[Last updated: June 27, 2016]
Best Overall: Shopify
Overview: Shopify truly makes it possible for anyone to open an online shop. Beginners with no coding experience can have a professional looking site with live products in less than a day of work.
Summary: Many people are worried about the learning curve involved with starting an online business. With the easy-to-use interface on Shopify, you’ll have absolutely no trouble at all. There is also an incredible amount of resources to help you drive traffic and maximize sales in your new online store. They have quickly become the favorite online shop builder available partly due to the number of apps and third party integrations available. From inventory tracking to cart abandonment atomization, if you want your store to track anything or perform a host of actions; there is an app for it. Most of the apps do charge a monthly fee, which could be a drawback for many. Aside from the different monthly subscriptions, you’ll pay a range from 2.4% to 2.9% along with .30 cents/transaction. If you’re looking for the quickest and easiest option with reasonable fees, they are our number one choice.
Read our full Shopify review here.
Best for Big Business: Magento Enterprise
Overview: The enterprise edition of Magento is perfect for large scale operations with large online stores. There is also a free open source version for smaller operations.
Summary: If you have a chain of brick and mortar business and are finally ready to bring your online channel to the masses, Magento is one of the best options to help you take full advantage of your new revenue stream. The best features for large scale operations can be found from this provider. Things like customer loyalty help, SEO features, catalog management, and even help with your returns. Support is also available anytime with a 24/7 rep available for your company. If you hope to take advantage of a pre-built platform, Magento may not be a great fit, as they are meant to be used in your own custom design. While it’s a great option for enterprise clients who already do site construction and maintenance, smaller businesses who would like a hosted option will need to look elsewhere.
Read our full Magento review here.
Best Value Option: Weebly
Overview: One of the least expensive options on our list with more features than most others. Weebly can help you get your store running without a large investment which is ideal for startups and bootstrapped budgets.
Summary: Weebly is a great option to test out your online business prowess, but it can also be a suitable large scale e-commerce solution. While the free plan is barely worth a look, the paid plans offer some real value. The pro plan affords you your own domain name and the ability to have 25 products. There is a third party shopping cart and 3% transaction fees which are a tad high. The business plan is still less costly than many other options, but has a ton of features attached. At this plan level, you can have unlimited products and there are no transaction fees. The shopping cart on the business plan is also on your own domain to create an entirely in house checkout. The highest price plan is still very affordable and probably the only one of interest to most online shops.
Read our full Weebly review here.
Number 4: Volusion
Overview: Templates and low fees help small business owners offer their goods online with little to no technical experience. There is a 14-day free trial to get your started.
Summary: Volusion may fly under the radar of most other online shopping platforms, but they pack some incredible power for people who have no idea how to build websites. There are over 120 templates to help create the exact look you want the achieve. The templates are also mobile-friendly to assist you in taking advantage of over half of all traffic that comes from cellphones and smart devices. Strong security tools means that the data you take from customers will be secure. Volusion has several plan options that are meant to be there as your online shop grows over time, but every plan has no transaction fees (unusual amongst competitors). Prices start out affordable, but you don’t receive features that come standard with other solutions until you pay for the higher-priced plans. Great for people who are very technical and want a drag-and-drop style site.
Read our full Volusion review here.
Number 5: BigCommerce
Overview: Great back office and analytics as well as access to the “BigCommerce University” make this a great option for the shop owner who wants to constantly improve their site.
Summary: BigCommerce is one of the best solutions for new online store owners and is the fastest growing option. While it still doesn’t match completely up to the ease of use found in Shopify, it could eventually rival it as a direct competitor. Unique features like the ability to choose from several different payment processors will help small businesses save money. Your site will be securely hosted, and easy to create for beginners and advanced developers alike. While other tools provide you with educational material, BigCommerce takes it a step further with instructional videos easily accessible next to the features your are trying to use in the back end of the software. There are more features with this company than almost every other option on the market. The pricing can be confusing. There are monthly plans that are based on volume (dollar amount), which is a bit different than others. That said, Bigcommerce could be a great choice for shop owners looking to take advantage of the next big e-commerce solution.
