Best Ecommerce Platforms for Small Businesses

Every year, we put market-leading ecommerce platforms through several rounds of hands-on testing against 300+ different criteria to find out who really comes out on top for small businesses. This time round, the best ecommerce platform for small businesses is Shopify.

Shopify's advanced inventory management features and smart AI text writing mean it's best suited to ambitious merchants eager to grow their business. But Shopify's ability to sync with online marketplaces leave a lot to be desired – plus it's not the cheapest solution.

With ecommerce sales now making up around 15% of total retail sales in the US, according to the United States Census Bureau, it's small wonder you're keen to sell online. The convenience and popularity of online shopping means there's more competition than ever to get your products on screens.

To help you make a decision quickly, we created an easy comparison of online store tools. And below, you’ll find a side-by-side summary of the top ecommerce platforms followed by individual reviews of each one. Read until the end for some more guidance about how and where to sell online.

Quick Comparison: Best Online Store Tools

1. Shopify: Best Overall

• Subscription pricing: Mid-to-high
• Transaction fees: Fairly high
• Ease of use: 3.5/5

Suited to: Ambitious Sellers with a Clear Business Plan

Shopify is a comprehensive online selling tool with a website builder – and we're impressed. The best feature of Shopify is that it will scale as your business grows. That means you'll start with a clean, well-presented shopfront and you can bulk import products as your catalog expands.

Who We Recommend Shopify For

Shopify is aimed at business-savvy merchants with a very clear business plan. If you've sourced your products, decided on your branding, and looking to scale up your sales, then Shopify has the sales features you need.

We recommend Shopify over BigCommerce for sellers with dozens of inventory storage spots. Why? Shopify can cope with up to 1,000 inventory locations (on all plans), whereas BigCommerce facilitates selling and distribution from just four, five or eight (depending on your plan). Wix has much weaker inventory management features than Shopify.

Connecting Marketplaces to Your Shopify Store

There are no native features to connect your Shopify store with any of the main online marketplaces. Exceptions are Facebook and Instagram marketplaces as well as a wholesale option called Handshake. For any of the others, you'll have to connect an app, which comes with monthly fees. For instance, to connect Etsy, you'll have to pay $19 per month to synch up to 20,000 products.

Unfortunately, third-party apps can present difficulties with functionality, because Shopify cannot help you when these go wrong. We've seen many Shopify community discussions between 2019-2023 trying to find workarounds when Amazon apps stop working.

Shopify's AI Features

This year Shopify released its AI writing tool Shopify Magic, which we found effective in crafting creative prose for our product descriptions. While Wix has a similar AI text generator, it doesn't offer the same range of tones of voice as Shopify's tool.

Similarly, the AI chatbot assistant in the help center was quick and mostly effective at answering my questions about setting up additional sales channels. Its comprehension was not perfect, for instance, it couldn't understand that the Amazon by Shopify app was no longer supported. Instead, it repeated (outdated) instructions for downloading that very app.

Shopify Pricing

Here's an overview of Shopify's pricing plans:

In terms of costs, Shopify pricing is not the most generous on the market – in fact, the free trial period is now just three days. Although it offers a really accessible entry price point (its Starter plan is $5 monthly), that comes with 5% transaction fees when you're signed up to Shopify Payments. And you'll likely need apps with – you guessed it – more monthly fees.

You'll have to pay transaction fees and payment processing fees for every sale across all plans. That's not the case with Square or BigCommerce. This places Shopify on the pricey end of the ecommerce platform scale.

That said, it's not without its advantages. Overall, its tier structure, while not exactly cheap, is very clear on what each tier gets you. In our Woocommerce vs Shopify comparison, we noted how Woocommerce's lack of priced tiers make it harder to budget for when compared to Shopify, for example.

We've gone into more detail in our Shopify review, in case you're still undecided. Otherwise read on for more options.

2. Wix: Best for Bookings and Services

• Subscription pricing: Mid-to-lower end
• Transaction fees: Just the standard credit card rates
• Ease of use: 4/5

Suited to: Services-Based Business Leaders

Wix tops our website builder list thanks to the wide range of features, but dips into second place when we consider its sales platform. The reason is its selling features are slightly less generous – Wix limits the number of transactions with automated sales tax, for instance.

Who We Recommend Wix For

Wix is a good all-rounder platform that's suited to a wide range of business users. It's not so complicated that only seasoned professionals can use it – we'd comfortably recommend this for beginners with very little web design or even commerce experience. You'll get more design control than GoDaddy, but it's not as complicated to configure as WordPress/WooCommerce.

AI-Assisted Store Set-Up

We're excited about Wix's use of AI, such as the text generator to speed up content creation. AI assists in the set up process too, with Wix suggesting features you'll need based on your industry.

Here are some examples:

• If you run a restaurant: table reservations, food delivery, menu listings
• Hotel managers: season-specific room pricing, list add-on services at extra cost
• Fitness enthusiast: bookings (in person or online) via Wix Fit, subscriber-only content,  automated reminders
• Creative professionals: membership areas with paywall content, video streaming

Wix is better for the services industry compared to Square, because the latter isn't set up for paid members-only pages.

