Best website builder for selling online in 2026

If you want to sell products online – whether that’s physical goods, digital downloads, or services – the platform you build on matters more than almost any other decision you’ll make.

The right website builder will make selling feel natural, handle the technical complexity behind the scenes, and grow with you as your shop grows. The wrong one will create friction at every stage – limited product management, awkward checkout experiences, hidden transaction fees, and a ceiling you hit faster than you expected.

This guide covers the best website builders for selling online in 2026, with US and UK pricing shown side by side throughout. Not which one is most popular, and not which one pays the best affiliate commission – which one is actually best for different types of sellers, based on what you’re selling, your budget, and how serious you are about ecommerce.

What makes a good ecommerce website builder?

Before we get into the platforms, it’s worth being clear about what we’re measuring. A good website builder for selling online should:

Handle the selling fundamentals well – product pages, checkout, payment processing, and inventory management. These are table stakes.

Do not eat into your margins – transaction fees, app costs, and platform fees all affect profitability. The advertised plan price is rarely the total cost.

Grow with your shop – a platform that works for 10 products should also work for 1,000. A platform that handles low traffic should also handle a viral moment.

Look professional – product presentation affects buying decisions. A shop that looks credible converts better.

Support your traffic strategy – whether you’re driving traffic through SEO, social media, paid advertising, or word of mouth, the platform should support that without unnecessary friction.

With those criteria in mind, here are the best website builders for selling online right now.

1. Shopify – best overall for selling online

Best for: Anyone whose primary goal is selling physical products online. Starting cost: USA ~$25/month, UK ~£19/month (paid annually). Free plan: No – 3-day free trial. Transaction fees: 0% with Shopify Payments; 0.5–2% with third-party processors

If selling online is the main purpose of your website, Shopify is the best platform for the job. Full stop.

Shopify was built from the ground up for ecommerce, and twenty years of refinement show in everything from the product management dashboard to the checkout experience. Every feature you need to run an online shop is either built in or available through the App Store.

What Shopify does better than anyone:

The checkout experience. Shopify’s checkout is fast, mobile-optimised, and trusted. Customers recognise it, reducing friction and cart abandonment. Shop Pay – Shopify’s accelerated checkout – is one of the highest-converting checkout experiences available to independent sellers.

Inventory management. Track stock levels, manage product variants, set low-stock alerts, import and export catalogues via CSV. For a shop with a meaningful product range, Shopify’s inventory tools scale cleanly.

Shipping. Set up zones, rates, weight-based pricing, carrier-calculated rates, and free shipping thresholds. Print labels from the dashboard. On higher plans, access discounted carrier rates.

Multichannel selling. Sell on your website, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and in person – all managed from a single Shopify dashboard. For sellers who use social media as a sales channel, this integration is genuinely valuable.

The App Store. Over 8,000 apps covering every ecommerce need from subscriptions and loyalty programmes to print on demand and advanced analytics.

The honest limitations:

Transaction fees apply if you use a payment processor other than Shopify Payments – 2% on Basic, 1% on the Shopify plan, 0.5% on the Advanced. For sellers using Shopify Payments directly, these don’t apply.

The monthly cost is higher than that of some alternatives and increases meaningfully as you add paid apps. A basic Shopify store with a handful of useful apps typically costs $33–$52/month (USA) or £25–£40/month (UK).

Blogging and content marketing are more limited than with WordPress. If content-driven SEO is central to your traffic strategy, Shopify’s blogging tools will frustrate you.

Shopify is right for you if:

• Selling products is the primary purpose of your site
• You want to grow your shop aggressively
• Multichannel selling matters to you
• You want the most capable ecommerce platform available to independent sellers

Get started with Shopify →

2. WooCommerce – best for content-led shops and SEO-driven sellers

Best for: Bloggers and content creators who also sell; SEO-focused shops. Starting cost: Free plugin – hosting from $4.99/month (USA) or £3.50/month (UK). Free plan: WooCommerce is free; you pay for hosting. Transaction fees: None beyond payment processing

WooCommerce is the world’s most popular ecommerce platform – powering roughly 30% of all online stores, and it’s a free plugin for WordPress. If you’re already on WordPress or you want to build a content-and-shop combination, WooCommerce is the most powerful way to do it.

