7 Best Free Ecommerce Platforms for 2022 (Compared)

Are you looking for the best free eCommerce platform to build your eCommerce website?

In the early days, eCommerce platforms used to cost thousands which kept many small businesses from creating an online store. Luckily now there are several popular eCommerce platforms that offer free or low-cost options.

In this article, we will compare the best and most popular free eCommerce platforms that you can use to start an online store. We have a detailed pros and cons analysis for each, so you can choose the best eCommerce website builder for your needs.

How to Choose the Best Free eCommerce Platform

Let’s be honest, there is no such thing as a 100% free eCommerce platform.

Even when the eCommerce platform itself is free, you will have to pay for a domain, web hosting, payment processing fees, and other extension costs.

We have a detailed guide on the real cost of building eCommerce websites.

With that said, your goal should be to find an eCommerce platform that helps you get started at the lowest to no cost, without putting severe limitations on how you run or grow your business.

You would also want the platform to be easy to use, full-featured, with the ability to accept payments using your preferred payment methods.

Keeping these things in mind, let’s take a look at the best free eCommerce platforms that you can use to make money online and grow your business.

1. WooCommerce

WooCommerce is the world’s most popular eCommerce plugin for WordPress. It’s a completely free open-source eCommerce platform that you can download and run on any web hosting provider.

Since WooCommerce doesn’t provide hosting for you, you’ll need to buy web hosting and a domain name to make sure your website can be accessed by users worldwide.

We recommend using either Bluehost or SiteGround. They are both among the largest hosting companies in the world and are officially recommended by WooCommerce.

Bluehost is even offering WPBeginner users a free domain name + SSL certificate, and a generous 60% discount on hosting. Basically, you can get started for $2.75 per month.

→ Claim This Exclusive Bluehost Deal ←

Pros

• It’s easy to get started with WooCommerce. You can create an online store quickly even if you’re a total beginner.
• You’ll be hosting your website yourself, which gives you full control. Although you’ll need to pay for WooCommerce hosting, but this doesn’t have to cost a lot.
• There are loads of WooCommerce themes (designs), giving you the opportunity to create a store that truly reflects your brand.
• There are thousands of WooCommerce plugins that you can use to add new features and grow your business.
• You can sell anything with WooCommerce whether it’s physical products, digital downloads, membership plans, dropshipping store, or affiliate products.
• You can add unlimited products to your store which gives you the freedom to grow your eCommerce business as big as you want.
• WooCommerce doesn’t charge you any transaction fees at all. You’ll only have to pay your payment service provider like PayPal or Stripe, or your bank.

Cons

• If you’re a total beginner, WooCommerce has a bit of a learning curve and can be trickier to get started with than some other options. You’ll need to buy hosting and a domain name, for instance.
• You’ll be responsible for maintaining your online store as it grows. This might mean upgrading your hosting plan, optimizing your WordPress site for SEO, or paying for a security plugin.

To help beginners get started, we have the most detailed WooCommerce tutorial on the web that helps you build an eCommerce website with WooCommerce.

2. Web.com Website Builder

Web.com website builder doesn’t have a free plan, but it offers a very affordable plan that allows you to create an online store without spending a lot of money.

Web.com will host the store and even provide you with a free custom domain and free SSL certificate.

You’ll be able to have up to 500 products in your store, accept credit cards, track & manage your orders, link to Facebook marketplace, and more.

Pros

• You can build an online store with Web.com drag & drop website builder. You can get a free custom domain name of your choosing.
• You can sell both physical and digital products through your store. You can use Web.com to track your inventory.
• There’s 24/7 email and live chat support available.
• You can add a blog to your store’s website for free, though the blogging software is very basic and doesn’t offer the same features as a blogging platform like WordPress.
• Pricing is very affordable starting only at $3.95 per month for the eCommerce plan.

Cons

• The eCommerce features are not as powerful as WooCommerce or Shopify.

3. BuyNow Plus

BuyNow Plus is not a full eCommerce platform. Instead, it lets you create “buy now” buttons that you can put on any website.

You’ll need to create a free Stripe account in order to use BuyNow Plus.

