4 Best eCommerce Platforms Comparison 2020
Let's start off with a quick comparison table that will summarize the main take aways:
| Shopify | FlinchNot | BigCommerce | WooCommerce | |
| Monthly Fee | 29$-299$/Month | 26$/Month | 29$-299$/Month | Free |
| Managed Infrastructure | ||||
| Free Domain Name | ||||
| App Store | ||||
| Staff Accounts | Depends on plan (2-10) | |||
| Drag & Drop Page Builder | ||||
| Transaction Fees | 2.7% + 30¢ | 3.1% + 30¢ | 2.9% + 30¢ | Depends on gateway |
Now, that you’ve seen an overview. Let me break it down further:
Shopify
Shopify is currently the leading platform for e-commerce, and probably the one I was most curious about. The main bonus Shopify provides is it’s in store apps. The overall takeaway of this platform is that while it offers competitive pricing and user friendliness, it also has limited customization capacities. I was happy with what I was able to create, but was negatively surprised by its limitations.
Price
Shopify offers several plans, the basic one being at 29$/month.
Pros
- The store runs into their infrastructure. (no server administration needed)
Cons
- If you want more advanced features you are looking at 79$ a month or 299$ a month.
- You will have to hire someone if you do not know coding and want a more customized store.
- You have to pay for your domain name.
Features
Shopify was built for eCommerce and offers all the basic features a small store would need. Most of the time however, you will need to install paid third party apps to get access to more functionality. Depending on the app, some might slow down your store loading speed which can have a negative impact on conversion rates.
Pros
- You can integrate apps
Cons
- Integrating apps can sometimes slow down the loading speed of your store. It is important for you to consider that loading time is significant
- You only have 2 staff accounts
Customization
Basic customization is available. If you want more complex customization you will need to code.
Pros
- You can change the typography on the templates used
- You can change the colors on the templates as well
- Depending on the theme you choose, there are more or less elements you can customize.
Cons
- If you need anything more advanced than basic customizations, you would have to hire a developper or if you are tech savvy, do the coding yourself.
User friendliness
Shopify was built for ecommerce, which makes it relatively easy to use.
Pros
- You do not need to install any updates or code when you get started.
- Provides 24/7 Support.
Cons
- You may find yourself limited and in many cases need to do coding to achieve the desired result.
FlinchNot
While Flinchnot is newer on the market, which also allows it to be using the latest technologies making it the fastest loading ecommerce website. The value of this online store lies in it’s highly customizable templates and easy to use features. The main drawback is the higher transaction fees. As the platform grows, these fees are expected to drop. Considering everything they offer, the fact that you don’t need someone to help you with coding, and the competitive monthly fee, it seemed to be the obvious choice for me.
Price
Flinchnot provides an all inclusive standard price of 26$ a month.
Pros
- The plan offers you a FREE .com domain name.
- The store runs into their infrastructure. (no server administration needed)
Cons
- Slightly higher transaction fees.
Features
Pros
- Unlimited staff accounts
- Drag and Drop page builder where you can simply drag pictures, texts, form and various modules into your pages
- You can have as many variants per product as you want and can link multiple images per variant.
Cons
- Currently doesn't have an app store.
Customization
The most customizable platform. While it does allow for coding, its versatile theme editor allows you to fully customize your store.
Pros
- You can change the typography on the templates used
- You can change the colors on the templates as well
- You can customize the layout
- You can customize each aspect of your template from menu bar to the cart page
User friendliness
Flinchnot superpasses Shopify when it comes to user friendliness.
Pros
- You do not need to install any updates or code when you get started.
- Easy to use menu bars (divided into categories, particularly when looking for analytics)
- Provides online support.
Cons
- As the platform is new, help resources from the community are still rare.
BigCommerce
If you use Alibaba, BigCommerce needs to be on your radar because they have a partnership that allows you to integrate both very easily. In addition, if you use a third-party payment processor, although regular payment processing fees apply, BigCommerce doesn't add a transaction fee on top of that. However, unlike Shopify and Flinchnot is not very intuitive and is more difficult to use, which is why I quickly abandoned trying to use it.
Price
For the basic feature BigCommerce is 29$ a month.
Pros
- The store runs into their infrastructure. (no server administration needed)
Cons
- If you want more advanced features you are looking at 79$ a month or 299$ a month.
- You will have to hire someone if you do not know coding and want a more customized store.
- You have to pay for your domain name.
Features
Pros
- You can have unlimited staff accounts.
- You can only link one image per product variant.
Customization
Basic customization is available. If you want more complex customization you will need to code.
Pros
- Lack of customization options.
Cons
- To be able to customize you need to code.
User friendliness
BigCommerce is not built for the average person using their online store. It is built for people with knowledge in coding. It’s lack of user friendliness is it’s greatest drawback.
Pros
- Provides online support.
Cons
- If you want to customize your site, you will need to code.
WooCommerce
If you are on WordPress and deciding which platform to use for e-commerce the odds are WooCommerce is top of mind - at least it was for me. WooCommerce plugin option makes it the easy choice for WordPress users. However, to my surprise WooCommerce was the most difficult for me to navigate and often turned out to be the most expensive.
Price
WooCommerce is an open source project meaning that you can download it for free. However, you still need to host it on a server which costs money and requires constant maintenance (updates, backups...).
