The best ecommerce platform for most UK businesses in 2026 is Shopify. It is quick to set up, it handles payments, tax and delivery in one place, and it can grow with you. But it is not the best choice for everyone. WooCommerce is better if you already use WordPress and want full control. Wix and Squarespace suit small, design-led shops. BigCommerce suits growing businesses and B2B sellers.

An ecommerce platform is the software that lets you sell online. It builds your product pages, basket and checkout, takes payments, tracks stock and manages orders. Some platforms also help with delivery labels, tax and marketing.

Your choice matters because the monthly plan is only part of the cost. Card fees, paid apps, themes and extra platform fees can add up to more than the subscription. Moving to a new platform later is possible, but it takes time and can hurt your Google rankings if it is done badly.

This guide compares Shopify, WooCommerce, Wix, Squarespace and BigCommerce on price, features, ease of use, transaction fees and business needs. The best choice depends on what you sell and how much you can spend, so we pick winners by business type instead of naming one winner for everyone.

Selling online is now a normal part of UK retail. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) reports that online sales made up around 28.8% of Great Britain retail sales in its latest 2026 figures, up from 19.2% in 2019.

In this guide

• Quick answer: what is the best ecommerce platform?
• Comparison table
• Types of ecommerce platform
• How we selected the platforms
• Detailed reviews
• Best platform by business type
• What an ecommerce platform really costs
• Cheapest platforms and best value
• Free ecommerce platforms
• Hosted vs self-hosted
• Fees and payment processing
• UK businesses: VAT, consumer rights and GDPR
• International and multi-channel selling
• Ecommerce SEO features
• How to choose
• Switching platforms later
• Common mistakes
• FAQs
• Final verdict
• Methodology, sources and update history

Quick Answer: What Is the Best Ecommerce Platform?

Shopify is the best all-round ecommerce platform for UK sellers. It balances price, ease of use and features better than the others. Use the table below if your business is different.

If you are…	Best pick	Why
A first-time seller who wants a managed shop	Shopify	Easy setup, built-in payments and tax tools, and a very large app store
Already on WordPress, or you want full control	WooCommerce	Free software, no platform fees and almost unlimited customisation
A beginner with a small catalogue	Wix	Low starting price and a simple drag-and-drop editor
A creative or design-led brand	Squarespace	Polished templates and built-in digital product tools
Growing fast or selling to businesses (B2B)	BigCommerce	Strong built-in B2B tools and up to 600 variants per product
Selling clothing	Shopify (WooCommerce is a close second)	Up to 2,048 variants per product, though still three options
Selling downloads, courses or memberships	Payhip or Sellfy	Built for digital delivery; Payhip has a free plan with a 5% fee
Dropshipping	Shopify	The widest choice of supplier and import apps
A large or complex business	Shopify Plus, BigCommerce Performance or Adobe Commerce	Custom support, security and integrations

Best Ecommerce Platforms at a Glance: Comparison Table

This table puts the five platforms side by side. Scroll sideways on a phone to see every column.

Platform	Best for	Starting price	Hosting type	Free plan or trial	Transaction fees	Ease of use	Main advantage	Main disadvantage
Shopify	Most UK sellers, clothing, dropshipping	£19/month billed yearly (£25 monthly)	Hosted (SaaS)	3-day free trial, then £1/month for 3 months	0% with Shopify Payments. 2% / 1% / 0.6% (Basic / Grow / Advanced) if you use another gateway	Easy	Complete managed system with a huge app store	Apps and card fees can push the real cost well above the plan price
WooCommerce	WordPress users and custom builds	£0 for the software. Hosting, domain and extras cost extra	Self-hosted (you pick the host)	Free software, no trial needed	No platform fee. Payment processor fees only	Moderate	Full control and ownership of your store and data	You handle hosting, updates, security and speed
Wix	Beginners and small shops	£16/month (Core, billed yearly). The £9 Light plan cannot sell	Hosted	Free plan (cannot sell). 14-day money-back guarantee on paid plans	No platform fee reported on sales. Payment processing fees apply	Very easy	Flexible drag-and-drop design at a low price	Less suited to large catalogues and complex stock
Squarespace	Design-led brands, makers, small shops	£12/month (Basic) or £17/month (Core), billed yearly, before VAT	Hosted	14-day free trial (confirm at sign-up)	2% store fee on Basic, 0% on Core and above. Digital content fees 7% / 5% / 1% / 0%	Easy	Polished templates with built-in digital product tools	Fewer advanced stock and integration options
BigCommerce	Growing businesses, big catalogues, B2B	$29/month (Core, billed yearly). Priced in US dollars	Hosted (SaaS)	15-day free trial	No platform fee with supported payment providers. 2% / 1% / 0.6% on others (Core / Growth / Scale)	Moderate	Strong built-in B2B tools and a high variant limit	Sales caps force plan upgrades; USD pricing

Shopify and WooCommerce are the two names UK shop owners meet most. Firmbase, which detects the software behind UK company websites, found Shopify on 44.4% of UK ecommerce companies where a platform could be detected, ahead of WooCommerce on 38.8%. Among UK fashion retailers, WooCommerce led with 45.2% against Shopify’s 40.0%.

What Are the Different Types of Ecommerce Platforms?

Not all ecommerce platforms work the same way. The type you pick decides who looks after hosting, security and updates, and how much freedom you have.

Hosted ecommerce platforms (SaaS)

You pay a monthly fee and the company runs everything: hosting, security, updates and checkout. You just manage products and orders. Shopify and BigCommerce are the main examples. This suits anyone who wants to sell without looking after servers. The trade-offs are monthly fees, app costs and less control over the code.

Self-hosted and open-source ecommerce platforms

You download the software and run it on your own hosting. WooCommerce, a plugin for WordPress, is the most popular example, and Adobe Commerce also has an open-source edition. The software can be free, but you pay for hosting, security, updates and often a developer. This suits businesses that want full control.

Website builders with ecommerce features

Wix and Squarespace began as website builders and added online shops later. Setup is simple and the designs look good. Advanced stock, B2B and automation tools are more limited. They suit small catalogues and brands where looks matter most.

Creator-focused ecommerce platforms

Payhip, Sellfy and Fourthwall are built for digital downloads, courses, memberships and creator merchandise. They are simple and cheap to start with. They are not full replacements for a general store if you sell many physical products.

Headless and composable commerce platforms

Headless commerce splits the shopfront customers see from the back end that handles products, orders and payments. The two parts talk to each other through APIs. It gives developers total freedom but needs a development team, so most small businesses do not need it. Shopify and BigCommerce both support headless builds.

Ecommerce platforms vs online marketplaces

Amazon, eBay and Etsy are not independent store platforms. They are sales channels. You list products in their shop, follow their rules and pay their fees, and they control the customer relationship. They can also suspend your account or change fees. Use them to find customers, but build your own store too, so you own your brand, customer data and margins.

