The best Shopify alternatives for DTC brands

If you run an ecommerce business, you’ve likely heard about Shopify. It powers about 4.8 million online stores — providing features like checkout options and payment processors that help you sell anywhere. Little wonder many online stores flock toward it. 

But Shopify isn’t the only option for your business. There are alternative ecommerce platforms offering flexible pricing plans, a wide range of customisation options, and scalability support for growing online stores. 

I’ll share five Shopify alternatives in this article plus real-life examples for each one, so you have a better idea of what you might be getting. 

What is Shopify? 

Shopify is an ecommerce platform that makes it easy to sell online and offline. It offers managed hosting, which means you don’t have to worry about technicalities like paying for a hosting service or handling technical website setups. 

Shopify also has a Shopify Plus plan for high-growth businesses. If you opt for this, you’ll be able to manage multiple stores from a single account, sell on different channels (like your website and social media), and enjoy dedicated support. 

If you’d like to learn more about how both products compare, check out my Shopify vs Shopify Plus article. 

Why do DTC stores look for a Shopify alternative? 

There are many reasons ecommerce businesses opt for a Shopify alternative. For some, it's flexibility. And for others, it's factors like pricing or customisation features. Let's discuss these reasons in detail. 

1. You want to pay for only the features you need  

Shopify plans come with a set of bundled features, which can be convenient for some businesses but might include tools you don’t necessarily need. If you’re looking for more flexibility — like only paying for the features you actually use — some alternatives can be a better fit and feel more cost-effective.

Take WooCommerce, for example. It lets you add or remove features at will using plugins and extensions. If you want advanced analytics, subscription management, or payment gateways, you can choose specific plugins rather than paying for an entire plan with features you may not use.  

2. You want more control over your store’s look and feel  

Shopify themes are great for getting started quickly — they’re pre-designed templates you can tweak to match your brand. You can change colours, fonts, and layouts without needing to code. For a lot of smaller stores, this is all they need.

But here’s where it gets tricky: if you want a truly unique design or specific features that aren’t part of the theme, things can get limiting. Shopify uses its own coding language called Liquid. If you’re not familiar with it, you’ll probably need a developer to make more advanced changes. 

And even with a developer, some things — like customising the checkout — are off-limits unless you’re on Shopify Plus, which costs a lot more.

3. You’re working with a smaller budget  

Shopify plans can be more expensive for smaller ecommerce stores — especially if you’re paying for add-on features. 

For example, you might start with the $29/month Basic plan, but if you want features like professional reporting or lower transaction fees, you’ll upgrade to the $79/month Shopify plan. 

Then there are premium themes that cost $200–$350 upfront. Not to forget the transaction fees — Shopify takes 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction if you're not using Shopify Payments (which isn’t available in all locations). 

What to consider in a Shopify alternative

When shopping for a Shopify alternative, the most important thing is to find a platform that fits into your ecommerce workflow while delivering a great online experience for your customers. Here are a few questions to ask yourself. 

• Where am I selling?: If you plan to sell in multiple countries, then you need a Shopify alternative that lets shoppers pay for items using their local currencies. In the case where you also have a physical store, you’ll need a platform that supports offline payments — as Shopify does with its built-in POS function — so you can manage online and offline sales in the same place.

• Which other ecommerce tools do I use?: You also need an ecommerce platform that seamlessly integrates with the other tools used for your business, such as your SEO tools and web hosting accounts. That way, you don’t have to change your entire setup. 

For example, if you already manage your visual assets with Dash, you could choose a platform like WooCommerce, so you’ll still be able to easily drag and drop your product images into your listings. 

• What about hosting?: Shopify offers managed hosting, meaning all the technical aspects of hosting your ecommerce website are handled for you. That’s not the case with a platform like WooCommerce, for example. 

Figure out if you have the experience or resources to manage hosting internally (on top of the day-to-day job of running your store). Or if you’d rather subscribe to a more expensive platform that takes this work off your plate.

• Are there any hidden costs?: Beyond the regular subscription fees you pay, most ecommerce platforms have additional costs like transaction fees or add-ons. BigCommerce, for example, looks cheap on the surface. But its plans mostly have basic features, and you’ll need to pay for add-ons to build a fully functional store. 

