It’s easier than ever to start an online business. But that doesn’t mean it’s easy to decide which platforms to use to make that a reality. This guide will look at 3 of the biggest cheap e-commerce software players to help you decide the best option for you.
Shopify
Shopify is an all-in-one solution for setting up an online shop. While many other website-building platforms help you set up an online store, Shopify is designed specifically for that. So when you use it, you don’t need to worry about all the different components required to get started. It comes with tools to build a website, SEO and analytics, payment processing, inventory management and AI features. You can also use Shopify for sales and marketing through social media.
It’s available in 4 different plan tiers, so you can start small and scale up as you need. You can take advantage of a 3-day trial and only pay £1 a month for the first 3 months. If you pay annually instead of monthly you can get a 25% discount.
"I signed up to Shopify to see how difficult it was to get started for a beginner and was pleasantly surprised. After accepting a £1 trial, I went into the dashboard and was ready to start building my store in under 5 minutes. No demos, no sales calls, and no complicated software installation.I had a look around the dashboard and was impressed with the analytics setup. Having run my own websites before, I know you can gain a lot of knowledge from data and reporting, so it was nice to see this already built out for me without any extra work.I liked the new AI feature called Sidekick. I started up a quick conversation and had a bit of back and forth, and it seemed capable of directing me to the right place. I can imagine this is a big win for people who don't have the resources to hire their own developers or designers. "
Matt Boyle
Publisher at Finder
Wix
With Wix, you can build a website quickly using templates and AI tools. You can set up an online store and use its design tools, SEO features, app marketplace, analytics dashboard, email marketing and ad tools on offer. It comes with a free domain for a year on all of its plans as well.
Wix has 4 different tiers. It’s free to create a website with Wix, but to connect it to your own domain and remove Wix branding, you need to pay for a premium tier. You can get a 14-day money-back guarantee when you do this to make sure it works for you before fully committing.
Squarespace
Squarespace lets you use AI tools to create product descriptions, build mobile-optimised websites, has SEO features and offers a free domain for a year. It’s also got security included to keep your store safe. If you’re looking to set up an online store then it’s a good option.
There are 4 different tiers and each comes with a 14-day free trial. You can change your plan tier as you need to if your business grows. If you pay annually there’s a 25% discount compared to paying monthly.
"We have used Squarespace for our coaching site and shop for several years now and have loved the experience overall. The platform is really user-friendly, even if you're not super tech-savvy, and it makes creating and maintaining a professional-looking website feel simple and stress-free.One of the biggest things we love is how clean and modern the templates look, everything feels polished and easy to customise to suit our brand. Updating pages, adding content, embedding videos, and making general changes on the go has been really straightforward, which is ideal when running a busy business.We've also found the mobile version works brilliantly, which is important as so many people browse on their phones now. We haven't explored the email marketing side too much yet, but the online scheduling tool has been a really great feature for us and makes booking client calls and meetings feel very seamless and professional.That said, we do find blog post editing a little clunky at times, and adding or embedding images isn't always the easiest process compared to some other platforms. We've also found it a little limiting that when adding a subscription payment, you can't easily include a product or downloadable PDF alongside it, which feels like a bit of a flaw for onboarding new sign-ups.Overall, Squarespace has been a great option for creating a professional, easy-to-manage website without needing a web developer for every little change. We'd definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a sleek, modern website platform that's simple to use and visually impressive."
Lucy
Fit Sisters Coaching
Ecwid by Lightspeed
Ecwid by Lightspeed is an e-commerce solution designed for businesses that want to add online selling capabilities to an existing website or social media page without rebuilding everything from scratch. Instead of replacing your blog or portfolio site, Ecwid acts as a “widget” that embeds seamlessly into platforms like WordPress, Wix, or Squarespace. It comes with automated multi-channel syncing, allowing you to manage inventory across Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok simultaneously, alongside mobile-optimized dashboards and basic SEO configurations.
Ecwid offers four distinct pricing tiers based on how many items you intend to list. Beginners can test the waters with a free starter plan for up to 5 products. To scale up, the Venture plan sits at £35 a month, while the fully featured Business plan is £65 a month. Choosing to pay annually instead of monthly secures a discount, bringing those rates down to £29 and £49 a month, respectively.
