12 Best Free Ecommerce Platforms in 2024

Updated Aug 6, 2023.

Learn more about the best free ecommerce platforms to launch an online store and start selling online without spending a dime.

In this article, I’ll go over 12 free ecommerce platforms, along with my top five picks to help you get started right away with little to no money.

Squarespace icon

Squarespace (Free Trial)

Power your store with beautifully designed templates that fit your style and professional needs to scale higher.
Square Online Icon

Square Online (Free Plan)

Use a remarkable amount of features with the free version to sell in-person, over the phone, or online with no monthly or setup fees.
Weebly icon

Weebly (Free Plan)

Create a comprehensive store for your small or medium-sized ecommerce business with this easy-to-use free online store builder.
Shopify icon

Shopify (Free Trial)

Manage your everyday operations with a store builder that enables you to grow your large stores using powerful tools.
Wix icon

Wix (Free Trial)

Start building your free ecommerce store in minutes by selecting a template and answering a few questions about your business.

Our work is supported by affiliate commissions.

With our top five picks for the best free ecommerce platforms, you can launch your store without breaking the bank. However, if you want to use more powerful features to expand your business, you may need to purchase premium plans.

Make the right investment decision by selecting a store builder that best suits all your business demands. Yet there are many ecommerce options, so I've compiled a list of free ecommerce platforms that provide free plans or trials.

Best Free Ecommerce Platforms for Selling Online

Here’s a list of 12 of the free ecommerce platforms in 2023.

1. Squarespace (Free Trial)

Best Overall Ecommerce Platform

Pros
  • Intuitive user interface
  • Excellent built-in SEO and blogging tools
  • 24/7 award-winning customer support
Cons
  • Its editor doesn't have an autosave capability
Squarespace icon
Squarespace (Free Trial)
4.6
Editor’s Take

If you want to bring your products to life and sell anything online, Squarespace is the best platform with professionally designed ecommerce templates for your store. Additionally, you can use the free trial to test its premium features that allow you to sell unlimited physical and digital products and accept donations from your loyal customers.

Best For:
Overall
Price:
$16 – $49 per month
Annual Discount:
Save up to 30%

Squarespace is one of the best ecommerce platforms with flexible and easy-to-use templates that help you to create a website that showcases your products at their absolute best.

Unlike other ecommerce solutions, Squarespace offers a 14-day free package with no credit card details required, enabling you to launch your free store. With its rich product listings, customers can explore products, add items to their carts, checkout fast and conveniently, and leave product reviews.

Additionally, you can add social tools and email marketing campaigns to grow your audience and retain more customers.

Key Features

Inventory Management

You can manage your inventory with an easy-to-use interface to ensure that you never keep customers waiting. Additionally, you can quickly view your product variations and stock levels and receive email alerts when one of your stores runs out of stock.

Order Management

Track all your customer orders, generate packing slips, and resend customer update emails from a single interface to increase the number of repeat customers. You can add automatic discounts or flat-rate shipping on particular orders based on a specific product or amount.

Sales Analytics

Get detailed analytics for your store to understand how your business is doing by tracking orders, units sold, and revenue generated to identify areas that need improvement. You can also integrate your website with Google Analytics to evaluate your multiple businesses’ performance.

Product Reviews

Allow your customers to create a free account so that they can leave product reviews to build ongoing relationships with your current customers and increase sales from repeat buyers

Sell Digital Content

You can create and sell digital content like ebooks and music through a direct download link from your online shop. Your customers can purchase digital content using the email link sent to them, or they can request a new download link if the original one has expired after 24 hours.

Multiple Payment Methods

Accept merchandise payments for your business using credit or debit cards. You can add PayPal and Stripe at checkouts as they have no transaction fees or sell-in person through Squarespace points of sale in its iOS app.

Integrations

By integrating with the most effective tools and extensions, you can increase the reach of your website on the internet and attract more visitors. This open-source framework links your business with other social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram to increase online sales.

Pricing

Squarespace pricing starts with the Personal Plan at $16 per month. Other paid versions are Business at $23, Basic Commerce at $27, and Advanced Commerce at $49 per month. There is also a Squarespace Enterprise Plan with tailored pricing.

A 14-day free trial is available across all plans.

