Quick answer
- More control, WordPress team: WooCommerce: free core plugin; you pay for hosting and extensions and own the maintenance.
- Hosted platform with B2B and multi-storefront: BigCommerce, but check its annual sales caps, which move you up a plan automatically.
- Website first, shop second: Squarespace or Wix.
- In-person sellers who also sell online: Square Online, which has a $0 plan.
- Digital products and creators: Sellfy.
- Handmade or vintage goods with no audience yet: Etsy, a marketplace rather than your own store, and the most expensive per sale.
- Complex enterprise requirements: Adobe Commerce.
- Stay on Shopify if you use Shopify Payments, depend on apps, and your issue is cost: at the sales levels below, most hosted alternatives cost about the same.
Summary
The short version: costs are closer than most lists suggest
At small and mid volumes, card processing makes up most of the bill, and most platforms charge about the same standard US online card rate (2.9% + 30¢). The real differences come from:
- Extra fees for using your own payment processor. Shopify charges 2%/1%/0.6%/0.2% by plan, and BigCommerce charges 2.0%/1.0%/0.6% on "Open Payment Providers." Squarespace Basic charges a 2% commerce fee whatever the processor.
- Sales caps. BigCommerce moves stores to a higher plan automatically based on trailing-12-month sales, and Sellfy plans cap annual sales.
- Marketplace fees. Etsy charges a 6.5% transaction fee plus 3% + 25¢ payment processing.
- Apps, themes, hosting and developer time. These are not in the table below, and they often decide the real total.
Worked example
Monthly cost at three sales levels (editorial calculation)
Assumptions: US store, standard domestic cards online, $50 average order, cheapest plan each vendor allows at that sales level on yearly billing, platform's own or standard payment processing. Excludes apps, themes, domains, taxes, shipping, premium/international cards, and promotions. WooCommerce uses WooCommerce's own low-end hosting estimate ($25/month); real hosting runs $25–$350/month per WooCommerce. Model your own numbers in the platform cost calculator and payment fee calculator.
| Platform (plan used) | $2,000/mo sales (40 orders) | $10,000/mo (200 orders) | $50,000/mo (1,000 orders) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shopify (Basic; Grow at $50K) | $99 | $379 | $1,729 | Grow's 2.7% rate beats Basic at $50K |
| WooCommerce (WooPayments + $25 hosting) | $95 | $375 | $1,775 | Hosting and extensions vary widely |
| BigCommerce (Core; Scale at $10K and $50K) | $99 | $649 | $2,154 | $10K/month exceeds Growth's $100K trailing-12-month cap even after BigCommerce's 10% GMV deduction, so the store lands on Scale ($299); at $50K, 0.9% applies above the $33,333/month cap |
| Wix (Core) | $100 | $380 | $1,780 | Wix Payments 2.9% + 30¢ |
| Squarespace (Core; Advanced at $50K) | $99 | $379 | $1,649 | Advanced's 2.5% rate wins at $50K |
| Square Online (Free; Plus at $50K) | $78 | $390 | $1,799 | Free plan's 3.3% online rate costs more as sales grow |
| Sellfy (Business; Premium at $10K; over cap at $50K) | $129 | $469 | Contact sales | Annual caps: $10K / $50K / $200K |
| Etsy (marketplace fees) | $200 | $1,000 | $5,000 | 6.5% + 3% + 25¢ per order, plus $0.20 per listing; Offsite Ads fees can add 12–15% on attributed orders |
Rounded to the nearest dollar. Card rates: Shopify, Wix, WooPayments, Squarespace and Square Plus at 2.9% + 30¢ (Shopify Grow 2.7%, Squarespace Plus 2.7%, Advanced 2.5%; Square Free 3.3%); BigCommerce and Sellfy calculated at a standard 2.9% + 30¢ processor rate. Prices checked Oct 7, 2026.
For a store under about $10,000 a month, switching from Shopify Basic to WooCommerce, Wix, or Squarespace changes the platform-plus-payments bill by only a few dollars a month. A move is worth the work when it solves a real problem (control, fit, a fee you are paying on a third-party processor, or apps you no longer need), not for the sticker price alone.
Baseline
Shopify baseline (for comparison)
Shopify Basic is $29/month billed yearly ($39 monthly), Grow $79 ($105), Advanced $299 ($399); Plus starts at $2,300/month on a 3-year term. Shopify Payments online rates run from 2.9% + 30¢ (Basic) to 2.5% + 30¢ (Advanced), and Shopify adds 2%/1%/0.6%/0.2% if you use a third-party processor. Full breakdown: Shopify review: pricing, fees and who it fits.
Check current Shopify plans and terms on the official site.
BestStorefront may earn a commission from links on this page. Affiliate relationships do not influence our ratings, rankings, or editorial conclusions.
Not ranked
The 8 alternatives
Ordered by how often each comes up as a Shopify replacement, not by quality.
WooCommerce — best for WordPress teams who want ownership
- Best for
- Businesses already on WordPress, content-led brands, and teams with developer access who want control of hosting, code and data.