Square Online
is highly tailored for businesses that bridge the gap between brick-and-mortar operations and digital retail. If you run a local market stall or a physical boutique, Square effortlessly links your physical Point of Sale (POS) hardware with your digital inventory. It features an intuitive drag-and-drop website builder, automated order tracking, and integrated click-and-collect options for local customers.
The software has a highly attractive entry price point, featuring a Free plan with £0 monthly subscription fees. Under this tier, you only pay a transaction fee whenever you make a sale, which sits at 1.4% + 25p for UK cards. If you want to connect a custom domain name and strip out the Square branding, you can upgrade to the Plus plan starting from £20 a month
WooCommerce
WooCommerce is an open-source, highly customisable e-commerce plugin built on top of WordPress. Unlike closed website platforms, WooCommerce gives you 100% ownership over your data and complete design freedom. It is incredibly scalable, offering access to thousands of free and premium themes and extensions to configure complex checkout layouts, wholesale pricing, or subscription models exactly how you want them.
The software itself is completely free to download and use, with a 0% revenue share structure. However, because it is self-hosted, it isn’t entirely cost-free. You will need to source and pay for your own web domain and host server, which usually ranges anywhere from £5 to £25 a month for entry-level setups. While budget-friendly at the start, you should keep an eye on total costs, as premium plugins or custom developer adjustments can add up as your store grows.
Other costs
While these platforms offer a solution that includes most of what you need, there are still other costs to factor in. They all come with base prices, but you might find that you need to pay more for extra features, so make sure you are across that.
While some of them include the domain free for the first year, after that you’ll be required to pay that cost on top of your other monthly fees.
You also need to factor in what each platform and the specific tiers will charge you in transaction costs, because this can become quite expensive as you scale up. Some platforms make it easier to switch tiers than others.
Pros and cons of cheap software
Pros
It's free or relatively cheap to get started
AI tools are often included
Quick and easy to use
Security management included
A whole suite of tools available to build a store
Cons
Some of the premium features can end up costing a lot of money on top of your monthly fee
It can be a challenge to scale if you don't get the right template
Transaction fees can eat into your profits on cheaper plans
It's not always possible to export your site elsewhere
You're restricted by the available templates
Bottom line
Using cheap e-commerce software can be a sensible way to start an online business. It lets you start small and scale up as you need to, with all the tools you need initially. Most platforms have very similar offerings, though you need to decide which features you’ll need.
If you want to scale your business or add premium features, you could end up paying a lot more on top of monthly fees. Transaction fees can also add up. So make sure you’re fully aware of the pricing structure before you start.
It could be a good idea to look at a range of options and take advantage of free trials before deciding on one, because once you commit to one you can become wedded to it and it can be a challenge to export your store to a different one. If you want to go further into your comparison of the best e-commerce software, we have a more dedicated guide with more features to compare than just cost.
We show offers we can track - that's not every product on the market...yet. Unless we've said otherwise, products are in no particular order. The terms "best", "top", "cheap" (and variations of these) aren't ratings, though we always explain what's great about a product when we highlight it. This is subject to our terms of use. When you make major financial decisions, consider getting independent financial advice. Always consider your own circumstances when you compare products so you get what's right for you. Most of the data in Finder's comparison tables is provided by Defaqto. In other cases, Finder has sourced data directly from providers.
Jason is a writer and editor. He worked as a senior subeditor for Finder for 5 years and in that time became familiar with a wide range of financial products and services. Before that, he worked for Australian Associated Press. He has a BA from Macquarie University in Australia. Jason loves to help other people find new ways to save money.
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I had a look around the dashboard and was impressed with the analytics setup. Having run my own websites before, I know you can gain a lot of knowledge from data and reporting, so it was nice to see this already built out for me without any extra work.
I liked the new AI feature called Sidekick. I started up a quick conversation and had a bit of back and forth, and it seemed capable of directing me to the right place. I can imagine this is a big win for people who don't have the resources to hire their own developers or designers. "