Type	Examples	Who looks after hosting?	Best for
Hosted (SaaS)	Shopify, BigCommerce	The platform	Most businesses that want a managed shop
Self-hosted / open source	WooCommerce, Adobe Commerce (open-source edition)	You	Businesses wanting full control
Website builder with shop	Wix, Squarespace	The platform	Small catalogues and design-led brands
Creator platform	Payhip, Sellfy, Fourthwall	The platform	Digital products, memberships and merchandise
Headless / composable	Shopify and BigCommerce headless builds	You and your developers	Large brands with developer teams
Marketplace (channel)	Amazon, eBay, Etsy, TikTok Shop	The marketplace	Extra reach, alongside your own store

How We Selected the Best Ecommerce Platforms

We included platforms that have clear public pricing, can sell physical or digital products, and are used by UK businesses. We judged each one on these ten points:

• Pricing and overall value: plan price, fees and typical extras.
• Ease of setup and use: how quickly a beginner can launch.
• Website design and customisation: templates, themes and editing freedom.
• Product and inventory management: variants, stock and locations.
• Payment and checkout options: gateways, local payment methods and checkout control.
• Shipping and fulfilment tools: labels, carriers, rates and dropshipping.
• SEO features: URLs, metadata, sitemaps, redirects and structured data.
• Marketing and sales integrations: email, social, marketplaces and discounts.
• Customer support: support channels and help documentation.
• Scalability and flexibility: limits, API access, B2B and multi-channel selling.

Detailed Reviews of the Best Ecommerce Platforms

Each review covers what the platform is, what it costs, how it charges fees, its strengths and weaknesses, and who it suits. Prices were checked on 9 November 2026.

Shopify: Best Overall Ecommerce Platform

What is Shopify?

Shopify is a hosted ecommerce platform launched in 2006. You pay a monthly fee and it provides hosting, an online shop, checkout, payments and tools to sell on social channels and in person. Its key features include:

• Unlimited products on every plan, according to Shopify’s UK page.
• Up to 2,048 variants per product, with a limit of three options. The old limit was 100 variants until 15 October 2025.
• 10 inventory locations on Basic, Grow and Advanced, and 200 on Plus.
• Built-in payments (Shopify Payments), discount codes and abandoned checkout recovery.
• Selling through social media, marketplaces and in person with a card reader.
• A very large app store and theme store.

Shopify pricing and plans

Plan	Billed yearly (per month)	Billed monthly	Shopify Payments card rate	Third-party gateway fee	Extra staff accounts	Inventory locations
Basic	£19	£25	2% + 25p	2%	None	10
Grow	£49	£65	1.7% + 25p	1%	5	10
Advanced	£259	£344	1.5% + 25p	0.6%	15	10
Plus	From £1,800	From £1,800	1.3% + 25p	0.2%	Unlimited	200

New merchants got a 3-day free trial followed by £1 a month for the first three months when we checked. Shopify changes these offers often, so confirm the current deal before you sign up.

Payment processing and transaction fees

With Shopify Payments there is no extra platform fee. UK online card rates run from 2% + 25p on Basic to 1.5% + 25p on Advanced. If you choose another payment provider, Shopify adds a third-party transaction fee of 2%, 1% or 0.6% on top of that provider’s own charges. The fees section shows what this means on a real sale.

Shopify pros and cons

Pros	Cons
Quick to launch with guided setup	Third-party gateway fee if you skip Shopify Payments
Large app and theme store	Apps often charge monthly, so costs creep up
Built-in payments, tax and shipping tools	Only three product options (for example size, colour, material)
Up to 2,048 variants per product	Deeper checkout customisation is limited on lower plans
Reliable managed hosting	Fixed URL structure, such as /products/ and /collections/

SEO and marketing tools

Shopify lets you edit page titles, meta descriptions and URL handles, and it creates an XML sitemap and canonical tags for you. It has a built-in blog, discount codes and email tools, and connects to Google, Meta and TikTok sales channels. The main limit is the fixed URL structure, which you cannot remove.

Who should use Shopify?

• First-time sellers who want a managed shop that works out of the box.
• Clothing and fashion sellers who need strong variant and stock tools.
• Dropshippers who need many supplier apps.
• Growing brands that want managed hosting and room to scale.
• Sellers who also sell in person or on social media.

Who should avoid Shopify?

• Sellers on a very tight budget who would need many paid apps.
• Products that need more than three options without an app.
• B2B sellers who want built-in wholesale tools on a low plan.
• Anyone who wants to own and edit the full code of the store.

WooCommerce: Best for Customisation and WordPress Users

What is WooCommerce?

WooCommerce is free, open-source ecommerce software for WordPress. It is maintained by Automattic, the company behind WordPress.com, and launched in 2011. On its pricing page, WooCommerce says it has no platform fees and no revenue share.

How WooCommerce works with WordPress

WordPress runs your pages and blog. WooCommerce is a plugin that adds products, a basket, checkout and orders to that site. You choose your own hosting company, theme and extensions, and you control the code and the data.

Main WooCommerce features

• Physical, digital and variable products, with subscriptions and bookings through extensions.
• No fixed product limit. Your limits come from your hosting.
• A huge range of plugins and themes.
• Full export of your own data.
• Flexible checkout through code or plugins.

Software, hosting and maintenance costs

The software is free, but a live store is not. WooCommerce’s own pricing page estimates that most stores pay about $25 to $350 a month for hosting, and optional extensions cost about $29 to $299 a year each. Small shops on basic hosting may spend less, but cheap hosting can mean slower pages. Add a domain (usually £10 to £20 a year), a theme, security and backups, and your time or a developer’s for updates.

Payment processing fees

WooCommerce adds no fees of its own, so you only pay your payment provider. With Stripe in the UK, standard UK cards cost 1.5% + 20p, premium UK cards 2.8% + 20p, EEA cards 2.5% + 20p and international cards 3.15% + 20p. PayPal’s standard UK rate for commercial payments is widely reported as 2.9% + 30p.

WooCommerce pros and cons

Pros	Cons
No platform fee or revenue share	You manage hosting, updates, security and backups
Full control of design, data and code	Costs grow with extensions and developer time
Strong for content, because it sits inside WordPress	Speed depends on your host and plugins
Almost no product limits	Support is community-based unless you pay a host or agency
Huge plugin choice	Plugin clashes can break the shop

SEO and customisation options

WordPress gives you full control over URLs, redirects and page structure. SEO plugins such as Yoast SEO and Rank Math add sitemaps, schema and metadata tools. Because you control the server, you can also tune speed. The catch is that all of it is your responsibility.

Who should use WooCommerce?

• Businesses that already run their website on WordPress.
• Content-led shops that rely on blogging and organic traffic.
• Developers and agencies building custom stores.
• Sellers with unusual needs, such as custom checkout, bookings or subscriptions.
• Anyone who wants to own the whole store and its data.

Avoid WooCommerce if you want a hands-off setup with no maintenance.

Wix Ecommerce: Best for Beginners and Website Design

What is Wix Ecommerce?

Wix is a website builder, and its ecommerce tools come with the paid Core, Business and Business Elite plans. You can sell physical products, digital products and services. Wix also has a free plan, but it cannot take payments.

Wix drag-and-drop website builder

Wix’s editor lets you drag elements anywhere on the page, which gives beginners a lot of design freedom. It offers a large library of templates and AI tools that can create a first draft of your site.

