ChatGPT answers, unedited

For a solo indie maker with no dev experience, I’d avoid anything that needs hosting, plugins, or custom code. You want something that gets you from idea → checkout link quickly.

My picks:

fitsmallbusiness.com

My recommendation by scenario:

• Selling a SaaS, Notion templates, ebooks, prompts, courses, downloads: start with Payhip or Gumroad.
• Selling physical handmade products: start with Big Cartel or Square Online.
• Want a “real brand website” eventually: start on Wix, then migrate if needed.
• Want the fastest possible MVP: Payhip wins.

A simple indie-maker stack could be:

1. Store: Payhip
2. Payments: Stripe + PayPal
3. Landing page: Carrd (cheap later if needed)
4. Analytics: Google Analytics / Plausible
5. Email list: Buttondown or Beehiiv

I would not start with WooCommerce or self-hosted Shopify alternatives as a non-developer. They give you more control, but the maintenance overhead is usually a distraction when you’re still validating the idea. fitsmallbusiness.com

If you tell me what you’re selling (digital product, SaaS, physical product, dropshipping, newsletter, etc.) I can narrow it down to the best 1–2 options.

If you’re a solo indie maker with zero dev experience, I’d optimize for “launch this weekend” rather than maximum customization.

My top picks

🥇 Square Online — best overall

squareup.com

This is the one I’d start with.

• $0/month to get a basic store online.
• Unlimited products on the free plan.
• Hosted for you—no WordPress, plugins, servers, or coding.
• Built-in checkout, inventory, and payments.
• Very beginner-friendly setup.
• You get a square.site address initially.
• Main downside: the free store has Square branding and more advanced shipping/custom-domain features require upgrading. Fit Small Business Itechguides

Best if: you want to validate an idea and start taking orders without learning web development.

🥈 Big Cartel — best for a tiny maker catalog

bigcartel.com

I'd pick this over Square if you're selling something like art, prints, handmade goods, merch, or a handful of products.

Its free tier is aimed at creators and is deliberately simple, but the big catch is the small product limit. Fit Small Business Shopify

Best if: you have ~5 products and want a very lightweight storefront.

🥉 Shopify — best if you expect to grow quickly

shopify.com

Shopify is excellent and beginner-friendly, but I wouldn't choose it for your specific “budget + free to start” requirement. Its Starter plan is currently $5/month, while the more full-featured Basic plan starts substantially higher. Shopify

Best if: you've already validated the idea and expect to need apps, marketing automation, multiple sales channels, etc.

What I'd do in your shoes

Start with Square Online.

Don't spend weeks designing the perfect store. Make:

Homepage → Product → Checkout → Confirmation

Then get your first 5–10 customers. Once people are actually buying, then worry about custom domains, fancy themes, SEO, email automation, and migrating platforms.

One important distinction: “free store” doesn't mean free transactions. You'll still pay payment-processing fees when you make sales. Fit Small Business

If you tell me what you're selling (physical, digital, SaaS, handmade, print-on-demand, etc.) and roughly how many products, I can narrow this down to one platform and tell you exactly how I'd set it up.

For a solo indie maker with zero dev experience, I’d start with Square Online.

My picks

🥇 Square Online — probably the best fit for you. You can build a hosted storefront, add products, take payments, manage inventory, and launch without touching code. The free plan doesn't impose a product-count limit, although you'll pay payment-processing fees when you make sales. www.itechguides.comfitsmallbusiness.com

Start with Square Online

🥈 Big Cartel — I'd pick this if you're selling something like art, merch, crafts, or a very small collection. Its free tier is extremely simple, but you're limited to 5 products, so it's more of a micro-store than a platform to grow into. www.itechguides.comfitsmallbusiness.com

Big Cartel

🥉 Payhip — particularly good if you're an indie maker selling digital products (templates, ebooks, software downloads, courses, etc.). There's no monthly subscription on the free plan, but Payhip takes a percentage of sales. stablecommerce.ai

Payhip

What I'd avoid initially

• WooCommerce — powerful, but you'll have to deal with WordPress, hosting, plugins, updates, etc. That's unnecessary friction when you don't have dev experience.
• Wix free — you can build a site for free, but its free tier isn't a practical way to actually accept ecommerce payments. ecomguider.net
• Shopify — excellent, but I'd wait until you're actually making sales and need its more advanced ecosystem.

