Answers that do not mention BigCommerce

For a small handmade-goods shop on a tight budget, I’d narrow it to these:

My practical pick: Square Online

If you want to get a basic store live without paying a monthly subscription, Square is probably the simplest starting point. Its Free plan has no monthly subscription cost, and you only pay payment-processing fees when you make sales. Square Square

That's particularly useful for handmade goods because you can eventually use Square for in-person markets/craft fairs as well as your website, rather than maintaining separate systems.

squareup.com

When I'd choose Big Cartel instead

If you're selling something like jewelry, candles, prints, pottery, sewn goods, or other maker products and expect to have only a small number of products initially, Big Cartel is worth considering. It explicitly targets artists and makers and has a free Gold plan. Big Cartel Big Cartel

bigcartel.com

Bottom line: I'd start with Square Online if you want the most flexibility for $0/month, or Big Cartel if you want an especially simple maker-focused storefront. You don't need Shopify or an expensive custom website to validate the business.

If you tell me roughly how many products you'll sell (e.g. 5, 20, or 100) and whether you'll sell at local craft fairs too, I can tell you which of those two makes more sense and what your actual monthly/transaction costs would look like.

For a small handmade-goods shop on a tight budget, I’d start with squareup.com.

• $0/month on the Free plan.
• You get a hosted storefront, checkout, shipping/local delivery, and inventory tools. Square Square
• You pay processing fees when you actually sell—currently 2.9% + $0.30 for the applicable online/API rate, with Square's fee structure varying by payment method. Square
• It's particularly attractive if you also sell at craft fairs or markets, because Square can connect online and in-person sales.

Another great option: Big Cartel

If you have only a tiny product catalog and want something aimed specifically at artists/makers, bigcartel.com is worth considering. Its free Gold plan supports up to 5 products, with no monthly subscription. Big Cartel Big Cartel

What I'd choose

My recommendation: Start with Square Online Free, get 5–20 products photographed and listed, and avoid paying for a custom domain or premium design until you're actually making consistent sales. You can upgrade later without rebuilding your whole business. Square

If you tell me roughly how many products you plan to sell and whether you'll also sell at local craft fairs, I can tell you which of Square, Big Cartel, Etsy, or Shopify is likely to cost you the least.

For a two-person startup validating product-market fit, I’d optimize for speed and low commitment, not maximum features.

My pick: Shopify

Shopify is probably the best default for you.

• Minimal setup: hosted store, checkout, payments, inventory, shipping, analytics, and templates are all in one place.
• Cheap to test: Shopify currently offers 3 days free, then 3 months for $1/month; the Basic plan is $29/month when billed annually. Shopify Shopify
• You won't have to migrate later: if the experiment works, Shopify can grow with you instead of becoming throwaway infrastructure.
• Good for a tiny team: Basic gives you a full online store and unlimited products without needing developers. Shopify Help Center

shopify.com

But there are two cheaper options

Square's free tier can give you a hosted storefront without a monthly subscription, although payment processing still applies. Big Cartel's free tier is limited to five products. iTechGuides Shopify

What I'd do in your shoes

Start with Shopify Basic and spend almost nothing on customization.

Use:

• A free theme
• Shopify Payments
• Your own domain
• 1–5 products
• No paid apps initially
• Shopify's built-in analytics
• Simple product photography
• One clear landing/product page

The goal isn't to build a beautiful ecommerce operation. It's to answer "Will strangers give us money for this?"

Once you're getting meaningful sales, then worry about subscriptions, sophisticated email automation, CRO, custom design, etc.

One caveat: if you're literally testing with a handful of products and expect fewer than ~5–10 orders/month, I'd seriously consider Square Online's free tier first. The $29/month Shopify subscription is worthwhile mainly because it gives you a much better long-term foundation.

If you tell me what you're selling (physical vs. digital), roughly how many SKUs, expected monthly sales, and whether you already have a website/domain, I can narrow this down to the cheapest sensible setup for your specific PMF test.

Yes. If the client literally has $0 hosting budget, you have a few good options—and the best one depends on whether you need a real checkout/store backend or just a storefront.

Best options

• Square Online — probably my first choice for a real store.

Square offers a hosted storefront with a free plan, free hosting, SSL, and a free Square subdomain. There are no monthly hosting fees; they make money when the client processes sales. Square Square
squareup.com

• Big Cartel — great for a tiny catalog.

