5 Best Ecommerce Website Builders For Small Business

It can be tricky to figure out which ecommerce builder is perfect for your small business. Instead of leaving you to scramble around and try to collect all the information, we’ve put this handy comparison chart together for you.

Just use these little arrows below to scroll through and compare the five best platforms, looking at features, pricing, and star ratings. There’s also some reviews attached if you want more information!

Swipe right to see more

0 out of 0

• backward
• forward

Wix	Shopify	Squarespace	Square Online	GoDaddy
Overall rating 4.8	Overall rating 4.8	Overall rating 4.4	Overall rating 3.8	Overall rating 3.0
Starting Price $27 $24.30 withe code ‘GET10!’	Starting Price $29	Starting Price $23 $20.70 with code “WBE10”	Starting Price $29	Starting Price $24.99
Transaction Fees 2.9% plus $0.30	Transaction Fees 2.9% + $0.30	Transaction Fees 0% – 3%	Transaction Fees 2.9% + $0.30	Transaction Fees 2.3% + $0.30
Free plan or free trial Free plan	Free plan or free trial 3-day free trial, then 3 months for $1/month	Free plan or free trial 14-day free trial	Free plan or free trial Free plan	Free plan or free trial 1 month free trial
Payment options 11 including: Paypal, Wix Payments, Stripe, Square	Payment options 100+ including: Shopify Payments, Paypal, Klarna	Payment options 3: Stripe, Paypal, Square	Payment options 4: Credit cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Square	Payment options Paypal, Stripe, and Square
Sales features 4.2	Sales features 4.8	Sales features 3.7	Sales features 3.3	Sales features 2.8
Bandwidth Unlimited	Bandwidth Unlimited	Bandwidth Unlimited	Bandwidth Unlimited	Bandwidth Unlimited
Storage space 20GB – 50GB	Storage space Unlimited	Storage space Unlimited	Storage space Unlimited	Storage space Unlimited
Number of products on cheapest plan Unlimited	Number of products on cheapest plan Unlimited	Number of products on cheapest plan Unlimited	Number of products on cheapest plan Unlimited	Number of products on cheapest plan 5000
Visit Wix	Visit Shopify	View Squarespace	Visit Square	Visit GoDaddy
See our Wix review	See our Shopify review	See our Squarespace review	See our Square Online review	See our GoDaddy Review

More Information

• To compare these ecommerce builders side-by-side , check out our Online Store Builders Comparison Chart
• Discover how to enhance your ecommerce site with our guide to the Best Online Business Tools

Best for small online stores

Pricing range: $27 – $159 per month (billed annually)

Editor's Choice

Wix

Best ecommerce builder for small businesses

4.7

out of 5

• Easiest to use
• 800+ template designs
• Most popular in testing

Free plan available

Paid Plans: $16 - $159 / month

Pros

• Really easy to use
• It has the best features
• Has marketing, accounting, and blogging

Cons

• Less powerful big data tools
• Can't swap templates later on
• Help and support not as great

Wix Review

Visit Site

Features

In our research, Wix scored particularly well in three main areas: value for money, website features, and sales features. It also came in second for ease of use after Squarespace with a beginner-friendly score of 4 out of 5.

Wix’s plans are rich in features, yet its prices are a lot cheaper than ecommerce competitors like Shopify. In short, Wix gives you total creative control, makes building an online store easy for beginners, and packs tons into its ecommerce plans without hiking up its prices.

The main area where Wix didn’t perform quite as well in our research was in the help and support category. In our research, we gave it a 3.8 out of 5. That said, Wix does have a range of support channels including phone support, live chat, and articles in the Wix Help Center, offering users 24/7 support.

However, Wix has more than enough to offer a small business looking to get started online.

Wix is a dream for tech beginners – it’s easy to use, and lets anyone build an awesome online store. You can also add product videos, which is a great feature.

