E-Commerce · ranked shortlist
Best E-Commerce software for Startups in 2026
20 approved e-commerce listings, ordered by published rating with the method stated below rather than assumed. Startups are buying for a headcount they do not have yet, which makes the second and third tier of each ladder more important than the first. Check what the price becomes at ten people.
- Tools ranked
- 20
- Entry price range
- $9.99-$1,599
- Publish a $0 plan
- 12 of 20
How this ranking is derived
The sort key
Published rating, highest first. Ties break on the number of ratings behind the score, then on product name so the order never depends on what the API happened to return first. That is the whole rule, there is no weighting, no score of our own, and nothing paid: no sponsored slot runs on these pages.
Where the ratings come from
No listing in this set carries a rating, so the order falls back to name. Those scores are aggregated from public sources rather than collected here, Softwr hosts no reviews of its own, which is also why no rating on this page is marked up as ours in structured data.
What the pool is
Approved e-commerce listings, capped at 20 per page; 20 came back for this one. It is not the whole market, and a tool being absent means we hold no record of it rather than that it failed a test. The unranked full set is on the e-commerce category page.
The ranking
Each entry lists why it sits where it sits, drawn from its own published rating and pricing.
- #1
Amazon Shopping
Highest rated hereAmazon's consumer marketplace app for browsing, buying and tracking orders
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
- Publishes a $0 plan, with paid tiers from $14.99 a month.
- Billing
- Free to use; optional Prime subscription for fast shipping and bundled media
- Published tiers
- 2 tiers
- Tags
- E-commerce, marketplace, retail, Prime
- #2
CJ Dropshipping
Sourcing and order fulfillment platform for dropshipping and e-commerce sellers
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
- Billing
- freemium
- Tags
- dropshipping, sourcing, fulfillment, E-commerce
- #3
Depop
Fashion resale marketplace popular with younger sellers, owned by Etsy, with a per-item plus percentage fee
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
- Free, no paid tier is published at all.
- Billing
- Free to list; percentage plus per-order seller fee, separate payment processing fee
- Published tiers
- 1 tier
- Tags
- Resale, marketplace, fashion, Vintage
- #4
Drip
Ecommerce email marketing and automation priced purely on contact count
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
- Paid from $39 a month, with no free plan.
- 3 published tiers, topping out at $154.
- Billing
- Per month by contact count
- Published tiers
- 3 tiers
- Tags
- email-marketing, ecommerce, marketing-automation, shopify
- #5
FastSpring
Merchant-of-record commerce platform for global payments, subscriptions, and tax compliance
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
- Its top tier is unpriced and sold by quote.
- Billing
- transaction
- Published tiers
- 1 tier
- Tags
- Merchant Of Record, global-payments, subscription-billing, tax-compliance
- #6
Gumroad
Hosted storefront for selling digital products, memberships and courses on a per sale fee
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
- Its top tier is unpriced and sold by quote.
- Billing
- transaction
- Published tiers
- 2 tiers
- #7
Instacart
US and Canada grocery delivery and pickup marketplace with a paid membership tier
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
- Publishes a $0 plan, with paid tiers from $9.99 a month.
- Billing
- Free to download; item markups plus delivery and service fees per order, optional subscription
- Published tiers
- 2 tiers
- Tags
- Grocery Delivery, marketplace, Gig Economy, Retail Media
- #8
Klarna
Buy now pay later and instalment checkout for online and in-store merchants
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
- Its top tier is unpriced and sold by quote.
- Billing
- quote
- Published tiers
- 1 tier
- Tags
- Bnpl, payments, Checkout, Instalments
- #9
Loox
Photo reviews and referrals for Shopify stores
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
- Paid from $14.99 a month, with no free plan.
- 3 published tiers, topping out at $299.99.
- Billing
- subscription
- Published tiers
- 3 tiers
- #10
Memberful
Membership platform for creators to sell subscriptions, courses and gated content
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
- Paid from $49 a month, with no free plan.
- Its top tier is unpriced and sold by quote.
- Billing
- subscription
- Published tiers
- 2 tiers
- Tags
- Membership Platform, subscriptions, creator-economy, paywall
- #11
Mercari
Japan-founded peer-to-peer resale marketplace with a flat seller commission
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
- Free, no paid tier is published at all.
- Billing
- Free to list; 10 percent seller commission on sale price plus payment processing fee
- Published tiers
- 1 tier
- Tags
- Resale, marketplace, Secondhand, peer-to-peer
- #12
Mollie
European payment service provider with published per-transaction rates and no monthly fee on the online plan
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
- Publishes a $0 plan, with paid tiers from $20 a month.
- Billing
- Per transaction by payment method
- Published tiers
- 3 tiers
- Tags
- payments, Psp, Ideal, Sepa
- #13
Poshmark
Social resale marketplace with a flat fee on low-value sales and a percentage cut above that
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
- Free, no paid tier is published at all.
- Billing
- Free to list; tiered seller commission by sale price
- Published tiers
- 1 tier
- Tags
- Resale, marketplace, fashion, Secondhand
- #14
Saleor
Open-source, headless e-commerce platform with a GraphQL API
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
- Publishes a $0 plan, with paid tiers from $1,599 a month.
