17 Best eCommerce Software Comparison Chart

This list of features and pricing will help guide you in your comparison research of the listed eCommerce software.

Drag & Drop table added further down on this page for 1 vs 1 comparisons.

Other Comparison Charts

GoDaddy Online Store is the newest store builder addition to the chart as of 1/23/2017
New features added: Demo videos, templates and example websites.

What is eCommerce Software?

It is open source or proprietary software that you install on your web hosting to allow you to operate an online store. Open source software would be best for those small businesses that need to customize the software to huge degree in order to promote their products effectively.

What is an eCommerce Platform?

This solution is hosted and maintained by the provider. This is usually the best options for beginner’s that are not familiar with setting up their own web hosting and uploading and installing software onto web servers. The eCommerce platform solution cuts through that and allows you to just set it all up in a very simple to follow process that is painless. Yes, you will also still be able to use your own domain and email.

Which is the Best eCommerce platform for small businesses?

Depending on your technical expertise I would recommend Bigcommerce or Shopify for your platform. Shopify would be ideal for complete beginner’s as it has a simpler and more intuitive dashboard for managing your products. Bigcommerce is powerful and has the availability for advanced customization. Bigcommerce is a great balance between beginner friendly and scalability which may be perfect for most startups that do not need an open source solution.

If you are still not convinced, scroll down to the comparison chart below and start comparing for the features that you desire in an online store solution for your business or needs.

With this eCommerce software comparison, you should easily be able to decide which shopping cart software is going to be the best fit for you and your business.

Future pending updates: Will include Etsy, Ebay and Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA).(

Yep, with just 17 competitors, it’s a huge list. For your convenience, I have put together many side-by-side comparisons that you can locate by each company’s name or you can use the Drag & drop table further below to compare them yourself.

Shopify vs Bigcommerce

At the time of this review the 2 things that divide these two companies are hard to justify as factual, that’s why there is no checkbox for them. They are: Transparency and quality of support. Now if it isn’t obvious already I have combed through a lot of data and in the chart have published only the cold hard facts. Based on recent developments of Bigcommerce preparing for an IPO it has only hinted at what changes may be coming for it’s current paying customers. It is hard to tell if this will be a positive change or a negative one, again no transparency. When it comes to support, the feeling certain customers are being left with is an unsatisfied one. Unsatisfied with the hard sell, lack of understanding the answers they are given and most importantly feeling like the problem is unresolved. Now these customers come off to me as not very tech savvy and would find a much better home at Shopify with their tools being much easier to use, but there are still big benefits with Bigcommerce.

The current gap between Shopify and Bigcommerce in my opinion comes down to custom orders of products. Let’s say you wanted to sell shirts that allow the customer to put their own phrases, names, logo and whatever on it. Both carts will allow you to do this but you have to jump through hoops in Shopify to make it happen. To even offer this custom order attribute you have to add on an app that can do that which adds onto your monthly cost. After that if you receive a huge amount of these orders and want to quickly and easily export the orders to send to the factory, you have to have another app for that, again another app that adds on a monthly cost. In Bigcommerce these abilities come standard. There are always extenuating circumstances where one product performs over the other and currently this is one of them.

Another motivation I have for placing Shopify at the top is because it is just so easy to use. I can build a site, tear it down, flip it around and etc but all that takes code. Writing new functions that publish certain sets of data and then having to write css in another file to style that data to look presentable on a web page, then making sure it looks as how it should in multiple browsers, this is beyond a pain. Being allowed to do something quickly and easily saves you massive amounts of time that you should be investing in traffic, marketing and products. You know, the important stuff that actually leads to sales and results in you getting paid.

Shopify recommended for: The not tech savvy, ease of tools and great support.
Bigcommerce recommended for: Shops with custom orders, support is knowledgeable if you understand tech details and can handle/disregard upselling.

*Note: Bigcommerce is planning for big changes in preparation for their 2016 IPO. The impacts to features and pricing at this point are unknown.

Bigcommerce vs X-Cart

The 24/7 phone support is a huge plus for Bigcommerce here. In the long run you might save more money with X-Cart if you found an affordable host but you would need to know what you’re looking for. Bigcommerce already knows it’s software and has a hosting environment tuned to fit it’s needs. With X-Cart you would have to figure that out. Surely a good VPS or dedicated hosting could handle it no problem. X-Cart also has that upfront cost.

X-Cart vs 3dcart

X-Cart is definitely shopping cart software I am going to keep my eye on because it is really bringing it in all the areas that it can gain an edge. External store integration’s is a major area where they are making an impact. The ability to plug your store into many social platforms and shopping platforms that are built to sell is huge. These platforms can and will deliver sales faster than the search results because they are already being trafficked by shoppers actively searching for products they want to buy right now. X-Cart’s ever growing list of platforms they plug into will build your brand awareness because no matter where a customer may go they will continue to see your store offering products. This is the reason X-Cart is currently placed where they are, they are on the move and they are bringing it!

Oops I almost forgot this was a comparison segment. With 3dcart you do get 24/7 phone support, lower cost of investment on entering. It’s solid I’m just in awe of X-Cart right now.

3dcart vs Volusion

A drag and drop builder with support that you don’t have to pay extra for is why 3dcart is leading ahead of Volusion. Both of them hold back the “Unlimited Products” but how many online stores really need that?

Volusion vs Wix

Although Wix is the king of drag and drop builders it is limited when you need custom add-ons like an affiliate system for your online store. Affiliates can you send you a massive amount of leads and this targeted traffic option should never be ignored. Volusion also has a Point of Sale system and ability to sell digital products.

Wix vs Squarespace

Squarespace only offers one credit card processor.. are you kidding me? Stripe is a solid credit card processor but they don’t reach everywhere. Currently they only serve 9 countries with 14 in Beta. EBay didn’t acquire Paypal because nobody uses it if you do any buying or selling online then you really should have a paypal account. The point is you don’t want to miss out on sales you could of had because the customer can’t pay you.

 
 

Shopify Tutorial Video

 
 

Bigcommerce Tutorial Video

 
 

CoreCommerce Demo

 
 

X-Cart Admin Panel Video

 
 

3dcart Demo

 
 

Volusion Promo Video

 
 

Wix Store

 
 

Squarespace

Visit Squarespace

 
 

WooCommerce

Visit WooCommerce

 
 

PrestaShop

Visit Prestashop

 
 

Weebly eCommerce platform

 
 

Big Cartel Getting Started

Visit Big Cartel

 
 

Ecwid Tutorial

 
 

Magento: CE

Visit Magento

 
 

GoDaddy Online Store Demo Video

Alright you have all the info that you need to pick the shopping cart that works for you and build your store! Go, be bold and mighty!