With surprisingly few limitations, Square Online is our top pick based on our hands-on testing. See more of our recommendations below.
7 Best Free Ecommerce Website Builders for 2025
This article is part of a larger series on Retail Management.
With surprisingly few limitations, Square Online is our top pick based on our hands-on testing. See more of our recommendations below.
Based on my hands-on testing and evaluation of 36 data points, here are my recommendations for the best free (and I mean forever-free) ecommerce platforms for 2025:
- Best overall: Square Online
- Best for WordPress users: WooCommerce
- Best free Shopify alternative: Shift4Shop
- Best for developers: PrestaShop
- Best for Wix, Weebly, and Squarespace users: Ecwid
- Best for artists and creatives: Big Cartel
- Best for international sellers: Mozello
Finding a free ecommerce website builder means balancing functionality with ease of use — without unexpected limitations (like hidden fees or the need to upgrade). I took a hands-on approach, testing each platform’s site builder tools, sales features, and overall usability within their forever-free plans.
I built the same demo store on each platform to compare setup, customization, and management. Real user reviews were also factored into my evaluation to ensure reliability and support.
And while all these platforms I listed are free to use, you’ll still pay standard credit card processing fees (typically 2.9% + 30 cents per transaction). There are no hidden commissions, but optional paid upgrades are available, which I’ll cover below.
Free ecommerce website builders compared
Our Rating (out of 5) | Payment Gateways | Product Limit | Connect a Custom Domain | Shipping Calculator | Developer Skills Required | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
4.44 | Built-in (Square Payments) | Unlimited | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | |
4.19 | Built-in (WooCommerce Payments) + 100 third-party apps | Unlimited | ✓ | ✓ USPS | ✓ | |
4.13 | Built-in (Shift4 Payments) | Unlimited | ✓ | ✓ USPS, UPS, and FedEx | ✕ | |
4.02 | Stripe, PayPal, and 50 others | Unlimited | ✓ | ✕ | ✓ | |
3.53 | Stripe, PayPal, and 60 others | 10 | ✕ | ✓ USPS, UPS, and FedEx | ✕ | |
2.77 | Stripe or PayPal | 5 | ✓ | ✕ | ✕ | |
2.35 | PayPal | 5 | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | |
Note: The above features reflect the forever-free plans only. |
Low-cost alternatives
If you’re serious about growing an ecommerce business, we recommend paying for the best ecommerce platform. Here are some low-cost alternatives you can try:
- Shopify: Our recommended solution, Shopify, offers robust features in a user-friendly online store for as little as $39 per month. Alternatively, you can get started selling on social media and have a landing page for as low as $5 per month. Read our Shopify review.
- Wix: Wix offers a forever-free plan to build a website, but not an ecommerce store. You can upgrade to a paid plan at $29/month to unlock ecommerce features and cancel within 14 days — money-back guarantee. Read our Wix review.
- Squarespace: Squarespace is one of our highly-rated website builders, along with Wix. It doesn’t have a forever-free plan, ecommerce features are unlocked at the $36/month plan. Read our Squarespace review.
Get a personalized recommendation
Not sure which free ecommerce website builder is right for you? Take this four-question quiz for our recommendation (you won’t be redirected to another screen):
Square Online: Best overall free ecommerce website builder
Pros
- Custom website with brand logo and colors
- Unlimited products with variants
- Includes point-of-sale (POS) software for in-person sales & BOPIS (buy online, pickup in-store)
Cons
- No shipping integrations without upgrade
- Square branding on footer
- Multiple languages not supported
Overview
I regularly test free ecommerce website builders, and most come with frustrating limitations — missing features, product caps, or intrusive ads. Square Online stood out to me because it has surprisingly few restrictions, making it the best free ecommerce store builder for small businesses. It’s as close as you can get to a fully functional, professional online store without entering a credit card.
The setup is fast and intuitive — I built a complete demo store in just a few hours. While layout customization and third-party integrations aren’t as flexible as some competitors, Square Online makes up for it with speed and simplicity.
In my evaluation, Square Online earned the highest score: 4.44 out of 5. It got perfect marks for its unlimited product listings, one-click checkout options, and support for digital products. It’s also the only platform that lets you sell online and in person using its POS system — even on the free plan.
