Ecwid vs Shopify: I’ve Compared Both Ecommerce Platforms in 2025
If you click to purchase a product or service based on our independent recommendations and impartial reviews, we may receive a commission. Learn more
Written and researched by:
Comments: 2
Need an ecommerce website builder for your online store? Either Ecwid or Shopify may be a suitable fit for you. While both platforms come with a beginner-friendly setup process and strong sales features, your final choice will depend on your unique needs.
Though Shopify is the best ecommerce platform overall – with its powerful editor and impressive sales tools – Ecwid isn’t a bad choice either, boasting affordable plans and an easy interface to get to grips with.
But which platform comes out on top? Below, you’ll find out. Keep reading as I compare both platforms for their sales features, pricing plans, templates, and more.
What’s the difference between Ecwid and Shopify? 🤔
Shopify is primarily an ecommerce website builder that helps you build an online store from scratch.In contrast, Ecwid offers a website builder as well as an ecommerce widget you can integrate with an existing website, social media business page, marketplace, or app in order to sell from it.
In this review, my main focus will be comparing Shopify and Ecwid’s website builders.
I’d Recommend Shopify for…
- Large or scaling stores in need of powerful ecommerce tools that can accommodate their inventory.
I’d Recommend Ecwid for…
- Smaller businesses that need a simple website or are selling a limited number of items.
Ecwid vs Shopify: Quick Comparison
| Ecwid | Shopify | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing plans | Unlike Shopify, Ecwid has a free plan, while its three paid plans are cheaper than Shopify’s and range between $21-$89/mo (billed annually). | Shopify’s three main plans are priced between $29-$299/mo (billed annually). This might be quite costly depending on your budget – especially on the higher plans. |
| Setting up | Ecwid’s interface is beginner-friendly and features a straightforward dashboard that explains your next steps. Its stripped-backed editor is also easy to set your site up with (though customization is lacking). | Setting up with Shopify is simple, since the dashboard features a clear checklist to follow. Its section-based editor isn’t difficult to pick up either, allowing you to give your page a polished look. |
| Templates | Ecwid only has over 30 free templates to choose from, which does limit your choices. Though the designs look modern, they’re not as sophisticated as Shopify’s. | At the time of writing, Shopify has 12 free themes and 222 paid themes to choose between. They’re all mobile-responsive, polished, and often come with cool features like sticky menus or countdowns. |
| Sales features | While Ecwid’s plans have some good sales features for smaller stores, like different product variants, Shopify’s features across all of its plans are more powerful overall. | Shopify has the best built-in sales features on the market, with great multichannel integration and AI-powered tools, alongside various payment and shipping options. |
| Marketing tools | Ecwid’s marketing tools need improvement. It doesn’t have an in-built email marketing option (you have to use MailChimp), while its SEO tools aren’t as in-depth as Shopify’s. | When using Shopify’s marketing tools, you’ll come across comprehensive SEO options, alongside a superb email marketing app that lets you create and send professional emails. |
| Security | With Ecwid, an SSL Certificate and two-step verification is included with your site. However, it doesn’t have built-in fraud detection like Shopify. | Shopify’s built-in fraud detection makes it easier to spot suspicious activity from your dashboard. All Shopify sites also have an SSL Certificate and two-step verification. |
| Help and support | You can only get support via email on Ecwid’s free plan, and you need to upgrade to a paid plan to use its live chat. That said, Ecwid does have useful resources in its help center, like video tutorials. | Shopify mainly offers support through its AI-powered live chat, since it removed access to phone and email support from its main plans. It also comes with a help center that’s filled with instructive guides. |
