Choosing an e-commerce platform is one of the highest-stakes decisions for a small business going online. We built identical test stores selling the same 20 products on four major platforms, then ran paid traffic to measure conversion rates and total cost of ownership over six months.
Platforms Tested
Shopify Basic — $39/month
Most popular for good reason. Setup took 4 hours including theme customization. App ecosystem is unmatched — email marketing, reviews, and inventory tools integrate seamlessly. Transaction fees (2.9% + 30¢) add up at scale. Our test store converted at 2.8%.
Squarespace Commerce — $27/month
Best design templates out of the box. Less technical knowledge required for a polished storefront. Limited app ecosystem compared to Shopify. Built-in email campaigns and SEO tools reduce third-party costs. Converted at 2.4%.
WooCommerce (WordPress) — $25/month hosting
Most customizable but requires technical skills. Plugin conflicts caused two downtime incidents during our test. Lowest platform fees (only payment processing). Best for businesses already on WordPress. Converted at 2.6%.
BigCommerce Standard — $39/month
Best for scaling without transaction fees. Native multi-channel selling (Amazon, eBay, Instagram) saved hours of integration work. Theme selection is narrower than Shopify. Converted at 2.5%.
Hidden Costs We Found
Shopify's app subscriptions averaged $47/month beyond the base plan. WooCommerce required $200 in developer time for initial setup. Squarespace's limited shipping rule customization forced manual order processing for international sales. BigCommerce's sales volume caps on lower tiers trigger unexpected upgrades.
Total Cost of Ownership (6 Months)
| Platform | Platform Fees | Apps/Plugins | Payment Processing | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shopify | $234 | $282 | $890 | $1,406 |
| Squarespace | $162 | $0 | $920 | $1,082 |
| WooCommerce | $150 | $180 | $875 | $1,205 |
| BigCommerce | $234 | $60 | $890 | $1,184 |
Our Recommendation
Design-focused brands with under 100 SKUs: Squarespace. Growing businesses needing apps and integrations: Shopify. WordPress-native businesses: WooCommerce. Multi-channel sellers scaling past $50K/year: BigCommerce.