Their Gold plan is genuinely $0 and currently allows up to 5 products, with online selling and payment acceptance included. Big Cartel
bigcartel.com

• Cloudflare Pages — excellent if you're coding the storefront yourself.

Static assets are free, and the Free plan has generous limits. You can build the frontend yourself with React/Next/Vite/etc. and deploy it without paying for hosting. Cloudflare Docs Cloudflare Docs
pages.cloudflare.com

One important caveat

I'd avoid GitHub Pages for an actual commercial ecommerce store, even though it's free. GitHub explicitly says Pages isn't intended/allowed to be used as free hosting for an online business or ecommerce site. GitHub Docs

What I'd do as a freelancer

If you're building the frontend yourself, I'd probably do:

Cloudflare Pages → free hosting
+ Stripe/Square payment checkout → payment processing only when they sell
+ free subdomain initially → client buys domain later

That lets you deliver a legitimate storefront without making the client pay for hosting.

If you tell me what you're building with (plain HTML, React, Next.js, WordPress, etc.) and roughly how many products the client has, I can recommend the cheapest architecture—including how to handle cart, checkout, product management, and orders at $0/month.

For a small local bakery with only a handful of products, I’d start with Square Online.

My recommendation: Square Online

squareup.com

Why it fits your situation:

• $0/month on the Square Free plan — you pay payment-processing fees when you actually make a sale. Square Square
• You can create a simple online ordering page with your bakery items. Square specifically supports prepared food and beverage businesses. Square
• Customers can choose pickup, curbside pickup, or local delivery. Square Square
• You can set pickup/order windows, which is particularly useful for a bakery that makes items in batches. Square
• If you take orders in person too, Square can keep your online and in-person sales/catalog together.
• You don't need to build a complicated website. You can essentially give customers one link such as yourbakery.square.site and put it in your Instagram/Google profile.

What I'd avoid for now

Toast is good, but I'd consider it overkill for a tiny bakery unless you're already using Toast POS. Its online ordering is designed around restaurant operations and POS integration. Toast Support Center Toast POS

Wix/Shopify can make a prettier full website, but if your immediate need is simply "Here are my 8 products—choose a quantity, select pickup time, pay", you don't need that complexity.

A simple setup I'd use

Homepage/order page

🍞 Bakery Name
Fresh baked goods available for pickup

Order for Pickup

• Sourdough loaf — $8
• Croissants — $4
• Chocolate chip cookies — $3
• Cinnamon rolls — $5
• Weekend pastry box — $24

Choose pickup date & time → Pay → Done

I'd also set up Google Business Profile + Instagram → Square ordering page so customers have an obvious path from finding you to actually placing an order.

If you tell me roughly how many items you sell, whether you do pickup/delivery, and whether you already use a POS (Square, Clover, etc.), I can tell you the cheapest setup I'd personally use for your bakery, including the likely fees per $100 of orders.

Yes. Payhip is probably the closest match to what you're describing.

Best fit: Payhip

payhip.com has a $0/month Free Forever plan with:

• Unlimited digital products
• Unlimited revenue
• A storefront you can customize
• Automatic digital-file delivery after purchase
• Coupons, affiliates, and marketing features
• Support for printable art, PDFs, SVGs, PNGs, etc.
• 5% Payhip transaction fee per sale, plus the normal Stripe/PayPal processing fee Payhip Payhip

So you could realistically start with $0 in monthly software costs. You create your files, upload them, make the storefront, and only pay fees when something sells.

Another good option: Gumroad

gumroad.com also has no monthly fee, but its transaction fees are considerably higher: 10% + $0.50 on direct/profile sales, and 30% when a customer discovers you through Gumroad's marketplace. Gumroad Gumroad

Gumroad does have one major advantage: it handles sales-tax obligations as the merchant of record, which can simplify things considerably. Gumroad

What I'd do in your situation

If your goal is "start selling prints/downloads with essentially zero overhead", I'd start with:

Payhip → Canva/Affinity/etc. for creating → Pinterest/TikTok/Instagram for traffic

You don't need to buy a domain, pay for Shopify, pay for hosting, or purchase inventory.

For example, you could sell:

• Printable wall art — $5–15
• Planner/organizer bundles — $7–20
• SVG/cutting files — $3–10
• Digital stationery — $3–8
• Printable games/activities — $3–10
• Large themed bundles — $15–40

And if you eventually start doing physical prints, you can add print-on-demand rather than holding inventory.

One important distinction: if by "prints" you mean customers download a file and print it themselves, Payhip is excellent. If you mean customers order a physical poster/art print and somebody else prints and ships it, I'd use a slightly different setup.

