Shopify Alternatives Shortlist
-
Ecwid by LightspeedBest Shopify alternative for omnichannel eCommerce
-
Adobe CommerceBest Shopify alternative for store customization
- Squarespace
Best Shopify alternative for subscription-based businesses
- PrestaShop
Best Shopify alternative for multilingual and multi-currency site
- BigCommerce
Best Shopify alternative for easy store management
-
WixBest Shopify alternative for multilingual sellers
- Zoho Commerce
Best Shopify alternative for easy transaction tracking and accounting
- NetSuite SuiteCommerce
Best Shopify alternative for personalized shopping experiences
- WooCommerce
Best Shopify alternative for WordPress users
- Square Online
Best Shopify alternative for small business
The Ecomm Manager is reader-supported. We may earn a commission when you click through links on our site — learn more about how we aim to stay transparent.
Thinking about using a Shopify alternative? Shopify is the world’s most popular online store builder. As of January 2023, Shopify is used by 4.4 million online stores across 175 countries globally with the U.S.A being the current larget market.
There’s no denying that Shopify makes it easy to launch an eCommerce website. But some of its competitors go out of their way to attract clients. Some of their solutions are cheaper, some have better layouts, and some offer more features at similar prices.
If you’re looking for a different online shop builder, here are the best Shopify alternatives you can try in 2023.
Why Might You Need A Shopify Alternative?
You require an easier payout system
Shopify’s payout system is designed to help new businesses. But if you want to move your existing business to Shopify, the platform may require additional documentation to support your payout after your shop’s conversion.
This generally comes as a surprise to business owners because it’s not included in the conversion process and Shopify only brings it up the moment you want to execute the payout.
So even though Shopify’s payout system is not bad, some business owners may want to look for different ones.
You want a more customizable online store website
Shopify websites look great, but you can tell that a shop’s on Shopify at a glance. The platform allows you to customize your online store, but the customization options are limited.
Shopify websites look alike, so you can’t use your website’s appearance as a competitive advantage over other online stores operating in your niche.
You want more a responsive customer service team
Did I mention that there are over 3.7 million websites on Shopify? As you can imagine, their customer support team is pretty busy.
Now, their support specialists are great and answer all your questions in detail, but you might wait for that answer for some time.
You want a URL structure better for SEO
URL structure is important in SEO and is the subject of some heated arguments. Despite the arguments, most experts agree that using subdirectories can hurt your SEO score, especially if your links become too long.
Shopify uses subdirectories like “/pages/” or “/blog/news/” when it creates links, which is not ideal for SEO purposes.
You need better multilingual support
The Shopify app is not great for international sellers. The platform has been slowly improving in this area by making it easier to use different languages in the store and enabling visitors to switch between different languages. There are several third-party apps you can use to translate your product information.
However, Shopify admin is available in only 19 languages, and connecting with a support specialist who speaks something other than English can be challenging. If you use a third party app for translations, getting support can be even more difficult.
Key Features For A Viable Shopify Alternative
Flexible online shop builder
The perfect online store builder would give you unlimited customization options, allowing you to change every single detail about your store.
Every website builder I included on my list gives you multiple customization options.
Shipping and fulfillment options or plugin
Customers prefer fast and free shipping options, with 75% admitting that free shipping options have a significant influence on their purchasing decision.
The solutions I included on my list offer multiple shipping and fulfillment options and/or are compatible with plugins that help.
Inventory and catalog management
Being able to manage your inventory and update it in real time is crucial to running a successful online store. Shopify is great at inventory management, so I looked for competitors that make this process run just as smoothly.
Marketing tools and/or integrations
This goes without saying, but you can’t run a successful eCommerce website without marketing and advertising.
The solution should either offer a powerful marketing suite or integrate with popular marketing tools so you can grow your business.
10 Best Shopify Alternatives Compared
Here are the best Shopify alternatives on the market and what each does best.
Ecwid by Lightspeed
Best Shopify alternative for omnichannel eCommerce
Why Ecwid is a great Shopify alternative?
Ecwid is an all-in-one eCommerce solution that enables you to promote and sell your products on your customers’ favorite platforms, whether that’s Instagram, TikTok, Pinterest, a website, Amazon, or eBay. This solution offers native integrations that allow you to promote your business, expanding the reach of your physical and digital products.
Ecwid costs from $19/month. The platform offers a free-forever plan for up to 10 products.
Adobe Commerce
Best Shopify alternative for store customization
Why Adobe Commerce (Magento) is a great Shopify alternative?
Adobe Commerce (formerly Magento Commerce) is a platform that helps you build multi-channel shopping experiences for your customers. The platform offers a variety of tools you can use to customize your product and landing pages, allowing you to tailor each page to your audience in order to increase your conversions. The platform offers good page templates, and the customization options are nearly infinite thanks to its open-source code.
Adobe Commerce offers custom pricing upon demand.
Squarespace
Best Shopify alternative for subscription-based businesses
Why Squarespace is a great Shopify alternative?
Squarespace is a Shopify alternative that makes it easy to sell subscription boxes, maintenance packages or ongoing services. This feature is part of its Advanced Commerce paid plan and allows you to create custom subscription packages for your customers. As a business owner, you can decide the package’s renewal date and frequency. You customers can subscribe to one or more packages and manage their subscriptions in their account pages.
Squarespace costs from $16/month. You can start with a free 14-day trial.