What WooCommerce does better than anyone:

The combination of content and commerce. No other platform matches WordPress’s content publishing tools alongside WooCommerce’s ecommerce capability. If you’re building a shop where SEO, blogging, and content marketing are central to your traffic strategy – a recipe site that sells equipment, a fitness blog that sells programmes, a craft site that sells supplies – WooCommerce on WordPress is unbeatable.

No transaction fees. WooCommerce charges no platform transaction fees. You pay your payment processor’s fees (typically 1.5–2.5% + a fixed amount per transaction) and nothing more. For high-volume sellers, this is a meaningful cost saving compared to Shopify.

Total ownership. Your shop, your data, your platform. No ecommerce company can change its terms, increase its fees, or restrict your store’s functionality. You control everything.

SEO control. WordPress with Rank Math gives you the most granular SEO control available. For a shop where ranking in Google is the primary traffic strategy, WooCommerce on WordPress is the strongest platform.

Display ad compatibility. If you’re building a shop alongside a content site and planning to monetise with display ads – Google AdSense now, Mediavine or Raptive later – WordPress is the only platform that gives you full ad network compatibility.

The honest limitations:

Setup is more involved than Shopify or Squarespace. You need hosting, WordPress, WooCommerce, and likely some paid extensions. It’s not difficult, but it requires more steps and more decisions than a hosted platform.

Some features that come built into Shopify require paid WooCommerce extensions – subscriptions, print on demand, and advanced shipping rules. These costs add up and narrow the price gap with Shopify.

WooCommerce is right for you if:

• You’re already on WordPress or planning to be
• Content marketing and SEO are central to your traffic strategy
• You want to avoid transaction fees on your sales
• A shop alongside a blog or content site is what you’re building
• Display ad monetisation alongside selling is part of your plan

Read our guide: How to start a WordPress website →

3. Squarespace – best for design-led shops

Best for: Creatives, makers, and brand-led sellers where presentation matters. Starting cost: USA ~$30/month, UK ~£23/month on Commerce Basic (paid annually) Free plan: No – 14-day free trial Transaction fees: None on Commerce plans; 3% on Business plan

For sellers where how their products look is central to the buying decision – handmade goods, art prints, photography, independent fashion, food products – Squarespace produces product pages that are genuinely beautiful.

What Squarespace does better than most:

Product presentation. Squarespace’s design quality carries through to ecommerce. Product pages are spacious, well-typeset, and image-led in a way that feels considered rather than functional. For products where visual storytelling is part of the sale, this matters.

The all-in-one experience. Hosting, SSL, CDN, domain (year one), and commerce tools all in a single subscription. No plugins to manage, no hosting to configure, no updates to apply. For a seller who wants to focus on their products rather than their website’s infrastructure, Squarespace is the most frictionless option.

Subscriptions and digital products. Physical products, digital downloads, services, and subscriptions are all supported natively. For a seller with a mixed product range, this built-in flexibility is useful.

The honest limitations:

The 3% transaction fee on the Business plan is a meaningful margin cost. Upgrade to Commerce Basic ($30/month USA or £23/month UK) to remove it.

Inventory management is less sophisticated than Shopify for complex product ranges. Large catalogues with many variants are better handled elsewhere.

Display advertising is restricted – if ads are part of your monetisation plan alongside selling, Squarespace’s limitations on ad placement are worth knowing about.

Squarespace is right for you if:

• Design and brand presentation are central to how your products sell
• You’re a creative – maker, photographer, artist, and independent designer
• Your product range is focused and doesn’t require complex variant management
• You want a managed, all-in-one platform without technical overhead

4. Wix – best for beginners selling a small range of products

Best for: Small shops, local businesses, beginners who want to be live quickly. Starting cost: USA ~$18/month, UK ~£14/month on Core plan (paid annually). Free plan: Available – but ecommerce requires a paid plan. Transaction fees: None on paid plans

Wix’s ecommerce offering has improved significantly in recent years and is now a credible option for small shops – particularly those where getting live quickly and keeping costs manageable are the priorities.

What Wix does better than most at this level:

Speed to launch. The drag-and-drop editor and extensive template library mean you can have a shop with products listed and a checkout that works faster than on almost any other platform. For a seller who wants to test an idea quickly, Wix removes a lot of friction.

The overall site experience. Wix ecommerce doesn’t feel bolted on – it’s integrated into the platform naturally. A shop, a blog, a booking system, and a portfolio can all live together on a single Wix site without feeling fragmented.

