Start an E-commerce Store

Free, self-hosted, full control

WordPress plugin. Free and infinitely customisable. You handle hosting ($10-30/mo). Better for developers who want total control. Large plugin ecosystem.

More built-in features, fewer apps needed

Similar to Shopify but with more features out of the box (no apps needed for variants, faceted search, etc.). Better for larger catalogs.

Freemium - Help desk that scales from solo founder to 100-person team. Ticketing, knowledge...

Help desk that scales from solo founder to 100-person team. Ticketing, knowledge base, AI chatbot. Zendesk but friendlier. Try Freshdesk →

Paid - Shared inbox for teams. Email, SMS, social - all in one place. Like if Gmail and...

Shared inbox for teams. Email, SMS, social - all in one place. Like if Gmail and Zendesk had a baby. Pricey but powerful. Try Front →

Freemium - Live chat + AI chatbot for small businesses. Easy setup, decent AI responses, fr...

Live chat + AI chatbot for small businesses. Easy setup, decent AI responses, free tier. Tawk.to with better AI. Try Tidio →

Freemium - Customer support built for technical teams. API-first, thread-based, Slack-like ...

Customer support built for technical teams. API-first, thread-based, Slack-like UX. For when Zendesk feels too corporate. Try Plain →

Freemium - In-app bug reporting and feedback. Users screenshot issues, you get full context...

In-app bug reporting and feedback. Users screenshot issues, you get full context. Support meets product feedback. Try Gleap →

Paid — Sell digital products, subscriptions, and physical goods. Simple storefront, bui...

Sell digital products, subscriptions, and physical goods. Simple storefront, built-in marketing. For creators who just want to sell. Try Sellfy →

Paid — Courses, memberships, digital downloads, coaching — one platform. Clean, fair pr...

Courses, memberships, digital downloads, coaching — one platform. Clean, fair pricing, no transaction fees. Creator economy darling. Try Podia →

Paid — Online course platform. Build, market, and sell courses. The established player....

Online course platform. Build, market, and sell courses. The established player. More features than Podia, more complexity too. Try Teachable →

Free — Sell access to anything digital. Discord communities, courses, SaaS, files. The ...

Sell access to anything digital. Discord communities, courses, SaaS, files. The Gen-Z marketplace for digital products. Try Whop →

Paid — Link-in-bio meets storefront. Sell digital products, book calls, collect emails ...

Link-in-bio meets storefront. Sell digital products, book calls, collect emails — all from one link. Built for creators. Try Stan Store →

US/EU suppliers, faster shipping

Dropship from US and European warehouses (2-5 day shipping vs 15-30 days). Higher product cost but dramatically better customer experience.

Print-on-demand, no inventory

Upload designs, they print and ship. T-shirts, mugs, posters, phone cases. Zero inventory. Great for brand merch or design-driven stores.

Custom design, if you're a designer

Full design control for landing pages, ad creative, and brand assets. Free. Better for unique, brand-forward design work.

Realistic product mockups

Photo-realistic mockups for t-shirts, devices, and packaging. Upload your design, get a mockup in seconds. From $7.95/mo.

Free - Open-source image generation you can run locally. No subscription, no limits, fu...

Open-source image generation you can run locally. No subscription, no limits, full control. Power user's dream. Try Stable Diffusion →

Freemium - Remove image backgrounds in one click. Sounds simple because it is. Just works, ...

Remove image backgrounds in one click. Sounds simple because it is. Just works, every time. Try Remove.bg →

Freemium - Product photo editing on autopilot. Background removal, staging, mockups. E-comm...

Product photo editing on autopilot. Background removal, staging, mockups. E-commerce sellers, this is your tool. Try Photoroom →

Paid - AI image upscaler that adds real detail, not just blur. Turn a 512px image into ...

AI image upscaler that adds real detail, not just blur. Turn a 512px image into a 4K masterpiece. Genuinely magic. Try Magnific AI →

Freemium - Stability AI's consumer tool. Background removal, relighting, cleanup, upscaling...

Stability AI's consumer tool. Background removal, relighting, cleanup, upscaling - all in one. Swiss army knife for images. Try ClipDrop →

Simpler setup, broader features

Easier to use with decent e-commerce features. Free up to 500 contacts. Less powerful segmentation than Klaviyo but good enough for starting out.

