Ecwid Vs. Shopify (2023 Comparison)

Ecwid and Shopify are top options to consider to launch an e-commerce empire or a side gig. Both e-commerce platforms deliver everything you need to sell anywhere, including an online store, social media sites, seller marketplaces, retail stores and mobile venues. Read our in-depth Ecwid vs Shopify comparison to see how the two popular e-commerce site builders stack up in terms of pricing, features, ease of use and more.

Ecwid vs. Shopify: At a Glance

Ecwid and Shopify are beginner-friendly, all-in-one sales platforms that let merchants sell all types of goods and services anywhere. Users are provided with a full suite of tools to manage payments, products, inventory, orders and customers on your own website and across all of your sales channels.

The notable differences between Ecwid and Shopify include overall cost, number of products per plan and integrations to other websites, blogs and point-of-sale (POS) systems. In order to choose the best for your business between the two largely depends on your budget, online store needs and target sales channels.

FEATURED PARTNER OFFER

Ecwid

Starting price

Free; INR 1172.05 ($14.08) per month

(billed annually)

Product Limit

Unlimited available with its Unlimited Plan at INR 6867.47

($82.50) per month

Starting price

Free; INR 1172.05 ($14.08) per month

(billed annually)

Product Limit

Unlimited available with its Unlimited Plan at INR 6867.47

($82.50) per month

Why We Picked It

Owned by Lightspeed, Ecwid is a beginner-friendly software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform. It offers four plans ranging from free to INR 8240.96 ($99) per month. All plans support Ecwid’s Instant Site online store, plus you can add a store section to websites and blogs on WordPress, Wix, Squarespace and more on any plan.

Ecwid’s higher-tier plans enable multichannel sales on Facebook, Instagram, Amazon and eBay, plus support in-person sales via mobile POS. Ecwid’s top plan also connects to retail POS systems including Vend by Lightspeed, Square and Clover.

Pros & Cons

• Add a shop to existing websites
• Use your own payment processor
• No added transaction fees
• Easier to use than Shopify

• Instant Site storefront is very basic
• Free plan supports just ten items
• Limited products and features on lower-tier plans

FEATURED PARTNER OFFER

Shopify

Why We Picked It

Shopify doesn’t have a free plan, but does offer a INR 416.21 ($5) per month plan with limited sales features. However, most sellers use Shopify’s online store plans, which range from INR 2414.02 ($29) to INR 24,889.36 ($299) per month. All Shopify store plans include a customizable online store, unlimited product listings, sales on Facebook, Instagram, Amazon, eBay and more, plus in-person mobile POS sales. Sellers also enjoy seamless order processing using Shopify Payments and Shopify Shipping.

Pros & Cons

• Omnichannel selling
• Advanced e-commerce features
• Many modern, mobile-friendly store themes
• Many dropshipping and print-on-demand integrations

• Added transaction fee if you don’t use Shopify Payments
• Free store themes are basic and advanced themes start at $180
• Higher-tier plans are very pricey
• Not as user-friendly as Ecwid

How Ecwid vs. Shopify Stack Up

Plan Costs

As you compare Ecwid versus Shopify, it’s important to note what you get for your money.

At first glance, Ecwid is less costly than Shopify and is the only one with a free plan. However, Shopify can top Ecwid in value since its base store plan includes unlimited products, all sales channels and mobile POS. Lower Ecwid plans have product limits and only the top-tier plans enable all sales channels and mobile POS.

Ecwid’s Plan Costs:

• Free plan: List 10 products with Instant Site
• Venture plan, INR 1581.60 ($19) per month: List 100 products with Instant Site, add store to other websites and blogs, plus sell on Facebook and Instagram
• Business plan, INR 3246.44 ($39) per month: List 2,500 products with Instant Site, get everything in Venture, plus sell on Amazon, eBay, mobile POS and more
• Unlimited plan, INR 8240.96 ($99) per month: List unlimited products with Instant Site, get everything in Business, plus connect to retail POS systems including Vend by Lightspeed, Square and Clover for in-store sales
• Save on Ecwid plans: Save 25% if you pay annually

Other costs for selling on Ecwid: 

• Fees from third-party providers for credit card processing, shipping labels and retail POS systems
• A custom domain name for your Ecwid Instant Site adds around INR 1248.63 ($15) per year
• Add-on features via apps and custom integrations

Shopify’s Plan Costs:

