Answers that name a competitor

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

• bigcartel.com — especially suited to artists and makers. Its Gold plan is $0/month, with up to 5 product listings, online checkout, card/PayPal payments, basic stats, and no credit card required. Big Cartel Big Cartel
• squareup.com — a good choice if you want more than 5 products or also plan to sell at craft fairs/pop-ups. Square's Free plan has no monthly subscription or startup fee; you pay payment-processing fees when you make sales. Square Square

My practical pick

If you're starting with just a handful of handmade products, start with Big Cartel. It's particularly geared toward makers, and you can get a basic shop running without paying a monthly fee. Big Cartel Big Cartel

If you expect 10+ products or want to take payments in person at markets, I'd look at Square Online instead.

I wouldn't start with Shopify, Wix, or a paid Ecwid tier when your priority is keeping initial costs near zero; you can always migrate or upgrade once you're actually making sales. shopify.com ecwid.com

If you tell me roughly how many products you'll have and whether you'll sell at craft fairs/in person, I can lay out the cheapest setup—including domain, payment fees, shipping, and what you'll actually pay per month.

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

• Square Online — best if you want a simple store that can grow: Its Free plan has $0/month in subscription costs and lets you build an online store and take payments; you pay processing fees when you make a sale. Square Square
• Big Cartel — especially good if you only have a tiny catalog: Its free Gold plan supports up to 5 products, online selling, cards/PayPal, and basic storefront features. Big Cartel
• Etsy — useful if you want access to an existing marketplace: It's not free per sale: Etsy currently charges $0.20 per listing plus a 6.5% transaction fee, along with payment-processing and potentially other fees. Etsy Help

What I'd do in your situation

Start with Square Online if you have more than ~5 products or expect your catalog to grow. You can launch without paying a monthly subscription, then worry about a custom domain and paid features after you're actually making sales.

Choose Big Cartel instead if you're starting with just a handful of handmade products and want a storefront geared toward artists/makers.

squareup.com
bigcartel.com

If you tell me roughly how many products you'll sell and whether you also sell in person at markets/craft fairs, I can narrow it down to the cheapest setup for you.

For a two-person startup testing product-market fit, I’d optimize for speed, low fixed cost, and minimal maintenance rather than maximum customization.

My shortlist

Big Cartel is particularly interesting for your situation: its free plan supports up to 5 products, while its $15/month Platinum plan supports up to 50. Big Cartel itself doesn't charge transaction fees; payment processing is handled by Stripe or PayPal. Big Cartel Big Cartel

Square Online has a $0/month Free plan, with online card processing listed at 2.9% + 30¢ per transaction. It includes a website builder, shipping, pickup/local delivery, and social selling. Square Square

Ecwid is another strong lightweight option. Its Starter plan supports up to 10 products, and Ecwid says it charges no setup or transaction fees. Ecwid | E-Commerce Shopping Cart

Shopify is the one I'd consider if you already know you're going to need a serious ecommerce stack. Its Basic plan is $29/month when billed annually ($39 month-to-month), with unlimited products and a full-featured online store. Shopify Shopify

What I'd do in your shoes

Start with Big Cartel if you have ≤5 products. You can get the storefront live extremely cheaply and spend your time testing demand rather than configuring ecommerce infrastructure.

If you need more than 5 products, I'd look at Square Online Free or Ecwid.

I'd skip Shopify initially unless you specifically need its broader ecosystem—it's excellent, but for a two-person team whose immediate question is "will people actually buy this?", paying for a more elaborate platform can be unnecessary overhead.

The key PMF principle: don't optimize the store before you've validated the product. A clean product page + checkout + analytics + a way to talk to customers is enough for the first experiment.

For a two-person startup validating product-market fit, I’d start with Big Cartel.

• Big Cartel: $0/month for up to 5 products; very quick setup and no-code. Paid plan starts at $15/month. Big Cartel Big Cartel
• Square Online: $0/month, with payment processing fees; better if you also sell in person. Square Square
• Shopify: More powerful and scalable, but Basic is $29/month annually ($39 monthly), so I'd wait until you've validated demand. shopify.com

My pick: Big Cartel for the first MVP; Shopify once you're confident you need its larger ecosystem.

Yes. If the client literally has $0 budget for hosting, you have several workable options.