- 4 published tiers, topping out at $3,999 plus a tier sold by quote.
- Billing
- open-source
- Published tiers
- 4 tiers
- Tags
- Headless Commerce, Open Source, graphql, E Commerce Platform
- #15
SamCart
The number one checkout platform
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
- Paid from $79 a month, with no free plan.
- 2 published tiers, topping out at $199.
- Billing
- subscription
- Published tiers
- 2 tiers
- #16
Shein
Ultra-fast-fashion e-commerce app shipping low-cost apparel direct from Chinese manufacturers
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
- Free, no paid tier is published at all.
- Billing
- Free to browse and use; pay per order, optional paid loyalty tier
- Published tiers
- 2 tiers
- Tags
- Fast Fashion, E-commerce, Apparel, marketplace
- #17
Temu
Ultra-low-cost general merchandise marketplace owned by PDD Holdings, parent of Pinduoduo
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
- Free, no paid tier is published at all.
- Billing
- Free to browse and use; pay per order, heavy promotional discounting
- Published tiers
- 1 tier
- Tags
- E-commerce, marketplace, Fast Fashion, General Merchandise
- #18
Vinted
Lithuania-founded secondhand fashion marketplace that charges the buyer, not the seller, a platform fee
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
- Free, no paid tier is published at all.
- Billing
- Free for sellers, no commission; buyer pays a variable Buyer Protection fee at checkout
- Published tiers
- 2 tiers
- Tags
- Resale, marketplace, fashion, Secondhand
- #19
Wish
Discount marketplace connecting buyers to low-cost goods from mostly Chinese sellers, now owned by Qoo10
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
- Free, no paid tier is published at all.
- Billing
- Free to browse and use; pay per order
- Published tiers
- 1 tier
- Tags
- E-commerce, marketplace, Discount Shopping
- #20
Zendrop
All-in-one dropshipping fulfillment platform for online stores
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
- Publishes a $0 plan, with paid tiers from $49 a month.
- 3 published tiers, topping out at $79.
- Billing
- freemium
- Published tiers
- 3 tiers
- Tags
- dropshipping, E-commerce, fulfillment, Print On Demand
What e-commerce software costs
Counted from the published pricing of the 20 listings on this page. A tool counts as free only where it publishes a $0 plan, an open-source licence or a starting price of zero.
- Cheapest paid plan
- $9.99Instacart
- Median entry price
- $39across 9 priced
- Dearest entry price
- $1,599Saleor
- Publish a $0 plan
- 12of 20
Paid e-commerce plans in this set start anywhere from $9.99 a month for Instacart to $1,599 for Saleor. The median entry price across the 9 tools that publish one is $39, half of them start below that figure and half above it.
Entry price is not the ceiling. The dearest published tier anywhere in this category is Saleor's at $3,999 a month, 2.5× the highest entry price on the page. Read the top of each ladder as well as the bottom, because that is where you land after two years of growth.
12 of 20 publish a $0 plan, and 7 of those charge nothing at all. 4 tools have no free tier of any kind.
5 of 20 keep at least one tier unpriced and sold by quote, which in practice means the number you end up paying at the top end is not on this page or on theirs.
How these vendors bill
The billing model each of the 20 e-commerce listings publishes, counted. Two tools at the same headline price are not the same purchase if one of them charges per seat.
- subscription
- 3
- freemium
- 2
- transaction
- 2
- Free for sellers, no commission; buyer pays a variable Buyer Protection fee at checkout
- 1
- Free to browse and use; pay per order
- 1
- Free to browse and use; pay per order, heavy promotional discounting
- 1
- Free to browse and use; pay per order, optional paid loyalty tier
- 1
- Free to download; item markups plus delivery and service fees per order, optional subscription
- 1
- Free to list; 10 percent seller commission on sale price plus payment processing fee
- 1
- Free to list; percentage plus per-order seller fee, separate payment processing fee
- 1
- Free to list; tiered seller commission by sale price
- 1
- Free to use; optional Prime subscription for fast shipping and bundled media
- 1
- open-source
- 1
- Per month by contact count
- 1
- Per transaction by payment method
- 1
- quote
- 1
Separately, 5 of 20 publish at least one tier with no price attached. Those are sold by quote, so the top of the ladder is negotiable, and unknowable, until you talk to sales.
What “E-Commerce” covers in practice
The subject tags that recur across these 20 listings, with the number of tools carrying each. A category label is a filing decision; this is the closer read of what is actually filed under it.
- marketplace9
- E-commerce7
- Resale4
- Secondhand4
- Checkout3
- fashion3
- dropshipping2
- Fast Fashion2
- fulfillment2
- payments2
- peer-to-peer2
- Print On Demand2
Carried by a single tool: Abandoned Cart, Discount Shopping, General Merchandise, Grocery Delivery, Membership Platform, Prime, Sepa, subscription-billing. If one of those is the reason you are here, the category page is the wrong lens, go straight to that product.
How to choose between them
Four things the numbers above should change about your shortlist.