2. Square Online (Free Plan)

Best Free Ecommerce Website Builder for Selling Unlimited Products

Pros
  • Free web store builder with an extensive feature list
  • Custom domain name for one year with any paid plan
  • Extensive SEO and marketing tools
Cons
  • Limited template and design customization options
Square Online Icon
Square Online
4.4
Editor’s Take

What I love about Square Online is that it's a free store builder that allows you to create a free, fully functional online store without spending even a single coin. With its free plan, you can sell unlimited items and use SEO tools to expand your ecommerce business. Additionally, you can sell on Facebook and Instagram for free.

Best For
Value
Price:
$0 – $72 per month
Annual Discount:
No
Promotion: 
Free plan

Square Online is the best free store builder, which allows you to create a free ecommerce store within minutes and start selling items online. You can deliver excellent customer experiences using custom solutions for every business type and size.

What sets Square Online apart from other ecommerce platforms is that it offers the most generous free plan packed with ecommerce functionalities that allow you to sell in-person, out in the field, over the phone, or online.

You can sell online without monthly fees but must cater to payment processing charges. Therefore, you should only upgrade to a paid plan if you want to use premium features tailor-made for complex business operations.

Key Features

Unlimited Products

With this open-source ecommerce option, you can sell unlimited items online, even with the free version. Additionally, you can sell digital downloads directly from your website. Add discount codes or free shipping incentives to specific products to attract customers.

Checkout

Enjoy a fast checkout that accepts payments for free without monthly costs. But, you’ll need to pay the processing fees per transaction after your listed item is sold. You can accept payments with Square Pay, Cash App Pay, Google Pay, Apple Pay, or in installments with After Pay.

Appointment Booking

Allow customers to book an appointment directly from your appointments booking page on your store. Unlike other ecommerce features, appointment booking lets your customers book appointments even when your business is closed.

Accept Online Donations

Bring your fundraising campaigns online with a website that accepts donations for your organization. You can also allow your donors to give any custom amount or choose predetermined amounts.

SEO & Marketing Tools

You can use this functionality to build a blog on your existing site. Then post articles on social media to promote discussions and comments and draw more customers to your best free online store.

Analytics

Use site analytics to view sale trends, coupon usage, and product performance. On the other hand, advanced ecommerce statistics on your websites allow you to monitor site traffic and identify the most visited pages or products to manage your multiple sites effectively.

Integrations

Expand your reach and sell more by integrating your free ecommerce websites with powerful platforms like Google, Facebook, and Instagram. As a result, potential customers can easily find your business on search engines.

Pricing

Square Online pricing

Square Online has a Free Forever Plan for selling unlimited items online. The paid versions are Professional at $12, Performance at $26, and Premium at $72 per month.

All plans come with payment processing fees per transaction.

3. Weebly (Free Plan)

Best Free Ecommerce Website Builder for Small Businesses

Pros
  • Easy-to-use drag and drop interface
  • Free SSL certificate
  • Live chat support
Cons
  • No transaction fee applies to any plan
Weebly icon
Weebly
4.2
Editor’s Take

Weebly is my top recommendation for small merchants working with a tight budget. That's because you can quickly launch your store using a simple drag-and-drop layout editor that lets you design a website within minutes. You only need to select a unique store design and several customizable themes to display your products to their level best.

Best For:
Small Businesses
Price:
$0 – $25 per month
Annual Discount:
No
Promotion:
Free plan

Weebly is a free drag-and-drop website builder with essential features that enables you to launch a store within a few minutes. You'll also enjoy using the free plan features, such as SEO, lead capturing, contact forms, and chat & email support.

Unlike other ecommerce options, Weebly’s free plan doesn’t offer a custom domain and comes with several ads. However, it's the best choice for small companies that only require a few ecommerce features to run their free store.

The good news is that Weebly doesn't need coding skills or technical knowledge, which is why most small firms use it to sell products online effectively.

Key Features

Free Web-Hosting

With Weebly's free and secure website hosting, you can enjoy remarkable site speed and reliability without needing third-party hosting services. You can also add and host a domain on your existing site for free.

Inventory Management

Manage your product supply by letting customers know how many items are available and immediately notifying subscribed customers when an item sells out. An inventory system can encourage more purchases, particularly when a customer notices there aren't many units left.

Product Search

Your customers can use a powerful filtered product search to find exactly what they want in your store. They can use attributes like price and color to filter product search results, increasing purchasing options and reducing cart abandonment.

SEO Tools

Improve the online ranking of your free site with the help of SEO tools like a sitemap, HTML formatting, and meta descriptions. You can also add tags to page descriptions or images to ensure that your website ranks high in search results for potential visitors or customers.