Best options

• squareup.com — Probably the easiest choice for a normal physical-product store. The Free plan is $0/month, includes hosted ecommerce, SSL, checkout, inventory, and a Square-hosted URL. You pay payment-processing fees when something sells. Square Square
• bigcartel.com — Genuinely free for a tiny catalog: up to 5 products, with a hosted storefront and no monthly fee. Good for artists, merch, or a very small product line. Big Cartel Big Cartel
• ecwid.com — Useful if you're already building a static site and want to embed ecommerce into it. Its free offering is more limited, so I'd check the current product/payment limits before committing.
• pages.github.com + a payment provider — If you're comfortable coding, you can host the storefront itself for free on static hosting and use something like Stripe Checkout/payment links. This gives you much more design control, but you'll have to build more of the ecommerce functionality yourself.

What I'd do as a freelancer

If this is a real client store with products, cart, checkout, orders, etc., I'd lean toward Square Online Free. You can build the client a legitimate hosted store without asking them to pay for hosting, and the platform handles the infrastructure. Square explicitly says its free plan includes hosting and SSL. Square

The catch is that "free hosting" doesn't mean "free ecommerce." Payment processing still costs money when the client makes sales, and custom domains generally require a paid plan. Square

If you tell me what you're building it with (plain HTML/JS, React/Next.js, WordPress, etc.) and roughly how many products, I can suggest a completely $0/month architecture that you can hand off to the client.

Yes. If the client truly has $0/month for hosting, you have a few workable options. The main tradeoff is that “free” usually means either a platform subdomain, transaction fees, limited customization, or the client handling payments through a third party.

Here are the ones I’d consider as a freelancer:

A few approaches that work well for a freelancer:

Option 1: Build a free hosted storefront

Use something like Square Online or Freewebstore. You can hand the client a live store without paying for servers. Fit Small Business Freewebstore

Good if:

• They sell physical products
• They need checkout/inventory
• They don't care about owning the tech stack

Option 2: Build the frontend yourself + use free hosting

If you code:

• Frontend: React/Next.js/static HTML
• Hosting: Vercel or Netlify free tier
• Payments: Stripe Payment Links, PayPal buttons, etc.

Good if:

• You want a custom design
• The store is small
• You can avoid a full ecommerce backend

Option 3: Use a free CMS setup

• WordPress + free theme
• WooCommerce plugin
• Free hosting provider (with limitations)

This is possible, but I generally wouldn’t put a real client store on random free WordPress hosting because reliability, backups, and security become your problem.

My freelancer pick

For a real client with no budget, I’d usually do:

1. Square Online → easiest "client can manage it themselves" solution
2. Custom static site + Stripe payment links → best if you want a premium-looking site without monthly costs
3. Freewebstore → quickest traditional storefront launch Freewebstore

One thing to clarify with the client: do they need actual checkout + inventory, or just a catalog/showcase site where customers contact them to order? That changes the best choice a lot.

For a small local bakery with only a handful of products, I’d keep it very simple: use squareup.com.

Why Square fits your situation

• $0/month on the Free plan — there’s no monthly subscription; you pay a processing fee when someone orders. Square Square
• You can make a single ordering page rather than building a full website. Square
• Customers can order for pickup or local delivery, which is particularly useful for a bakery. Square
• You can add photos, descriptions, prices, options/modifiers, and availability.
• If you sell at a physical location or markets, Square can also handle your in-person payments and online orders together. Square
• Current U.S. Square Free pricing lists online payments at 3.3% + 30¢ per transaction. Square

For example, if you sell a $25 box of pastries online, the processing fee would be about $1.13, leaving you about $23.88 before other costs.

What I'd avoid initially

Shopify is excellent if you're eventually going to have a large catalog, shipping, subscriptions, etc., but it's probably unnecessary for a bakery with 5–15 items.

Toast is more restaurant-oriented and can make sense if you're running a larger food operation, but for a small bakery it can introduce more POS/restaurant-system complexity than you need. Toast POS NerdWallet

My suggested setup:
Square Free → one clean ordering page → pickup windows → optional local delivery → link it from Instagram/Google Business Profile.

If you tell me roughly how many items you sell and whether customers mostly pick up or need delivery, I can lay out the cheapest setup (including exactly what you'd pay per order).

For a small local bakery with only a handful of products, Square is probably the simplest low-cost choice.

