Mozello Review: Is It the Right Ecommerce Solution for Your Business?
Meaghan has provided content and guidance for indie retailers as the editor for a number of retail publications and a speaker at trade shows. She is Fit Small Business’s authority on retail and ecommerce.
Agatha Aviso is a writer of the Retail Section at Fit Small Business, focusing on retail software and ecommerce platforms.
This article is part of a larger series on Retail Management.
Mozello is a self-hosted ecommerce website builder that allows you to set up your online store in multiple languages. It offers a free plan and two paid options starting at $9 per month on a quarterly subscription. We recommended Mozello for international sellers.
What We Recommend Mozello For
Mozello earned a spot in our list of the best free ecommerce platforms, scoring a 2.35 out of 5 on our evaluation. It’s the only self-hosted ecommerce platform that supports over 60 languages even on its free plan. Mozello is 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) lowering its overall score. Mozello is a fairly new product—it entered the market in 2015.
We particularly recommend Mozello for:
- Small international sellers and those wanting wire transfer: You can translate your site into multiple languages and set up delivery options based on your customer’s address. Mozello also allows you to set up wire transfer as a payment option, which is uncommon in other ecommerce platforms.
When Mozello Would Not Be a Good Fit
- If you want a full-blown self-hosted ecommerce website that can accommodate growth, Shopify is what you need. It is a platform that is ideal for new businesses.
- If you are an artist or entrepreneur who is looking to sell custom, handmade, or limited edition products, consider Big Cartel as it was made with artists in mind. It works best for businesses that have a relatively small inventory and its stylish templates are developed with showcasing aesthetically pleasing product photos in mind.
- If you already have a WordPress website and want to add an ecommerce functionality to it, go with WooCommerce, a WordPress plugin. If you also have experience working with WordPress and its plugins, WooCommerce’s installation and setup will come easier for you.
- If your business has an existing website, we recommend Ecwid. It’s best suited and most commonly used as a plugin to add ecommerce functionality to an existing site. Wix, Weebly (now part of Square), and Squarespace users have the added advantage of having native Ecwid integrations.
- If you want an ecommerce website and a content website, we recommend Squarespace. Its drag-and-drop page editor is user-friendly and easier to maintain than Mozello’s blogging platform.
Looking for something different? Read our guide to the best ecommerce platforms for small businesses to find a service or software that’s right for you.
Mozello Overview
| PROS | CONS |
|---|---|
| Ability to create a multi-language site | Limited features and integrations |
| Affordable plans | Difficult to customize; no drag-and-drop or WYSIWYG editor |
| 48 customizable, mobile-responsive templates | Discount codes only available on highest paid plan |
| PayPal, BrainTree, Stripe, wire transfer, and cash on delivery (COD) payment options | Plans paid quarterly or annually; no month-to-month option |
Mozello Pricing
Mozello offers a free plan and two paid tiers, starting at $9 per month (quarterly subscription). All plans allow you to create multilingual websites and offer a variety of payment methods—bank transfers, online payments, and COD. Mozello does not charge transaction fees, though you’ll need to pay the processing fees charged by your selected payment processor.
Free | Premium | Premium Plus | |
|---|---|---|---|
Quarterly Fees | $0 | $9 per month | $17 per month |
Product Limits | 5 | 5 | N/A |
Product Options | Up to 1 | Up to 1 | Up to 3 |
Product Variants | Up to 5 | Up to 20 | Unlimited |
Storage Space | 0.5GB | 50GB | Unlimited |
Payment Providers | PayPal | PayPal | PayPal, Stripe, Braintree, API |
Discount Coupons | N/A | N/A | ✔ |
Free Domain Name | N/A | ✔ | ✔ |
Under the Free plan, you get a Mozella-branded URL (yourstorename.mozello.com), SSL security, mobile device support, and many payment methods: PayPal, cash payments, and bank account transfers. The Premium does not differ much from the Free plan except for product limits and options (listed in the table above), storage space, and a free domain name.