Email Marketing

Use customizable email templates like welcome emails or cart abandonment alerts to connect with your customers. You can also build smart email lists by syncing your contacts from email services such as Mailchimp, Yahoo!, and Gmail.

Blogging Platform

Start a blog for your ecommerce website in minutes using drag and drop tools and add posts, schedule future content, and manage comments for your site visitors. Unlike other features, blogging helps you interact with your readers and drive traffic to your existing website.

App Center

Integrate your website, store, or blog with third-party apps in several categories, including ecommerce, communication, marketing, and social to grow your business. Additionally, you can easily add an app to your site and view it in the editor.

Pricing

Read more about Weebly pricing

Weebly offers a Free Plan for basic use and three paid versions, including Connect Plan at $5, Pro Plan at $12, and Business Plan at $25.

4. Shopify (Free Trial)

Pros
  • You can add a buy button to an existing website
  • Sell unlimited items through multiple sales methods
  • Free and secure web hosting for all plans except for Starter Plan
Cons
  • Expensive and high transaction fees
Shopify icon
Shopify
4.1
Editor’s Take

Unlike other free ecommerce platforms on our list, Shopify enables you to convert any existing website into an ecommerce store by adding a buy button. The free package allows you to sell, ship, and accept payments anywhere while using most features to manage your large online businesses or stores. Additionally, there is no need for third-party web-hosting since Shopify offers free hosting included with all its premium versions except the starter plan.

Best For:
Large Stores
Price:
$14.44 – $147.78 per month
Annual Discount:
Save up to 50%

Shopify is a popular ecommerce solution trusted by millions of businesses in 175 countries to run their large stores and sell items on multiple sales pipelines to attract more customers and drive sales.

With its 14-day free version, you can use hundreds of in-built features and over 6,000 apps to manage your website and expand your business.

Shopify allows you to sell unlimited products in multiple languages and currencies. Therefore, you can build a fully functional store for your large business and begin selling products globally. Use its advanced inventory system through its drupal commerce integration to ensure you never run out of stocks and miss sales.

Key Features

Custom Themes

With more than 70+ professional ecommerce themes from world-known designers, you can completely personalize every aspect of your storefront and present your goods in the best possible way to attract customers and convert more sales. It's worth noting that you can use a custom form builder to add features like logos, fonts, and colors.

Free Web-Hosting

With a Shopify store, you’ll get unlimited bandwidth and a digital certificate that helps you protect your business data and customers’ information from unauthorized access. Therefore, you can start selling items online without worrying about data breaches.

Shopping Cart

All stores built on the Shopify platform have a free SSL certificate for their shopping cart. You can add flexible shipping rates or offer free shipping based on products and locations. Reduce cart abandonment by sending email reminders to prospective customers.

Analytics

Use a user-friendly dashboard and analytics to track sales, orders, and website traffic to determine which products appeal to potential customers and where to focus your multi-vendor selling and marketing efforts.

Multiple Payment Systems

Integrate your store with over 100 advanced multi-vendor payout systems, such as PayPal, iDEAL, and bitcoin. You can also receive Shopify payments through credit cards like Mastercard, Visa, American Express, and Discover with low credit card rates and no hidden fees.

Sell Digital Products

You can sell unlimited digital content from your online shop by creating and sending a download link to customers after their purchase. Some common digital items you can sell via this ecommerce website builder are NFTs, video, digital art, audio clips, and ebooks.

Integrations

With over 6,000+ apps on the Shopify App Store, you can connect your store with the most practical business tools, like Pinterest, Facebook, and Google, to attract customers and convert sales leads.

Pricing

Shopify offers three paid plans: Basic Plan at $29, Shopify Plan at $79, and Advanced Plan at $299 per month. They also offer a Starter Plan at $5 per month for selling products through social and messaging apps and Shopify Plus Plan starting at $2000 per month for large enterprises.

A 14-day free trial, no credit card details required, is available across all plans.

5. Wix (Free Trial)

Best Free Ecommerce Website Builder for Beginners

Pros
  • User-friendly e-commerce solution
  • Supports multiple languages
  • 500+ web design templates for every type of website
Cons
  • You can't change templates once your website is live
Wix icon
Wix
4.0
Editor’s Take

Wix is a beginner-friendly ecommerce site builder with an intuitive drag-and-drop interface that enables you to build an ecommerce website with a few mouse clicks. Unlike other platforms, Wix ecommerce provides free, secure web hosting and free domain name with any plan. Although this platform lets you create a store for free, you cannot take payments unless you buy an ecommerce subscription.

