Cheapest Ecommerce Platform 2026: 7 Stores Priced at 50 Orders
Seven online store builders costed for a small shop selling 50 orders of $40 a month, plan fee and card processing included, with the sales levels where the ranking flips.
For a small store doing 50 orders a month at $40 each, Big Cartel is the cheapest ecommerce platform in 2026: $73 a month on its free Gold plan, which is only card processing, or $88 on Platinum once you need more than 5 products. Ecwid's Starter plan comes to $78 with a 10-product cap, and Square Online's free plan to $81 with no plan fee but a higher online card rate.
Shopify Basic and BigCommerce Core both land at $102 a month on yearly billing, about $30 above Big Cartel's free plan. At this size the plan fee decides the ranking, because almost every platform here charges the same 2.9% plus 30 cents per online card payment.
Key facts7 tools compared: Big Cartel, Ecwid, Square Online, Hostinger, WooCommerce, Shopify…
- 7 tools compared: Big Cartel, Ecwid, Square Online, Hostinger, WooCommerce, Shopify, BigCommerce
- Ecwid (best for: Sellers who want to add a store to an existing website or social page for a few dollars): Starter $5/mo (10 products); Venture $35/mo or $29 billed yearly; no transaction fees.
- Square Online (best for: Shops that already take card payments in person with Square and want online orders in the same account): Free plan $0/mo at 3.3% + 30¢ online; Plus $49/mo at 2.9% + 30¢.
- Hostinger (best for: First-time sellers who want a website, domain and store in one cheap bundle): Builder from $3.49/mo plus Ecommerce $4.99/mo for 3 months, then $8.99/mo; no cut of sales.
Sticker prices are a poor guide for a small store, because processing usually costs more than the plan. Toolradar data: Toolradar, the software directory we run, evaluated 110 ecommerce platforms for its ecommerce platform rankings, as of October 2026, and only 4 of its 10 top picks have a free plan.
Methodology: we priced one scenario, 50 orders a month at $40 each, or $2,000 in online card sales. Each total is the platform's own plan fee plus online card processing at the rate the vendor or its default processor publishes, read on vendor pages on 28 October 2026. Taxes, domains, apps, themes and shipping are left out, so add them for your own store.
Top Picks
Based on features, real-world fit, and value for money.
The cheapest total at 50 orders a month, from a free plan through a $15 Platinum tier.
Gold free (5 products); Platinum $15/mo; Diamond $30/mo; no commission on sales.
Makers, artists and merch sellers with a small catalog who want the lowest monthly bill.
Starter $5/mo (10 products); Venture $35/mo or $29 billed yearly; no transaction fees.
Sellers who want to add a store to an existing website or social page for a few dollars.
Free plan $0/mo at 3.3% + 30¢ online; Plus $49/mo at 2.9% + 30¢.
Shops that already take card payments in person with Square and want online orders in the same account.
| Tool | Pricing | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Big Cartel | Gold free (5 products); Platinum $15/mo; Diamond $30/mo; no commission on sales. | Makers, artists and merch sellers with a small catalog who want the lowest monthly bill. |
| Ecwid | Starter $5/mo (10 products); Venture $35/mo or $29 billed yearly; no transaction fees. | Sellers who want to add a store to an existing website or social page for a few dollars. |
| Square Online | Free plan $0/mo at 3.3% + 30¢ online; Plus $49/mo at 2.9% + 30¢. | Shops that already take card payments in person with Square and want online orders in the same account. |
| Hostinger | Builder from $3.49/mo plus Ecommerce $4.99/mo for 3 months, then $8.99/mo; no cut of sales. | First-time sellers who want a website, domain and store in one cheap bundle. |
| WooCommerce | Free plugin; hosting about $25 to $350/mo per Woo; WooPayments about 2.5% to 2.9% + 30¢. | WordPress users who want full control and will manage hosting and plugins themselves. |
| Shopify | Basic $29/mo billed yearly or $39 monthly; 2.9% + 30¢ online; 2% fee with outside processors. | Stores that expect to grow and want the largest app and theme ecosystem. |
| BigCommerce | Core $29/mo billed yearly or $39 monthly; no platform fee with embedded providers such as Stripe. | Sellers who want built-in features and multiple payment providers without a per-order platform fee. |
Pricing read from each vendor's own pricing page, checked Nov 2026. Every vendor here publishes a price.
Big Cartel
The cheapest total at 50 orders a month, from a free plan through a $15 Platinum tier.
