14 Best Shopify Alternatives in 2024: Pros and Cons

Shopify is one of the best website builders for an ecommerce store. As of October 2023, over 2 million live stores are running on the Shopify platform.

However, while Shopify offers a comprehensive solution for setting up an online store, it's not a one-size-fits-all solution.

Many business owners find that the platform falls short in certain crucial aspects for their needs.

• High costs associated with running a large-scale direct-to-consumer (D2C) brand
• Limitations in customization
• Difficulties in reaching customer support

These are some of the various reasons you might seek an alternative to Shopify.

We've put together a list of the 14 best Shopify alternatives in 2024, analyzing their features so you can make an informed decision for your ecommerce needs.

The Best Shopify Alternatives in 2024

1. Durable: Best AI website builder for small businesses and solopreneurs
2. Wix: Best for people who like to design
3. BigCommerce: Best for scaling businesses
4. Squarespace: Best for artists and designers
5. Shift4Shop: Best for budget-focused sellers
6. Ecwid: Best for seamless integration with existing websites
7. WooCommerce: Best for people using WordPress
8. Weebly: Best for people looking for a low-cost builder
9. Square Online Store: Best for physical stores going online
10. Sellfy: Best for digital and print-on-demand products
11. PinnacleCart: Best for custom-made stores
12. Big Cartel: Best for artists and small sellers
13. Prestashop: Best for selling in different languages
14. Magento: Best for big, complex stores

Alternative #1: Durable

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As an alternative to Shopify, Durable offers a unique blend of simplicity, affordability, and cutting-edge technology. 

While Shopify has its own set of features catered to e-commerce, Durable focuses on delivering a "business-in-a-box" experience that's particularly appealing to small business owners and solopreneurs.

Moreover, as an AI website builder, Durable allows you to get a fully functional website up and running in 30 seconds. 

That's a significant advantage for business owners who want to avoid spending hours or even days setting up an online presence.

Our onboarding process is streamlined, requiring only essential information to generate a site tailored to your industry and business name. We ask for:

• The type of industry your business is in
• Your location
• The name of your business

At Durable, we leverage AI not just for website building but also for generating content and images. You get a modern, stylish, fully functional website without hiring a developer, copywriter, or graphic designer.

Durable Features and Benefits

• Ecommerce Features
• Ease of Use
• Built-In Marketing Features
• AI CRM

1. Ecommerce Features

We don’t just offer you a strong foundation for your online presence. We also empower you to become an ecommerce expert selling physical and digital products.

With Durable, you can easily turn your website into an ecommerce powerhouse by adding products to your website and then integrating them with Stripe, one of the most trusted payment processors in the industry.

Here's how it works:

• Generate a Durable Website
• Add a Product to Stripe: Navigate to your Stripe account and add the products you want to sell.
• Create a Product Page: Back on the Durable dashboard, create a product page for each item you've listed on Stripe.
• Create a Shop Page: Now, compile all your product pages into a comprehensive shop page.
• Add Products to Your Shop Page: Using the Durable editor, populate your shop page with your listed products.

Our detailed guide on how to create an e-commerce website walks you through each step of the process.

2. Ease of Use

One of the key challenges in building a website is the technical know-how required to set up a functional and visually appealing platform.

But with Durable, you can skip the steep learning curve and start owning a fully functional, industry-specific website.

Our AI is trained to understand the distinct requirements of various online retail categories —fashion, electronics, beauty products, or any other niche. Based on this understanding, it selects an optimal template and structures your store layout.

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Our AI incorporates relevant, high-ranking keywords within your site's content to increase your store's online visibility. This eliminates the need for exhaustive keyword research and complex SEO strategy, making your store naturally more searchable on platforms like Google.

Freedom to Customize

We believe your website should be as unique as your business.

While our AI provides a strong foundational template based on your industry, you may still wish to add your personal touch.

That's why, after the AI has generated the initial version of your site, you're free to make any adjustments you see fit. 

For example, if you need to add a blog section? You can easily do that.

Our platform features a straightforward click-and-edit interface that lets you change your online store quickly.

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3. Built-In Marketing Features

If you own an ecommerce store, you already know that a sleek design and top-notch products are just the tip of the iceberg.

What truly drives success is marketing—your ability to reach potential customers and convince them to visit your site and make a purchase. 

That's why we have built-in marketing features to help you promote your website and products.

Let's start with our Google Ad Writer, a tool engineered to maximize your advertising efforts.

To use it, go to your dashboard and click on "Marketing," followed by "Create promotion." You'll see multiple options, such as Google Ad, Facebook Post, Tweet, or Email. Let's say you choose "Google Ad."

The Ad Writer tool prompts you to fill in details about your product or service.

