How to choose an e-commerce platform: a guide

Frequently asked questions

1. 01 Where do you start when choosing a store platform?

   With scale and technical readiness. A few products or thousands, ready to handle hosting or want turnkey — these two questions immediately narrow the choice between cloud platforms and self-hosted solutions.

2. 02 What to include in the full cost of a store?

   Not just the subscription, but domain, themes, paid apps and payment-provider fees. A seemingly cheap option can end up costlier after all the add-ons, so budget the full cost at your scale.

3. 03 Cloud platform or self-hosted solution?

   Cloud (turnkey) is simpler and safer out of the box but gives less control; self-hosted solutions like WordPress are more flexible but need hosting and maintenance. It depends on how ready you are for technical details.

4. 04 Can you move a store later?

   Technically yes — products and customers export — but design, settings and integrations usually have to be rebuilt. So choose the platform with the future in mind, not just the starting price.

5. 05 What's the main mistake when choosing a platform?

   Focusing only on the starting price and ignoring scalability. A platform cheap for ten products can hit limits at thousands — choose with where you plan to grow in mind.