PrestaShop
Best Shopify alternative for multilingual and multi-currency site
Why PrestaShop is a great Shopify alternative?
PrestaShop has all the ecommerce features you would expect from a Shopify alternative: store customization, product catalog, orders and payments, and dropshipping resources. They also make it insanely easy to set up a multinational store, with 195 free language translations and over 60 compatible payments modules. It is also open source, so you can customize the platform as needed.
PrestaShop will cost you around $4 to $14/month.
BigCommerce
Best Shopify alternative for easy store management
Why BigCommerce is a great Shopify alternative?
BigCommerce is an eCommerce platform that helps you create seamless shopping experiences with a wide variety of out-of-the-box features. The platform’s native inventory management tools enable you to sync your online and offline sales channels, allowing you to track your stock levels and fulfillment process from a central location without third-party software.
BigCommerce costs from $29.95/month. You can try it out for free for 15 days.
Wix
Best Shopify alternative for multilingual sellers
Why Wix is a great Shopify alternative?
Wix is the best eCommerce platform for sellers who want to expand to international markets. The platform enables you to translate your store in more than 150 languages and optimize each version for SEO. With Wix, you can create local subdomains to make it easier for your international clients to reach you, and you can set up currency converters so they can see the prices in their local currencies.
Wix eCommerce costs from $20/month. The platform offers a free 14-day trial.
Zoho Commerce
Best Shopify alternative for easy transaction tracking and accounting
Why Zoho Commerce is a great Shopify alternative?
Zoho Commerce helps you set up and manage your online store. The platform integrates with Google Analytics, Google Shopping, and Facebook Pixel, allowing you to track and measure your marketing efforts from a central location. The solution helps you track your transactions and prepare your tax returns by automating your tax calculations.
Zoho Commerce costs from $22/month.
NetSuite SuiteCommerce
Best Shopify alternative for personalized shopping experiences
Why NetSuite SuiteCommerce is a great Shopify alternative?
NetSuite SuiteCommerce helps you create an eCommerce store that’s integrated with marketing features, SEO tools, POS, and inventory and order management. The eCommerce platform allows non-technical users to build mobile-friendly websites using a drag-and-drop editor. SuiteCommerce helps your customers find the products they need with an efficient site search feature and makes personalized recommendations based on previous user activity.
NetSuite SuiteCommerce offers custom pricing upon demand. You can schedule a free product tour.
WooCommerce
Best Shopify alternative for WordPress users
Why WooCommerce is a great Shopify alternative?
WooCommerce is a free, open-source WordPress plugin that gives your website eCommerce functionality. As an eCommerce tool, WoCommerce is easy to use, especially if you’re familiar with WordPress. The main advantage of choosing WooCommerce as a store builder is that it’s open-source. This means that you can customize your store’s code and tailor it to your needs. This also means that you can access hundreds of free or paid extensions.
WooCommerce is free to use. However, you’ll have to pay for web hosting and some of the platform’s more popular add-ons.
Square Online
Best Shopify alternative for small business
Why Square Online is a great Shopify alternative
Square Online is a Shopify competitor that helps new business owners launch their online stores. The platform’s store builder is very easy to use, and the platform’s Instagram integration adds eCommerce features to your page, allowing you to sell directly on social media. Your Square online store offers a payment gateway that helps your customers use their favorite payment options, whether that’s a credit card, Apple pay, Google pay, or PayPal.
Square Online costs from $12/month. The platform offers a free plan that allows you to sell unlimited products but offers fewer sales features. Both the free and paid plans charge an additional transaction fee.
10 Best Shopify Alternatives Compared Summary
| Tool | Free Option | Price | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ecwid by Lightspeed Best Shopify alternative for omnichannel eCommerce | Freemium plan available | From $19/month | Visit Website |
| 2 | Adobe Commerce Best Shopify alternative for store customization | Free demo available | Pricing upon request | Visit Website |
| 3 | Squarespace Best Shopify alternative for subscription-based businesses | 14-day free trial | From $16/month | Visit Website |
| 4 | PrestaShop Best Shopify alternative for multilingual and multi-currency site | Free demo available | From $4/month | Visit Website |
| 5 | BigCommerce Best Shopify alternative for easy store management | 15-day free trial | From $29.95/month | Visit Website |
| 6 | Wix Best Shopify alternative for multilingual sellers | 14-day free trial | From $20/month | Visit Website |
| 7 | Zoho Commerce Best Shopify alternative for easy transaction tracking and accounting | Not available | From $22/month | Visit Website |
| 8 |  NetSuite SuiteCommerce Best Shopify alternative for personalized shopping experiences | Demo available | Pricing upon request | Visit Website |
| 9 |  WooCommerce Best Shopify alternative for WordPress users | Free account available | From 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction | Visit Website |
| 10 |  Square Online Best Shopify alternative for small business | Freemium plan available | From $15/month | Visit Website |
Conclusion
Shopify is a strong online store builder, but as we’ve seen in this review, its competitors can hold their own. The truth is that it’s impossible to name a single solution as the best eCommerce platform because every business has its own needs.
If you want to find the right eCommerce solution for your business, check out our list of 10 best eCommerce software for online sellers in 2023.
If you want to stay on top of what’s happening in the eCommerce space and receive updates directly in your inbox, subscribe to The Ecomm Manager Newsletter.
2 Comments