Wix ecommerce features

• Sell physical products, digital products and services.
• Dropshipping and loyalty tools from the Core plan upwards.
• More storage as you upgrade: 50 GB on Core, 100 GB on Business and unlimited on Business Elite.
• Multi-currency selling from the Business plan.
• A free domain for the first year on the paid plans.

Wix pricing and available plans

Plan	Billed yearly (per month)	Billed monthly	Storage	Can it sell online?
Light	£9	Not listed	Not listed	No
Core	£16	£19	50 GB	Yes
Business	£25	£29	100 GB	Yes
Business Elite	£119	Not listed	Unlimited	Yes

Wix payment options and transaction fees

UK pricing guides report that Wix takes no commission on sales, so you only pay card processing fees. Wix Payments is reported at 2.1% + 20p per UK card payment, but Wix’s own plans page does not list this, so confirm it in your account. You can also connect other payment providers where they are available.

Wix pros and cons

Pros	Cons
Easiest editor of the five	Not designed for very large catalogues
Low starting price	Storage and feature limits on lower plans
Free domain for the first year	Less technical control than Shopify or WooCommerce for advanced SEO
14-day money-back guarantee	Your design cannot be moved to another platform

Wix design and SEO features

Wix has a guided SEO checklist. You can edit titles, meta descriptions and URL slugs, and add structured data. Page speed can suffer on heavy, animation-rich designs, so keep layouts simple.

Who should use Wix?

• First-time sellers with a small catalogue.
• Businesses that sell products and services together, such as bookings.
• People who want to control the design themselves.
• Sellers testing an idea at low cost.

Wix is a weaker fit for big catalogues, complex variants and B2B selling.

Squarespace: Best for Design-Focused Online Stores

What is Squarespace Commerce?

Squarespace is a website builder known for polished design. Its ecommerce tools let you sell physical products, services and digital products from the same site. Squarespace says there is no limit to the number of products you can sell.

Squarespace templates and design features

Squarespace templates look clean and professional by default, so a simple shop can look good without design skills. You can change fonts, colours and layouts, and add custom CSS on Core and above.

Ecommerce and digital product features

• Sell physical products, services and digital downloads from one site.
• Paid memberships and courses, each with its own fee tier.
• Subscriptions and advanced shipping tools on the top Advanced plan.
• Squarespace Payments for UK card payments.
• Point-of-sale selling through a Square integration.

Squarespace pricing and available plans

Plan	Billed yearly (per month, before VAT)	With VAT	Billed monthly (before VAT)	Store fee	Digital content fee	Card rate (Squarespace Payments)
Basic	£12	£14.40	£16	2%	7%	2% + 25p
Core	£17	£20.40	£24	0%	5%	2% + 25p
Plus	£29	£34.80	£36	0%	1%	1.7% + 25p
Advanced	£79	£94.80	£89	0%	0%	1.5% + 25p

Squarespace transaction and payment processing fees

Squarespace charges a 2% store fee on the Basic plan only. Core and above charge 0% on physical products. Digital content and memberships carry a separate fee that falls from 7% on Basic to 0% on Advanced. Card processing through Squarespace Payments is charged on top.

On Basic you can pay more in fees than you save. Core costs £60 a year more than Basic, so it pays for itself once your shop sells more than £3,000 a year (£60 divided by 2%).

Squarespace pros and cons

Pros	Cons
Best-looking templates out of the box	2% store fee on Basic
Simple, tidy editor	Fewer advanced stock and B2B tools
Digital products, courses and memberships built in	Digital content fees on lower plans (7% on Basic)
No stated product limit	Smaller app and integration choice than Shopify
Hosting and SSL included	Large catalogues can be harder to manage

Squarespace SEO and marketing tools

Squarespace creates a sitemap automatically, uses clean code, includes SSL and lets you edit page titles and descriptions. It has built-in email campaigns and social links. Technical SEO controls are more basic than on Shopify or WooCommerce. For example, you cannot edit the robots.txt file directly.

Who should use Squarespace?

• Designers, photographers, artists and makers.
• Small shops with a focused range of products.
• Coaches and creators selling courses or digital downloads.
• Brands where looks matter more than advanced stock tools.

BigCommerce: Best for Growing Businesses and B2B Selling

What is BigCommerce?

BigCommerce is a hosted ecommerce platform launched in 2009 and aimed at fast-growing and larger businesses. It changed its plans and pricing on 1 June 2026. The plans are now called Core, Growth, Scale and Performance. Older guides that mention Standard, Plus and Pro are out of date.

Main BigCommerce ecommerce features

• Up to 600 variants per product, with up to 250 values per option.
• 4, 5 or 8 inventory locations on Core, Growth and Scale.
• Built-in customer groups and price lists for different types of buyer.
• Multi-channel selling to marketplaces and social platforms.
• Multi-storefront add-ons for running several shops from one account.

BigCommerce pricing and available plans

Plan	Billed yearly (per month)	Billed monthly	Sales cap	Inventory locations
Core	$29	$39	Up to $30,000 a year	4
Growth	$79	$105	Up to $100,000 a year	5
Scale	$299	$399	Up to $33,333 a month, then 0.9% on the extra	8
Performance	From $1,499 (annual billing only)	Not offered	Custom	Custom

BigCommerce sales limits and additional charges

BigCommerce limits each plan by sales, measured as gross merchandise value (GMV). It defines GMV as gross order value minus 10%. When you pass the cap, your account moves up to the next plan automatically, and Scale moves to Performance at $2 million of GMV over 12 months. Extras include multi-storefront add-ons ($30, $50 or $100 a month on Core, Growth and Scale) and paid support options.

BigCommerce payment processing fees

BigCommerce charges no fee on its list of embedded payment providers. If you use a provider that is not on that list, an open payment provider fee applies: 2% on Core, 1% on Growth and 0.6% on Scale. Check that your UK provider is on the embedded list before you sign up. The card rate quoted on BigCommerce’s page needs a US-based business, so UK sellers should use the UK rates from their own provider.

BigCommerce B2B and wholesale features

This is where BigCommerce stands out. Customer groups and price lists let you show different prices to different buyers. B2B Edition adds company accounts, quotes, shared shopping lists and purchase orders for larger merchants. Its pricing is quote-based.

BigCommerce pros and cons

Pros	Cons
No platform fee on supported payment providers	Sales caps push you up the plan ladder
600 variants and 250 values per option	US-dollar pricing; pound billing not confirmed
Strong built-in B2B tools	Smaller theme and app store than Shopify
Multi-storefront option	Steeper learning curve than Wix or Shopify
Native multi-channel selling	Fewer UK-specific guides and developers

BigCommerce SEO and multi-storefront features

BigCommerce lets you customise URLs, edit metadata and manage 301 redirects, and it supports structured data. Multi-storefront add-ons let one account run several shops, for example for different brands or countries.

Who should use BigCommerce?

• Growing brands with large catalogues.
• Wholesale and B2B sellers.
• Businesses planning several storefronts.
• Companies that want strong built-in features instead of many paid apps.