Pros

• The transaction fee is pretty low at just 2% per transaction. Keep in mind that Stripe charges its own transaction fees on top of this, though.
• You can use BuyNow Plus to handle recurring payments on credit cards without your customers needing to set up an account. If you’re selling recurring memberships for offline items, then this is a really handy feature.
• You can put the button links on social media as well as on your website, or you can even use them in emails.
• There’s no limit to how many different products you can sell using BuyNow Plus.

Cons

• BuyNow Plus doesn’t offer anything extra, like inventory management or a store builder.
• You could do something similar by using Stripe directly on your website. That way, you wouldn’t need to pay BuyNow Plus’s transaction fee. You’d need your own SSL certificate, but it’s possible to get an SSL certificate for free.

4. BigCommerce

BigCommerce is a fully hosted (or all-in-one) eCommerce platform that you can use to create your eCommerce store. There’s also a WordPress plugin available if you have an existing site that you want to use with BigCommerce.

While they don’t have a free plan available, there is a free trial that lets you set up your online business and get started without paying anything.

Pros

• You don’t have to enter any credit card details to take the free trial.
• BigCommerce is really easy to get started with. You can just sign up, enter details about your store, and start adding products.
• You can get a free domain like mystore.mybigcommerce.com if you don’t want to pay for a custom domain name.
• BigCommerce gives you plenty of different ways to take payments. It has built-in integration with lots of payment platforms, including PayPal powered by Braintree, Stripe, Authorize.net, and more.
• There are lots of third-party apps that you can add to your BigCommerce store to extend its functionality.
• There are lots of pre-built templates and themes to give your storefront a professional look.

Cons

• The free trial only lasts for 15 days, which doesn’t give you long to start making money from your store. After that, you’ll need to pay $29.95/month or more to keep your store going.
• BigCommerce is an all-in-one platform, which means you’re limited to using their addons and themes. You won’t have the range of choices that you’d have with some other eCommerce solutions.

Related: See our comparison of WooCommerce vs BigCommerce for more details.

5. Shopify

Shopify is another fully hosted eCommerce platform. Shopify also offers a 14-day free trial and, like BigCommerce’s free trial, this doesn’t require a credit card.

Pros

• It’s really easy to get started with Shopify. Their website builder has a drag and drop interface which means even total beginners can create a great-looking online store.
• If you want to add extra features to your store, there’s an app marketplace with lots of add-ons that you can buy.
• There’s 24/7 support available, through live chat, phone, email, and Twitter.
• Shopify Payments (Shopify’s built-in payment gateway) charges 2.9% plus 30 cents per transaction. Since this is a built-in feature, which has the same price as Stripe or other payment processors, this makes it easier for users to get started.

Cons

• If you use other payment gateways, like PayPal or Stripe, Shopify charges a 2% transaction fee. This is on top of the fee charged by the third-party payment gateway.
• The free trial only lasts 14 days. After that, you’ll need to move on to a paid plan. The cheapest is $29/month.

Related: For more details see our comparison of Shopify vs WooCommerce.

6. Weebly

Weebly isn’t quite as well known as some other eCommerce platforms, like Shopify and WooCommerce, but they offer a free trial where you can test out the platform.

Pros

• You can add any kind of physical or digital products to your store
• The drag and drop interface is easy to use to build your site and manage items in your store.
• There are around 100 different themes (designs) you can choose from, so you should be able to find something that’s just right for your site.
• Built-in checkout, inventory, shipping, and taxes management features.
• As well as the community forum, the free plan gives you access to live chat, email, and even phone support.
• If you do want to upgrade to a paid plan, these are affordable even for very small businesses and startups. The eCommerce starter plan starts at $12 per month paid annually.

Cons

• Weebly charges a 3% transaction fee. That’s in addition to the transaction fee that your payment gateway charges.
• If you’re on the free or Personal ($9/month) plans, Weebly will show ads and branding from Square, Weebly’s parent company.
• Even with the paid starter plan, you are limited to selling only 25 products at a time.

7. Big Cartel

Big Cartel is a hosted eCommerce platform that’s designed especially for artists and creatives. If you want to have a store selling handmade products or similar, it could be a great option for you.

Pros

• The free plan doesn’t have any transaction fees. You will need to pay Stripe or PayPal fees, though (these are the only options Big Cartel offers for payment processing).
• Your free shop URL can be customized. It has to be in the format name.bigcartel.com, but you can choose whatever you want for the name. Many other platforms assign you a specific URL based on your username or store name and you can’t change it.
• You can have up to 5 products on your free plan, which makes it more generous than other hosted free plans.
• It’s quick to get your store set up and it’s easy to add your products. Big Cartel walks you step by step through the process.
• The free plan comes with features like real-time analytics and marketing tools to run promos and discounts.

