Ecwid Vs Shopify: Which One Is Better for You?

Introduction

Ecwid and Shopify are the top leaders in the competitive world of e-commerce, but they have distinct strengths and weaknesses. We can determine which platform best fits your needs and goals by comparing their key features, pricing, and usability. This article will compare Ecwid vs Shopify and help you make a suitable decision.

Ecwid vs Shopify: Quick assessment

Shopify and Ecwid are popular e-commerce platforms, each with its own strengths. With Shopify, you get everything you need for your online store in one place. It lets you create your website, process payments, manage inventory, and customize your store’s appearance. It’s suitable for businesses of all sizes and can grow with your business. Additionally, Shopify offers a wide range of apps to add extra features to your store.

On the other hand, Ecwid is known for being easy to add to existing websites and social media. It is flexible, letting users sell products on different platforms at once, which is great for reaching more people.

Ecwid platform

Shopify is good for expanding your store, while Ecwid might suit you better if you’re starting out or have a limited budget. It is simple to set up, offers a free plan, and is ideal for small or new businesses. Choosing between Shopify and Ecwid depends on your business needs, budget, and comfort with technology.

Ecwid vs Shopify: The comprehensive comparison

Below is a comprehensive comparison between these two platforms:

Price

The pricing for Ecwid and Shopify varies depending on the features and services included in each plan.

Ecwid:

• Ecwid has a free plan with basic features for small businesses starting out
• The Venture plan costs $15 a month and gives you more features, like unlimited products and more payment options.
• The Business plan costs $35 per month and adds features such as discount coupons and an abandoned cart saver.
• Ecwid’s Unlimited plan costs $99 a month and includes advanced features such as priority support and custom SSL certificates.

Shopify:

• Shopify’s Basic plan starts at $29 per month and offers features like unlimited products, 24/7 support, and a website with a blog. 
• The Shopify plan costs $79 a month and includes additional features such as gift cards and professional reports.
• Advanced Shopify, priced at $299 monthly, includes advanced report building and third-party calculated shipping rates.

Even though Ecwid might initially seem cheaper with its free and affordable plans, Shopify gives you more features and ways to grow as your business expands.

Discount

Both Ecwid and Shopify allow you to offer discounts to customers. You can create various types of discounts for your products. Here’s a comparison: 

Ecwid lets sellers make discounts based on a percentage or fixed amount. They can apply discounts to certain products, categories, or the whole order. Sellers can set deadlines and how many times a discount can be used. Ecwid also lets you make discount coupons for customers to use at checkout.

Shopify offers similar discount features, letting sellers create percentage or fixed amount discounts. Discounts can apply to products, collections, or whole orders. Sellers can set start and end dates and limit usage based on order quantity or customer eligibility. Shopify also allows making discount codes for customers to use at checkout.

In conclusion, both Ecwid and Shopify offer powerful discount features to help sellers attract customers and increase sales. Choosing between them depends on factors like cost, features, and suitability for the seller’s business.

E-commerce features

Ecwid and Shopify are both strong e-commerce platforms, but they have differences in their e-commerce features:

Ecwid is known for its easy integration with existing websites and social networks. It’s simple to set up and use, perfect for beginners who want to start selling online fast without technical knowledge. Ecwid supports selling across multiple channels, including websites, Facebook, and Instagram. With a free plan offering basic features, it’s a great option for small businesses or those on a tight budget.

Ecwid provides various templates for your store

Shopify is a complete tool for online stores, offering everything from website building to payment processing. It’s highly customizable with numerous themes and apps. Scalable for all business sizes, it includes features like abandoned cart reminders, detailed reports, and marketing tools to help sellers grow their online businesses.

Sales channel

Ecwid:

• Website integration: Ecwid smoothly blends with existing websites, letting sellers easily add an online store to any site.
• Social media selling: Ecwid supports selling on platforms like Facebook and Instagram, reaching customers directly.
• Marketplace integration: It enables selling on major marketplaces like eBay and Amazon, reaching a larger audience.
• Mobile app: Ecwid offers a mobile app for managing stores and shopping while on the move.