1. Best for Pricing: It’s a Tie!
The Winner
Ecwid’s pricing plans are cheaper than Shopify’s, but Shopify’s features are better value
Between the two platforms, Ecwid is the most affordable. You can access a free plan with no setup or transaction fees, while its three pricing plans are cheaper overall:
| Plan | Price per month (billed annually) | Key features |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | $0/mo | •Use Ecwid’s “Instant Site” builder to create a site •Get a free “company.site” domain •Sell up to five products |
| Venture plan | $21/mo | Everything on the free plan and: •Sell up to 100 products •Add three additional pages to your website •Connect a custom domain to your site •Buy a domain for your site •Create gift cards and coupons |
| Business plan | $39/mo | Everything on the Venture plan and: •Sell up to 2,500 products •Add 10 additional pages to your website |
| Unlimited plan | $89/mo | Everything on the Business plan and: •Sell unlimited products •Add 100 additional pages to your website |
Though Ecwid’s free plan sounds appealing, I don’t recommend staying on it for long due to its limited features. You’ll only be able to sell up to five different products on your website at a time, and you can’t add any additional pages to your site.
That said, the free plan does include Ecwid’s website builder, so it’s a great place to start and test the platform out first.
When choosing a paid plan, I’d suggest the Venture plan as a minimum. For $21 per month (billed annually), this affordable entry-level plan enables you to sell 100 products and add more pages to your website.
In comparison, Shopify’s pricing is more expensive and is split into three main plans:
| Plan | Price per month (billed annually) | Key features |
|---|---|---|
| Basic plan | $29/mo | •Sell unlimited products •Get up to 77% off shipping costs •Sell across three global markets •Set up 10 different inventory locations •Access key store analytics •Receive 24/7 support |
| Shopify plan | $79/mo | Everything on the Basic plan and: •Get up to 88% off shipping costs •Set up five additional accounts for staff |
| Advanced plan | $299/mo | Everything on the Shopify plan and: •Set up 15 additional accounts for staff •Increase your checkout capacity x10 |
Despite Shopify’s steep prices, its powerful sales features do make its plans a worthwhile investment for your online store, meaning that the platform is better value for money overall. For instance, you can sell unlimited products on any plan, get shipping discounts, and trade across global markets – all features that are brilliant for expanding stores.
Additionally, if you’d like to test the platform out for less before committing to a plan, Shopify’s introductory offer means it’s only $1 per month for your first three months.
What About Transaction Fees?
On Ecwid and Shopify, you can avoid paying transaction fees on each sale you make. Ecwid automatically doesn’t charge any fees, but with Shopify you’ll need to sign up to Shopify Payments, its native payment gateway, to unlock 0% transaction fees.
If you’re not using Shopify Payments, the transaction fees are:
- Basic plan: 2.9% + 30¢ for online transactions
- Shopify plan: 2.7% + 30¢ for online transactions
- Advanced plan: 2.5% + 30¢ for online transactions
Do note that on both Ecwid and Shopify, most payment methods you integrate with your site – such as popular credit and debit cards – will likely come with a payment processing fee that’s taken from each sale.
2. Best for Setting Up: It’s a Tie!
The Winner
Setting up is a breeze on both Shopify and Ecwid
I found that both platforms made it easy for me to set up a website. To sign up to both platforms and start the onboarding process, I could quickly create a new account with my Gmail without having to fill in any card details.
Additionally, the onboarding process on each platform was simple to follow from start to finish. They both asked me key questions about my store, including the kinds of products I wanted to sell, and if I already had a store on another platform or not.
Once I’d completed the onboarding process on Shopify and Ecwid, I could then access my dashboard. They both came with clear instructions on what to do next, be it uploading my products manually or via CSV, or setting up selling options.
After getting the hang of Ecwid and Shopify’s interfaces, I started to create my websites. Both platforms have an uncomplicated, section-based editor that enables you to add and delete new sections, re-arrange the order of each page, and tweak your website’s color scheme, font, and photos.
💡 If you’re unfamiliar with the term, sections are blocks of visual content that make up your website’s pages.
3. Best for Online Store Templates: Shopify
The Winner
Shopify has a wider range of templates to choose from
Out of the two platforms, Shopify’s themes impressed me the most. All of its designs are mobile-friendly, while many themes come with sophisticated features like:
- Age verifiers for age-restricted products
- Back-to-top buttons
- Quick view buttons
- Automatic EU translations for stores selling internationally
However, though Shopify has around 235 themes in total (at the time of writing), only 13 of those themes are free to use. You can use one of the paid themes for a one-off payment, with prices varying between $100 and $500.
