Ecwid Review: Pros and Cons in 2024

Ecwid review: Pros and cons in 2024

Sarah Li Cain

BLUEPRINT

Updated 11:52 a.m. UTC Feb. 29, 2024

Blueprint Rating

Pros

No setup or transaction fees.
Integrations with multiple social media and website platforms.
Ability to create your own mobile app with a higher-tiered plan.

Cons

No email marketing tools on certain plans.
Phone support only available for higher-tiered plans.
Connection to point-of-sale (POS) systems only available with Unlimited tier.

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Our team of experts evaluates hundreds of business products and analyzes thousands of data points to help you find the best product for your situation. We use a data-driven methodology to determine each rating. Advertisers do not influence our editorial content. You can read more about our methodology below.

20 companies reviewed.
69 products reviewed.
3,121 data points analyzed

Ecwid stands out as one of the best e-commerce platforms because of its lack of setup or transaction fees, integrations through different apps and the ability to create your own storefront for free.

Smaller operations may like the fact that they can start out with Ecwid for free and opt to pay more as needed, whether it’s selling more products or accessing more advanced features. Keep reading our Ecwid review to help you decide whether this is the right e-commerce platform for your business needs.

Ecwid overview

Ecwid is a type of e-commerce platform that allows businesses to list physical and e-products on their own website or on other third-party platforms. For instance, businesses can list their products on their Facebook shop, Instagram store or other marketplaces like Amazon and eBay.

Businesses that want to create their own online storefront can do so through the Ecwid Instant Site — the code-free platform builder — or by embedding Ecwid on an existing website (compatible with most website system software). Whatever option you choose, you can choose the look and feel of your Ecwid storefront using pre-made templates or customize using code.

Depending on the tier you choose, other features Ecwid offers include choosing different payment gateways, the ability to accept in-person payments through partner POS systems, staff accounts and the ability to sell subscriptions.

Ecwid pros and cons

Although Ecwid offers a lot of benefits to business owners, there are some drawbacks that may not make it a great fit. Before choosing any e-commerce platform, it’s important to first consider as many aspects as possible.

Pros

No setup or transaction fees: Ecwid won’t charge any extra fees to set up your operations on its platform, nor will the company charge you additional transaction fees for purchases. Your payment processor, though, might.
Integrations with multiple social media and website platforms: After connecting your online store to social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram, you can start selling your products there. There’s also the ability to list your products with third-party sellers like Amazon and eBay, and you can view your sales through the Ecwid platform.
Ability to create your own mobile app with a higher-tiered plan: Businesses that want more options for their customers can create and manage their own branded app. Available for both iOS and Android users, business owners don’t have to worry about creating an app from scratch.

Cons

No email marketing tools on certain plans: Although you can collect customers’ emails when you check out, only the Business and Unlimited tiers allow you to automate your email marketing.
Phone support only available for higher-tiered plans: Though not necessarily a dealbreaker, those who want more customer support options will need to upgrade to the Business and Unlimited tiers.
Connection to point-of-sale (POS) systems only available with Unlimited tier: Businesses that want to sell in person and connect Ecwid to a POS platform need to be on the Unlimited tier.

Ecwid pricing and value

	FREE	VENTURE	BUSINESS	UNLIMITED
Monthly fee	$0.00	$19.00	$39.00	$99.00
Annual fee	$0.00	$168.96	$348.96	$990.00

Ecwid offers four paid tiers: Free, Venture, Business and Unlimited. This platform is one of the few that offers a free tier, though you are severely limited in what you can create. You can start off listing five products, with higher tiers allowing you to list more, as well as digital products.

Like other competitors, Ecwid also offers various tools, such as the ability to utilize advanced SEO tools, third-party integrations, inventory tracking (for the higher tiers) and automatic sales tax calculation.

While it doesn’t offer as many features as some of the more robust platforms, the price is more accessible for businesses just getting started and looking for a simple e-commerce solution.

E-commerce functionality

Ecwid allows businesses to sell physical items, digital goods or services on their own websites through the Ecwid platform, social media platforms and third-party marketplace sites.

When setting up your online storefront, you can choose what type of payments to accept and which payment processor to use. Other features you can customize include choosing which carrier company you want to use to ship products and selling recurring subscriptions and gift cards.

Inventory management features

Ecwid offers users the ability to track and manage their inventory, as well as communicate to customers whether products are sold out or how many items are left. All tiers except for the free tier have inventory management tools — you can specify stock quantity, and Ecwid will help you track it when purchases are made.

You can also set up email alerts to let you know when stock is running low to give you time to order more. Stores that want to set up pre-orders for products can also do so.

Web editor

Ecwid has a text editor where users can write and edit product and category descriptions, payment instructions and legal information, as well as format links and images. Other ways to customize your storefront appearance include adding tabs and banners and adding CSS code. The platform also has its own mobile app where you can do the same.

