What Is Shopify?
Shopify is an eCommerce Building Platform, Suitable for all types of Business. If you are a beginner or already have a business then Shopify is a Good Platform for You. Shopify offers a 14-day free trial so you can try it before choosing their plans.
What is Ecwid?
Ecwid is famous for its free forever plan with unlimited sales for 10 products. Ecwid full form is “Ecommerce Widget”, It’s a Flexible Platform that allows you to build your own eCommerce website and also can be easily integrated with Big platforms like WordPress, Wix, Weebly, etc. It offers paid plans & forever a Free plan so you can start an online store with no money, but will have limited features.
Quick Summary
Shopify and Ecwid are E-commerce platforms, Below is a quick summary of both platforms.
Shopify
- Shopify provides a 14-day free trial
- 100+ themes (9+ free themes) and pricing ranges from ($180 – $350)
- Shopify has 6000+ applications
- Shopify has a brilliant analytics dashboard and has Reports
- Shopify has good support and plenty of resources.
Ecwid
- Ecwid has forever free plan
- Open source platform without a hosting
- Ecwid has 40+ themes
- Ecwid has 250+ applications
- Ecwid has very basic analytics & reports
- Ecwid has an excellent support team, for some plans they provide priority support
#7 Main Differences
1. Ease of Use
Ecwid is very easy to set up and use. Users can build an instant site and start selling, Whereas Shopify becomes easy as it’s used more. Shopify is easy but in comparison to Ecwid it will be considered as difficult!
Winner: Ecwid
2. Pricing
Ecwid plans are cheaper than Shopify, Ecwid eCommerce price ranges from $0- $19 Whereas Shopify Price ranges from $29-$299. Ecwid offers free plan of up to 10 products, while Shopify lite offers $9/month unlimited products with similar features to Ecwid
Winner: Ecwid
3. Themes & Editor
Shopify offers 9+ free themes and a 80+ of paid themes whereas Ecwid has 40+ free themes. Shopify and Ecwid editors are quite similar. Shopify doesn’t provide inbuilt section whereas ecwid provides inbuilt sections. Shopify has good designing options whereas godaddy has basic design. features. Winner: Shopify
4. E-commerce Features:
Both Shopify and Ecwid are online store builders, Shopify manages small as well as larger size businesses, whereas Ecwid is good for small and medium-sized businesses.
Winner: Shopify
5. Cart Features:
Ecwid is flexible. It can be used as a buy button or product widget on WordPress and as a standalone store builder hence it can be used for free forever whereas the Shopify lite feature costs $6/month to embed just a cart feature on other platforms.
Winner: Ecwid
6. Payments and Charges
Both Shopify and Ecwid offer more than 70+ payment providers) but Shopify charges transactional charges on sales if customers used any other payment method than Shopify Payments. (Shopify payments are limited to a few countries like US & European)
Winner: Ecwid
7. App store
Apps help in automation and adding new features to store. Shopify has over 6000+ apps Whereas Ecwid has around 250+ apps.
Winner: Shopify
Comparison: Shopify vs Ecwid
| Features | Shopify | Ecwid |
|---|---|---|
| Free Plan |  (14 days Free Trial Available) |  |
| Product Variations | | |
| Zero sales Charge | (However, no transaction charges if you use Shopify Payments) | |
| Multilingual Option | (Limited to 5 Languages) | |
| SSL & Security | | |
| Multiple Sales Channels | | |
| Real Time Shipping rate | | |
| Shipping and Fullfillment Service | | (However there are many free apps available on Ecwid app store for Shipping & fullfillment services. You can easily integrate) |
| App Store | 6k+ apps | 100+ apps |
| Help & Support | | |
| POS | | |
| Abandoned cart Recovery | | |
| Gifts & Coupons | | |
| Adding to other Websites | (Buy Button Integration with other CMS (WordPress,Wix,SquareSpace etc)using Shopify lite at 9$/month which doesn't include below features) | |
FAQ: Shopify vs Ecwid
| Features | Winner | Shopify | Ecwid |
| Shopping cart and Ecommerce features | Ecwid |  4.4 | 4.7 |
| Themes and Customization | Shopify | 4.7 | 4.4 |
| Ease of use and Multichannel selling | Tie | 4.5 | 4.5 |
| Order and Product Management | Shopify | 4.7 | 4.4 |
| Pricing and Plans | Ecwid | 4.4 | 4.7 |
| Payment option and Charges | Ecwid | 4.4 | 4.6 |
| Marketing and Shipping | Shopify | 4.6 | 4.4 |
| SEO | Shopify | 4.6 | 4.3 |
| Hostings and Security | Tie | 4.5 | 4.5 |
| Support and Resources | Shopify | 4.7 | 4.5 |
| Analytics & Reporting | Shopify | 4.7 | 4.3 |
Shopping cart Features
Shopify & Ecwid are online store builder which comes with hosting feature. Both the platform are flexible as they can be brilliant card feature. Shopify has new feature “shopify lite” that enables users sell on other platforms and social media channels. Ecwid can be used as both a great widget and standalone eCommerce Platform. It adds Ecommerce Functionality to platforms like WordPress, Wix, Weebly, etc. Ecwid has instant store feature to unlock a plenty of ways to sell products.
