Top 10 Best eCommerce Platforms Free, Paid & Compared 2024

This comparison guide will take a look at the top 10 eCommerce platforms and how to evaluate which is best for your business needs.

Starting an eCommerce business is exciting. You get to choose your business name, create your logo and branding, and build your website. And while it’s easy to consider your needs now, it’s also important to think about where your business is heading and what other tools you’ll need in the future.

What is an eCommerce Platform?

An e-commerce platform is software that enables the commercial process of buying and selling over the internet.

An eCommerce platform needs a search feature that lets customers find a specific product, a cart feature that lets them manage their order, and a payment feature.

A company can choose to use an eCommerce solution hosted by an eCommerce provider like Shopify and delivered through the cloud, or they can host a custom eCommerce platform on their premises.

Mistakes companies make include not figuring out their goals in advance, not choosing the best eCommerce platform for their needs, and not paying attention to security regulations.

10 Best eCommerce Platforms with Comparison

1. Shopify

#1 Global Ecommerce Platform

Shopify is an all-in-one, specialized global eCommerce platform that has been powering businesses of all sizes to start, grow, and market their online stores. Shopify has seen tremendous growth in the past few years and in 2018 saw growth 3 times more than that of its competitors. With eCommerce adoption growing rigorously and more retailers moving to e-commerce platforms amidst the pandemic, Shopify Inc.’s revenue nearly doubled in the latest quarter.

Shopify eCommerce Platform Facts

• Shopify has generated over $543 billion in sales during its 16 years of operation — with 2022 likely to see half a trillion dollars in total sales made through the platform.
• Mobile optimization is important on Shopify: 82% of its traffic is from mobile devices.
• Shopify had more than 90 million visits in 2022. Shopify possesses 10% of the global ecommerce platform market. The average order value on Shopify is $85.
• Shopify’s annual revenue estimate for 2021 is $4.612B billion.
• The average visitor spends over 3 minutes on Shopify and visits more than 6 stores.
• Shopify had their billionth order in 2018.
• The average Shopify conversion rate is 1.6% and Shopify has over 10,000 staff working on the platform
• Almost 4 million ecommerce sites are built with Shopify.

Shopify Advantages

• Quick & easy to set up & use
• No tech worries
• Secure & reliable
• 24/7 customer support
• Mobile ready
• Abandoned cart recovery
• Own payment gateway

Disadvantages

• Less Customizability
• No Access to Email Hosting

2. WooCommerce (WordPress Plugin)

Best-known ecommerce plugin for eCommerce

WooCommerce is the most widely used and best-known ecommerce plugin for WordPress. Its integration offers great SEO for ecommerce websites. It is free and open-source, so you can make unlimited customizations. WordPress with WooCommerce will give you the support of the large open-source community.

You can add the WooCommerce plugin on any WordPress site to create a store. You get secure payments and configurable shipping options right out of the box.

WooCommerce eCommerce Platform Facts

• Over 5,106,506 live websites are using WooCommerce.
• WooCommerce plugin is downloaded at least 30,000 times every day from WordPress.org.
• 8.7% of all the websites use WooCommerce.
• If all WooCommerce stores formed a country, its revenue would be greater than 35% of the world’s countries
• WooCommerce is the leading eCommerce platform with 23.43% of the market share worldwide.
• The CodeCanyon Marketplace has over 3000 WooCommerce plugins
• WooCommerce plugin available on WordPress supports 66 languages

Advantages

• Free WordPress Plugin
• Great Flexibility
• Limitless Customization Options
• Advanced WooCommerce

Disadvantages

• Outdated Plugins and Themes can be hackable
• Speed loading if Code not optimized
• Test first, then update!

3. Wix

Create websites and online store

Wix is a platform that allows you to create websites and online shops. This is something to consider before you evaluate the Wix platform as an eCommerce platform.

Wix is a website building tool. It’s great if you don’t have any technical knowledge and want an all-in one package. It is a drag-and-drop website creator that is very easy to use. Wix doesn’t require you to be a programmer.
There are over 800 professionally-designed templates available for you to use, but you cannot change templates without redesigning the site.

Wix eCommerce Platform Facts

• Wix powers over 600,000 e-commerce stores.
• Over 22 million mobile sites use Wix.
• ach day, 45,000 new WiX users log on.
• Over 44,000 apps are downloaded daily from the Wix App Market.
• 2.3% of all websites had WiX installed by May 2022.