SMS + email in one platform

Combine email and SMS marketing. Pre-built e-commerce automations. $16/mo for 500 contacts. Good if you want to add SMS marketing early.

Paid - Transactional email that actually reaches the inbox. 99%+ deliverability. No mar...

Transactional email that actually reaches the inbox. 99%+ deliverability. No marketing fluff - just email that arrives. Try Postmark →

Freemium - Email marketing + CRM + SMS in one. Formerly Sendinblue. Generous free tier, sol...

Email marketing + CRM + SMS in one. Formerly Sendinblue. Generous free tier, solid automation. The budget-friendly Mailchimp. Try Brevo →

Paid - Email sending at scale for almost nothing. $0.10 per 1,000 emails. No UI to spea...

Email sending at scale for almost nothing. $0.10 per 1,000 emails. No UI to speak of, but the price can't be beat. Try Amazon SES →

Freemium - Email API + marketing platform. Collaborative template editor is the standout fe...

Email API + marketing platform. Collaborative template editor is the standout feature. Good middle ground between Resend and Mailchimp. Try Mailjet →

Freemium - Email testing sandbox. Catch all emails in dev before they reach real inboxes. T...

Email testing sandbox. Catch all emails in dev before they reach real inboxes. Then switch to production sending. Smart workflow. Try Mailtrap →

Spreadsheet for inventory and costs

Many successful e-commerce operators run their numbers in sheets. Product costs, margins, ad spend, all in one place. Free and familiar.

Visual database for product catalog

Like a spreadsheet meets a database. Great for managing product catalogs with images, descriptions, and status tracking. Free tier available.

Freemium Knowledge base for small teams. Clean, searchable, AI-powered answers. Like Noti...

Knowledge base for small teams. Clean, searchable, AI-powered answers. Like Notion but focused on documentation only. Try Slite →

Freemium Docs and wiki for modern teams. Templates, approval workflows, and version contr...

Docs and wiki for modern teams. Templates, approval workflows, and version control. Notion meets Google Docs meets GitHub. Try Almanac →

Freemium Beautiful document editor for Apple users. Native macOS/iOS app, gorgeous export...

Beautiful document editor for Apple users. Native macOS/iOS app, gorgeous exports. Notion if it was designed by Apple. Try Craft →

Freemium Beautiful API documentation. Write in MDX, get docs that look like Stripe's. Eve...

Beautiful API documentation. Write in MDX, get docs that look like Stripe's. Every developer tool should use this. Try Mintlify →

Free Open-source wiki and knowledge base. Self-hostable Notion alternative for teams ...

Open-source wiki and knowledge base. Self-hostable Notion alternative for teams that care about data ownership. Try Outline →

Zero setup, built into Shopify

Stripe-powered but managed by Shopify. No extra transaction fees. The easiest option if you're 100% on Shopify. Activate in settings.

Trusted checkout, boosts conversion

Many customers trust PayPal more than entering card details. Add as a secondary payment option alongside Shopify Payments/Stripe.

Free - Africa's Stripe. Clean API, solid dashboard, handles local payment methods. Buil...

Africa's Stripe. Clean API, solid dashboard, handles local payment methods. Building for African markets? Non-negotiable. Try Paystack →

Free - Pan-African payments gateway. Supports 150+ currencies. Less polished than Payst...

Pan-African payments gateway. Supports 150+ currencies. Less polished than Paystack but broader reach across the continent. Try Flutterwave →

Free - Payments for physical and online businesses. Hardware + software + banking. The ...

Payments for physical and online businesses. Hardware + software + banking. The all-in-one play for retail. Try Square →

Free - India's payment infrastructure. UPI, cards, wallets, subscriptions. If you're bu...

India's payment infrastructure. UPI, cards, wallets, subscriptions. If you're building for the Indian market, it's this or bust. Try Razorpay →

Free - Monetisation for open-source and digital creators. Subscriptions, sponsorships, ...

Monetisation for open-source and digital creators. Subscriptions, sponsorships, digital products. GitHub Sponsors alternative. Try Polar →