What is Shopify and what are its top alternatives?
Shopify is a popular e-commerce platform that allows users to create online stores and sell products. Key features include customizable website templates, secure payment processing, inventory management, and marketing tools. However, some limitations of Shopify include transaction fees, limited customization options for advanced users, and the need for add-ons to access certain features.
- BigCommerce: BigCommerce is a robust e-commerce platform that offers features like multi-channel selling, SEO tools, and customizable themes. Pros include extensive built-in features, while cons include a steep learning curve for beginners.
- WooCommerce: WooCommerce is a popular WordPress plugin that allows users to turn their website into an online store. Key features include flexibility, customization options, and a large community. Pros include being open-source and integration with WordPress, while cons include the need for technical knowledge to set up.
- Magento: Magento is a powerful e-commerce platform with advanced features like scalability, customization, and integrations. Pros include flexibility for large enterprise-level websites, while cons include higher costs and technical complexity.
- Wix: Wix is a website builder that also offers e-commerce functionality. Key features include drag-and-drop website builder, marketing tools, and a variety of templates. Pros include easy setup and user-friendly interface, while cons include limited customization options.
- Squarespace: Squarespace is another website builder that includes e-commerce capabilities. Features include beautiful designs, mobile responsiveness, and SEO tools. Pros include stunning visual designs, while cons include limited payment gateway options.
- Volusion: Volusion is an e-commerce platform that offers features like responsive design, SEO tools, and secure payment processing. Pros include built-in marketing tools, while cons include limited scalability.
- 3dcart: 3dcart is a comprehensive e-commerce platform with features like built-in blog, email marketing, and secure hosting. Pros include a wide range of features, while cons include a dated user interface.
- PrestaShop: PrestaShop is an open-source e-commerce platform with features like customizable themes, multi-language support, and product management tools. Pros include being free and customizable, while cons include the need for technical knowledge.
- Ecwid: Ecwid is a flexible e-commerce platform that allows users to sell on multiple channels, including social media and websites. Key features include easy integration, SEO tools, and mobile responsiveness. Pros include the ability to sell on various platforms, while cons include limited customization options.
- OpenCart: OpenCart is an open-source e-commerce platform with features like multi-store functionality, customizable themes, and extensions. Pros include being free and easy to use, while cons include limited support and updates.
Top Alternatives to Shopify
- WordPress
The core software is built by hundreds of community volunteers, and when you’re ready for more there are thousands of plugins and themes available to transform your site into almost anything you can imagine. Over 60 million people have chosen WordPress to power the place on the web they call “home” — we’d love you to join the family. ...
- Weebly
Weebly is an AJAX website creator that allows you to create pages with template skins and content widgets. Users can easily drag-and-drop content widgets like pictures, text, video and Google Maps in WYSIWYG-fashion. ...
- ClickFunnels
ClickFunnels is the only website builder that doesn't just build pages, but actually builds entire sales funnels. ...
- GoDaddy
Go Daddy makes registering Domain Names fast, simple, and affordable. It is a trusted domain registrar that empowers people with creative ideas to succeed online. ...
- PrestaShop
PrestaShop is written in PHP, is highly customizable, supports all the major payment services, is translated in many languages and localized for many countries, and is fully responsive (both front- and back-office). ...
- Stripe
Stripe makes it easy for developers to accept credit cards on the web.
- WooCommerce
WooCommerce is the most popular WordPress eCommerce plugin. And it's available for free. Packed full of features, perfectly integrated into your self-hosted WordPress website. ...
- Squarespace
Whether you need simple pages, sophisticated galleries, a professional blog, or want to sell online, it all comes standard with your Squarespace website. Squarespace starts you with beautiful designs right out of the box — each handcrafted by our award-winning design team to make your content stand out. ...
Shopify alternatives & related posts
WordPress
- Customizable416
- Easy to manage367
- Plugins & themes354
- Non-tech colleagues can update website content259
- Really powerful247
- Rapid website development145
- Best documentation78
- Codex51
- Product feature set44
- Custom/internal social network35
- Open source18
- Great for all types of websites8
- Huge install and user base7
- I like it like I like a kick in the groin5
- It's simple and easy to use by any novice5
- Perfect example of user collaboration5
- Open Source Community5
- Most websites make use of it5
- Best5
- API-based CMS4
- Community4
- Easy To use3
- <a href="https://secure.wphackedhel">Easy Beginner</a>2
- Hard to keep up-to-date if you customize things13
- Plugins are of mixed quality13
- Not best backend UI10
- Complex Organization2
- Do not cover all the basics in the core1
- Great Security1
related WordPress posts
I've heard that I have the ability to write well, at times. When it flows, it flows. I decided to start blogging in 2013 on Blogger. I started a company and joined BizPark with the Microsoft Azure allotment. I created a WordPress blog and did a migration at some point. A lot happened in the time after that migration but I stopped coding and changed cities during tumultuous times that taught me many lessons concerning mental health and productivity. I eventually graduated from BizSpark and outgrew the credit allotment. That killed the WordPress blog.
