Merchants look past Shopify when fees on outside payment gateways, the checkout limits below Plus or the step from Advanced to a quote-priced Plus plan stop making sense for their margins. Most go to BigCommerce for a hosted equivalent with a B2B lean, to WooCommerce or Shopware for control, and to Squarespace or Wix when the store is a small part of a site.
Visibility in our rankings can be paid for. Payment moves a vendor's position within
the shortlist; it never adds a vendor, and it never changes a word of the review or of this page. The first three alternatives
go to challengers, vendors outside the best-known brands in a category, wherever the category has them; the
established names follow in their ranked order. How it works:
placement disclosure · editorial process.
What each alternative does differently
1. BigCommerce
Hosted ecommerce with native B2B and multi-storefront · United States
The nearest hosted rival, with plans set by trailing twelve-month online sales instead of by staff seats. The pricing page states zero fees with its embedded payment providers, and the category entry lists 2%, 1% or 0.6% on other gateways below Performance. Price lists for B2B buyers sit in the plan comparison.
Switch from Shopify if you want a hosted platform with B2B price lists and a plan tied to sales volume.
Pricing: Published Core, Growth and Scale plans at $39, $105 and $399 a month ($29, $79 and $299 billed annually), capped or metered by online sales; Performance from $1,499 a month. No order fee through listed providers such as Stripe, PayPal and Adyen; other gateways cost 2%, 1% or 0.6% of their sales below Performance. (free trial)
Full review: #1 of 12 in our ranking ·
Visit BigCommerce →
2. WooCommerce
Open-source store plugin for WordPress · United States
An open source commerce layer on WordPress. The core plugin costs nothing, and the bill is hosting, yearly extension subscriptions, themes and developer time. You choose any payment provider and any host, and you also own updates, backups, speed and security.
Switch from Shopify if you run WordPress, can maintain a site, and want any payment provider without a platform surcharge.
Pricing: Core plugin free; costs come from hosting, yearly extension subscriptions, themes and developer time. (open source)
Full review: #5 of 12 in our ranking ·
Visit WooCommerce →
3. Squarespace
Design-first website builder with a store on every plan · United States
A website builder with a store attached. The pricing page shows a 2% online store fee on its lowest plan, removed by upgrading, and a 7% fee on digital content and memberships on low tiers. Design is tightly managed, and the store is shallower than a dedicated platform.
Switch from Shopify if the site matters more than the catalog and you sell a small range of products.
Pricing: Published monthly or annual plans, all of which can sell; Basic carries a 2% online store fee that Core and above remove, and digital content and membership sales are charged a fee below Advanced. (free trial)
Full review: #7 of 12 in our ranking ·
Visit Squarespace →
4. Wix
Website builder with built-in online store · Israel
A site builder where the Free and Light plans cannot take payments, and the Core, Business and Business Elite plans can. Selling is one feature of a general website tool rather than the product. It suits a brand whose site, bookings and shop live together.
Switch from Shopify if you want one builder for site, bookings and a modest shop at a lower monthly cost.
Pricing: Free and Light plans cannot take payments; the Core, Business and Business Elite plans accept payments and run the store, priced yearly with shorter billing available. (free plan)
Full review: #6 of 12 in our ranking ·
Visit Wix →
5. Shopware
Open-source commerce platform from Germany · Germany
A German platform with a free MIT-licensed Community Edition, plus paid Rise from 600 euros and Evolve from 2,400 euros a month priced by GMV. It runs self-hosted, on PaaS or as SaaS. B2B components sit in Evolve, and the team needs development capacity.
Switch from Shopify if you sell B2B or in several European markets and have developers who want an open codebase.
Pricing: Free open-source Community Edition under the MIT license; paid Rise from €600 and Evolve from €2,400 a month, priced by GMV, with Beyond on request; self-hosted, PaaS or SaaS. (open source)
Full review: #2 of 12 in our ranking ·
Visit Shopware →
6. Ecwid by Lightspeed
Embeddable store for an existing website · Canada
A store you add to a site you already have, from WordPress to Wix. The pricing page lists plans by product count, a statement of zero transaction fees from Ecwid, and month-to-month terms. It has no free plan, and the bigger plans cap products and staff accounts.
Switch from Shopify if you keep an existing website and want a store embedded in it with no Ecwid transaction fee.
