The best e-commerce website builders: Expert tested

Shopify is one of the biggest names among website builders specifically for e-commerce, and it's the best choice for businesses that move a lot of inventory. With Shopify, you can list unlimited products to sell across multiple channels and from 10 locations, and you get robust email marketing tools as well as features like abandoned cart recovery, currency conversion, and sales tax calculation to reduce friction for you and your customers. Shopify also integrates with thousands of apps to customize your store and promote and manage your business. 

Plans start at $29 per month when billed annually, with additional tiers at $79 per month and $299 per month (as well as custom pricing for larger companies, starting at $2,300 per month). Each successive tier comes with greater shipping discounts, lower transaction fees, and more staff accounts, so if your sales volume is high or you have a big team, the Shopify or Advanced plans will likely pay for themselves. Shopify's free trial is only three days, but the platform has a $1-per-month promo good for three months, so you can do an extended test run before shelling out for a full year. There's also a lightweight $5-per-month option for selling products via social platforms like Instagram and WhatsApp. 

When it comes to the actual website builder, there are 240 themes to choose from, and the guided setup wizard shows you how to add products and launch your storefront. However, Shopify's focus is more on inventory and sales than it is on design, which is where platforms like Wix and Squarespace shine. Another downside: Shopify charges fees (ranging from 0.6% to 2% depending on your plan) for third-party payment processors other than the built-in Shopify Payments. Card rates range from 2.5% plus $0.30 to 2.9% plus $0.30 for online transactions and from 2.4% plus $0.10 to 2.6% plus $0.10 for in-person sales. 

With unlimited bandwidth and storage, detailed analytics, and 24/7 customer support, Shopify is a solid choice for medium- to large-scale e-commerce businesses.

Shopify features: Unlimited bandwidth and storage on all plans | SSL certificate | 99.99% uptime | 24/7 chat support | Basic AI tools | Three-day free trial 

Wix is one of our top website builder recommendations, thanks to its extensive design options and flexible site editor. Its e-commerce features are competitively priced and include everything you need to run a small- to medium-size online shop. 

While Wix does have a free tier and a "light" paid plan, e-commerce is available starting with a $29-per-month Core subscription, which comes with 50GB of storage and basic sales and marketing features, such as selling via marketplaces and social channels, customer account creation, abandoned cart recovery, loyalty programs, and the ability to accept online payments with major credit cards, PayPal, Google Pay, Apple Pay, and various buy now, pay later (BNPL) services. Upgrade to Business ($36 monthly) or Business Elite ($159 monthly) for more-robust marketing tools, additional collaborator accounts, automated sales tax, and the ability to accept multiple currencies. Note that Wix allows product catalogs of up to 50,000 items on all tiers -- which is a lot but not unlimited for very large e-commerce businesses -- and limits sales tax calculation to 100 and 500 transactions per month on Business and Business Elite, respectively. Wix also lacks the robust inventory management features Shopify offers for businesses with multiple locations. 

In terms of fees, Wix charges 2.9% plus $0.30 across the board for credit/debit card and digital wallet transactions in US dollars (excluding American Express, which costs 3.7% plus $0.30). Transactions processed through PayPal, Wix Payments POS and manual entry, and BNPL are typically higher. 

Wix's website builder has more than 500 e-commerce templates to choose from, with a flexible drag-and-drop editor, easy media uploading (along with a library of royalty-free images), and hundreds of embedded apps to choose from, but it isn't the most intuitive to use, and its AI tools for generating design and copy leave a lot to be desired. Plus, once you pick a template for your online shop, you're locked in unless you start your site from scratch. Wix does have 24/7 customer service via phone and chat, so you can reach a real human if you need to. 

Wix features: Over 900 e-commerce templates | SSL certification | Caching | Wix Professional design services | 24/7 customer support | AI site builder | 14-day money-back guarantee 

Squarespace stands out among website builders for its design-forward approach, from dozens of prebuilt templates and themes and an intuitive drag-and-drop editor to a collaborative AI tool that helps you get your site up and running quickly. And since every Squarespace plan includes e-commerce features, it's worthy of consideration for business owners who want to build a beautiful site to showcase their products and services -- including digital content, such as courses, videos, memberships, and subscriptions. 