Wix Pricing

Wix offers a 14-day free trial period on its premium plans, of which there are three ecommerce-specific options:

Wix is very similar in pricing to Squarespace, with Squarespace Business costing $23 per month (compared with Wix Core at $27 per month). But Wix could prove cheaper as Squarespace charges 3% transaction fees on its Business plan, whereas Wix charges no equivalent fees.

We've created a Wix pricing page if you want to look more closely at costs.

3. BigCommerce: Lowest Transaction Fees

• Subscription pricing: Good range of options
• Transaction fees: PayPal (via Braintree) only
• Ease of use: 3.3/5

Suited to: Product Retailers with a Large Customer Base

If your products are popular with everyday shoppers across Amazon, eBay, Walmart, Facebook, and Instagram, then BigCommerce is a convenient platform to manage orders from all of these streams. With Shopify, you'd need to install apps (at extra cost) to achieve the same multichannel sales set up.

But the best bonus of all has to be the lack of transaction fees across major payment providers.

Another advantage of BigCommerce is the opportunity to speak with its web platform experts on its easily accessible phone line. That means it's much easier to access customer support on BigCommerce than it is on Wix (you'd need to request a callback through a customer service ticket on the latter).

Who We Recommend BigCommerce For

It has to be said BigCommerce is really aimed at larger sales operations or businesses that are looking to scale up in the near future. Its unlimited products and file storage space are clearly intended for thousands, not hunreds, of products.

The lowest priced Standard plan ($29 per month, paid annually) isn't great value for money, as it's missing some key features such as abandoned cart recovery, which is included with all Shopify plans (even its $5 Starter plan). You should aim for a budget of minimum $100 per month to invest in BigCommerce.

BigCommerce Pricing

You get a generous 15-day free trial when you sign up to BigCommerce for the first time. Here are the price plans:

BigCommerce pricing is very similar to Shopify's: both have a plan for $29 per month and one for $299 per month. Yet Shopify charges more transaction fees than BigCommerce, making the latter a more affordable option for many retailers.

But this will depend on the payment gateway you choose, because Shopify Payments removes Shopify's transaction fees (though credit card processing fees still apply).

Still, BigCommerce charges processing fees between 2.59% + $0.49 and 2.05% + $0.49 under its Braintree pre-negotiated rates.

4. Square: Best Free Plan

• Subscription pricing: Affordable
• Transaction fees: Industry standard
• Ease of use: 3.9/5

Suited to: Small-to-Medium Sellers and Local Businesses

You'll likely have seen Square's sleek white card readers at bars and stores in your neighborhood. It's a popular choice of payment terminal, likely due to its very low cost basic hardware. Its website builder product is affordable too – you can sign up to sell online with no monthly subscription fees on the Square Free plan.

This September, Square launched AI-generated product descriptions, which help you to publish your new product pages faster. That's a really valuable time-saver, and means you won't have to spend time and money on professional copywriters each time you want to launch a new product range.

Who We Recommend Square For

Square is ideal for entrepreneurs and small business leaders who sell in person as well as online. For instance, if you picture yourself selling through your website, but also attending festivals, events, and perhaps selling at a brick-and-mortar location, Square is a good choice.

The Square POS (point of sale) hardware devices are, admittedly, an additional expense. However, Square's ability to offer a very wide range of payment options for your customers is a big pull-factor.

Square's Limited Free Plan

The drawback of the Free plan is the basic nature of the editing tools. You won't have as much design customization as you would with Square Plus. And you'll have Square-branded adverts on your site.

But given how speedy, slick and clear Square's free website builder is, we have little to complain about here.

Widening Sales Features for Local and National Sellers

Square has recently launched improvements to Square for Retail’s checkout including the addition of a “buy online, pick up in-store” option. We really love that, across all price plans, you can opt for a courier to come straight to your location as soon as a sale goes through.

Shipping is now more streamlined, thanks to a refreshed Shipments Page, from which vendors can manage online, in-store, and subscription order fulfilment.

However, Square is not the best for international sellers. For $79 a month you can subscribe to either Square Premium or BigCommerce Plus – but only BigCommerce stores accept payments in multiple currencies.

Square Pricing

Square has three price plans to choose from:

Square's premium price plans are good value for money, in our eyes. At just $29 per month, Square Plus will send personalized product recommendations to your customers (if they're logged in). Customers will also get order status text alerts. That's a surprisingly affordable price point for such a personalized customer experience. By contrast, BigCommerce doesn't even allow for product filtering on your site until the $299 a month (paying annually) Pro plan.

Square's simple pricing structure (monthly subscription fee + set fee per transaction) is also much easier to understand than Shopify's multi-layered payment fee structure.

