I Tried 4 Shopify Alternatives: Should You Switch?

After 300 hours of testing, I can confirm that Shopify is the best ecommerce website builder we’ve tested. It offers unbeatable sales features and great support for business owners.

That said, if you’re frustrated by Shopify’s expensive pricing, limited store customization, and reliance on app integrations for extra functionality, you may be on the hunt for a suitable Shopify alternative. But who are the best competitors?

Comparing Shopify Alternatives

See how the top Shopify competitors compare in all the key areas with our side-by-side table:

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		Overall rating	Starting Price	Transaction Fees	Better than Shopify for	Free custom domain	AI website builder	Standout features	Areas to improve	Recommended for
Wix	Squarespace	Hostinger	GoDaddy
4.8	4.7	4.2	4.0
$29 $26.10 with code “TAKE10”	$19 $17.10 with code “WBE10”	$18.99 $3.99/month	$20.99
2.9% + $0.30	0% – 2%	0%	2.7% + $0.30
Total site functionality, including design, marketing, and AI	Built-in booking tools and high-quality designs	Its cheap starting price and fast site speeds	Social media tools and helpful onboarding
check	check	check	check
check	check	check	check
AI chatbot builder Branded email marketing AI image generator with different design styles Personalized SEO support	Great booking tools Easiest editor to use Blueprint AI builder Stunning templates	Fastest loading times Suite of AI tools Easy drag-and-drop editor	Social media calendar Built-in booking tools Quick onboarding Mobile app
Storage space Changing templates Loading speed Inventory capacity	Autosave functionality In-person selling Phone support	Limited product space App market Email marketing Ecommerce scalability	Customization Template options AI features
Businesses promoting their online presence	Creatives and service-based businesses	Beginners and budget-conscious businesses	Businesses using socials to drive traffic

Which Shopify Alternative Is Best for My Specific Business Needs?

🧰 Wix comes with the most built-in features, which span not just ecommerce, but AI, marketing, and design as well. It’s great if you want end-to-end support for all aspects of running and growing your online store.

🎨 Squarespace is ideal for creatives or service-based businesses. You can set up bookings on your website, and access stylish templates that reflect your branding.

💰 If cutting costs is most important to you, I recommend Hostinger for its cheap introductory pricing. You can start a store from as little as $3.99 per month (for a 48-month term).

📲 Businesses that want to accelerate their store’s growth on social media should opt for GoDaddy. Your ecommerce plan comes with useful tools, including a social media calendar that helps you plan and organize your posts.

1. Wix: For an All-in-One Business Solution

Wix is our top-rated Shopify alternative based on our research, because of its commitment to high-quality sales features, website functionality, and design freedom.

From Wix Booking to Wix Donations, Wix has a dedicated built-in app for whatever your business needs. In comparison, Shopify requires third-party plugins for a lot of features that aren’t related to selling, and many of these come at an additional cost.

What I Like

✔️ Wix has the best website functionality – Wix comes with more built-in functionality for bookings and donations than Shopify, which minimizes reliance on costly third-party app integrations.

✔️ The AI website builder and drag-and-drop editor – Wix’s editor gives you more freedom to customize your online store, letting you place professionally-designed elements wherever you want. Plus, each section can be edited by size, color, font, and you can even add animations.

✔️ Over 2000 free templates for all website types – Shopify has great template options for businesses, but Wix’s template library is vast and covers a wide range of industries and website types, including blogs and portfolios. Shopify only offers 24 free templates, while the rest come with a price tag.

✔️ Great business support – While Shopify has the best customer service we’ve tested, Wix is a close second. There’s a Help Center full of guides and tutorials, as well as phone support, a community forum, and a dedicated SEO Learning Hub to help you master the SEO basics.

What I Dislike

❌ Limited multichannel integration – Wix doesn’t have as many options as Shopify when it comes to multichannel selling. You can still sell your products via popular marketplaces, such as Amazon and Etsy, but you can’t synchronize your store with as many social media platforms.

❌ Plans are still expensive – Wix’s ecommerce plans aren’t the most affordable, especially for new or small businesses that are just starting out. And, when compared with Shopify, the price difference is minimal, so Wix isn’t the best switch if you’re looking for a more budget-friendly option.