If you tell me what kind of digital products/prints you want to sell, I can recommend the lowest-overhead setup (including the store + design tool + print-on-demand option if needed) and estimate the fees/profit on a $5, $10, and $20 sale.

Payhip → Canva/Affinity/etc. for creating → Pinterest/TikTok/Instagram for traffic

You don't need to buy a domain, pay for Shopify, pay for hosting, or purchase inventory.

For example, you could sell:

If you're a solo indie maker with zero dev experience, I'd optimize for fast launch + $0 upfront + no code, rather than maximum customization.

My picks

• 🥇 Square Online — best overall

• $0/month on the Free plan.
• No coding required; you can choose a layout, add products, configure payments/shipping, and launch. Square Square
• Unlimited products on the free plan.
• You pay processing fees when you actually make a sale; Square currently lists 2.9% + 30¢ per online transaction on Free. Square
• Best if: you want a normal-looking store and expect to grow beyond a handful of products.
• 🥈 Big Cartel — best for a tiny maker shop

• $0 forever on its Gold plan, with no credit card required. Big Cartel
• Extremely simple setup—Big Cartel says you can launch in 30 minutes or less.
• Free plan is limited to 5 products, though.
• Particularly geared toward artists, designers, and independent makers, with no coding required. Big Cartel
• Best if: you're launching something like 1–5 handmade products, prints, merch, or small-batch goods.

What I'd choose

Start with Square if you have more than 5 products or want the store to become a serious business.

Start with Big Cartel if you're validating an idea and want the absolute simplest possible storefront.

I wouldn't start with Shopify for your situation. It's excellent once you're scaling, but if your goal is “I have an idea and want to start selling without spending money”, a $0 platform makes more sense initially.

My indie-maker stack:
Big Cartel/Square → validate demand → get first 10–50 customers → only then pay for more sophisticated tooling.

squareup.com
bigcartel.com

If you tell me what you're selling (physical, digital, subscriptions, or print-on-demand), I can narrow this down to the best 1–2 options for your specific business.

Square Online is probably the best fit for a small boutique that sells only occasionally: its storefront has a $0/month plan, supports inventory, and works especially well if you also sell in person. Shopify Shopify

If you have fewer than 5 seasonal products, Big Cartel is even simpler and has a free tier. Shopify

• Best overall for occasional retail: Square Online
• Best for tiny catalogs/artisan boutiques: Big Cartel
• Best if you expect to grow substantially: Shopify, but it costs more monthly. Shopify

For a free storefront focused on preorders and crowdfunding-style sales, I’d choose based on whether you want a true “campaign” experience or just a normal store that accepts early orders.

My shortlist

My recommendation

If you are selling a physical product:

Start with Shopify + a free preorder app.

You can make a “campaign” page:

• Product story/video
• Funding goal or minimum order quantity
• Early-bird pricing tiers
• Estimated delivery date
• Email waitlist
• Preorder checkout

Shopify’s app ecosystem includes many preorder tools, including apps that add crowdfunding-style features, deposits, waitlists, and presale campaigns. Shopify App Store Shopify App Store

A low-cost launch stack:

• Storefront: Shopify
• Theme: free Shopify theme
• Preorder tool: a free-plan preorder app
• Payments: Shopify Payments/PayPal
• Marketing: email waitlist + social media

If you need $0/month and are testing an idea:

Use Gumroad or Ko-fi first. You can validate demand before investing in a full ecommerce setup.

If the campaign itself is the product:

Use a crowdfunding platform such as BackerKit or a Kickstarter-style platform rather than a normal store. Those are better when you need:

• funding milestones
• backer updates
• reward tiers
• surveys
• community management

A few questions would change my recommendation:

1. Are you selling physical products, digital products, or services?
2. Do you need to collect payment immediately or just collect pledges/waitlist signups?
3. Are you expecting 10 customers or 10,000+ backers?

If the goal is $0/month upfront + a storefront + preorders + “help us hit the production goal” crowdfunding-style campaigns, I’d narrow it to three options:

My recommendation: Big Cartel to start

bigcartel.com has a genuinely free Gold plan with 5 products, online checkout, card/PayPal payments, variants, sales-tax tools and basic analytics. Big Cartel

For a crowdfunding-style launch, you could structure the store like:

• Product: “Campaign Edition — $35”
• Quantity: limited / unlimited preorder quantity
• Launch date: September 20
• Estimated shipping: December
• Goal: “We need 200 preorders to manufacture this run”
• Progress: manually display “137 / 200 backers”
• Bonus tiers: Early Bird / Standard / Founder
• Updates: post campaign progress and manufacturing updates

The important caveat is that Big Cartel isn't actually a Kickstarter-style crowdfunding platform. It won't natively manage funding goals, campaign progress, stretch goals, or conditional charging. You'd be using the storefront to simulate that experience.

