Ecommerce platforms

Four platforms, one monthly bill.

Enter your orders and average order value. We price the cheapest eligible plan on Shopify, Squarespace, BigCommerce and WooCommerce, including platform sales fees and card processing.

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Your assumptions

Your sales (per month)
$
Payments and billing
%
$
WooCommerce and currency
$
$

Plan prices prefilled from each vendor's pricing page, retrieved 2026-10-18. Amounts are shown in your currency symbol; Shopify and Squarespace values are CAD as published, BigCommerce and WooCommerce are USD (see rate field).

Estimated cost

How it is calculated

For each platform we compute plan fee + platform sales fee + card processing at your volume, then keep the cheapest plan you are eligible for (BigCommerce plans have annual sales limits). Shopify charges a third-party transaction fee only when you use an outside gateway; Squarespace Basic charges a 2% transaction fee on physical and service sales; BigCommerce charges its open-payment-provider fee only for gateways outside its embedded list; WooCommerce charges no platform fee.

Currency. The Shopify and Squarespace pages we read were served in Canadian dollars; the BigCommerce and WooCommerce pages in US dollars. The calculator does not convert silently: enter today's USD rate to compare in your currency, or leave it at 1.00 to treat every amount as one currency. Prices exclude tax and change often, so confirm on the vendor page before you buy.

Not modelled: sales tax, themes, apps and paid extensions (except where you enter them), currency-conversion and international-card surcharges, disputes, instant payouts, volume discounts, negotiated rates, Shopify Plus and BigCommerce Performance (custom or enterprise pricing). This is an estimate, not a quote. Squarespace's help center says its Basic, Core, Plus and Advanced plans are rolling out in waves, so your account may still show legacy plans.

Sources (official, retrieved 2026-10-18)

This is an independent estimate and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Shopify, Squarespace, BigCommerce or WooCommerce.

Squarespace price labelling. Its pricing page lists two prices per plan without labelling which is monthly billing; we read the lower figure as the annual-billing rate, matching the default pay-annually toggle (checked 2026-10-18). Confirm at checkout.

FAQ

Which ecommerce platform is cheapest?

It depends on volume. At low volume the lowest plan fee usually wins; as sales grow, lower card rates and zero transaction fees on higher plans can overtake it. Enter your own numbers above, or use the break-even tool to find the crossover.

Does WooCommerce really cost nothing?

The WooCommerce plugin is free, but you pay for hosting (WooCommerce lists roughly $25 to $350 a month for most stores), optional extensions and payment processing. Enter your own hosting cost.

Why do I need to enter an exchange rate?

Shopify and Squarespace publish Canadian-dollar prices on their Canadian pages, while BigCommerce and WooCommerce publish US-dollar prices. The rate converts the USD amounts so the totals are comparable.

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