So, don’t get carried away by cheap pricing plans. Dig deep to know how much you’ll actually be paying in terms of transaction fees, additional subscriptions for integrations, and any other costs.

• How large is my inventory?: If you have a large inventory or plan to expand, you need a platform that can handle high product counts without performance issues. For example, OpenCart doesn’t work so well for stores with more than 200 products in their inventories. 

With a large inventory, you’ll also need a platform with extensive catalogue management features, including a product tagging system, inventory data management, and SEO tools for optimising your product categories and descriptions. 

With these in mind, let’s look at some Shopify alternatives for growing ecommerce stores. 

The top 5 Shopify alternatives you should know

Shopify is a decent ecommerce platform, but it’s not always the right tool for you. For example, you may want more flexible pricing or the freedom to switch up your store’s features and branding as you like.  

In any case, it’s a good idea to check out Shopify alternatives to see which one might be a better fit. We’ve whittled down your options to five ecommerce tools worth exploring. 

1. WooCommerce: Shopify alternative for WordPress users

If you’re part of the 43.7% of businesses that already use WordPress, then WooCommerce might be the Shopify alternative for you. It’s a plugin you can install on your WordPress website to access ecommerce features quickly. 

As a WooCommerce user, you’ll get: 

• Access to the WooMarketplace with hundreds of free and paid ecommerce extensions

• Multi-currency support that lets you sell and receive payments globally 

• Access to WordPress premium SEO features to boost your store’s visibility in organic search results (like Google)

WooCommerce gives you way more flexibility than Shopify. You’re not stuck with rigid pricing plans or fixed features. Instead, you can upgrade your store anytime just by adding plugins.

For example, let’s say you want to automatically calculate shipping costs for customers at the checkout stage. All you need to do is install one of WooCommerce’s shipping calculator plugins — whereas with Shopify, you have to upgrade to a more expensive plan to access that feature. You can check out my WooCommerce vs Shopify article to see how both platforms compare. 

The downside is that WooCommerce doesn’t offer managed hosting. You’re in charge of maintaining your store, updating plugins, and resolving any technical issues that come up. 

For store owners with solid technical skills or the budget to outsource these tasks, this might not be a big deal. For others, this could mean spending more time managing WooCommerce than actually running your ecommerce business.

When to choose WooCommerce for your ecommerce business

Overall, WooCommerce is a decent Shopify alternative if: 

• Your ecommerce business already runs on WordPress

• You have the technical skills (or outsourcing budget) to handle the technical aspects of your store 

• You want more flexibility and control over your store’s features (and at a reasonable price too) 

Pricing

WooCommerce is free to use (sort of). It doesn’t charge any subscription fees — unlike Shopify. But you’ll still need to pay for a domain, hosting services, and themes and plugins (if you choose the premium options). 

Store example: Robert August Apparel

Robert August Apparel is a retail and fashion store specialising in adult clothing. Its product catalogue includes men’s shoes and accessories like belts and bags. 

According to its founder, “The main attraction for using WordPress and WooCommerce for augustapparel.com was the ability to integrate other software into it and have more control over the layout of the page.”

Their website is neatly categorised by product and easy to navigate. The design is also simple and intuitive. In addition, it has shopping personalisation features like the ability to customise items before checkout.

2. Adobe Commerce (formerly Magento): For large businesses in the Adobe ecosystem 

If your business already uses apps like Adobe Creative Cloud and Experience Manager, you might as well round things up by running an Adobe Commerce store. 

That way, you can manage your entire workflow and processes within the same ecosystem. Instead of switching from one platform to another. For example, you can edit images in Adobe CC apps like PhotoShop, store them in Adobe DAM, then deploy to your Adobe Commerce store. 

Adobe Commerce also lets you: 

• Sell anywhere with multi-channel storefronts 

• Offer product recommendations to shoppers based on real-time interactions on your website 

• Extend your store’s features and capabilities with apps and connectors 

The biggest downsides of Adobe Commerce are cost and complexity. It’s about 24% more expensive to run your ecommerce store on Adobe Commerce versus Shopify. It also has higher platform and deployment fees (about 42% higher than Shopify). 

Perhaps, one wouldn’t mind much if they were getting a seamless experience in exchange for the high fees. But that’s not the case here: Adobe Commerce is also very complex and hard to use — even for technical teams. 