• Starter, INR 416.21 ($5) per month: List unlimited products and sell via mobile POS and an online Buy Button tool; online store not included
• Basic, INR 3246.44 ($39) per month: List unlimited products, build an online store, sell on all sales channels and mobile POS, plus access email marketing and business reporting tools
• Shopify, INR 8740.41 ($105) per month: Everything in Basic plus advanced marketing, reporting and business automation tools and lower rates on Shopify Payments and Shopify Shipping
• Advanced, INR 33,213.56 ($399) per month: Everything in Shopify, plus real-time shipping rates,  international sales tools and the lowest rates on Shopify Payments and Shopify Shipping
• Shopify Plus, INR 166484.00 ($2,000) per month: An all-in-one solution geared toward high-volume retail businesses
• Save on Shopify plans: Save 25% when paid annually (except (Starter and Shopify Plus plans)

Other costs for selling on Shopify:

• Fees for Shopify Shipping labels and Shopify Payments credit card processing
• If using your own credit card processor, Shopify tacks on a transaction fee
• For retailers, POS Pro adds INR 7,408.54 ($89) per month, per location
• Advanced store themes start at INR 14,983.56 ($180)
• A custom domain name for your online store adds INR 1244.47 ($14.95) per year

Sales Channels

Ecwid and Shopify allow merchants to seamlessly connect to a full range of sales channels. Along with an online store, both enable sales on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok, Amazon, Etsy, eBay and more. Both also support all types of in-person sales via mobile and retail POS.

Shopify is a great value for multichannel sellers since it provides access to all sales channels in the base store plan. However, Ecwid lets sellers publish a store on one or more blogs and websites, which is ideal for a multisite sales strategy.

E-Commerce Features

All types of e-commerce sales are supported by Ecwid and Shopify, including physical products that ship, items for local delivery or pickup and digital download products. Via add-on apps, both also support online courses, webinars and subscriptions, as well as service bookings with online payments.

Merchants are provided with detailed product pages including photos and videos, item variations and sale prices. Sellers can also create collections, store information pages, require customer logins (or not) and automate order management.

However, users will find Shopify’s product management and store menus more robust than Ecwid’s Instant Site. Shopify merchants can organize large product catalogs into collections and sub-collections, then list these in mobile-friendly store menus. Ecwid’s stand-alone Instant Site supports product collections, but these don’t carry over to mobile menus. With over 72% of online sales happening on mobile devices, Shopify’s mobile-friendly menus can help boost sales.

Ecwid and Shopify provide basic SEO tools. Both pull SEO metadata from product, collection and page content, but there are few controls beyond that. Smart use of keywords in titles, product descriptions and media file names can help merchants maximize these basic SEO features.

Shopify SEO features can be expanded by adding apps such as Yoast SEO and Bloggle. The best way to improve Ecwid SEO is to drop the Ecwid store into an SEO-friendly WordPress, Wix or Squarespace website.

Blogging Features

All Shopify store plans include a built-in blog with basic features that can be extended with Shopify blogging apps, such as Blog Studio or DropInBlog. Ecwid users can build a simple blog on Instant Site by adding a “Blog” collection and using pages for blog posts. However, embedding an Ecwid store into a WordPress, Wix or Squarespace website provides a more powerful blogging and content marketing solution.

Email Marketing

Ecwid and Shopify both provide built-in automated abandoned cart recovery emails. This sales-boosting feature lets merchants email reminders and coupon offers to shoppers who didn’t complete a purchase.

Each platform provides built-in email list building and automated email marketing campaigns. Sellers can also connect a variety of email apps to both Ecwid and Shopify, including top-rated Mailchimp or Klaviyo, which supports both email and text campaigns.

Mobile and Retail Point-of-Sale

Both platforms offer mobile POS tools to handle in-person sales in venues such as markets and fairs and for mobile service payments. However retail store POS options differ greatly between Ecwid and Shopify.

Ecwid does not have a built-in retail POS tool. Instead, it directly integrates with some of the best POS providers including Vend by Lightspeed, Square and Clover, plus it supports custom integrations to other POS systems. Shopify has a proprietary retail store system called Shopify POS Pro but offers few integrations to other POS systems in the app store.

Bottom Line

In comparing Ecwid versus Shopify, both platforms clearly answer the “sell anything anywhere” needs of modern entrepreneurs. Major differences come down to overall cost, online store features and integrations to other websites, blogs and POS systems. If virtually unlimited website, blog and POS integrations is your priority, Ecwid may be your ideal solution. If you’re looking for budget-friendly access to all sales channels and a robust online store, Shopify can deliver more bang for your buck than Ecwid.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)