Square Online’s forever-free plan lets you list an unlimited number of products (physical or digital), track inventory, and manage SEO. It also integrates marketing software like Mailchimp — things you might not need right away but are very nice to have as you grow.
- Unlimited products: List and sell unlimited physical and digital products like e-books and videos with no website storage or photo upload limits.
- Full website: You can create the usual main navigation pages a website has, such as a Contact Us page, then customize it with your logo and colors. You can also add blank pages, a gallery, and email capture forms.
- Coupon codes: Create coupon codes that visitors can enter to receive a percentage or dollar amount discount or free shipping. Coupons can be valid for all orders, orders over a certain amount, or specific items.
- Subdomain: Free plans come with a customizable “square.site” subdomain, so your website will appear as “yourstore.square.site” on the address bar.
- Square branded footer: Free websites also display “Powered by Square” on the footer of each page. It’s subtle and doesn’t look too bad compared to other free website builders with ecommerce. However, you’ll need to upgrade to at least the Plus edition ($29 per month) to remove it.
- Customer support: Support for Square Online is a little tricky to reach. You have to chat with its support robot and request to speak with a representative. Phone and live chat support are available weekdays from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Eastern time and weekends from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern time. During my evaluation, it took about 30 minutes to connect to a live support agent and one business day to respond through email.
Square Online’s Website Builder is user-friendly and easy to navigate. We were able to build our demo store in just a few hours.
This “Powered by Square” footer is displayed on all free websites. (Source: Square)
An upgrade to a paid plan is necessary when you need one or more of the following features:
- A custom domain: One of the main reasons to upgrade from the free plan is to use your domain name instead of yourstore.square.site. To do this, you’ll need to upgrade to Square Online’s Plus ($29 per month), which includes a free custom domain that’s good for a year.
- Shipping tools: With a Premium account ($79 per month), you can use a shipping calculator to charge customers real-time rates from USPS, UPS, FedEx, or DHL. Transaction fees are also discounted. If you aren’t ready to upgrade yet, note that with WooCommerce and Ecwid, you can access some of these shipping tools for free.
- Customer reviews: If you want to give customers the ability to leave reviews of your products, you’ll need to upgrade to at least the Plus plan ($29 per month).
Explore:
- If you’re ready to get started, create a free Square account and follow our guide on setting up a free Square Online store.
- See Square Online Store compared to Shopify and Squarespace in our Square vs Shopify and Square Online vs Squarespace comparison guides.
WooCommerce: Best for WordPress users
Pros
- Most feature-packed free ecommerce platform
- Charge real-time USPS shipping rates
- Expansive design control and variety
Cons
- Hosting not included
- Lengthy setup time
- No free customer support
Overview
WooCommerce is one of the most feature-rich free ecommerce platforms I have tested, earning a 4.19 out of 5 in my evaluation. It stands out for its extensive third-party integrations and unlimited storage, making it a powerful option for those who want full control over their online store.
From my hands-on experience building a WooCommerce demo store, I found it to be one of the most customizable platforms available — but that flexibility often comes at a cost. You need to pay for hosting and have a WordPress site, before you can actually use WooCommerce. Customer support also comes at a premium, although it has an active and helpful user community, being an open-sourced platform.
Moreover, many advanced features require paid extensions, and the platform can feel overwhelming if you’re unfamiliar with WordPress, plugins, or coding. That said, for tech-savvy users willing to invest time into setup and customization, WooCommerce offers unmatched scalability and control.
- Unlimited products: List an unlimited number of products, including physical and digital goods (like e-books and videos). WooCommerce also includes tools to manage your inventory, such as low stock alerts.
- USPS integration: Calculate the shipping price in real time when a customer checks out, then print discounted USPS postage straight from WooCommerce with the customer’s name and address already filled in. You can integrate other carriers like UPS and FedEx for an additional fee.
- Coupon codes: WooCommerce lets you create coupon codes for discounts on the customer’s order. You can also create special rules, such as requiring a minimum spend and excluding certain items.
- Product reviews: Allow customers to rate and submit reviews of your products.