❌ Slow loading times – While Wix performed better than Shopify in our site speed tests this year, Wix’s average loading time isn’t the best. For a more reliable builder, Hostinger has the fastest average site speed out of all the builders we’ve tested.

How Much Does Wix Cost?

Wix’s pricing offers three ecommerce plans, ranging from $29 to $159 per month (billed annually). Wix also has a free plan, which you can stay on forever, but you’ll need to upgrade to accept payments online. In comparison, Shopify limits users to a brief three-day free trial, which doesn’t feel like much time to get to grips with the builder.

How Does Wix Compare to Shopify?

⚖️ Wix comes with more tools to customize your store and make it your own than Shopify does. You’ll prefer it if you find Shopify’s block-based editor limiting and want more design options.

⚖️ Though Wix’s sales tools pale in comparison to Shopify’s, they are suitable for smaller businesses with fewer products to sell.

⚖️ If you need to save money, Wix might not be the right Shopify alternative for you. Wix’s Core plan, which comes with ecommerce capabilities, is $29 per month (billed annually), which is the same price as Shopify’s cheapest plan.

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Should you use Wix instead of Shopify?

Not only does Wix perform well in our ecommerce website builder research, sitting just behind Shopify, but it’s been our top-rated website builder overall for the last 10 years. From my testing, Wix is a great alternative to Shopify because of its user-friendly editor, customization options, and range of built-in features. Shopify can be an intimidating starting point for newer businesses, whereas Wix supports merchants at all points of the journey.

Emma Ryan Lead Writer

2. Squarespace: For Service-Based Businesses

Like Wix, Squarespace offers users both general website building tools and ecommerce functionality. But how does it differ from Shopify? Squarespace has the best templates and designs for online stores, helping you bring your business to life on the web. Its editor is much easier to use than Shopify’s, and I found it very intuitive to manage my test store from behind-the-scenes as well.

What I Like

✔️ Most stylish free templates for online stores – Squarespace has over 190 templates to choose from, which I could filter by industry type, such as “Photography” or “Restaurants”. I’m always impressed by the quality and freshness of Squarespace’s templates and think they’re a great starting point for any business.

✔️ Very easy to use editor – While Shopify uses a section-based editor, Squarespace relies on the easier drag-and-drop style, giving you lots of freedom when tweaking your store’s pages. I also love the grid framework provided by Squarespace, since this helps you align elements and sections.

✔️ Great value for money – Squarespace’s ecommerce plans are cheaper overall than Shopify’s and you get a lot of functionality for the price you pay. You can sell unlimited products from just $16 per month, whereas Shopify’s cheapest plan will set you back $29 per month.

✔️ Impressive booking tools – Squarespace has some of the best booking tools on the market with its Acuity Scheduling tool. At an additional cost starting from $16 per month, you can create new appointment types, set your business availability, and manage your bookings from your Squarespace dashboard.

What I Dislike

❌ Less scalability than Shopify – Squarespace’s ecommerce plans aren’t equipped to deal with complex inventories in the same way that Shopify’s plans are. Plus, you’re fairly limited in terms of features, since Squarespace provides a basic integration library with a few dozen third-party apps, whereas Shopify lets you add extra functionality via its app store with over 8,000 extra tools.

❌ High transaction fee on cheapest plan – Squarespace’s cheapest plan comes with a 2% transaction fee. And, while this does drop to 0% if you upgrade to either the Core, Plus, or Advanced plan, there’s no other option to minimize or erase the transaction fee on the cheaper Basic plan.

❌ Limited opportunities for in-person selling – Squarespace doesn’t provide POS integration for businesses looking to hybrid sell. In comparison, Shopify has its own POS system for merchants to use when selling in-person, which can seamlessly synchronize with any online sales.

How Much Does Squarespace Cost?

Squarespace’s pricing includes four plans that let you sell online, ranging from $16 to $99 per month (billed annually). The cheapest Basic plan ($16 per month) includes a 2% transaction fee, so I recommend skipping ahead to either the $23 per month Core plan to remove transaction fees and unlock the best sales features. Like Shopify, Squarespace doesn’t have a free plan, but Squarespace’s free trial lasts for two weeks.

How Does Squarespace Compare to Shopify?

