The best WooCom­merce al­ter­na­tives

Anyone that wants to sell products online through their WordPress site will come across WooCom­merce sooner or later. The e-commerce software is one of the most popular and most-used in the world. However, other providers may bring greater ad­van­tages depending on the type of business. In this com­par­i­son article, we will look at the best al­ter­na­tives to WooCom­merce.

All in­for­ma­tion is correct as of November 2021.

The IONOS eCommerce Website Builder takes a com­pre­hen­sive approach. This WooCom­merce al­ter­na­tive supports you from the setting up of your online store, through to the man­age­ment of the store and selling of your products. This means that the first steps can be done in­tu­itive­ly, and you don’t need extensive design skills or knowledge. Stores created with IONOS eCommerce Website Builder are re­spon­sive and work smoothly on all end devices. It also offers different payment methods and a shipping wizard, it can be connected to your social media channels, and has in­te­grat­ed business reports. IONOS offers four pricing plans that can be tailored to the needs of the store owner.

Suitable for: Thanks to the different pricing plans, the IONOS eCommerce Website Builder is suitable for all business models.

In recent years, Shopify has become a popular al­ter­na­tive to WooCom­merce. The platform has many ad­van­tages, in par­tic­u­lar the ease of use is a big plus for many users. Shopify takes care of many technical tasks in the backend and security-related aspects are also included in their offers. For example, an automatic fraud analysis helps to protect your business. If you ex­pe­ri­ence any problems, Shopify offers excellent round-the-clock customer support. This WooCom­merce al­ter­na­tive offers three different pricing plans.

Suitable for: Shopify is suitable for all business models.

Big­Com­merce also wins over users because it is so easy to use, meaning that even beginners with no prior knowledge of pro­gram­ming can set up an at­trac­tive and func­tion­al online store quickly and easily. Thanks to its Content Delivery Network, this WooCom­merce al­ter­na­tive is extremely fast and performs really well. Users can reach the support team at any time. Even though Big­Com­merce’s focus is on smaller busi­ness­es, medium-sized and large busi­ness­es can also benefit from the many ad­van­tages of this platform. It has a total of four pricing plans available to choose from.

Suitable for: While mainly small busi­ness­es benefit from Big­Com­merce, it is also a reliable platform for larger busi­ness­es.

Volusion adjusts its pricing according to the size and sales volume of a store. This is of course a real plus for smaller busi­ness­es. The platform is cloud-based and therefore does not need to be installed. This makes the first steps very easy. However, in com­par­i­son to other providers the options are more limited. For example, there are fewer language options to choose from. This also applies to the customer service, although the customer service team is always available to help users.

Suitable for: Volusion is mainly suitable for smaller stores.

The basic version of this WooCom­merce al­ter­na­tive PrestaShop is free, which is why it is popular amongst business owners with a clear range of products and a small customer base. You have to pay for ad­di­tion­al functions which are sometimes expensive but can also only be purchased as and when you need them. PrestaShop is quick and easy to install, so even beginners can get their online store up and running quickly. The sales platform offers a wide range of paid ex­ten­sions.

Suitable for: PrestaShop offers every­thing that small online stores need.

Pin­na­cle­Cart is a WooCom­merce al­ter­na­tive with a large fan base. This platform also takes the approach of de­liv­er­ing a complete package to the customer. Pin­na­cle­Cart provides all the tools you need to set up your store, from day-to-day operation and to eval­u­a­tion and op­ti­miza­tion. The platform is user-friendly, re­spon­sive, and equipped with all the necessary safety features. Until now, this platform has mainly been used by the American market. This platform also does not have a CDN.

Suitable: In the USA, larger busi­ness­es also use Pin­na­cle­Cart.

As opposed to many other online store platforms, Big Cartel was designed with a small target group in mind. Many artists and bands have been using this American platform for a long time to sell their art or mer­chan­dise quickly and easily. It works par­tic­u­lar­ly well because this WooCom­merce al­ter­na­tive has a free version, and the risk of missing sales is rel­a­tive­ly low. However, this version can only be used for up to five articles. In addition, Big Cartel does not have a lot to offer in terms of design or per­for­mance.

Suitable for: Big Cartel is aimed solely at artists and bands and is def­i­nite­ly an option worth con­sid­er­ing for them.

With its drag-and-drop interface, Simvoly allows you to design and build your own store quickly, even if you do not have any prior knowledge of pro­gram­ming and web design. This WooCom­merce al­ter­na­tive is in­cred­i­bly easy to use which is why it may be par­tic­u­lar­ly popular amongst new busi­ness­es. A few more options and functions would improve this eCommerce tool and the customer service could also be improved.

Suitable for: Simvoly is suitable for small and medium-sized busi­ness­es.

Sellfy is another cloud-based al­ter­na­tive to WooCom­merce, and it wins over users with its easy operation. Sellfy offers small business, artists, and musicians that have a small range of products, and that want to present them online quickly and without lots of prepara­to­ry work, a good and partly free platform. The equipment is somewhat lacking when you compare the platform to its com­peti­tors, and for now the store builder is only available in English.

Suitable for: Sellfy is an in­ter­est­ing option for small busi­ness­es and artists.

Amazon bought Selz, an Aus­tralian company, at the start of the year. The WooCom­merce al­ter­na­tive wins over users with its intuitive drag-and-drop builder and it can be seam­less­ly in­te­grat­ed into existing websites. Selz also offers a range of different pricing plans. However, there is room for im­prove­ment when it comes to modifying your own store and the fee model for trans­ac­tions.

Suitable for: Selz is primarily used for small stores and existing websites.

As Square Online Store also offers a com­plete­ly free plan, it is ideal for smaller busi­ness­es. There are fewer functions and users get less support, but the platform still wins over users because it is easy to set up and use.

Suitable for: Square Online Store is par­tic­u­lar­ly suitable for small busi­ness­es that have a small range of products.

Square­space was mainly designed with beginners and small stores in mind. The WooCom­merce al­ter­na­tive offers four pricing plans and even the cheapest plan has a range of useful features. Square­space works with a drag-and-drop builder and offers useful an­a­lyt­i­cal tools, which you can us to optimize your store’s ac­tiv­i­ties. However, with this al­ter­na­tive to WooCom­merce trans­ac­tion fees are rel­a­tive­ly high.

Suitable for: Square­space is par­tic­u­lar­ly suitable for small busi­ness­es.

Magento is a very popular al­ter­na­tive to WooCom­merce and rightly has a good rep­u­ta­tion. However, a dis­tinc­tion must be made between the free version and the rel­a­tive­ly expensive paid version. The latter of course has sig­nif­i­cant­ly more features. Once it has been set up, the store is very user-friendly, but the setting-up process can be quite labor-intensive. The software has a good, re­spon­sive design.

Suitable for: With its different versions, Magento is suitable for all stores. The En­ter­prise version is, however, rel­a­tive­ly expensive.

Shift4Shop is a cloud-based solution for your online store. Not only does it have over 100 themes, but it also offers a wide range of useful options for expanding your store. Shift4Shop has some great options for SEO op­ti­miza­tion and good customer support.

Suitable for: Shift4Shop is par­tic­u­lar­ly suitable for small and medium-sized stores.

If you are looking for an al­ter­na­tive to WooCom­merce, there are a lot of different providers to choose from. For this reason, it makes sense to compare the offers before choosing the eCommerce solution that is best suited to your business and the cor­re­spond­ing sales and revenue ex­pec­ta­tions. It is important that you take into account not only the pricing plans, but also any possible trans­ac­tion fees.