- Support: WooCommerce does not have customer support available to free users, although there is a help forum where you can ask other users questions.
How to set up coupons in a WooCommerce store. (Source: WooCommerce)
WooCommerce is a free WordPress plugin and offers several third-party integrations. An upgrade to a paid plan is necessary when you need one or more of the following features:
- SEO: WooCommerce does not include great SEO tools out-of-the-box, so many users will install an SEO plugin like Yoast to help them edit search engine titles and descriptions for their products and pages.
- Multilanguage capability: An extension is required to display your site in multiple languages, and this can cost around $200 per year.
- Marketing: Another common way users upgrade WooCommerce is by installing one of the dozens of marketing extensions. You can sell on Facebook, start an affiliate program, or create targeted email campaigns with unique offers based on a customer’s previous purchases. Prices range from $0 to hundreds of dollars per year.
Learn more:
- If you are keen on using WordPress to build your ecommerce store, we have outlined how to set up WooCommerce in eight steps.
- Read our WooCommerce vs Shopify comparison guide.
Shift4Shop: Best free Shopify alternative
- Connect to custom domain
- Advanced ecommerce and business features, similar to Shopify
- No transaction fees
Cons
- Shift4Payments is the only payment gateway option for free users
- Complicated, difficult to use
- No mobile app
Overview
Shift4Shop (formerly known as 3dcart) offers several advanced ecommerce features — which are only available in Shopify’s higher tiers — for free. Some of its features include search engine optimization, mobile website templates, sales tracking, and free domain name registration.
Sounds too good to be true? Don’t worry, Shift4Shop doesn’t have any hidden charges. Note, though, that Shift4Shop’s free End-to-End plan is only available for US merchants, provided they use its built-in payment provider, Shift4 Payments, and process $1,000 in sales a month (minimum).
Shift4Shop scored 4.13 out of 5 in my evaluation. It earned high marks in almost all of our criteria — pricing, payments, and features — but mixed reviews about its customer service and complicated user interface cost it points. I also ran into issues, such as error messages and pages not responding, during account setup.
- Free domain
- Website builder: 50-plus mobile-ready website themes with a built-in blog.
- Product management features: Sell an unlimited number of products—even digital goods — categories and images. You can also set up upsell and cross-sell for your products and create waiting lists.
- Multichannel selling: Sell your products on sales channels, such as Amazon, Facebook, Instagram, eBay, and Google Shopping Feed.
- Marketing tools: There is a wealth of marketing tools available on the free plan, including product reviews, Google customer reviews, wish lists, gift certificates, affiliate programs, coupons and discounts, and Mailchimp or Aweber integrations.
- SEO: This is an area where the software excels. It lets you set up 301 redirects, navigation and breadcrumb links, and customizable meta descriptions. Integration with Google Analytics is also available. What we like is that it has pop-ups and prompts that remind you to fill in fields like image alt tags and meta descriptions.
Shift4Shop’s free themes are varied, and its website builder allows for moderate customization because of its building blocks.
An upgrade to a paid plan is necessary when you need one or more of the following features:
- More payment provider options: If you would like to have the freedom to choose another payment provider that is a better fit for your business, you need to upgrade to a paid tier (From $29).
- Automation features: Shift4Shop’s highest plan, Pro ($229/month), unlocks automation features, such as auto-shipping, autoresponder email campaigns, pre-orders, and back-in-stock notifications.
PrestaShop: Best open-source platform for developers
Pros
- Highly customizable
- Has a strong and helpful community forum
- Supports over 75 languages
Cons
- Expensive customer support
- Developer skills required
- Limited scalability
Overview
PrestaShop earned a 4.02 out of 5 in my evaluation, with perfect marks for the quality of its native integrations — most features are already available in the software, eliminating the need for paid add-ons from its app marketplace. However, PrestaShop’s steep learning curve and the need to pay for customer support prevented it from earning a perfect score.
Like WooCommerce, PrestaShop is free to download and install as long as your computer and hosting meet its minimum requirements. The software provides features for store customization, inventory management, payment processing, and marketing campaigns. You can also build your features as needed but will need to code them yourself or use a developer since most of its features are open-sourced — specifically built for developers.