It is a weaker fit for startups on a tiny budget, or for UK sellers who need to be billed in pounds.

Best Ecommerce Platform by Business Type

Match the platform to the kind of business you run. The sections below give a short answer for each.

Best ecommerce platform for beginners

Choose a hosted platform. You do not manage servers, and setup takes hours instead of weeks.

• Ease of setup: Wix and Shopify both guide you step by step.
• Website templates: Wix and Squarespace have the strongest designs. Shopify’s theme store has free and paid themes.
• Customer support: all hosted platforms have help centres and live support options. Check the hours on your plan.
• Learning requirements: Wix has the simplest editor. Shopify takes a little longer but teaches useful retail terms. WooCommerce has the steepest learning curve.

Recommended: Wix for a small catalogue and design freedom, or Shopify if you plan to grow.

Best ecommerce platform for small businesses

• Affordable plans: Wix Core at £16, Squarespace Core at £17 (before VAT) and Shopify Basic at £19 a month, all billed yearly.
• Inventory management: Shopify is the strongest of the three for stock tracking.
• Payment options: Shopify Payments, Squarespace Payments and Wix Payments all take UK card payments.
• Marketing tools: all five platforms support discount codes and email campaigns. If you are setting a budget, our marketing statistics guide collects UK benchmarks by channel.

Recommended: Shopify Basic for most small shops, Squarespace Core for design-led brands, and WooCommerce if you already have a WordPress site and some technical skill.

Best ecommerce platform for startups

• Initial setup costs: use a free trial or monthly billing while you test your idea, then switch to yearly billing once sales are steady.
• Scalability: Shopify and BigCommerce grow by moving up a plan. Wix and Squarespace can feel tight once your catalogue grows.
• Flexibility: WooCommerce is the most flexible if you have a developer in the team.
• Essential integrations: accounting software, email marketing, delivery carriers such as Royal Mail, Evri and DPD, and product reviews.

Recommended: Shopify for most startups. Add BigCommerce to your shortlist if you expect to sell to businesses.

Best ecommerce platform for clothing and fashion

Clothing needs many variants (size by colour), lots of images and easy returns. Check how many variants and options each platform allows before you commit.

Platform	Variants per product	Options per product	Notes
Shopify	2,048	3	Raised from 100 on 15 October 2025. 250 media items per product.
BigCommerce	600	Up to 250 values per option	Modifier options carry no stock tracking.
WooCommerce	No fixed platform cap	Set by your setup	Limited by your hosting and plugins, not by the software.
Wix	Not confirmed	Not confirmed	Check the current limit in Wix’s help centre.
Squarespace	Not confirmed	Not confirmed	Check the current limit in Squarespace’s help centre.

Shopify suits most clothing shops. It is easy to run, strong on stock, and its variant limit now covers most products. Three options are enough for size, colour and one extra such as length. WooCommerce suits brands that want custom product pages and full data ownership. BigCommerce suits large catalogues with many attributes.

• SKU management: give every size and colour its own SKU, and sync stock across channels.
• Product images: use one clear photo per colour and a gallery for detail shots.
• Returns and exchanges: UK online customers can cancel within 14 days of delivery, so use a returns portal or app to keep this simple.

Shoppers who buy fashion online compare you with established names, so it helps to see how they present their products. Our guide to luxury fashion brands in the UK is a useful starting point if you sell at the premium end.

Best ecommerce platform for digital products

For downloads, courses and memberships, a creator platform can be cheaper and simpler than a full store.

Platform	Monthly price	Platform fee on sales	Good to know
Payhip	Free, $29 or $99	5% / 2% / 0%	All features on every plan. Only the fee changes.
Sellfy	From about $29 (plans reported at $29, $59 and $119)	0%	Yearly sales caps by plan. 14-day free trial.
Fourthwall	No monthly fee	Check current terms	Strong for creator merchandise plus digital items.
Squarespace	From £12 (before VAT)	7% / 5% / 1% / 0% on digital content	Fee depends on plan: Basic, Core, Plus, Advanced.
Shopify or WooCommerce	Plan or hosting cost	No extra platform fee with Shopify Payments or WooCommerce	Digital delivery is added with an app or plugin.

By our calculation, Payhip’s Plus plan beats the free plan once you sell about $967 a month, and Pro beats Plus at about $3,500 a month. Whichever you pick, look for these features:

• Digital downloads: enough file storage for your largest product.
• Automatic file delivery: a download link sent straight after payment.
• Memberships and subscriptions: recurring billing and access control.
• Online courses: video hosting and lesson-by-lesson release.
• Download security and licensing: expiring links, download limits and licence keys.

If you want a checkout and sales-funnel tool for courses and digital offers, our ThriveCart review covers its pricing and who it suits. UK cancellation rules for downloads differ from those for physical goods, so check GOV.UK before you write your refund policy.

Best ecommerce platform for dropshipping

• Supplier integrations: Shopify has the widest choice of supplier apps, such as DSers and Spocket. WooCommerce has plugins for the same job, and Wix offers dropshipping tools from the Core plan.
• Product importing: look for one-click import with editable titles, images and prices.
• Automated order processing: orders should pass to your supplier without copying and pasting.
• Inventory synchronisation: stock levels should update automatically so you never sell what is gone.
• Shipping and fulfilment: slow overseas delivery is the biggest cause of bad reviews. Ask suppliers for UK delivery times.

Recommended: Shopify first, WooCommerce if you want lower ongoing fees and more control, and Wix for a simple start. Remember that you are the seller in the eyes of UK law, even when a supplier ships the parcel.

Best ecommerce platform for growing brands

• Advanced inventory: multiple locations. Shopify allows 10 on Basic to Advanced and 200 on Plus. BigCommerce allows 4 to 8.
• Multiple sales channels: one catalogue feeding your shop, marketplaces and social channels.
• API access: connect accounting, warehouse and customer systems.
• Automation: automatic stock alerts, order routing and customer emails.
• International selling: local currencies, languages and tax tools.
• Scalability: check plan sales caps (BigCommerce) and checkout limits before you hit them.

Recommended: Shopify Advanced (£259 a month with a 1.5% + 25p card rate), BigCommerce Growth or Scale, or WooCommerce on managed hosting with developer support.

Best ecommerce platform for enterprise businesses

• Advanced integrations: links to ERP, product information and CRM systems.
• B2B functionality: company accounts, contract pricing, quotes and purchase orders.
• Security and compliance: PCI DSS payment security and UK GDPR-ready contracts.
• Customisation: custom checkout and storefront builds.
• Implementation costs: these are usually the biggest cost. One agency estimates $150,000 to $400,000 for a complex BigCommerce B2B Edition build with ERP and product-data links.

Shopify Plus starts at £1,800 a month, and BigCommerce Performance starts at $1,499 a month on annual billing. Adobe Commerce and Salesforce Commerce Cloud are also aimed at large merchants with complex catalogues, many brands and heavy integration needs. Both are sold on custom quotes.

How Much Does an Ecommerce Platform Really Cost?