Best For:
Beginners
Price:
$4.50 – $24.50 per month
Annual Discount:
No

Wix is the right ecommerce platform for business owners or managers with no coding expertise. They simply need to answer a few questions about their online businesses, and Wix ADI (Artificial Design Intelligence) will instantly build a free website.

With over 500+ professionally designed website templates, you can create a site that meets your business needs and preferences. Other ecommerce features you can take advantage of include free hosting and domain, advanced SEO tools, analytics, and many more.

That’s why over 180 million users worldwide rely on Wix ecommerce to launch a store and sell products in diverse markets.

Key Features

Analytics

Track your site’s performance and stats using Wix Analytics included in the dashboard to make data-driven decisions. You can also use the Google Analytics feature to review your traffic, visitors, and revenue and generate reports for near future references.

Contact Management

Manage your contacts and leads, and organize the data in one location for easier access by your staff members. Send automated replies and follow-ups to convert your site visitors to potential buyers.

Multiple Payment Methods

Accept payments with leading payments gateways with no transaction fees like PayPal and Stripe. You can also accept offline payments for your several ecommerce sites. This ecommerce feature boosts in-cart conversions by providing your customers with multiple payment options.

Inventory Management

Sync all your inventory data for all your sales platforms to ensure you never sell items that are out of stock by receiving instant email alerts when your stock levels are low. Therefore, you can maintain product availability across multiple channels.

Professional Blog

Create a free blog that integrates with your free ecommerce websites to increase your reach and build a loyal audience. You can also use other ecommerce features like marketing and SEO tools to attract more prospects and potential customers.

Custom Domain Name

With any paid ecommerce plan subscription,  you can get a domain name that matches your specific business brand. Additionally, save money by checking domain availability and using free hosting.

Integrations

Connect your favorite business tools to multiple sites to begin selling online effectively. Wix AppMarket contains third-party tools for every type of business looking to improve digital marketing and lead conversion.

Pricing

Wix has four paid plans: Connect Domain at $4.50, Combo at $8.50, Unlimited at $12.50, and VIP at $24.50 per month. They also offer Business and Ecommerce Plans for accepting online payments.

A 14-day free trial is available across all plans.

6. Big Cartel (Free Plan)

Best Free Ecommerce Solution for Independent Artists and Makers

Big Cartel is one of the best free, open-source platforms for artists and makers looking to create a free online shop to sell physical products and run their creative business. You can use free plan features like shipment tracking, inventory tracking, and real-time stats.

Even though Big Cartel's free ecommerce plan only allows you to sell up to five products, it stands out from the other solutions on our list since it enables you to add a custom domain and alter the source code even on existing websites.

With this free and open-source platform, you can create a unique store design within minutes and start selling products, such as t-shirts, jewelry, art, and other rare merchandise.

Key Features

Theme Code Editing

Expand the capabilities of this store builder and edit themes using HTML to enable switching between themes without starting from scratch. However, you can only use this feature with a paid plan.

Multiple Payment Gateways

Accept recurring payments in person or connect your store with leading payment methods like PayPal and Stripe. These payment methods don't charge transaction fees, but you'll need to cover the processing fees following a successful purchase.

Inventory Management

Track all your inventory and receive low stock warnings to ensure you never sell out-of-stock products to enhance customer satisfaction and increase sales. You can also change the status and categories of various products to streamline customers' shopping experiences.

Analytics

Use site analytics in the colorful dashboard to view several key business metrics to ensure you’re on the right track. Add Google Analytics to your online stores to monitor your business growth using sales, orders, and revenue data.

Integrations

You can connect your store with several store management apps, such as Zapier and LiveChat, to add new features required for managing your entire business.

Pricing

Big Cartel offers a Free Gold Plan for selling up to five products. The premium plans are Platinum at $9.99 per month (50 products) and Diamond at 19.99 per month (500 products).

Pros

  • Easy-to-use user interface
  • Quick onboarding process
  • No platform transaction fees

Cons

  • Free plan with five products limit

7. BigCommerce (Free Trial)

Best Free Ecommerce Website Builder With Multi-Storefront Selling

BigCommerce Get started with powerful, built-in tools to build a better online business

BigCommerce is the right ecommerce platform for online businesses of all types and sizes with tons of enhanced capabilities. They offer a WordPress plugin if you want to integrate BigCommerce with an existing WordPress website.