- Inventory management: PrestaShop offers basic and advanced inventory management solutions. Once you enable advanced stock management, you can specify quantities for every product (or combination) in your store, select the warehouse in which the product is stored (with multiple carriers), track inventory movements, current product status, and more.
- Payment processing: Set up payment methods, such as payments by invoice, COD, check, bank transfers, credit cards, subscriptions, and POS or payment via physical stores.
- Marketing: You can enable features for promo codes, coupons, and discounts, as well as have price rules like special offers based on product, customer, or order. You can also make abandoned cart recovery and engagement emails.
- Customer support: Support is a premium (paid) service. However, PrestaShop has a large and supportive community that contributes to its forum or help center.
An upgrade to a paid plan is necessary when you need one or more of the following features:
- Customized website themes: While PrestaShop offers free website templates, most free offerings have limited customization abilities or unappealing designs.
- Marketplace selling: If you want to connect your store to common marketplaces, such as Amazon, eBay, Etsy, and Google Shopping, you’d need to pay for an extension module.
Ecwid by Lightspeed: Best for Wix, Squarespace & Blogger users
Pros
- No ads shown on free sites
- Free USPS, UPS, and FedEx shipping calculator
- Works on Wix, Squarespace, Blogger, Tumblr, WordPress, and more
Cons
- Limited to 10 products
- No coupon codes
- No inventory tracking
Overview
The strongest advantage of using Ecwid’s free plan is it lets you sell online in various ways — through its storefront, an existing site, and via an embeddable Buy Now button. This option makes it a good fit to add an affordable checkout to your existing website. Along with free shipping calculators, these features contributed to Ecwid earning a 3.53 out of 5 in my evaluation.
Unfortunately, its free plan is limited to 10 products and doesn’t provide the ability to track inventory or offer coupon codes. These features are only unlocked when you upgrade to any of its paid tiers.
I found Ecwid’s interface very easy to use when I built a demo store. You can set up product variations and related products despite the product limit. It has detailed instructions on how to embed the Ecwid store, depending on the website platform you are already using. Its free standalone website, Instant Site, lacks a lot of customization options but can do a decent job if you are less concerned about additional design features and just want to sell products.
- Up to 10 products: Free users can list up to 10 unique products at a time. Customers can pay with a credit card, which can be processed through PayPal, Stripe, Square, and more than 60 other payment gateways. Free users cannot sell digital items like e-books and videos.
- Link to website: While Ecwid can be set up as a free standalone site, most users integrate it with their existing website. Ecwid has official integrations with Wix, Weebly, and WordPress, allowing you to add your free Ecwid store with just a few clicks. For other website builders like Squarespace, you can integrate Ecwid by copying and pasting HTML code.
- Shipping calculators: Ecwid is the only free ecommerce website builder that has free shipping calculators for all the major US carriers, Canada Post, Royal Mail, and more. This means you can charge customers actual shipping rates based on their location and package weight. However, you cannot purchase shipping labels straight from Ecwid unless you integrate an app like ShipStation.
- Support: For free users, there is only email support available. Live chat and phone support are available to paying customers.
This is the demo store we built using Ecwid’s Instant Site. You can create a functional and straightforward store and have detailed product pages.
An upgrade to a paid plan is necessary when you need one or more of the following features:
- List more products: A Venture plan ($25 per month) lets you list up to 100 products at a time, whereas a Business plan ($45 per month) allows you up to 2,500. Meanwhile, an Unlimited plan ($105 per month) enables you to post unlimited products.
- Custom domain: If you’re using Ecwid to host your website, you can use a custom domain, such as www.yourstore.com, instead of the storename.company.site domain that’s included for free.
- Multichannel selling: One of the big perks of using Ecwid is that you can integrate your online store with more than one website—and you can do that even with a free account. However, with a Business account ($39 per month), you can also list your products on Amazon, eBay, Etsy, Facebook, and Instagram. Some additional fees may apply.
- Multilanguage: Ecwid offers multilanguage functionality for users on the Business plan ($45 per month).
- Coupon codes: Another perk for paid users is creating promotional coupons for customers to use at their store. Ecwid gives you a lot of control over coupons as you can specify the number of times a coupon can be used, require a minimum order amount, only allow it for certain customers, or only allow it for certain items/item categories.