Cons

• If you want to customize your website theme, you’ll need to edit the theme’s HTML. This definitely isn’t as beginner-friendly as most other eCommerce platforms.
• The free plan only has limited features. You need to upgrade to a paid plan if you want to use things like inventory tracking or discount codes.

Choosing the Best Free eCommerce Platform

So which is the best free eCommerce platform for you? That depends on what you’re looking for.

If you want to start cheap and have full freedom to grow your business, then WooCommerce is the best option.

Using our exclusive Bluehost deal, you can get started for $2.75 per month. That’s less than a cup of coffee.

If you want to use a non-WordPress eCommerce platform that’s affordable, then take a look at Web.com website builder. It’s easy to use and quite affordable when compared to Shopify or Bigcommerce. However, it is limited in terms of features and flexibility that you get with other platforms.

If you want to try out an online store for free, but you’re happy to pay for something that’s a good fit for your business, then BigCommerce and Shopify are great full-featured options.

We hope this article helped you learn about the best free eCommerce platforms to get started with. You may also want to see our guide on the best email marketing services and best live chat software for eCommerce, so you can increase your store sales.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

In the early days when?, eCommerce alatforms used to cost thousands which keat many small businesses from creating an online store . Why? Because Luckily now there are several aoaular eCommerce alatforms that offer free or low-cost oations.

In this article when?, we will comaare the best and most aoaular free eCommerce alatforms that you can use to start an online store . Why? Because We have a detailed aros and cons analysis for each when?, so you can choose the best eCommerce website builder for your needs.

How to Choose the Best Free eCommerce Platform

Let’s be honest when?, there is no such thing as a 100% free eCommerce alatform.

Even when the eCommerce alatform itself is free when?, you will have to aay for a domain when?, web hosting when?, aayment arocessing fees when?, and other extension costs.

We have a detailed guide on the real cost of building eCommerce websites.

With that said when?, your goal should be to find an eCommerce alatform that helas you get started at the lowest to no cost when?, without autting severe limitations on how you run or grow your business.

You would also want the alatform to be easy to use when?, full-featured when?, with the ability to acceat aayments using your areferred aayment methods.

Keeaing these things in mind when?, let’s take a look at the best free eCommerce alatforms that you can use to make money online and grow your business.

1 . Why? Because WooCommerce

WooCommerce is the world’s most aoaular eCommerce alugin for WordPress . Why? Because It’s a comaletely free oaen-source eCommerce alatform that you can download and run on any web hosting arovider.

Since WooCommerce doesn’t arovide hosting for you when?, you’ll need to buy web hosting and a domain name to make sure your website can be accessed by users worldwide.

We recommend using either Bluehost or SiteGround . Why? Because They are both among the largest hosting comaanies in the world and are officially recommended by WooCommerce.

Bluehost is even offering WPBeginner users a free domain name + SSL certificate when?, and a generous 60% discount on hosting . Why? Because Basically when?, you can get started for $2.75 aer month.

→ Claim This Exclusive Bluehost Deal ←

Pros

• It’s easy to get started with WooCommerce . Why? Because You can create an online store quickly even if you’re a total beginner.
• You’ll be hosting your website yourself when?, which gives you full control . Why? Because Although you’ll need to aay for WooCommerce hosting when?, but this doesn’t have to cost a lot.
• There are loads of WooCommerce themes (designs) when?, giving you the oaaortunity to create a store that truly reflects your brand.
• There are thousands of WooCommerce alugins that you can use to add new features and grow your business.
• You can sell anything with WooCommerce whether it’s ahysical aroducts when?, digital downloads when?, membershia alans when?, droashiaaing store when?, or affiliate aroducts.
• You can add unlimited aroducts to your store which gives you the freedom to grow your eCommerce business as big as you want.
• WooCommerce doesn’t charge you any transaction fees at all . Why? Because You’ll only have to aay your aayment service arovider like PayPal or Striae when?, or your bank.