BigCommerce has one of the best free trials since it allows you to try out even its most expensive paid plan for 15 days and sell unlimited items. With this modern platform, you can begin selling your goods globally because it supports multi- storefront selling for larger companies.

Therefore, BigCommerce is the best platform for large organizations and growing digital brands who want to open multiple storefronts and manage everything from a single control dashboard. They can also enjoy free support for any technical issues if they don’t have any coding knowledge experience.

Key Features

Multi-Storefront

Create unique storefronts for your large business and begin selling on marketplaces like Amazon, eBay, and Walmart. This platform uses better features to showcase your products at their best to attract more customers and boost sales.

Inventory Management

Save time and effort by managing all your inventory needs across multiple sales channels for complete control of your stock levels. When stock levels are low, or a product is out of stock, your consumers will receive email notifications, enhancing store transparency.

Buy Button

Turn any website into an online storefront by adding a buy button and begin selling products from anywhere. As a result, potential customers can buy goods directly through your emails, social media posts, blogs, and more.

Multiple Payment Methods

Your enterprise customers can use payment methods like Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Amazon Pay at checkout without incurring transaction fees. Other leading payment options you can connect to your store are PayPal, Stripe, and Square.

Card Abandonment Saver

Recover lost sales by sending automatic reminder emails to shoppers when they abandon shopping carts at the checkout. Unlike other ecommerce options, you can customize your abandoned cart emails to include discounts or coupons and send the most impactful messages.

Pricing

BigCommerce pricing starts with Standard Plan at $29.95 per month. The other paid plans include Plus Plan at $71.95 and Pro Plan at $269.96 per month. They also offer an Enterprise Plan with tailored pricing.

A 15-day free trial is available across all plans.

Pros

  • Unlimited staff accounts and products
  • No in-house transaction fees
  • You can speak to a consultant or technical support via phone

Cons

  • Requires a steep learning curve

8. Sellfy (Free Plan)

Best Free Website Builder With Fast Onboarding Process

Sellfy- Sell your products hassle-free

Sellfy is one of the best free ecommerce platforms on our list that helps you build a store and start selling in minutes. You only need to sign up, add products, and customize your store in a couple of clicks.

Sellfy’s free ecommerce plan comes with limited features, but you can sign up for a 14-day free trial to test one of its premium plans before committing. This allows you to use advanced features to grow your sales and business. Additionally, both free and paid versions are available with no transaction fees.

By copy-pasting the code, you can turn any website into a store and add an embedded “buy now” button and a shopping cart. Therefore, you can sell anywhere with a link embedded in an email, gift card, or video.

Key Features

Customization

You can customize your best free store to match your business brand by adding a logo, changing themes, or creating a unique layout that showcases your product to attract buyers' attention. Strengthen your brand by linking your existing domain to your own web store.

Print-on-Demand

Sell physical products like mugs, hats, hoodies, and t-shirts and print incoming orders before sending them to your customers to close more deals. Print-on-demand ensures you never run out of stock and reduces financial risks as there are few to no order cancellations.

Up-selling

Increase your average order value by offering powerful up-sells to your customers as they proceed through the checkout process using this built-in marketing tool. You can also offer discount codes or coupons to engage customers and boost sales.

Store Language

Provide clients with an automatically translated interface for your store based on their location and browser preferences. You can convert more sales since this appeals to all customers of various ethnicities.

Payment Methods

Integrate trusted payment processors like PayPal and Stripe into your store to collect payments worldwide while maintaining data security. You won’t incur transaction fees, but you’ll be prompted to pay processing fees after a successful sale.

Pricing

Sellfy - Sell your products hassle-free - pricing

Sellfy has a Free Forever Plan for selling up to 10 products. The paid versions are Starter at $22, Business at $59, and Premium at $199 per month. They offer a Custom Plan for high-volume sellers with sales of over $200k per year.

A 14-day free trial is available across all plans.

Pros

  • Intuitive and non-technical store builder
  • A free plan and free trial are available
  • No transaction fees

Cons

  • Digital products only come with a paid plan

9. ShopBase (Free Trial)

Best Free Ecommerce Solution for Dropshipping and Print-on-Demand

ShopBase - Build a profitable Dropshipping, Print-on-demand business in a few clicks with Shopbase

ShopBase is the best ecommerce solution for business owners interested in running a dropshipping or print-on-demand store. Your store can be fully optimized and ready to sell with just one mouse click.

