Shopify alternatives 2026: BigCommerce, Squarespace, Square Online

The direct replacement for Shopify in 2026 is BigCommerce — the same class of product, $29 a month on its Core plan billed annually, and no extra fee provided your gateway is on its embedded list. Squarespace wins on design from $29 on Core, and Square Online offers a free start for a physical shop moving online.

Below: the selection criteria, a side-by-side table and honest pros and cons for each platform.

How do you choose the right one in four steps?

1. 1

   Price the total

   Plan plus gateway fees plus apps. The plan difference is often smaller than the fee difference.

2. 2

   Check the third-party gateway penalty

   It's a percentage of every order on top of the gateway's own fee.

3. 3

   Size your catalogue

   A handful of items or several thousand decides whether a builder is enough.

4. 4

   Check the export

   Products, customers, orders and SEO URLs. Check before filling the catalogue, not after.

Which criteria matter?

Look at four things: the monthly fee, the third-party gateway penalty, limits (products, revenue), and the cost of the apps you need. Fifth: how complete the export is if you ever have to move.

How do the three compare?

The score is our editorial 0–10 rating, not a vendor ranking. It weighs total cost of ownership and flexibility rather than the monthly fee alone.

Prices are the vendors’ own published rates, checked in August 2026: BigCommerce Core at $29/mo billed annually ($39 month-to-month), with a 2.0% Open Payment Provider Fee on order value processed through gateways outside its embedded list BigCommerce 2026 plan pricing update, August 2026 and Squarespace Core at $29/mo billed annually ($39 month-to-month) Squarespace pricing, August 2026 . Squarespace has since renamed its tiers to Basic, Core, Plus and Advanced, so older guides quoting a «Commerce» plan are out of date. Check the current page before you commit.

Who is each one for?

BigCommerce — the closest replacement if you’re leaving Shopify over fees: the base plan doesn’t penalise your own gateway and doesn’t cap products. Downside: a smaller app ecosystem and annual revenue caps per tier.

Squarespace Commerce — when the site sells on looks. Downside: store features trail specialist platforms, and the checkout barely customises.

Square Online — the cheapest start for a physical shop: a plan with no monthly fee and one ledger with the till. Downside: a higher online card rate on the free plan and a tie to Square’s ecosystem.

So which should you pick?

Price «plan + fees + apps» at your turnover, not the plan alone. A direct Shopify replacement with no gateway penalty — BigCommerce. A store that has to look good — Squarespace. A physical shop going online — Square Online. And check the export before you load a thousand products.