
Built for those with a passion of something other than web design and development, the best ecommerce website builders empower entrepreneurs to showcase their goods and services without all the hangups of coding and website configuration.
For instance, I have a friend who recently decided she wanted to create a site to promote and sell her custom-painted canvases. Her art had made a name for itself in our small community, and everyone was encouraging her to get online. My friend is insanely talented with acrylics, but she’ll be the first to tell you she knows nothing about web design or development. She fumbled with a few online builders that promised her the world and proved to be remarkably underwhelming.
Hers is just one of many stories I’ve heard of folks who want to build an online store but immediately become overwhelmed by so many unhelpful options. I decided to cut through the marketing gimmicks to compile a list of the ecommerce site builders I trust and would recommend.
Best Free Ecommerce Website Builder
Who doesn’t love free stuff? No matter the product or service you’re searching, it’s human nature to turn to Google for the free option first before ponying up to the paid route. The problem with free when it comes to website creation: It’s typically too good to be true. Either the quality is about as low as the price tag, or it’s not free forever, or all of the above.
Then there are services like Wix — defying the odds by delivering a free site-building platform that protects both your aesthetic goals for your site and your budget. You only need an email or Facebook account to get started, and with that, you get access to thousands of templates, conveniently categorized by industry. You can extend your site’s functionality with add-ons available in the App Market, too. It’s one of our favorite starter hosting plans and an esteemed site builder choice industry-wide.
1. Wix.com
- No coding skills needed with drag-and-drop builder
- 100s of templates with niche-specific designs
- Add features via the App Market and Wix Events
- Easily create ecommerce functionality easily
- Great way to build small sites on a budget
- Get started on Wix now.
WEBSITE BUILDER
RATING
★★★★★
Our Review
Money Back Guarantee | Disk Space | Domain Name | Setup Time |
---|---|---|---|
14-day FREE trial | 2 GB - Unlimited | FREE (1 year) | 4 minutes |
More free web hosts and builders »
Best Ecommerce Website Builder for Beginners
User-friendliness — specifically, beginner-friendliness — is a key indicator of a quality website builder. Period. They didn’t invent the concepts of what you see is what you get (WYSIWYG) or drag-and-drop simplicity for the seasoned developer extraordinaire. The idea of these platforms is to make site-building accessible to the non-coder. Still, some platforms do this better than others.
My take on this: The best beginner builders are those that keep the setup short and clear the path to customizing the content. If you can jump right in and start playing around in a super intuitive interface, familiarizing yourself with the concept of setting up a website while becoming attached to your soon-to-be end result, you’ve found the ideal beginner-friendly platform.
The best companies for the job give you all the tools to create a high-functioning website without bogging you down with technical jargon or administrative tasks — a complimentary domain name with signup is a great example of this. Typically, ready-to-go options, such as a wealth of industry-specific themes and premade site templates, are preferred; however, there’s a fine line between beginner-friendly and overwhelming. Our favorite hosts for novices offer free website builders, free domains, and tons of beginner-friendly tools to launch and grow an online store:
2. Wix.com
- No coding skills needed with drag-and-drop builder
- 100s of templates with niche-specific designs
- Add features via the App Market and Wix Events
- Easily create ecommerce functionality easily
- Great way to build small sites on a budget
- Get started on Wix now.
WEBSITE BUILDER
RATING
★★★★★
Our Review
Money Back Guarantee | Disk Space | Domain Name | Setup Time |
---|---|---|---|
14-day FREE trial | 2 GB - Unlimited | FREE (1 year) | 4 minutes |
3. IONOS.com
- No coding skills necessary with MyWebsite Creator
- Free domain name or transfer your existing site
- FREE social media and marketing widgets
- Pro templates with pre-filled text and images
- Multilingual support and tools for SEO
- Get started on 1&1 IONOS now.
WEBSITE BUILDER
RATING
★★★★★
Our Review
Money Back Guarantee | Disk Space | Domain Name | Setup Time |
---|---|---|---|
30 days | 10 GB - Unlimited | FREE (1 year) | 5 minutes |
4. Hostinger.com
- Drag-and-drop design from custom tools
- FREE access to hundreds of specialized templates
- Built-in ecommerce and payment processing
- Easily switch among widescreen, desktop, tablet, and mobile previews
- Support for 31 languages and 99.9% uptime
- Get started on Hostinger now.