Ecwid Instant Site
Key take-aways: Both Shopify and Ecwid have good cart features, Shopify lite provides the flexibility of selling but it is paid whereas Ecwid is free and provides more flexibility than Shopify.
The winner of the shopping cart and Ecommerce Features: Ecwid
Shopify: 0-1 : Ecwid
Hostings and security
| Shopify | Ecwid | |
| Inbuilt Hosting | ✔ | ✔ |
| Domain Provides | ✔ | ❌ |
| Storage & Bandwidth | Unlimited | ✔ (depends on plan) |
| Uptime | 99.98% | 99.96% |
| Avg Response time | 350-400ms | 380-400ms |
Both Shopify and Ecwid provide inbuilt hosting, and also offer similar levels of security, data backup, Bandwidth & Storage. Ecwid performs fast and smoothly as a website builder and also as an Ecom Widget.
we used the following two websites, we used wappalyzer to check which platform is used to build an eCommerce store.
We first analyzed these two websites’ response times using bytecheck and found these result
We further analyzed the Top 10 Websites of both platforms for their server response and found that most of Shopify’s website’s avg serve response time is 350-400ms, Whereas the Ecwid website’s avg speed response time is 380-400ms. that means websites hosted on Shopify load faster in comparison to Ecwid.
Shopify when tested with Ecwid had better loading and uptime speed on both desktop and mobile hence, Shopify has a slight edge over Ecwid.
Key take-aways: Shopify and Ecwid have provided inbuilt hosting, and also have a similar server response time.
The winner of the Hostings and security feature: Tie
Shopify: 1-2 : Ecwid
Themes and Customization
| Shopify | Ecwid | |
| Themes | 80+ | 40+ |
| Free Themes | 10+ | 40+ |
| Mobile-Friendly | Yes | Yes |
| Theme Customization level | Good | Basic |
| Prebuilt Sections | No | No |
Shopify and Ecwid has several themes. Shopify has 9+ free and over 80+ paid themes all of these theme are well organized in the theme sections. Ecwid also has 40+ quality designed themes. All of these themes can be accessed from the theme editor.
Shopify and Ecwid has user-friendly theme Editors which allow users to build beautiful website by inserting or removing Sections. Shopify doesn’t provide prebuilt sections but Ecwid has ready-made cover templates, banners, etc. Shopify provides good designing option and the themes can be customized further with good coding and CSS skills. Ecwid offers good options to Customize products, catalogs, and store design.
Shopify themes
In the theme setting users can access various styles of theme. They can also customize each of the sections for various colors, fonts, styles, and more.
Ecwid themes
Ecwid design
Key take-aways: Shopify offers free as well as paid themes it offers greater customization and design ability but Ecwid has limited themes and customization options.
The winner of the Themes and Customization feature: Shopify
Shopify: 2-2 : Ecwid
Ease of use and Multichannel Selling
Shopify is easy to use and manage although in the beginning, it might take some time to get used to it but after that, it will be easy to operate and manage. Ecwid is very easy to get started users can literally start selling on the day they set up shop.
If users have a business then they will be requiring many ways to sell products. Shopify and ecwid both have multi-channel selling integrations allow selling across Facebook, Pinterest, Google, Amazon, eBay, Etsy, etc. Ecwid instant site features open up a lot of ways of selling products.
Shopify Multi-Channel selling
Ecwid Multi-Channel Selling
Key take-aways: Shopify and Ecwid offer flexibility in setting up shop and selling products hence it’s a Tie
The winner of the Ease of use and Multichannel Selling feature: Tie
Shopify: 3-3 : Ecwid
Order and Product Management
Shopify’s basic product layout enables users to drag and drop the product images, 3D models, and Videos. Ecwid users can upload only product images. Shopify & Ecwid users can import all the products in CSV File Format. They provide plenty of product variations by colors, size, material, etc. Ecwid product option lets users choose from several input types like radio button, checkbox, drop down, file uploader, etc. Shopify doesn’t have these inbuilt product options users needs rely on third party apps to get these features.