My shortlist

• squareup.com — best fit for most small bakeries

• $0/month on the Free plan.
• You can create a simple ordering page, take online payments, and offer pickup or local delivery.
• Online card processing is currently 3.3% + $0.30 on the Free plan. Square Square
• You can set ordering windows, pickup times, delivery areas, and minimum/maximum order amounts. Square
• Particularly convenient if you already use Square for in-person payments.
• pos.toasttab.com — worth considering if you're becoming more restaurant-like

• Strong online ordering and POS integration, with commission-free direct ordering. Toast Support Center Toast POS
• But for a bakery selling just a few items, I'd investigate the subscription cost before choosing it; it isn't as straightforwardly "free" as Square.
• shopify.com — probably unnecessary for you right now

• Excellent if you eventually sell lots of products, ship baked goods, or build a larger e-commerce operation.
• The current Basic plan starts at $29/month when billed annually, so it's harder to justify for a tiny local menu. Shopify

What I'd do in your situation

I'd start with Square Free and make a very simple page:

[Bakery name]
Fresh baked goods — order ahead for pickup

• 🍪 Cookies — $X
• 🧁 Cupcakes — $X
• 🍞 Bread — $X
• 🎂 Custom orders — contact us

Choose pickup date/time → Pay → Done

You don't need a full website initially. Square lets you create a single ordering page, so you can simply put that link in your Instagram/Facebook bio and Google Business Profile. Square Square

If you tell me roughly how many items you sell, whether customers pick up or you deliver, and whether you already use Square, I can tell you exactly which setup I'd use and what it would cost per order.

Yes. If your priority is almost zero overhead, there are a few good options—and one stands out for what you're describing.

My first pick: Payhip

payhip.com offers a Free Forever plan at $0/month, with:

• Unlimited digital products
• Unlimited revenue
• No monthly subscription
• A storefront you can customize
• Automatic delivery of digital files
• Coupons, affiliates, and other marketing tools
• Ability to sell physical products as well as digital ones
• 5% transaction fee on the free plan, plus the normal PayPal/Stripe processing fee Payhip Payhip

That makes it particularly attractive if you're selling things like printable wall art, planners, templates, SVGs, PDFs, Lightroom presets, coloring pages, etc.

Another option: Fourthwall

fourthwall.com also has a $0/month Free plan and is interesting if you want to combine digital downloads with physical prints/merchandise. It handles fulfillment for products in its catalog, so you don't have to buy inventory upfront. Digital products currently have a 5% platform fee on the free plan. Fourthwall Fourthwall

Quick comparison

For your specific goal, I'd start with Payhip if you're primarily selling downloadable prints/files. You can literally start without paying anything until you make a sale. Payhip

If by "prints" you mean physical art prints shipped to customers, rather than downloadable print files, I'd lean toward a print-on-demand setup such as Fourthwall instead.

If you tell me what kind of digital downloads/prints you want to sell (wall art, planners, Canva templates, coloring pages, photography, etc.), I can also lay out the cheapest possible setup from creation → storefront → payment → fulfillment, including which tools can be $0 upfront.

Yes. If your goal is almost zero upfront cost, there are a few good options. The one I'd look at first is Payhip.

Best fit: Payhip

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

• Unlimited digital products
• Unlimited revenue
• No monthly subscription
• Automatic delivery of digital files
• A hosted storefront, so you don't need your own website
• Physical-product support as well
• A 5% Payhip transaction fee, plus the normal Stripe/PayPal processing fees Payhip Payhip

So you could sell things like printable wall art, planners, templates, coloring pages, ebooks, SVGs, PDFs, and digital artwork without paying for hosting or Shopify. Payhip specifically supports printable art and digital prints. Payhip

Another good option: Ko-fi

ko-fi.com is also free to start. It supports both digital and physical products, has no listing fees or monthly fee, and charges a 5% service fee when you make a sale (plus payment processing). Free users can currently add up to 600 products. Ko-fi Ko-fi Help

Ko-fi is particularly nice if you're going to sell through Instagram, TikTok, Pinterest, YouTube, or a personal social-media audience, because you can simply send people to your shop link.

What I'd choose

For what you're describing—digital downloads + prints with essentially no overhead—I'd start with Payhip. You can literally start at $0, upload your products, and only pay platform fees when you actually make a sale. Payhip

One important distinction: if by "prints" you mean physical art prints that you don't want to print or ship yourself, that's a different setup. You'd want Payhip/Ko-fi + a print-on-demand provider, where the POD company prints and ships each order.