The plan price is only one line on the bill. Use this formula to work out your own real cost:

Monthly and annual subscription costs

Platform	Entry plan (per year)	Mid plan (per year)	Top standard plan (per year)
Shopify	Basic £228	Grow £588	Advanced £3,108
Wix	Core £192	Business £300	Business Elite £1,428
Squarespace (before VAT)	Core £204 (Basic £144)	Plus £348	Advanced £948
BigCommerce (US dollars)	Core $348	Growth $948	Scale $3,588
WooCommerce	Software £0	Hosting, domain and extensions extra	Hosting, domain and extensions extra

Paying yearly saves money everywhere. Shopify Basic costs £19 a month billed yearly against £25 billed monthly, a saving of £72 a year.

Website hosting and domain costs

Hosted platforms include hosting and security in the plan price. Wix and Squarespace also include a free domain for the first year on annual plans. With WooCommerce you buy hosting separately, and every platform needs a domain name, which usually costs £10 to £20 a year after the first year.

Payment processing fees

Card fees usually run from about 1.5% to 3%, plus a fixed amount per sale. Once sales grow they are often your biggest running cost. We explain them in detail in the fees section.

Platform transaction fees

Some platforms add their own fee on top of card fees in certain cases: Shopify’s third-party gateway fee, Squarespace’s 2% on Basic, and BigCommerce’s open payment provider fee. The fees section compares them.

Premium themes and templates

Free themes work for many shops. Paid themes are usually a one-off cost, and we assume £180 in the example below. WooCommerce themes work the same way, with either a one-off price or a yearly licence.

Paid apps, plugins and extensions

Apps are where costs creep up. Shopify apps usually charge monthly, WooCommerce extensions cost about $29 to $299 a year each, and Wix and Squarespace sell paid add-ons too. List what you truly need before you subscribe.

Website maintenance and developer costs

Hosted platforms handle updates and security. With WooCommerce, you or a developer must update WordPress, themes and plugins, keep backups and fix clashes. Budget either your time or a monthly care plan.

Additional shipping, tax and marketing costs

Postage, packaging, returns, accounting software and advertising sit outside the platform bill, but they often cost more than the platform. We left them out of the example below.

First-year cost example: a small online clothing store

This example is illustrative. It assumes a shop that sells about £20,000 a year, with an average order of £50 (400 orders), on Shopify Basic billed yearly, taking payments through Shopify Payments at 2% + 25p.

Item	First-year cost	Our assumption
Shopify Basic (billed yearly)	£228	£19 a month
Domain name	£12	One .co.uk domain
Paid theme	£180	One-off purchase
Apps	£360	£30 a month for a size chart, tax tool and reviews
Card fees	£500	2% of £20,000 (£400) plus 400 orders at 25p (£100)
Total	£1,280	Before VAT, postage, stock and advertising

The plan fee is less than a fifth of the bill, and card fees are the biggest slice. At £20,000 a year, the shop is also well below the £90,000 VAT registration threshold.

Here is the same shop on WooCommerce. Every figure is an assumption, so use it only as a guide.

Item	First-year cost	Our assumption
Hosting	£240	£20 a month. WooCommerce’s own estimate for most stores is higher, so busy shops will pay more
Domain name	£12	One .co.uk domain
Theme	£60	One-off purchase
Extensions	£120	Two paid extensions
Card fees (Stripe, standard UK cards)	£380	1.5% of £20,000 (£300) plus 400 orders at 20p (£80)
Total	£812	Excludes your time and any developer help

Cheapest Ecommerce Platforms: Which Offers the Best Value?

The cheapest platform on paper is rarely the cheapest to run. Compare the whole bill, not the headline price.

Platform	Cheapest plan that can sell	Cost per year	The catch
Squarespace	Basic, £12 a month (before VAT)	£144	2% store fee and 7% on digital content
Wix	Core, £16 a month	£192	50 GB storage and fewer advanced features
Squarespace	Core, £17 a month (before VAT)	£204	No store fee, but 5% on digital content
Shopify	Basic, £19 a month	£228	Extra 2% if you use another gateway, plus app costs
WooCommerce	Free software	£0 plus hosting	You pay for hosting and look after the store
BigCommerce	Core, $29 a month	$348	$30,000 yearly sales cap and US-dollar pricing

Low starting prices vs low running costs

A low starting price can hide a high running cost. Take a shop that sells £20,000 a year. Squarespace Basic costs £144 plus a 2% store fee of £400, which is £544. Squarespace Core costs £204 with no store fee. The more expensive plan is £340 cheaper in practice.

Free and entry-level plans

Free plans exist, but they come with limits. We cover them in the free platforms section.

When paying more makes sense

Upgrade when the extra monthly cost is smaller than what you save in fees. This table shows the break-even point for each upgrade.

Upgrade	Extra cost per year	What you save	Break-even sales per year
Squarespace Basic to Core	£60	2% store fee	£3,000
Squarespace Core to Plus (digital content)	£144	Fee falls from 5% to 1%	£3,600
Squarespace Core to Plus (physical products)	£144	Card rate falls by 0.3%	£48,000
Shopify Basic to Grow (external gateway)	£360	Gateway fee falls from 2% to 1%	£36,000
Shopify Basic to Grow (Shopify Payments)	£360	Card rate falls by 0.3%	£120,000

Compare overall value, not subscription prices alone

For most small UK shops, Shopify Basic gives the best balance of price, tools and room to grow. Wix Core is the cheapest way to launch a simple shop. WooCommerce is the cheapest to run at scale if you can look after it yourself. BigCommerce becomes good value once your catalogue or B2B needs outgrow simpler platforms.

Are There Any Free Ecommerce Platforms?

Yes, but “free” means three different things. Do not mix them up.

Label	What it means	Example
Free plan	A hosted service with no monthly fee, usually with limits or a fee on sales	Payhip Free Forever (5% fee)
Free trial	A paid product you can try for a short time without paying	BigCommerce’s 15-day trial
Free open-source software	Free software you install yourself, with hosting and other costs on you	WooCommerce

Platforms with free plans

• Wix: the free plan shows Wix ads, uses a Wix web address and cannot take payments, so it cannot run a shop.
• Payhip: the Free Forever plan has no monthly fee but takes 5% of every sale, plus card fees.
• Fourthwall: there is no monthly fee, and it earns from sales of merchandise. Check its current terms.

Platforms offering free trials

Platform	Trial or guarantee
Shopify	3-day free trial, then £1 a month for 3 months (offer when checked)
BigCommerce	15-day free trial
Wix	14-day money-back guarantee on paid plans (a refund window, not a free trial)
Squarespace	14-day free trial (confirm at sign-up)
Sellfy	14-day free trial

Free open-source ecommerce software

WooCommerce is free to download and has no revenue share. Adobe Commerce also has an open-source edition. In both cases the software costs nothing, but a working store still needs hosting, a domain, security and often a developer.

Hidden costs of free ecommerce platforms

Free plans usually pay for themselves through fees. Take a £20 download sold on Payhip’s free plan with a standard UK card through Stripe. Payhip takes 5% (£1.00) and Stripe takes 1.5% + 20p (£0.50). You keep £18.50, so fees take 7.5% of the sale.