⚖️ If you offer services, Squarespace is the best Shopify alternative thanks to its built-in Acuity Scheduling tool. You can easily set up one-off or repeat appointments with clients.

⚖️ Though Shopify’s online store designs are presentable, Squarespace’s designs are a step above. The designs are responsive, modern, and will impress any potential customers.

⚖️ Squarespace isn’t the best option for selling lots of products, since you will find yourself limited by its less scalable sales tools. Unlike Shopify, there are fewer sales apps to integrate with your store for extra functionality, and there’s no built-in POS integration for in-person selling.

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Should you use Squarespace instead of Shopify?

Squarespace’s high-quality templates and impressive scheduling tools make it a better ecommerce website builder for creatives and service-based businesses. While Shopify’s designs are incredible for stores, I’m always pretty disappointed to see a limited range of free options, whereas all of Squarespace’s templates are free.

Emma Ryan Lead Writer

3. Hostinger: For the Budget-Conscious

When comparing Hostinger and Shopify, Hostinger doesn’t prioritize online stores in the same way that Shopify does. But, while you won’t get the same quality of sales features and scalability as Shopify, Hostinger is the easiest ecommerce website builder I’ve tested. Its editor is simple, and the process of building an online store is hassle-free thanks to Hostinger’s AI tools.

What I Like

✔️ Cheapest starting prices to sell online – Hostinger has the most budget-friendly ecommerce plan for online stores. While its features are limited in comparison to Shopify, Shopify’s starting plan is over seven times more expensive. If you’re just selling a few products, Hostinger is a great affordable Shopify alternative.

✔️ Easiest ecommerce builder to use – Of all the ecommerce builders we’ve tested this year, Hostinger has the easiest editor to design with and the most intuitive backend to navigate. It took me less than an hour to build my store, add my products, and tweak all my settings.

✔️ Great suite of AI tools – Hostinger provides tons of AI support for businesses, from website creation to text generation. In fact, you can even use Hostinger’s AI tools to create product descriptions from scratch.

✔️ Best website performance – After extensive testing, Hostinger has better site speed than Shopify. This is a reassuring factor for business owners, since any delay or slow loading pages can result in potential customers leaving your site and turning to competitors instead.

What I Dislike

❌ Can only sell 1000 products in total – Hostinger’s single ecommerce plan is very basic in nature and is only really suitable for very small inventories. You can sell up to 1000 products on the plan, whereas Shopify lets you sell unlimited products (albeit at a higher price tag).

❌ Limited room to grow your business – Hostinger is missing basic features that are pretty essential for business owners. For example, there aren’t any email marketing tools, which makes it harder to engage with your target audience. And, with only the one ecommerce plan, your business could hit the ceiling quickly if you plan on scaling up and will need specialized features to better facilitate your growth.

❌ No app market – With Hostinger, you get what you get (and that isn’t much). Shopify’s app store boasts over 8,000 third-party integrations so you can add extra functionality to your online store, such as email automations and shipping features. Unfortunately, Hostinger doesn’t have an app market, so you’re limited to its built-in tools.

How Much Does Hostinger Cost?

Hostinger’s pricing ranges from $2.99 to $3.99 per month (for a 48-month term), but you’ll need the $3.99 Business Website Builder plan to sell online. This is the cheapest starting price out of all the Shopify alternatives, and a great option if you’re juggling a small budget or want to limit your expenses.

How Does Hostinger Compare to Shopify?

⚖️ When we tested website load speeds, we found that Hostinger webpages loaded faster than Shopify webpages. This is fantastic for your customers, since it ensures that they’ll have easy access to your product pages.

⚖️ Hostinger’s pricing, starting from $2.99 per month, is significantly cheaper than Shopify’s, which starts at $29 per month. If you find that running your Shopify store is too expensive, Hostinger will help you save cash.

⚖️ While it’s true that Hostinger’s pricing is affordable, it does lack powerful sales tools compared to Shopify. For example, you can only sell up to 1,000 products at any given time, which does limit high-volume stores.

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Should you use Hostinger instead of Shopify?