If you tell me what you're planning to sell (wall art, planners, coloring pages, photography, Canva templates, etc.), I can map out the lowest-overhead setup from creation → storefront → payment → automatic delivery/printing.

For a solo indie maker with no development experience, I’d start with Square Online.

• Square Online — easiest budget starting point. The Free plan has $0/month and lets you build a hosted storefront, add products, take payments, and manage inventory without coding. You pay payment-processing fees when you make sales. Square Square squareup.com
• Big Cartel — worth considering if you have a small catalog (up to 5 products) and want something very simple/creator-friendly. Its free plan is particularly suited to artists and makers. Fit Small Business bigcartel.com
• Ecwid — useful if you already have a website and mainly want to add a store to it. Its Starter plan supports up to 10 products and provides templates and a hosted domain. Ecwid | E-Commerce Shopping Cart ecwid.com
• Shopify — very beginner-friendly and more expandable, but it's not my first choice if $0/month at launch is a hard requirement; Shopify's current entry options start at paid plans after its introductory offer. Shopify Shopify shopify.com

What I'd pick

Square Online → launch for $0/month → validate the idea → upgrade only when you actually need the extra features.

You don't need to know HTML, CSS, or JavaScript. Square explicitly supports creating the store without coding, and its free tier can handle unlimited product listings. Square

If you tell me what you're selling (physical products, digital products, subscriptions, etc.) and roughly how many products, I can narrow it down to the most suitable 1–2 options.

For a solo indie maker with zero dev experience, I’d narrow it to these:

• squareup.com — easiest all-around free starting point. $0/month, no coding required, hosted store, payments, shipping/pickup, inventory, and SEO tools. The free plan charges a transaction fee when you sell. Square Square
• bigcartel.com — great for a tiny indie catalog. Its Gold plan is genuinely $0 with no credit card required, and supports 5 products, variants, payments, tax tools, and a simple template. Big Cartel says you can launch in about 30 minutes. Big Cartel
• ecwid.com — good if you want a more traditional website. It emphasizes zero technical experience, drag-and-drop editing, templates, and a free company.site domain. Ecwid | E-Commerce Shopping Cart Ecwid | E-Commerce Shopping Cart
• shopify.com — consider later rather than starting here. It's very beginner-friendly and built to scale, but its lowest-cost options aren't as attractive if your priority is $0 upfront. Shopify

My practical pick

Start with Square Online if you're selling physical products. You can get a store live without touching code or paying a monthly subscription, then upgrade only when you actually need more customization. Square

If you're selling 5 or fewer products and want the absolute simplest indie-maker setup, I'd look at Big Cartel first. Big Cartel

If you tell me what you're selling (physical, digital, or both) and roughly how many products, I can narrow it down to one and give you a 30-minute setup plan.

For a small boutique with seasonal inventory and occasional selling, I’d usually avoid paying for a full retail ecommerce stack year-round. The best fit depends on whether you need a standalone brand site, marketplace traffic, or in-person sales.

My practical picks

• You sell a few seasonal drops a year: Big Cartel or Etsy
• You do craft fairs/pop-ups and want inventory tracking: Square Online
• You want a polished boutique website with your own domain: Wix
• You’re building a year-round retail business: Shopify

For many seasonal boutiques, a good low-cost setup is:

1. A simple branded website (or landing page)
2. A free/low-cost store that can be turned on when inventory drops
3. Social media/email list for announcing seasonal launches

If you tell me roughly how many items you carry per season (10 vs. 200), whether you sell in person, and whether you already have a website/domain, I can narrow it to one or two options.

For a small boutique with seasonal inventory and only occasional selling, I’d usually avoid paying for a full-featured ecommerce subscription year-round. The best fit depends on whether you need a “real store” all the time or just a place to sell during drops/seasons.

Here are the strongest low-cost options:

Shopify### My general picks by situation

• You sell a few seasonal collections (holiday, summer, pop-ups):

→ Big Cartel is often the sweet spot: inexpensive, simple, and not overloaded with features you won’t use.

• You sell mostly in-person and occasionally online:

→ Square Online is usually the easiest because inventory and payments can stay connected.

• You want to test whether online sales will work:

→ Etsy can be a low-commitment starting point, especially if you don’t have many SKUs.