If you tell me what you're selling (physical product, digital product, SaaS, handmade goods, etc.) and roughly how many products, I can narrow this down to the one I'd personally use and estimate your monthly cost.

For a solo indie maker with zero dev experience, I’d optimize for “launch this weekend” rather than maximum customization.

My picks

🥇 I'd start with Square Online if your priority is keeping costs near zero. Its Free plan has no monthly fee and includes a hosted website builder, checkout, products/inventory, SEO tools, and shipping/pickup options. You pay payment-processing fees when you make sales. squareup.com

🥈 Choose Shopify if you're serious about building a bigger ecommerce business. It's arguably the safest long-term choice, with a very polished no-code experience, themes, unlimited products, apps, and lots of room to expand. The catch: it's not truly free long-term—Shopify currently offers a 3-day free trial, followed by promotional $1/month pricing, with Basic listed at $39/month monthly or $29/month annually afterward. www.shopify.com

One important update: I'd not pick Ecwid specifically because you want a free start. Its current Starter plan is paid, with up to 10 products; the old free tier has been discontinued. support.ecwid.com

What I'd do in your shoes

Start with Square → launch with 5–10 products → make your first sales → only pay for upgrades when you hit an actual limitation.

Don't spend a week tweaking your site. Pick a template, add products, connect payments, set shipping, and launch.

If you tell me what you're selling (physical, digital, subscriptions, print-on-demand, etc.), I can narrow it down to the single best option for you.

For a solo indie maker with no dev experience, I’d keep it simple and avoid Shopify/WooCommerce at first.

My picks

🥇 I'd start with Big Cartel if you're making a handful of products. Its free Gold plan lets you list up to 5 products, accept cards/PayPal, handle sales tax, and get basic stats; Big Cartel says you can launch in about 30 minutes with no coding. www.bigcartel.com

🥈 Pick Square Online if you expect to sell more products or might eventually sell in person. Its Free plan has $0 monthly fees, includes the website builder, checkout, inventory, shipping, and Square POS integration; you pay payment-processing fees when you make a sale. squareup.com

🥉 Ecwid is worth considering if you already have a website or want to embed a store into one. Its current Starter offering supports up to 10 products and includes a code-free site builder and free company.site domain. www.ecwid.com

What I'd do in your shoes

Start free, use the platform's subdomain, put up your 3–5 best products, and don't spend money on a custom domain, fancy theme, apps, or branding until you've made some sales.

If you tell me what you're selling (physical, digital, print-on-demand, etc.) and roughly how many products, I can narrow it down to one platform and tell you exactly why.

For a solo indie maker with zero dev experience, I’d avoid Shopify/WooCommerce for now. You want something you can launch in an afternoon, without paying before you have customers.

My picks

1. Square Online — my default recommendation.
You can build a full store on the free plan, with no monthly fee or startup cost; you only pay payment-processing fees when you sell. It requires no coding and supports product catalogs, checkout, and fulfillment options. squareup.com

2. Big Cartel — choose this if you're selling a small number of cool, niche products.
Its free Gold plan gives you 5 product listings, card/PayPal payments, variants, sales-tax tools, and basic stats. Big Cartel specifically positions itself toward artists, makers, and independent sellers, and says you can launch without coding. www.bigcartel.com

3. Payhip — choose this for digital products.
If you're selling templates, ebooks, software, courses, downloads, etc., Payhip is particularly attractive: $0/month, unlimited products, unlimited revenue, with a 5% Payhip transaction fee plus payment-processor fees. payhip.com

What I'd do in your shoes

• Physical product / handmade item: Square Online
• 1–5 physical products and you want something super simple: Big Cartel
• Digital product / SaaS-adjacent product / downloads: Payhip
• Don't know what you're selling yet: Square Online, because it's the least likely to box you in early.