Hostinger’s sales features can’t compete when compared side-by-side with Shopify. For starters, Hostinger only lets you sell up to 1000 products, whereas there’s no limit with Shopify! That said, I do think Hostinger is a great Shopify alternative for tech novices, small businesses, and anyone selling on a budget, thanks to its incredibly cheap ecommerce plan, drag-and-drop editor, and time-saving AI tools. 

Emma Ryan Lead Writer

4. GoDaddy: For Social Marketing Tools

GoDaddy is the best Shopify alternative for businesses that prioritize social media marketing and need a simplified, budget-friendly setup. That said, GoDaddy’s ecommerce functionality is secondary to its website building tools, evident by GoDaddy’s single plan for selling.

Plenty of factors set GoDaddy apart from Shopify that make it a great alternative, particularly if your business is active on social media. Not only does it offer impressive built-in tools, such as GoDaddy Studio and GoDaddy Airo, but GoDaddy is also incredibly affordable and easy-to-use for new businesses.

What I Like

✔️ GoDaddy is simple to use, not confusing – GoDaddy uses the same style of editor as Shopify, where you can stack sections on top of one another, but GoDaddy keeps its editing tools very straightforward and easy to understand. Its simplicity is GoDaddy’s selling point, whereas Shopify’s editor can look a little scary to beginners.

✔️ GoDaddy Airo business support – You can depend on GoDaddy’s AI tool to help boost your online presence and support you with essential small business tasks. For example, you can ask Airo to generate product descriptions, design a business logo, carry out SEO basics, and even create email marketing campaigns.

✔️ Social media tools – GoDaddy has really impressed me during this year’s testing because of its improved social media features. You can grow your business on social media by using AI to create social media posts from scratch, schedule content in the social media calendar, and gain valuable insights directly from GoDaddy about good days to post and important events to remember.

✔️ Affordable ecommerce plan – GoDaddy is much cheaper than Shopify when it comes to its pricing. Plus, GoDaddy has a free plan, which is a great starting point to build your online store and get familiar with the platform ahead of upgrading.

What I Dislike

❌ Poor template options – Unfortunately, GoDaddy’s customization options are limited. Its AI builder creates pretty lackluster templates for your business, whereas Shopify’s new AI store setup tool creates multiple personalized templates based on a very short text prompt. And, GoDaddy’s section-based editor limits what you can do creatively.

❌ Basic features and sales tools – As I said before, GoDaddy delivers a simple and straightforward builder, which is great for beginners. However, it lacks the advanced functionality provided by Shopify to help grow your business, such as stock monitoring and a customizable checkout page.

❌ Unreliable help and support – While GoDaddy offers good contact options, such as phone and live chat support, it fell short in our tests in a few areas. Most notably, GoDaddy’s Help Center failed to answer or direct me to relevant guides on a few basic queries, and the human-monitored live chat isn’t as responsive as the AI-powered live chat offered by Shopify.

How Much Does GoDaddy Cost?

GoDaddy’s pricing is another cheap alternative to Shopify, but there’s only one ecommerce plan to choose: the Commerce plan, which costs $20.99 per month (billed annually). While it seems affordable on the surface, the price is actually quite steep for what GoDaddy includes in the package. For this reason, I’d only recommend GoDaddy for those specifically looking for social marketing tools or a simplified, stripped-back user experience.

How Does GoDaddy Compare to Shopify?

⚖️ Though Shopify has multiple social media integrations, GoDaddy shines with social tools that can help you ideate, create, and publish regular content.

⚖️ If you find Shopify confusing to use and would like more guidance, GoDaddy is a great alternative. When creating your store, you’ll have tutorials, a checklist, and other useful resources to follow.

⚖️ GoDaddy’s dashboard and editor is stripped-back and less intimidating than Shopify’s, though you won’t find the tools you need to manage a complex store. So, I wouldn’t switch from Shopify to GoDaddy if you’re managing a large inventory.

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Should you use GoDaddy instead of Shopify?

GoDaddy favors simplicity over advanced functionality, so it isn’t the most suitable for complex inventories or large businesses. I found its editor clunky to use and I wasn’t very impressed by the backend settings. However, GoDaddy’s social marketing tools are a real standout feature, and I think this is where it really shines in comparison to Shopify. So, if your business is focusing on customer engagement and product promotion, GoDaddy could be worth testing for yourself. 