- Pricing
- Gold free (5 products); Platinum $15/mo; Diamond $30/mo; no commission on sales.
Best for: Makers, artists and merch sellers with a small catalog who want the lowest monthly bill.
Pros
- The free Gold plan costs nothing beyond card processing.
- Big Cartel says it takes no commission on sales on any plan.
- Platinum adds custom domains and print-on-demand apps at the lowest paid price here.
Cons
- Gold is capped at 5 product listings and one template.
- Abandoned cart recovery and Zapier connections need Diamond at $30 a month.
Ecwid
A $5 plan that adds a small store to any site, with no transaction fees on any plan.
- Pricing
- Starter $5/mo (10 products); Venture $35/mo or $29 billed yearly; no transaction fees.
Best for: Sellers who want to add a store to an existing website or social page for a few dollars.
Pros
- Starter comes to $78 a month here, $5 above Big Cartel's free plan.
- Ecwid charges no setup or transaction fees on any plan.
- Venture unlocks 100 products, Instagram and Facebook selling and discount coupons.
Cons
- Starter allows 10 products and email support only.
- Venture at $35 monthly makes it dearer than Shopify Basic billed yearly in this scenario.
Square Online
No monthly fee at all, paid for through a higher online card rate.
- Pricing
- Free plan $0/mo at 3.3% + 30¢ online; Plus $49/mo at 2.9% + 30¢.
Best for: Shops that already take card payments in person with Square and want online orders in the same account.
Pros
- The free plan costs $81 a month here with no subscription.
- The same plan covers in-person card payments at 2.6% plus 15 cents.
- Online payments drop to 2.9% plus 30 cents on Plus.
Cons
- The free plan's 3.3% online rate costs $8 a month more than standard processing at this volume.
- Plus at $49 a month is the dearest option here until sales pass about $12,250 a month.
Hostinger
A website builder with a low-cost store add-on and no product limit.
- Pricing
- Builder from $3.49/mo plus Ecommerce $4.99/mo for 3 months, then $8.99/mo; no cut of sales.
Best for: First-time sellers who want a website, domain and store in one cheap bundle.
Pros
- About $85 a month here at the starting builder price, with no limit on products.
- Hostinger says it takes no cut of sales.
- Physical, digital, print-on-demand and booking products can share one store.
Cons
- The $3.49 builder price is a starting offer, so check the renewal price on Hostinger's site before you commit.
- The Ecommerce add-on rises from $4.99 to $8.99 a month after three months.
WooCommerce
Free software with no platform fee or revenue share, paid for through hosting and extensions.
- Pricing
- Free plugin; hosting about $25 to $350/mo per Woo; WooPayments about 2.5% to 2.9% + 30¢.
Best for: WordPress users who want full control and will manage hosting and plugins themselves.
Pros
- No platform fee and no revenue share on sales.
- Around $98 a month here at the low end of Woo's own hosting range.
- Paid extensions are optional and billed per extension each year.
Cons
- Hosting, security and updates are yours to run.
- Woo quotes hosting as a wide range, so the real bill depends on the host you pick.
Shopify
The default store builder, about $30 a month above Big Cartel's free plan at this size.
- Pricing
- Basic $29/mo billed yearly or $39 monthly; 2.9% + 30¢ online; 2% fee with outside processors.
Best for: Stores that expect to grow and want the largest app and theme ecosystem.
Pros
- $102 a month here on yearly billing, with no product cap.
- Online card rates fall to 2.7% plus 30 cents on Grow.
- Shopify's checkout, apps and themes cover most growth needs without a migration.
Cons
- Using PayPal or Stripe instead of Shopify Payments adds 2% of sales on Basic.
- Monthly billing costs $10 a month more than yearly.
BigCommerce
Priced level with Shopify Basic here, with a sales cap that triggers an upgrade.
- Pricing
- Core $29/mo billed yearly or $39 monthly; no platform fee with embedded providers such as Stripe.
Best for: Sellers who want built-in features and multiple payment providers without a per-order platform fee.
Pros
- $102 a month here on yearly billing when payments run through Stripe.
- No platform fee on orders processed by embedded providers.
- A 15-day free trial lets you take real payments.
Cons
- Core auto-upgrades to Growth once trailing 12-month sales pass $30,000.
- Processors outside the embedded list add a 2% Open Payment Provider fee on Core.