With WooCommerce the hidden costs are hosting, extensions, backups and your time. With Wix’s free plan the hidden cost is that you cannot sell at all until you upgrade.

Is a free ecommerce platform worth using?

• Yes, to test a product idea, sell a few digital items, or if you already run WordPress and can look after a store.
• No, if you expect steady sales. Fees on a free plan usually overtake the cost of a paid plan quickly.

Hosted vs Self-Hosted Ecommerce Platforms: Which Is Better?

Neither is better for everyone. Hosted platforms trade control for convenience. Self-hosted platforms trade convenience for control.

What is hosted ecommerce?

In a hosted setup, the platform company runs the servers and the software. You log in, add products and sell. Shopify, BigCommerce, Wix and Squarespace work this way.

What is self-hosted ecommerce?

In a self-hosted setup, you buy hosting from a company of your choice and install the software on it. WooCommerce on WordPress is the main example. You decide everything, and you are responsible for everything.

Main differences between hosted and self-hosted platforms

	Hosted (Shopify, BigCommerce, Wix, Squarespace)	Self-hosted (WooCommerce)
Setup	Hours to days	Days to weeks
Monthly cost	Fixed plan, plus fees and apps	Hosting, extensions and maintenance
Platform fees	Possible, depending on payment provider and plan	None from WooCommerce
Customisation	Within the platform’s limits	Almost unlimited
Support	From the platform	Community, your host or an agency
Data ownership	Exportable, but the platform holds it	You hold all of it
Best for	Most small and growing businesses	WordPress users and developer-led businesses

Hosting, security and maintenance responsibilities

• Hosting and uptime: the platform on hosted; you and your host on self-hosted.
• Security: hosted platforms secure the checkout for you. On self-hosted you manage SSL, updates, firewalls and plugin safety.
• Updates and backups: automatic on hosted. On self-hosted, someone must do them every month.
• Speed: managed by the platform on hosted. Down to your hosting and plugins on self-hosted.

Customisation and ownership

Self-hosting gives you the code, the database and every design choice. Hosted platforms let you customise themes and add apps, but you work inside their rules, and your shop depends on the platform’s pricing and policies staying friendly.

Which option should you choose?

Choose hosted if you want to start selling quickly and spend your time on products and marketing. Choose self-hosted if you already run WordPress, have developer help and value control above convenience.

Ecommerce Platform Fees and Payment Processing Explained

What are ecommerce transaction fees?

A transaction fee is a platform’s own cut of each sale. Here is where they apply:

Platform	Plan	Platform or transaction fee	Card rate with its own payments
Shopify	Basic / Grow / Advanced / Plus	2% / 1% / 0.6% / 0.2% if you use another gateway. 0% with Shopify Payments	2% + 25p / 1.7% + 25p / 1.5% + 25p / 1.3% + 25p
Squarespace	Basic / Core / Plus / Advanced	Store fee 2% / 0% / 0% / 0%. Digital content 7% / 5% / 1% / 0%	2% + 25p / 2% + 25p / 1.7% + 25p / 1.5% + 25p
BigCommerce	Core / Growth / Scale / Performance	0% on embedded providers. 2% / 1% / 0.6% / 0% (contracted) on other providers	From 2.89% + $0.29 for US-based businesses
Wix	Core and above	No platform fee reported in UK pricing guides	Wix Payments reported at 2.1% + 20p
WooCommerce	Not applicable	0%. No platform fee or revenue share	Depends on the provider you choose

What are payment processing fees?

These are charged by your payment provider. Stripe’s UK pricing page lists 1.5% + 20p for standard UK cards, 2.8% + 20p for premium UK cards, 2.5% + 20p for EEA cards and 3.15% + 20p for international cards. A dispute costs £20 on top. PayPal’s standard UK commercial rate is widely reported as 2.9% + 30p.

Does using a third-party payment gateway cost more?

On Shopify and BigCommerce, yes, you can pay a platform fee on top. The chart shows the total fees on a £50 UK card sale on each setup.

The cheapest setup here is WooCommerce with Stripe at £0.95. The most expensive is Squarespace Basic at £2.25, because it stacks a 2% store fee on top of card fees.

How currency conversion and international fees work

Selling abroad costs more. Stripe charges 3.15% + 20p on international cards and adds 2% when a payment needs currency conversion. Multi-currency payouts can add a further charge, for example 1% on Stripe. PayPal also adds cross-border and conversion charges, so check its UK fees page. Pricing in your customer’s currency and keeping the money in that currency can avoid some conversion costs.

How to reduce ecommerce platform fees

• Use the platform’s own payment tool where it is available, to avoid third-party fees.
• Move up a plan only when your sales pass the break-even point in the value section.
• Pay yearly instead of monthly.
• Ask your payment provider for custom rates once your volume is high.
• Reduce disputes and chargebacks with clear product descriptions and delivery tracking, because each dispute costs £20 on Stripe.
• Cancel apps you do not use.

Best Ecommerce Platforms for UK Businesses

For most UK sellers, Shopify, WooCommerce, Wix and Squarespace all work well. The points below are what to check before you choose.

UK pricing and VAT considerations

• VAT registration: GOV.UK says you must register for VAT if your taxable turnover goes over £90,000, or you expect it to. Deregistration is possible if turnover falls below £88,000.
• Customer prices: when you sell to consumers, the price shown must include taxes. Make sure your platform can show VAT-inclusive prices and put VAT on invoices.
• Platform prices: some platforms show prices with VAT and some without. Check the final price at checkout. VAT-registered businesses can often reclaim VAT on software, so ask your accountant.

Payment gateways available to UK sellers

UK shops commonly use Stripe, PayPal, Shopify Payments, Squarespace Payments or Wix Payments, plus Apple Pay and Google Pay. Buy-now-pay-later options such as Klarna and Clearpay are popular with UK shoppers where your platform supports them. Availability depends on your plan and business type, so check before you build your checkout.

Shipping and delivery integrations

Look for direct links to Royal Mail, Evri, DPD, DHL, UPS and Parcelforce, or tools such as Royal Mail Click and Drop. Check whether each connection is built in or needs a paid app. Also check that you can set flat-rate and weight-based rates, free-delivery thresholds and tracked services.

UK consumer rights, returns and cancellations

GOV.UK’s online selling guidance sets out the main rules for sellers:

• Tell customers your business details, the full price including taxes, delivery costs and timings, and their cancellation rights before they order.
• Customers can cancel without giving a reason within 14 days of delivery.
• If you never told them about this right, they can cancel for up to 12 months.
• Send a copy of the contract by delivery, and deliver within 30 days unless you agreed otherwise.
• Different cancellation rules apply to downloads and streaming.

Separate rules under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 also protect customers who receive faulty goods, so build a simple returns process into your shop from day one.

UK GDPR and customer data responsibilities

• Publish a clear privacy policy that explains what data you collect and why.
• Ask for consent before setting non-essential cookies.
• Check the platform’s data-processing terms, because your platform handles customer data on your behalf.
• Make sure you can export and delete customer data if someone asks.
• Most organisations that handle personal data must pay the data protection fee to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), unless an exemption applies.