If crowdfunding mechanics are important

I'd actually lean toward Shopify, despite it not being free. Shopify has a large ecosystem of preorder/crowdfunding apps; its App Store currently lists 100+ preorder apps with crowdfunding features, including apps for deposits, partial payments, demand validation and campaign-style preorders. Shopify App Store Shopify App Store

That gives you a much more sophisticated setup:

Campaign → preorder → funding goal → automatic order collection → production → fulfillment

You could even have multiple campaigns/products running simultaneously.

One other option I'd seriously consider: Square Online

squareup.com has a $0/month storefront with unlimited products, so it's potentially better than Big Cartel if you expect more than five products. The tradeoff is that its free tier is more of a conventional ecommerce store and doesn't have the crowdfunding experience built in. iTechGuides

What I'd choose for you

If you're testing the idea and don't want to spend anything:

Big Cartel → preorder landing page → manually track the funding goal.

If you're expecting hundreds/thousands of orders and want the campaign itself to be a major part of the experience:

Shopify + a preorder/crowdfunding app.

If you tell me what you're selling, approximate price, expected number of backers, and whether you need customers' cards charged immediately or only after the campaign succeeds, I can recommend the exact setup—including the cheapest/free way to build it.

Yes. For an agency building tiny prospect/demo stores with $0 budget, I’d shortlist these:

1. Shopify — best for polished client demos
   • Shopify Partners can create unlimited development stores for free. help.shopify.com
   • Great if prospects are likely to become Shopify clients.
   • You can populate it with fake products, theme it, and hand the prospect a storefront to browse.
   • Best agency choice overall.

2. Square — best truly free hosted storefront
   • Square has a $0/month Free plan with a website/store builder and no startup costs; fees only apply if you actually process sales. squareup.com
   • Good for a quick, presentable demo without worrying about a trial expiring.

3. Ecwid — best for a very small demo
   • Ecwid offers a small Starter tier with up to 10 products, templates, and a free company.site address. www.ecwid.com
   • It also explicitly offers creating a demo store with no credit card required. www.ecwid.com

My pick for an agency

Use Shopify Partner development stores if the purpose is "Look what your future store could look like." You get the most convincing ecommerce experience and can build repeatable demo templates.

If the requirement is "leave the demo online indefinitely without paying anything", I'd lean Square Free or Ecwid, rather than relying on a Shopify trial. Shopify's ordinary trial eventually requires choosing a paid plan or the store is paused. help.shopify.com

If you tell me whether you want (a) a public URL, (b) checkout/cart functionality, and (c) unlimited demo stores, I can narrow it down to the best one for your agency.

Yes. If you already have WordPress and only need a simple, inexpensive store, I would avoid moving to Shopify unless you need its broader ecosystem.

My top choices

• woocommerce.com — best if you want maximum flexibility

• The core plugin is free with no monthly platform fee or revenue share. WooCommerce
• Excellent for physical products, inventory, shipping, coupons, etc.
• The downside is that costs can creep up when you start adding premium extensions.
• My choice if: you expect the store to grow or want lots of control.
• surecart.com — probably the easiest low-cost option

• It works directly with WordPress and has a free plan.
• The current free Launch plan charges 2.9% per transaction in addition to your payment processor's fees. Its Pro plan is currently listed at $199/year and removes SureCart's transaction fee. SureCart SureCart
• It handles products, checkout, payments, inventory, subscriptions, and digital products without requiring a bunch of separate extensions.
• My choice if: you want a small store that's easy to set up and don't want to become a WooCommerce administrator.
• Stripe Payment Links — cheapest/simplest if you barely need a store

• If you only have a handful of products, you can create payment links and put "Buy" buttons/links on your existing WordPress pages.
• Stripe currently lists standard Payment Links pricing starting at 2.9% + 30¢ per successful charge. Stripe
• No shopping-cart system is necessary.
• My choice if: you have 1–10 products and don't really need a traditional ecommerce catalog.

What I'd do in your situation

If by "simple store" you mean something like:

5–30 products → product page → add to cart → checkout → you receive the order → you ship it

I'd start with SureCart if keeping setup and maintenance simple is the priority, or WooCommerce if you want the store to have room to grow.