Templates

Wix’s template design and level of creative control is impressive. You simply drag images, text boxes, and more onto your page, then drop them into position wherever you want. This drag-and-drop editing style is super easy, and gives you total creative freedom over the design of your store.

Pricing

Wix lets you create a store at no cost, so you can build your ecommerce empire’s foundations without spending a dime. It’s the second-best value builder commerce builder we tested, earning a 4.4 out of 5. However, to actually sell products, you’ll need to upgrade to at least the Business Basic plan, which costs $27 per month.

As you can see, there’s plenty of reasons why Wix is our #1 recommended ecommerce website builder for small businesses. But don’t just take our word for it. We spoke to Claudia, founder of The Vegan Bakes, to find out about her experience of using Wix to build her small bakery website.

User Review: The Vegan Bakes

Claudia runs The Vegan Bakes from her kitchen at home. She launched her business after turning vegan and struggling to get hold of any yummy vegan treats. Believing no one should have to miss out on a little indulgence, Claudia chose to create a Wix online store to sell her brownies, cookies, and cakes.

I would definitely recommend Wix to anyone looking to create their own website at a low cost. It’s so straight forward to use and you can personalize every part of your site.

Why did you want t build a website?

I wanted to build a website to sell my bakes online to post all over the UK. Having a website means I have a platform to sell to a large audience.

Why did you choose to build your website on Wix?

Wix was the first platform after WordPress that I tried and I love how easy it was to use. I had a look at Squarespace too as I know a lot of people use it, but I struggled to get to grips with it so stuck with Wix.

How easy was it to build your website with Wix?

Wix is super easy to use, it almost reminds me of using Microsoft Word as it uses a simple drag-and-drop system.

What do you like most about Wix and why?

I love how simple it is to navigate and create beautiful sites. I wanted a minimal, modern and professional looking site and this was so easy to create on Wix. I selected a completely blank template to allow 100% personalization. This way I could make my website exactly how I wanted it to be.

What was most challenging about building your website with Wix?

I wanted to add a subscription option to my website to allow people to get boxes of brownies and cookies delivered to their door each month! Initially when I was looking this option wasn’t available, but I got creative and managed to use an app to create the subscription functionality.

Do you think Wix is good value for money?

I was trying to keep costs down when launching my vegan bakery as I didn’t have the money to spend on branding and website design. I think Wix is pretty affordable for what it is. I made a one-off payment for the year and it works out at a low cost per month.

More Information

• Like the sound of Wix? Read our in-depth Wix ecommerce review
• Or see how Wix compares to Shopify here

Best for larger businesses

Pricing range: $29 – $299 per month

Shopify

Best for larger businesses

4.6

out of 5

• Best design flexibility
• Over 3,000 apps available
• Multi-platform selling

Free plan available

Paid Plans: $29 - $299 / month

Pros

• Second best sales features on the market
• Enormous app market
• Brilliant inventory system

Cons

• Expensive for small businesses
• Has transaction fees
• Tools won't benefit if selling few items

Shopify Review

Visit Site

Features

If you’re serious about selling and want to give your small business a boost, Shopify has all the tools you’ll need with an impressive sales features score of 4.5 out of 5! And if you can’t find what you’re looking for, there’s an enormous app store for you to browse!

Shopify is a dedicated ecommerce platform, meaning it’s designed purely to help you build an online store. That’s why it has more advanced sales tools than website builders like Squarespace.

In our research, Shopify received the highest customer score. We calculate this score by getting people to try out the builder, and then rate it based on their experience. Shopify was the people’s favorite for building an online store, and when customer retention can result in a 25–29% increase in revenue alone, it’s important not to alienate them.

An especially great feature of Shopify is that it comes with built-in dropshipping tools. So if you’re a small business struggling to find storage for your products, Shopify could be your perfect solution.

If you’re already selling, Shopify has apps that let you sync your inventories, making it easy to manage all your sales from one place. Shopify also has great multichannel selling options, including integration with Instagram, Facebook, and even Amazon and eBay.

