Best Ecommerce Platform for Small Business (2026)

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For most small businesses whose main goal is selling products online, Shopify is the best ecommerce platform: it is hosted, it publishes its fees clearly, and Basic starts at $39/month ($29 billed yearly). Pick WooCommerce if you already run WordPress, and Squarespace or Wix if you want a website first with a modest store attached.

Quick comparison

	Shopify	WooCommerce	Wix eCommerce	Squarespace	BigCommerce
Free plan	No	Core software free, $0 platform fee	Yes, but can't take payments	No	No
Cheapest selling plan	Basic $39/mo ($29 yearly)	$0 + hosting ($25–$350/mo per WooCommerce)	Core $29/mo (yearly)	Basic $25/mo ($19 yearly)	Core $39/mo ($29 yearly)
Platform fee on sales	2% / 1% / 0.6% only if you skip Shopify Payments	0% revenue share	Not listed on plans page	2% on Basic, 0% from Core	2% / 1% / 0.6% only with non-embedded payment providers
Card rate (US online, lowest plan)	2.9% + 30¢	~2.5–2.9% + 30¢ (WooPayments)	Not listed on plans page	2.9% + $0.30	From 2.89% + $0.29
What scales the price	Plan level	Hosting and yearly extensions	Plan level	Plan level	Your trailing-12-month sales
Trial	3 days free, then $1/mo for 3 months	n/a	14-day money-back on first upgrade	14 days	15 days, no card

Our pick by business type

Product-first brand (you sell physical goods and will run ads): Shopify. It is built around the store, publishes its card rates for every plan, and has the largest app marketplace of the five.

Already on WordPress, or want full control: WooCommerce. The software is free; you pay for hosting and any extensions.

Creator, studio or design-led brand with a small catalog: Squarespace. Unlimited products and subscriptions are on every plan, and 0% transaction fees start at Core.

Service business or local shop that wants a website first: Wix eCommerce. One editor for the site and store, with selling from the Core plan.

Growing store that wants many built-in features and accepts sales-based tiers: BigCommerce.

Shopify

Shopify plans in the US, from its pricing page in November 2026: Basic $39/month ($29 yearly), Grow $105/month ($79 yearly), Advanced $399/month ($299 yearly), and Plus from $2,300/month. Online card rates fall from 2.9% + 30¢ on Basic to 2.5% + 30¢ on Advanced. If you use a payment provider other than Shopify Payments, Shopify charges an extra 2%, 1% or 0.6% per sale depending on plan.

The trial is 3 days free, then $1/month for 3 months, with no credit card needed according to Shopify's FAQ.

Skip it if: you want a free plan, or you want your website and blog to be the center of the business with selling as a side feature. App subscriptions also add up.

More detail: Shopify vs WooCommerce and Shopify vs Wix.

WooCommerce

WooCommerce is a free, open-source plugin that turns a WordPress site into a store. Its pricing page says it is "Free, with no monthly subscription" with a $0 platform fee; hosting, extensions and payment fees are separate. WooCommerce puts typical costs at $25–$350/month for hosting and $29–$299 per year for each paid extension. WooPayments processes cards at about 2.5–2.9% + 30¢ with no monthly fee.

Features it lists include unlimited product variants, Apple Pay, Google Pay and buy-now-pay-later through WooPayments, and in-person sales with Tap to Pay and card readers.

Skip it if: nobody on your team wants to handle hosting, updates, plugin conflicts and backups. You are the operator.

Wix eCommerce

Wix eCommerce is selling built into the Wix website builder. Prices shown on Wix's plans page are for yearly billing and vary by location. Our fact sheet lists Core at $29/month, Business at $39/month and Business Elite at $159/month in the US. The Free and Light plans cannot accept payments.

Wix lists dropshipping through Modalyst, print-on-demand through Printful and Printify, selling on Facebook, Instagram, Google Shopping and eBay, abandoned cart emails, subscriptions, Wix POS, and up to 50,000 products.

Skip it if: you want month-to-month billing shown upfront or published card rates. Wix's plans page shows neither.

