. It allows you to spend more time operating your business and less time determining how everything works.
Weebly Standout Features and Integrations
Features include mobile editor, email templates, performance analytics, SEO tools, bulk import and export, shipping tools, coupon builder, product search, and customer reviews.
Integrations include AWeber, Jotform, PayPal, Privy, Jotform, Constant Contact, Easyship, Shore, ShipStation, Schedulista, Eventbrite, Appy Pie, Donorbox, and Booqable.
Price: Weebly costs from $6/month and new users pay annually.
Free Trial: Weebly offers a free subscription tier for users with limited features.
Pros
- Paid plans are highly affordable.
- Good SEO settings.
- Create websites with excellent functionality.
Cons
- Not many themes available.
- No live support.
Bitrix24
Best for team collaboration
Bitrix24 is a combination of tools that make it easy for teams to communicate effectively.
Why I picked Bitrix24: The platform has everything you need to collaborate and communicate throughout your entire company. Each team member can access all company messages, documents, calendars, leads, and contacts. You can also set permissions for specific content to ensure each team member only sees what they need to see.
Bitrix24 is an excellent option for start-ups and small business teams who are looking for efficient CRM tools. As soon as you start using the platform, you have access to tools that help you plan marketing campaigns, perform excellent customer support, and help your human resources department manage the office.
Bitrix24 Standout Features and Integrations
Features include HD video calls and conferences, private and group chats, worktime tracking, cloud storage, online documents, calendar, work reports, lead management, and sales automation.
Integrations include Miro, Jira, 3CX, RingCentral, Pipedrive, Jotform, Stripe, Boss Insights, Desktop.com, Zendesk, Microsoft 365, and Mailchimp.
Price: Bitrix24 costs from $61/month for a monthly plan or $49/month when paying annually.
Free Trial: Bitrix24 offers a free forever plan for up to 5 GB of data.
Pros
- Intuitive CRM tool.
- Secure online communications.
- Tracks tasks for team members.
Cons
- Expensive pricing.
- Support is hard to reach.
Webador
Best for beginner-friendly site editing
Webador is an ecommerce site builder that helps beginners easily create adequate online stores.
Why I picked Webador: The vendor focuses on helping beginners create an online store they’re happy to share and sell products. Webador provides an intuitive editing interface that can help you get started immediately. The platform offers some self-help resources, such as their getting started guide, to help you develop your store without any help.
Webador is an excellent option for beginners, but it’s good enough for businesses of any size. All premium plans come with a free domain name; you can also import a domain name and link it to your new site. It also helps you start driving traffic to your new site by creating a listing on Google and Google Maps.
Webador Standout Features and Integrations
Features include website builder, customizable templates, business email addresses, stock photographs, traffic analytics, multiple payment gateways, secure checkout, SEO tools, and success tips.
Integrations include Google Analytics 360 and PayPal.
Price: Webador costs $1/month for the first three months for all paid plans. Afterward, Webador costs from $6/month when paying monthly. When paying annually, the first three months are free; afterwards, Webador costs from $4.50/month.
Free Trial: Webador offers a free forever plan with essential features.
Pros
- Includes many trusted payment platforms.
- Excellent user interface for beginners.
- Easy to use.
Cons
- Limited customization options.
- No app market.
Odoo
Best for enterprise resource planning
Odoo is an enterprise resource planning (ERP) tool that helps ecommerce stores manage various aspects of their organization.
Why I picked Odoo: The platform provides ecommerce stores with enterprise resource planning tools to handle various accounting, inventory, marketing, and customer relationship management processes. The ecommerce website builder tools allow you to build a custom site with its drag-and-drop editor. The marketing tools automatically optimize your new site to help it rank on search engines.
Odoo works best for large businesses, but any organization can implement its features to enhance its operations. It provides a fully integrated app suite that scales with you as you grow - just add new apps and users as your business expands. If your company has multiple departments, Odoo provides communication features that help your teams avoid typical problems, such as extra inventory in your warehouse.
Odoo Standout Features and Integrations
Features include agile methodologies, accounting tools, budget management, backorder management, application management, contact database, CRM software, batch processing, and employee profiles.
Integrations include Pipedrive, Ring Central, Boss Insights, Desktop.com, Nextcloud, UniTalk, Salesforce, Mailchimp, Microsoft 365, Google Analytics, HubSpot CRM, and Microsoft Teams.
Price: Odoo costs from $31.10/user/month when paying monthly or $24.90/user/month when paying annually.
Free Trial: Odoo offers a free subscription level with limited features.
Pros
- System works on mobile devices.
- Enterprise-level features.
- Web-based system.
Cons
- System can be slow.
- Steep learning curve.
WooCommerce
Best ecommerce plug-in for WordPress
WooCommerce is an open-source WordPress plug-in that adds ecommerce features to a website.
Why I picked WooCommerce: The vendor built WooCommerce specifically for users who prefer to create an ecommerce store on WordPress quickly. If you’re already familiar with WordPress’s interface, you can make a site using one of the over 800 pre-made templates with the plug-in. Each theme comes with a drag-and-drop builder that allows you to customize each theme to align with your brand.
WooCommerce is an excellent choice for businesses of any size who have much experience with WordPress because it can take time to monetize, scale, and add products and additional payment gateways. But you can access a large community of developers if you want to use WooCommerce and wish to make advanced changes to your site. You can extend the platform’s functionality with the thousands of add-ons and extensions available.