If you tell me what you're selling (physical products, digital downloads, services, subscriptions, etc.) and roughly how many products, I can recommend the cheapest setup—including payment fees and any plugins you'll actually need.

For an artisan seller who only sells locally, I’d pick Square Online first.

• Best overall: squareup.com — has a $0/month entry plan, supports free pickup and local delivery, and can handle delivery yourself or through a courier. Square Square
• Best alternative: ecwid.com — especially good if you want more flexible delivery zones. It supports pickup, local delivery by ZIP code or map area, delivery fees, and pickup/delivery time slots. Ecwid Help Center Ecwid Help Center
• Shopify is more powerful, but I'd consider it overkill for a small local-only artisan shop unless you expect to expand later. Shopify

My pick

Square Online if you want cheap + simple + local pickup/delivery.

If you tell me roughly how many products you sell and whether you already use Square for payments, I can tell you which plan/tool would be cheapest for your specific setup.

For a shoestring-budget physical subscription box, I’d start with squareup.com if you want the simplest setup.

• Square — best ultra-lean option: Square says its subscription capabilities have no monthly or fixed fees. It supports recurring subscriptions for physical items, fulfillment tracking, discounts, and sales-tax settings. Square Square
• Stripe — best if you expect to scale: stripe.com is more flexible and developer-friendly. Its Billing pay-as-you-go pricing is 0.7% of Billing volume, on top of payment processing; standard U.S. card processing is currently 2.9% + 30¢ per successful card charge. Stripe
• Paddle — probably not my pick for a physical box: It charges 5% + 50¢ per checkout transaction, but bundles tax/compliance and is particularly oriented toward digital/software businesses. Paddle

My pick

Start with Square if you're testing demand and expect relatively straightforward monthly boxes. You avoid a monthly subscription-management fee, and you can get the recurring-payment machinery running without building much yourself.

If you're building a more customized storefront, expect multiple pricing tiers, or want maximum flexibility later, I'd choose Stripe instead.

If you tell me your box price (e.g. $25/month), expected subscribers (e.g. 50 → 500), and whether you already have a website, I can calculate the approximate monthly fees for Square vs. Stripe and tell you which is actually cheapest at your scale.

For a photographer selling digital images, prints, and licensing, I’d prioritize platforms that handle:

• High-resolution digital delivery
• License/usage terms (commercial, editorial, personal)
• Watermarked previews
• Print fulfillment (optional)
• Low monthly cost and low/no sales commission
• A professional gallery experience

Here are the strongest affordable options:

Best overall for a photographer: Pixpa

pixpa.com

Best for: photographers who want a portfolio website + store in one place.

Pros

• Built specifically for photographers
• Sell prints and digital downloads from galleries
• Client proofing galleries
• Automated digital delivery
• Print lab integrations
• No commission on sales (payment processor fees still apply) Pixpa Pixpa

Cost

• Paid plans start relatively low (around the single-digit/month range when billed annually, depending on plan/promotions). Pixpa

Good fit if: you want your own branded photography website instead of sending customers to a marketplace.

Best free starting point: Pic-Time

pic-time.com

Best for: fine-art prints, portraits, weddings, client galleries.

Pros

• Permanent free plan available
• Print store included
• Automated print fulfillment through labs
• Beautiful galleries designed for photographers Pic-Time

Cons

• Free plans may include commissions on sales depending on how payments are handled. Pic-Time
• Licensing workflows are less robust than some photographer-focused platforms.

Good fit if: you want to test selling without paying monthly fees.

Best for serious licensing: PhotoDeck

photodeck.com

Best for: stock photography, commercial licensing, agencies, editorial work.

Pros

• Built around photographers selling images
• Supports digital downloads and licensing
• Pricing control
• Watermarking and image protection features
• Print sales options PhotoDeck

Cons

• More photography-business oriented than a simple storefront.

Good fit if: your main income goal is licensing images rather than just selling wall art.

Simplest marketplace option: Picfair

picfair.com

Best for: photographers who don’t want to manage ecommerce.

Pros

• Free signup
• Handles payments, prints, and licensing
• Built-in marketplace exposure
• Digital downloads and prints supported Picfair

Cons

• Less control over branding and customer relationships than your own website.

Good fit if: you want “upload photos → sell” with minimal setup.

Budget DIY option: WooCommerce + WordPress

woocommerce.com

Best for: photographers who already have a WordPress site.