I blogged about writing again on the existing Blogger blog but it didn't feel right. I looked at a few options where I wouldn't have to worry about hosting cost indefinitely and Jekyll stood out with GitHub Pages. The Importer was fairly straightforward for the existing blog posts.
Todo * Set up redirects for all posts on blogger. The URI format is different so a complete redirect wouldn't work. Although, there may be something in Jekyll that could manage the redirects. I did notice the old URLs were stored in the front matter. I'm working on a command-line Ruby gem for the current plan. * I did find some of the lost WordPress posts on archive.org that I downloaded with the waybackmachinedownloader. I think I might write an importer for that. * I still have a few Disqus comment threads to map
hello guys, I need your help. I created a website, I've been using Elementor forever, but yesterday I bought a template after I made the purchase I knew I made a mistake, cause the template was in HTML, can anyone please show me how to put this HTML template in my WordPress so it will be the face of my website, thank you in advance.
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I am looking to make a website builder web app, where users can publish built websites with a custom or subdomain (much like Wix, Weebly, Squarespace, etc.), and I was wondering about any advice on which web framework to build it on? I currently know Node.js, but I would be excited to learn Laravel or Django if those would be better options. Any advice would be much appreciated!
ClickFunnels
- Powerful, mobile responsive, page editor2
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- Flexible payment methods for domains8
- .io support3
- Constantly trying to upsell you2
- Not a great UI1
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I only know Java and so thinking of building a web application in the following order. I need some help on what alternatives I can choose. Open to replace components, services, or infrastructure.
- Frontend: AngularJS, Bootstrap
- Web Framework: Spring Boot
- Database: Amazon DynamoDB
- Authentication: Auth0
- Deployment: Amazon EC2 Container Service
- Local Testing: Docker
- Marketing: Mailchimp (Separately Export from Auth0)
- Website Domain: GoDaddy
- Routing: Amazon Route 53
PS: Open to exploring options of going completely native ( AWS Lambda, AWS Security but have to learn all)
- Free21
- Powerful15
- Customisable15
- Easy to understand code14
- Scalable13
- Great community12
- Easy to customize with plugins11
- Easy learning10
- Fast8
- Rich features with powerful functions7
- Feature rich4
- Learning4
- Easy to handle4
related PrestaShop posts
I am consulting for a company that wants to move its current CubeCart e-commerce site to another PHP based platform like PrestaShop or Magento. I was interested in alternatives that utilize Node.js as the primary platform. I currently don't know PHP, but I have done full stack dev with Java, Spring, Thymeleaf, etc.. I am just unsure that learning a set of technologies not commonly used makes sense. For example, in PrestaShop, I would need to work with JavaScript better and learn PHP, Twig, and Bootstrap. It seems more cumbersome than a Node JS system, where the language syntax stays the same for the full stack. I am looking for thoughts and advice on the relevance of PHP skillset into the future AND whether the Node based e-commerce open source options can compete with Magento or Prestashop.
I'm looking to build an eCommerce website and seeking advice from professionals on the most reliable tech stack that I can use. Currently, the website is built on top of WordPress with WooCommerce, but the company has grown up, and evidently, the number of products have been increased. The site needs a fresh code because WordPress doesn't make it anymore.
The stack I'm most familiar with is PHP + Symfony + MySQL + Apache HTTP Server or NGINX. Headless eCommerce is the one I'm looking for, because of the huge complexity, it would be great to separate the backend from the frontend. Not sure about CMSs, because they had a huge amount of functionality that the application doesn't need. I've been looking also at PrestaShop, it seems ok, but not sure about customization and front-end integration. As a custom solution, I have found Sylius or Aimeos for the backend, but I'm not too sure about a frontend stack.
Could you please give some suggestions about the frontend stack and if the ones for the backend are ok?
