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What Are the Best Alternatives to Shopify? A 2026 Cost Comparison for Business Owners
Shopify is the default choice for online stores, but it is not the only one. This guide compares WooCommerce, BigCommerce, Squarespace and Wix against Shopify on plan prices, transaction fees and what each one means for your order workflow. Every price comes from the platform’s own pricing page.
FIG. 00: Whatever platform you choose, the orders still have to be packed, tracked and recorded.
QUICK ANSWER
What are the main alternatives to Shopify?
The main alternatives to Shopify are WooCommerce, BigCommerce, Squarespace and Wix. WooCommerce gives the most control with no platform fee. BigCommerce adds no fee when you use its embedded payment providers. Squarespace and Wix suit smaller catalogs. Entry plans sit near Shopify’s $29 a month, so the real difference is fees and workload.
Why do business owners look for an alternative to Shopify?
Most owners do not leave because Shopify is broken. They leave because of how the costs and limits are structured. Three things come up most often.
- Fees on other gateways. When you do not use Shopify Payments, Shopify adds a third-party transaction fee of 2% on Basic, 1% on Grow, 0.6% on Advanced and 0.2% on Plus.
- Plan steps. On yearly billing, Basic is $29 a month, Grow is $79 and Advanced is $299. Basic includes no additional staff accounts, Grow includes 5 and Advanced includes 15.
- Availability. Shopify states that Shopify Payments is available only in certain countries, so your payment options depend on where your business is based.
None of this is a reason to leave by itself. It is the short list of things to check before you decide.
How do the alternatives compare on price and fees?
Prices are in US dollars on yearly billing unless noted. They come from each platform’s pricing page.
| Platform | Entry plan (billed yearly) | Fee on your sales | Card rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shopify (baseline) | Basic, $29 a month ($39 monthly) | 2% extra on third-party gateways | 2.9% + 30¢ |
| WooCommerce | Free plugin, hosting $25 to $350 a month | 0% revenue share | About 2.5% to 2.9% + 30¢ with WooPayments |
| BigCommerce | Core, $29 a month ($39 monthly) | 0% on embedded providers, 2% on others | From 2.89% + 29¢ |
| Squarespace | Basic $19, Core $29 a month | 2% on Basic, 0% on Core and up | 2.9% + 30¢ on Basic and Core |
| Wix | Core, about $29 a month | Not listed on the public plan page | Not listed on the public plan page |
Wix lists Core as its first plan with payments and basic ecommerce, and Business Elite at about $159 a month. Wix states that prices vary by location, so confirm the figure for your country before you budget.
Which alternative fits which kind of business?
- WooCommerce fits owners who already run WordPress or work with a developer. The plugin is free with no revenue share. WooCommerce puts hosting at $25 to $350 a month for most stores and extensions at $29 to $299 a year each. You also take on updates, backups and security, or pay a host to do it.
- BigCommerce fits growing stores that want many built-in features and sales channels. Its plans follow your trailing 12-month sales, counted as gross order value minus 10%. Core covers up to $30K, Growth covers up to $100K, and Scale ($299 a month yearly) covers $33,333 a month with a 0.9% overage rate above that. BigCommerce restructured its plans on June 1, 2026, so older reviews may quote different numbers.
- Squarespace fits design-led stores with a modest catalog. Core at $29 a month yearly has a 0% store fee and includes Commerce API access. Basic at $19 charges 2% on store sales and leaves out the Commerce APIs and the Zapier integration.
- Wix fits beginners who want everything in one place. Ecommerce starts on Core, with Standard eCommerce on Business and Advanced eCommerce on Business Elite.
FIG. 01: Run the numbers on your own sales before you pick a plan.
How much do transaction fees change the total?
Here is a worked example. These are my calculations from the published rates, before card processing fees. Say a store sells $10,000 a month and takes payment through a gateway other than Shopify Payments.
- On Shopify Basic at $29 a month, the extra 2% fee is $200, so the total is $229 a month.
- On Shopify Grow at $79 a month, the extra 1% fee is $100, so the total is $179 a month.
- Grow costs $50 more but saves $100 in fees, so it comes out $50 a month cheaper. The break-even is $5,000 in monthly sales ($50 divided by the 1% difference).
Volume caps can matter just as much. $10,000 a month is $120,000 a year, or about $108,000 of BigCommerce GMV after the 10% reduction. That is above the $100K limit on Growth, and BigCommerce says plans move up automatically once trailing 12-month GMV passes the cap, so this store would land on Scale at $299 a month on yearly billing. The same store pays no BigCommerce fee on Stripe or PayPal, but the plan price is higher.