WEBSITE BUILDER
RATING
★★★★★
Our Review
Money Back Guarantee | Disk Space | Domain Name | Setup Time |
---|---|---|---|
30 days | 30 GB SSD - 200 GB SSD | FREE (1 year) | 3 minutes |
More beginner-friendly website builders »
Best Ecommerce Website Builder for Small Business
Now, let’s say you’re launching an online store — maybe turning your trade or hobby into a secondary income stream, or perhaps developing an online presence for your brick-and-mortar shop that offers vintage tees and trendy collectibles. Online store owners are like beginner website owners in that they typically don’t want to fuss with the details of domains, SEO, or custom CSS. They want to focus on their craft, their inventory, and of course, their profits!
The best ecommerce website builder services are up to the challenge of streamlining the development process for small business owners:
5. IONOS.com
- Drag-and-drop online store builder for $1/mo
- Quickly sell products, services, and digital goods
- Cross-platform selling integrations with social media, Amazon, Google, and eBay
- Built-in metrics, promos, and coupons
- Track competitors' Google and social media activity
- Get started on 1&1 IONOS now.
ECOMMERCE
RATING
★★★★★
Our Review
Money Back Guarantee | Disk Space | Domain Name | Setup Time |
---|---|---|---|
30 days | Unlimited SSD | FREE (1 year) | 4 minutes |
6. Nexcess.net
- Code-free design tools for eCommerce stores
- Templates for retail, food, clothing, and services
- Custom WordPress integrations and optimizations
- 24/7/365 support via phone, chat, and email
- Try StoreBuilder with a 30-DAY FREE TRIAL
- Get started on Nexcess now.
ECOMMERCE
RATING
★★★★★
Our Review
Money Back Guarantee | Disk Space | Domain Name | Setup Time |
---|---|---|---|
30 days | 30 GB - 100 GB | New or Transfer | 5 minutes |
7. A2Hosting.com
- 20 times faster performance that boosts sales
- 80+ software options: Magento, OpenCart, WooCommerce, PrestaShop, and others
- Fully managed WordPress and server environments
- Worry-free migration and 24/7 support
- DDoS protection and layered security measures
- Get started on A2 Hosting now.
ECOMMERCE
RATING
★★★★★
Our Review
Money Back Guarantee | Disk Space | Domain Name | Setup Time |
---|---|---|---|
30 days | 100 GB SSD - Unlimited SSD | New or Transfer | 4 minutes |
More eCommerce website builders »
Best Ecommerce Website Builder and Hosting for Enterprise
For those in the enterprise arena, the site-building needs increase across the board. You need more storage, more pages, possibly more product inventory options and ecommerce tools, and definitely more bandwidth and support. Typically, the WYSIWYG builders loved by beginners are not quite up to snuff, but CMS platforms like Magento are more than up to the task.
Enterprise website owners may look to dedicated servers or VPS providers to meet their site-building needs, and in either case, chances are your host will make it easy to download and install your choice of eCommerce platform (e.g., Magento, PrestaShop, or WordPress/Woocommerce).
We feature some of the most popular and reliable hosts for enterprise clients below, specifically highlighting the top dedicated plans; however, keep in mind most of these dedicated hosts offer VPS services as well.
8. IONOS.com
- Explore server deals to find the best rates
- High powered modern AMD and Intel processors
- Unlimited traffic and 1 Gbit/s network connectivity
- 8-minute deployment with full API control
- Auto backups, DDoS protection, and RAID-1 storage
- Get started on 1&1 IONOS now.
DEDICATED
RATING
★★★★★
Our Review
Setup Time | Disk Space | CPU | RAM |
---|---|---|---|
7 minutes | 480 GB SSD - 2 TB HDD | 4 - 32 cores, 8 - 64 threads | 16 GB - 256 GB |
9. LiquidWeb.com
- Linux or Windows with choice of 3 control panels
- 100% network and power uptime guarantees
- Custom configurations and instant provisioning
- Auto-migrations, backups, and real-time monitoring
- Block/object storage and load balancer add-ons
- Get started on Liquid Web now.
