Ecommerce & web platforms
How much does an ecommerce platform cost? Plans, card fees and caps
Quick answer
Entry plans that can sell online cost $0 to $39 a month across the ten platforms we rank. On top, most online card sales pay about 2.9% + 30¢, around $1.75 on a $50 order. Squarespace Basic adds 2% per sale, Square Free charges 3.3% + 30¢, and Shopify adds 2% if you use another processor. The next plans up run $12 to $105 a month.
An online store has two running costs: the plan, paid monthly or yearly, and fees on every sale. Here is what each costs on the ten platforms in our ecommerce platform ranking, from their own pages read on Sep 25-27, 2026.
Entry plans: $0 to $39 a month
The entry plan is the cheapest plan that can take payments online.
| Company | Entry plan | Price | Billing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Big Cartel | Gold | $0 | Free |
| Square Online | Square Free | $0 per location | Monthly |
| WooCommerce | Free plugin (+ hosting) | $0 + $25 to $350 a month hosting | Hosting billed by your host |
| Ecwid by Lightspeed | Starter | $5 a month | Monthly or annually |
| Squarespace | Basic | $19 a month ($25 monthly) | Annually |
| Shopify | Basic | $29 a month ($39 monthly) | Yearly |
| BigCommerce | Core | $29 a month ($39 monthly) | Annually |
| Wix | Core | $29 a month | Yearly plan, paid upfront |
| Volusion | Personal | $35 a month | Monthly |
| Sellfy | Starter | $39 a month or $348 a year | Monthly or yearly |
Prices from Big Cartel, Square, WooCommerce, Ecwid, Squarespace, Shopify, BigCommerce, Wix, Volusion and Sellfy, read Sep 25-27, 2026.
WooCommerce's plugin is free, but at the low end of Woo's hosting range the store costs about $300 a year before anything else. Sellfy's pricing page shows lower Starter prices than its help centre; we use the help centre's.
Typical and top plans
The next plan up is where most platforms add abandoned-cart emails, lower rates or more staff:
- Shopify Grow: $79 a month yearly or $105 monthly; card rates from 2.7% + 30¢.
- BigCommerce Growth: $79 annually or $105 monthly, for up to $100K in yearly sales.
- Squarespace Core: $29 annually or $39 monthly, with no transaction fee.
- Square Plus: $49 a month per location, with online rates at 2.9% + 30¢.
- Ecwid Business: $49 a month paid annually, with abandoned carts recovery and 2 staff accounts.
- Wix Business: $39 a month on a yearly plan.
- Volusion Professional: $79 a month, for up to $100k in yearly sales.
Top self-serve plans run from $24 a month (Big Cartel Diamond billed yearly) to $399 a month (Shopify Advanced or BigCommerce Scale billed monthly). Enterprise plans start at $1,499 a month (BigCommerce Performance) and $2,300 a month (Shopify Plus).
What each sale costs
Most platforms charge about 2.9% + 30¢ per US online card sale on the entry plan: about $1.75 on a $50 order. That is the rate at Shopify, Squarespace, Ecwid, Wix Payments and WooPayments. BigCommerce charges 2.89% + $0.30 on Core. The exceptions:
- Squarespace Basic adds a 2% online store transaction fee to every online sale: about $2.75 on a $50 order.
- Square Free charges 3.3% + 30¢ online: about $1.95 on a $50 order.
- Big Cartel and Sellfy have no processor of their own. You pay Stripe or PayPal: Big Cartel's payments article quotes Stripe from 2.9% + 30¢ and PayPal at 2.99% plus $0.49 (about $1.99 on $50).
- Volusion doesn't publish its processor's rate.
- Premium and international cards cost more. Shopify lists premium cards at 3.5% + 30¢ online and adds 1% for international cards.
Fees for using another processor
If you keep your own payment provider, Shopify Basic adds 2%, BigCommerce Core adds 2.0% for providers outside its embedded list (Stripe, PayPal Braintree and Adyen are free), and Volusion Personal adds 1.25%. WooCommerce, Ecwid, Sellfy and Big Cartel say they add nothing. Wix's fee isn't published on the pages we could read.
Caps that force an upgrade
- BigCommerce Core: up to $30K in trailing-12-month sales, then Growth.
- Volusion Personal: up to $50K a year and 100 products.
- Sellfy Starter: up to $10k in sales a year; above it, a possible 2% overage fee.
- Big Cartel: 5, 50 or 500 products by plan.
- Ecwid Starter: up to 10 products.
Promotions and billing terms
Shopify offers new stores 3 days free, then $1 a month for 3 months, with no end date given; we don't count it. Wix shows yearly prices only, paid in full upfront. Paying annually saves $10 a month on Shopify Basic and BigCommerce Core, and $6 on Squarespace Basic.
See the per-sale totals side by side in platform fees compared, and how we score cost in our method.