Looking to start an online store, but not sure where, or how? We’ve used and reviewed all of the top ecommerce platforms on the market, and these builders came out on top…
1 Shopify
Score: 4.7/5
Best all-round ecommerce platform
Price range: $29 – $299
Shopify is the best all-round ecommerce platform on the planet. Why? Because it’s the most comprehensive. It has a vast array of sales features and apps that make selling a dream. It’s at the expensive end of the scale, but with Shopify you don’t only sell from your website, you can sell from social media too – Facebook, Pinterest and even Instagram.
Shopify pros:
- Multichannel integration
- Brilliant inventory system
- Most likely to recommend by users
- Best overall
What our users say: “All in all it was a really easy approach to creating your online store. I have complete control over how and what I want placed within my site, with the additional benefit of being able to change anything as and when I want.”
Find out more: read our full Shopify review
2 Wix eCommerce
Score: 4.3/5
Best website builder with ecommerce functionality
Price range: $20 – $35
Wix is our number 1 rated website builder, and comes in just behind Shopify for its ecommerce offering. Allowing users to build sites in minutes, this easy to use platform makes creating websites almost… fun! It does lack the sales prowess of Shopify in terms of features and inventories, but it’s a great and cheaper alternative if you just want to sell a few products on your site.
Wix eCommerce pros:
- Easy to use and edit
- Can add product videos
- Large choice of templates
What our users say: “You can literally change everything, checkout page, product page. It is all within your control”.
Find out more: read our full Wix eCommerce review
3 BigCommerce
Score: 4.2/5
Most scalable platform and best in-built features
Price range: $29.95 – $249.95
BigCommerce is another ecommerce giant. It’s a clear winner if you’re looking to scale and grow a large business. It’s got pretty much everything you need as in-built features (which means no extra cost), and like Shopify allows you to sell across multiple channels such as Facebook and Instagram.
BigCommerce pros:
- Allows multi-channel selling across social media
- Fantastic SEO capabilities
- More built-in features than any other builder
What our users say: “It really makes you feel comfortable knowing that they were monitoring your sales and growth while also helping to create a functioning well formatted website”.
Find out more: read our full BigCommerce review
Heads Up: Save With BigCommerce
You can get even more value for your money with BigCommerce’s limited time offer: get your first month free when you pick a plan. You can claim this offer by signing up for a free trial now!
4 Squarespace ecommerce
Score: 4.2/5
Best designed templates
Price range: $18 – $40
Squarespace is the most stylish website builder around, which is why it powers so many ecommerce stores. There’s a wide choice of slick and incredibly designed ecommerce templates, quality features and a strong inventory system too. It doesn’t suit super large businesses, but it’s perfect for the design-conscience.
Squarespace pros:
- Best designed templates
- Good inventory and analytics for a website builder
- Social media integration
What our users say: “I actually found it surprisingly intuitive, a lot of what I have read had prepared me for something which was overly design-y and aesthetic over practical use, but I actually found it quite simple to do the basics with”.
Find out more: read our full Squarespace ecommerce review
5 Square Online
Score: 4.2/5
Best for entrepreneurs
Price range: $0 – $72
Square Online is an extremely affordable platform, making it a perfect choice for those just setting up their business. As well as its popular free plan, Square Online has some neat sales tools to attract keen entrepreneurs, such as automatic syncing with Square POS, curbside pickup, and order status text alerts.
Square Online pros:
- Affordable pricing plans (including a free option)
- Excellent POS integration
- Built-in marketing features
- Easy-to-use central dashboard
What our users say: “Overall I would give it a high ease of use score. I had almost no trouble setting up my store, and the editor felt straightforward.”
Find out more: read our full Square Online review
6 Weebly ecommerce
Score: 4.1/5
Great value for money
Price range: $5 – $38
Weebly was recently bought by payment processing giant, Square, who have worked hard to improve its ecommerce platform. And they’ve done well – it’s easy to use and comes in as best value for money in our rankings. It’s still got some way to go to compete with the likes of Shopify, but it’s definitely a strong contender.
Weebly pros:
- Good blogging features
- Password protected page functionality
- Clear interface
- Best value for money
What our users say: “This is for an online store who wants a bit more personality and wants to be able to utilise the drag and drop building side of things”.
Find out more: read our full Weebly ecommerce review
7 Volusion
Score: 3.9/5
Great analytics features
Price range: $15 – $299
Volusion has made some changes recently. It’s now easier to use, has more payment options and has amazing analytics features. There are some weaknesses though – you can’t add a blog and many of its features can’t compete with other platforms in this list.