Its top-tier plan, Premium Plus, lets you generate discount coupons, have customizable emails and checkout forms, perform product import/export and order export, and have digital product delivery—on top of all the features included in the Free and Premium. Given that Premium Plus allows you unlimited products and a free domain name, we can say its pricing ($17 per month under a quarterly subscription) is economical compared to other ecommerce platforms.
Mozello Features
Mozello provides a basic set of ecommerce features that enables you to build and launch your online store—a website builder (with a built-in blogging platform and contact form), a product catalog, and payment providers to choose from. However, it lacks advanced inventory tracking and shipping features. There are also not that many integrations available, save for Google Maps, Google Analytics, Disqus comments, and YouTube/Vimeo.
Website Builder
Mozello has 48 pre-designed mobile-responsive website templates that you can customize in color and font choices. It has a step-by-step guide that outlines how to customize them in its blog. The templates are classy and minimal in design, but you can change your page layouts depending on how you want to showcase your products.
An example of Mozello’s minimalist approach to its website templates.
Mozello’s website builder does not use the WYSIWYG editor or a drag-and-drop interface, so it can take some time to get used to. Adding elements is not intuitive; and if you want to really customize your website, some coding knowledge is needed.
Product Catalog
Adding products is easy with Mozello. Under a free plan, you can set up to five products with one option and up to five variants. You can place them in multiple catalogs.
You set up delivery, payment, checkout forms, and taxes in catalog settings. You would need to upgrade to a paid plan if you want to show a Search box in your store.
You can set up your default store currency in the catalog settings.
Payment Providers
Mozello accepts PayPal, Stripe, Paysera, and Braintree for online payments. However, you can set up a bank account for wire transfer and enable cash payments on delivery.
Multi-Language and Multi-Currency Support
Mozello is the only free self-hosted ecommerce platform we know of that covers more than 60 languages (even on its free plan). You can 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 be able to click which language they want to see.
Mozello also supports multiple currencies. You can set up your default currency in your catalog settings.
Mozello Ease of Use
- Intuitive dashboard
- FAQ
- Customer support: Email, Phone (European time zone), and Chat
Mozello has an intuitive user interface. Its dashboard is easy to navigate, and its back-office settings (like catalog of products and payment methods) are easy to configure because they’re simple and straightforward. Its FAQ section is divided into categories to make it easy to scan through topics—but it lacks in-depth guides and video tutorials.
There is a chat button when you are on its Support page, and you get free email support in English. We sent a few questions and received a very 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.
Mozello has an active social media presence on Facebook and Twitter. User feedback indicates that its reps typically get back to customers within minutes.
Top Mozello Alternatives
Best for: Small businesses with ecommerce as its backbone | Best for: Small storefronts wanting to add an online store | Best for: Small businesses that have an existing website |
Monthly fee starts at: $29 | Monthly fee starts at: $12 | Monthly fee starts at: $15 |
Offers a free plan? No | Offers a free plan? Yes | Offers a free plan? Yes |
If you’re not sure Mozello is right for you, see how it compares with our top free ecommerce platforms.
What Users Think About Mozello
At the time of publication, Mozello has not earned reviews on popular user review sites. However, other critics have reviewed its website builder and ecommerce platform. Website Planet gave Mozello a 4.4 out of 5 rating based on its evaluation, highlighting its affordability and template designs. However, it said its website builder needs improvement and customization needs coding knowledge, a limitation for most beginners.
Meanwhile, Merchant Maverick gave Mozello a 3.5 out 5 rating based on its criteria. It praised Mozello’s free plan, available templates, and great blogging platform. It wasn’t too pleased with its website builder, either, saying it is difficult to use.
Bottom Line
Mozello offers a basic set of ecommerce features for small businesses. If you are looking into trying out whether it’s a good fit, then its free plan offers enough functionality for you to launch and run your online store. Its inexpensive upgrades like discount codes and a free domain are also worth it. Its ability to support multiple languages remains to be its biggest advantage. If you need to communicate to your international customers in their native languages, Mozello makes it easy.
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