“The numerous options can be confusing, particularly towards people who are not very conversant with technology. The learning curve is steep, and you will find that a lot of time and effort go into getting to grips with all the tools available on the platform.” 

When to use Adobe Commerce for your ecommerce business

Overall, I think Adobe Commerce might still be a good Shopify alternative if: 

• Your business is deeply integrated with the Adobe ecosystem 

• You don’t want to spend resources (time and money) training your team to use different platforms 

• You’re selling on B2B and B2C platforms at the same time 

Pricing 

Adobe Commerce offers two pricing tiers: Pro and Managed Services. The difference is that Managed Services includes implementation and ongoing support — making it ideal for enterprise stores. 

In typical Adobe fashion, both tiers use custom pricing, which means you’ll need to reach out to the team for a quote. However, my research suggests that the pricing starts from around $20,000 per year. 

Store example: SCHMIDT GROUP 

SCHMIDT GROUP started as a textile service provider but has grown into a conglomerate of retail businesses — plus a fashion supply chain. 

It chose Adobe Commerce to centralise its ecommerce setup and operations. Initially, each business used different platforms for their online shops, but this was increasingly difficult to manage. 

Switching to Adobe Commerce means the group can monitor product catalogues and technical requirements for all its online stores from one central platform. It’s also easier to onboard and ramp up their teams. 

3. BigCommerce: For large ecommerce stores 

BigCommerce is worth checking out if you’re a large ecommerce store selling on multiple channels — like a website, mobile app, and social platforms — at the same time. 

It’s a headless content management system — meaning it lets you control all your ecommerce channels from one place. Any changes made in BigCommerce automatically sync with everywhere you sell. 

For example, let’s say you update your product catalogue with new visual assets; the new images will reflect on your ecommerce marketplaces (like Amazon), website, Instagram and TikTok shops, etc. There’s no need to upload the product images to the different channels separately, and it also helps you deliver a consistent shopping experience to your customers.  

BigCommerce offers features like: 

• WordPress integration, making it a solid alternative for stores already built on WordPress 

• Multiple storefronts for managing ecommerce sales on different platforms 

• Theme and checkout customisation

Shopify also offers headless content management, but it’s exclusive to Shopify Plus, which costs around $2500 per month. BigCommerce, on the other hand, offers more affordable pricing — starting at $29 per month. 

Bear in mind that BigCommerce plans come with basic ecommerce features, so you’ll likely need to purchase add-ons to extend your store’s functionalities. In one customer’s words, “The whole business model is designed for you to download apps for basic functionality and therefore pay additional monthly fees.” 

This means the costs can quickly rack up for larger ecommerce businesses — which can be pretty frustrating. So make sure to calculate all the add-on costs to know if it makes sense for your business from a financial standpoint. 

When to use BigCommerce for your ecommerce business

BigCommerce is a decent Shopify alternative if: 

• You’re selling on different platforms and channels (and need an easy way to manage them) 

• You have a generous budget that can absorb any add-on costs 

• You want some degree of flexibility (you can use BigCommerce with a WordPress website) 

Pricing 

BigCommerce offers four pricing plans — starting at $29 per month. The Pro plan is the most popular package for fast-growing businesses and costs $299 per month. It also has a custom plan for enterprise users. 

Store example: Grenson

Grenson is an English men’s footwear. Originally, the online store was built in Magento (now Adobe Commerce). However, they found that the platform was inflexible and difficult to scale — hence the decision to migrate to BigCommerce. 

BigCommerce makes it super easy for Grenson’s marketing team to make page updates directly instead of waiting on technical support. 

In terms of the website’s styling, it uses interactive elements like dropdowns and transitions to engage shoppers. These can feel a bit overwhelming — especially if you’re shopping on your phone. 

4. OpenCart: For new ecommerce stores  

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OpenCart is perfect for new ecommerce businesses looking for a simple way to sell online. It’s super easy to use — all you need to do is upload your product catalogue and your store is ready for shoppers. 

It has two versions: Self-hosted and Cloud. The self-hosted option is free, but you'll have to source and pay for a hosting service yourself (just like with WooCommerce). The Cloud option has monthly plans and subscription fees but offers managed hosting. 