Pros

• Very low software cost
• Full control over licensing products
• Many digital-download plugins
• No platform percentage cut

Cons

• More setup and maintenance
• You manage hosting, security, backups, delivery settings

My recommendation by business type

For most independent photographers starting out, I’d lean toward Pixpa if you want a professional storefront, or Pic-Time if you want to experiment with minimal upfront cost. If licensing is a major revenue stream (businesses buying usage rights), PhotoDeck is the more specialized choice. PhotoDeck Pixpa

A useful setup is often:

• Free/low-cost storefront → sell individual images and prints
• Separate licensing page → offer commercial/editorial rights with custom pricing
• Email list → avoid relying only on marketplace traffic

I can also compare these specifically for landscape/fine-art photography vs stock/licensing photography vs wedding/event photography if that’s your niche.

Yes. If your goal is “test one product for 2–4 weeks without committing to Shopify or another monthly subscription,” there are a few good options.

My shortlist

Payhip's free plan is genuinely $0/month, includes all features and unlimited products, and takes 5% per sale on top of payment-processor fees. It also supports physical products. Payhip Payhip

Big Cartel's Gold plan is also $0 and lets you list up to 5 products, accept cards/PayPal, and run a basic storefront. Big Cartel

Gumroad has no monthly fee, but its direct-sale fee is currently 10% + $0.50 per transaction, before applicable processing/other fees. Gumroad Gumroad

What I'd use for your experiment

If you're selling a physical product, I'd start with Big Cartel if you want it to feel like a tiny conventional ecommerce store.

If you want a landing-page-style sales page → checkout, I'd lean toward Payhip. You can essentially make the whole experiment:

Ad/social post → product page → checkout → payment → order fulfillment

with $0/month while you're testing.

One important distinction: “free” doesn't mean zero cost per sale. Payment processing and, depending on the platform, transaction fees still apply. Payhip Big Cartel

If you tell me what the product is, its selling price, and whether it's physical or digital, I can tell you which of these makes the most sense and what I'd use for the landing page.

Yes. If your goal is “test one product for 2–4 weeks, spend $0 upfront, and only pay when I actually sell”, I’d avoid Shopify for now.

My top picks

1. payhip.com — best overall for your test

• $0/month on the Free Forever plan.
• 5% Payhip transaction fee + normal Stripe/PayPal processing.
• Includes the storefront/product page, checkout, hosting, and unlimited products.
• You can essentially make your Payhip store a one-product landing shop and send traffic straight to it. Payhip Payhip
• Best if you're selling a physical product or digital product and want an actual little storefront.
• gumroad.com — very easy, especially for digital products

• No monthly fee.
• Direct sales are currently 10% + $0.50 per transaction; marketplace/discovery sales have a higher fee. Gumroad Gumroad
• Extremely quick to set up, but I'd choose Payhip over it if you're trying to make something that feels more like a branded mini-store.
• stripe.com — cheapest platform-wise, but not really a landing shop

• No monthly fee; standard U.S. card processing starts at 2.9% + $0.30 per successful transaction. Stripe
• You create a no-code payment page for the product and send people to it. Stripe
• Great if you already have a landing page elsewhere, but less suitable if you want “here's my product → here's why you want it → buy now” all in one place.

What I'd do in your situation

Start with Payhip.

You can make:

Product photo/video
Big promise/headline
3–5 benefits
Social proof/reviews
FAQ
$XX — Buy Now

…and run ads/TikTok/Instagram traffic to that single product page without taking on a monthly Shopify subscription.

The important distinction is that “free” doesn't mean zero cost if you make sales. Payhip takes 5%, while Stripe/PayPal also charge their normal processing fees. But if you sell nothing during your experiment, your platform cost is $0. Payhip Payhip

If you tell me what the product is (physical or digital), its price, and where you plan to get traffic (TikTok, Meta ads, Google, organic, etc.), I can tell you which of these I'd use and how I'd structure the one-product page.

If you’re starting a clothing brand on a tight budget, I’d shortlist these three:

🥇 My pick: Big Cartel

For a new apparel brand with limited funds, Big Cartel is probably the best starting point.

Its $15/month Platinum plan supports up to 50 products, 5 images per product, multiple size/color variants, inventory management, and discounts. Big Cartel Big Cartel

That covers the essentials for something like:

Oversized Tee
Colors: Black / Cream / Red
Sizes: S / M / L / XL
4–5 photos per color
Promo code: LAUNCH20

It also has a free starting option, so you can build the store before committing much money. Big Cartel

bigcartel.com

🥈 Shopify — better if you expect to grow quickly

Shopify is what I'd choose if you expect the brand to become a serious business rather than just testing a collection.

