Best e-commerce platform 2023 – Top 10 ecommerce platforms

There are a lot of ecommerce platforms. And as all of them promise great things, it can be very difficult to know which is the best ecommerce platform for you. That is where I hope I’m able to help you. On this page I introduce in my opinion the 10 best ecommerce platforms in 2023.

#1 Shopify – best ecommerce platform

Shopify is in my experience a nearly perfect combination of being relatively easy to use but allowing you to create an awesome, professional online store. Then on top of those things, this platform has in my experience a simply great customer service.

Shopify has plans starting from $5/month, but if you want to build a proper ecommerce store you will have to opt at least for a plan that costs $29+taxes/month with an annual subscription and $39+taxes/month with a monthly subscription. As those might seem like quite significant prices, it should be nice to know that at least at the time of writing this, Shopify gives new users 3-day free trial and maybe importantly you can get first 3 months for $1+taxes/month. Try Shopify for free.

#2 Squarespace – simple, but quite good ecommerce platform

There are a lot of different kinds of ecommerce businesses. And if you plan to run a business that sells a small selection of products for which how they look is important, then Squarespace might be the perfect ecommerce solution for you. That is as this platform has ecommerce templates that make it easy to properly showcase the beauty of a small number of different products. A possible downside with Squarespace is that it doesn’t allow for as much customization as, for example, Shopify. Squarespace gives new users a 14-day free trial and the with an annual subscription the cheapest ecommerce fit plan costs $23/month and with a monthly subscription the same plan costs $33/month. Try Squarespace for free.

#3 WooCommerce – best for WordPress sites

WooCommerce is a bit different ecommerce platform. They way this platform works is that you need to have a website created with WordPress publishing platform and then you can add WooCommerce as a plugin to it, following which you can create an online store with WooCommerce.

Maybe the biggest benefit with WooCommerce is that it allows for a lot of customization. Despite of that, this is not a particularly difficult to use ecommerce platform. Both WordPress and WooCommerce are in itself free but you need web hosting to be able to use them. You can either go with a regular web hosting or you can buy hosting meant spesifically for WooCommerce. If you want to go with the second option, Hostinger might be a good place to buy hosting from. Buy WooCommerce hosting from Hostinger.

#4 BigCommerce – good for technically advanced store owners

BigCommerce is not the world easiest ecommerce platform to use. However, it can be a very good platform if you have some technical skills. That is as this platform makes it possible to do a lot of customization if you know what you are doing. BigCommerce seems to focus mainly on attracting enterprise-level customers, but it can also be used by small businesses. A possible downside with choosing BigCommerce is that all their regular plans have a limit on how much revenue you can generate in a 12 month period before you need to upgrade to a more expensive plan or pay more to continue to use the plan. None of the platforms mentioned on this page before BigCommerce have that type of sales limit.

The cheapest regular plan at BigCommerce costs $39+taxes/month with a monthly subscription and $29+taxes/month with an annual subscription. BigCommerce gives new customers a 15-day free trial. Try BigCommerce for free.

#5 Ecwid – free for tiny stores

Ecwid is not a particularly advanced ecommerce platform, but it can be great if you are looking to sell a particularly small selection of products. That is this platform is free to use if you are selling at most a selection 5 products and additionally Ecwid is quite easy to use. A possible additional benefit with choosing Ecwid is that you can use it to either create a completely new ecommerce business site or to add ecommerce to some existing sites. Go to Ecwid.

#6 Hostinger Builder – easy-to-use to and affordable

Hostinger has a website builder that can be used also for building an online store. It can in my opinion be particularly good to ecommerce beginners. That is as the builder is easy to use and available for a per month price of less than $4 if you go with at least a 12-month subscription. Unfortunately, Hostinger does not offer a free trial or even a limited version of the platform to try for free. Open Hostinger account.

#7 Shift4Shop – possibly free for US store owners

Discussing Shift4Shop can be a bit challenging as how good this platform is, depends to a large extent on if you are from the US or not. That is as those US-based store owners who sell at least $500 worth in a month using the platform owner’s payment solution, Shift4 Payments, can use this platform for free. That is a pretty good offer as this is a decently good ecommerce platform. However, unfortunately if you are not able to use this platform for free, then the cost is at least $29/month. Open Shift4Shop account.

#8 Wix – fast for creating an online store

If you are just looking for a particularly quick to create a decent online store, Wix can be a good choice. That is as Wix has streamlined the process of getting the initial store design done. Then if you want, you can spend more time making the design better. A possible downside with Wix is that it is not a particularly advanced ecommerce solution. You can try Wix for free and when paying it can be used for ecommerce for less than $30/month.

#9 PinnacleCart – a simple ecommerce platform

If you are just looking for a traditional ecommerce platform, PinnacleCart can be worth considering. That is this platform is not overly difficult to use and their themes are quite basic. What makes this platform possibly a more attractive option than it might otherwise be, is the fact that they offer a free plan for those who use a payment solution recommended by the platform. If you don’t use that payment solution the usual prices start from $79.95/month, which is not cheap compared to the other ecommerce platforms mentioned on this page.

#10 Volusion – nothing special

Volusion is an okay ecommerce platform. It is not particularly great, but it is not a particularly flawed product either. That maybe makes it the perfect number 10 on this list of top 10 ecommerce platforms. Volusion gives new customers a 14-day free trial and the cheapest plan costs $35/month when paying month-to-month and $31.50/month when choosing an annual subscription. Volusion has a revenue limit on its regulars plans as well as product number limit on its two cheapest plans.

What is the best value ecommerce platform?

As Shopify is quite affordable and extremely good, it is in my opinion the best value ecommerce platform. The second best value ecommerce platform might be Ecwid, as it is quite good and offers a free plan. Although the latter only for stores with a very limited selection of products.

What ecommerce platform should I use?

The first thing you should ask yourself is how much time you want to spend on creating your store. If you just want to get the store done as quickly as possible, I would recommend going with Squarespace, Hostinger Builder or Wix. However, if you are willing to spend more time then Shopify is likely the best choice.

The second thing you should think about is what type of products and how big selection you are looking to sell. If you are looking to sell a small selection of products for which how they look is particularly important then Squarespace might be the best ecommerce platform for you. And on the other hand, if you are looking to sell a large selection of products for which how they look is not important, then BigCommerce or Shopify might be the choice.

And finally you should think about how much money you are willing to spend. If you are not willing to spend more than $100 on getting your store ready then it is likely best to go with Hostinger Builder. On the other hand, if you have more flexibility in your budget, then going with the best overall ecommerce platform, Shopify, is likely the best idea.

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