Shopify:

• Online store: Shopify offers an all-in-one solution for building and customizing online stores effortlessly.
• Social media integration: Shopify lets sellers sell products directly on social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram with integrations and shoppable posts.
• Marketplace integration: It supports selling on various online marketplaces like Amazon, eBay, and Etsy through integrations.
• Point of Sale (POS): Shopify provides a POS system for selling in physical retail locations, syncing inventory and sales data seamlessly with the online store.

In summary, Ecwid and Shopify help you sell products in different places, but in different ways. Ecwid integrates with websites and social media for selling in multiple areas. On the other hand, Shopify offers everything for selling online, on social media, in major marketplaces, and even in physical stores. Your choice depends on your business needs, technical knowledge, and preferred selling locations.

SEO tools

Ecwid and Shopify provide SEO tools to help sellers improve their online store visibility on search engines. Here’s how their SEO features compare:

Ecwid:

• Ecwid automatically creates SEO-friendly web addresses for product and category pages. Sellers can customize meta tags like titles and descriptions to boost visibility in search results. 
• Ecwid adds structured data markup to product pages, helping search engines understand content and show rich snippets in results. 
• Ecwid’s mobile-friendly stores ensure optimization for mobile devices, crucial for SEO. It integrates smoothly with Google Analytics for tracking website traffic and user behavior, aiding SEO strategies.

Shopify:

• Customizable meta tags: Shopify lets sellers customize meta tags for individual product pages, collections, and blog posts to target specific keywords.
• SEO-friendly URLs: Shopify automatically creates SEO-friendly web addresses for products and other site pages, aiding search engine rankings.
• Sitemap generation: Shopify automatically generates XML sitemaps, making it easier for search engines to crawl and index website pages.
• Canonical tags: Shopify automatically includes canonical tags to avoid duplicate content problems and consolidate link equity.
• Integration with Google Search Console: Shopify integrates smoothly with Google Search Console, enabling sellers to monitor website performance, identify indexing issues, and refine SEO strategies.

In short, Shopify and Ecwid help sellers boost their online store visibility in search results. Both let you customize what customers see when they find your store and create search engine-friendly web addresses. Shopify might have a slight edge as it integrates well with Google Search Console and helps with sitemap creation. But, your choice also depends on other factors like needed features, cost, and suitability for your business.

Payment gateways

Payment gateways are crucial for securely handling online transactions. Here’s how payment gateway capabilities compare between Ecwid and Shopify:

Ecwid:

• Wide range of payment options: Ecwid supports many payment gateways, including major credit cards like Visa, Mastercard, and American Express, as well as PayPal, Stripe, Square, and more.
• Global availability: Ecwid provides payment gateway options for merchants worldwide, allowing them to accept payments in different currencies.
• Seamless integration: Payment gateways integrate smoothly with Ecwid’s platform, offering customers a seamless checkout experience without redirecting them to external payment pages.

Shopify:

• Integrated payment processing: Shopify offers its payment gateway called Shopify Payments, letting merchants accept payments directly on their Shopify store without using a third-party provider.
• Wide range of payment options: In addition to Shopify Payments, Shopify supports third-party payment gateways like PayPal, Stripe, Authorize.Net, and others, giving merchants flexibility in selecting payment options that match their business needs
• Global availability: Shopify Payments is accessible in various countries, enabling merchants to accept payments in their local currencies.
• Automatic setup: Shopify Payments provides simple setup and integration, with automatic configuration for merchants in supported countries, minimizing setup complexity.

Ecwid and Shopify allow sellers to accept payments easily and safely from anywhere worldwide. Ecwid works with lots of different payment services, while Shopify has its payment system and works with others. So, you can pick whichever fits best with where you are, how you want to get paid, and what you need for your online store.