If you want to change your Shopify theme further down the line, you can. To do so (without losing your store’s content), refer to our video below:
In comparison, Ecwid has just over 40 templates to choose from, though all of these themes are free and included in your plan.
When browsing Ecwid’s selection, I found the themes presentable and suitable for basic ecommerce websites, but I was disappointed by the limited number of design features available. Most of the templates I previewed had standard navigation bars with little variation.
4. Best for Selling Online: Shopify
The Winner
Shopify’s sales tools are the best you’ll find
During our in-house testing, we found that Shopify had the best sales tools on the market. Ideal for large or scaling stores, the platform allows you to sell unlimited products on all of its plans and has powerful inventory management tools to help you manage your stock.
That said, if you’re at the helm of a much smaller business and only need to sell a few products, Ecwid’s simple yet effective sales tools may be a better choice.
Key Sales Features
Ecwid and Shopify both have useful sales tools to assist you when running your store. This includes the ability to create different product variants, set up shipping methods with carriers like FedEx and UPS, and download a mobile app to manage your business on the go.
However, Shopify’s sales features stand out more because of its AI-powered tools.
As part of Shopify’s “Boring” 2025 product update, the company rolled out its Shopify Sidekick tool, a handy assistant that can answer questions related to your store and its progress. Sidekick features include the ability to visualize your store’s data and edit products in bulk.
You can also use the Shopify Magic tool to speed up time-consuming tasks with the help of AI, like writing product descriptions, generating blog posts, or making adjustments to your photos.
Ecwid has fewer AI tools than Shopify, and you’ll need to access them by downloading apps from its store since they’re not already built in. For instance, if you’re on the Venture plan and above, you can install the MercuryAI app to start generating AI product descriptions.
Payment Options
Whether you choose Ecwid or Shopify, each platform comes with numerous ways to take payments online, giving your customers plenty of choice.
Out of the two, Shopify has the largest selection of payment methods available with over 100 different options to choose from, while Ecwid has just over 70. Both platforms offer popular third-party methods like PayPal, Stripe, and Square.
Alongside third-party payment methods, you can use each platform’s native payment solution to streamline the process. By signing up to Shopify Payments, you can set up payment methods for all the major providers in one place, with the added bonus of zero transaction fees for you to pay.
With Ecwid, you can sign up for Lightspeed Payments to enable major credit and debit cards on your website, including MasterCard, Visa, and American Express.
App Market
If you’d like to add additional functionality to your store, both Shopify and Ecwid have their own app marketplaces. The Shopify App Store is home to over 8,000 third-party integrations, spanning marketing, website design, sourcing products, and other important aspects of your website.
8,000 may sound like an impressive number, but this scope does come with its downsides. For one, downloading too many apps at once can slow down your website’s performance. It can also get expensive over time, since many of Shopify’s apps also come with a monthly fee.
Ecwid only has over 300 apps. While this is far from Shopify’s range, you can still find useful integrations for your store. In fact, you’ll find a mixture of free and paid apps for shipping, marketplaces, analytics, accounting, dropshipping, and more.
Security
To protect company and customer data, you can’t choose a website builder that cuts corners on security. Luckily, both Ecwid and Shopify have vital security measures in place to protect your page from malicious attacks. All websites come with an SSL Certificate for a secure HTTPS connection, two-factor authentication, and PCI-complicance.
However, only Shopify has an in-built fraud detection system to help you flag any suspicious transactions. When using Ecwid, you’re encouraged to download the “Block Orders” app for fraud protection, but it’s only available on the Venture plan or higher. This means that any websites on the free plan won’t be as secure.
5. Best for Marketing Your Business: Shopify
The Winner
Shopify’s built-in marketing tools will help you reach a wider audience online
Marketing Tools
Shopify comes with solid marketing tools, spanning email marketing and marketing channels like social media.
If you’re interested in setting up newsletters, I used the Shopify Email app to create polished email campaigns. I was able to set up email template branding, which included adding a logo, picking a font, and choosing an eye-catching color palette.