Affordable entry point. The Core plan at $18/month (USA) or £14/month (UK) is cheaper than Shopify and Squarespace Commerce for basic selling functionality.

The honest limitations:

Wix ecommerce is designed for small to medium product catalogues. For a large inventory with complex variants, Shopify handles the complexity more gracefully.

The portability problem applies to shops too – migrating a Wix shop to another platform means significant rebuilding. Choose Wix with the understanding that you’re likely to be there long-term.

Display advertising is restricted on Wix – like Squarespace, which limits your options if ad monetisation is part of your plan.

Wix is right for you if:

• You’re selling a small, focused range of products
• Getting live quickly is more important than ecommerce depth
• You’re building a local business site with a shop as one component
• Budget is a priority at the entry level

Read our full Wix review →

5. Hostinger – best budget option with AI assistance

Best for: Budget-conscious beginners, people interested in AI-assisted setup. Starting cost: From $3.49/month (USA) or £2.50/month (UK). Free plan: No, but the cheapest paid option on this list. Transaction fees: None (sells via WooCommerce integration)

Hostinger’s website builder includes ecommerce functionality via WooCommerce integration – meaning you get WordPress’s ecommerce depth at Hostinger’s entry-level price. Combined with Hostinger’s AI website builder, it’s a compelling option for sellers who want to keep costs minimal while still building something capable.

The AI builder asks you about your shop, generates a starting design, and populates it with placeholder content you can replace. For quickly getting past the blank page problem, it’s genuinely useful.

The limitations are the same as for Hostinger hosting generally – no phone support, weekly backups on entry plans, no WordPress.org official recommendation. The product is solid for the price, but less polished than Shopify or Squarespace.

Hostinger is right for you if:

• Budget is the primary consideration
• You want AI assistance with setup
• You’re building a simple shop and keeping costs minimal

Read our full Hostinger review →

How to choose – a quick decision guide

Still not sure which platform is right for your shop? Here’s a simple framework.

What is the primary purpose of your site?

Selling products – that’s the whole point → Shopify

Selling alongside content, blogging, and SEO → WooCommerce on WordPress

Design-led selling where presentation is central → Squarespace

Small shop, getting live quickly, budget-conscious → Wix

Budget is everything, happy to use AI tools → Hostinger

What’s your product range like?

Large catalogue, complex variants, lots of SKUs → Shopify or WooCommerce

Small, focused range → Any platform works well

Digital products and downloads → WooCommerce, Squarespace, or Shopify

What’s your traffic strategy?

SEO and content marketing → WooCommerce on WordPress

Social media and paid advertising → Shopify (multichannel selling)

Word of mouth and direct → Any platform works well

Are you planning to run display ads alongside your shop?

Yes → WooCommerce on WordPress – the only platform with full ad network compatibility

No → Any platform works well

Not sure yet? Take our quiz for a personalised recommendation.

Take the quiz — find your perfect platform →

Frequently asked questions

Which website builder has no transaction fees? WooCommerce has no platform transaction fees – you only pay your payment processor’s fees. Squarespace Commerce Basic and above have no transaction fees. Shopify charges no additional fees if you use Shopify Payments. Wix charges no transaction fees on paid plans.

Can I sell on multiple platforms at once? Shopify is the strongest platform for multichannel selling – it integrates with Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Amazon, and in-person point of sale. WooCommerce can also connect to multiple channels via plugins.

Which is better for selling digital products? WooCommerce, Squarespace, and Shopify all handle digital products well. WooCommerce is the most flexible for complex digital product setups. Squarespace’s digital delivery is clean and well-integrated. Shopify handles digital products, but it’s less central to its design than physical goods.

Do I need a business bank account to sell online? You need a payment processor account – Stripe, PayPal, or Shopify Payments are the most common. Whether you need a business bank account depends on your business structure and your country’s regulations. In the US, sole proprietors can often use a personal account to start, and in the UK, a sole trader can do the same, though a dedicated business account is good practice once you’re generating meaningful revenue.

Which is the cheapest for selling online? WooCommerce is the cheapest in the long run – the software is free, and you pay only for hosting (from ~$4.99/month in the USA or ~£3.50/month in the UK). Wix’s Core plan (~$18/month USA or ~£14/month UK) is the cheapest hosted ecommerce platform. Squarespace Commerce Basic (~$30/month USA or ~£23/month UK) and Shopify Basic (~$25/month USA or ~£19/month UK) are comparable at the entry level.