Transaction fees

Regarding transaction fees, Ecwid and Shopify have varying structures based on your chosen plan and the payment gateway used. Let’s break down the comparison:

Ecwid’s free plan has no transaction fees. On paid plans, Ecwid doesn’t charge transaction fees for transactions made through its own payment system, Ecwid Payments. However, if you use third-party payment gateways like PayPal or Stripe, they may charge transaction fees, which depend on the provider and your location.

Shopify charges transaction fees on all plans except when you use Shopify Payments, their built-in payment gateway. The fees depend on your plan. For instance, on the Basic Shopify plan, the fee is 2.9% + 30¢ for online credit card payments. The fees decrease with higher-tier plans like Shopify and Advanced Shopify. If you use a third-party payment gateway with Shopify (like PayPal or Stripe), you’ll still have transaction fees in addition to Shopify’s.

Ecwid offers more flexibility with transaction fees. You can skip these fees if you use their system, Ecwid Payments. Shopify generally charges transaction fees on most plans, except with Shopify Payments. Your choice might depend on payment preferences, sales volume, and feelings about transaction fees versus monthly charges.

Email marketing

Ecwid and Shopify have email marketing features to help sellers connect with customers and boost sales. Here’s how they compare:

Ecwid integrates with email marketing platforms like Mailchimp, Constant Contact, etc. for targeted campaigns. It offers abandoned cart recovery, automated email campaigns, customer segmentation, and basic analytics.

Shopify has Shopify Email for creating and tracking email campaigns. Sellers can segment customer lists, recover abandoned carts, and integrate with platforms like Mailchimp. Analytics track email metrics such as open rates, click-through rates, and revenue.

Both Ecwid and Shopify offer effective email marketing tools to connect with customers and track campaign performance. Your choice depends on additional features needed, cost, and ease of use.

Product options

Ecwid and Shopify offer robust product option capabilities, allowing merchants to deliver customizable products and variations to their customers. Here’s a comparison of their product option features:

	Ecwid	Shopify
Customizable option	Ecwid lets sellers customize every product, including size, color, material, and other details.	Shopify lets sellers add customizable product options like size, color, and material for each item in their store.
Limitless variations	Ecwid allows unlimited product variations, so sellers can offer many customization options without limits.	Shopify limits the number of product variations based on the pricing plan. Basic Shopify offers up to 3 options per product, while Advanced Shopify allows up to 100.
Bulk editing	Ecwid offers bulk editing tools, helping sellers update product options and variants in large quantities, saving time and effort.	Shopify has bulk editing tools similar to Ecwid, letting sellers update product options and variants in large quantities.

Both Ecwid and Shopify let sellers create customizable products with various options. Ecwid has unlimited variations and options, while Shopify’s customization tools are good but may have limits based on your plan. Your choice depends on your needed features, cost, and ease of use.

Dropshipping

Dropshipping abilities can greatly affect how well merchants handle inventory and order fulfillment. Here’s how Ecwid and Shopify compare when it comes to dropshipping:

	Ecwid	Shopify
Dropshipping integrations	Ecwid connects with different dropshipping suppliers and platforms, making it easy for merchants to link their stores with these suppliers.	Shopify has many dropshipping apps in its store, letting merchants link their stores to dropshipping suppliers and platforms.
Supplier network	Ecwid gives access to a network of dropshipping suppliers, letting merchants browse and select products to sell in their stores.	Shopify connects merchants with dropshipping suppliers, letting them choose products from different suppliers for their stores.
Automatic order fulfillment	Once a customer orders, Ecwid can automatically send the order details to the dropshipping supplier, simplifying order fulfillment.	Similar to Ecwid, Shopify can automatically send order details to dropshipping suppliers for order fulfillment, cutting down on manual work.
Inventory management	Ecwid has inventory management tools for merchants to track stock levels and update product availability based on the supplier’s inventory automatically.	Shopify has inventory tools for merchants to track stock levels and sync inventory with dropshipping suppliers for accurate product availability.
Customizable shipping	Merchants can create custom shipping rates and choices for dropshipped products, guaranteeing accurate shipping costs for customers.	Shopify partners with shipping carriers and services, helping merchants offer shipping options for dropshipped products and simplify the process.