Emma Ryan Lead Writer

How Do I Choose the Right Shopify Alternative for My Business?

The best way to choose an alternative to Shopify is identify what you really don’t like about Shopify in the first place. All of the builders I’ve mentioned on this list are featured because they provide something Shopify doesn’t, whether that’s cheaper plans or an easier editor. Choosing the right alternative is about figuring out and honing in on your business priorities.

Of course, there are some universal factors to consider when picking an ecommerce website builder:

• Is the website builder worth the money?
• Does it provide the sales features you need?
• Can you sell the products you want?
• Is there room to grow your business, or will you need to switch?
• Is it easy to use, no matter your skill level?

How Do I Migrate My Store From Shopify to an Alternative?

To migrate from Shopify to another ecommerce builder, you have three options: either manually downloading a CSV file, using an app, or hiring a professional.

• CSV file: With a CSV, you can download your customer data and product files directly from Shopify and transfer them to your new store. However, you’ll need to backup and transfer your website content (e.g. blog posts, photos, etc) yourself and re-design each page.
• App: You can find specialist apps online that’ll help you migrate your store to other platforms. That said, you many still need to manually tweak your store afterwards depending on the app you choose and its capabilities.
• Professional help: If you have the budget for it, having a professional migrate your store can reduce stress and provide a more seamless process.

How We Test Ecommerce Website Builders

Every Shopify alternative I’ve discussed has been rigorously tested and researched by our in-house research team and writers. At the beginning of each year, we carry out new hands-on testing and analysis to bring you accurate recommendations, based on seven key areas of investigation:

• Sales Features: 30%
• Design Features: 15%
• Help and Support: 15%
• Website Functionality: 15%
• User Experience: 10%
• Pricing: 10%
• Reputation: 5%

For this list, I used our up-to-date ecommerce rankings to determine the best alternatives to Shopify, based on their overall performance and standout features.

Final Verdict: Which Shopify Alternative Should You Pick?

Shopify is our top choice for online stores, but it won’t be the right fit for every business. To recap, here’s why I recommend each of these Shopify alternatives:

• Wix is a great all-in-one package for online stores
• Squarespace is better for service-based businesses
• Hostinger is the easiest and cheapest ecommerce builder
• GoDaddy has great social marketing tools

All of these alternatives have free trials or plans so you can test them out for yourself to see which is best for you, completely risk-free.

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Written By

Emma Ryan

Emma is Deputy Editor of MVF’s B2B brands, specializing in website builders, ecommerce, marketing, and vibe coding. Emma combines her wealth of knowledge and years of hands-on testing with a passion for helping small businesses and website owners navigate the highs and lows of being online. Her work has been featured in Newsweek, Digiday, TechRound, and Industry Today.

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Reviewed By

Oliver Simpson Senior Research Executive

After three years of refining his skills in data analysis, Oliver transitioned to a role as a researcher to help understand reader preferences, decision making factors, pain points, and needs when it comes to building an online presence.

Oliver’s professional journey started out as a researcher in law enforcement, where he developed strong analytical abilities. He later moved into operations, which strengthened his understanding of quantitative data.

Now, Oliver blends his quantitative analysis skills with qualitative research to explore both audience preferences and product nuances.

In his three years at Website Builder Expert, Oliver has used his skills to provide up to date, unbiased insights into the products we review, to help ensure the best possible recommendations for readers. Oliver regularly assesses and iterates our website builder research methodology, staying on top of industry trends, digging into platform features and UX, and prioritizing areas that matter most to business owners. This provides web builder and ecommerce rankings you can trust.

In 2025 alone, Oliver’s conducted over 100 hours of data collection across website builder and ecommerce testing, and investigated 283 individual areas in the ecommerce methodology. He’s overseen 54 individual user tests of website builders, to assess how easy they are to use, and compiled the data into clear ratings for each builder.

You’ll find Oliver’s research referenced across all of our key pages; our content team use it to determine the ranking orders of pages such as the Best Website Builders of 2025, or comparisons like Wix vs Squarespace. We don’t decide who “wins” on personal preference; Oliver’s thorough research clearly outlines which platforms are best for different user needs.

Equipped with a UX design diploma, Oliver translates complex research findings into actionable insights that facilitate informed decision-making.

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