How do you compare total cost across platforms?
- Write down your sales. Note your monthly sales and average order value, because every fee on this page scales with them.
- Pick your payment gateway. Choose the gateway you actually need, then check whether the platform treats it as built in or as a third-party gateway with an extra fee.
- Add up the monthly cost. Add the plan price, hosting and extensions to the fee on your sales and the card rate.
- Check the limits that cost money later. Look at staff accounts, API access and sales caps before you commit.
- List the tools that must stay connected. Name every system that receives order data, such as your support desk, CRM, accounting and email.
- Test before you move anything. Use the free trial or money-back window first: Shopify gives 3 days free then $1 a month for 3 months, BigCommerce 15 days, Squarespace 14 days, and Wix a 14-day money-back guarantee.
If you want help weighing the options for your catalog, get in touch. For the labor side of order handling, see the e-commerce virtual assistant service and the virtual assistant cost breakdown.
What happens to your order automations if you switch?
The storefront is the easy part to compare. The harder part is everything wired to it. A new order triggers a webhook, which is a short message carrying a JSON payload, and the field names in that payload differ on every platform. When you switch, the API payload mapping, any lookup table that translates SKUs or tags, and your multi-step conditional routing for fraud holds, VIP customers or backorders all need to be rebuilt and tested.
Plan limits affect this too. On Shopify, Basic gives limited data access for custom apps, while Grow and above give full data access. On Squarespace, Commerce APIs and the Zapier integration start on Core. If you connect Shopify to Gorgias or HubSpot with Zapier or Make, list which scenarios would break on a switch and rebuild them one at a time. The Zapier vs Make comparison covers how to choose between the two tools.
This is the work behind Shopify order automation, API integrations and webhooks and Zapier and Make automation. CRM-side routing sits under HubSpot workflow automation.
Should you switch platforms before Black Friday 2026?
Black Friday 2026 falls on November 27. That is a short window to move a catalog, rebuild automations and test checkout under load. My recommendation is to build the new store in parallel now, test it, and cut over after the peak rather than in the middle of it. If you stay put, use the time on the Black Friday 2026 Shopify automation checklist and plan extra hands with the seasonal virtual assistant guide for Q4 2026.
Frequently asked questions
What is the cheapest alternative to Shopify?
On sticker price, Squarespace Basic at $19 a month billed yearly and the free WooCommerce plugin look cheapest. Squarespace Basic charges a 2% store fee, and WooCommerce needs hosting at $25 to $350 a month for most stores. Compare the total monthly cost at your own sales level, not the entry price.
Is WooCommerce really free?
The WooCommerce plugin is free, with no monthly subscription and no revenue share. You still pay for hosting, which WooCommerce puts at $25 to $350 a month for most stores, and for extensions at $29 to $299 a year each. Payment processing is billed by your processor, at about 2.5% to 2.9% plus 30 cents with WooPayments.
Does BigCommerce charge transaction fees?
BigCommerce charges no fee on orders paid through its embedded payment providers, which include Stripe and PayPal. Orders paid through any other gateway carry an Open Payment Provider Fee of 2% on Core, 1% on Growth and 0.6% on Scale. Performance plans carry no such fee under contract terms.
Which alternative is best for a small online store?
Squarespace Core suits a small, design-led catalog at $29 a month billed yearly, with a 0% store fee and card rates from 2.9% plus 30 cents. Wix is the beginner option, and ecommerce starts on its Core plan. If you already run WordPress, WooCommerce is the other fit. Pick based on how much setup you want to handle.
Will my automations carry over if I leave Shopify?
No. Product and customer data can usually be exported and imported, but automations do not move on their own. Webhooks, API payload mapping, lookup tables and routing rules must be rebuilt and tested on the new platform. Run the old and new stores side by side before you switch your domain.
Is leaving Shopify worth it?
Often the card rates barely change. Shopify Basic charges 2.9% plus 30 cents, the same as Squarespace Core, and WooPayments is about 2.5% to 2.9% plus 30 cents. Savings come from avoiding the third-party gateway fee, from staff and API limits, or from wanting control. If you use Shopify Payments, the gap is small.
Sources
Prices and policies change, so confirm current figures on each platform before you decide.
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I build order automation and API integrations for Shopify and other stores. My work at Sales Fury led to 95% fewer data-entry errors and about 40% better data reliability.