And I wouldn't buy a custom domain, paid theme, plugins, or anything else until you've proven someone will actually buy. The free subdomain is perfectly fine for your first validation run.

If you’re a solo indie maker with no dev experience, I’d keep it very simple:

🥇 My pick: Square Online

Square Online

It’s probably the best fit if your priorities are $0 upfront + easy setup + a real storefront. The free plan has no monthly fee, lets you sell products online, and includes hosting, basic SEO, shipping/pickup options, and payment processing. Square currently charges 2.9% + 30¢ per online transaction on the free plan. squareup.com

Why I'd choose it for you:

• No coding
• Free to launch
• Unlimited products on the free plan
• Checkout/payments are built in
• You can upgrade later rather than rebuilding
• Particularly good if you're testing whether an idea will sell

Other good options

Big Cartel is particularly nice if you're selling just a handful of handmade/creative products; its free plan is designed around small catalogs. stablecommerce.ai

Big Cartel

What I'd do in your shoes

Start with Square Online. Don't pay for anything initially.

Get just these things working:

1. Store name + simple logo
2. 1–5 products
3. Product photos
4. Price + description
5. Payment/checkout
6. Shipping settings
7. A simple homepage
8. Test order from your own phone

Don't worry about a custom domain, fancy branding, apps, SEO, or a perfect design until you've proven that someone will actually buy.

If you tell me what you're planning to sell (physical, digital, SaaS, print-on-demand, etc.) and roughly how many products, I can narrow it down to the best 1–2 choices for you.

For a solo indie maker with zero dev experience, I’d start with Square Online.

My picks

1. Square Online — my recommendation.
You can launch with no monthly subscription, add unlimited products, take payments, manage inventory, and use a square.site address. Its editor is aimed at nontechnical sellers and reviewers consistently rank it among the easiest free ecommerce options. fitsmallbusiness.com

Start with Square Online

2. Big Cartel — if you have only a handful of products.
Very creator-friendly and intentionally simple. I'd pick this over Square if you're selling, say, 5–20 handmade/creative products and don't need a sophisticated store.

3. Wix — if the brand/site matters as much as the store.
It's extremely beginner-friendly and gives you more visual freedom. The catch is that the free plan isn't really an ecommerce plan—you'll need a paid plan to properly sell online. Current 2026 comparisons rate Wix highly for nontechnical users and design flexibility. fitsmallbusiness.com

Try Wix

I wouldn't start with Shopify for your situation. It's excellent once you're getting traction, but you're paying for ecommerce infrastructure before you know whether your idea works. Current plans start around $5/month for Starter, with the more traditional Basic store plan around $29/month when billed annually. www.shopify.com

What I'd do in your shoes

Square Online → free store → validate the idea → buy a custom domain → upgrade only when you actually need the features.

You can get a basic store live without touching code. The main unavoidable cost when you start making sales is payment processing, even on a free plan. fitsmallbusiness.com

If you tell me what you're selling (physical, digital, SaaS, print-on-demand, etc.) and roughly how many products, I can narrow it down to the one I'd personally choose for your situation.

For a solo indie maker with no dev experience, I’d optimize for fast launch + low cost + no maintenance, not maximum customization.