• You plan to become a full-time boutique:

→ Shopify may justify the higher monthly cost because of its inventory, apps, and marketing tools.

A seasonal boutique should prioritize:

1. No large monthly fee during slow months
2. Easy product uploads/removals
3. Good photo presentation
4. Simple inventory tracking (sizes, colors, limited quantities)
5. Easy “collection drop” launches

For many occasional sellers, I’d start with Big Cartel or Square Online, then move to Shopify only when the store is selling consistently enough to justify the extra tools. Shopify

If you tell me roughly how many items you carry (e.g., 20 vs. 500 SKUs), whether you sell clothing, gifts, jewelry, etc., and whether you have a physical shop or only pop-ups, I can narrow it down.

I’d recommend ko-fi.com for your use case.

• Ko-fi: Free storefront, supports physical products and preorders, funding goals, and has no monthly/listing fees. It takes 5% on shop sales plus payment processing. Ko-fi Help Ko-fi
• Big Cartel: Better if you want a traditional branded storefront, but the free plan is limited to 5 products. Big Cartel
• Gumroad: Very easy, but its 10% + $0.50 direct-sale fee makes it substantially more expensive for physical crowdfunding-style sales. Gumroad

For a campaign where you're taking orders now to fund production later, Ko-fi's preorder support and funding goals make it particularly relevant. Ko-fi Help

If you tell me what you're selling and roughly how many orders/$ you expect, I can compare the actual fees and workflow for Ko-fi vs. Big Cartel vs. a couple other options.

If your goal is a storefront that costs $0/month and lets you sell products as preorders/crowdfunding campaigns, I’d narrow it to a few approaches:

My recommendation: Shopify + a free preorder/crowdfunding app

This is probably the best fit if you want something that can grow into a real store.

• Shopify gives you the actual storefront, checkout, product pages, order management, etc.
• Its App Store currently has 100+ preorder apps with crowdfunding functionality, including several with free plans. Shopify App Store Shopify App Store
• For example, Lift: Crowdfunding Presales is currently listed as free and is specifically designed for crowdfunding, presales, and product drops. Shopify App Store
• UpRank: Crowdfund & Preorders also has a free plan and is specifically designed around crowdfunding/preorders. Shopify App Store
• There are also free preorder apps if you don't need sophisticated crowdfunding mechanics. Shopify App Store

The catch: Shopify itself isn't permanently free, so if "$0 platform cost" is an absolute requirement, I'd look at a different setup.

If you mean literally free: I'd consider a simple storefront + payment link

For an initial crowdfunding campaign, you may not actually need a full ecommerce platform. A landing page can explain:

We're making X.
Goal: 500 units
Current commitments: 327
Estimated delivery: March 2027
Preorder — $49

Then send customers through a payment/checkout system.

That can be dramatically cheaper than building a conventional ecommerce store, particularly if you're validating whether people will actually buy.

One important distinction

There are really three different things people call "crowdfunding":

1. Preorder: Customer pays $50 now → you manufacture → ship the product later.
2. Deposit/pledge: Customer pays $10 now → pays the remaining $40 when production is confirmed.
3. True crowdfunding: Campaign has a funding target, deadline, backer tiers/rewards, progress bar, etc.

If you want #3, I'd specifically use a crowdfunding/preorder app rather than trying to fake it with a normal ecommerce product. Shopify's ecosystem now has dedicated apps for exactly this; for example, LaunchMate supports preorder, donation, hybrid, and tiered-backer campaigns, although its current plans are paid after a trial. Shopify App Store

If you tell me what you're selling and whether you need customers to pay 100% upfront or just pledge/deposit, I can give you a specific $0-cost stack and explain exactly how I'd set it up.

That can be dramatically cheaper than building a conventional ecommerce store, particularly if you're validating whether people will actually buy.

One important distinction

There are really three different things people call "crowdfunding":

1. Preorder: Customer pays $50 now → you manufacture → ship the product later.
2. Deposit/pledge: Customer pays $10 now → pays the remaining $40 when production is confirmed.
3. True crowdfunding: Campaign has a funding target, deadline, backer tiers/rewards, progress bar, etc.