This platform uses a fast fulfillment system and trending product sourcing to meet high-volume orders. As a result, ShopBase is trusted by over 80k merchants for dropshipping and print-on-demand, generating $500+ million in revenue.

ShopBase has one of the best free trials on the list, enabling you to use all the features for 14 days before upgrading to a paid plan. Additionally, you can integrate your free self-hosted ecommerce platform with free tools, such as up-selling and abandoned cart recovery apps, to increase sales.

Key Features

Multi-Channel Selling

By diversifying your sales channels, you can reach millions of customers and increase your revenue. With the help of Google Shopping, Facebook Ads, Pinterest, and other platforms, you can start selling on the world’s largest social channels.

Supplier & Fulfillment

You can swiftly and accurately fulfill online and in-person orders while maintaining the integrity of your worldwide fulfillment and warehouse networks by linking your business with top shipping and delivery providers like AliExpress, Dropship Connector, and CrossPanda.

Store Management

To increase client satisfaction, manage your inventory, orders, and numerous transactions from a single location. Additionally, you can add and arrange products to your store by price, color, size, and vendor to provide the best shopping experience to your customers.

Up-Sell & Tools

Use proven up-sell strategies and mobile optimization tools to elevate sales and generate more revenue for your multiple ecommerce shops. Encourage your customers to make purchases by offering up-sells, cross-sells, and other discounts.

Analytics

Integrate your store with Google Analytics to get a detailed ecommerce analysis of many areas of your business to have full control and make data-driven decisions. With incredibly easy-to-read dashboards, you can monitor real-time traffic, sales, and orders and generate reports for future references.

Pricing

ShopBase - Build a profitable Dropshipping, Print-on-demand business in a few clicks with Shopbase - pricing

ShopBase has three paid plans: Basic Base at $19, Standard Base at $59, and Pro Base at $249 per month. You can save up to 10% with annual plans.

A 14-day free trial is available across all plans.

Pros

  • Secure, unlimited ecommerce hosting on all plans
  • You can create many ecommerce stores with one single free account
  • Fraud analysis with every premium plan

Cons

  • There are transaction fees

10. WooCommerce (Free to Install)

Best WordPress Ecommerce Plugin With Bluehost or SiteGround Web Hosting

WooCommerce - Build exactly the eCommerce website you want

WooCommerce is one of the most popular WordPress plugins that allows you to turn any WordPress site into an online shop in minutes and sell anything online. You can customize your store to match your brand with tons of free features and extensions.

Even though WooCommerce is one of the free, open-source ecommerce platforms, you’ll need to purchase hosting and a domain name from Bluehost or SiteGround to bring your ecommerce store to life.

However, WooCommerce has everything you need to start selling items online for free, such as adding secure payments, custom shipping options, and out-of-the-box integrations. You can also install WordPress plugins in your WooCommerce store for robust integrations.

Key Features

Multi-Channel Selling

With WooCommerce, you can sell anything from physical products to digital content to development services through popular marketplaces such as Google, Amazon, and eBay. Connect your store with social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram to attract more customers.

Dashboard

Manage everything with a user-friendly dashboard that allows you to update products and fulfill orders quickly. Save time by viewing real-time shipping rates and calculating tax calculations from leading carriers for particular products based on the location.

Analytics

Use the analytics integration with WooCommerce for free to track the flow of site visitors from product page to checkout to determine which sales channels to focus on to boost sales. You can also get detailed reports on orders, revenue, coupons, downloads, and many more.

Flexible & Secure Payments

You can integrate your store with leading payment gateways, such as PayPal, Stripe, and Amazon Pay. You can also take payments worldwide from major credit cards and bank transfers or accept cash payments for local deliveries.

Plugins & Extensions

Try free and paid plugins and extensions created by WordPress experts to give your store more functionality and boost conversions. They are divided into several categories: marketing, payments, conversion, store management, and so on.

Pricing

WooCommerce is a completely free plugin for WordPress sites. However, you’ll need to pay for web hosting and a domain name. They also offer an extensive collection of premium themes, extensions, and plugins.

