Selling goods and services online is easier than it’s ever been, and it shows – revenue from the United States e-commerce industry is forecasted to exceed $1 trillion for the first time in 2024. This number had yet to reach $500 billion in 2018 and helps demonstrate the rapid growth of e-commerce in the U.S. over the last half-decade in particular.
Helping people all over the U.S. and the world start selling online are the various platforms that allow you to build and publish your own online store in minutes. While there are few truly “free” e-commerce platforms – many only offer free trials or free store-building while only offering selling behind a paywall – it’s not impossible to keep costs to a minimum. Our experts have reviewed free plans from some of the best e-commerce providers of 2024 on the market to find the best ones for your business.
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Best free e-commerce websites
- Shift4Shop: Best for integrated payment processing.
- OpenCart: Best for third-party integrations.
- Square Online: Best for physical shop owners selling online.
- Weebly: Best for startups.
- Big Cartel: Best for creatives.
- PrestaShop: Best for small businesses with tech experience.
- Ecwid: Best for plugging into existing websites.
Why trust our small business experts
Our team of experts evaluates hundreds of business products and analyzes thousands of data points to help you find the best product for your situation. We use a data-driven methodology to determine each rating. Advertisers do not influence our editorial content. You can read more about our methodology below.
- 15 companies reviewed.
- 39 products reviewed.
- 2,028 data points analyzed.
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Best free e-commerce platforms comparison
We extensively research the key competitors within an industry to determine the best products and services for your business. Our experts identify the factors that matter most to business owners, including pricing, features and customer support, to ensure that our recommendations offer well-rounded products that will meet the needs of various small businesses.
We collect extensive data to narrow our best list to reputable, easy-to-use products with stand-out features at a reasonable price point. And we look at user reviews to ensure that business owners like you are satisfied with our top picks’ services. We use the same rubric to assess companies within a particular space so you can confidently follow our blueprint to the best free e-commerce platforms of 2024.
The best e-commerce platform has positive user reviews on customer review sites. E-commerce platforms should provide customers with fast and reliable support. Using a combination of phone support, live chat and knowledge bases, customers should be able to quickly resolve issues 24/7.
E-commerce platforms should provide businesses with the necessary tools to effectively run an online business. Platforms should be affordable compared to competitors. Expanding on easy-to-use website building tools, e-commerce platforms should combine payment processing capabilities with a robust set of online sales features.
All e-commerce platforms should allow online businesses to manage inventory, sell physical and digital products and offer services to customers. A network of integrations should be offered to integrate accounting, client relationship management (CRM), dropshipping services and omnichannel selling tools. Built-in tax and shipping calculators should be provided along with abandoned cart recovery tools to ensure a smooth checkout experience for customers. And mobile apps should make it easy for business owners to view transactions, reports and analytics. Finally, email marketing tools and social media integrations should be provided to help businesses capture prospects and turn them into sales.
What is an e-commerce platform and how does it work?
An e-commerce platform is software that functions as a content management system (CMS) and online shop, allowing you to sell goods and services and accept payments over the Internet. While the specifics will vary between platforms, most will allow customers to find products, store them in a cart and pay by card to complete their order.
Some platforms allow you to build your own customized website and sell your products through it, while others offer a more basic online store page on their own website. Some also offer other features alongside an online shop, such as invoicing and accounting, payment processing and security. When it comes to finding a free e-commerce platform, this usually means you’ll be able to have a free trial or enjoy access to limited features before paying for full functionality.
Benefits of an e-commerce platform
If you’re a beginner to e-commerce, whether you’re new to selling or you already have a physical shop, you might be wondering what advantages there are to using one of these platforms. Here are the main benefits of using an e-commerce platform for your business:
- Reach an international audience 24/7: With an online shop, you won’t be limited to those who can physically reach your store – the whole world can access your shop at any time of day. Just keep in mind you’re dependent on technology and the internet, so if this goes down, so does your shop.
- Scale up with fewer overheads: Scaling up will cost less, too, as you’ll face far fewer overhead costs that are associated with having a physical shop. The flip side is that competition is much higher when the internet is your playground, so you’ll need to work harder at marketing and outreach to stand out.
- Avoid the hassle of a physical shop: You won’t need to worry about property damage or shoplifting as everything is online behind a screen. However, the threats are different for e-commerce, not absent completely – you’ll need to ensure you have robust cybersecurity to protect yourself and your customers.
- Automatically track sales and inventory: The digital nature of e-commerce means more of your sales and inventory numbers are automatically tracked, so you don’t have to take a product inventory. However, this presents a different issue of shipping logistics, as customers aren’t collecting their goods when they visit your store, so keep this in mind when managing orders.
Who needs an e-commerce platform?
An e-commerce platform can be a useful option for a range of business types. You might be a new seller working from your own home, or you might have an existing physical store and are looking at expanding your reach.
You could even be thinking about making the swap to online-only, and with the benefits listed above, it can be an attractive option for many. With the chaos of COVID aside, e-commerce sales as a percentage of total retail sales in the US have been steadily rising for years — reaching 15.5% in Q1 of 2023.
