Following a period of extensive research and testing, we can now reveal the best ecommerce platforms available in 2021…
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the best way to communicate with your customers and sell products is online. Using an ecommerce platform is the cheapest and easiest way to build an online presence – you don’t need to know any code and it saves you spending thousands on a web designer.
In these unusual times, we understand that time is money. That’s why we’ve done all the research for you – thoroughly testing the top ecommerce platforms ourselves and critically evaluating them in areas such as sales tools, website features, value for money, help and support, design functionality, and ease of use.
To help make your decision even easier, we used our findings to create unique overall ratings (out of five) for each platform. For a quick overview of our results, and to see which ecommerce platform would best suit your business, check out our comparison table below…
Ecommerce platform comparison table 2021
| Ecommerce platform | Best for | Overall rating /5 | Starting price plan | Free trial/plan? | Visit website |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Scaling your business | 4.3 | £22/month | 15-day free trial | Try BigCommerce |
 | User-friendliness | 4.3 | £13/month | 14-day free trial | Try Wix Ecommerce |
 | Sales-specific features | 4.2 | £22/month | 14-day free trial | Try Shopify |
 | Designing your brand image | 4.1 | £20/month | 14-day free trial | Try Squarespace Ecommerce |
 | Doing everything on your own | 3.8 | *Custom pricing | Free to install | Try WooCommerce (powered by Bluehost) |
 | Value for money | 3.7 | £0/month | Free plan | Try Square |
 | Easiest and fastest to use | 3.6 | £19.99/month | 30-day free trial | Try GoDaddy |
 | Medium-sized B2B businesses | 3.5 | £18/month | 14-day free trial | Try AmeriCommerce |
 | Drop shipping services | 3.2 | £58/month | 14-day free trial | Try PinnacleCart |
What are ecommerce platforms?
Ecommerce platforms are online tools designed specifically to help you create online stores, without needing to use any code. They have everything you need to take payments, sell products, and grow your brand all in one place, offering monthly price plans that typically range from £13 per month to £200+ per month. The right plan for you will generally depend on the size of your business, and the number of features you need.
Why use ecommerce platforms?
Using an ecommerce platform is an easy and affordable way to create a professional-looking online store. Rather than researching for a web designer and spending thousands on web designer fees, you can create your own ecommerce website within a few hours, for as little as £13 per month.
Some ecommerce platforms even offer free plans, enabling you to build an online presence for your business at no initial cost. If there’s no free plan on a particular platform, you’ll likely find a free trial period so that you can test the entire software without spending a penny.
What’s more, most platforms are really intuitive, turning the complex world of web design into a breeze, while providing 24/7 customer support to help keep your online store running smoothly.