• What is it?
• What unique aspects do you want to highlight?
• What are some key benefits? 

You'll also choose the tone of your ad—formal, friendly, creative, and so on.

Once you've provided this information, the Ad Writer merges it with industry-specific data to craft an engaging and optimized ad for your target demographic.

The same process applies when you want to create ads for Facebook and Twitter. Our Ad Writer tool customizes your advertising material based on your chosen platform, ensuring you hit the right tone and content format for each.

Our Ad Writer tool extends its capabilities to help you create effective email campaigns. Like with the ads, you provide the basics, and the tool generates an email designed to lead to conversions—be it a sale, a sign-up, or another engagement metric that matters to you.

Durable's marketing features offer the convenience of having all your online advertising tools in one place. You don't have to juggle multiple platforms or hire additional experts to manage your advertising needs.

4. AI CRM

When running an ecommerce business, customer relationship management (CRM) is essential to your success equation. 

A robust CRM system can help you manage customer interactions and learn from them to offer more personalized and impactful services.

And our AI-powered CRM does much more than log customer data.

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With Durable's AI CRM, you can create automated responses to contact form requests submitted on your website. These won’t just be generic replies. Our AI analyzes the query to generate a response most likely to engage the customer further. 

Our AI CRM also helps you keep your contacts meticulously organized. You can categorize leads and customers based on different criteria like shopping behavior, interaction history, and more.

This nuanced organization allows you to approach each group with targeted communications that resonate with them, ultimately improving your conversion rates.

Finally, with Durable AI CRM, you can sync your email and let our AI take over. The system analyzes past messages and interactions to generate unique customer responses.

Remember, a sophisticated CRM system can make all the difference in ecommerce, where competition is fierce and customer expectations are high. 

Durable Pricing

We understand that every business is unique, so we've designed pricing plans that cater to different needs and stages of your e-commerce journey.

Free plan

Our new $0 plan is perfect for those who just want their business’s website up and running, at zero additional cost. 

Startup Plan

• Kickstart Your Ecommerce Adventure
• $12/month.
• Perfect for those who are just starting out or operating a side hustle

This plan offers all the essentials to take your first steps in ecommerce. With features like chat onboarding and email support, we're there to guide you through every stage of setting up your online store. 

With the added advantage of unlimited storage and 50 contacts, you'll have ample room to grow.

Business Plan

• Scale Your Ecommerce Operations
• $20/month
• Ideal for businesses that are looking to take their operations to the next level

If you're serious about scaling up your ecommerce business, the Business Plan offers comprehensive features to help you succeed. 

With unlimited contacts, invoices, and AI-generated promotions, there's no limit to how much you can grow. 

Alternative #2: Wix

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Setting up an online store on Wix is straightforward, and for many newcomers and small business owners, it stands as a solid alternative to Shopify.

Wix is popular for its user-friendly drag-and-drop functionality. It's simple to use and scores highly when it comes to user experience.

Like Shopify, Wix offers a range of functionalities but focuses more on ease of design. You can make a website look good without messing around with codes. 

Mobile responsiveness is also a strong point for Wix. Your online store will automatically adjust to different screen sizes, ensuring a smooth shopping experience for your customers. However, some templates are not fully mobile responsive, so you need to adjust the mobile version in the Wix Editor.

Wix Features and Benefits

• Ease of Use
• Wide Selection of Apps
• Multi-Channel Selling
• Marketing Tools

1. Ease of Use

One of the best things about Wix is its easy use.

The platform uses a drag-and-drop builder, which lets you directly move elements like text boxes, images, and buttons where you want them on the page.

Unlike Shopify, where you often switch between editing and preview modes to see how changes affect your site, Wix lets you see your changes in real time. 

Wix uses a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editor.

Wix also offers the Wix ADI tool. With Wix ADI, you answer a few questions about what you want in a website, and the tool automatically creates a site based on your answers.

2. Wide Selection of Apps

Wix has an extensive App Market, boasting over 500 apps that cater to a wide range of business needs. 

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Whether you're looking to add a customer review section, integrate a payment gateway, or even include a real-time chat feature for customer support, there's likely an app for that.

You can extend the functionality of your online store easily without having to touch any code.

3. Multi-Channel Selling

For business owners who want to sell across various online platforms, Wix's multi-channel selling feature allows you to manage listings and track sales on other platforms like Amazon, eBay, and Facebook right from the Wix dashboard.

This centralization can be a massive time-saver. It negates the need to log in to multiple platforms to manage your business.

It's a complete solution for selling on your website and other prominent online sales channels.

4. Marketing Tools

Wix offers a range of tools to help people find your store. The platform comes with built-in SEO features.

