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Comparing WooCommerce vs Squarespace vs Shopify vs Wix in 2020

comparing woocommerce vs squrespace vs shopify vs wix

With so many options out there, it can be difficult to make a decision on which eCommerce platform you should use. At times, it may feel overwhelming for someone who has never used WooCommerce, Squarespace, Shopify, or Wix before. A lot can ride on this decision, as an online entrepreneur, you not only want to sell your products but have a great online presence and in the end, make a profit.

In this article, we will look at:

Overview of WooCommerce, Squarespace, Shopify, and Wix
Pros and Cons of each platform
What are the costs involved for each eCommerce platform
Conclusion

Overview of WooCommerce, Squarespace, Shopify, and Wix

WooCommerce

WooCommere is a free, open-source eCommerce, plugin for a Content Mangement System (CMS) called WordPress. This plugin makes it seemless and easy to create an online store in minutes. A company called Automattic developed WooCommerce in in later part of 2011. As of 2020, WordPress currently dominates around 35% of all websites in the world. Not only is it well supported and documented, but comes with countless settings, plugins, extensions and different themes options. On that note, you can't go wrong with choosing WooCommerce as your preferred eCommerce platform.

Squarespace

Squarespace is a private American company offering a great drag and drop feature for building website as well as offering web hosting. This plaform comes with awesome looking themes and pre-designed templates. Squarespace is also great for people who do not understand web design and web developement or who want to work with code.

Shopify

Founded in 2006, Shopify has become on the the most popular eCommerce platform solutions out there today. This Canadian company offers a great platform for users wanting a small eCommerce store online with tons of built-in features and templates to choose from without having to code. Fun fact, Shopify started as a small eCoomerce solution to sell snowboards onlnie.

Wix

This easy to use cloud-based eCommerce solution started in Israel, 2006. Wix allows users to easily create stunning websites with their online drag and drop tools.

Pros and Cons of each platform

WooCommerce

Pros:

Completly free to start with
Open source
Well supported and documented
Flexible
Scalable
100% customisable
Powerful
Creates eCommerce pages for you
Countless payment gateways and payment options to choose from

Cons:

Some plugins / extentions you need to pay for
Plugins can slow site down
Setting up some plugins can be a bit tricky
Can be difficult for people who are not tech-savvy or newbies to use
Need to keep website updated / maintained

Squarespace

Pros:

Online support
Plenty tempaltes and design to choose from
Great for smaller eCommerce websites
Fairly easy to use
Blogging feature
Mobile Apps

Cons:

Costs money just to start an online store
Charges a fee for every transaction made
Limited to what standard features can offer
Page speed can be slow
Not suitable for large websites
Ease of use of the web editor

Shopify

Pros:

Cloud-based so you dont need to update or maintain your website.
Easy- to use and setup
Plenty of designs and tempaltes to choose from
Flexible
Scalable
24/7 support
You can add unlimited amount of products
Provide web hosting

Cons:

Costs money just to start an online store
Charges a fee for every transaction made
Limited to what standard features can offer

Wix

Pros:

Automatic backup of the website
Easy to use and setup
Plenty of designs and tempaltes to choose from
Flexible
Ability to add animations easily

Cons:

Costs money just to start an online store
Templates are difficult to change
Page speedand loading times

WooCommerce

Free
$10 - $20 / month - web hosting
* plugins are either free or have paid versions

$16 / month - Personal
$26 / month - Business
$30 / month - Basic Commerce
$46 / month - Advanced Commerce

See full pricing

Shopify

$29 / month - Basic Shopify
$79 / month - Shopify
$299 / month - Advanced Shopify

See full pricing

Wix

$4 / month - Connect Domain
$8 / month - Combo
$12 / month - Unlimited
$24 / month - VIP

See full pricing

Conclusion

Personally, if I had to choose one, WooCommerce comes out at the top. It is an absolute beast of a monster platform. It comes kitted out with tons of features and customisations. If you can think it, WooCommerce will have a plugin for it. Plus, a big draw-card for me is it's free to start.

Share your comments and thought below. I would love to hear what your options are.

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Katherine Comer

Katherine is a frontend web designer with an interest in Search Engine Optimisation and UI/UX design. She an avid Xbox player and a huge Tomb Raider fan.

Debugging Best Practices

How To Setup Docker/Nginx For Your Vue CLI Project

Comparing WooCommerce vs Squarespace vs Shopify vs Wix in 2020

Overview of WooCommerce, Squarespace, Shopify, and Wix

WooCommerce

Squarespace

Shopify

Wix

Pros and Cons of each platform

WooCommerce

Squarespace

Shopify

Wix

WooCommerce

Squarespace

Shopify

Wix

Conclusion

Contact us

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Katherine Comer

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