That said, you should be aware of the following payment processing fees with Square:

• AfterPay (you get the full amount upfront, but the customer pays in installments): 6% + 30¢ per transaction fee
• Cash App (digital wallet): 2.9% + 30c per transaction fee
• PayPal: 3.49% + 49¢ per transaction fee
• Google Pay/Apple Pay (via Square Payments): 2.9% + 30¢ per transaction fee

5. Squarespace: Best Looking Online Stores

• Subscription pricing: Lower end
• Transaction fees: Reasonable
• Ease of use: 4.2/5

Suited to: Artists, Creatives, and Visually-Driven Brands

Squarespace works well as a portfolio website, showcasing the aesthetics of your brand with classy web design. Think of your Squarespace website as a virtual art gallery: lots of white space, few features, and impeccable taste.

Who We Recommend Squarespace For

Squarespace is best suited to creative professionals such as photographers, artists, content creators, and high-end wellness or luxury brands. We appreciate Squarespace for its aesthetically appealing web designs, and recommend it for portfolio-based selling.

Squarespace's Lovely Editing Process

Using Squarespace, editing your web design is a really pleasant experience, and feels much smoother than using Shopify, GoDaddy or Square. Unlike most website editors we've tested (see our GoDaddy review for comparison), you can actually move every text box or image to the precise position you'd like.

Squarespace updated its editing experience this year so that a grid appears in the background when you click and drag design elements. This makes it easy to line them up evenly with others on the page.

Squarespace Pricing

There are four Squarespace price plans to choose from, all of which are relatively low cost compared with the larger platforms Shopify and BigCommerce:

You may have noticed Squarespace pricing is similar to Wix, and they're near competitors because of their focus on design and style. You wouldn't come to either for complex inventory management and warehouse services, for instance.

Both Squarespace Commerce Basic and Wix Core cost $27 per month, but with Wix you'll get 5 hours of video storage versus 30 minutes with Squarespace. You'll also get slightly better selling features from Wix at this price point, including abandoned cart recovery emails, applying discounts automatically, and the ability to accept pre-orders.

But if you want to sell more than 50,000 products, you should choose Squarespace over Wix. And if product reviews are important to you, Squarespace is the better choice once again, as Wix limits these.

How To Choose the Best Ecommerce Platform for Your Business

The best ecommerce platform for Staples (a brand that happens to use Shopify) isn't necessarily the best choice for you. Here are the factors you should bear in mind when it comes to selecting an online selling tool:

• Selling location – Wix is better for digital sales, but Square is easy to connect with in-person selling
• Fee structure – Shopify has several payment fees, whereas Square has one
• Level of technical skill needed – Wix is on the easy side, whereas WordPress/WooCommerce is harder
• International selling capability – BigCommerce supports multiple currencies, Squarespace doesn't

After you've identified those key features of your business plan, you can move forward with selecting an ecommerce platform. We've gone into more detail about which type of user each tool is best suited to, in the reviews below.

What's the Difference Between an Online Marketplace and an Ecommerce Platform?

It's easy to get confused about the different types of online selling platforms. But the differences matter. A lot. An online marketplace is owned by a company, and shoppers can buy from many different sellers who list their goods there. By contrast, an ecommerce platform is a tool you can use to build your own online store, and yours are the only goods or services for sale on that website.

Here are the different examples:

As you can see, the marketplace sites (also confusingly known as ecommerce sites), are akin to a shopping mall where you can choose to enter a number of different stores. But the ecommerce platforms are the online version of your physical store.

Should I Use an Ecommerce Platform or Online Marketplace?

Honestly, there's nothing stopping you from using both. But if you do, you'll need to ensure you synch your inventory across all of your online sales channels. That way you'll avoid a situation where you can't fulfil orders from your website because you've already sold out on eBay.

Let's quickly look at the differences between using an ecommerce platform versus an online marketplace:

The main points of difference are the cost to you (the seller) and product visibility. Let's look at each of those.

Costs of Ecommerce Platforms vs Online Marketplaces

The main costs of ecommerce platforms are the monthly subscription fee (although Square Online has a free plan), which online marketplaces typically do not charge. Almost all ecommerce platforms charge payment processing fees (except, again, Square Online, which instead charges a flat fee for its premium monthly plans).

Online marketplaces typically take a commission per sale – some ecommerce platforms do this as well, such as Shopify. This is what makes Shopify a pretty expensive ecommerce platform. Some online marketplaces charge a listing fee – eBay and Etsy do this. However, ecommerce platforms do not charge such a fee.

You can also pay extra to “boost” visibility of your product listing on an online marketplace. On platforms like eBay, you are charged only when a click on a paid placement leads to a sale. On Etsy, however, you are charged per click no matter if the viewer buys your item or not. A model like this can cause you to lose out on profit per sale. However, promoted listings can draw in shoppers to browse the rest of your store.

Product Visibility on Ecommerce Platforms vs Online Marketplaces

The supposed advantage of listing your products on marketplaces like Amazon is that buyers are already searching there. Therefore your products should automatically get lots of visibility from eager buyers. But if that were entirely true, there wouldn't be any need for paid marketplace listings (described in the section above).

Therefore listing your products on a third-party marketplace is certainly no guarantee of better visibility for your wares.

With an ecommerce platform, SEO strategy is vital. That means you need to set your website up well enough that search engines pull in your product pages. However, you may also want to promote your ecommerce store with pay-per-click ads on Google, Bing, Ecosia or other search providers.