These features include:

• Server-side rendering
• Structured data for product pages
• Customizable URLs

Wix also integrates with Google Business Profile, making it simpler for local customers to find your business on Google Search and Maps.

You can create custom ad campaigns directly from your Wix dashboard if you want to advertise.

Wix Pricing

Wix has Business and eCommerce Plans for those looking to build an online store:

• Business Basic: $17 per month: Entry-level package for those who want to start an online store. 
• Business Unlimited: $25 per month: Provides more extensive tools for growing businesses.
• Business VIP: $35 per month: Includes all the features from the other business plans plus 50GB of storage, priority customer support, and a complete set of analytics and reporting tools.

Alternative #3: BigCommerce

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BigCommerce is an Open SaaS ecommerce platform appealing to businesses with large inventories and high sales volumes. 

While it offers functionalities similar to Shopify, it also provides more built-in features, reducing the need for external apps.

BigCommerce is designed to handle large sales volumes effectively. It's built to scale with your business, allowing you to manage significant transactions and products without slowing down.

While BigCommerce is powerful enough for large enterprises, it also has plans and features that cater to small and mid-sized businesses.

BigCommerce Features and Benefits

• Open SaaS
• Apps and Integrations
• WordPress Integration
• APIs for Data  Syncing

1. Open SaaS

Unlike traditional SaaS platforms, which are often closed systems where you can't make many changes, Open SaaS platforms like BigCommerce give you more control. 

They allow you to easily change the look of your website, connect with other software you're using, and even dig into the code if you want to. 

This makes Open SaaS more flexible than Shopify and better suited for businesses with specific needs or wanting to grow uniquely.

You can drag and drop items around your website to design it how you like. If you're more tech-savvy, you can use APIs to connect BigCommerce to other software you're using, like your inventory system.

2. Apps and Integrations

BigCommerce provides strong integrations and apps that add more features to your online store.

You can plug in accounting, marketing, inventory management tools, etc. This saves you the time and effort to input data or switch between different services manually.

3. WordPress Integration

If you already have a WordPress website and like how it looks, you can keep it that way and still get all the online selling features from BigCommerce.

With their WordPress Integration, you can manage all your products and sales while keeping your existing website.

This is great to expand your WordPress blog or informational site into an online store.

4. APIs for Data Syncing

BigCommerce has APIs that let you automatically move data between your online store and other systems you may be using, like inventory systems or customer relationship tools.

For example, if you update a product price in your inventory system, the price can automatically update on your online store, too.

This makes it a lot easier to keep everything up-to-date and running smoothly.

BigCommerce Pricing

BigCommerce offers several pricing options to fit various business sizes and budgets.

• Standard: $29 per month
• Plus:$79 per month
• Pro: $299 per month

They also offer custom pricing with even more features and support if you're a very large business.

You also get a 15-day free trial.

Alternative #4: Squarespace

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Squarespace is a top choice for businesses that care a lot about how their online store looks and want it to be easy to use.

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It's perfect for you if you want to blend professional design with simple, effective features for selling products online.

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One of the main attractions of Squarespace is its focus on design. They offer 28 pre-made, beautiful templates.

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You also have the freedom to upload your product photos, allowing you to showcase your items in the best possible light.

Like most website builders, Squarespace has a drag-and-drop editor that makes it super easy to customize your site to your liking.

Squarespace Features and Benefits

• Ease of Use
• SEO and Marketing
• Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP)

1. Ease of Use

In Squarespace, you pick a design template and edit it to make it your own.

It's not as straightforward as Wix, but you can do much with it once you get the hang of it. 

One downside is that once you've picked a design, you're stuck with it. You can't switch to a different one later without starting from scratch. Therefore, if flexibility is important to you, it might be worth exploring some Squarespace alternatives.

2. SEO and Marketing

Squarespace gives you many tools like clean URLs, site maps in the .xml format, SEP panel, etc., to help your website appear in Google search results.

There are easy-to-follow guides and checklists to make sure you're doing all the right things to get noticed.

Squarespace was one of the first builders to integrate directly with Google Search Console to make this process smoother.

3. Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP)

Well, people are impatient. If your website takes too long to load, they might leave before seeing what you offer.

Squarespace helps by offering built-in support for AMP on its platform. You don't have to do anything extra or technical to get this feature.

Having AMP can also improve your site's ranking in Google search results.

Squarespace Pricing

• Personal: $16 monthly: Basic plan with access to customizable templates.
• Business: $23 monthly: For growing your audience and starting to take payments.
• Commerce Basic: $27 monthly: For scaling your business.
• Commerce Advanced: $49 monthly: Offers advanced tools for sellers without transaction fees.

Squarespace also has a 14-day free trial.

Alternative #5: Shift4Shop

‍Shift4Shop is a SaaS platform that helps you build an ecommerce website and grow your business.