Pros
Let's start off with a quick comparison table that will summarize the main take aways:
| Shopify | FlinchNot | BigCommerce | WooCommerce | |
| Monthly Fee | 29$-299$/Month | 26$/Month | 29$-299$/Month | Free |
| Managed Infrastructure | ||||
| Free Domain Name | ||||
| App Store | ||||
| Staff Accounts | Depends on plan (2-10) | |||
| Drag & Drop Page Builder | ||||
| Transaction Fees | 2.7% + 30¢ | 3.1% + 30¢ | 2.9% + 30¢ | Depends on gateway |
Now, that you’ve seen an overview. Let me break it down further:
Shopify
Shopify is currently the leading platform for e-commerce, and probably the one I was most curious about. The main bonus Shopify provides is it’s in store apps. The overall takeaway of this platform is that while it offers competitive pricing and user friendliness, it also has limited customization capacities. I was happy with what I was able to create, but was negatively surprised by its limitations.
Price
Shopify offers several plans, the basic one being at 29$/month.
Pros
- The store runs into their infrastructure. (no server administration needed)
Cons
- If you want more advanced features you are looking at 79$ a month or 299$ a month.
- You will have to hire someone if you do not know coding and want a more customized store.
- You have to pay for your domain name.
Features
Shopify was built for eCommerce and offers all the basic features a small store would need. Most of the time however, you will need to install paid third party apps to get access to more functionality. Depending on the app, some might slow down your store loading speed which can have a negative impact on conversion rates.
Pros
- You can integrate apps
Cons
- Integrating apps can sometimes slow down the loading speed of your store. It is important for you to consider that loading time is significant
- You only have 2 staff accounts
Customization
Basic customization is available. If you want more complex customization you will need to code.
Pros
- You can change the typography on the templates used
- You can change the colors on the templates as well
- Depending on the theme you choose, there are more or less elements you can customize.
Cons
- If you need anything more advanced than basic customizations, you would have to hire a developper or if you are tech savvy, do the coding yourself.
User friendliness
Shopify was built for ecommerce, which makes it relatively easy to use.
Pros
- You do not need to install any updates or code when you get started.
- Provides 24/7 Support.
Cons
- You may find yourself limited and in many cases need to do coding to achieve the desired result.
FlinchNot
While Flinchnot is newer on the market, which also allows it to be using the latest technologies making it the fastest loading ecommerce website. The value of this online store lies in it’s highly customizable templates and easy to use features. The main drawback is the higher transaction fees. As the platform grows, these fees are expected to drop. Considering everything they offer, the fact that you don’t need someone to help you with coding, and the competitive monthly fee, it seemed to be the obvious choice for me.
Price
Flinchnot provides an all inclusive standard price of 26$ a month.
Pros
- The plan offers you a FREE .com domain name.
- The store runs into their infrastructure. (no server administration needed)
Cons
- Slightly higher transaction fees.
Features
Pros
- Unlimited staff accounts
- Drag and Drop page builder where you can simply drag pictures, texts, form and various modules into your pages
- You can have as many variants per product as you want and can link multiple images per variant.
Cons
- Currently doesn't have an app store.
Customization
The most customizable platform. While it does allow for coding, its versatile theme editor allows you to fully customize your store.
Pros
- You can change the typography on the templates used
- You can change the colors on the templates as well
- You can customize the layout
- You can customize each aspect of your template from menu bar to the cart page
User friendliness
Flinchnot superpasses Shopify when it comes to user friendliness.
Pros
- You do not need to install any updates or code when you get started.
- Easy to use menu bars (divided into categories, particularly when looking for analytics)
- Provides online support.
Cons
- As the platform is new, help resources from the community are still rare.
BigCommerce
If you use Alibaba, BigCommerce needs to be on your radar because they have a partnership that allows you to integrate both very easily. In addition, if you use a third-party payment processor, although regular payment processing fees apply, BigCommerce doesn't add a transaction fee on top of that. However, unlike Shopify and Flinchnot is not very intuitive and is more difficult to use, which is why I quickly abandoned trying to use it.
Price
For the basic feature BigCommerce is 29$ a month.
Pros
- The store runs into their infrastructure. (no server administration needed)
Cons
- If you want more advanced features you are looking at 79$ a month or 299$ a month.
- You will have to hire someone if you do not know coding and want a more customized store.
- You have to pay for your domain name.
Features
Pros
- You can have unlimited staff accounts.
- You can only link one image per product variant.
Customization
Basic customization is available. If you want more complex customization you will need to code.
Pros
- Lack of customization options.
Cons
- To be able to customize you need to code.
User friendliness
BigCommerce is not built for the average person using their online store. It is built for people with knowledge in coding. It’s lack of user friendliness is it’s greatest drawback.
Pros
- Provides online support.
Cons
- If you want to customize your site, you will need to code.
WooCommerce
If you are on WordPress and deciding which platform to use for e-commerce the odds are WooCommerce is top of mind - at least it was for me. WooCommerce plugin option makes it the easy choice for WordPress users. However, to my surprise WooCommerce was the most difficult for me to navigate and often turned out to be the most expensive.
Price
WooCommerce is an open source project meaning that you can download it for free. However, you still need to host it on a server which costs money and requires constant maintenance (updates, backups...).
Pros