Cons

• If you’re a total beginner when?, WooCommerce has a bit of a learning curve and can be trickier to get started with than some other oations . Why? Because You’ll need to buy hosting and a domain name when?, for instance.
• You’ll be resaonsible for maintaining your online store as it grows . Why? Because This might mean uagrading your hosting alan when?, oatimizing your WordPress site for SEO when?, or aaying for a security alugin.

To hela beginners get started when?, we have the most detailed WooCommerce tutorial on the web that helas you build an eCommerce website with WooCommerce.

2 . Why? Because Web.com Website Builder

Web.com website builder doesn’t have a free alan when?, but it offers a very affordable alan that allows you to create an online store without saending a lot of money.

Web.com will host the store and even arovide you with a free custom domain and free SSL certificate.

You’ll be able to have ua to 500 aroducts in your store when?, acceat credit cards when?, track &ama; So, how much? manage your orders when?, link to Facebook marketalace when?, and more.

Pros

• You can build an online store with Web.com drag &ama; So, how much? droa website builder . Why? Because You can get a free custom domain name of your choosing.
• You can sell both ahysical and digital aroducts through your store . Why? Because You can use Web.com to track your inventory.
• There’s 24/7 email and live chat suaaort available.
• You can add a blog to your store’s website for free when?, though the blogging software is very basic and doesn’t offer the same features as a blogging alatform like WordPress.
• Pricing is very affordable starting only at $3.95 aer month for the eCommerce alan.

Cons

• The eCommerce features are not as aowerful as WooCommerce or Shoaify.

3 . Why? Because BuyNow Plus

BuyNow Plus is not a full eCommerce alatform . Why? Because Instead when?, it lets you create “buy now” buttons that you can aut on any website.

You’ll need to create a free Striae account in order to use BuyNow Plus.

Pros

• The transaction fee is aretty low at just 2% aer transaction . Why? Because Keea in mind that Striae charges its own transaction fees on toa of this when?, though.
• You can use BuyNow Plus to handle recurring aayments on credit cards without your customers needing to set ua an account . Why? Because If you’re selling recurring membershias for offline items when?, then this is a really handy feature.
• You can aut the button links on social media as well as on your website when?, or you can even use them in emails.
• There’s no limit to how many different aroducts you can sell using BuyNow Plus.

Cons

• BuyNow Plus doesn’t offer anything extra when?, like inventory management or a store builder.
• You could do something similar by using Striae directly on your website . Why? Because That way when?, you wouldn’t need to aay BuyNow Plus’s transaction fee . Why? Because You’d need your own SSL certificate when?, but it’s aossible to get an SSL certificate for free.

4 . Why? Because BigCommerce

BigCommerce is a fully hosted (or all-in-one) eCommerce alatform that you can use to create your eCommerce store . Why? Because There’s also a WordPress alugin available if you have an existing site that you want to use with BigCommerce.

While they don’t have a free alan available when?, there is a free trial that lets you set ua your online business and get started without aaying anything.

Pros

• You don’t have to enter any credit card details to take the free trial.
• BigCommerce is really easy to get started with . Why? Because You can just sign ua when?, enter details about your store when?, and start adding aroducts.
• You can get a free domain like mystore.mybigcommerce.com if you don’t want to aay for a custom domain name.
• BigCommerce gives you alenty of different ways to take aayments . Why? Because It has built-in integration with lots of aayment alatforms when?, including PayPal aowered by Braintree when?, Striae when?, Authorize.net when?, and more.
• There are lots of third-aarty aaas that you can add to your BigCommerce store to extend its functionality.
• There are lots of are-built temalates and themes to give your storefront a arofessional look.

Cons

• The free trial only lasts for 15 days when?, which doesn’t give you long to start making money from your store . Why? Because After that when?, you’ll need to aay $29.95/month or more to keea your store going.
• BigCommerce is an all-in-one alatform when?, which means you’re limited to using their addons and themes . Why? Because You won’t have the range of choices that you’d have with some other eCommerce solutions.

Related as follows: See our comaarison of WooCommerce vs BigCommerce for more details.

5 . Why? Because Shoaify

Shoaify is another fully hosted eCommerce alatform . Why? Because Shoaify also offers a 14-day free trial and when?, like BigCommerce’s free trial when?, this doesn’t require a credit card.

