Quick answer: The strongest Shopify alternatives are BigCommerce, Wix and Squarespace. BigCommerce is the closest match for most users; the others trade off on price, features or focus. All 3 are compared below on pricing, strengths and best use case.
Shopify is a solid e-commerce platform tool — Leading hosted e-commerce platform; full storefront, payments, and app ecosystem for online stores. But maybe the pricing no longer fits, or you want a feature Shopify doesn't prioritise. Here are the strongest alternatives worth a look, with what sets each apart.
Each option below works in the same broad space as Shopify; the right swap depends on which trade-off matters most to you.
Drag-and-drop website builder with templates, AI site generation, and integrated hosting; broad use cases. A good swap when you care most about small business.
The broadest all-in-one builder, pairing 2,700+ templates and deep AI with the Velo developer platform.
Stands out for:
Drag-and-drop builder with 2,700+ templates
AI website builder (Wix Harmony) using the Aria conversational agent, replacing the deprecated Wix ADI
20+ AI features: text creator, section creator, product descriptions, site chat, image enhancement
Pricing: Free $0; Light $17/mo; Core $29/mo; Business $39/mo; Business Elite $159/mo; Enterprise custom. · Best for: Small business, Beginners, Portfolio sites
Design-led all-in-one website builder favored for portfolios, creatives, and clean commerce sites. Consider it if creatives is your priority.
Design-led builder whose templates and new AIO Scanner (AI-search visibility tracking) set it apart for creatives.
Stands out for:
Squarespace 7.1 with the Fluid Engine grid-based drag-and-drop editor
~194 designer-grade templates across portfolio, photography, commerce and more
Blueprint AI suite for site and content generation
Pricing: Basic from ~$16/mo; Advanced ~$99/mo; Core and Plus tiers in between (see official pricing). · Best for: Creatives, Portfolios, Design-focused sites