Its ecosystem is much larger, particularly for apparel: there are numerous apps for variant photos, color swatches, sizing, promotions, bundles, etc. Shopify App Store Shopify App Store

The downside is that your monthly costs can climb once you start adding apps.

shopify.com

🥉 WooCommerce — cheapest if you're comfortable with websites

WooCommerce can be extremely economical because the core software is free, but you'll pay for hosting and potentially other services.

One particularly nice development for clothing brands: as of WooCommerce 11.1, variation-specific image galleries are built in for free. So you can show different photos when someone selects Black vs. Cream, for example. WooCommerce WooCommerce

woocommerce.com

What I'd do with a small budget

Start with Big Cartel → spend your money on the actual brand/photos → move to Shopify later if sales justify it.

For your first collection, I'd prioritize:

• 5–10 products, rather than launching 30+
• 4–5 strong photos per product/color
• Size + color variants
• A simple 10–20% launch code
• Instagram/TikTok traffic
• A clean, mobile-first storefront
• Custom domain once you're ready

If you tell me your rough monthly budget (e.g. $20, $50, or $100) and whether you're making the clothes yourself, using a manufacturer, or print-on-demand, I can recommend the cheapest setup—including the photo tools, website, domain, and payment fees.

For a new apparel brand with limited funds, Big Cartel is probably the best starting point.

Its $15/month Platinum plan supports up to 50 products, 5 images per product, multiple size/color variants, inventory management, and discounts. Big Cartel Big Cartel

That covers the essentials for something like:

Oversized Tee
Colors: Black / Cream / Red
Sizes: S / M / L / XL
4–5 photos per color
Promo code: LAUNCH20

It also has a free starting option, so you can build the store before committing much money. Big Cartel

bigcartel.com

🥈 Shopify — better if you expect to grow quickly

Shopify is what I'd choose if you expect the brand to become a serious business rather than just testing a collection.

Its ecosystem is much larger, particularly for apparel: there are numerous apps for variant photos, color swatches, sizing, promotions, bundles, etc. Shopify App Store Shopify App Store

The downside is that your monthly costs can climb once you start adding apps.

shopify.com

🥉 WooCommerce — cheapest if you're comfortable with websites

WooCommerce can be extremely economical because the core software is free, but you'll pay for hosting and potentially other services.

One particularly nice development for clothing brands: as of WooCommerce 11.1, variation-specific image galleries are built in for free. So you can show different photos when someone selects Black vs. Cream, for example. woocommerce.com woocommerce.com

For a farmers’ co-op, I’d focus on software that supports multiple independent vendors, shared checkout, vendor commissions/payouts, product inventory, and pickup/delivery, without requiring a big custom build.

Shortlist

Sharetribe is probably the easiest place to start. It is purpose-built for marketplaces, doesn't require coding, supports product marketplaces and online payments, and its current live plans start at $99/month when billed annually. Sharetribe Sharetribe

sharetribe.com

WooCommerce is worth considering if someone in your co-op is comfortable administering WordPress. WooCommerce itself doesn't provide multi-vendor functionality—you add a marketplace plugin—but this approach can give you considerably more control over product variations, local pickup, subscriptions, farmers' boxes, and other agricultural-specific workflows. Dokan

CS-Cart Multi-Vendor is the more full-featured option. Its current cloud Basic plan is $95/month and supports up to 50 vendors; the platform specifically includes vendor commissions and marketplace-oriented payment flows. Its annual on-premise Standard plan is $725/year. www.cs-cart.com/ CS-Cart Documentation

What I'd prioritize for your co-op

Rather than paying for a conventional e-commerce store, I'd make sure the platform can handle this workflow:

Customer orders from 5 farms → one checkout → each farmer sees only their items → co-op takes its agreed commission → farmer gets their share → everything is consolidated for one pickup/delivery.

That last part is particularly important. A platform can technically be a "multi-vendor marketplace" while still being awkward for a farmers' market-style weekly ordering + centralized pickup model.

If you tell me roughly how many vendors you have, how many customers/orders you expect per week, whether customers pick up at one location or get delivery, and your monthly software budget, I can narrow this to 2–3 concrete setups and estimate the total monthly cost.