Advanatages

• Easy and intuitive interface
• Over 800 templates available and the possibility to create your own
• server, updates, and a domain without additional costs for one year
• You’re not Bound by Long Term Plans

Disadvantages

• Free plan forces Wix branding
• It doesn’t provide the necessary security for your customers’ or business’ data
• No systems are set up to optimise the loading time of your online shop
• Once the website goes live, you cannot change the template.
• Templates not interchangeable

4. BigCommerce

Leading cloud eCommerce platform

BigCommerce, a leading cloud eCommerce platform is ideal for established and growing businesses. Big Commerce combines enterprise functionality with market-leading performance and an open architecture and ecosystem. This allows businesses to increase their online sales by around 80% in less time, cost and complexity than traditional on-premise software.

BigCommerce, an open SaaS platform for eCommerce, is the leader of a new era in eCommerce. BigCommerce offers endless possibilities for you to innovate, grow, and develop. BigCommerce enhances B2B eCommerce for over 60,000+ small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs), approximately 2,000 mid-market businesses and industry-leading brands.

BigCommerce eCommerce Platform Facts

• BigCommerce powers around 60,000 stores
• 0.4% of all websites are built with BigCommerce. Looking only at hosted-ecommerce solutions
• BigCommerce market share covers 150+ countries
• BigCommerce’s revenue grew by 36% in 2020 and kept growing in 2021
• BigCommerce’s market share outlook in 2022 and beyond

Advantages

• The ability to sell unlimited products
• The choice of 12 free templates
• Search engine optimization (SEO) tools
• The ability to tweak CSS and HTML
• Integration with a library of third-party apps

Disadvantages

• Annual Sales Threshold
• Limited Free Themes
• Yearly sales threshold
• No email marketing tools

5. PrestaShop

An open-source ecommerce platform

PrestaShop Are you looking for an open-source ecommerce platform that is free to start your online store? PrestaShop may be the right choice for you. This PrestaShop review will examine its features and answer any questions you may have about the solution.

Do you want to open-source ecommerce software that will allow you to create an online store? PrestaShop could be the right platform for you. This PrestaShop review will examine its features and answer any questions you may have about the solution. PrestaShop has recently launched the PrestaShop Ready edition, which is their Software as a Service or hosted option. This version is not open-source, but you have more control over the code to customize it.

PrestaShop eCommerce Platform Facts

• YouTube is used by 11.8% of PrestaShop stores.
• Facebook is used by 46.8% of PrestaShop stores.
• Google Tag Manager is used by 26.1% of PrestaShop stores.
• Instagram is used by 33.5% of PrestaShop stores.
• Google Analytics is used by 46.0% of PrestaShop stores.

Advanatages

• Ease of use
• Store customization
• Product creation
• Google rich snippets
• Payment processing
• Customer relationship management
• Legal support
• Integrations and add-ons

Disadvantages

• Limited scalability
• Unprofessional design
• No official support team

6. Magento (Adobe Commerce)

Launch, manage, and scale your business confidently

Magento ecommerce can be a great option if you’re looking for an e-commerce platform that works. What is Magento? And why should you use it. This article will provide all the answers to your questions. Let’s get started!

Multi-channel commerce for B2B or B2C customers can be built on one platform. Our future-proof technology allows you to build a commerce platform that is flexible, extensible, and scalable.

Adobe Commerce offers powerful tools that will allow you to launch, manage, and scale your business confidently. This includes the ability to host multiple instances and cloud deployments on one platform, as well as native integrations with Adobe products such Analytics, Target, Experience Manager, and Creative Cloud to take personalisation to the next step.

Magento Facts

• Magento powers 2.3% of the eCommerce stores worldwide
• Magento handles $155 billion transactions every year
• Magento is downloaded 5000 times every day
• 10.39% of the Magento stores are based on Lifestyle industry
• There are more than 3500 Magento extensions available on Marketplace

Advantages

• Product management
• Open source – Highly customization
• Easy multi-platform integration
• SEO friendly
• Customer service & International support
• Order Management

Disadvantages

• Complexity
• Cost of development
• takes longer than customisation of other eCommerse platforms

7. Squarespace

eCommerce platform that anyone can use

Squarespace is a eCommerce platform that anyone can use. Squarespace has been discussed by everyone, from influencers who want to build a stronger online presence to ecommerce store owners. There are not many resources that provide all the details about Squarespace and how it can benefit your business.