Both the platforms lets users Organize products by category, type, Tags, and more. Shopify Creates an automated collection based on parameters.
Shopify Product dashboard
Ecwid Product Dashboard
Key take-aways: Shopify provides more options and automates lots of works like creating collections, tracking orders, and allowing bulk editing of inventory, whereas Ecwid has decent features.
The winner of the Order and Product Management feature: Shopify
Shopify: 4-3 : Ecwid
Pricing and Plans
| Shopify | Ecwid | |
| Trial period | 14 days | Free forever(no trial) |
| Starting price | $29/mo | $0 |
| eCommerce Price | $29/mo – $299/mo | $0 – $99/mo |
| enterprise price | custom pricing | No |
Shopify has three Basic Plans
Basic Shopify:$29/m($26)
Shopify:$79/m ($71)
Advance Shopify: $299/m ($269)
(Prices in the Bracket are applicable when users buy a year plan)
Shopify Pricing
Ecwid has the following four plans
Free: $0
Venture: $15/m ($12.50*)
Business: $35/m ($29.17*)
Unlimited: $99/m ($82.50*)
Free Plans is limited to only 10 products. Users need to upgrade to other plans if they want to unlock more features.
Ecwid Pricing
Key take-aways: Ecwid is free and also its plans are much cheaper than Shopify plans.
The winner of the Pricing and Plans feature: Ecwid
Shopify: 4-4 : Ecwid
Payment option and Charges
| Shopify | Ecwid | |
| Payment methods | 70+ | 70+ |
| Transaction charges | Transaction charges (2%,1%,0.5%) on sales value respectively on 3 plans for non Shopify payment users. | 0% |
| Credit Card Charges | ✔ | ✔ |
| Fraud Analysis | ✔ | ❌ |
——————-Payment Methods—————
Shopify and Ecwid has over 70+ payment Providers for both international and Domestic Businesses. They Integrate Smoothly with popular payment providers PayPal, Stripe, etc. Shopify also has Bitcoin as a payment option. Shopify has its Own Payment Method Called “Shopify Payments” But it’s Supported only in a few countries. Ecwid and Shopify also offers Manual Methods like COD, Bank Transfer, Purchase Orders, Checks, Invoice, etc
Shopify has fraud analysis features to report fake transactions or scams, it will provide indicators on the level of fraud and provides details on why it is suspected to be a fraud transaction.
——————-Payment Charges—————
If users use payment methods other than Shopify payments then Shopify imposes transaction charges on every transaction. These transaction Charges start from 2% (Basic),1% (Regular), and 0.5%(Advanced) plan. If users opt for Shopify Payments as a payment method then there will be no such transaction fees charges. Ecwid doesn’t impose such transaction charges.
Both the Shopify and Ecwid have credit card charges associated with each transaction. The credit card charges depends upon the payment providers.
Key take-aways: Both Shopify and Ecwid provide 70+ payment providers. Shopify charges transaction fees if the user chooses to pay through payment providers like(PayPal, stripe, square, etc) Instead of Shopify payments. Whereas Ecwid doesn’t charge on transactions.
The winner of the Payment option and Charges feature: Ecwid
Shopify: 4-5 : Ecwid
Marketing and Shipping
Shopify has Really good tools for marketing
- Multiple Sales Channel
- Discount Coupons
- Gift Card
- POS for Offline marketing
Shopify has integration with Over 100 Email Automations, that enable sending personalized messages for promotions, newsletters, cart recovery, cross-sell, etc. Ecwid also has good marketing tools. Ecwid allows sending personalized emails in 20 languages. Shopify lets running google and Facebook ad campaigns from the Shopify dashboard. Ecwid users can run promotional ads on Facebook, Google, and TikTok by connecting their catalog to these platforms.
Shopify and Ecwid integrates with popular shipping platforms FedEx, UPS, Canadian Post, USPS, etc. They Provide real-time carrier shipping rates of these shipping platforms. Shopify provides shipping label right from the dashboard. Shopify provides its own shipping & fulfillment service to US and Canada Customers. Both the platforms have provided plenty of shipping apps to provide new features.
Key take-aways: Shopify has smooth integrations with marketing channels like Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram and provides POS systems and plenty of marketing apps, it also has good integration with shipping companies and apps whereas Ecwid has decent marketing & shipping features.
