The 4 best free ecommerce website builders

Building an online store doesn’t need to break the bank, and some ecommerce platforms will let you do it at a remarkably low cost. But can you create an online store for free? Square Online is our top free ecommerce platform as it allows you to sell products online without signing up for a paid plan.

Many top website builders, such as Wix, offer free plans or free trials to help you get your business off the ground. That said, there is a “but” – I’ll unpack each of these free ecommerce website builders below, based on hours of hands-on testing and research, to help you separate the ‘free forevers’ from the ‘free for a whiles’.

The best free ecommerce builders: comparison table

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Square Online	Wix	Squarespace	Hostinger
Cheapest ecommerce plan £0 per month	Cheapest ecommerce plan £16 per month, billed annually £14.40 with code “TAKE10”	Cheapest ecommerce plan £17 per month, billed annually	Cheapest ecommerce plan £3.99 per month (for a 48-month term)
Key features Start selling for no monthly fee Automatically sync with Square POS No limit on products	Key features Easy to use drag-and-drop builder, and AI chatbot Extensive app market Multichannel selling on the paid plan	Key features Stunning ecommerce templates Superb non commerce features Great value for money	Key features Suite of AI tools, including AI blog generator No payment processing fees for ecommerce plans Fastest site speeds that we tested
Free plan or free trial Free plan	Free plan or free trial Free plan for the website builder	Free plan or free trial 14-day free trial	Free plan or free trial 7-day free trial

Square Online – Start selling for free

It was easy for me to add products to my inventory with Square Online’s free plan. Source: Startups.co.uk

What I like about Square Online’s free plan

Square Online is the only provider on this roundup that lets you build your online store and sell products on the free plan, whereas the others only offer free trials, or limited free plans on which you can’t actually sell. There’s also no limit to the number of products you can sell on Square Online (by comparison, Wix caps your inventory at 50,000 products).

Once you’re ready to upgrade, you can graduate to a premium plan, which range from £20 to £64 per month (billed annually).

The limitations of Square Online’s free plan

You’re locked out of a suite of advanced sales features. Without upgrading to the paid plans, you won’t have access to abandoned cart recovery, or the ability to take PayPal payments. You’ll also need to upgrade to a premium plan to get better design options and customisation, including templates.

Keep in mind that you’ll need to pay extra to get a custom domain, which isn’t included on the free plan. You’ll also need to factor in the 1.4% + 25p transaction fee on every sale made.

The bottom line

If you’re determined to build an online store for free, Square Online’s free plan is essentially your only option, but luckily it’s a great one. I’d highly recommend this builder for startups on a budget, or small businesses looking to find their feet online.

Wix – Explore ecommerce features

I could create a unique online shop thanks to Wix’s drag-and-drop editor. Source: Startups.co.uk

What I like about Wix’s free plan

Wix, our top ecommerce platform for small businesses overall, offers both a free plan and a 14-day free trial of its premium plans. But you won’t actually be able to sell until you upgrade to a paid plan.

That said, on Wix’s free plan you can still build a great online store using its AI chatbot builder and intuitive drag-and-drop editor, and give a decent portion of its quality features a test run.

The limitations of Wix’s free plan

Unlike Square Online, you can’t sell on the free plan – Wix’s premium plans range from £9 to £119 per month (billed annually), but you’ll need the Core plan at least, at £16 per month, for ecommerce functionality.

Wix’s free plan slaps ads on your site, which isn’t very professional-looking. You also can’t change your website template once it’s live, which isn’t ideal if your business is going through a rebrand.

The bottom line

Wix’s free plan is an excellent no-commitment taster of what Wix has to offer, but, realistically, you’ll be using it as a way to get a feel for the builder, rather than it being long-term solution.

Squarespace – Free trial of great design features

You can choose from a range of stylish templates and sections to build your brand with Squarespace. Source: Startups.co.uk

What I like about Squarespace’s free trial

Squarespace might not have a free ecommerce plan like Square Online, or a free website builder like Wix, but you can try it out risk-free for 14-days. It’s a great way for you to check out the range of incredibly sleek templates that can quickly create a luxury brand presence for creative or service-based businesses.

I was impressed with how Squarespace’s AI website builder helped me design a stylish looking site with just a few clicks, and I could also tailor the checkout experience to my liking. Appointment-based businesses should try out the top-class scheduling and booking tools.

The limitations of Squarespace’s free trial

While it’s a good way of getting a taste of what Squarespace has to offer, the two-week trial isn’t very long.  If you do decide to upgrade after your trial is up, the “Basic” tier is technically the cheapest ecommerce plan, but it’s subject to a pretty high 2% transaction fee when selling products.

However, with “Plus” or “Advanced”, you won’t have to pay any transaction fees. Although if you’re also selling in-person (not just online exclusively) I’d recommend Square Online over Squarespace. That’s simply because Square Online can seamlessly integrate with Square’s POS system.