- Pricing (verified Oct 7, 2026)
- Core plugin free, no platform subscription and 0% revenue share. WooCommerce estimates hosting at $25–$350/month and extensions at $29–$299/year each. WooPayments US cards: 2.9% + $0.30 (international cards +1.5%, currency conversion +1%). In person: 2.7% + $0.10.
- Watch out for
- You own updates, security, backups and plugin compatibility. Costs are spread across hosting, extensions and developer time instead of one bill.
BigCommerce — best hosted alternative for B2B and multi-storefront
- Best for
- Growing brands that want a hosted platform with B2B features, multiple storefronts, or headless options, and want to use payment providers such as Stripe, PayPal/Braintree or Adyen without an extra fee.
- Pricing (verified Oct 7, 2026)
- Core $29/month billed yearly ($39 monthly), Growth $79 ($105), Scale $299 ($399); Performance custom from $1,499/month billed annually. Plans are tied to trailing-12-month GMV (gross order value minus 10%): Core up to $30K, Growth up to $100K, then auto-upgrade; Scale covers $33,333/month with 0.9% on GMV above that. No BigCommerce fee on "Embedded Payment Providers"; an Open Payment Provider fee of 2.0% (Core), 1.0% (Growth), 0.6% (Scale) applies to other processors. 15-day free trial, no card required.
- Watch out for
- The sales caps. A steady $10,000/month store exceeds Growth's cap and is moved to Scale. BigCommerce's "zero transaction fees" claim applies only to its embedded providers.
Wix — best for design-led sites with a modest catalog
- Best for
- Service businesses, creators and small brands that want a drag-and-drop website where selling is one feature among many.
- Pricing (verified Oct 7, 2026)
- Plans that accept payments, as displayed on Wix's US plans page on Oct 7, 2026 (yearly subscription): Core $29.77/month, Business $39.77/month, Business Elite $159.77/month. Light ($17/month) and Free do not list accepting payments. Monthly-billing prices were not shown on the page and are not listed here. Wix Payments US: 2.9% + $0.30 for cards (Amex 3.7% + $0.30), PayPal/Venmo 3.49% + $0.49, cross-border +1.5%.
- Watch out for
- Ecommerce depth (variants, multi-channel inventory, B2B) is lighter than commerce-first platforms; check app availability for anything beyond basics.
- Compare
- Shopify vs Wix
Squarespace — best for brands where the website is the product
- Best for
- Design-led brands, portfolios, services and small catalogs; also memberships and digital content, where Squarespace's fee on digital sales falls from 7% on Basic to 0% on Advanced.
- Pricing (verified Oct 7, 2026)
- Basic $19/month billed yearly ($25 monthly), Core $29 ($39), Plus $49 ($65), Advanced $99 ($139). Commerce transaction fee: 2% on Basic, 0% on Core and above, regardless of processor. Squarespace Payments US standard cards: 2.9% + $0.30 (Basic, Core), 2.7% + $0.30 (Plus), 2.5% + $0.30 (Advanced); international cards +1.5%. 14-day free trial.
- Watch out for
- Basic's 2% commerce fee; smaller app ecosystem; less suited to large catalogs or complex operations.
- Compare
- Shopify vs Squarespace
Square Online — best for sellers who already use Square in person
- Best for
- Restaurants, retailers and market sellers who run Square POS and want an online store tied to the same inventory and payments.
- Pricing (verified Oct 7, 2026)
- Square Free $0 (online cards 3.3% + 30¢), Plus $49/month per location (2.9% + 30¢), Premium $149/month per location (2.9% + 30¢). In-person card rates: 2.6% + 15¢ (Free), 2.5% + 15¢ (Plus), 2.4% + 15¢ (Premium). Non-US cards +1.5%. 30-day free trial on Plus and Premium.
- Watch out for
- You must use Square's payment processing. The free plan's higher online rate makes it more expensive than Plus once online sales pass roughly $12,000/month (the 0.4-point rate gap covers Plus's $49 fee at about $12,250).
- Read more
- Square reviewStripe vs Square
Sellfy — best for creators selling digital products
- Best for
- Creators selling digital downloads, subscriptions, print-on-demand merch and small runs of physical products who don't need a full ecommerce platform.
- Pricing (verified Oct 7, 2026)
- Starter $22/month billed yearly ($29 monthly), Business $59 ($79), Premium $119 ($159). Annual sales caps: $10K, $50K and $200K. 0% Sellfy transaction fee; PayPal or Stripe processing is extra. Sellfy says it may charge a 2% overage fee on revenue above your plan's cap if you don't upgrade. 14-day free trial.
- Watch out for
- The caps: a store making $10,000/month needs Premium, and above $200K/year you must contact sales.
- Read more
- Sellfy overview
Etsy — a marketplace, not a store replacement
- Best for
- Makers of handmade, vintage or craft goods who need buyers more than they need a brand site.