The winner of the Marketing and Shipping feature: Shopify
Shopify: 5-5 : Ecwid
App Store
Shopify has over 6000+ apps in their app store. All of these apps assists in marketing, shipping, payments, SEO, design, etc process. Ecwid too has over 200+ apps in its app store to assist marketing, design, accounting, analytics, etc. Both the platforms have free and premium apps.
Shopify apps
Ecwid app store
Key take-aways: Shopify has more apps & Provide plenty of variety in their app store.
The winner of the App Store feature: Shopify
Shopify: 6-5 : Ecwid
SEO
Shopify has an SEO box Layout that lets users optimize keywords, meta descriptions, and URLs. Users ca Optimize image by adding alt text in the product layout. Ecwid has a separate tab for SEO but it doesn’t allow to optimize alt text and URL of product that is auto-generated by Ecwid itself. Shopify has good uptime speed, loads faster are mobile responsive, and lets users have a good experience which also helps in SEO
Shopify’s blog section allows to writing articles and post on products and collections. Ecwid doesn’t provide inbuilt blog sections but users can integrate with WordPress, Wix, etc to access blog pages.
Key take-aways: Shopify has an inbuilt blog section and also plenty of good SEO options and apps. Ecwid doesn’t have an inbuilt blog section and provides basic SEO settings.
The winner of the SEO feature: Shopify
Shopify: 7-5 : Ecwid
Support and Resources
| Shopify | Ecwid | |
| ✔ | ✔ | |
| Live chat | ✔ | ✔(depends on plan) |
| Phone | ✔ | ✔(depends on plan) |
Shopify has an active Support team available 24*7. They offer live Chat, phone, and email support on all of the plans. Ecwid too has a good support team their level of support relies on the plans. For a free Plan they offer only Email support. In Venture plans they offer both email and live chat(Mon-Fri), For a business plan they offer phone, email, and live. The unlimited plan has special priority email support along with the other three basic support
Shopify’s active Forum Community will help in solving queries. There are plenty of Shopify Blogs and videos on the internet to guide users in building and managing an online store. Ecwid too has plenty of blogs, forums, etc. to solve customer queries.
Shopify Support
Ecwid Support
Key take-aways: Shopify and Ecwid provide excellent support, but Shopify has good resources and faster support.
The winner of the Support and Resources feature: Shopify
Shopify: 8-5 : Ecwid
Analytics & Reporting
Shopify has really good dashboard for accessing insights & reports. Shopify has live view to track real-time customer behavior. Show gives statistical insights around most bought, most searched, and returning customers rates. Ecwid has a basic Dashboard that includes day reports of visited customers, abandoned Carts, and Checkouts.
Ecwid users can connect analytics tools Kliken Stats app, and MonkeyData apps to access better reporting for your store. Shopify analytics has similar reports as Google Analytics users can track visitor’s locations, Devices, and sources of traffic. The reports and analytics will help in a better campaign strategy.
Shopify Analytics
Ecwid Analytics
Key take-aways: Shopify has the best analytics and reports, and live view, and also provides valuable insights of store. Ecwid has a very basic analytics dashboard.
The winner of the Analytics & Reporting feature: Shopify
Shopify: 9-5 : Ecwid
Top Shopify websites
Top Ecwid Websites
Top Stories
Pros and Cons: Shopify vs Ecwid
| Shopify Pros | Shopify Cons |
| 1. Good for Scalability | 1. Transaction fees on each sale unless using Shopify payments |
| 2. More number Themes and Third-party app integrations | 2. No free plan and has expensive plans |
| 3. Better Analytics and Reporting | 3. Shopify lite ($9/mo) to integrate with other websites |
| Ecwid Pros | Ecwid Cons |
| 1. Cheaper plans and an entirely free plan & no transactions fees | 1. Only has one free theme |
| 2. Instant site functions to build a quick store and landing pages | 2. Support depends on the type of plan |
| 3. Integration with other websites | 3. Not good for scalability. |
Conclusion: Shopify vs Ecwid
Use Shopify over Ecwid,
- If you are a big business and require a lot of automation to run and manage business then Shopify is a better option for you.
- If you want to scale your existing business and grow it globally then Shopify is better than Ecwid.
Use Ecwid over Shopify,
- If you have a bunch of products that you are looking to list and sell quickly online then Ecwid is better than Shopify.
- If you want to list and sell your products on existing websites such as Wix, Squarespace, or any platform, then Ecwid is best as it is free and better than Shopify.
