Ecwid is a lightweight, flexible, and intuitive ecommerce extension that makes it easy to manage inventory across multiple sales channels in one place. Stacked up against its competitors, it offers a unique approach to selling products online. And with nearly 1 million customers, there’s no doubt it’s a popular choice.
But is it the best choice for you? Keep reading to see how it compares to bigger names like Shopify and BigCommerce, what it’s good at, and where it falls flat.
Ecwid Compared to the Best Ecommerce Platforms
Ecwid is one of our favorite ecommerce solutions, but we only recommend it for specific situations. Check out an overview of our top picks below or read our full best ecommerce platforms guide to learn more.
If you want to create a WordPress site with an online store, Bluehost’s WooCommerce hosting is the way to go. Everything is pre-installed for you, so it’s ready to go out of the box. Try it risk free for 30 days.
Shopify is the best place to start if you’re serious about your online store, with everything you need to build a website, market it, accept payments, and sell on multiple channels. Sign up today to get three days free and build your entire site before paying a penny.
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If you already have a website, Ecwid is the best lightweight solution for adding ecommerce functionality, regardless of what platform your site lives on. If you don’t have a website, we recommend going with one of our favorite ecommerce solutions above.
Ecwid: The Good and the Bad
To kick our review off, we’ll start with an in-depth look at what Ecwid has going for it. Then, we’ll talk about where it can improve and explore the different plans available to help you decide which one’s right for you.
What Ecwid Is Good At
Free-forever plan: If you have an existing website but want to try ecommerce without a major investment of time or money, Ecwid’s free plan lets you create a sleek storefront in minutes. You can showcase up to five products to start, then grow from there by moving onto a paid plan.
Ecwid plays nice with just about any website platform, so you can embed your store seamlessly onto your existing WordPress, Wix, Weebly, or Squarespace site, no coding required. Or, you can copy-paste code from the Ecwid dashboard onto any other CMS or website platform and raise your storefront with just a few clicks.
While the free plan won’t unleash Ecwid’s full power with subscriptions, services, wholesale pricing, or automated tax calculations, you get user-friendly tools to upload products, engage customers, and convert visitors to customers. It’s a lightweight, frictionless way for you to sell online and get a feel for how easy ecommerce can be.
Affordable plans: If you want to sell online without spending a fortune, Ecwid beats the pants off traditional ecommerce website builders like Shopify, BigCommerce, and Squarespace in terms of price. Unlike the competition, Ecwid actually lets you open a real, working store for free. You can upload products, customize the design, and even ring up sales without ever needing to upgrade.
When you do step up to a paid plan, Ecwid is still a steal. Their starter tier ($14 per month) is less than half the price of comparable plans from Shopify and BigCommerce, and it includes everything you need to build and expand your online storefront.
As your business grows, Ecwid’s pricing stays competitive. Even their high-octane Enterprise plan is only $82.50 per month. Compare that to the $300 per month price tag for Shopify and BigCommerce’s highest-end plans.
Omnichannel selling: With Ecwid, your products can live everywhere your customers are online—on your website, on social media platforms, via online marketplaces, and even in person. Ecwid makes it effortless to set up a centralized catalogue of goods one time, then showcase and sell them across mutliple platforms.
Picture this. You spend a few hours adding your product specs, images, and pricing into Ecwid. Then, with a few clicks of your mouse, your storefront is embedded in your website. But why stop there? You can enable the free integrations for Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, WhatsApp, YouTube, eBay, and Amazon Marketplace, with every purchase synced with your Ecwid dashboard.
Digital products and subscriptions: Ecwid lets you sell physical goods, digital downloads, subscriptions, and services, letting you create a diversified business model. Imagine customers buying your handmade makeup, downloading a class with tips on how to apply it, and then join a paid membership where they receive a box of accessories and refills every month. Ecwid makes this all possible for as little as $14 per month.
You can sell digital goods up to 25 GB in size, ample allotment for selling ebooks, video courses, graphic design assets, or audio files. Ecwid also supports subscriptions for recurring services or installment plans for high-ticket items. With Ecwid as your ecommerce engine, you have the freedom to sell what you want, how you want.
Dropship and wholesale-ready: If you want to dropship products from other suppliers or offer wholesale pricing to bulk buyers, Ecwid has you covered. Their paid plans provide seamless integration with top dropshipping services plus powerful options for managing wholesale relationships. You can connect your store to Printful, Spocket, Printify and more to automate product importing, inventory syncing, and shipping of orders. You can even run multiple dropshipping businesses from one Ecwid account, streamlining management of abandoned cart emails, taxes, shipping, and payments.