You get everything you need in one package: a way to build your website, manage your products, take care of orders, and help with marketing to customers.

The platform allows you to edit the HTML and CSS, or you can hire a web design expert from their network to help build your online shop.

Shify4Shop also supports common payment gateways and unlimited listings. However, if you’re looking to drop ship, Shopify is better.

Shift4Shop Features and Benefits

• Ease of Use
• Powerful eCommerce Marketing
• Order Management Software
• Scalable eCommerce Hosting

1. Ease of Use

It’s easy to set up and customize an online store with Shift4Shop. You only need to choose one of 100 professionally designed templates and customize it.

The templates work well on all screens—phones, tablets, and computer.

The Core Theme Editor feature lets you easily change the colors and fonts on your website.

2. Powerful eCommerce Marketing

Shift4Shop is designed to help your store show up in Google searches. The platform automatically creates an XML sitemap for your website. 

You can also control which pages Google can look at and which ones it should ignore. 

Plus, Shift4Shop can connect to Google Analytics to see how people interact with your store. The platform also supports Google AMP, which speeds up the loading of product pages on mobile devices.

3. Order Management Software

Managing orders is straightforward with Shift4Shop's easy-to-use dashboard. 

You can also set up automation rules, meaning the system will automatically sort orders based on criteria you choose, like shipping method or payment status.

4. Scalable eCommerce Hosting

Shift4Shop platform is PCI-certified — it meets certain security standards to protect your customer's data.

It also promises your website will be accessible 99.9% of the time.

Shift4Shop Pricing

With Shift4Shop, you get an unlimited, enterprise-grade plan for $0 if you process a minimum of $500 per month using Shift4 as your payment processor.

Alternatively, the platform fee starts at $29/month for new customers who opt for PayPal.

Alternative #6: Ecwid

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Ecwid is another strong contender in the list of Shopify alternatives, particularly useful for small business owners looking to add an online store to their existing websites or social media platforms.

Unlike many other platforms that require you to build an entire website around their system, Ecwid works differently. It can be easily integrated into any site, whether built on WordPress, Joomla, or a custom platform.

You just have to embed a piece of code where you want your online store to appear, and your store is up and running.

This ease of integration makes Ecwid an excellent choice if you already have an online presence but want to add a functional and feature-rich online store without the hassle of building a new website.

You can add:

• An entire catalog
• Buy Now buttons
• Specific store category
• Individual product cards

Ecwid Features and Benefits

• Buy Now Button
• Retail POS - Lightspeed
• Payment Options - Lightspeed Payments
• Customization

1. Buy Now Button

Ecwid lets you add a "Buy Now" button to your website or blog.

This button helps you sell items directly from any page.

You copy a small piece of code to your website to add this button. It adjusts to fit the look of your site.

2. Retail POS - Lightspeed

Ecwid has a feature called Lightspeed Retail POS. 

With this feature, you can simultaneously manage your store items online and in your physical store.

3. Payment Options - Lightspeed Payments

Ecwid uses Lightspeed Payments for processing sales.

It takes all major credit cards, Google Pay, and Apple Pay. The fees are 2.6% plus 30 cents per transaction.

4. Customization

Ecwid offers customization help. If you want to change your store's appearance, they have experts to assist you. This makes setting up your store easier.

Ecwid Pricing

Ecwid offers a range of pricing options to suit different needs.

• The Free Plan is great for starters, with only a few products: $0.
• The Venture Plan adds more platform options and products: $14.08 monthly.
• The Business Plan provides advanced features and more staff accounts: $29.08 monthly.
• The Unlimited Plan removes all barriers for a more robust selling experience: $82.50 monthly.

Alternative #7: WooCommerce

‍WooCommerce is a popular e-commerce platform that integrates with WordPress websites.

If you already have a WordPress website or are familiar with the WordPress platform, integrating WooCommerce is often a natural next step for setting up an online store.

This makes it appealing to small businesses and entrepreneurs already comfortable with WordPress.

Unlike many other e-commerce platforms, WooCommerce is open-source. You can fully customize your store without any restrictions, from how it looks to how it functions.

Being open-source also means it's free to use, although you will likely incur some costs for web hosting, security, and optional add-ons.

One major advantage of WooCommerce is the vast ecosystem of plugins and themes that are available, both free and paid. Plugins extend the functionality of your store, allowing you to add a wide variety of features like subscription models, advanced shipping options, and customer reviews, among others. Themes allow you to change the look and feel of your store to match your brand better.

WooCommerce Features and Benefits

• Open Source
• Marketing Tools
• Extension Store
• Payment Gateways

1. Open Source

Being open-source means that the core software of WooCommerce is freely accessible and can be modified.