What UK businesses should check before choosing a platform

• Prices shown in pounds, with VAT handled correctly.
• UK payment methods and card rates.
• Direct links to your delivery carriers.
• A simple returns and refunds workflow.
• Cookie consent and privacy tools.
• Data export, so you can leave later.
• Support hours that suit UK time.
• Accessible themes and checkout for all customers.

International Selling and Multi-Channel Ecommerce

Selling to customers in different countries

Start with one or two countries, not the whole world. Check demand first, then price in local currency, confirm delivery times and returns costs, and make sure your product is legal to sell there.

Multi-currency and local payment options

Shopify and BigCommerce both support selling in multiple currencies, and on Wix you need the Business plan or above for multi-currency. Local payment methods, such as iDEAL in the Netherlands or Bancontact in Belgium, can lift sales in those countries. Your payment provider decides which ones you can offer, and conversion costs are covered in the fees section.

International shipping and fulfilment

Decide who pays duties and taxes: you, or the customer when the parcel arrives. Surprise charges at the door lead to refused parcels and bad reviews. Use tracked services, state delivery times clearly, and consider a fulfilment partner abroad if volumes grow.

Tax and customs considerations

VAT and import duty rules differ by destination, and they changed for UK sellers after Brexit. Check the rules of each country you sell to and GOV.UK’s guidance on exporting goods. Some platforms include tax tools, but you remain responsible for getting tax right. Ask an adviser before you expand.

Selling through Amazon, eBay, Etsy and TikTok Shop

Marketplaces give you instant reach but you share your margin and your customers. Use them alongside your own store, not instead of it.

Channel	Good for	Watch out for
Amazon	Huge reach for standard products	Category fees, strict rules and account suspensions
eBay	Used, collectable and niche items	Fee changes and price competition
Etsy	Handmade, vintage and craft items	Listing and sales fees, and many similar sellers
TikTok Shop	Products that sell through short videos	Availability by country and fast-changing rules

If you plan to sell to US shoppers, Walmart’s marketplace is another channel to consider, and our Walmart stats guide shows how large the retailer is.

Social commerce through Instagram and other channels

Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and Pinterest all let shoppers discover and buy products inside the app. Check which social channels each platform supports in your country before you choose. Our social media statistics and data on Pinterest monthly active users show how big these audiences are.

Ecommerce Platform SEO: Which Features Should You Look For?

Custom URLs and meta titles

You need to edit each page’s title tag, meta description and URL. All five platforms allow it. The difference is how much of the URL you control. WooCommerce and BigCommerce are the most flexible. Shopify, Wix and Squarespace add fixed parts such as /products/.

XML sitemaps and robots.txt

A sitemap helps Google find your pages, and all five platforms create one for you. A robots.txt file tells search engines what to skip. You can edit it on Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce and Wix, but not directly on Squarespace.

Canonical tags and duplicate content

Shops often create duplicate pages, for example the same product reached through different collections or filters. Canonical tags tell Google which version to rank. Hosted platforms add them automatically. On WooCommerce, an SEO plugin helps manage them.

Product schema and structured data

Product schema helps search engines show prices, stock and ratings in results. Most modern themes add it, but quality varies. Test your product pages with Google’s Rich Results Test.

Website speed and mobile performance

Most shoppers use phones, so speed matters. Test your shop with Google PageSpeed Insights. Too many apps or heavy images slow hosted stores down, and on WooCommerce your hosting and plugins decide the result.

Image optimisation

Use compressed WebP or JPEG images, descriptive file names and clear alt text. Resize photos to the size they appear on screen, not the size your camera produced.

Blogging and content marketing

Guides and comparisons bring in shoppers before they are ready to buy. WooCommerce sits inside WordPress, which is the strongest blogging tool of the five. The others all have a built-in blog. Tools such as those in our Semrush alternatives guide can help with keyword research, and our guide to AI search visibility tools covers how to track your brand in AI answers.

SEO limitations to check before choosing

SEO feature	Shopify	WooCommerce	Wix	Squarespace	BigCommerce
Edit titles and meta descriptions	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Automatic XML sitemap	Yes	Yes, with WordPress or a plugin	Yes	Yes	Yes
Edit robots.txt	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
URL structure	Fixed parts	Fully flexible	Fixed parts	Fixed parts	Flexible

How to Choose the Right Ecommerce Platform for Your Business

Set your budget

Decide your total monthly budget, not just the plan price. Include card fees, apps and, for WooCommerce, hosting and maintenance. Use the formula in the cost section.

Understand your products and inventory needs

Count your products and variants. Clothing needs strong variant tools. Digital products need file delivery. Large catalogues need high limits, so check the numbers in the business type section.

Check payment and shipping requirements

Make sure the platform supports your payment provider and carriers in the UK, and that you will not pay a platform fee for the provider you want.

Compare design and customisation options

Open the demo themes. Pick the platform where a ready-made design is close to what you want, because heavy customisation costs time and money.

Check marketing and SEO features

Confirm email, discount codes, abandoned basket emails and social integrations. Check the SEO controls in the SEO section.

Consider future business growth

Think two years ahead. Will you need more staff accounts, multiple warehouses, other countries or B2B pricing? Make sure you can move up without rebuilding.

Review customer support and security

Check support channels and hours, whether checkout is PCI compliant, and who looks after security and backups.

Check data export and migration options

Make sure you can export products, customers and orders. You should never feel locked in. The switching section explains how.

Use this decision guide as a final check. Start at the top and follow the answers:

Can You Switch Ecommerce Platforms Later?

Yes. Many shops move platforms. It takes planning, and the main risk is losing Google traffic if old URLs stop working.

When should you consider switching?

• Fees or app costs have grown larger than the value you get.
• You have hit a limit, such as variants, sales caps or staff accounts.
• You need features your platform cannot provide, such as B2B pricing.
• Your site is slow and you cannot fix it.

What data can you transfer?

Data	Usually transfers?	Notes
Products and variants	Yes	Check that variants, SKUs and images come across
Customer names and addresses	Yes	Check consent for marketing emails
Customer passwords	No	Customers have to reset their passwords
Order history	Usually	Depends on the migration tool
Discount codes	Sometimes	Often easier to recreate
Reviews	Depends	Depends on the reviews app
Blog posts and pages	Often	Check formatting and links
Theme and design	No	You rebuild the design
Apps and subscriptions	Rarely	Check with the app and payment provider

How to export products, customers and orders

Most platforms let you export products, customers and orders as CSV files from the admin area. Check which fields are included, because variants, images and metadata are the most common gaps. For bigger shops, a migration tool such as Cart2Cart or the new platform’s own import app can move data for you. Always test with a handful of products first.

How to protect existing SEO rankings

• List every old URL and map it to its new equivalent.
• Set up 301 redirects for every URL that changes.
• Keep URLs, titles and meta descriptions the same where you can.
• Submit the new sitemap in Google Search Console.
• Keep the old store accessible until the new one is checked.
• Watch for 404 errors and traffic dips for at least eight weeks.