Big Cartel: Best for artists
Pros
- Connect a custom domain
- Design control
- Stylish themes with no ads or branding
Cons
- Limited to only five products
- No inventory tracking without upgrade
- Limited SEO tools
Overview
Originally designed for creatives, Big Cartel works best for businesses with small, rotating inventories. If you only need to sell a handful of products at a time, it’s a solid, hassle-free option. Its stylish, modern templates help showcase products beautifully, and unlike many competitors, it doesn’t plaster your site with ads. The only branding is a subtle Big Cartel logo in the footer, which can be removed with a bit of coding.
Big Cartel earned a 2.77 out of 5 in my evaluation, primarily due to its strict product limit and lack of inventory tracking. While it’s not built for scaling a full-fledged ecommerce business, it remains a popular choice for artists, artisans, and makers who sell limited product runs or one-of-a-kind items.
- Use a custom domain: Big Cartel is one of the few free ecommerce website builders in my list that we’re aware of that lets you connect a custom domain, such as www.yourstore.com. If you don’t own a custom domain, you can use a Big Cartel subdomain, like yourstore.BigCartel.com, for free.
- Up to five products: Free plans list up to five unique products at a time, with one photo per item. Customers can check out using a credit card, which is processed through PayPal or Stripe. Free users cannot sell digital items like e-books and videos.
- Full website: Create a complete website with multiple pages and a contact form. Big Cartel lets you choose from many stylish themes that you can customize with your own logo and colors. Big Cartel gives you a surprising amount of control over your website’s layout and lets you integrate a small but solid set of apps, including Mailchimp, ShipStation, and live chat apps.
- Support: Big Cartel has email support available from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET, including weekends. During my evaluation, I submitted a question after hours and received a helpful response first thing in the morning.
Example of a Big Cartel website. For this particular theme, the gray “Big Cartel” logo in the lower-left corner is the only branding displayed.
An upgrade to a paid plan is necessary when you need one or more of the following features:
- More products and photos: The most prominent reason to upgrade Big Cartel is to add more than five products and upload more than one photo per item. The $9.99 per month edition lets you sell up to 50 products, with the $19.99 per month edition 500 products. All paid versions of Big Cartel also let you sell digital items.
- Coupons: All paid versions of Big Cartel allow you to create digital coupons for customers. This can be a percentage or dollar amount discount or free shipping.
- More SEO options: Neither free nor paid versions of Big Cartel allow you to edit the SEO title and description of products. For most users, this won’t be an issue since Big Cartel simply generates them automatically. However, those looking for more SEO control should consider Square or WooCommerce instead.
Learn more:
- How to Use Big Cartel to Create an Online Store in 6 Steps
- See Big Cartel compared to Shopify and Etsy in our Big Cartel vs Shopify and Big Cartel vs Etsy comparison guides.
Mozello: Best for international sellers
Pros
- Ability to create a multilanguage site
- Extremely easy to use
- Inexpensive upgrades
Cons
- Limited to only five products
- No coupon codes
- No SSL (except during checkout)
Overview
Mozello is one of the few free ecommerce platforms that let you display your website in multiple languages. Choose from more than 60 languages and let your customers change the language by clicking a link at the top of your site.
Based on my evaluation, Mozello earned a 2.35 out of 5 score. Mozello is extremely easy to use and is a solid website builder; however, this also translates to limitations on more advanced ecommerce features — related products and marketing integrations, for example, are not available.
- Up to five products: Free users can list up to five unique products at a time. Unlike Big Cartel, you aren’t limited by how many photos you can upload, but there is an overall storage limit of 500MB for free accounts.
- Full website: Mozello makes it easy to create a full website with multiple pages and a contact form. Along with Square and Big Cartel, it’s easily the fastest ecommerce website to get up and running. That said, its design options are considerably more limited, and it has very few integrations.
- Multilanguage: Mozello is the only free ecommerce website builder on our list that supports multilanguage sites, and it’s the only one we’re aware of that covers more than 60 languages worldwide. Simply choose which languages you want to support and write your website content, like product titles and descriptions for each language. At the top of your site, visitors will click on which language they want to see.