This is a huge advantage for businesses with specific needs that aren't met by a one-size-fits-all solution. 

You can add unique features, change how certain elements work, or even integrate with other systems you already use. This level of customization is often missing in closed platforms like Shopify, where you're limited to the features they offer.

2. Marketing Tools

With WooCommerce, you can easily integrate with Facebook Ads. This is crucial for businesses looking to target audiences on social media. You can set up ad campaigns to attract new customers or retarget existing ones within the WooCommerce dashboard.

The platform also allows for a seamless connection with Google's advertising network. You can put your products in front of people actively searching for them on Google.

Finally, the ability to extend your products to other platforms like Amazon, Pinterest, and eBay is another strong WooCommerce feature. This gives you a multi-channel approach to sales, making your products accessible to different audiences and potentially increasing your revenue streams.

3. Extension Store

WooCommerce offers a variety of free and paid extensions through its Extension Store. 

These add-ons can provide additional functionalities like payment gateways, SEO tools, or shipping options that might not be available in the core WooCommerce platform.

4. Payment Gateways

WooCommerce stands out for its extensive selection of payment gateways.

With over 140 options, it provides much flexibility for accepting payments for your online store.

This broad range of payment options means you can cater to a global audience with diverse payment preferences. It lets you switch providers easily if another offers better rates or features.

WooCommerce Pricing

WooCommerce is a free WordPress plugin, so you don't have to pay to use its basic features.

However, the costs can add up when you start incorporating various aspects necessary for running an online store. Here are some areas where you may incur expenses:

• Web Hosting: WooCommerce runs on WordPress, so you'll need web hosting. The costs can range from as low as $3-4 per month to over $100 for dedicated or managed hosting.
• Domain Name: You'll need a domain name for your online store, and the prices usually start at around $10-15 per year.
• Themes: While free themes are available, premium themes can cost anywhere from $20 to $100 or more, depending on the level of customization and features you want.
• Extensions and Plugins: WooCommerce offers both free and paid extensions. For example, if you want to offer subscriptions, the WooCommerce Subscriptions extension costs $239 per year. Payment gateways might also have transaction fees.
• WooCommerce Payments: This is WooCommerce's payment gateway, and it charges a payment processing fee. The standard rate for U.S.-issued cards is 2.9% + 30¢ per transaction.

Alternative #8: Weebly

‍Weebly, powered by Square, is a user-friendly platform that makes creating a website, blog, or online store simple. 

It's often considered a good choice for beginners or small businesses because it offers a range of easy-to-use features.

Weebly is known for its drag-and-drop interface, making it easy for people without technical skills to create a functional website. It offers a variety of themes and layouts, so you can choose a style that best suits your business.

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Weebly provides various features targeted at eCommerce, such as shopping carts, product search, and inventory management. Here are more features:

Weebly Features and Benefits

• Easy to Use Drag and Drop Editor
• App Center
• Mobile App
• SEO Tools

1. Easy to Use Drag and Drop Editor

You can simply move things around to build your website with drag and drop. 

You can add text, pictures, maps, or videos to your site by moving them where you want them.

Changing the text is as easy as using software like Microsoft Word. You see the changes as you make them.

2. App Center

Like Shopify, Weebly has an app center with hundreds of apps. For example, if you want to add a chat service or link your website to social media, you can find an app for that. 

Adding the app to your website is straightforward, and once added, you can manage it directly from your Weebly editor.

3. Mobile App

With Weebly's mobile app, you're not stuck to your desk when managing your website. 

It's available for iPhone, iPad, and Android devices. You can use it to add new content or manage your store.

4. SEO Tools

Every Weebly website has built-in features like a sitemap and proper HTML formatting, which helps Google understand what your site is about.

You can also add more detailed settings like image descriptions and custom meta descriptions for each page to help improve your site’s search ranking.

Weebly Pricing

• Free: Good for basic use and lets you try Weebly without financial commitment.
• Personal: $10 per month. Allows you to connect a custom domain name.
• Professional: $12 per month. Offers more options for customizing your site. It's a good fit for businesses that want more flexibility in the design and function of their website.
• Performance: $26 per month. Adds even more features designed to help you grow your business. It would suit businesses with higher needs in terms of features and performance.

Alternative #9: Square Online Store

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Square Online Store is a Shopify alternative for those who want to sell online and in physical locations. 

It’s beneficial for businesses already using Square's point-of-sale (POS) system, as it seamlessly integrates the in-person and online sales data.

The platform allows for easy setup, so you don't have to be a tech expert to get your online store up and running. It offers various customizable templates, so you can choose one that fits your brand's look and feel. The templates are also mobile-friendly.

Square Online Store is also known for its powerful inventory management capabilities. You can easily track your product stock levels, set up low-stock alerts, and update your inventory in real time.