Start with the free tiers if there are enough of them
12 of 20 e-commerce tools here publish a $0 plan, which is enough to run a real trial without a purchase order. A free tier is worth more than a free trial when you are evaluating: a trial expires on the vendor's schedule, a free plan expires when you outgrow it. The thing to check before you commit is which of the capabilities below sit above the free line, starting with unlimited orders, the single most frequently named capability in this category's published tiers.
Read the spread before you read the features
$9.99 to $1,599 is a $1,589.01 spread on entry price alone, and a spread that wide is never about polish, it is about who the vendor built for. Tools at the bottom of this ladder are priced for one person or a small team; tools near $1,599 are priced for a department with a procurement process. Decide which of those you are before you compare capability, or you will shortlist four tools that were never competing for the same buyer.
Check which tier you actually land on
5 of 20 tools here publish three or more tiers, and the median vendor in this category ships 2 of them. The advertised price is the first rung, and the things teams tend to need, unlimited orders, are named in higher plans far more often than in entry ones. Price your shortlist at the tier that contains what you need, not at the tier on the pricing page's left edge.
The billing model matters more than the headline number
This category splits across 16 billing models: subscription on 3 listings, freemium on 2, and 14 other arrangements across the rest. A per-user price and a flat subscription at the same headline figure are not the same purchase, the first one grows with headcount and the second does not. Multiply by your real team size before you compare two numbers side by side.
Compare e-commerce tools directly
Every pairing below is a full comparison: the same checklist applied to both, so a gap in one is a gap in the other.
- Amazon Shopping vs CJ Dropshipping
- CJ Dropshipping vs Depop
- Depop vs Drip
- Drip vs FastSpring
- FastSpring vs Gumroad
- Gumroad vs Instacart
- Instacart vs Klarna
- Klarna vs Loox
Go straight to the numbers
- Amazon Shoppingpricingalternatives
- CJ Dropshippingpricingalternatives
- Depoppricingalternatives
- Drippricingalternatives
- FastSpringpricingalternatives
- Gumroadpricingalternatives
Questions people ask about e-commerce software
Answered from the listings on this page, and nowhere else.
- How is this e-commerce ranking decided?
- Mechanically. The 20 approved e-commerce listings on this page are sorted by their published rating, highest first, with the number of ratings behind each score as the tie-break and the product name as a final tie-break so the order is stable. Those ratings are aggregated from public sources, not collected from Softwr readers, this site hosts no reviews, so the order is a summary of what is already published elsewhere, not a verdict of our own. Nothing on this page is paid placement.
- Is this list re-ordered for startups?
- No, and it would be dishonest to imply otherwise. The catalogue records no data about which team sizes or roles each tool suits, so the ranking is the same published-rating order as the unsegmented list. What the startups framing changes is which of the figures below matter most. Startups are buying for a headcount they do not have yet, which makes the second and third tier of each ladder more important than the first. Check what the price becomes at ten people.
- How much does e-commerce software cost?
- Across the 20 e-commerce tools listed here, paid plans start between $9.99 and $1,599 a month, with a median entry price of $39. The most expensive single tier published in the category is $3,999 a month (Saleor). 12 of 20 also publish a $0 plan.
- What is the cheapest e-commerce software?
- 7 of the 20 tools listed here cost nothing at all. Among the ones that charge, Instacart has the lowest published entry price at $9.99 a month. Cheapest and best value are different questions: check which tier the capability you need actually appears in before you compare starting prices.
- Is there free e-commerce software?
- Yes, 12 of 20 tools in this category publish a plan priced at $0. 7 of them are free outright, with no paid tier above. A tool is only counted as free here when it publishes a $0 plan, an open-source licence, or a starting price of zero, a free trial does not count.
- How is e-commerce software usually billed?
- subscription (3), freemium (2), transaction (2), Free for sellers, no commission; buyer pays a variable Buyer Protection fee at checkout (1), plus 12 less common arrangements, counted across the 20 listings on this page. The distinction that costs money is per-seat versus flat: a per-user plan at the same headline price scales with your headcount and a flat subscription does not. 5 of 20 tools also keep at least one tier unpriced and sold by quote.
- What does e-commerce software actually cover?
- The 20 tools on this page do not describe themselves the same way. The subject tags they carry most often are marketplace (9), e-commerce (7), resale (4), secondhand (4), checkout (3). That spread is the honest answer to what the category means in practice: it is not one product shape, and two tools filed under e-commerce may overlap on very little.
- How many pricing tiers do e-commerce tools offer?
- 19 of 20 tools here publish a plan breakdown, and the median one has 2 tiers. 5 of 20 publish three or more. More tiers is not generosity, it usually means the capability you are buying for sits two rungs above the advertised price, so price your shortlist at the tier that contains it.
- How many e-commerce tools are listed on Softwr?
- 20 approved e-commerce listings appear on this page, including Amazon Shopping, CJ Dropshipping, Depop, Drip. Each links to a full breakdown with its pricing tiers and plan detail, and the category can be filtered by price and sorted by rating above. You can also read the shortlist view at /best/e-commerce, which ranks the same set by published rating.
Keep reading
Neighbouring categories
Adjacent in the same taxonomy, not a ranking.