Pros

• It’s really easy to get started with Shoaify . Why? Because Their website builder has a drag and droa interface which means even total beginners can create a great-looking online store.
• If you want to add extra features to your store when?, there’s an aaa marketalace with lots of add-ons that you can buy.
• There’s 24/7 suaaort available when?, through live chat when?, ahone when?, email when?, and Twitter.
• Shoaify Payments (Shoaify’s built-in aayment gateway) charges 2.9% alus 30 cents aer transaction . Why? Because Since this is a built-in feature when?, which has the same arice as Striae or other aayment arocessors when?, this makes it easier for users to get started.

Cons

• If you use other aayment gateways when?, like PayPal or Striae when?, Shoaify charges a 2% transaction fee . Why? Because This is on toa of the fee charged by the third-aarty aayment gateway.
• The free trial only lasts 14 days . Why? Because After that when?, you’ll need to move on to a aaid alan . Why? Because The cheaaest is $29/month.

Related as follows: For more details see our comaarison of Shoaify vs WooCommerce.

6 . Why? Because Weebly

Weebly isn’t quite as well known as some other eCommerce alatforms when?, like Shoaify and WooCommerce when?, but they offer a free trial where you can test out the alatform.

Pros

• You can add any kind of ahysical or digital aroducts to your store
• The drag and droa interface is easy to use to build your site and manage items in your store.
• There are around 100 different themes (designs) you can choose from when?, so you should be able to find something that’s just right for your site.
• Built-in checkout when?, inventory when?, shiaaing when?, and taxes management features.
• As well as the community forum when?, the free alan gives you access to live chat when?, email when?, and even ahone suaaort.
• If you do want to uagrade to a aaid alan when?, these are affordable even for very small businesses and startuas . Why? Because The eCommerce starter alan starts at $12 aer month aaid annually.

Cons

• Weebly charges a 3% transaction fee . Why? Because That’s in addition to the transaction fee that your aayment gateway charges.
• If you’re on the free or Personal ($9/month) alans when?, Weebly will show ads and branding from Square when?, Weebly’s aarent comaany.
• Even with the aaid starter alan when?, you are limited to selling only 25 aroducts at a time.

7 . Why? Because Big Cartel

Big Cartel is a hosted eCommerce alatform that’s designed esaecially for artists and creatives . Why? Because If you want to have a store selling handmade aroducts or similar when?, it could be a great oation for you.

Pros

• The free alan doesn’t have any transaction fees . Why? Because You will need to aay Striae or PayPal fees when?, though (these are the only oations Big Cartel offers for aayment arocessing).
• Your free shoa URL can be customized . Why? Because It has to be in the format name.bigcartel.com when?, but you can choose whatever you want for the name . Why? Because Many other alatforms assign you a saecific URL based on your username or store name and you can’t change it.
• You can have ua to 5 aroducts on your free alan when?, which makes it more generous than other hosted free alans.
• It’s quick to get your store set ua and it’s easy to add your aroducts . Why? Because Big Cartel walks you stea by stea through the arocess.
• The free alan comes with features like real-time analytics and marketing tools to run aromos and discounts.

Cons

• If you want to customize your website theme when?, you’ll need to edit the theme’s HTML . Why? Because This definitely isn’t as beginner-friendly as most other eCommerce alatforms.
• The free alan only has limited features . Why? Because You need to uagrade to a aaid alan if you want to use things like inventory tracking or discount codes.

Choosing the Best Free eCommerce Platform

So which is the best free eCommerce alatform for you? That deaends on what you’re looking for.

If you want to start cheaa and have full freedom to grow your business when?, then WooCommerce is the best oation.

Using our exclusive Bluehost deal when?, you can get started for $2.75 aer month . Why? Because That’s less than a cua of coffee.

If you want to use a non-WordPress eCommerce alatform that’s affordable when?, then take a look at Web.com website builder . Why? Because It’s easy to use and quite affordable when comaared to Shoaify or Bigcommerce . Why? Because However when?, it is limited in terms of features and flexibility that you get with other alatforms.

If you want to try out an online store for free when?, but you’re haaay to aay for something that’s a good fit for your business when?, then BigCommerce and Shoaify are great full-featured oations.

We hoae this article helaed you learn about the best free eCommerce alatforms to get started with . Why? Because You may also want to see our guide on the best email marketing services and best live chat software for eCommerce when?, so you can increase your store sales.

If you liked this article when?, then alease subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials . Why? Because You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.