You can get started with Squarespace on a 14-day free trial, after which the cheapest plan starts at $16 per month when billed annually. This gets you a custom domain and up to two contributors -- great if you're a business of one -- though with relatively high fees: 2% for online store transactions and a hefty 7% for digital content and memberships. Upgrade to a more premium plan ($23 per month for Core, $39 per month for Plus, or $99 per month for Advanced) to get additional features, like unlimited contributors, site analytics, shipping, and tax services, along with Google Workspace integration as well as progressively lower credit card and transaction fees. 

Squarespace Payments allows you to accept Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, Apple Pay, Klarna, and Afterpay, with card fees ranging from 2.5% to 2.9% plus $0.30 and transaction charges depending on your subscription tier (3.2% plus $0.30 across the board for American Express). Squarespace also charges fees for ACH payment processing, international credit card payment processing, and currency conversion, so be sure to factor this in if you have global sales. 

Though fees for digital content and memberships are fairly high on Squarespace's cheaper plans, it's a great platform for presenting these offerings, as well as for connecting with customers with marketing tools like lead forms, newsletter blocks, and integrations with Mailchimp and Zapier. Squarespace also allows you to sell unlimited products, services, and gift cards and includes useful tools like abandoned cart recovery, product status labels, and tax calculation, making it an excellent e-commerce website builder for small businesses. 

Squarespace features: SSL certificate | HIPPA-compliant scheduling with Acuity | Unlimited products | AI site builder | Squarespace Design services | 14-day free trial 

GoDaddy has a simple, user-friendly website builder at an affordable price point for small businesses needing an online shop. Though you don't get the most customizable site design or the most robust feature set, GoDaddy is a good value for new users. 

While GoDaddy has several subscription tiers, only the most expensive Commerce plan offers, well, e-commerce functionality. This subscription costs just $21 per month when billed annually for the first year (and will jump to $35 per month on renewal). This comes with the ability to sell unlimited products online via marketplaces and social platforms, or in-store with automated inventory management; 100,000 email marketing sends per month; an automated sales tax calculator; and secure payment processing. GoDaddy charges 2.7% plus $0.30 for online orders and 2.3% for in-person transactions where the card is present. GoDaddy Payments works with major credit cards and with digital wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay. 

GoDaddy Airo, the platform's AI tool, can help you get your site started, and there's a setup wizard for navigating the interface. The builder itself makes it easy to add and edit pages, though template choices and customization options are limited compared with some other website builders, so your site may look more generic. GoDaddy has live support available 24/7 via phone, text, and chat for all subscribers. 

GoDaddy features: 99.9% uptime | SSL certificate | AI site builder | 24/7 customer support | Seven-day free trial 

Square Online -- the website builder from payment processor Square -- is a great option to get a simple e-commerce site up and running at no cost. Square Online's free tier allows you to sell unlimited items online or in-store (as well as via social media) and accept payments through Square Pay, Cash App Pay, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Afterpay. 

All plans come with basic SEO and marketing tools, shipping rate discounts, and fraud protections, as well as flexible order-fulfillment features. However, you have to upgrade to a paid tier -- $29 per month for Plus or $79 per month for Premium -- to customize your site's layout, design, branding, or domain, as well as to access analytics (such as site visitors and sales trends) and advanced sales features. Transaction fees on the Free and Plus plans run at 2.9% plus $0.30 online and 2.6% plus $0.15 in person but drop to 2.6% plus $0.30 for online payments on the Premium tier. And though chat and phone support are available to all users, only Premium subscribers can reach live help 24/7. 

If you want to get your online shop going but aren't ready to commit to a paid plan, Square Online is a solid free website builder with room to upgrade for additional features. If you already have an established brand or custom domain or want anything more than a simple, Square-branded layout, a free subscription isn't for you -- but Square Online's other tiers are still worth considering. 

Square Online features: SSL certificate | Unlimited items | Square Pay | Shipping rate discounts | Phone and chat support during business hours