- Subdomain: Free websites come with a customizable mozello.com subdomain, so your website will appear as yourstore.mozello.com on the address bar.
- Mozello footer: Free websites also display a small message on the footer that reads, “Created with Mozello — the world’s easiest-to-use website builder.” While it doesn’t stand out too bad, it makes the website a bit less classy than the others on this list — particularly Big Cartel, Ecwid, and WooCommerce.
- Support: Mozello has free email support in English. I sent a few questions during my evaluation and received a detailed and personalized response three hours later. While there is a phone support line, the office is based in Eastern Europe, so you will have to call early in the morning to reach them, and may incur international charges.
Users can change the language using the links on the top-right. Also, a Mozello ad is displayed on the footer.
An upgrade to a paid plan is necessary when you need one or more of the following features:
- More products and storage: One of the main reasons to upgrade is to add more products and increase your storage for photos, videos, and other types of files. The $8 per month plan allows up to 15 items and 50GB of storage, while the $16 per month plan allows unlimited items and unlimited storage.
- Custom domain: Another key reason to upgrade is to use a custom domain instead of the yourstore.mozello.com subdomain, which is provided for free. All paid users can do this (starting at $8 per month), and a custom domain is even provided for free for one year. However, you can also connect a domain purchased from an outside registrar.
- SSL certificate: Paid users (starting at $8 per month) can enable SSL encryption, make your website more secure, and change your URL from HTTP to HTTPS. This makes your website more appealing to search engines and can help you rank higher in the results. Free accounts get HTTPS during checkout automatically to secure credit card information, but the rest of the site is HTTP.
- Coupon codes: Paid users can create promotional coupons for customers to use at their store.
All quoted prices require an annual subscription.
Who should (and shouldn’t) use a free ecommerce website builder?
Free ecommerce website builders are a great way to launch an online store with no upfront costs, but they’re not right for everyone. They work well for small businesses, side hustles, and low-volume sellers, but if you’re serious about scaling, a paid platform offers more control, flexibility, and long-term value.
Absolutely use a free ecommerce website platform if you are a:
- New or small business testing the waters: If you’re just starting and want to test the market before committing to a paid plan, a free store lets you experiment with minimal risk.
- Side hustler and hobby seller: Whether you’re selling handmade goods, digital products, or secondhand items, a free plan is a cost-effective way to get started.
- Brick-and-mortar business expanding online: If you already sell in-person and need a simple online storefront, a free ecommerce builder can help establish your digital presence.
- Nonprofit and community organization: If you’re raising funds or selling merchandise, a free store provides an easy way to manage transactions.
- Low-volume business: If you don’t expect frequent sales, a free plan may be all you need — especially if you’re okay with platform branding or basic features.
But, if you are a business planning for growth, a brand that needs complete control on design, a high-volume seller, or a business needing advanced features such as automation, investing in a scalable ecommerce solution will save you time and frustration down the road.
How to choose the best free ecommerce website builder
Choosing the right free ecommerce website builder depends on your business needs, technical skill level, and long-term growth plans. While a free plan can help you get started, it’s important to find a platform that balances ease of use with essential ecommerce features. Here’s what to consider when making your decision:
1. Understand the limitations of free plans
Free ecommerce website builders often come with trade-offs, such as product limits (e.g., only allowing you to list a certain number of products), branding restrictions (e.g., the platform’s logo or domain appearing on your site), limited payment processing options, fewer customization and marketing features, and transaction fees on each sale.
Look for a platform that offers the most flexibility within its free plan while minimizing restrictions that could slow down your business.
2. Prioritize ease of use
If you’re new to website building, choose a platform with a simple drag-and-drop editor, pre-designed templates that look professional, guided setup wizards or onboarding tutorials, and an intuitive dashboard for managing orders and inventory.
3. Check the sales and product features
Your ecommerce platform should support the types of products you want to sell. Consider whether the free plan allows you to:
- Sell both physical and digital products.
- Offer in-person sales or sync with a POS system.
- Sell through social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok.
- Easily set up product variations (size, color, etc.).
- Offer coupons, discounts, or subscription-based products.