Pricing: Published monthly plans from $5 (Starter, 10 products) to $149 (Unlimited), set largely by product count and features, 16% off on annual billing; no free plan or trial; no platform fee on transactions. (none)
Full review: #3 of 12 in our ranking ·
Visit Ecwid by Lightspeed →
7. PrestaShop
Open-source ecommerce from France · France
A French open source platform. The Classic edition is a free download you host yourself, while a hosted offer costs 29 euros a month with a 14-day trial. Modules and themes come from a marketplace and are bought one by one. Expect more setup work than on a hosted tool.
Switch from Shopify if you want open source with an optional hosted offer and a European support network.
Pricing: Free open-source Classic download; Hosted offer at €29 a month (€24 billed annually) with hosting and support and a 14-day trial; paid modules and themes from the marketplace. (open source)
Full review: #8 of 12 in our ranking ·
Visit PrestaShop →
8. Big Cartel
Simple store builder for artists and makers · United States
A flat-fee shop for artists and makers. The Gold plan is free for five products, and Platinum and Diamond cost 15 and 30 dollars a month by product count. It has no multi-market tooling and a small feature set, which is the reason it stays cheap and simple.
Switch from Shopify if you sell a small catalog of your own work and want a flat price without a fee ladder.
Pricing: Free Gold plan for 5 products, then flat Platinum and Diamond plans at $15 and $30 a month set by product count, with 20% off on annual billing. (free plan)
Full review: #9 of 12 in our ranking ·
Visit Big Cartel →
9. Lightspeed eCom
Webshop tied to the Lightspeed till · Canada
A Canadian retail suite whose store sits beside a point of sale. The Dutch page lists Essential at 68 euros a month for 250 product variants, one user and one language, and the US page folds the store into its Retail plans. It charges no transaction fee itself on outside processors.
Switch from Shopify if you run physical shops and want the web store and the till on one vendor.
Pricing: Dutch price page lists Essential at €68 a month (250 product variants, 1 user, 1 language), Advanced at €120, Professional at €259 and Enterprise on quote; the US page lists eCommerce as built into its Retail plans. No transaction fee from Lightspeed on outside payment processors. (none)
Full review: #12 of 12 in our ranking ·
Visit Lightspeed eCom →
10. Adobe Commerce
Enterprise commerce built on Magento · United States
An enterprise platform licensed by revenue band on quote, with cloud-hosted and SaaS options, plus Magento Open Source as a separate free edition. It is built for large catalogs and heavy customization. A small team needs an implementation partner and budget before the first sale.
Switch from Shopify if you outgrew Plus-style limits and have a development team and agency budget.
Pricing: Quote only, licensed by revenue band, with cloud-hosted and SaaS options; Magento Open Source is a separate free edition. (none)
Full review: #11 of 12 in our ranking ·
Visit Adobe Commerce →
11. commercetools
Headless, API-first commerce backend · Germany
A German headless, API-first service with no built-in storefront. It is quote-only and priced by order volume, with unlimited catalogs, channels and storefronts. A free trial exists. You assemble the front end yourself, which makes sense for a large organization and little sense for a small shop.
Switch from Shopify if you need a headless backend feeding many storefronts and have engineers to build them.
Pricing: Quote only, priced by order volume rather than GMV, with unlimited catalogs, channels and storefronts; free trial available. (free trial)
Full review: #10 of 12 in our ranking ·
Visit commercetools →
Questions and answers
Can I export my products and orders from Shopify?
Yes, both leave as UTF-8 CSV files from the admin. The product file excludes images, and large exports are emailed instead of downloaded. The help centre describes exports of thousands of variants failing, so split them into batches.
How do I cancel a Shopify store?
You contact Shopify Support and follow the steps it gives you. The terms state that you get one last invoice, receive no pro rata refund, and that your store is taken offline. A domain bought through Shopify is no longer renewed automatically.
Can Shopify raise the price on an existing plan?
Yes, the terms allow Shopify to change fees from time to time and promise 30 days notice by email, in the admin or by similar means. They also say Shopify is not liable for a price change, so a long contract is worth negotiating on Plus.
Do I pay extra if I leave Shopify Payments?
Yes, the terms charge Transaction Fees on sales made through payment providers other than Shopify Payments. The pricing page lists third-party fees of 2% on Basic. Check the current rate for your plan before comparing a rival that waives it.
Can I use Shopify Payments in any country?
No, the help centre lists supported countries, covering North America, parts of Asia-Pacific, the United Arab Emirates and most of western Europe. In an unlisted country you need a third-party provider and, under the terms, pay the extra transaction fee.
Is Plus the only way to customize checkout?
For the information, shipping and payment steps, yes, according to the help centre. Other plans can change branding on checkout and use apps for the thank you and order status pages. Rivals that open the full checkout on lower tiers remove that gate.