Pricing

Shopify didn’t wow us in every department, though – the most significant area where it fell down was value for money with a score of 3 out of 5. A lot of Shopify’s sales tools are actually too advanced for small businesses, meaning you’re paying for features you might not need for a long time. When you’re on a tight budget, every cent counts!

Shopify’s pricing plans start from $29 per month for annual plans, if sign up to pay on a monthly basis that starting prices go up to $39 per month.

You’ll save 25% if you sign up for one year, which means you could save around $120 per year on the Shopify plan which you could put towards travel expenses, office equipment, or some new business cards!

Shopify’s powerful tools won’t benefit you if you just want to sell one or two products. However, if you’re ambitious and want to give your store a solid foundation, then Shopify has the full package to support your small business.

More Information

• Read our full Shopify Review to find out if it could be the perfect ecommerce builder for your small business

Best value for money

Pricing range: $23 – $49 per month (billed annually)

Best Value For Money

Squarespace

Best value for money

4.5

out of 5

• Best website designs
• Great in-built features
• Ideal for creatives

Free plan available

Paid Plans: $16 - $49 / month

Pros

• Excellent social media integration
• The best designed templates
• Flexible creative control

Cons

• Lacks payment options
• Only two plans dedicated to ecommerce
• Not most scalable choice

Squarespace Review

Visit Site

Templates

If you’re looking to build an eye-catching portfolio or online business, then make space for this platform. Why? Because Squarespace stores stand out.

In our research, Squarespace has a respectable score when it came to design with a 4 out of 5.  Its online store templates are modern, sleek, and built to show off your products. You can even rebuild your template any time you like – perfect for any rebrands you might have down the line.

Features

Unlike Wix, Squarespace wasn’t so strong in our testing of its sales features. For example, it does support multichannel selling, but only through Instagram – a pretty limited offering compared to builders like Shopify.

That said, with Squarespace’s built-in tools, you’ll still get everything you need to set a small store up for success. You can even add extra sales features from Squarespace’s app store, Squarespace Extensions.

Overall, Squarespace is a great choice if you’re after a superb-looking storefront.

Pricing

Even the Squarespace price plans look good – if you sign up for a year, you’ll pay just $23 per month on the cheapest ecommerce plan (or $33 per month on a month by month contract).

However, you can get the $23/month plan for only $20.70/month when you use our exclusive Squarespace offer code on your first purchase. Simply enter code WBE10 at the checkout to save 10% on any Squarespace plan.

More Information

• Read more about Squarespace with our Squarespace Ecommerce Review
• Or, check out our Shopify vs Squarespace article

Best for ability to sell for free

Pricing range: $12 – $72 per month (free option available)

Square Online

Best for ability to sell for free

4.2

out of 5

• Easy-to-use dashboard
• Easily add products
• Great marketing features

Free plan available

Paid Plans: $12 - $79 / month

Pros

• You can begin selling for free!
• It has Artificial Design Intelligence
• Fairly easy to use

Cons

• Lacks payment options
• Limitations in customization
• Small learning curb when you start

Square Online Review

Visit Site

Ease of Use

Square is a payment processing giant which bought Weebly – the popular website builder – in 2018. The result is Square Online, which combines Square’s features with Weebly’s website building platform. 

You sign up through Square Online, and get extra features, but you’re still using Weebly’s building software to actually create your store.

This is especially great news for beginners, as Weebly is a straight forward builder that uses drag-and-drop editing blocks. However, it also comes with Weebly’s limitations, namely the limited customization options.

Square Online uses Artificial Design Intelligence (ADI) to build you a store that’s tailored to your needs. This is the same method used by builders like GoDaddy, asking questions about your store to create a personalized layout for your website.

Features

So, why use Square Online instead of Weebly? Well, Square Online comes with extra features and integrations that Weebly doesn’t, such as tracking customer behavior and creating custom invoices.