If you want #3, I'd specifically use a crowdfunding/preorder app rather than trying to fake it with a normal ecommerce product. Shopify's ecosystem now has dedicated apps for exactly this; for example, LaunchMate supports preorder, donation, hybrid, and tiered-backer campaigns, although its current plans are paid after a trial.

For a tiny prospect-facing demo storefront with $0/month spend, I’d look at these:

• squareup.com — probably the simplest. Square has a $0/month Free plan with a hosted storefront, product catalog, checkout, shipping/pickup options, and hosting. You only incur payment-processing fees if you actually take payments. Square Square
• WooCommerce — free/open-source software, but you need WordPress hosting, so it isn't truly $0 unless you already have hosting.
• Ecwid — useful if you want to embed a small store into an existing agency/demo site; its free tier can be suitable for very small catalogs, though feature limits matter.
• Shopify — polished for demos, but generally better suited to a trial/prototype than a permanently free storefront.

For an agency demo, Square is particularly convenient: create 5–10 fictional products, brand the site for the prospect, and hand them a public storefront URL. You can leave checkout/payment processing unused, so the demo itself doesn't cost anything. Square

If you tell me whether you want (a) a public URL, (b) a fake checkout that never charges, or (c) a fully editable demo you can clone for each prospect, I can narrow it down to the most practical option.

Yes. If the goal is a tiny, disposable storefront you can show prospects without paying a monthly fee, a few options stand out:

• Square Online — probably the easiest for a polished demo. Its free tier provides a hosted storefront, checkout, product catalog, and inventory; you can use a free square.site URL. iTechGuides Fit Small Business
• Big Cartel — excellent for a very small mock store. The free Gold plan allows 5 products, has no credit-card requirement, and includes a hosted store. Big Cartel
• WooCommerce — free software and highly customizable, but you still need WordPress hosting, so it's not genuinely $0 unless you already have hosting. Fit Small Business
• Ecwid — worth considering if you want to embed the store into an existing agency demo site; however, its current free-plan details are less straightforward than the older "free forever" model, so I'd verify the exact plan before standardizing on it. Ecwid | E-Commerce Shopping Cart

What I'd use for an agency

Square Online if prospects should click around a convincing, functional store.

Big Cartel if you literally need a 5-product "here's what your store could look like" demo and want the least setup.

For an agency, I'd actually create one reusable fictional store—e.g. 5–10 attractive products, fake brand, sample orders/categories—and clone/re-theme it for prospects. That avoids rebuilding a demo every time.

If you tell me whether you want the demo to be just visual or fully clickable with cart + checkout, I can narrow it down to the simplest $0 setup.

Yes. If you already have WordPress and only need a simple, inexpensive store, I’d look at these two first:

1. woocommerce.com — best if you want a traditional store

WooCommerce's core plugin is free, with no monthly subscription or revenue share. You pay your payment processor's normal transaction fees and only add paid extensions if you actually need them. WooCommerce WooCommerce

It's a good fit if you need:

• A handful or hundreds of physical products
• Product variations
• Inventory tracking
• Shipping
• Coupons
• Customer accounts
• Lots of future flexibility

The downside is that WooCommerce can become expensive/complicated once you start adding premium extensions. WooCommerce

2. surecart.com — worth considering for a really simple store

SureCart has a free Launch plan with no monthly fee, but charges 2.9% per transaction. Its paid plan removes that additional transaction fee. The free plan includes physical products, shipping, inventory, checkout, coupons, etc. SureCart

The attraction is that it can be considerably simpler than assembling a WooCommerce store plus several extensions.

What I'd choose

If you're selling just a few products and want to keep the site uncomplicated, I'd lean toward SureCart.

If you're building a normal online shop and want maximum control and the ability to expand later, I'd use WooCommerce.

For example, if you have 10–20 products, don't need subscriptions, and already have WordPress hosting, I'd probably start with WooCommerce and keep the setup very lean: WooCommerce + your payment gateway + your existing WordPress theme. You can get a basic store running without paying for WooCommerce itself. WooCommerce

If you tell me what you're selling (physical, digital, services, etc.), roughly how many products, and whether you need shipping, I can recommend the cheapest setup and give you an approximate yearly cost.

Yes. If you already have WordPress and just need a simple, inexpensive store, I’d look at these three:

1. woocommerce.com — best if you want a traditional store

• The core plugin is free with no monthly subscription and no WooCommerce revenue share. WooCommerce
• Works directly inside WordPress.
• Handles physical products, inventory, shipping, coupons, taxes, etc.
• You can start with just the free plugin and add paid extensions only if you actually need them.
• Your main ongoing costs are your existing hosting plus payment-processing fees.