Volusion pros
- Provides you with lots of data and analytic insights
- Has a clear inventory system
- Lots of payment methods
What our users say: “For a website which is here to sell products and support you with data, Volusion is just this”.
Find out more: read our full Volusion review
8 GoDaddy ecommerce
Score: 3.7/5
Easiest to use
Price range: $29.99
If you want an online store up and running within a day, say hello to GoDaddy. Using ADI (Artificial Design Intelligence), it builds a store for you, based on the information you give it. The downside is that it limits your creative control and doesn’t have the same quality features of other builders.
GoDaddy pros:
- Supports multiple industries
- Great marketing tools
- Fastest to build
What our users say: “It was really easy, like so easy which was amazing. It starts off by asking you questions and then comes up with an example site straight away which allows you to see your online store come to life in front of you, it’s super exciting”.
Find out more: read our full GoDaddy ecommerce review
9 3dcart
Score: 3.7/5
Good but there’s better out there
Price range: $19 – $299
3dcart is an ecommerce website builder with loads of in-built features, including over 160 payment methods and 90 free templates. However, it’s difficult to use and doesn’t offer much creative control, making it our ‘least likely to be recommended’ website builder.
3dcart pros:
- Useful SEO prompts
- Ability to change themes anytime
- Over 160 payment gateways
- 90 free templates
- 200+ in-built features
What our users say: “It does the job but not very streamlined. It feels like a little bit all over the place”.
Find out more: read our full 3dcart review
10 Big Cartel
Score: 2.9/5
Free option, but limited
Price range: Free – $29.99
BigCartel is a great way to start your online store risk-free. Why? Because it’s one of the only ecommerce builder on the market where you can sell for free! Its user friendly onboarding process makes it easy to set up, but its basic features and need for coding makes it frustrating for beginners.
Big Cartel pros:
- Sell online for free
- User-friendly prompts during setup
- Inventory system perfect for selling individual products
What our users say: “A simple, easy to use website builder that’s maybe good if you are starting out and you want a basic store, but not so great if you want a higher level of customization”.
Find out more: read our full Big Cartel review
11 How Do We Review Ecommerce Website Builders?
Choosing the right builder for your online store is important. It’s exciting. It could even make you lots of money. And we want to make it as easy as possible for you to find the perfect match.
We test each ecommerce builder ourselves so we can give you real, personal insight into every single one. But we don’t stop there. Unlike our competitors, we get groups of everyday people to try, review, and score each builder. We ask them to carry out tasks and tell us what they thought.
Combining this insight with our users’ scores and ratings, we create a really in-depth analysis of each ecommerce website builder. We’re not guessing that GoDaddy Ecommerce is the easiest to use builder. We know it is!
Apart from this thorough user testing, we also roll our sleeves up to examine every inch of what makes an ecommerce website builder tick. This includes sales features and website tools, value for money, design flexibility, and help and support functions.
By combining all this data, we make sure we’re giving you the very best reviews to base your decisions on. Our aim is to make your life as easy as possible by providing accurate, up to date and honest ecommerce website builder reviews.
We carry out hours of in-depth research on every ecommerce platform we review to save you time and give you the best headstart over your competition.
12 Are There Other Ecommerce Builders?
It’s no surprise the 10 ecommerce builders in our list aren’t the only options out there. All of the builders we’ve listed are hosted, meaning you don’t have to worry about managing updates or paying for hosting plans. But that’s not to say you don’t have that choice!
Self-hosted ecommerce builders are another popular option. A few self-hosted ecommerce builders include:
- Magento
- WordPress with WooCommerce
- OpenCart
You can read about how these compare to hosted builders in our review on the best ecommerce software. In the meantime, we’ll be busy working hard to bring you the latest reviews.
Here’s a sneak-peek at some of the ecommerce builders we’ll be testing out over the coming months:
- 1&1 IONOS
- SITE123
13 Summary - Ecommerce Platform Reviews
Choosing the best ecommerce website builder can seem like a big decision. That’s why we’ve done the research to bring you the very best builders on the market. All you have to do is pick the one that suits you most!
We’ve reviewed each of these builders to help you find that perfect fit:
- Shopify
- Wix eCommerce
- BigCommerce
- Squarespace ecommerce
- Square Online
- Weebly ecommerce
- Volusion
- GoDaddy ecommerce
- 3dcart
- Big Cartel
Maybe one or more of these ecommerce builders have caught your eye. Whichever you choose, you can be sure these are the top brands in the business right now. Why not check out our ecommerce comparison chart to see these market leaders side by side? Compare their star ratings, features and more in a single glance.
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