In summary, both Ecwid and Shopify assist sellers with dropshipping, connecting with suppliers, automating order fulfillment, managing inventory, and allowing shipping customization. Your decision may depend on their supplier networks, required apps, pricing, and ease of use.

Point of sale (POS)

For point-of-sale (POS) capabilities, Ecwid and Shopify offer solutions to help merchants handle sales in physical stores. Here’s how their POS features compare:

Ecwid:

• Ecwid links with various POS systems like Square, Clover, and Vend, syncing online and offline inventory and sales data for merchants.
• Ecwid offers a mobile POS option, letting merchants accept payments and manage sales via a mobile device.
• Ecwid features sync inventory between the online store and POS system, ensuring accurate stock counts.
• Ecwid enables merchants to sell products online and in-store, using the same inventory and product information.
• Ecwid’s POS solution includes customer management features, letting merchants track customer information and purchase history across online and offline channels.

Ecwid provides various Point of sale

Shopify:

• Shopify has a built-in POS system, merging online and offline sales on a single dashboard for merchants.
• Shopify offers hardware like card readers and barcode scanners, letting merchants set up a full POS system.
• Shopify’s POS system syncs inventory between online and physical stores in real time to avoid overselling.
• Shopify’s POS system handles multi-location management, allowing merchants with multiple stores to control everything from one dashboard.
• Shopify’s analytics and reporting tools help merchants track sales performance and inventory trends across all channels.

In summary, both Ecwid and Shopify help sellers with in-store sales. Ecwid connects with other POS systems and has a mobile option. Shopify has its own POS system, handles multiple locations, and gives detailed sales data.

Shopping options

When comparing Ecwid and Shopify’s shopping options, it’s essential to think about the features and flexibility they provide for building and running online stores. Here’s a comparison:

Ecwid seamlessly integrates with websites, social media platforms, and marketplaces like eBay and Amazon. It offers a mobile app for on-the-go management and allows selling across multiple channels simultaneously.

Shopify is a comprehensive e-commerce solution, encompassing website building, payment processing, and inventory management. Users can customize online stores with themes and templates and integrate with social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram for direct sales. Additionally, Shopify supports selling on online marketplaces like Amazon, eBay, and Etsy. Its POS system facilitates sales in physical retail locations, synchronizing inventory and sales data seamlessly.

Both Ecwid and Shopify help sellers sell products across different channels. Ecwid integrates with websites, social media, and marketplaces for simultaneous sales. Shopify offers comprehensive tools for building online stores and integrates seamlessly with social media, marketplaces, and in-store sales.

Ecwid vs Shopify: Which is best for you?

Deciding between Ecwid and Shopify relies on your business requirements, preferences, and objectives. Here’s a breakdown to guide your decision:

Ecwid seamlessly integrates with existing websites and offers flexibility by allowing sales on various platforms like social media and marketplaces. It’s straightforward to set up and offers a free plan for budget-conscious businesses. Shopify provides comprehensive tools for building online stores and integrates well with social media, marketplaces, and in-store sales..

Choose Shopify if you need comprehensive e-commerce tools, extensive customization options, scalability for businesses of all sizes, and built-in POS integration for unified online and offline sales management.

In summary, Ecwid is ideal for simplicity, flexibility, and affordability, especially if you have an existing website. Conversely, Shopify is excellent for businesses seeking customization, growth options, and integration with in-store sales. Your choice depends on your needs and preferences.

Wrap up

This article compares Ecwid vs Shopify to help you choose the right platform for your online business, considering the numerous options available. Both Ecwid and Shopify provide strong online selling solutions. Your decision between the two depends on your business needs, preferences, and goals, whether you prioritize simplicity, flexibility, affordability, or advanced features.