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	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

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 that 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 AI chatbot builder and 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.

Squarespace – Try a stylish website builder for service-based businesses

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

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, with no credit card required. 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.

Appointment-based businesses would also do well to try out the top-class scheduling and booking tools you can get through Squarespace. You can quickly access the Acuity Scheduling app directly through the Squarespace dashboard, but I’d advise keeping in mind that this comes as a paid add-on (though you can get separate 14-day trial of Acuity).

Though another word of advice: it might be a great solution for stylish online selling, but 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.

Should you use Squarespace’s free trial?

Squarespace’s free trial is a good option for creative and service-based businesses to test drive certain standout features like the AI website builder and the fully customisable checkout page.

If you do decide to upgrade to a paid plan once your free trial is up, I’d highlight that while the “Business” tier is technically the cheapest ecommerce plan, it is subject to a pretty high 3% transaction fee when selling products. But if you go for the Commerce Basic or Commerce Advanced, you won’t have to pay any transaction fees, so this could well be worth it if you’re dealing in high volumes of sales. 

I’d recommend the free Squarespace trial for appointment based businesses – and brands that need to prioritise a stylish site – to see if the slick templates and excellent booking tools will be worth shelling out for.

Hostinger – Test an easy-to-use builder with an option for affordable plans

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

Hostinger excels in simplicity, and you can get a free seven-day trial of Hostinger to see for yourself.  It’s very new-user-friendly, and 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 the ecommerce friendly AI-suite including an image generator, templates, SEO tools, logo maker, and blogging tool (which can generate up to 2000 words).

It’s a strong choice if this is your first time setting up an ecommerce site, not just because of the suite of AI tools that can help you get set up and selling in no time, but also because of the excellent usability of the drag-and-drop editor.

Hostinger also boasts the fastest site speed loading times that we tested, and if you do choose to upgrade after the trial expires then Hostinger has some of the cheapest ecommerce plans available. The ecommerce plan is just £3.99 per month (on a 48 month contract) with 0% transaction fees, and you can also currently get three months free.

Should you use Hostinger’s free plan?

Hostinger’s free trial is a brilliant way to try out the simple platform, and its great toolbox of AI features, without having to give any credit card information. 

I would recommend that if you’re in the market for integrated booking tools then Squarespace is a stronger option. Similarly, if you’re looking to enhance your social media then Wix’s tools will be a better fit.

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), 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 latest round of testing for 2025  covered seven main categories and 283 areas of investigation in total for ecommerce platforms. 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?

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, as it offers the ability to list and sell unlimited products and gives 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 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.