All you have to do to get started is to create an account and choose a template. Then you can begin editing the website to meet your needs. Squarespace’s beautiful design options have made Squarespace a popular website builder in the eCommerce and selling industry.

Squarespace Facts

• The United States accounts for 70.7% of Squarespace users.
• Squarespace now employs over 1,640 highly skilled professionals.
• Squarespace is responsible for 1.7% of all websites on the Internet.
• Squarespace had $1 million annual sales by the time Casalena graduated in 2007.

Advantages

• The backend design is easy to use.
• It’s an all-in-one platform.
• Squarespace is offered in a bundled approach.

Disadvantages

• There is no phone support.
• Pricing is more expensive
• Editing and adding content can sometimes be difficult
• verall lack of advanced marketing tools
• No support for third-party apps, plugins, or extensions

8. Weebly

eCommerce platform makes it easy to create a website and merchandize products

Weebly’s eCommerce platform makes it easy to create a website and merchandize products. Rich product descriptions can be created with videos and slideshows. You can easily reorder products to maximize visual appeal. Your products can be easily shared by shoppers on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.

Weebly Ecommerce can be used by small- to medium-sized online shops that wish to quickly start selling online. It doesn’t require complicated setups or ongoing maintenance. It’s easy to use for both beginners and experienced users who don’t want too many technical details.

Weebly Facts

• It only took 2 years to grow to a million users
• You can try Weebly for free
• 7th most popular in India in Hosted Solution category in India

Advantages

• Drag & drop editor
• eCommerce integration
• Beginner-friendly templates
• Responsive themes
• Blogging functions

Disadvantages

• Design limitations
• Customer service
• Visitor statistics

9. 3dcart

Everything you need to build your online store

3dcart provides everything you need to create an online store, from real-time shipping and payment options. The best ecommerce platform to increase sales and visitors. 3dcart’s all in one software is designed for serious internet marketers. It features mobile-ready themes and the latest SEO standards.

3dcart’s rich features in SEO will increase your online store’s visibility and rank higher on search engines. This will also help you to get more traffic. 3dcart’s design tools allow you to create the look that you want for your store. You can choose from hundreds of optimized themes, and you are ready to go.

3dcart Facts

• Everything you need to build your online store
• 1 eCommerce Software 2018 Best Shopping Cart
• 20 Years in Business Experience

Advantages

• Ease of Use
• Themes and Design
• Upsell and cross-sell your products
• Order Fulfillment and Customer Relationships

Disadvantages

• Themes and Design
• Usability
• Price can be listed as both a benefit and a drawback.

10. OpenCart

Top-rated open-source e-commerce platform

Are you looking for an open-source e-commerce platform with hundreds of themes and thousands of add-ons? OpenCart is the best eCommerce platform that will help you decide if it is right for you.

OpenCart is an open-source ecommerce platform that can be customized with no monthly fees. The administrator dashboard gives you a quick overview of key metrics such as sales and customers.

OpenCart, like many ecommerce platforms is customizable and extensible. You can customize your site with more than 13,00 themes and modules.

These shops look professional and scale well. They also provide admins with many features, including support for more than 20 payment methods. OpenCart is arguably more user-friendly than osCommerce and has a much more elegant appearance.

OpenCart Facts

• OpenCart stores increased 8.0% quarter-over-quarter in 2022 Q3.
• Instagram is used by 18.2% of OpenCart stores.
• Facebook is used by 22.7% of OpenCart stores.
• Twitter is used by 6.8% of OpenCart stores.
• Google Tag Manager is used by 28.8% of OpenCart stores.
• Google Analytics is used by 30.6% of OpenCart stores.
• Cloudflare CDN is used by 12.7% of OpenCart stores.

Advantages

• Easy multi-user management
• Multi-store
• Affiliate system
• Discounts and coupons
• OpenCart 3 works in more than 40 languages

Disadvantages

• Doesn’t offer many templates
• Has fewer plugins than other self-hosted platforms
• Pre-set shipping methods cannot be modified