What it is
An ecommerce platform is the software that runs an online store: product pages, checkout, payments and orders. The cheapest one for you is the platform with the lowest total of plan fee, platform transaction fee and card processing at your sales volume, not the one with the lowest advertised plan.
If you are leaving Shopify at a larger volume, our cheaper Shopify alternatives page prices the same question at $10,000 a month in sales.
Why it matters
At $2,000 a month in card sales, processing at 2.9% plus 30 cents costs $73 a month on its own: $58 from the percentage and the rest from 50 per-order fees. That is more than the plan fee on every platform here, so a $10 difference in plans moves the total far less than a store owner expects.
The other cost to watch is a platform fee for using an outside processor. Shopify charges 2% on Basic if you do not use Shopify Payments, which would add 2% of sales to this store's bill, and BigCommerce charges an Open Payment Provider fee on Core for processors outside its embedded list.
Key features to look for
Pricing
Plan prices and rates were read on 28 October 2026 on Big Cartel's pricing page, Ecwid's pricing page, Square Online plans, Hostinger's ecommerce page, WooCommerce pricing, Shopify pricing and BigCommerce pricing. Where a platform passes payments to Stripe, processing uses Stripe's US rate of 2.9% plus 30 cents.
The plan fee decides the ranking at this size. In this model six of the seven platforms charge or pass through 2.9% plus 30 cents per online card payment, so their totals differ only by the plan fee.
Where the ranking flips (our arithmetic): Square's free plan beats Ecwid Starter below $1,250 a month in sales and Big Cartel Platinum below $3,750, because its extra 0.4 points of card fee cost less than those plan fees until then. Square Plus only beats its own free plan above about $12,250 a month. Shopify never undercuts Big Cartel Platinum at any volume when both use standard processing, because the rates match and Shopify's plan costs more.
For the platforms on this page, Big Cartel's Shopify comparison page confirms it takes no commission, and Toolradar keeps profiles of Shopify, Ecwid, BigCommerce and WooCommerce. Wix and Squarespace are not ranked here: check the current price on their sites.
| Plan | Price | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Big Cartel Gold | $0 plan; $73/mo total | 5 product listings, one template, card and PayPal checkout, sales tax autopilot. |
| Ecwid Starter | $5/mo plan; $78/mo total | Up to 10 products, add a store to any site, email support. |
| Square Online Free | $0 plan; $81/mo total | Online store with 3.3% plus 30 cents per online card payment. |
| Hostinger builder + Ecommerce | $12.48 plan after 3 months; about $85/mo total | Website, domain and store with no product limit; builder at its starting price. |
| Big Cartel Platinum | $15/mo plan; $88/mo total | Custom domain, more listings, print-on-demand apps, label printing. |
| WooCommerce | From $25 hosting; about $98/mo total | Free plugin on self-managed WordPress hosting, WooPayments for cards. |
| Shopify Basic | $29/mo yearly; $102/mo total | Full store with unlimited products; 2% fee if you use an outside processor. |
| BigCommerce Core | Same as Shopify Basic yearly; $102/mo total | Full store up to $30,000 in yearly sales; no fee with embedded payment providers. |
| Square Online Plus | $49/mo plan; $122/mo total | Online card rate drops to 2.9% plus 30 cents; worth it only at higher sales. |
The bottom line
For a store selling 50 orders a month at $40, Big Cartel is the cheapest ecommerce platform: free on Gold if 5 products are enough, then $88 a month all in on Platinum. Ecwid Starter and Square Online's free plan sit within $8 of it. Shopify and BigCommerce cost about $30 a month more at this size; that premium buys room to grow, not a lower bill.
Compare the full picture in our best ecommerce platforms ranking, the free ecommerce website guide, Shopify pricing, WooCommerce pricing and BigCommerce pricing, or read the Big Cartel review, Ecwid review and Square Online review.
Cite this: Retailpresso, "Cheapest Ecommerce Platform 2026: 7 Stores Priced at 50 Orders", November 2026.
Frequently asked questions
What is the cheapest ecommerce platform in 2026?
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Is Shopify more expensive than Big Cartel?
How much does it cost to run a small online store per month?
Does Square Online's free plan stay cheapest as sales grow?
Which cheap ecommerce platform has no transaction fees?
Sources
Prices and plan details come from each vendor's own pricing page, re-checked by the Toolradar pricing tracker.
- WooCommerce pricingchecked Sep 2026
- Shopify pricingchecked Sep 2026
- BigCommerce pricingchecked Sep 2026
Some offers on this page may be paid placements or contain affiliate links.
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