- Easy setup302
- Developer friendly292
- Well-designed api248
- Great documentation191
- Clear pricing169
- Secure75
- Reliable74
- Full integration with webhooks63
- Amazing api43
- Great customer support38
- Easy11
- Credit cards never hit your server - no pci worries6
- Recurring billing5
- No merchant account/gateway required4
- BitCoin3
- Easy to integrate3
- Support for SCA (Strong Customer Authentication)2
- Fast UI2
- Great app2
- Beautiful1
- Payments without own backend (using Stripe Products)1
- Connect1
- Checkout.js1
- Great UI1
- So easy to use1
- Connect4
- CANNOT withdraw USD to a Canadian Bank Account2
- Does NOT have a currency conversion option like Paypal2
- They keep 25% of the income for 60 days2
related Stripe posts
To accept payments on updown.io, we first added support for Stripe which is by far the most popular payment gateway for startups and for a good reason. Their service is of awesome quality: the UI is gorgeous, the integration is easy, the documentation is great, the API is super stable and well thought. I can't recommend it enough.
We then added support for PayPal which is pretty popular for people who have money on it and don't know where to spend it (it can make it feel like you're spending less when it comes from PayPal wallet), or for people who prefer not to enter a credit card on a new website. This was pretty well received and we're currently receiving about 25% of our purchases from PayPal. The documentation and integration is much more painful than with Stripe IMO, I can't recommend them for that, but not having it is basically dodging potential sales.
Finally we more recently added support of BitPay for #Bitcoin and BitcoinCash payments, which was a pretty easy process but not worth the time in the end due to the low usage and the always changing conditions of the network: the transaction fees got huge after price raise and bitcoin because unusable for small payments, they then introduced support for BCH and a newer Bitcoin protocol for lower fees, but then you need a special wallet to pay and in the end it's too cumbersome, even for bitcoin users, to pay with it. I think unless you expect a bit number of payments using cryptocurrencies it's not worth implementing this solution, and better to accept them manually.
Google Analytics is a great tool to analyze your traffic. To debug our software and ask questions, we love to use Postman and Stack Overflow. Google Drive helps our team to share documents. We're able to build our great products through the APIs by Google Maps, CloudFlare, Stripe, PayPal, Twilio, Let's Encrypt, and TensorFlow.
- Easy to extend and customize12
- Slow if not optimized1
related WooCommerce posts
We needed our e-commerce platform (built using WooCommerce) to be able to keep products in sync with our #pim (provided by #akeneo) which is built in Symfony . We hooked into the kernel.event_listener to send RabbitMQ messages to a WordPress API endpoint that triggers the updated product to rebuild with fresh data.
I'm looking to build an eCommerce website and seeking advice from professionals on the most reliable tech stack that I can use. Currently, the website is built on top of WordPress with WooCommerce, but the company has grown up, and evidently, the number of products have been increased. The site needs a fresh code because WordPress doesn't make it anymore.
The stack I'm most familiar with is PHP + Symfony + MySQL + Apache HTTP Server or NGINX. Headless eCommerce is the one I'm looking for, because of the huge complexity, it would be great to separate the backend from the frontend. Not sure about CMSs, because they had a huge amount of functionality that the application doesn't need. I've been looking also at PrestaShop, it seems ok, but not sure about customization and front-end integration. As a custom solution, I have found Sylius or Aimeos for the backend, but I'm not too sure about a frontend stack.
Could you please give some suggestions about the frontend stack and if the ones for the backend are ok?
- Easy setup35
- Clean designs31
- Beautiful responsive themes8
- Easy ongoing maintenance6
- Live chat & 24/7 support team3
- No coding necessary1
- Hard to use custom code1
related Squarespace posts
I am looking to make a website builder web app, where users can publish built websites with a custom or subdomain (much like Wix, Weebly, Squarespace, etc.), and I was wondering about any advice on which web framework to build it on? I currently know Node.js, but I would be excited to learn Laravel or Django if those would be better options. Any advice would be much appreciated!
I created a Squarespace website with multiple blog pages. I discovered that the native Squarespace commenting tool is not currently capable of letting people subscribe to my blog pages if they are using Google Chrome or Safari! I then discovered that Disqus email verification doesn't work with Yahoo Mail. I also hate that there's no way to turn off that email verification (which I don't need since I moderate all comments anyway). So I want to use a different commenting system. I've read some good things about Commento. Three questions: (1) will it work on a Squarespace site? (I'll pay a developer to integrate it for me) (2) Does it have its own issues/elements that don't work smoothly, similar to the other two? (3) Is there another plugin I should be considering for my Squarespace site?