- Pricing (US, verified Oct 7, 2026)
- $0.20 per listing (listings expire after 4 months; renewals cost $0.20), 6.5% transaction fee on item price plus shipping, payment processing 3% + $0.25. Offsite Ads: 15% (shops under $10K in the past 365 days; can opt out) or 12% (mandatory at $10K+), capped at $100 per order. Optional Etsy Plus $10/month.
- Watch out for
- It is roughly 2.5 times the per-sale cost of a hosted store in the table above, and you don't own the customer relationship. Some sellers use Etsy for discovery alongside their own store rather than as a replacement.
- Read more
- Etsy overview
Adobe Commerce — for complex enterprise builds
- Best for
- Large B2B or multi-brand businesses with complex catalogs, integrations and an implementation partner.
- Pricing (verified Oct 7, 2026)
- Quote-only. Adobe lists three packages (Adobe Commerce as a Cloud Service, Adobe Commerce on Cloud, and Adobe Commerce Optimizer) with "Get pricing" requests and no published price. Magento Open Source is open-source software with no license fee, but you self-manage hosting, security and development.
- Watch out for
- Implementation and ongoing development costs; this is a different class of project from moving off Shopify Basic.
Not yet covered
Also on many shortlists
Two smaller hosted options that appear on many alternatives lists (BestStorefront has not yet published overviews of either; links go to their official pricing pages):
- Ecwid by Lightspeed: Starter $5/month (up to 10 products), Venture $35/month or $29 billed yearly (100 products), Business $65 or $49 (2,500 products), Unlimited $149 or $119. Ecwid says there are no setup or transaction fees on any plan. Its former free plan no longer appears on its pricing page. Source: Ecwid pricing
- Big Cartel: Gold is free with limited features; Platinum is $15/month (or $144/year); Diamond is $30/month. Payments run through Stripe or PayPal. Source: Big Cartel pricing
Switching costs
When to stay on Shopify
Switching platforms costs time, money and some risk: redirects, data migration, theme rebuilds, app replacements and staff retraining. Staying is usually the better choice when:
- You use Shopify Payments, so you pay no extra transaction fee, and your sales are under about $10,000/month: the alternatives above cost roughly the same.
- Your store depends on several Shopify-only apps (subscriptions, reviews, bundles, post-purchase offers) that would need replacing.
- Your real problem is app spend or conversion, not the platform. Audit apps first; our guides on conversion optimization software and the ecommerce stack can help.
- You sell in person and online and are happy with Shopify POS.
Consider moving when you need to own the code or hosting, when a third-party processor is non-negotiable and Shopify's extra fee is material, when BigCommerce's B2B or multi-storefront features fit your model better, or when your business is really a website with a small shop attached.
Checklist
How to compare before you switch
- Export last year's orders and calculate your real average order value, card mix (domestic, international, premium) and monthly sales.
- List every app and its monthly cost; mark which ones the new platform replaces natively.
- Price each candidate at your volume, including any processor fee and sales caps, with the platform cost calculator.
- Check data export and URL redirect support on both sides before committing.
- Read the head-to-head comparison for your top two (all linked above), then run a trial store with real products.
Decision support
Frequently asked questions
What is the best alternative to Shopify?
There isn't one for every store. WooCommerce suits WordPress teams that want control, BigCommerce suits hosted B2B or multi-storefront needs, Squarespace and Wix suit website-first businesses, Square Online suits in-person sellers, and Sellfy suits digital creators.
What is the cheapest alternative to Shopify?
For platform fees alone, Square Online's free plan ($0/month, 3.3% + 30¢ per online card sale) and WooCommerce's free core plugin are the lowest, but WooCommerce needs paid hosting. At $2,000/month in sales, our worked example puts Square Online Free at about $78/month and Shopify Basic at about $99.
Are there free alternatives to Shopify?
Square Online has a $0 plan, Big Cartel's Gold plan is free with limited features, and WooCommerce's core plugin is free (hosting is not). All still charge payment processing on each sale.
How much does Shopify take from a $100 sale?
On the Basic plan with Shopify Payments, a $100 domestic online card sale costs $3.20 (2.9% + 30¢). With a third-party processor, Shopify adds $2.00 on Basic on top of that processor's fee.
Is Shopify still worth it in 2026?
For product-led stores that use Shopify Payments and value the app ecosystem, generally yes. Its plan and card costs are in line with other hosted platforms at small and mid volumes. It is a weaker fit if you need to own the code or must use another processor.
Is Wix or Shopify better for a small business?
Wix suits businesses where the website and content matter as much as selling; Shopify suits businesses where selling is the main job. See the Shopify vs Wix comparison.
Does BigCommerce charge transaction fees?
Not on orders through its embedded payment providers (including BigCommerce Payments, Stripe, PayPal/Braintree and Adyen). Other processors trigger a 2.0%, 1.0% or 0.6% fee depending on plan.
Is Etsy an alternative to Shopify?
Only partly. Etsy is a marketplace that brings buyers but charges about 9.5% plus 25¢ per order in transaction and processing fees, plus listing fees and possible Offsite Ads fees. Some sellers run both.
Documentation