The bottom line

I’d recommend the free Squarespace trial for appointment-based businesses, and brands that need a stylish site, to test whether the slick templates and excellent booking tools will be worth shelling out for.

Hostinger – Test an easy-to-use builder

Hostinger provides a host of AI tools to streamline your ecommerce, including being able to instantly generate product details. Source: Startups.co.uk

What I like about Hostinger’s fee plan

Hostinger excels in simplicity, and you can use the free seven-day trial to try its super easy-to-use drag-and-drop editor for yourself. When I used the AI builder, it set up an online store for me in under a minute. You can also use the free trial to check out its AI suite, including an image generator, templates, SEO tools, logo maker, and blogging tool (which can generate up to 2,000 words).

If you do choose to upgrade after the trial expires, Hostinger has the cheapest ecommerce plan available at just £3.49 per month (on a 48-month contract) with 0% transaction fees, and you can also currently get three months for free.

The limitations of Hostinger’s free plan

Hostinger has no free ecommerce plan like Square’s, no free website builder like Wix, and its free trial is half as long as Squarespace’s.

I’d also say that if you’re in the market for integrated booking tools, Squarespace is a stronger option. Similarly, if you’re looking to enhance your marketing efforts, such as on social media, Wix’s tools will be a better fit.

The bottom line

I recommend Hostinger if you’re looking for a fast, easy-to-use ecommerce platform without having to make a significant financial investment.

Do you need to worry about extra costs?

If you’re expecting to launch an online store at minimal or even zero cost, be conscious of some extra fees that could sting you along the way:

• Domain name – Most free plans don’t come with (or even permit) a custom domain. Purchasing a domain name can be done directly through your website builder, or a domain name registrar. It’s usually very affordable and can cost under £10 per year in some cases.
• Web hosting – Your website needs to be hosted on servers, and it’s very rare for this to be free. Usually, this is packaged up with your website builder plan, which is why they’re so appealing. If you need to purchase web hosting separately, it can cost around £20 per year for basic shared hosting (which is fine for a small business).
• Transaction fees – Almost all ecommerce platforms will charge transaction fees on the sales you process online. These can change depending on your builder, the plan you sign up for, and the number of sales you make per month.
• Business email address – A business email address is a common feature on ecommerce plans. Costs are typically low – it’s £5 per account, per month on Google Workspace, for instance – but it’s something to consider if you don’t already have an email address for your site.
• Apps and extensions – Some ecommerce website builders, like Wix, offer rich app markets to browse. These offer a huge number of extensions for all sorts of purposes, from customer-facing tools on your site to useful behind-the-scenes integrations for accounting software.

The Site Booster app, available on Wix’s app market, has a free plan and a premium plan that costs £2.81 per month (billed annually). Source: Startups.co.uk

How to choose a free ecommerce website builder

When it comes to ecommerce, a free plan is an okay starting point, but you must be willing to upgrade to a premium plan to unlock the best features and remove a free plan’s limitations, such as ads on your site.

Even if you choose Square Online’s free plan for selling, you’ll still have to pay transaction fees and consider other additional costs, like a domain name.

I recommend assessing your budget fully before choosing your ecommerce website builder. How much are you willing to spend? What does your business need to thrive?

How we test ecommerce website builders for small businesses

We regularly test and review the market’s top website builders to bring you up-to-date and accurate recommendations.

Our latest round of testing for 2025 covered seven main categories. All in all, we spent over 100 hours collecting data for the platforms.

Each research category is given a weighting, depending on its importance to business owners. In this latest round of testing, an increased importance was given to support and user experience. Sales features remained the most important category:

• Sales features: 30% – The ecommerce functionality available to support your online store.
• Pricing: 20% – The availability of a free plan or at least a free trial, and the balance between features and price for the paid plans if you choose to upgrade.
• Website functionality: 15% – The number and quality of features on offer, such as SEO and marketing.
• Design features: 10% – Based on several design factors, such as templates and AI builders.
• User experience: 10% – We test each platform to assess its usability and accessibility.
• Help and support: 10% – The customer support options available to business owners.
• Reputation: 5% – We examine an ecommerce platform’s position and popularity in the market.

Final verdict: is a free plan suitable for online stores?

Square Online is the only free ecommerce website builder I recommend, as it offers the ability to list and sell unlimited products and also gives you access to social media integrations. But, even Square Online’s free plan is limited versus what you can get on the paid tiers.

If you want to set up your store before you pay for a plan, Wix is a great all-rounder for small businesses. And, if you’re looking for something more affordable long-term, then Hostinger and Squarespace are your best bets.

Whichever free ecommerce website builder you pick, just remember that upgrading to a premium plan should be your next goal to work towards.