Ecwid also offers a user-friendly way to configure special pricing for volume buyers. Set up a dedicated wholesale catalog with password protection on your site or use customer groups that automatically receive bulk discounts when logged in. There are also options to create coupons for wholesale shoppers only or enable volume-based price reductions for certain products.
No commission fees: With Ecwid, you keep more of the profits from every sale. Other ecommerce platforms charge you transaction fees or commissions on top of what you already pay your payment processor. Shopify penalizes you for using third-party payment gateways by charging an extra 0.5% to 2% fee per sale. Squarespace takes a flat 3% of every transaction on their introductory ecommerce plan. And, while Gumroad has no monthly fees, they keep a whopping 10% of all your revenue.
With Ecwid, you pay a low monthly rate and keep 100% of each transaction (aside from your payment processor’s standard rate). Imagine making $10,000 in sales this month. On Shopify’s Basic plan, you’d pay at least $50 in additional fees if you didn’t use their payment processor. Squarespace would take $300 right off the top. But with Ecwid, that $10,000 is all yours except the typical payment processing costs. For small and midsize businesses, a few percentage points in extra transaction fees each month can really add up. Ecwid allows you to keep more of your hard-earned money and invest it back into your business.
100+ payment options: With over 100 integrated payment gateways, Ecwid offers a wide array of options to accept payments from customers, from Apple Pay, Google Pay, and PayPal to credit cards, debit cards, cryptocurrency, and beyond. Let customers without a credit card still pay in installments via Klarna or let your international customers use Afterpay or PayU. No matter where your buyers are or how they like to pay, Ecwid has you covered.
Ecwid even provides an in-house payment processor called Lightspeed with rates as low as 2.6% + $0.30 per transaction for U.S. and Canadian sellers. But if you prefer Stripe, Square, or any other gateway, you’re free to use them. Ecwid plays nice with all payment options and doesn’t penalize you with additional fees. With such a wide range of payment methods supported, Ecwid makes it easy to give customers plenty of options for a faster, frictionless checkout experience.
Automatic tax calculations: For sellers in 16 countries, Ecwid automates sales tax calculations so you can stay compliant without headaches. Their one-click tax integration supports users in the United States., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the European Union, and the United Kingdom. Imagine how much time you’ll save not having to set tax rates, file returns, and keep rules updated for different locations manually.
Of course, you can still configure custom tax zones and rates for specialized product types. Ecwid provides the automation to handle standard taxes but also the flexibility to account for exemptions or specific situations as needed for your business.
Global sales made easy: With Ecwid, you can showcase your products to international audiences and provide an amazing buying experience for customers anywhere in the world. Their platform makes it easy to sell globally by supporting 53 languages, multiple currencies, and the aforementioned automated tax compliance for several countries.
Ecwid may not fully translate your product listings or site content into different languages, but the platform will automatically translate everything it can. You can also add custom translations to take care of what Ecwid misses. However, it’s important to keep in mind that displaying your prices in multiple currencies requires a premium add-on that costs between $4.49 per month.
Built-in inventory tracking: Inventory management can be tedious and time-consuming, but Ecwid’s built-in stock tracking offers a user-friendly solution. You’re able to effortlessly update product quantities, receive notifications when stock runs low, and hide or display out-of-stock items with the click of a button.
Say you sell t-shirts in sizes small through extra-large. As customers purchase various sizes, Ecwid will automatically deduct each item from your total stock, saving you from counting sizes and updating totals manually. If your supply of large shirts starts to dwindle, Ecwid can send you an automated alert so you know to reorder before completely selling out.
There’s also a built-in barcode scanner in the mobile app that you can use to update inventory levels, find specific products or orders, or even add new items to your online store. With Ecwid helping you handle the management of your product stock, you’re free to focus on attracting new customers and improving your product selection.
Shipping partners: Shipping products to customers in a timely, cost-effective manner is crucial for any online store. That’s why Ecwid has partnered with over 20 major carriers to provide real-time shipping estimates and label printing directly within their platform. You can even get up to 50% off retail USPS prices by using Ecwid.
When a customer places an order, Ecwid will instantly calculate the exact shipping cost using the recipient’s address and either the weight or dimensions of each item in their cart. The customer can then choose between delivery options like USPS Priority Mail, UPS Ground, or FedEx SmartPost at checkout. As the store owner, you have full control over which carriers are offered in which locations.
Once the customer completes their purchase, you’ll receive a shipping label with the necessary details For high-volume stores, Ecwid also integrates with fulfillment services to handle logistics so you can focus on growing your business.
