BigCommerce is a SaaS platform with highly flexible APIs and a strong headless commerce offering. Core platform components enable extension and connection to any other environment. Because BigCommerce falls on the more flexible end of the spectrum for SaaS products, it can have a somewhat higher learning curve than some of the alternatives.
Shopify is a hosted ecommerce software, offers a low technical barrier for building a store with basic functionality out of the box. This makes the setup and store management part easy.Some non-native tools require a separate subscription.
Wix is a SaaS platform geared toward small businesses. It’s quick and easy to get started, and you can drag-and-drop to create your site. Design is simple with Wix, as you’ll have access to 500+ templates.
Shift4Shop comes stacked with more out-of-the-box features than most SaaS platforms, but that can make it somewhat challenging to use.
WooCommerce is a popular self-hosted, open source framework for WordPress websites. Developed and maintained by Automattic, WooCommerce has a decent starter selection of essential ecommerce features for checkout. Because it’s open source, you have complete control over customization and store management. You’ll also find a large community of WooCommerce Meetup groups that you can tap into for help managing your store.
Volusion was one of the original contenders in the SaaS ecommerce space. Operating since the early 2000s, their shopping cart solution provides a mix of core commerce and SEO/marketing tools for starting and growing your business. In July 2020, Volusion filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. According to a blog post on Volution’s website, the company is still open and operating as usual.
PrestaShop is an open-source and cloud-hosted ecommerce platform that gives the best overall value. While the word “free” automatically makes most of us salivate, the other costs you will accrue with the free version might make the PrestaShop Ready look like a better option especially if you don’t have the technical skills.
Weebly is a great option for someone looking for a simple store with marketing automation built in. But if you plan to do any type of marketing, you’ll quickly outgrow Weebly. Don’t use Weebly if SEO is important to you. Until recently, there hasn’t been a solid focus on ecommerce, and as such, you wouldn’t find some of the sophistication that other top platforms have. Nevertheless, it remains an excellent choice for startup entrepreneurs or those who do not wish to hire a developer.
Squarespace enables quick and easy site updates and media management rather than requiring an outside developer. This SaaS framework offers template designs and built-in inventory tools.
Magento is open source software that can be deployed on-premise on your own servers or in the cloud (PaaS). Written in the PHP programming language, Magento is highly flexible and scalable. If you know your way around open-source PHP development, that is. It’s also now part of the Adobe Experience Cloud, so integrates with Adobe products like analytics, a customer data platform and more. Magento has a large community of experienced developers, but many businesses have migrated off of Magento because of its high dependence on developers to set up, maintain and update your store.
10 Best Ecommerce Platforms Compared & Rated For 2021. (December 2021). Retrieved from https://www.ecommerceceo.com/ecommerce-platforms/.
Choosing Among Today’s Ecommerce Frameworks: How to Determine Which One is Right for You. (December 2021). Retrieved from https://www.bigcommerce.com/articles/ecommerce-website-development/ecommerce-frameworks/.