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 choice 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’.

Before I dive into what you can expect – and what you might miss out on – from each builder, you can get a quick overview with our side-by-side comparison table:

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Square Online	Wix	GoDaddy	Webador
Overall Score Based on our in-depth research and user testing 3.7	Overall Score Based on our in-depth research and user testing 4.8	Overall Score Based on our in-depth research and user testing 4.2	Overall Score Based on our in-depth research and user testing 3.1
Cheapest ecommerce plan £0 per month, billed annually	Cheapest ecommerce plan £16 per month, billed annually £14.40 with code “TAKE10”	Cheapest ecommerce plan £13.99 per month	Cheapest ecommerce plan £4.50 per month

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

Whereas the other builders on this list offer limited free plans and trials, Square Online is the only one we researched that lets you build your online store and sell products.

Are there downsides? Sure. Without spending the money on a premium plan, you’re locked out of a suite of advanced sales features. But, there’s no denying you can still get a professional-looking store live using Square Online’s free plan.

And, once you’re ready to upgrade, Square Online’s premium plans range from £20 to £64 per month (billed annually).

Should you use Square Online’s free plan?

If you’re determined to build an online store for free, Square Online’s free plan is pretty much your only option. The good news is that it’s a genuinely great plan – especially if you consider you’re not paying a penny for it.

Provided you’re happy with the free plan’s limitations and additional cost considerations (such as the cost of your custom domain name and transaction fees), I’d highly recommend the builder for small 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

Wix, our top ecommerce platform for small businesses overall, offers both a free plan and a 14-day free trial of its premium plans. Unfortunately, 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 intuitive drag-and-drop editor – you just won’t be able to make any sales – and you can give a decent portion of its quality features a test run.

Realistically, you’re looking at using Wix’s free plan as a way to get a feel for the builder, but not as a long-term solution. You need to be ready to pay for one of its premium plans to unlock additional features and true ecommerce functionality – Wix’s premium plans range from £9 to £119 per month (billed annually). Still, you’ll need the Core plan (£16/mo) or above to start selling.

Should you use Wix’s free plan?

Wix’s free plan is an excellent no-commitment taster of what Wix has to offer. And, if you’re looking to create a professional online store with best-in-class features, you really can’t go wrong with Wix – provided you’re willing to upgrade.

That said, the free plan isn’t ideal for business sites since its features are limited and you can’t sell on it – it’s better suited to bloggers and personal sites, especially since Wix’s free plan slaps an ad on your site, which isn’t very professional-looking.

GoDaddy – Build your store for free

GoDaddy helped me optimise my site for SEO on the free plan. Source: Startups.co.uk

If you need to get your online store up in a flash – and with relative ease – there’s no faster product to use than GoDaddy. It may not be the most full-featured online store builder (if this is what you’re after, you’ll want to pay for Shopify), but for a small site looking to get live quickly, GoDaddy is a great choice.

Of course, its free plan isn’t fully free – not like Square Online’s. GoDaddy’s free plan lets you create an online store and add products to your inventory without needing any credit card information. However, there are some key drawbacks, such as the inability to actually accept payments, and so make sales. I’d advise upgrading to GoDaddy’s £13.99/mo Ecommerce plan to start selling.

Should you use GoDaddy’s free plan?

GoDaddy’s simplicity comes at the cost of scalability, creative control, and advanced sales features, such as unlimited products. Like Wix’s, GoDaddy’s free plan is a useful playground for testing, but you’ll need to subscribe to a premium plan to start selling.

For these reasons, I’d recommend using GoDaddy if you’re a small business looking to get online quickly, especially because of its speedy setup time and AI website builder. However, I’d avoid picking GoDaddy if you have a creative or design-focused business as GoDaddy’s customisation options are poor.

Webador – Best introductory deal

Webador’s editor was easy to understand but it lacked the level of customisation available with other builders, like Wix. Source: Startups.co.uk

Completing our list of the best free ecommerce website builders is Webador. Like Wix and GoDaddy, Webador offers a free plan, but it lacks ecommerce functionality. You can use this plan to get your store polished and ready to go, but you’ll have to upgrade to start selling to customers.

The good news is that Webador offers a generous introductory deal – you can get your first six months for free, no matter which premium plan you choose. After that time, you must pay between £8.50 and £17 per month (billed annually) for sales features, depending on the plan.

Should you use Webador’s free plan?

Webador is similar to GoDaddy in that it targets beginners and small business owners with its simple platform and great value plans. It’s more suitable for hobby sellers and businesses with small inventories rather than large-scale companies.

I recommend Webador if you’re looking to sell a few products without making a significant 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), to thousands of pounds for more comprehensive hosting plans that cater to larger businesses.
• 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. Many apps are free, but you’ll need to fork out for some premium integrations.

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, the saying ‘you’ve got to spend money to make money’ holds true. Even if you choose Square Online’s free plan for selling, you’ll still have to pay transaction fees and consider other additional costs.

So, 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? As I’ve mentioned already, 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.

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 research process covered seven main categories and 398 areas of investigation in total. All in all, we spent over 200 hours analysing and testing each platform.

Each research category is given a weighting, depending on its importance to business owners:

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

To determine the best free ecommerce website builders, we’ve focused on which of our top-rated platforms offer free plans to support small businesses.

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

It’s difficult to get a fully functioning online store up and running – and selling – without paying for something along the way. For this reason, Square Online is the only free ecommerce website builder I recommend, offering the ability to list and sell unlimited products and 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’re not fussed about selling for free, but 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 GoDaddy and Webador are your best bet.

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