Custom mobile app: Designing and developing your own custom app for your web store can be time-consuming and expensive. Thankfully, Ecwid offers a fully branded mobile app on both Android and iOS for showcasing your products. The best part? You’ll receive it for free if you choose an Ecwid Unlimited annual plan.
Since the app is customized to match your store’s design and branding, your customers get a cohesive experience. And any updates you make to your product catalog, images, or inventory within Ecwid will automatically sync to the app in real time. The only requirement is that you have a developer account with Google Play and the App Store to distribute the app. Ecwid will then create the app, list it under your developer account, and handle all updates and maintenance. The end result is a fully functional mobile storefront at no additional cost to you.
For users who don’t need the Unlimited plan or are paying for it month-to-month, Ecwid’s branded mobile app is also available as a one-time add-on of $590 to any paid plan.
Customization on higher plan tiers: Ecwid’s team of 20 experts can build custom integrations, automate processes, improve the checkout experience, set up tailored email campaigns, create custom reports and analytics, design professional invoices, and more for you on select annual plans.With Ecwid handling the technical details, you’re free to focus on ways to showcase your brand and engage shoppers.
Ecwid Business plans include two free customization hours to get started, while Ecwid Unlimited plans include 12 hours to build solutions tailored for your needs. Simply describe what you need to Ecwid’s team, from improving the checkout experience to setting up targeted discounts or anything else, and Ecwid will handle it. Additional customization hours are available for $100 each when you need to go beyond the free hours provided in your Ecwid plan. By speaking with them about your vision, they’ll design an ecommerce solution to help take your business to the next level.
What Ecwid Is Lacking
All-in-one store builder: Ecwid’s drag-and-drop website builder lets you create a simple one-page store quickly, but it lacks the power and capabilities of a full website builder. While the easy-to-use interface and curated fonts and images help you design an eye-catching site in minutes, the website builder is too basic to serve as your only online presence. There’s no blogging functionality, limited customization, sparse styling options, and no native marketing or SEO tools.
This serves as an easy way to quickly launch a starter store, but you’ll soon outgrow its limited capabilities. To build an impactful, conversion-optimized website, you’ll need a more robust website builder with greater design freedom and built-in marketing features. Ecwid is much more powerful as a way to set up ecommerce functionality on another site building platform than it is when using its own site builder to create your entire ecommerce site from scratch.
Key features included: Many standard ecommerce features are only available on Ecwid’s higher-priced plans or through third-party apps you have to pay to get access to. Ecwid’s free plan lacks critical features like shipping rate calculations, order tracking, and the ability to sell on social media platforms.
Even on the entry-level Venture plan, functionality like abandoned cart recovery, product filtering, and subscriptions are unavailable unless you upgrade to Ecwid’s Business plan. On top of that, many of the apps that provide key ecommerce functionalities are not free. Checkout progress bars, multiple currency options, and cart abandonment popups require separate monthly fees to use.
So, while Ecwid touts itself as an easy, lightweight ecommerce solution, adding the features and functionality you need to run a full-fledged online store can end up costing you a bit more than just your monthly plan rate.
SEO freedom: You won’t have total control over details that significantly impact your search visibility and marketing efforts in Ecwid. For example, you can’t customize your product URLs or image alt tags. They’re generated automatically. You also can’t edit or remove structured data like pricing and availability that’s displayed in search results.
While this “set it and forget it” approach is certainly low-maintenance for site owners, it may not yield the best ecommerce SEO results. The good news is you can still optimize titles and descriptions to attract and engage your customers. For some, the simplicity and speed to get up and running outweighs the downsides. For others concerned with having more control over their SEO settings and online presence, the lack of flexibility could be a dealbreaker.
Native integrations: Ecwid’s integrations are currently limited to just a few hundred options. While that sounds like a lot, it leaves out many popular business tools.
For email marketing, you’re stuck choosing between Mailchimp, ConvertKit, and a handful of lesser-known platforms. The options for accounting software are QuickBooks, FreshBooks, and Xero. And Ecwid only offers native integrations with more niche CRMs like Teamleader, Capsule, and Zoho. You’re able to connect to some other popular platforms, like Salesforce, HubSpot, and Constant Contact, via Zapier but that might mean a less-reliable sync than a native integration.
The good news is that Ecwid provides an API to build custom apps, so you may be able to create tailored integrations to fit your specific tech stack. However, that requires developer resources and time that not all business owners have readily available.
Ecwid Products and Pricing
Ecwid offers four different plans ranging from free to unlimited. The pricing structure overall is based on the number of products you have, the types of goods you want to sell, and the channels you want to sell on.
