Checked October 19, 2026

Shopify alternatives in 2026

Shopify Basic is $29 to $39 a month, and using another payment provider adds a fee on every sale. Eight options compared on price, fees on sales, design, moving your products over, AI agents, and export. PageHub is ours, so we list where it's weaker too.

See the comparisonHow PageHub stores work

Quick picks

No monthly bill and no fee on sales
PageHub
Full control on your own hosting
WooCommerce
A big catalog, with a free migration app
BigCommerce
A brand-led site with a small store
Squarespace
A store plus bookings or events
Wix
Selling in person and online
Square Online
Adding a store to a site you already have
Ecwid
An AI that sets up the store for you
Amboras

The alternatives side by side

Checked October 19, 2026. Prices are USD. Where a vendor only shows its yearly-billing price, that's the price listed.

The alternatives side by side, October 19, 2026
BuilderMonthly price for a storeFee on each saleDesignYour own AI agentCode and data exportMoving your products over
ShopifyBasic, $29 a month billed yearly or $39 monthly. Grow is $79 or $105. No free plan: 3 days free, then $1 a month for 3 months.None with Shopify Payments (2.9% + 30¢ online on Basic). Another payment provider adds 2% on Basic, 1% on Grow, 0.6% on Advanced.Themes you change in the theme editor, and Liquid code for anything past that.Dev MCP server for docs and code checks, plus store tasks run through Shopify CLI. Shopify's docs don't say it edits themes or pages.Products as CSV, without images. The theme downloads as Liquid files.The baseline you're moving off.
PageHubFree, with the full store: cart, Stripe Checkout, sizes and colors, shipping rates, Stripe Tax, promo codes, stock, and orders. Pro is $7 a month per published site and adds customer accounts and order emails.None on any plan. Stripe's own card fees apply.A visual editor that changes layout, spacing, and styles on any element, plus a built-in AI chat. No theme to work around.Connect Claude, ChatGPT, or Cursor over MCP on every plan. It builds, restyles, and publishes the store, and uses no PageHub AI credits.A ZIP of the site's files, with the published pages as static HTML, on every plan including free. Customers and collections export as CSV.Shopify import on every plan, free: products, sizes and colors, images, discounts, and customers, into your Stripe account. Stock copies once; later Shopify changes don't sync. WooCommerce import too.
WooCommerceThe plugin is free. WooCommerce puts hosting at $25 to $350 a month for most stores, plus paid extensions at $29 to $299 a year each.None from WooCommerce. WooPayments is about 2.5% to 2.9% + 30¢ per card payment.Any WordPress theme, with full access to the code.MCP support in developer preview: query, create, and update products and orders. It doesn't edit pages or design.Everything. It's open source on your own hosting, so you keep the code and database.Shopify's product CSV through the built-in importer, free. A paid extension, Migrate & Import Shopify to WooCommerce, also moves customers and orders.
BigCommerceCore, $29 a month billed yearly or $39 monthly, for up to $30K in sales over 12 months. Growth is $79 or $105, up to $100K. 15-day trial.None with its built-in payment providers. Other providers add 2% on Core, 1% on Growth, 0.6% on Scale. PayPal Braintree cards are 2.89% + 29¢.Themes, a drag-and-drop editor (Makeswift), and theme code access. Catalyst is a Next.js storefront for developers.Storefront MCP server for shoppers: search products, build a cart, hand off to checkout. It doesn't edit the store.Products as CSV.Free Data Migration app: products, variants, images, customers, orders, CMS pages, and 301 redirects, up to 500,000 records.
SquarespaceBasic, $19 a month billed yearly or $25 monthly. Core is $29 or $39. 14-day trial.2% on product sales on Basic. None on Core and up. Card fees are separate.Designer templates you change in a drag-and-drop editor.An MCP server for domain search only. It doesn't build pages.Products and contacts as CSV, site content as XML. No bulk image export.One-time CSV import of Shopify products, and customers as a mailing list. Orders, design, and pages don't move.
WixCore, $29 a month billed yearly. The free plan and Light can't take payments.Wix Payments is 2.9% + 30¢ for US cards. Wix's pages list no extra platform fee.A drag-and-drop editor with templates.Official hosted MCP server. It can create and publish sites and call store, bookings, and email APIs. Wix doesn't say it edits page design.Products as CSV, up to 5,000 rows per file. The site itself doesn't export.No automatic import. Products by CSV, or Cart2Cart (a paid third-party app) for up to 1,000 products and 1,000 orders.
Square OnlineFree on a square.site address. Your own domain needs Square Plus, $49 a month per location.No separate fee. Online cards are 3.3% + 30¢ on Free, 2.9% + 30¢ on Plus.A theme you customize: buttons, banners, fonts, video, and animations.MCP server (beta) for Square's API: customers, orders, items. It doesn't edit website pages.Not confirmed on Square's pagesSquare's pages don't describe a Shopify import.
EcwidStarter, $5 a month for 10 products. Venture, $29 billed yearly or $35 monthly, for 100. No free plan.None on any plan.Drops into WordPress, Wix, Squarespace, and other sites, or use its Instant Site builder.No official MCP server on Ecwid's pages.Catalog and orders as CSV.Shopify's product CSV, after you reformat it to Ecwid's columns.
AmborasBasic, $39 a month billed yearly or $49 monthly, for 1 store. Free to try.Not stated on Amboras's pages. Checkout runs on Stripe.An AI designer generates store themes from a prompt.A built-in AI assistant. No MCP or bring-your-own agent on its pages.Says your data exports any time. The format isn't stated.Free on paid plans: products, images, options, stock, prices, pages, and blog posts, with redirects.