For a farmers’ co-op with multiple vendors, I’d narrow the field to three approaches. The right choice depends mainly on whether you want easy setup or the lowest possible ongoing cost.

1. WooCommerce + Dokan — cheapest route

dokan.co can turn a WordPress/WooCommerce site into a multi-vendor marketplace. Dokan's free tier supports unlimited vendors, vendor dashboards, order management, and vendor withdrawals. Dokan

This is attractive for a co-op because you could have:

• One co-op website
• Each farmer managing their own products
• One shopping cart for customers
• Vendor-specific order reporting
• The co-op taking a percentage or fee
• Your own domain and branding
• Relatively inexpensive hosting

The downside is that you are responsible for WordPress, hosting, updates, backups, security, and configuring payment/payout workflows. Sharetribe estimates a WordPress + marketplace-plugin setup at roughly $40–70/month once you include the typical costs. Sharetribe

I'd choose this if your budget is extremely tight and someone in the co-op is comfortable with WordPress.

2. Local Line — probably the best match for a farmers' co-op

localline.co is unusually well suited to your use case.

It specifically supports food hubs and multi-vendor operations. Its marketplace functionality lets you connect farms, combine their products into one marketplace, generate vendor purchase orders, calculate vendor payouts, and give individual vendors their own profiles. Local Line

Current pricing starts at $99/month, with the annual plan reducing Core to about $79/month. That tier supports up to 5 vendors; Premium supports 10 and Ultimate supports 50. Local Line

It also handles things that generic marketplace software can make surprisingly difficult:

• Produce sold by weight
• Pickup and delivery
• Harvest/packing lists
• Inventory
• CSA subscriptions
• Vendor payouts
• Wholesale customers
• Multiple price lists
• Farm-specific product information

For example, the platform can take one customer order containing products from several farms and generate the corresponding purchase orders for each vendor. Local Line

If your co-op has 5–50 farms and you want something the farmers can actually use without becoming a part-time IT department, this would be my first demo.

3. Sharetribe — excellent generic marketplace

sharetribe.com starts at $39/month for development/testing and $99/month for its live Lite plan when billed annually. Sharetribe

It's a polished option if your concept is essentially:

"Farmers list products → customers shop → vendors fulfill orders."

But you'll likely need to build/configure more of the farm-specific workflow yourself. It's a marketplace platform rather than specifically a food-hub platform.

What I'd do in your situation

I'd shortlist just two:

If money is the overriding concern:
WooCommerce + Dokan

If you can spend ~$80–100/month and want something designed around agricultural sales:
Local Line

I would not start with CS-Cart. It's powerful, but you're looking at roughly $725/year for the entry plan and considerably more for advanced multi-vendor capabilities. www.cs-cart.com/

The important question isn't really "which marketplace software?" It's how you want the money and orders to flow. For a co-op, I'd specifically evaluate whether customers make one combined payment, whether the platform automatically calculates what each farmer is owed, and whether farmers can manage their own inventory.

If you tell me roughly how many vendors you have (e.g. 5, 20, 100), whether customers pick up or you deliver, and your monthly software budget, I can narrow this to the best 2–3 setups and estimate your actual monthly cost.

For an indie game dev selling downloadable builds plus license/game keys, I’d shortlist these:

• itch.io — best budget choice overall. You can set your own revenue share (including 0%), host the game files, generate download keys in bulk, and distribute external keys such as Steam keys to purchasers. itch.io itch.io
• gumroad.com — simplest direct-sales option. It supports downloadable products and built-in license keys with an API for verifying licenses, including multi-seat licenses. Pricing is currently 10% + $0.50 per direct transaction, with no monthly fee. Gumroad Gumroad
• lemonsqueezy.com — best if you want a more serious software licensing setup. It automatically issues license keys, supports deactivation/re-issuing, hosts downloads, and provides secure download delivery. LemonSqueezy LemonSqueezy

My pick

Start with itch.io if your priority is keeping costs low + selling indie games directly. Its combination of game hosting, built-in ownership/download keys, bulk key generation, and optional Steam-key distribution is unusually good for a small developer. itch.io

Choose Gumroad instead if you specifically need your game to validate a software license inside the game rather than simply giving buyers authenticated access to downloads. Gumroad's license-verification API is designed for exactly that. Gumroad

If you're building a commercial game with Steam + your own website + automated licensing, I'd lean Lemon Squeezy.

If you tell me your approximate game price (e.g. $5/$15/$30) and whether you need Steam keys, DRM/license activation, or just download access, I can compare the actual fees and workflow for your situation.