Those plans are:
- Free: for up to five physical products sold through an online store
- Venture: for up to 100 digital or physical products through your website or social channels
- Business: for up to 2,500 products through any channel, including subscriptions
- Unlimited: for unlimited products, priority support, support for selling in person, and a free mobile app
Below, we’ll dig deeper into the features and capabilities of each plan, including the nuances between them and who should use which one.
Free Plan
As a business owner, you need solutions that boost your productivity without hurting your bottom line. Ecwid’s free ecommerce plan gives you an easy way to showcase and sell products online with no upfront costs or fees.
Their lightweight toolkit provides enough functionality to launch a stunning online store in minutes. You’ll have access to Ecwid’s intuitive interface, regular updates, and responsive design that displays beautifully across devices. Promote your store on social media or embed it directly onto your existing website for a unified experience.
Whether you sell handcrafted goods on the side or run a fledgling shop that is primed to grow, Ecwid’s free plan offers plug-and-play ecommerce. You can create an online store showcasing up to five products in a flash. There’s no need to navigate complicated features or splashy customizations. Ecwid gives you an effortless setup so you can start making sales ASAP.
The Venture Plan
Ecwid’s Venture plan is an ecommerce solution for small businesses looking to expand their online stores. It builds upon the Free plan by offering additional features for managing more products, marketing your brand, streamlining operations, and selling across multiple channels.
With the Venture plan, your business can utilize additional tools to boost sales and improve the customer experience. You’ll have everything from the Free plan, but you’ll also gain access to coupons and discounts, gift cards, the ability to sell directly on Instagram and Facebook, basic inventory management, and automated tax calculations to simplify the checkout process.
Ecwid’s Venture plan is designed for established small businesses looking to sell more products through an easy-to-use ecommerce solution. With a mix of essential and advanced features, businesses can build a targeted, appealing online shopping experience for their customers.
The Business Plan
With this plan, you can showcase up to 2,500 products. You’ll have everything from the Venture plan, plus the ability to invite staff members to help run your growing store. Ecwid makes it seamless to sync your store with major marketplaces like Amazon and eBay on this plan, too, expanding your reach.
A larger product catalog means more choices and better experiences for your customers. Offer product variations with different colors, sizes, or materials. For those stores that also offer an in-person shopping experience, Ecwid’s mobile POS system lets you accept payments anywhere that stay synced with your online store. And you won’t let abandoned carts slip through the cracks anymore, either, as Ecwid’s automated email marketing helps you re-engage customers that left before purchasing and close more sales.
For companies prioritizing the customer experience, Ecwid offers scheduled order pickup, wholesale pricing groups, and dimensional shipping rates to keep shoppers happy. You can even set up recurring subscriptions and tap into two free hours of Ecwid-built customizations, giving you the freedom to tailor Ecwid’s platform to fit your brand.
Unlimited
With Unlimited, you’ll never run out of room for your product variations or run into any other limitations. List 10 products or 10,000. Give access to your whole team so everyone can help engage customers and drive sales. The plan even includes a custom mobile app for free, so your store is always open for business in your customers’ pockets.
Connect your store with popular POS systems for a seamless omnichannel experience, then use your 12 free customization hours to tailor Ecwid to your brand needs. The priority support you get only on Unlimited means Ecwid’s experts are always on hand to guide you to ecommerce success.
Unlimited gives you the freedom and power to build your best online store yet. Showcase your full range of products, engage more customers, and take your business into the future. The possibilities are nearly endless.
Comparing the Best Ecommerce Platforms
There’s certainly a time and place for Ecwid. If you already have a website and don’t to mess with the hassle of moving it somewhere it else or if you want to keep your store and company website separate, Ecwid is a fantastic path to spinning up an ecommerce operation.
While it is one of our top picks, it’s not right for everyone. If you want to build a new, robust online store from scratch, you may want to check out our other favorite ecommerce solutions:
- Bluehost – Best for automatic WooCommerce store setup
- Shopify – Best all-in-one ecommerce platform
- Wix – Best ecommerce platform for beginners
- Squarespace – Best portfolio-based ecommerce builder
- BigCommerce – Best for multichannel sales
- Shift4shop – Best ecommerce platform for developers
- Ecwid – Best free shopping cart extension
- WooCommerce – Best ecommerce plugin for WordPress
- Easy Digital Downloads – Best WordPress plugin for digital products
- Volusion – Best ecommerce platform for large stores
- Magento – Best enterprise commerce platform
See our full list of the best ecommerce platforms to learn more about our research process, what to look for when choosing one, and in-depth review of each.