Square Online Features and Benefits

• Integration between Square Online and any Square POS
• Ability to Sell Subscriptions
• Easy to Set Up and Customize
• Square Photo Studio App
• Loyalty Programs Feature

1. Integration between Square Online and any Square POS

If you're already using Square's point-of-sale system in a physical store, integrating it with Square Online is straightforward.

This seamless integration allows for real-time sales and inventory tracking across all your sales channels. Any changes in the physical store reflect instantly on the online store, reducing errors and making your business operations more efficient.

2. Ability to Sell Subscriptions

With Square Online, you have the built-in functionality to set up subscription services. You can offer products or services that customers pay for regularly, like monthly or yearly.

This feature is beneficial for creating a steady revenue stream and enhancing customer retention. 

Suppose you run a service or offer a product that people need regularly, such as coffee or skincare products. In that case, subscriptions make it easier for customers to keep receiving what they need without reordering.

3. Easy to Set Up and Customize

Square Online offers various pre-designed templates that you can choose as the foundation of your website. 

From there, you can make detailed changes to the layout, color scheme, and fonts. You control how your product pages look and how your entire site navigates. This customization allows you to align your online store closely with your brand's aesthetic and functional requirements.

4. Square Photo Studio App

Product photography can be a challenging aspect of setting up an online store. Square Online has a solution with its Photo Studio app, specifically designed for iPhones. 

This app helps you take high-quality product pictures and automatically edit them by replacing the background and adding shadows, making the images web-ready. This can save you time and the cost of hiring a professional photographer.

5. Loyalty Programs Feature

Customer retention is crucial for the growth of any business. Square Online has a feature allowing you to set up your loyalty program. 

This feature lets you create custom reward schemes that incentivize repeat purchases. You can choose what rewards to offer and how customers can earn them — a points-based system or special discounts for frequent shoppers.

Square Online Pricing

• Free Plan: $0 monthly fee, 2.9% + 30¢ per transaction: Comes with a website builder that has built-in SEO tools.
• Plus Plan: $29 per month, 2.9% + 30¢ per transaction: Includes all the Free plan features but adds more customization options.
• Premium Plan: $79 per month, 2.6% + 30¢ per transaction: Includes everything in the Plus plan but at a lower processing rate.

Alternative #10: Sellfy

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Sellfy is an online platform that allows creators and businesses to sell digital products, physical goods, and subscriptions.

Unlike Shopify, Sellfy is particularly focused on helping you sell digital products, like e-books, videos, or digital art, although it also supports the sale of physical goods.

One of the standout features of Sellfy is its ease of use. The platform provides a straightforward, user-friendly interface that makes adding products, setting prices, and managing orders simple. You can easily embed Sellfy into an existing website or use it to create a new, standalone online store.

Sellfy also offers built-in marketing tools, such as email marketing capabilities, discount codes, and analytics so that you can track your store’s performance.

Another advantage is its instant delivery feature for digital products. When a customer makes a purchase, they receive a secure link to download the digital product, making the whole process seamless and efficient.

Sellfy Features and Benefits

• Built-in Marketing Features
• Embed into an Existing Website
• Payments

1. Built-in Marketing Features

Sellfy offers various ways to boost your sales. You can use discount codes to attract more customers. There's also an email marketing tool that lets you keep in touch with your customers.

You can offer those already buying more products, known as "upselling," to increase their spending. You can also track how well your ads are on Facebook and Twitter.

2. Embed into an Existing Website

If you already have a website, Sellfy makes it easy to turn it into a store.

You can add "Buy Now" buttons or even embed your whole store.

You don't have to build a new website. You can also put Sellfy links in YouTube videos to bring more people to your store.

3. Payments

Sellfy allows you to accept money through PayPal and Stripe, widely used payment methods. 

This makes it convenient for customers and ensures you get paid easily.

Sellfy also uses payment processors that satisfy PCI-DSS regulations.

Sellfy Pricing

Sellfy offers a tiered pricing structure to accommodate different business needs, each with its own set of features:

• Starter Plan: $19 per month: You can sell unlimited digital and subscription-based products.
• Business Plan: $49 per month: You can remove the "Sellfy" branding, giving your store a more professional look. And if you are migrating from another platform, this plan helps you easily transfer your store's design. Upselling features are also included.
• Premium Plan: $99 monthly: Assistance with transferring your products from another platform.

Alternative #11: PinnacleCart

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PinnacleCart is another alternative to consider. It provides a comprehensive solution for businesses looking to sell products online. 

Building and setting up the backend in PinnacleCart might be hard, but they offer services to help with design and marketing.

This is great for store owners who need help making their online shop look good or getting the word out about their products.