It also uses its AI tech to help you follow best practice when adding products, which was a feature that really stood out when we tested Square Online. For example, it can identify products and suggest the category name for you, saving time.

Pricing

Because of these features, we recommend Square Online to sellers who want to get the most value for their money – it scores an impressive 4.5 out of 5 for value for money in our research!

Square Online’s platform is easy to use and affordable, but it doesn’t sacrifice great features, either.

One of the most obvious things to shout about with Square Online is the fact it has a free plan for you to sell on – a very rare offer that isn’t available with most ecommerce builders. Square Online has four plans, ranging from $0 to $72 per month (billed annually).

Fastest way to build a website

Pricing range (for ecommerce): $16.99 per month – $29.99 per month

GoDaddy

Fastest way to get online

Average

3

out of 5

• 5-minute setup
• Good for basic sites
• Affordable starting plan

Free plan available

Paid Plans: $6.99 - $469.99 / month

Pros

• Fastest route to building a site
• Switch templates at any time
• Supports lots of industries

Cons

• Only suitable for basic websites
• ADI limits customization
• Sales features aren't the best

GoDaddy Review

Visit Site

Features

GoDaddy scores a very low 1.9 out of 5 for its website features, making it the weakest option on this list. Despite being a great builder for getting online quickly and easily, GoDaddy offers the bare minimum to its users. In particular, we were disappointed by its limited marketing and blogging features, meaning you’ll struggle to promote your business online and build awareness.

Unfortunately, GoDaddy’s features appear lackluster in comparison to other website builders, such as Wix and Shopify. This is especially true for online selling since GoDaddy’s cheapest plan limits you to 5,000 products and only provides a few payment options, including PayPal and Stripe – while this will be suitable for a lot of small businesses, you’ll soon feel restricted as your business starts to grow.

But, if you’re looking for a simple and basic website builder that you can get to grips with quickly, then GoDaddy’s free plan is worth trying out.

Templates

GoDaddy scores an equally low 1.9 out of 5 for its designs and templates, which, once again, puts GoDaddy at the bottom of the pack. When you sign up to GoDaddy, its ADI builder helps you get online in minutes, but your creative control will be restricted. It lacks the drag-and-drop editor of Wix and only offers basic design elements that can be organized by blocks.

As for GoDaddy’s template library, users can choose between hundreds of layouts, and can even filter the themes by industries such as “Fashion & Beauty” and “Home Services”. Small businesses should have no trouble finding a suitable fit for their website.

Pricing

A small business will want to choose one of GoDaddy’s ecommerce-specific plans which start from $16.99 per month (billed annually). Both plans, Commerce and Commerce Plus (which costs $29.99 per month), are very affordable solutions if you’re hoping to sell online. But you’ll get more for your money if you opt to go with more powerful, or more expensive, builders, such as Wix and Shopify.

Best Ecommerce Website Builders for Small Business: Recap

Go to the top

There are many website builder options for your small business. These builders let you create an awesome online store for a relatively low cost, helping you get off the ground and into the world of ecommerce.

To recap, the five best ecommerce website builders for small businesses are:

This list of five is a great fix for small businesses looking to get started online. However, as your store grows, so will your website’s needs.

If your store does grow quickly – and hopefully it will – you might want to consider switching to a big business-friendly platform like Shopify which is ideal for fast-growing ecommerce stores.

For most small businesses, we recommend one of our top three. You should use:

• Wix if you want to get the most out of your budget – or if you’re a beginner who wants total creative freedom over your site’s design
• Shopify if you’re serious about selling, and want powerful tools and an endless choice of apps to help you run your business
• Squarespace if you want a sleek, modern design template for your business website, tons of creative control, and all your features built-in

Don’t forget that each platform either offers a free plan or a free trial, so you can begin building the foundations for your future ecommerce empire at no personal cost.