Best E-commerce Platforms (2026)

BigCommerce is an enterprise-grade e-commerce platform that provides headless commerce, multi-channel selling, and advanced B2B capabilities. Unlike Shopify, it includes many features natively without requiring apps, including multi-currency, multi-language, and advanced product options. Popular with larger stores and B2B sellers.

WooCommerce is a free, open-source e-commerce plugin for WordPress. It powers over 25% of all online stores globally, offering unlimited customisation through WordPress themes and plugins. While the core plugin is free, costs come from hosting, themes, and extensions. Ideal for businesses wanting full ownership of their store.

Squarespace Commerce is the e-commerce functionality built into the Squarespace website builder. It offers beautiful, design-forward online stores with integrated payment processing, inventory management, and marketing tools. Ideal for brands where design and aesthetics are as important as functionality.

Ecwid (by Lightspeed) is an e-commerce platform that lets you add an online store to any existing website. Instead of building a new site, you embed Ecwid's store widget into your current WordPress, Wix, or Squarespace site. Also offers a standalone store and POS. Popular with businesses that already have a website.

PrestaShop is a free, open-source e-commerce platform popular in Europe. It offers a comprehensive set of e-commerce features out of the box, with a marketplace of modules for extending functionality. Self-hosted like WooCommerce but purpose-built for e-commerce rather than being a plugin on top of a CMS.