Some platforms restrict digital downloads, in-person sales, or certain payment methods on their free plans, so make sure to check before committing.
4. Evaluate payment processing options and fees
Your ability to accept payments easily and affordably is crucial. Compare available payment gateways (PayPal, Stripe, Apple Pay, etc.), check whether the platform imposes transaction fees on free plans, and see if you can accept multiple currencies or alternative payment methods.
Some free ecommerce builders only allow payments through their own processing system, which might have higher fees.
5. Consider mobile optimization and SEO tools
Your online store should look and function well on mobile devices, as most shoppers browse and buy on their phones. Ensure the platform offers mobile-responsive templates, a fast, seamless checkout process, and basic SEO tools (custom URLs, meta descriptions, and alt text for images).
A free ecommerce site that isn’t optimized for mobile or search engines can limit your ability to attract customers.
6. Review customer support options
Since technical issues can arise, check what kind of support is available on the free plan. Consider 24/7 availability (chat, phone, email), help center resources, guides, tutorials, and active community forums.
7. Study your upgrade options
A great ecommerce platform should support essential marketing tools, such as email marketing, social media selling, analytics and reporting to track sales performance, and discount codes. While these typically are only available on paid plans, choosing a platform with strong upgrade options ensures you won’t have to switch later.
How we evaluated free ecommerce website builders
As mentioned above and similar to how I evaluated ecommerce software, I compared these ecommerce platforms based on their forever-free plans’ on-site builder tools, sales and product features, and ease of use. I also built the same demo stores on each platform to get hands-on experience, which played a big role in my evaluation.
Based on the above criteria, Square Online is the best free ecommerce site builder for small businesses. It received the highest overall score (4.44 out of 5) based on my in-house grading system. From personal experience, Square Online is also one of the easiest platforms to use, letting you set up a professional online store in just minutes—all without hidden costs or complicated setup.
Click through the tabs below for a more detailed breakdown of our evaluation criteria. Note that we only evaluated the free plans of each software:
40% of Overall Score
15% of Overall Score
I evaluated website templates, the flexibility of the site builder, and essential features like SSL security, storage, bandwidth, and built-in analytics. PrestaShop, Shift4Shop, and Ecwid led in this category.
15% of Overall Score
I assessed critical ecommerce tools, including the ability to sell digital products, seamless product setup, in-store and mobile selling, and integrated social media sales. WooCommerce, Ecwid, Shift4Shop, and PrestaShop ranked highest, thanks to their advanced integrations and customizable sales features.
20% of Overall Score
Since online stores operate 24/7, I prioritized platforms that offer round-the-clock customer support (phone, email, and chat) even on free plans. I also gave points to solutions that are easy to set up or provide guided onboarding and a comprehensive help center. Square Online was the clear winner here, offering phone and live chat support—even for free plan users.
10% of Overall Score
I factored in standout features, overall value, small business popularity, and compatibility with other business software. My rating also included personal experience using each platform and interacting with their customer support. Square Online and WooCommerce earned the top scores in this category.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
These are some of the questions I often get about the best free ecommerce platforms.
Yes, you can. Note, though, that all free website builders come with limitations. These might not be a problem when you start out but can present significant challenges as your online store grows and your business needs to scale.
Square Online is the best free online store builder we have tried and tested among all the free ecommerce platforms in the market because of its few limitations.
Yes, several ecommerce platforms offer free plans, including Square Online, Ecwid, and Big Cartel. These free options typically come with limitations, such as fewer features, transaction fees, or branding restrictions. If you need more flexibility, consider an open-source platform like WooCommerce, which is free but requires web hosting.
Among the free online ecommerce website builders we tested, Square Online is the easiest to use. You can build a full standalone online store in a few hours. However, if you wish to invest in an ecommerce platform, Shopify is tough to beat in terms of ease of use and scalable features.
Bottom Line
The best free ecommerce website builder should meet your immediate needs while providing room to grow. Square Online is the top choice because it has the fewest limitations, no hosting or commission fees, and an easy-to-use interface. However, if you need more customization or integrations, platforms like WooCommerce or PrestaShop may be worth exploring.
Before deciding, consider your product type, sales channels, and upgrade potential to ensure your chosen platform can support your business as it scales.