There is enough variety in the platforms available that anyone from a beginner entrepreneur to an experienced web designer can create unique and attractive online storefronts for their products. You won’t need to code anything if you don’t want to, but some platforms will let you customize every single aspect of your store, track your sales and inventory and reach new and existing customers through digital marketing.
How to choose the best e-commerce platforms
To choose the best e-commerce platform for your business, you’ll need to consider a few important factors that can vary between providers. For example, you should think about how easy it is to use, what features are available, how much you can customize your online shop, what support you have access to and how much it’ll cost. Consider your own needs and the specific requirements of your business when thinking about these factors to ensure your chosen platform offers everything you need while keeping costs at a minimum.
Key features to look for
Consider the following features when comparing e-commerce platforms:
- Online shop: The fundamental feature of your chosen commerce platform is the online shop itself. You know your customers best, so look for things like navigation, search, reviews, videos, return policies and other crucial aspects that visitors will benefit from when they shop on your online store.
- Payment processing: Once people have picked their items they’ll need to pay for them, so ensure you’ll be able to take a variety of payment methods that reflect your customer base. Keep the cost in mind too, as different platforms have different payment processing rates and price models.
- Content design and blog management: As well as setting up shop, you might want to build content around it. It could be as simple as an integrated blog or a fully customized website with unique content coded to the letter – find a platform that offers design features that match your expertise.
- Marketing, outreach and promotions: Many e-commerce platforms offer the ability to reach out to existing and potential new customers through marketing tools like emails, loyalty programs, promotions, vouchers and discounts.
- Inventory and sales tracking: A significant advantage of digitized recordkeeping is the automation of sales and inventory tracking – so ensure your platform gives you adequate tracking ability to help keep on top of your stock.
- SEO analytics, reporting and optimization: Keeping your website and shop visible to Google searches is crucial, so look for a platform that offers optimization as well as a view of analytics to see where you can improve and boost visibility.
- Security: Finally, ensuring your customers’ payment data stays safe and secure is important for them as well as your business. Pay attention to the security features offered by different platforms to ensure they’re extensive and robust.
UX and ease of use
When it comes to designing an online shop and website, different platforms offer solutions that cater to varying levels of expertise. Beginners with little experience putting a website together might prefer either a simple shop with little customization and more focus on products.
However, drag-and-drop editors are fairly common and allow anyone to build an attractive and professional online shop with relative ease. For those with more advanced technical skills, other platforms will let you code your entire website and store from scratch – perfect for developers or those with the budget for one.
Customer service
Unfortunately, one of the negative aspects of using an e-commerce platform is that you’ll be at the mercy of technology. This is why it’s so valuable to be able to rely on your provider’s customer support – so bear in mind their methods of contact as well as their hours of availability.
Customer service that’s available 24/7 is ideal, especially since online shops are generally open around the clock, and you’ll want to be able to resolve issues as soon as possible. Phone or live chat availability is also preferable, as you’re more likely to get an instant response compared to email support.
Software integrations
If you have an existing setup for other aspects of your business, like accounting, analytics or inventory management, it might be beneficial to look for providers that offer integrations. This can save time when setting up your online shop, knowing that you’ll be able to link services you already use and trust to make your operation run smoother.
How much do e-commerce platforms cost?
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Frequently asked questions (FAQs)
The best e-commerce platform for you will depend on your technical ability, business requirements and the type of company you run. Expert coders and developers might prefer open-source platforms like OpenCart, PrestaShop or Shift4Shop, while if you’re new to e-commerce, you might prefer the head start given by Square or Weebly. Big Cartel is a great option for creatives, and Ecwid is a useful plugin for existing websites.
Creating an e-commerce website for free is fairly straightforward – you can sign up with a platform that offers a free trial or that allows you to build your site at no cost but for which you’ll need to pay to publish and sell products. Unfortunately, there isn’t really a completely free way to set up an e-commerce website, as you’ll also face other inevitable costs like payment processing and domain hosting.
You can make money in a variety of ways with an e-commerce website – from relying on third-party services for methods like dropshipping or print-on-demand models to taking advantage of the online space by creating digital products.
You can offer automated subscriptions for users who want to make regular purchases, advertise a service you offer, such as tuition or cleaning or even get involved in affiliate marketing for other brands. E-commerce websites offer a range of profit-making models, so your options for making money are wide open.
When looking for an e-commerce platform, you should aim for one that matches your level of expertise and experience when it comes to building an online shop or website. Ensure it has all the features you need to run your e-commerce business, whether it’s accounting, inventory or marketing.
Bear in mind the customer service you’ll have access to, both in terms of availability and contact methods. Finally, ensure it’s something you can afford, particularly in the long term, as you look to scale up your business.
You can create a free e-commerce site in WordPress.org if you’re comfortable with coding and developing, but WordPress.com only offers e-commerce features on its Entrepreneur plan at $45 per month.
No, Wix does not offer a free e-commerce platform. Plans start at $16 per month, but for e-commerce features, you’ll need at least a Core subscription at $27 per month.
Yes, Weebly’s cheapest plan with e-commerce features is free.