WooCommerce Standout Features and Integrations
Features include order management tools, automated tax calculations, live shipping rates, a mobile application, product variations, extensive documentation, marketing tools and analytics, and multiple currencies.
Integrations include Google Analytics, Stripe, PayPal, Facebook, Amazon Pay, ShipStation, Xero, Braintree, Affirm Payments, GoCardless, Stamps.com, and Mailchimp.
Price: WooCommerce is free for users.
Pros
- Friendly, responsive support.
- Adaptable to user’s requirements.
- Basic out-of-the-box functionality.
Cons
- Adding certain features isn’t free.
- Requires previous WordPress knowledge.
The 10 Best Ecommerce Website Builders Summary
| Tool | Free Option | Price | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ecwid by Lightspeed Best for adding ecommerce functionality to established websites | Free plan available | From $19/month | Visit Website |
| 2 | Shopify Best for managing large amounts of inventory | 14-day free trial | From $39/month | Visit Website |
| 3 | Squarespace Best for building visually appealing storefronts | 14-day free trial | From $16/month | Visit Website |
| 4 | 3dcart Best for brick-and-mortar stores looking to develop an online presence | Not available | From $29/month | Visit Website |
| 5 | Wix Best for starting a new online store in minutes | 14-day free trial | From $16/month | Visit Website |
| 6 | Weebly Best for drag-and-drop editing | Offers a free subscription tier for users with limited features | From $6/month | Visit Website |
| 7 | Bitrix24 Best for team collaboration | Freemium version available | From $61 /5 users/month | Visit Website |
| 8 |  Webador Best for beginner-friendly site editing | Offers a free forever plan with essential features | From $1/month for the first three months for all paid plans | Visit Website |
| 9 |  Odoo Best for enterprise resource planning | 15-day free trial | From $31/user/month | Visit Website |
| 10 |  WooCommerce Best ecommerce plug-in for WordPress | Not available | Free to use | Visit Website |
Other Options
Here are a few more best website builder options that didn’t make the best ecommerce website builders list:
- GoDaddy Website Builder
Best for ecommerce marketing
- BigCommerce
Best for growing ecommerce stores
- Adobe Commerce
Best for multichannel experiences.
- Zyro
Best for simplifying ecommerce operations.
- PrestaShop
Best for deploying large-scale online stores.
- Web.com
Best for all ecommerce needs.
- Volusion
Best for business tools and professional services.
- Cafe24
Best for starting a store in minutes.
- ShopFactory
Best for building stores on the cloud.
- Big Cartel
Best shopping cart platform for artists.
How I Selected the Best Ecommerce Website Builders
Perhaps you're wondering how I selected the best ecommerce website builders for this list? To build this top 10 list, I evaluated and compared a wide range of ecommerce website builders with positive user ratings.
After determining my long list of top choices, I further honed my list of the top ecommerce site builders by using the selection criteria below to see how each platform stacked up against the next one. I also drew on my years of ecommerce website building experience to pinpoint the features that add a lot of value.
The best online store website builder will exemplify all or most of these criteria.
Selection Criteria
Here’s a short summary of the main selection and evaluation criteria I used to develop my list of the best ecommerce website builders for this article:
Storefront Design:
You’re likely looking to use a website builder to be in control of your online store. But this doesn’t mean that you should neglect your site’s aesthetics. This criterion looks at each builder’s themes and how customizable they are. So, I looked for platforms with the best-looking, functional themes. I also looked for how many industries the themes can cover, whether they’re mobile responsive and if users can change themes after publishing their sites.
Shopping Cart Tools:
Unexpected costs such as extra shipping fees or taxes, security issues, long checkout times, and unclear return policies can make customers run for the hills. The best shopping cart solutions will organize and identify your products easily. They should also have guest checkout options that allow customers to check out quickly and easily. Lastly, they need to implement security badges, such as SSL certificates, to increase customers’ trust in your store.
Inventory & Product Management:
Without inventory management, your store will risk multiple issues, such as shortages, overstocks, out-of-stocks, and mis-picks. So, I look for ecommerce website builders that will help optimize your product flow control by accurately recording and processing inventory data. This will help increase your customers’ confidence that you can deliver on your promises and that the ordered product will arrive on time and live up to their standards.
Marketing & SEO:
Every online business owner wants to ensure their marketing and SEO strategies will attract sales by sending traffic to their online store. Optimization issues, such as missing title tags, weak backlinks, unclear messaging, or insufficient audience targeting, can cause a store to miss out on revenue. The best ecommerce website builders will allow users to customize any SEO option and provide insights into how marketing campaigns perform.
Pricing:
The pricing plans for each website builder is the last factor I consider when choosing the best software for this list. As you’re looking through this list, think about what your business needs to launch immediately, but also consider the number of products you’ll offer in the future. I look for platforms whose paid plan is reflective of the depth and bredth of services offered. Keep in mind that some site builders will charge more as you add more products or features.
People Also Ask
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Build An Ecommerce Website That Works
An ecommerce website builder will take away all the guesswork out of selling online. With this tool, you can focus on your sales without worrying about the backend challenges of creating and operating a website. It’s predicted that by 2040, 95% of all purchases will be through ecommerce. So, it would make sense to build an effective website design that these potential customers will love and keep coming back to.
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