Pros

  • Free to download and install
  • Powerful features and extensions
  • No transaction fees with any leading payment gateway

Cons

  • Only compatible with a WordPress website

11. Adobe Commerce (Free to Install)

Best Ecommerce Software For Complex and Large Enterprises

Adobe Commerce - Magento is now Adobe Commerce

Adobe Commerce is one of the best open-source ecommerce platforms that helps merchants to manage the complexities of B2B and B2C commerce by using a future technology with endless customizations and scalability.

Unlike other free ecommerce platforms, Adobe Commerce supports business expansion in multiple countries since it's designed to manage large-scale stores with customizable products and high website traffic. They provide 24/7 dedicated support for all larger businesses.

Scale your business by downloading Adobe Commerce software for free and integrating it into any existing site to add robust and new features, such as inventory and product management, store fulfillment, and customer account management.

Key Features

Business Intelligence

Assess your business health and other metrics with business intelligence and view everything on a single admin panel to personalize customer engagements. Additionally, you’ll get powerful insights on where to focus your time for optimum business success.

Inventory and Order Management

Fulfill your customers' expectations across all channels by ensuring that your inventory is available and visible in real-time. You can obtain the most recent information on your sellable stock to ensure you never sell out-of-stock items and miss sales.

Store Fulfillment

With flexible omnichannel options, you can sell items and fulfill orders from anywhere with flexible omnichannel options. Customers can also receive email alerts with order details and specific pickup instructions to enhance the shopping experience.

Customer Account Management

Give your customer service team precise information about customer orders and preferences to close more deals effortlessly. They can also provide customized incentives to any order or customer to boost conversions.

Extended Capabilities

With open-source software, you can explore an app marketplace of themes, extensions, and integrations to add more features to your store and grow your overall business. You can also integrate with other third-party software like ERP and CRM.

Pricing

Adobe Commerce Magento pricing package

Adobe Commerce offers only one package, Adobe Commerce Pro, with custom pricing for merchants of any size or business model. Contact the sales team online or by phone to request a price quote or sign up on the platform.

Pros

  • Ideal for large and complex businesses
  • Powerful features to support multiple large stores
  • 24/7 email and phone support

Cons

  • Hidden pricing information

12. Prestashop (Free to install)

Best Free Ecommerce Software for Selling Across Borders

PrestaShop - Unlock the full potential of your ecommerce

PrestaShop is a completely free and open-source ecommerce platform for launching an international ecommerce web development store. You can sell across borders, conquer the global market with the help of multilingual and multi-currency features, and learn more from the active community.

Join over 300,000 merchants by downloading PrestaShop software for free and taking advantage of this ecommerce solution that adapts to all ecommerce projects. You can use thousands of pre-made templates or customize your own to create several free online stores with a single account.

Prestashop has one of the best free plans since you only need to pay the transaction fee of a leading payment processor after a successful purchase. However, you can add several add-ons to your website at a small fee, but you’ll need coding know-how.

Key Features

Multi-Channel Selling

You can run multiple stores on a single control panel and connect them to various marketing channels, including social media networks like Facebook and Instagram. Sell simultaneously worldwide by accepting multiple currencies and translating your store to over 75+ different languages.

Dashboard

Get quick access to features, such as page designs, marketing strategies, and performance stats, on a modern and comprehensive dashboard to monitor your business operations. You can also create separate user accounts with varying permissions and restrictions for your team with no membership plans required.

Reports & Analytics

View sales data, site traffic, orders, and revenues to understand your customer preferences and focus on the best-selling products to boost sales. You can gain insights into different aspects of your business to make data-driven decisions.

Marketing & SEO Tools

Send automated emails with discounts, coupons, and cart reminders to engage with more customers and close more sales. You can also use robust SEO techniques to ensure your store ranks high on search engines by adding titles, meta descriptions, and custom URLs.

Checkout

Add over 250 payment modules to your store and configure various shipping methods to provide your customers with a quick checkout and enhanced shopping experience.

Pricing

PrestaShop doesn’t charge any monthly fee since it's free to download and install the software and has a free live demo. But, you’ll pay for a hosting plan and several premium extensions and add-ons.

Pros

  • User-friendly interface
  • Free ecommerce software
  • Strong user and developer community

Cons

  • Requires a steep learning curve

Is It Worth Upgrading to a Paid Plan?

When you have a limited working budget, you may turn to the best online store builders offering free plans and trials to create a website for free.

However, it's worth upgrading to a paid plan as your business grows to access additional features and tools that will help you scale quickly.