Marketing and SEO

Users can get access to several SEO tools, including:

SSL certificate and HTTPS protocol.
Automatically generating a sitemap file.
Custom metadata for categories and products.
Rich snippets.

There are also a plethora of tools you can use to boost your business marketing efforts:

Access to reports and statistics, such as abandoned carts, number of visitors to your website and people who purchased products, to help you make more informed decisions.
Sending automated marketing emails.
Tracking visitor behavior on social media platforms.

Performance and security

Ewid runs on HTTPS to ensure network sessions are secure, especially as customers are entering and transmitting sensitive data online. The platform is also PCI DSS certified, meaning that it holds one of the highest standards to transmit securely on payment systems and online stores.

Mobile app

Paid users can download either the iOS or Android app to create and manage their online store. Some features you can access include adding products, creating and processing orders, using the barcode scanner to find inventory and shipments and creating discount coupons.

Ecwid vs. top competitors

	PRICING	CUSTOMER SERVICE	SOCIAL MEDIA INTEGRATION	TRANSACTION FEES	THIRD-PARTY APP INTEGRATIONS	MOBILE APP
Ecwid	$0 to $99 per month	Email, live chat, phone, priority support for higher tiers	Yes	None	Yes	Available on iOS and Android
Wix	$0 to 159 per month	Online support center, phone, live chat	Yes	Varies depending on payment	Yes	Available on iOS and Android
Shopify	$39 to $399 per month	24/7 email and live chat	Yes	None with Shopify Payments; varies if using third-party processor	Yes	Yes
Squarespace	$23 to $65 per month	Email and live chat	Yes	None	Yes	Available on iOS and Android

Ecwid isn’t the only e-commerce platform option for small business owners. There are several competitors that may be a better fit, whether you’re looking for more customization options or have a different budget to work with.

Ecwid vs Wix

Both Ecwid and Wix offer user-friendly features, such as the ability to choose from templates to customize the look of your storefront, marketing tools and app integrations. They both also have similar features like selling through social media and third-party platforms, and a free plan.

Where Wix differs is its pricing structure, with higher tiers offering more storage space and advanced marketing, SEO and the ability to accept multiple currencies. Depending on what you need (like more product descriptions), Wix may be the better choice price-wise as it offers more product listings on its lower tiers and a free website domain for a year.

Ecwid vs Shopify

Shopify is a more robust e-commerce platform best for businesses that want to heavily customize their online store. Whether you want to change the look or customize integrations and automations, you can find more options with Shopify. For example, there are financial services apps for those wanting to expand their operations globally and manage returns.

However, it may not be as user-friendly for those who aren’t as tech-savvy or for smaller businesses that would rather get set up more quickly. In that case, Ecwid’s options may be the better fit.

Ecwid vs Squarespace

Squarespace is a website hosting platform that offers e-commerce features, whereas Ecwid is designed to be an e-commerce platform. Both Ecwid and Squarespace offer similar features, such as no transaction fees, discount features for customers and templates to customize the look of your storefront.

However, those looking to add more than just a storefront — like a blog or other web pages — may find that Squarespace offers more of these options. Its pricing is also slightly less than Ecwid.

Methodology

We extensively research the key competitors within an industry to determine the best products and services for your business. Our experts identify the factors that matter most to business owners, including pricing, features and customer support, to ensure that our recommendations offer well-rounded products that will meet the needs of various small businesses.

We collect extensive data to narrow our best list to reputable, easy-to-use products with stand-out features at a reasonable price point. And we look at user reviews to ensure that business owners like you are satisfied with our top picks’ services. We use the same rubric to assess companies within a particular space so you can confidently follow our blueprint to the best website builders.

The best website builders have positive user reviews on customer review sites. Website builders should provide customers with fast and reliable support. Using a combination of phone support, live chat and knowledge bases, customers should be able to quickly resolve issues 24/7.

Website builders should include prebuilt, industry-specific templates and drag-and-drop tools to make building your website quick and easy. All templates should be mobile-optimized to ensure they appear correctly on desktop and mobile devices. E-commerce functionality should be offered to allow businesses to sell physical and digital goods and services online. Website builders should provide ample storage and bandwidth to customers along with free SSL certificates, domain names and backup/restoration services. Additional security features should be built into the website to keep customers’ data safe and private. And all of these basic features should be affordable compared to competitors.

All website builders should expand on this basic feature set with built-in SEO and email marketing tools. Integrations should allow you to connect social media platforms and dropshipping services. And e-commerce tools should allow you to sell subscriptions and online courses, book online appointments and accept recurring payments. Additionally, blogging features and the option to add custom code should be available on all websites.