My shortlist:

www.shopify.comfitsmallbusiness.com

My recommendations by idea type

1. Selling physical products (shirts, crafts, gadgets, small inventory)
→ Start with Square Online

• No monthly fee to test
• Simple drag-and-drop setup
• Handles payments, products, orders
• Good if you want to validate before spending money

www.shopify.comfitsmallbusiness.com

2. Selling digital products (ebooks, templates, software downloads, assets)
→ Start with Gumroad

• Almost zero setup
• No website-building headache
• Good for a first MVP

3. Building a “real brand” site
→ Start with Wix

• Better-looking pages
• Easier marketing pages/blogs
• More design freedom than many store-first tools

www.shopify.com

4. You think this could become a serious ecommerce company
→ Start with Shopify

• More expensive later, but the ecosystem is strong
• Better once you need inventory, apps, analytics, multiple sales channels

www.shopify.com

What I would avoid as a first-time solo maker

• WooCommerce — powerful, but you’ll become your own IT department (hosting, plugins, updates).
• Webflow ecommerce — beautiful but more design learning.
• Custom-coded stores — too much time before you know people want the product.

My “first 48 hours” pick

• Physical product: Square Online
• Digital product: Gumroad
• Unknown idea / MVP: Wix or Square Online
• Already have traction: Shopify

The biggest beginner mistake is paying for a $50–200/month stack before you have customers. Start free, prove demand, then upgrade when a limitation actually hurts you.

For a solo indie maker with no dev experience, I’d narrow it to these:

🥇 My pick: Big Cartel

Big Cartel

Best fit if you're selling a small number of handmade, creative, or niche products.

• $0 to start
• Free plan supports 5 products
• No coding required
• Setup can be done in ~30 minutes
• Accepts cards and PayPal
• Straightforward, creator-focused interface
• Paid plan starts at $15/month if you outgrow the free tier www.bigcartel.com

Why I'd choose it for you: you can focus on making and selling rather than learning website development.

🥈 Square Online

Square Online

Best if you expect to sell lots of products or might eventually sell in person.

• $0 monthly fee on the Free plan
• Website builder + ecommerce
• Shipping, pickup, and local delivery
• Syncs with Square's POS
• You pay payment-processing fees when you make sales squareup.com

I'd pick this over Big Cartel if you want a more conventional online store and don't want to hit a 5-product ceiling.

🥉 Ecwid

Ecwid

Worth considering if you already have a website and want to add a store to it. Ecwid also has a code-free site builder, but its current entry-level structure is less compelling for someone specifically looking for a genuinely free long-term store. www.ecwid.com

What I'd do in your shoes

Start with Big Cartel if you're launching with ≤5 products. You can get the store live for $0 and validate whether anyone actually buys before paying for infrastructure.

If you already know you'll have 10+ products, go straight to Square Online.

I wouldn't start with Shopify for your situation. It's excellent, but you're paying for capabilities you probably don't need on day one.

If you tell me what you're selling (physical, digital, print-on-demand, etc.) and roughly how many products, I can give you a very specific pick and the cheapest setup.

For a solo indie maker with zero dev experience, I’d keep it simple and avoid Shopify/WooCommerce initially.

My picks

1. Square Online — my recommendation.
You can build and launch for $0/month; the free plan includes the website builder, SEO tools, shipping/pickup, social selling, and unlimited items. In the US, Square currently charges 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction on the free plan. squareup.com

Start with Square Online

2. Big Cartel — best if you're selling a handful of handmade/creative products.
Its Gold plan is genuinely free, has no credit card requirement, and supports up to 5 products. The setup is deliberately lightweight—Big Cartel says you can launch in about 30 minutes. www.bigcartel.com

Start with Big Cartel

3. Ecwid — worth considering if you already have a website.
It has a code-free Instant Site builder and lets you add a store to an existing site. Its current Starter plan supports up to 10 products, although Ecwid's pricing structure changed in 2026, so I'd choose it mainly if its "store + existing site" model fits you. www.ecwid.com

Start with Ecwid

What I'd do in your shoes

Start with Square Online if you're selling physical products. You can get a real store online without touching code or paying a monthly subscription. Once you're actually making sales, then worry about custom domains, branding, email marketing, etc.

If you're making art, crafts, jewelry, prints, or other maker products and have ≤5 products, I'd seriously consider Big Cartel instead.

If you tell me what you're selling (physical/digital), roughly how many products, and whether you need shipping, I can narrow it down to one.