PinnacleCart Features and Benefits

• Ease of Set up
• Payment Methods
• SEO and Marketing Tools

1. Ease of Set up

They offer themes you can pick from and change as you like.

One feature is the Cart Designer. It uses a "drag-and-drop" and "point-and-click" interface, making it very user-friendly.

If you have technical skills, you can directly edit the CSS and HTML for most theme elements in your browser using the Cart Designer. This feature eliminates the need to use FTP or File Manager, simplifying the process.

For those well-versed in web development, PinnacleCart allows for full access to theme files via FTP. This is the most flexible option, as you can edit all existing theme files and add new ones.

2. Payment Methods

PinnacleCart offers a broad range of payment options without imposing transaction fees, regardless of the payment method chosen.

With over 25 payment providers like Stripe, PayPal, and authorize.net, store owners can choose how to accept payments.

The platform is QuickBooks ready, which means you can effortlessly sync your product, order, and customer information with both offline and online versions of QuickBooks.

PinnacleCart also allows for both direct and off-site payment methods. This includes specialized features like Refund, Auth-Only, and Auth-Capture on most payment gateways. Tokenization or Payment Profiles are available for select methods.

You also can set up custom payment methods like:

• Cash On Delivery (COD)
• Net terms
• Offline payments

3. SEO and Marketing Tools

PinnacleCart offers many SEO and marketing features that help your online store become more visible on search engines like Google.

The platform uses flat URLs by default, which are easier for search engines to read. You also can create your custom URL structure, giving you more control over how your URLs appear, which can help with SEO.

PinnacleCart also allows you to upload or create a robot.txt file, which tells search engines which pages to index.

It also automatically generates a site map for your website and an XML sitemap for Google Search Console, helping search engines understand the structure of your site.

PinnacleCart Pricing

• Free Plan: Includes all the standard features and doesn't require a monthly fee. However, activation is required.
• Standard Plan: $79.95 per month. Designed for new eCommerce businesses.
• Advanced Plan: For growing businesses. $199.95 per month.
• Enterprise Plan: Aimed at established, high-volume eCommerce businesses, you must contact sales for pricing.

Alternative #12: Big Cartel

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Big Cartel is another alternative to Shopify, especially useful for artists, creators, and small businesses that want an easy-to-use platform for selling their products. 

It’s particularly known for its simplicity and ability to help you quickly get an online store up and running.

Although the platform isn't as feature-rich as some competitors, it does offer enough customization options to make your shop unique. You can choose from a selection of themes and adjust them to suit your brand.

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The platform allows you to list several products based on your plan, making it great for artists or small businesses with only a small range of items to sell.

Big Cartel Features and Benefits

• Easy to Set Up
• Multiple Payment Options
• Developer Platform

1.  Easy to Set Up

Big Cartel is designed to be user-friendly, making setting up an online store easy. You start by choosing a theme from a collection of pre-designed options. These themes provide the layout and look of your store. 

You then add your products, set your prices, and are ready to sell.

If you opt for one of the higher-priced plans, you can edit the theme code directly.

2. Multiple Payment Options

Big Cartel offers various ways for customers to pay. These multiple payment options make it convenient for customers and can increase the likelihood of sales.

All these payment gateways are secure and well-known.

3. Developer Platform

If you are a developer or have one on your team, Big Cartel offers a Developer Platform that lets you integrate your apps or services into the Big Cartel environment. 

Through their API, you can connect your software tools directly to your online store, giving you more control and flexibility.

Big Cartel also provides detailed documentation on their template language. This helps you or a developer build a custom store beyond standard features and design elements.

Big Cartel Pricing

• Always Free Plan: 5 Products: This plan allows you to list up to 5 products without cost.
• 50 Products Plan: $9.99/month. There are no additional listing fees.
• 500 Products Plan: $19.99/month: Suitable for sellers with a large inventory and wanting to get the most out of their online store.

Alternative #13: Prestashop

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PrestaShop is an open-source solution, which means that the underlying code is accessible and can be modified to suit the specific needs of a business.

This level of customization makes it a flexible option for many different types of online retailers.

The platform comes with many built-in features right out of the box.

This includes standard e-commerce functionalities like inventory management, order processing, and customer management.

One of PrestaShop's standout features is its extensive marketplace of add-ons and modules. These can easily be integrated into your online store to add new functionalities. 

Prestashop Features and Benefits

• Fully Secure Online Payments
• Sales Funnel Features
• Multi-Language and Multi-Currency Support

1. Fully Secure Online Payments

PrestaShop prioritizes the security of online transactions, offering a wide range of trusted payment options. It supports multiple payment methods like Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and PayPal.

The platform also provides flexibility with payment structures, allowing options like installment payments and bank transfers.

