Shopify was once a great choice for small business owners to create online stores, but it isn’t the same now. There are plenty of other eCommerce platforms that can help you build your online store and start selling without having to spend thousands of dollars on fees or software.
What is Shopify?
Shopify is the leading ecommerce platform that helps you to sell online and millions of businesses use this platform to sell their products online.
With Shopify you can create Ecommerce website from scratch by customising the prebuilt templates and then can manage inventory, stocks, orders and payments.
Shopify established itself as the one stop platform for business owners but by the time the requirements of online sellers have evolved and trends show that a huge amount of people are looking for Shopify alternatives.
We’ve also checked reviews and feedback from the Shopify customers who are not happy with the platform. Based upon these reviews from online sellers we come up with the issues these customers are facing.
Why Shopify Alternatives?
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Complicated & Difficult to Customise
You need to be a coding expert or will be required to hire a Shopify developer to develop the complete store and you can’t customize your store by yourself. Every time you want to add some features, you need to add plugins and these are not easy to customize as well.
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Gets Expensive by the time
Though it’s easy to start and cheap but by the time it starts getting expensive. For every feature you need to pay extra and in order to make customisations or adding plugins you need to hire developer at extra cost, pay extra for add-ons and so on.
There are many other issues shared by Shopify users related to customer support and additional bugs etc.
Best Shopify Alternatives
This articles brings 10 best alternatives to Shopify that will save you time and money, while giving you more control over how your business develops.
QPe – Best free Shopify Alternative in India
QPe helps entrepreneurs/businesses of all size (small or big) build their online store easily and automate sales/marketing with AI & business tools and all-in-one POS management system to grow their business. With QPe, you can have your E-commerce store developed in seconds.
The emerging Ecommerce platform also allows users to sell in-app over social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram. Users can share their store’s link over social media (via QR code too) and accept orders online instantly.
Moreover, QPe offers a 360 degree view of customers to the business owners and simplify E-commerce in such a manner that anybody can create an online store — with the help of website builder and customizable Store themes — without any technical expertise. QPe is the best Shopify alternative in India in 2023.
Pricing:- The plan with almost all features costs somewhere approx. $8.5 per month, which makes QPe the most affordable platform in this market. You may check the QPe pricing on the platform itself.
Advantage of Creating your Ecommerce store with QPe:-
- Create an online store in 20 seconds
- Lowest pricing
- No coding or tech knowledge required
- Marketing & Sales Automation
- Doesn’t charge any commission
- Own your customer data, behavior analytics, stats etc.
- Sell via search engine, social media and standardize the in-store experience
- Messenger Integrated Store Automation
WooCommerce
WooCommerce is an open source ecommerce platform that makes it easy to set up, customize and add new pages. It’s free to use, but you’ll need a paid subscription for support. If you’re looking for something more advanced than Shopify’s core functionality, this might be a good option for your business. You can also use plugins in the WordPress ecosystem if you prefer them over building out your own custom code base with WooCommerce’s core APIs (and vice versa).
Pros:
- Conveniently designed user interface (UI) lets users easily navigate through their shops while retaining control over their content through drag-and-drop customization options.
- Free and open source
- SEO friendly
Cons:
- Less Secure
- Need developer to customize plugins (if needed) and thus make it expensive to maintainAlso Read :- WooCommerce Vs Shopify to check the comparison and find out which one is best for your business.
BigCommerce
BigCommerce is a leading ecommerce platform that allows you to create and manage your store.
This flexible and powerful ecommerce platform has a wide range of features including the ability to create custom-made themes, integrate with third party apps, customize shipping rates and more. The platform also offers an integrated inventory system which will allow users to track their products as they sell through their channels in real time.
BigCommerce’s most popular feature is its drag-and-drop interface which makes it easy for any business owner interested in building an online store with this platform to get started quickly without having previous knowledge about how web development works. This makes it ideal for those who want something simple but effective when creating their website or app stores without spending too much time learning how things work behind the scenes!
Pros:
- SaaS platform with flexible APIs
- Dedicated Support
- Amazing store analytics
- SEO friendly
Cons:
- Limitations in customization
- Paid changes
- High Maintenance
- Difficult to learn
Volusion
Volusion is an ecommerce platform that offers a variety of features, including an ecommerce store builder, a built-in social media marketing tool, and a wide selection of payment options.