Unfortunately, Ecwid doesn’t come with a similar email marketing tool on its platform. Though you can connect your site with Mailchimp, this option is only available on the Business plan and above – in comparison, Shopify’s email feature is available on all plans.
On both platforms, I could connect my store with different sales channels. With Shopify, I could integrate my website with social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, and download the Shopify Marketplace Connect app to sync my products on online marketplaces like Amazon and Etsy.
Though Ecwid allows you to connect your store with platforms, you have fewer options available (and even more so on the free plan). For instance, I could add products to a Facebook page via the dashboard, but I had to upgrade to the Venture plan and above if I wanted to promote products on TikTok too.
SEO
It’s no secret that solid ecommerce SEO (search engine optimization) is one of the main ways to boost traffic to your online store. During our hands-on testing, we were most impressed by Shopify’s SEO tools, which enable you to:
- Redirect URLs
- Generate your website’s sitemap
- Add meta titles and meta descriptions to products
- Add hreflang tags to your content, optimizing your website for different languages
- Add alternative text
Unfortunately, Ecwid’s SEO tools pale in comparison. When trying out the platform, I wasn’t able to customize product URLs, change meta data, or create a URL redirect unless I was on the Business plan and above. Additionally, I couldn’t edit the alternative text for different images, since Ecwid generates this for you.
6. Best for Finding Help and Support: Shopify
The Winner
Shopify’s responsive live chat and help center packed with resources offers valuable support
For additional support as you build your online store, Ecwid and Shopify both have help centers that are filled with useful resources. From these, I could access:
- Helpful articles on key topics, like account details and domains
- Video tutorials showing you how to use each platform
- Academy style lessons that can help you advance your skills further
However, only Shopify’s help center has community forums. This provides you with another way to find the information you need, either by looking through previous threads or initiating a new discussion.
If you need to reach out to staff members for assistance, both platforms provide different options.
Shopify’s main support option is its AI-powered live chat. From the help center, I could type a question directly into the chat for an AI-generated response, or click on the “Contact Support” button to be put in contact with one of Shopify’s support advisors.
During our hands-on website builder testing, Shopify’s live chat response times were speedy, with an average response time of under ten seconds. This makes the chat a reliable source of support when you’re in need.
When using Shopify in 2025, I was disappointed to find that it no longer offers support over the phone or via email on its three main plans. You can only access priority phone support on the Plus plan, Shopify’s custom plan that’s catered to more complex businesses.
In comparison, Ecwid does offer great support options, but you do need to upgrade to a paid plan to access them:
- Live chat: Venture plan and above (available Monday to Friday, 24 hours a day)
- Call-back phone support: Business plan and above (available Monday to Friday, 5:00am to 4:00pm UTC)
Currently, the only form of assistance available on Ecwid’s free plan is via email.
How We Test Website Builders
The conclusions in this article are informed by our ecommerce website builder research, specifically on Ecwid and Shopify. This involved the hands-on testing of both platforms, which gave us a chance to evaluate key features and weigh up their pros and cons.
When trying out each builder, we identified seven key areas of investigation based on what readers value the most when looking for an ecommerce platform. These areas were then weighted based on importance:
- Sales features – 40%
- Website features – 15%
- Help and support – 12%
- Design functionality – 10%
- User experience – 10%
- Customer score – 8%
- Value for money – 5%
Since sales features are very important for users, this area of investigation played a huge role in our final verdict.
Ecwid vs Shopify: Conclusion
Now that I’ve compared both ecommerce platforms, I can confidently say that Shopify is the best option for online stores. Its outstanding sales tools, huge app store, and wide range of payment options makes it a tough platform to beat. Overall, it’s ideal for stores with significant inventory, or those who hope to scale up their business.
While Shopify is a fantastic platform, Ecwid does also have its perks. With its beginner-friendly interface and affordable pricing plans (including its free plan), the platform may still be a suitable option for you – especially if you’re running a smaller store and selling a limited number of products.
Still not sure which platform to go for? Take a look at our list of the best ecommerce website builders to see how other platforms compare to Ecwid and Shopify.
Written by:
Found this article helpful?
Share this article or comment below!
2 comments