Here are five reasons why a paid plan could come in handy.

1. Unlock Extra Features

Most free plans come with limited features, and the trials only let you use the popular platforms for a short time.

Over time, you may need to unlock extra features to make your website look more professional and attract more customers to boost sales.

Paid versions ensure you can run your store to its full potential and consistently sell more products.

2. Remove Ads

There is always a catch with free plans, like running multiple ads on your free site to make money so you can use their platform for free.

The ads can push more customers away from your online business since they can be annoying and make your free site look unprofessional.

Fortunately, you can remove ads by upgrading to a paid plan to give your customers the best shopping experience while boosting your store's credibility.

3. Add More Payment Gateways

It would be best if you gave your customers the freedom to choose from multiple payment options to prevent cart abandonment at checkout and increase sales.

With premium plans, you can integrate your store with numerous top payment solutions, allowing your customers to use their favorite method. As a result, you'll have more loyal and returning customers.

Expand your geographic reach by adding more payment methods to your store.

4. Sell More Products

Free plans or trials usually enable you to create a free store that lets you sell a few products or even none.

On the other hand, paid packages allow you to sell more products giving your customers more choices and boosting conversation rates.

You can also sell unlimited products with several best ecommerce platforms to diversify your revenue streams.

5. Get a Free Custom Domain Name

When you choose a free plan or trial, you'll be required to buy your own domain name from reputable providers like Bluehost and SiteGround.

Alternatively, you can get a free domain name for your new ecommerce site or store by purchasing a premium plan.

Therefore, upgrade to an annual paid plan with top ecommerce website builders to enjoy a custom domain for at least one year to save on startup costs.

Free Ecommerce Platform FAQ

Can I build an online store for free?

You can create an online store for free by selecting platforms with free plans or trials, but they come with limited functionalities.

However, Square Online offers a free plan packed with many features, and you can sell unlimited items. Other free plans include Weebly, Big Cartel, and Sellfy.

Additionally, you can try several ecommerce options with at least two-week trials like Squarespace, Shopify, and ShopBase.

How long does it take to build an online store?

Generally, it can take hours, days, or even weeks to effectively build an online store, depending on the size and type of your online business. 

The more complex your business may be, the longer it will take to launch an online store successfully.

However, with popular ecommerce platforms, such as Square Online, Big Cartel, Sellfy, and WooCommerce, you can create a new store and begin selling within minutes.

What is the cheapest ecommerce platform?

The most generous options from our list of free ecommerce platforms are Square Online, WooCommerce, and PrestaShop.

But if it came down to selecting only one platform, I would recommend Square Online, which offers a free plan with advanced ecommerce features and unlimited products.

Best Free Ecommerce Platforms Comparison: Which One Should I Choose?

You should choose the best ecommerce platform depending on what you’re looking for when launching an online shop.

The best part is that most platforms provide free plans or trials that allow you to test them before committing to the premium plans. However, with so many ecommerce options, choosing one that suits your business needs can be overwhelming.

Fortunately, we have simplified your decision-making process by providing you with this detailed guide with key features, pros and cons, and our top recommendations.

Here are our top five picks for the best free ecommerce platforms again:

Best Overall

Squarespace (Free Trial)

Power your store with beautifully designed templates that fit your style and professional needs to scale higher.
Best Value for Money

Square Online (Free Plan)

Use a remarkable amount of features with the free version to sell in-person, over the phone, or online with no monthly or setup fees.
Best for Small Businesses

Weebly (Free Plan)

Create a comprehensive store for your small or medium-sized ecommerce business with this easy-to-use store builder.
Best for Large Stores

Shopify (Free Trial)

Manage your everyday operations with a store builder that enables you to grow your large stores using powerful tools.
Best for Beginners

Wix (Free Trial)

Start building your store by selecting a template and answering a few questions about your business.

Do you still need more information to help you select the best free ecommerce platform? If so, check out our more in-depth comparison reviews of various ecommerce platforms.

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Martin Luenendonk

Editor at FounderJar

Martin loves entrepreneurship and has helped dozens of entrepreneurs by validating the business idea, finding scalable customer acquisition channels, and building a data-driven organization. During his time working in investment banking, tech startups, and industry-leading companies he gained extensive knowledge in using different software tools to optimize business processes.

This insights and his love for researching SaaS products enables him to provide in-depth, fact-based software reviews to enable software buyers make better decisions.