Important things to check before migration

• Take a full backup of your products, customers and orders.
• Test the import on a free trial first.
• Check whether saved payment details and subscriptions can move with your payment provider.
• Tell customers about password resets in advance.
• Avoid moving during your busiest trading weeks.

Common Ecommerce Platform Mistakes to Avoid

Mistake	Why it hurts	What to do instead
Choosing on monthly price alone	Fees and apps can double the real cost	Work out the full yearly cost
Ignoring payment processing fees	They are often the biggest running cost	Compare card rates for your sales volume
Not checking product and variant limits	You may hit a limit when you grow	Check limits against your largest product
Paying for unnecessary apps	Monthly app fees add up quietly	Review apps every quarter
Ignoring mobile performance	Most shoppers use phones, and slow pages lose sales	Test with PageSpeed Insights before launch
Overlooking international requirements	Tax and customs surprises hurt customers	Check VAT, duty and delivery rules per country
Not checking data export	You can get locked in	Test a CSV export during your free trial
Choosing a platform that cannot grow	A forced move later costs time and traffic	Check plan caps and upgrade paths now

Frequently Asked Questions About Ecommerce Platforms

Which Ecommerce Platform Is Best Overall?

Shopify is the best overall choice for most UK sellers, because it balances ease of use, features and room to grow. WooCommerce is best if you want full control, and BigCommerce is best for B2B and large catalogues.

What Is the Best Ecommerce Platform for Beginners?

Wix is the easiest for beginners with a small catalogue and a focus on design. Shopify is a better choice if you expect to grow, because it has stronger stock, payment and shipping tools.

What Is the Best Ecommerce Platform for Small Businesses?

Shopify Basic at £19 a month billed yearly suits most small shops. Squarespace Core (£17 a month before VAT) suits design-led brands, and Wix Core (£16 a month) suits very simple shops.

What Is the Cheapest Ecommerce Platform?

By subscription price, Squarespace Basic (£12 a month before VAT), Wix Core (£16) and the free WooCommerce software are the cheapest. But Squarespace Basic adds a 2% store fee, and WooCommerce needs paid hosting, so compare total yearly cost, not the plan price.

Is There a Completely Free Ecommerce Platform?

Not really. Wix has a free plan that cannot sell. Payhip has a free plan with a 5% fee on sales. WooCommerce software is free, but you pay for hosting, a domain and extras.

Is Shopify Better Than WooCommerce?

Shopify is easier and fully managed, so it is better for most beginners. WooCommerce gives more control and charges no platform fee, so it suits WordPress users and developers. On a small example shop, WooCommerce can cost less per year, but only if you do the maintenance yourself.

Can I Build an Online Store Without Coding?

Yes. Shopify, Wix, Squarespace and BigCommerce all let you build a shop with no code. WooCommerce also needs no code for basic shops, but you must set up WordPress and hosting.

Which Ecommerce Platform Is Best for Clothing?

Shopify suits most clothing shops, with up to 2,048 variants per product and three options. WooCommerce suits brands wanting custom pages, and BigCommerce suits large catalogues with many attributes.

Which Ecommerce Platform Is Best for Digital Products?

Payhip and Sellfy are built for digital downloads, courses and memberships. Squarespace also handles digital products well. Shopify and WooCommerce can sell them with an app or plugin.

Which Ecommerce Platform Is Best for Dropshipping?

Shopify is the best choice, because it has the widest range of supplier and import apps. WooCommerce and Wix also work, and you must still follow UK consumer law as the seller.

Which Ecommerce Platform Is Best for SEO?

No platform guarantees rankings. WooCommerce with WordPress gives the most control. Shopify has strong built-in tools for most shops. Squarespace has the most basic technical controls of the five.

Can I Sell Internationally With an Ecommerce Platform?

Yes. Shopify, BigCommerce and Wix (Business plan and above) support multiple currencies. International selling brings extra card fees, delivery costs and tax rules, so check these before you start.

Do Ecommerce Platforms Charge Transaction Fees?

Some do. Shopify charges 2%, 1% or 0.6% if you use a payment provider other than Shopify Payments. Squarespace charges 2% on Basic, and BigCommerce charges an open payment provider fee on providers outside its list. WooCommerce charges none. Card fees apply on every platform.

Can I Change My Ecommerce Platform Later?

Yes. You can export products, customers and orders, but you need to set up 301 redirects so you do not lose Google traffic. Passwords and designs do not transfer.

Do I Need a Separate Website Hosting Service?

Not with Shopify, Wix, Squarespace or BigCommerce, because hosting is included. You do need separate hosting for WooCommerce.

Final Verdict: Which Ecommerce Platform Should You Choose?

There is no single winner for every business, but there is a clear best fit for each type of seller:

• Shopify is the best choice for merchants who want a managed ecommerce solution that works from day one.
• WooCommerce is best for people who want greater control and customisation and are happy to look after hosting.
• Wix is best for design-focused beginners with a small catalogue.
• Squarespace is best for visually driven smaller stores and creators.
• BigCommerce is best for growing and B2B businesses with large catalogues.

Before you decide, compare total operating costs, not plan prices. Work out your fees on your own expected sales, list the apps you need, and try two platforms with the same three products during a free trial or refund window. The one that feels easiest to run on day three is usually the right one.

Research Methodology, Sources and Update History

Selection criteria

We judged every platform on the ten criteria listed in How We Selected the Best Ecommerce Platforms. We did not build test stores, so ease-of-use ratings are editorial judgements, and cost examples are our own calculations from published prices.

Official pricing and documentation sources

• Shopify UK pricing (checked 9 November 2026)
• Shopify changelog: 2,048 variants (15 October 2025)
• BigCommerce pricing (checked 9 November 2026)
• WooCommerce pricing (checked 9 November 2026)
• Wix plans (checked 9 November 2026)
• Squarespace UK pricing (confirm at sign-up)
• Stripe UK pricing (checked 9 November 2026)
• Payhip pricing
• GOV.UK: VAT thresholds (checked 9 November 2026)
• GOV.UK: online and distance selling (checked 9 November 2026)
• ONS: retail sales bulletin
• ICO: guidance for organisations

Third-party sources used to cross-check

• ExpertSure: Squarespace pricing UK and Wix pricing UK (GBP prices and reported fee rates)
• Startups.co.uk: Wix pricing (GBP plan prices)
• Firmbase: ecommerce platforms used by UK companies (platform detection data)

Affiliate disclosure

Links to platform websites in this article are standard links. If The UK Post adds affiliate links later, we will label them clearly next to the link and update this section. We follow the ASA guidance on affiliate marketing, and commission never decides which platform we recommend.

Last price and fee verification date

9 November 2026. Prices and fees change often. Check the platform’s own page before you buy.

Update history

Date	Update
9 November 2026	Article first published. Prices and fees checked against official pages for Shopify, BigCommerce, WooCommerce, Wix and Stripe UK, and against GOV.UK. Squarespace and Wix pounds prices cross-checked with UK pricing guides.
1 June 2026	Platform change we track: BigCommerce renamed its plans to Core, Growth, Scale and Performance and updated its pricing.
15 October 2025	Platform change we track: Shopify raised its variant limit from 100 to 2,048 per product.