Top 3 Free Shopify Alternatives: There are many reasons why Shopify has become so popular over the years. Not only does it provide some incredible features but it is also very simple to use, making creating an ecommerce store easier than ever. However, it can be very expensive – especially if you have more than one store. So today we’re going to take a look at the top 3 free Shopify alternatives that you can use to open your own ecommerce store.
1. Big Cartel
Big Cartel is one of the most popular e-commerce platforms because it allows users to sell physical products through its service for free. You are limited to a maximum of 5 products, but if you’re making a simple dropshipping store, then 5 products is more than enough. If you want to sell digital products, you can make use of their addon Pulley, although that does have a monthly fee.
Big Cartel has lots of free templates available, so you can make your store look incredible with just a few clicks. Simply choose a template that suits your style, and it’ll be instantly updated on the frontend of the website.
Another great feature of Big Cartel’s free plan is that it allows you to use a custom domain. This means that you can send customers to your own domain name instead of a Big Cartel subdomain. There are very, very few ecommerce platforms that allow you to use custom domains without charging for it.
2. Sellix
If you want to sell digital products or services online, then you need to use an ecommerce platform like Sellix.
Sellix allows you to upload an unlimited number of products to your store. When dealing with digital products – more is always better. You can also accept cryptocurrencies natively through Sellix, allowing you to reach a larger number of people from around the world.
Unfortunately, Sellix does not allow you to use a custom domain on the free plan, so you will have to use a Sellix subdomain for your store. If this doesn’t bother you, then it’s a great free shopify alternative that has all the features you need to sell your digital goods.
3. Magento Open Source
If you’ve ever run a website before, then I’m sure you’ve noticed that there are tons of websites that you can instantly create using your hosting package. Most people simply install WordPress, as it’s the most well-known and most used service from the list. However, there are some great options for opening your own ecommerce store completely free.
My favorite is Magento. It’s open source software that you can install from within your hosting plan that allows you to make a beautiful and highly customizable ecommerce store. With Magento, you are able to sell both physical and digital products on your store.
Of course, using open source software isn’t going to be as straightforward as using something like Shopify. You’re basically paying Shopify to make your life as simple as possible. When using this type of software, the setup will take longer but you will also have a lot more freedom in how you want your store to look in the end.
And, of course, you’ll be saving a lot of money by not having to pay Shopify’s monthly fees.
You can actually get excellent hosting for as little as $2.99 a month, or pay for a lifetime hosting deal and never have to worry about monthly fees again.
And if you already have a hosting package that allows for multiple websites, you can simply add your new website to that package and not spend a cent.
The Benefits of Using Shopify
If you want to start selling products online fast, then Shopify is a great choice. It is one of the most popular ecommerce platforms in the world. It has positioned itself in this spot by consistently adding new features that make starting a store super simple. However, this does come with a hefty price tag.
With Shopify, you can also easily manage your inventory, customers, orders, shipping, and payments. There are many different types of stores that you can build with Shopify. For example, you can create a clothing store, a jewelry store, or even a furniture store. There are lots of themes to choose from, which makes it easy to design the perfect store.
You don’t need to be tech-savvy to set up a Shopify store. In fact, there are lots of tutorials and videos on how to do this. If you want something fast and simple to use (and have the budget for it) then Shopify is a great option.
Top 3 Free Shopify Alternatives
So, those are our top 3 free shopify alternatives. Each one has its own advantages and disadvantages. Big Cartel is great for physical products, but does require a payment for digital products. Sellix is great for digital products, but you cannot use a custom domain. And finally Magento – which allows both physical and digital products – but will take you much longer to setup than any of the other choices.
If you don’t have the money for Shopify, then give these options a try and see which one works best for you. Perhaps you will continue to use these free services indefinitely, or you may decide to move over to Shopify once your business starts making money. Either way, these services make it easy to test out various products without needing to pay huge fees from the offset.