Pricing :-
Pros:
- Easy to use interface
- Built-in social media marketing tools (Facebook Ads Manager)
- Good customer support
Cons:
- Limited product options compared to Shopify’s full suite of products
- Difficult to use on tabs, phones
- High platform transaction fee
Squarespace
Squarespace is a great alternative to Shopify. It’s easy to use, has a great mobile app and customer support, website builder, search engine and more. The only downside is that it doesn’t have as many themes or designs available for you to choose from compared to Shopify (although there are still plenty).
Pricing:-
Pros:
- Easy-to-use platform that has everything you need out of the box (no need for coding).
- Great customer support team with live chat available 24/7.
- Great website builder with drag & drop interface makes building websites fast & easy.
Cons:
- No free plan offered; monthly fee starts at $29 per month but varies depending on plan chosen by user.
- Limited number of templates available in Starter+ plan
- Limited features and expensive.
Sellfy
Sellfy is a self-hosted ecommerce platform that allows you to create your own online store. Sellfy has a premium plan, but it also offers an affordable subscription plan for those looking for more flexibility.
Pros of Sellfy:
- Good to sell digital products
- It’s easy to use and navigate, especially if you’re not tech savvy.
- Good for social media influencers
- User friendly
Cons of Sellfy:
- Subscription model is still new and not as user friendly as Shopify yet (the app needs some work).
- Poor customer service
Weebly eCommerce
Weebly eCommerce is a drag and drop website builder and ecommerce platform that allows you to build an online store, blog, or website in minutes.
It’s a great alternative to Shopify for people who want to build a website but don’t want to learn how to code.
Pricing:-
Pros:
- It allows you to create your own custom design that looks exactly how you want it from scratch with no coding needed!
- It also comes with templates so all you have to do is choose one of these templates and start building your site right away!
- You can also add photos on top of each product page without being forced into buying extra software packages (like Photoshop) before getting started!
Cons:
- The interface isn’t as intuitive as Shopify’s drag-and-drop interface which might make it difficult for beginners who aren’t familiar with the command line tools available within WordPress’ admin panel.”
- Weebly branding everywhere
Wix eCommerce
Wix eCommerce is a powerful, easy to use ecommerce platform that is perfect for small businesses and startups. It’s also one of the most popular Shopify alternatives out there.
Pricing:-
Wix eCommerce offers an impressive array of features including:
- Easy installation – The platform can be installed in minutes with just a few clicks. You don’t have to worry about coding or technical skills at all!
- A great selection of themes – You have over 100 pre-made themes available so you can get started right away without having any idea where to go next. This helps save time by eliminating guesswork from your store design process as well as reducing frustration when trying new layouts out on your own website later on down the line (which we all know can happen!).
Pros:-
- Beautiful templates
- Simple drag and drop builder
- High quality e-commerce, marketing tools
Cons:-
Structure is difficult to understand, thus can’t make changes as per the specific needs.
RECOMMENDED READ:
Best Wix Alternatives if You aren’t Satisfied with Wix in 2023
PrestaShop
PrestaShop is a free open-source eCommerce platform that can be used to create an online store. It’s written in PHP and is available under the GPL license.
PrestaShop has many features that Shopify doesn’t, such as custom themes and extensions. Plus, it supports multiple payment gateways including Paypal Express Checkout (PE), Stripe and GoCardless (GC).
Pros:
Custom themes and extensions are easy to install with just a few clicks; this means you can change the look of your site quickly without having to hire developers or designers first!
Cons:
- Expensive to maintain
- Lack of customer support
OpenCart
OpenCart is an open source ecommerce solution that has been around since 2005. It is an ecommerce platform that is easy to use, highly customizable and fully featured. OpenCart can be installed on any web host and requires no monthly fees or ongoing maintenance fees for updates.
The pros of OpenCart include:
- Easy installation – you don’t need any programming knowledge or IT skills to get started with it
- Free – there are no hidden costs involved in using this software
Cons :-
- High infra costs involved
- Poor Customer Support
CONCLUSION
These are the best alternatives to Shopify. They all have their own unique set of features and benefits, and we shared why you should go for the alternatives to Shopify.
In our opinion, QPe is the best and popular alternative here for your business which satisfy all of your needs. Do check all the points thoroughly and then decide about the best Shopify alternative you can go with, which fulfill all your requirements from easy to use to being budget friendly etc.