Squarespace Commerce

Squarespace publishes the clearest fee table of the website builders. From its pricing page:

Basic: $25/month ($19 yearly). 2% fee on online store sales. Card rate 2.9% + $0.30.
Core: $39/month ($29 yearly). 0% store fee. Adds discounts, shipping labels, carrier-calculated shipping and Google Shopping.
Plus: $65/month ($49 yearly). Card rate 2.7% + $0.30. Adds a reserved cart with countdown timer.
Advanced: $139/month ($99 yearly). Card rate 2.5% + $0.30, high-traffic checkout, 0% fee on digital content and memberships.

Every plan includes unlimited products, gift cards, abandoned cart recovery and subscription sales. Squarespace offers a 14-day trial.

Skip it if: you need discounts or shipping labels and want to stay on the cheapest plan. Basic lacks both and adds a 2% fee on store sales, so most sellers should budget for Core.

BigCommerce

BigCommerce ties your plan to your trailing-12-month sales. From its pricing page:

Core: $39/month ($29 yearly). Up to $30K in yearly sales, then it auto-upgrades to Growth.
Growth: $105/month ($79 yearly). Up to $100K, then auto-upgrades to Scale. Adds customer groups, abandoned cart saver and stored cards.
Scale: $399/month ($299 yearly). Up to $33,333/month in sales, with 0.9% on sales above that.
Performance: custom, from $1,499/month on an annual contract.

Card processing starts at 2.89% + $0.29. Orders through a payment provider not on BigCommerce's embedded list carry a 2.0%, 1.0% or 0.6% fee depending on plan. Every plan includes multi-currency, real-time shipping quotes, a blog, product reviews and marketplace and POS channels. The 15-day trial needs no credit card.

Skip it if: your sales are growing fast and you want a predictable fee. Passing $30K in yearly sales moves you from $39 to $105 a month automatically.

What it costs for a small store

Example: $2,000 a month in online sales, 40 orders of $50, paid by card, yearly billing where offered. Plan fee plus card processing, using only published rates.

Shopify Basic: $29 + ($58 + $12) = $99/month.
Squarespace Basic: $19 + 2% store fee ($40) + processing ($58 + $12) = $129/month. On Core: $29 + $70 = $99/month, with the store fee gone.
BigCommerce Core: $29 + processing at 2.89% + $0.29 ($57.80 + $11.60) = about $98/month.
WooCommerce: hosting from $25 + processing at 2.5–2.9% + 30¢ ($62–$70) = from about $87/month, plus any yearly extensions.
Wix eCommerce Core: $29 plan fee; processing is not published on the plans page.

At this size the hosted platforms cost about the same. Squarespace Basic is the one to avoid once you are making regular sales, because the 2% fee costs more than upgrading to Core.

Which one should you choose?

Choose Shopify if you sell products as your main business and want the widest app choice.
Choose WooCommerce if you already have a WordPress site or want to own your stack.
Choose Squarespace if design matters most and your catalog is modest; start on Core.
Choose Wix eCommerce if you need a full business website with a store attached.
Choose BigCommerce if you want lots of selling features built in and are comfortable with sales-based plan tiers.

Common questions

What is the cheapest ecommerce platform for a small business? WooCommerce's software is free with a $0 platform fee, but you pay for hosting ($25–$350/month for most stores, per WooCommerce). Among hosted platforms, Squarespace Basic is $19/month billed yearly but adds a 2% fee on store sales; Shopify Basic, Squarespace Core, BigCommerce Core and Wix Core are each $29/month billed yearly.

Which platform has no transaction fees? Squarespace charges 0% on store sales from Core up. Shopify and BigCommerce charge no extra fee when you use their own or embedded payment providers. WooCommerce lists a 0% revenue share. You still pay card processing on all of them.

Can I switch platforms later? Yes, but it takes work: products, customers, URLs and apps all need to move. Pick the platform that fits where you expect to be in two or three years, not just this month.

Which platforms offer a free trial? Shopify offers 3 days free, then $1/month for 3 months. Squarespace offers 14 days, BigCommerce 15 days with no card, and Wix has a free plan plus a 14-day money-back guarantee on your first upgrade.

How we put this together

We did not test these platforms hands-on. Prices and features come from each company's own pricing and feature pages (Shopify, WooCommerce, Wix, Squarespace and BigCommerce), read in November 2026, plus our verified fact sheets checked on November 2, 2026. Cost examples use only published prices and assume US card payments. Prices vary by country and change often, so confirm them before you sign up.

The Best Ecommerce Platform for Small Business in 2026