You can easily tack on VAT for individual items, making tax compliance straightforward.

2. Sales Funnel Features

PrestaShop has features designed to push potential customers further down the sales funnel. 

It has built-in functionalities for adding promotions and discounts directly onto your product pages. This means you can offer special deals to entice customers without requiring them to enter a coupon code at checkout.

Additionally, you can set up a newsletter to keep your customers informed about new products or upcoming sales. PrestaShop even has a feature for sending reminders to customers who have abandoned their shopping carts, giving you a second chance to close a sale.

You can also set up up-selling and cross-selling campaigns to encourage customers to add more to their cart, increasing the average order value.

3. Multi-Language and Multi-Currency Support

PrestaShop's multi-language support can be incredibly beneficial if you aim to serve customers from different linguistic backgrounds.

The platform allows you to translate your store's content into multiple languages.

And just like with language, currency can be a significant barrier to international sales. 

PrestaShop removes this hurdle by allowing multiple currencies in your store.

PrestaShop Pricing

PrestaShop is an open-source platform, which means you can download and use the software for free.

However, the "free" aspect can be misleading if you're unfamiliar with how open-source eCommerce platforms operate.

• Initial Setup: Although the core software is free, you might incur costs for web hosting, purchasing a domain name, and getting an SSL certificate for secure transactions.
• Themes and Templates: While free themes are available, you may want to invest in a premium theme to make your site look more professional and unique. Premium themes generally offer better support and additional features compared to free ones.
• Plugins and Add-Ons: PrestaShop offers a marketplace filled with modules and plugins that can extend the functionality of your store. These will often come at an additional cost.

Alternative #14: Magento(Adobe Commerce)

Magento, now known as Adobe Commerce, is known for its scalability and customizability.

Magento is often the go-to choice for medium to large enterprises with complex requirements and high sales volumes.

Unlike simpler, more straightforward platforms like Shopify, Magento offers a range of advanced features and functionalities, including:

• Inventory management
• Customer segmentation
• Business intelligence tools

One of the most compelling aspects of Magento is its ability to handle multiple stores from a single back-end. This feature is particularly beneficial for businesses that operate in different regions or markets, as they can manage all their stores through one centralized admin panel.

Another feature is Magento's extensive range of customization options.

Users can access thousands of plugins and themes through its marketplace to tailor their store's functionality and appearance.

However, this flexibility does come with complexity, as the platform has a steeper learning curve compared to more user-friendly eCommerce solutions.

Magento Features and Benefits

• Design and Customization
• Adobe Marketplace
• Complex Functionalities
• Developer Tools and API

1. Design and Customization

Unlike other platforms that limit what you can do with your store's layout, Magento gives you unlimited flexibility.

The drag-and-drop builder and content editor make it easier to tweak your store's appearance.

Additionally, Magento comes with customer segmentation tools, allowing you to personalize the customer journey. You can target specific groups of customers with tailored experiences or offers.

On top of that, Magento has a product recommendation engine that suggests items to shoppers based on their behavior.

2. Adobe Marketplace

Magento's Adobe Marketplace has over 3,600 native integrations available. You can enhance everything from customer support and marketing to shipping and fulfillment.

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3. Complex Functionalities

Magento shines when it comes to handling complex functionalities. It’s built to handle complexity with ease. 

This makes it a go-to option for medium to large enterprises or businesses with specific and complicated needs.

4. Developer Tools and API

Magento provides various powerful tools and an API-first approach that helps speed up the development process. 

If you need to build customized apps or extend the platform's native capabilities, Magento makes this possible and even provides a serverless runtime for more flexibility. 

The API orchestration layer also allows for easy integration or replacement of third-party services.

Magento Pricing

The pricing for Magento, specifically Adobe Commerce, is not straightforwardly listed, which is fairly common for platforms that offer high levels of customization and are aimed at a wide range of business sizes, from small to enterprise-level.

Contact their sales team to determine the pricing model best fits your business needs and scale.

What is the Best Shopify Alternative?

You want a platform that is easy to use and offers robust ecommerce capabilities, strong SEO & marketing tools, and various payment gateways.

To help you make an informed decision, we've compared these Shopify alternatives based on key features. Here is the summary:

Get Started with Durable

Durable offers a blend of essential features, making it the best alternative to Shopify. 

Durable's industry-specific AI crafts your website, seamlessly incorporating key industry keywords and leaving you with a highly editable and flexible layout. You can also integrate your store with Stripe to effortlessly manage inventory, process payments, and start earning money online. 

‍Starting at $0 monthly, Durable offers the perfect jumping-off point for new e-commerce businesses. Plus, with a 30-day money-back guarantee and the ability to sign up without a credit card, you can try Durable risk-free. What are you waiting for?