As a newly launched ecommerce store, you can start with self-hosting and then graduate to the Cloud once you have more traction and customers. OpenCart offers features like: 

• Multi-store support from one admin interface

• Multi-currency support for global payments 

• A vetted partner hub to grow your ecommerce business 

Honestly, I think it’s a decent deal for solo business owners who are non-technical, have a small budget, and don’t want to spend time troubleshooting complex store setups. 

The challenge is that, as your store grows, you’ll likely need to upgrade to a more advanced ecommerce platform — like WooCommerce or Shopify — for more features. Otherwise, it is a great start. 

When to use OpenCart for your ecommerce business

In summary, OpenCart is a good Shopify alternative for: 

• New ecommerce businesses 

• Online stores with small teams and budgets 

• Ecommerce businesses looking for a self-hosted option, but don’t want to deal with the complexities of a platform like WooCommerce 

Pricing 

OpenCart has a free, self-hosted platform. It also offers pricing tiers for OpenCart Cloud — the managed hosting package. Pricing starts at $99 per month. 

Store example: Smart Gift Solutions 

Smart Gift Solutions is a UK-based personalised gift delivery company. They specialise in creating themed hampers and offer a "make your own hamper" service, allowing customers to curate gifts with hand-picked treats.

I really like how simple and colourful the website is. Shoppers can customise their orders at checkout or add complimentary products. It also supports multiple payment methods, including Apple Pay, Klarna, and credit cards. 

5. Squarespace Commerce: For small online stores 

Squarespace is a simple tool that allows you to design and build websites without writing any code. However, it also offers features that help small ecommerce stores to sell (online or in-person) and receive payments directly. The entire feature set is called Squarespace Commerce. 

With Squarespace Commerce, you can: 

• Accept payments via major gateways like Stripe, PayPal and Apple Pay 

• Set up shipping options, calculate taxes, and track orders

• Directly promote your ecommerce business using email marketing and social integrations 

Squarespace Commerce is ideal for small stores, especially if you have less than 200 products in your inventory. However, when your business grows beyond that point, you’ll need to upgrade to a larger platform like WooCommerce to keep things running smoothly.  

When to use Squarespace for your ecommerce business

In summary, Squarespace Commerce might be a good Shopify alternative if: 

• You’re looking for a simple ecommerce platform offering basic features. 

• You already have a Squarespace website and don’t want to migrate to a new platform. 

• You want a simple online store with a visually appealing user interface. 

Pricing 

Squarespace ecommerce features are available across all its plans. The cheapest plan costs $25 per month and only allows you to sell and receive payments. For more features (like shipping and taxes), you’ll need to upgrade to a higher tier. 

Store example: Maca 

Maca is an organic beauty brand offering vegan and cruelty-free skincare products. 

While there’s nothing outstanding about the website styling and layout, its user experience is pretty sleek. It’s really easy to move from one product section to another and to shop for items. I also like that the product images are interactive — offering dynamic views to shoppers. 

In all, it’s a solid choice for boutique stores that want to deliver a simple yet memorable online shopping experience to their customers. 

Which Shopify alternative should you choose? 

Hopefully, all I’ve said so far gives you a clearer idea of which Shopify alternative might work best for your brand. To recap:   

• WooCommerce is great if you have some technical knowledge and want full control over your store’s setup and features. 

• Adobe Commerce is worth exploring if you already use other apps and tools in the Adobe ecosystem like Adobe DAM or Photoshop. 

• BigCommerce is a solid option for mid-sized and large ecommerce businesses selling across multiple channels. 

• And if you’re a new and small store and don’t want to be held back by unnecessary complexities, I recommend checking out OpenCart or Squarespace Commerce.

Whichever platform you choose, you’ll need an easy way to upload new images and videos to your product catalogues, and potentially the other channels you sell — like your TikTok Shop or even marketplaces like Amazon. That’s where Dash (that’s us) comes in. 

Dash is a digital asset management system for DTC businesses. We make it super easy to receive visual assets, organise them, and deploy them to your different channels. 

If you’re a Shopify or WooCommerce store owner, you’ll be able to use Dash assets directly in your product listings— no need to download and upload visual assets. That’s one less thing to worry about for your business. 

Want to learn more about Dash? Check out our ecommerce features or better yet, try our tool for free for 14 days and see if you like the experience.