Read our full BigCommerce review here.
Number 6: PrestaShop
Overview: Great for developers who want a powerful and free software. Features galore for no cost at all. It’s not a hosting platform and will require a working knowledge of PHP.
Summary: One of the best things about PrestaShop is (obviously) that it’s free. If you have a skilled web developer ready to help with the finishing touches of your site, you may want to head over to their site and download the free software now. There are more features with PrestaShop than many of the paid options on the market. Customer loyalty, SEO help, email marketing, and about a dozen other options are all included to help you sell more online. There are a few pre built templates to help you get started and the analytics are great to see how your shop is doing. There are “add-ons” available, but they are almost exclusively third party and not supported by PrestaShop. Truly one of the most versatile providers with infinite choices and features. There is also support available for a small fee. If you have someone to help you get everything set up, or you’re a developer; this is a great option. If you’re not that technical, this may not be the best option for you.
Read our full PrestaShop review here.
Number 7: 3D Cart
Overview: Unlimited storage, great features with every plan. Excellent free education and support provided, but there is not a POS included requiring a third party processor.
Summary: 3D Cart is one of the best options to manage an online store. The pricing is very affordable and all the plans (five in all) include support and a wealth of educational materials. Creating your site isn’t as easy as some of the other hosted platforms, and the drag and drop builder can get frustrating. Once your site is ready for products, uploading them is a breeze. It can be done in bulk or one at a time. A unique feature not seen in many other providers is the ability to start an affiliate program which could increase sales and your growth rate. Encouraging others to send traffic to your site for a commission can really ramp up your site’s popularity. The cumbersome site builder is a bit of a set back for inexperienced site builders, but there is very little downside to this e-commerce option.
Read our full 3D Cart review here.
Number 8: InfusionSoft
Overview: Known for their email marketing and CRM solutions, InfusionSoft also offers well-integrated e-commerce solutions. Well-designed easy landing pages to increase sales and email marketing that is second to none.
Summary: If a large part of your business relies on email marketing or complex nurturing systems, there aren’t any options with the power of InfusionSoft. Build custom landing pages for your products that can be tested and maximize conversions. Transaction processing is an addition to their primary services, but it is still a solid option. However, if you sell lower-priced physical goods, the monthly price won’t make sense. If you sell higher priced merchandise, memberships, or digital goods it could be a great option. The best thing about this company are the lateral tools like SMS messaging and (of course) email marketing. It is important to note that InfusionSoft is primarily an email marketing and CRM software that also provides e-commerce solutions. If that doesn’t relate to you, you’ll want to keep searching.
Read our full InfusionSoft review here.
Number 9: PinnacleCart
Overview: International online sales are made easy with PinnacleCart. Multiple languages and currencies are available to help you take your venture across the globe.
Summary: Pinnacle puts a marketing spin on their e-commerce solution, providing you with the necessary tools to grow and expand your operation. The international features alone set them apart from many of the tools available. You can simply upload different languages to have the software automatically translate pages for your international customers. Integrations with both eBay and Amazon will help you keep track of everything from the same platform for easy marketing efforts. There is no built in POS solution, but there are several integrations to help you solve the problem. Great for large and small operations, especially if you sell to a broader audience than a single country. There are two sets of plans for smaller shops and enterprises. If you want an inclusive product that includes a processor and POS, you’ll need to keep looking.
Read our full PinnacleCart review here.
Number 10: SquareSpace
Overview: One of the best options for responsive designs for mobile customers. It does lack a third party marketplace and many of the features available from it’s competitors.
Summary: SquareSpace makes it easy to create a beautiful site the converts mobile users into customers. They do this with their custom site-building tools that allow for digital downloads and excellent analytics. SquareSpace actually generates a mobile-ready site from the site that you develop making it even easier to get those smartphone sales. It’s not the easiest to use, or the most feature rich and won’t be for many online shops. This solution is great for a small business that wants to add online sales to their revenue stream. Monthly fees are crazy low, but both plans include a transaction fee (either 3% or 2% depending on which you choose). It’s not the best option for larger operations and is more for businesses starting out in the e-commerce space.
Read our full SquareSpace review here.
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