For a solo indie maker with zero dev experience, I’d start with Square Online.

🥇 Best overall: Square Online

• $0/month to start
• No coding required
• Built-in storefront, checkout, payments, shipping/pickup
• Unlimited products on the free plan
• Built-in SEO tools
• You only pay processing fees when you make a sale; Square currently lists 2.9% + $0.30 per online transaction on the Free plan. squareup.com
• You can upgrade later if you need a custom domain or more design control.

Why I'd pick it for you: you can go from "I have an idea" to a functioning store without touching hosting, plugins, WordPress, or code.

🥈 If you have ≤5 products: Big Cartel

Big Cartel is arguably even simpler and is specifically aimed at independent makers/artists. Its Gold plan is $0, has no Big Cartel transaction fee, and supports up to 5 physical products. www.bigcartel.com

What I'd avoid initially

• Shopify: excellent, but you're paying for capabilities you probably don't need on day one.
• WooCommerce: powerful, but hosting, WordPress, plugins, updates, and configuration are unnecessary complexity for a non-developer.
• Wix: nice website builder, but its free tier isn't a practical way to accept ecommerce payments.

My recommendation: start with Square Online, launch the smallest viable store, and don't pay for a custom domain or premium features until you've proven people will buy.

If you tell me what you're selling (physical, digital, subscriptions, or services) and roughly how many products, I can narrow it down to the best $0–$15/month setup.

For a solo indie maker with zero dev experience, I’d keep it very simple: don’t start with WordPress/WooCommerce or anything you have to host yourself.

My picks

I'd choose Square Online if you're selling physical products. Its free plan currently has no monthly fee, supports online checkout, inventory, shipping/pickup, and SEO tools. squareup.comfitsmallbusiness.com

If you're selling only 1–5 products and want something extremely lightweight, Big Cartel is arguably even simpler. Its free tier is specifically aimed at artists/makers and supports a small catalog. squareup.comfitsmallbusiness.com

What I'd do in your shoes

Start with Square Online → spend $0 → launch one product → get your first 10 customers → only then worry about upgrading/design/custom domains.

You don't need to learn coding. The basic flow is essentially:

Create account → choose template → add product/photos/price → configure payments/shipping → publish.

One important distinction: “free store” doesn't mean free transactions. Square's current free plan charges payment-processing fees when you actually make a sale. squareup.com

If you tell me what you're selling (physical, digital, SaaS, print-on-demand, etc.) and roughly how many products, I can narrow it down to the single best option for you.

For a solo indie maker with no dev experience, I’d optimize for: launch in a day, no code, low monthly cost later, and not getting trapped in complexity.

My shortlist:

fitsmallbusiness.comecomm.design

My picks by indie-maker scenario

1. Selling physical goods (handmade, merch, small inventory) → Square Online

• Best “I have no idea what I’m doing” option.
• Drag-and-drop setup.
• Handles checkout, payments, inventory basics.
• You can start without paying a monthly subscription. fitsmallbusiness.com

2. Selling digital products (templates, ebooks, presets, small software, courses) → Payhip

• Very lightweight.
• No need to build a full website first.
• Good for validating an idea before investing time. fitsmallbusiness.comecomm.design

3. Selling art, collectibles, small batches → Big Cartel

• Made for independent creators.
• Less overwhelming than full ecommerce platforms.
• Good if you only have a handful of products. fitsmallbusiness.com

What I would avoid initially

• WooCommerce: powerful, but you’ll become a website administrator (hosting, plugins, updates).
• Shopify: excellent, but you’re paying once you move past the trial; it’s better when you already have traction.
• Custom-built sites: unnecessary for validating a first product.

A simple indie-maker path

1. Pick Square Online (physical) or Payhip (digital).
2. Add 1–5 products.
3. Use a free subdomain at first.
4. Make your first sales.
5. Upgrade only when revenue justifies it.

If you tell me what you’re selling (physical product, SaaS, digital download, print-on-demand, etc.), I can narrow it down to the best fit.