Each alternative, up close

Where each one beats Shopify, where it falls short, and who it suits.

PageHub

A website builder with a full Stripe store on the free plan. Build it with the AI chat, your own AI agent, or the visual editor. Products live in your own Stripe account.

Better than Shopify

  • No monthly fee to run a store, and no fee on sales on any plan.
  • Shopify import on every plan, straight into your own Stripe account.
  • Build with the built-in AI chat (Claude, GPT, or Gemini; 1,000 credits on free, packs from $5) or your own agent over MCP, which uses no PageHub credits.
  • Export the whole site's files as a ZIP, with the published pages as static HTML.

Weaker than Shopify

Stripe connection is for US businesses only. Flat-rate shipping only (up to 5 rates and a free-shipping threshold), with no weight-based rates or carrier labels. No currency switcher, abandoned-cart emails, or product reviews. You add and edit products in Stripe, not in PageHub. No app store and no point of sale.

Best for
A small store that wants no monthly bill and no fee on sales, and a design you fully control.
Who owns it
Independent, run by its founder

Sources: PageHub pricing · PageHub ecommerce

WooCommerce

A free, open-source store plugin for WordPress. You host it yourself and add extensions for what you need.

Better than Shopify

  • No platform fee, and you own the code and the database.
  • Thousands of WordPress themes and plugins.

Weaker than Shopify

You run the hosting, updates, and security yourself, and extensions add up.

Best for
Store owners who want full control and don't mind running WordPress.
Who owns it
Automattic, a private company run by its founder, with venture investors

Sources: WooCommerce pricing · Migrating from Shopify · WooCommerce MCP

BigCommerce

A hosted store platform close to Shopify in scope, with plans capped by yearly sales.

Better than Shopify

  • A free migration app that also moves orders and redirects.
  • No fee on sales with its built-in payment providers.

Weaker than Shopify

Plans move up as your yearly sales grow, and no plan is free.

Best for
Larger catalogs that want Shopify-level features and a free migration tool.
Who owns it
Commerce.com (formerly BigCommerce), a public company

Sources: BigCommerce pricing · Data Migration app · BigCommerce MCP · BigCommerce product

Squarespace

An all-in-one builder with designer templates, a store, and scheduling.

Better than Shopify

  • Polished templates, and a Shopify product import built in.

Weaker than Shopify

A 2% fee on Basic, no free plan, and order history can't come with you.

Best for
A brand-led site with a small store and no design learning curve.
Who owns it
Private equity firm Permira, which took it private in October 2024 for about $7.2B

Sources: Squarespace pricing · Moving from Shopify · Import and export · Permira completes Squarespace acquisition

Wix

A drag-and-drop builder with stores, bookings, and events built in.

Better than Shopify

  • Bookings and events built in next to the store.

Weaker than Shopify

No automatic Shopify import, and the site can't leave Wix.

Best for
A store plus bookings or events in one builder.
Who owns it
Wix.com, a public company

Sources: Wix plans · Wix Payments fees · Moving from Shopify · Exporting products · Wix MCP

Square Online

An online store from Square, tied into Square's point of sale.

Better than Shopify

  • A free store, synced with in-person sales and Square's POS.

Weaker than Shopify

Your own domain costs $49 a month per location, and free has the highest card rate here.

Best for
Shops and restaurants that also sell in person with Square.
Who owns it
Block, a public company

Sources: Square Online plans · Square fees · Square plans · Square MCP

Ecwid

A store you add to a site you already have, from Lightspeed. It also has its own site builder.

Better than Shopify

  • The cheapest paid plan here, and no fee on sales.

Weaker than Shopify

Product caps on the cheaper plans, and no direct Shopify import.

Best for
Adding a small store to a website you already like.
Who owns it
Lightspeed, a public company

Sources: Ecwid pricing · Ecwid features · Migrating to Ecwid · Exporting the catalog

Amboras

A newer store platform built around an AI assistant that designs the store and writes product pages. It hosts the storefront, products, orders, and customers.

Better than Shopify

  • A free Shopify migration that rebuilds pages and keeps redirects.

Weaker than Shopify

Costs more than Shopify Basic, and its pages don't state a fee on sales.

Best for
Owners who want an AI to set up and change the store for them.
Who owns it
A young startup backed by Y Combinator

Sources: Amboras pricing · Amboras migration · What is Amboras

When to stay on Shopify

If you rely on carrier-calculated shipping and labels, selling in several currencies, a point of sale, or a particular app from Shopify's app store, Shopify does more than most of this list. Leave when the monthly bill and the apps cost more than the store needs.

How we compared them

Every competitor fact comes from that company's own pricing, help, or developer pages, checked October 19, 2026. Each section links its sources. Where a page didn't say, we wrote that instead of guessing. Prices change, so check the vendor's page before you buy.

See also selling with PageHub and free website builders on your own domain.

Questions about leaving Shopify

What store owners ask before they move.

PageHub runs a full Stripe store on its free plan, with no fee on sales; you pay only Stripe's card fees. Pro is $7 a month per published site and adds customer accounts and order emails. Square Online has a free store on a square.site address, with 3.3% + 30¢ per online card payment. Ecwid starts at $5 a month for 10 products. WooCommerce is free, but you pay for hosting.

Try PageHub on your own domain

The free plan includes the full Stripe store on your own domain. No credit card, and no fee on sales.

Start buildingConnect your AI agent

Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, Squarespace, Wix, Square, Ecwid, Lightspeed, and Amboras are trademarks of their owners. PageHub isn't affiliated with any of them.