DEDICATED
RATING
★★★★★
Our Review
Setup Time | Disk Space | CPU | RAM |
---|---|---|---|
8 minutes | 250 GB - 500 GB SSD (+ 1 TB HDD) | 4 - 12 cores | 16 GB - 32 GB |
10. InMotionHosting.com
- Bare-metal or managed servers available
- 1-on-1 time with a server administrator
- 99.99% uptime via Smart Routing™ technology
- Tier 1 network with redundant bandwidth
- SSH root access and DDoS protection on all servers
- Upgrade for cPanel, migration, and auto backups
- Get started on InMotion now.
DEDICATED
RATING
★★★★★
Our Review
Setup Time | Disk Space | CPU | RAM |
---|---|---|---|
7 minutes | 1 TB SSD - 4 TB SSD | 4 - 8 cores, 8 - 16 threads | 16 GB DDR3 - 128 GB DDR4 |
More plans for enterprise eCommerce »
Honorable Mentions: 2 Other Noteworthy Site Builders for ecommerce
And now, for the runners up! The eCommerce hosting niche is competitive, and it’s hard to argue with the low price points and rich feature sets of the popular hosts we’ve discussed here today. Nevertheless, we’d be remiss if we didn’t give a nod to a few widely recognized names.
Shopify and Volusion are not for everyone. Their pricing alone is enough to make store owners think long and hard before signing up. Performance is not their specialty. One doesn’t choose to partner with either of these providers for the hardware specs. It’s the eCommerce-specific features that have built the brand reputations.
While Shopify’s claim to fame is certainly the easy integration with social media platforms and the iconic BUY NOW button, Volusion is a leading platform when it comes to merchant services like payment processing and inventory tracking. Check out our experts’ reviews of each below.
11. Shopify.com
- Sell via social media or hosted commerce platform
- FREE website builder and hundreds of themes
- Unlimited products and unlimited bandwidth
- PayPal or Shopify point-of-sale systems
- Advanced reporting and real-time shipping updates
- Try Shopify FREE for three days.
BEST OVERALL
RATING
★★★★★
Our Review
Money Back Guarantee | Disk Space | Domain Name | Setup Time |
---|---|---|---|
3-Day FREE Trial | Unlimited | FREE Subdomain | 5 minutes |
12. Volusion.com
- Design your store with a drag-and-drop builder
- No transaction fees, plus easy app integration
- Market products via email, coupons, and social
- Guides, tutorials, and 24/7 customer support
- 99.9% network uptime guarantee
- Try Volusion FREE for 14 days.
BEST OVERALL
RATING
★★★★★
Our Review
Money Back Guarantee | Disk Space | Domain Name | Setup Time |
---|---|---|---|
14-Day FREE Trial | Unlimited | New or Transfer | 5 minutes |
Well, I think we’ve made a case for every friend in the market for an eCommerce website builder — from my incredibly talented artist buddy to the next wannabe-Amazon. My final piece of advice: Treat your web host as your friend and partner in building your business. Find a team you can trust, with servers you can count on. Best of luck!
See Our Full Review of Wix
Whatever type of hosting plan you’re looking for, Wix is a solid choice no matter the scale. Our reviewer Alexandra Anderson recently took Wix for a spin, and rated the popular host a 4.9 in the Website Builder Hosting category out of a perfect score of 5.0. Here’s what Alexandra had to say about Wix:
Wix offers one of the quickest and easiest means of getting a website online — free of charge to start. They’ve got a robust feature set that is growing every day as Wix leads in the browser-based web builder niche. While the support is subpar compared to that of the top hosts’ web builders, the customization and ever-growing list of templates is hard to beat.
Before signing up for Wix, it’s a good idea to read through Alexandra‘s full review to learn about all the features Wix offers. You can also compare it to other web hosts to ensure you’re getting the best deal possible:
If you decide Wix is the right choice, keep in mind that it takes just minutes to deploy your Wix server space. And at $0.00 per month, it’s a bargain considering the many great features that come in any Wix plan.
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