For a small store selling physical products, this is probably where I'd start.

2. surecart.com — potentially simpler

SureCart is particularly interesting if you don't need a huge, complicated catalog. Its Launch plan is currently $0/month, but charges a 2.9% transaction fee in addition to your payment processor's fees. SureCart SureCart

It supports physical products, digital products, subscriptions, payments, coupons, order management, and shipping. SureCart

The tradeoff is basically:

WooCommerce: more control, potentially lower costs as sales grow
SureCart: simpler managed setup, but the transaction fee matters if you sell a lot

3. ecwid.com — good if you want the store separate from WordPress

Ecwid can be embedded into an existing WordPress site rather than making WordPress itself the ecommerce system. Its plans support adding a store to an existing website, and Ecwid says it charges no transaction fees. Ecwid | E-Commerce Shopping Cart

It's attractive if you want something relatively hands-off, although the ongoing subscription can make it less economical than WooCommerce for a very small store.

What I'd choose

If you told me "I have a normal WordPress site, maybe 5–50 products, and I just want people to buy things without spending much", I'd probably use:

WordPress + WooCommerce + Stripe/PayPal + your existing hosting.

You can get surprisingly far without buying any WooCommerce extensions. WooCommerce

If you tell me what you're selling (physical products, digital downloads, services, memberships, etc.) and roughly how many products, I can suggest the cheapest setup and exactly which plugins you'd need, including what you can avoid paying for.

For an artisan seller who only sells locally, I’d start with Square Online.

• Cost: Square has a $0/month Free plan; you pay transaction fees when you make sales. Square Square
• Pickup: Built-in in-store/curbside pickup with scheduling. Square
• Local delivery: You can define a delivery area by ZIP code or radius, set delivery fees and minimum orders, and either deliver yourself or use a courier. Square
• In-person selling: It also works well if you sell at markets or pop-ups, with your online and in-person sales/inventory connected. Square
• Good fit for handmade goods: You don't need the complexity of Shopify if you're not trying to ship nationally.

squareup.com

What I'd choose

Square Free → start there. You can build the storefront, take online orders, offer pickup and local delivery, and avoid a monthly subscription. Upgrade only if you eventually need more customization or advanced features. Square

If you tell me roughly how many products you sell and whether you deliver yourself or want a courier, I can compare Square vs. Shopify vs. another cheap option specifically for your setup.

For an artisan seller shipping locally only, I’d look at Square Online first.

• Square Online — has a free starting plan, and supports local pickup, curbside pickup, and local delivery. You can define delivery areas by ZIP code or radius and set delivery fees/minimums. Square Square
• Ecwid — another good low-cost option if you want more control over a small independent shop. It supports pickup, delivery zones, delivery fees, and pickup time slots. Ecwid | E-Commerce Shopping Cart Ecwid | E-Commerce Shopping Cart
• Shopify — more capable for growth, but likely more than you need if you're strictly selling locally and want to keep costs down. Shopify

My practical choice: start with Square Online if you want the cheapest/easiest setup, especially if you'll also take payments in person at markets or craft fairs. You can offer something like:

Pickup — Free
Local delivery — $5 within 10 miles
Delivery free on orders $50+

Square supports those kinds of delivery-fee and minimum-order rules. Square

squareup.com

If you tell me what you're selling (e.g. candles, pottery, baked goods, art) and roughly how many products you have, I can narrow it down between Square, Ecwid, Big Cartel, and Shopify based on the actual fees and setup.

For a shoestring subscription box launch, I’d usually avoid building a custom system and pick a platform that already handles:

• recurring card charges
• failed payment retries (“dunning”)
• customer self-service (skip, pause, cancel)
• subscription changes
• basic inventory/order workflows

Here are the strongest low-cost options:

Subbly Shopify## My recommendation for a lean launch

1. Best “just launch the box” choice: Subbly

For a true subscription box (monthly coffee, snacks, beauty items, pet products, etc.), Subbly is purpose-built. Its lower-tier plans are aimed at getting subscription checkout running without custom development, and it supports payment integrations such as Stripe. Subbly

A typical lean stack:

• Subbly for subscriptions + customer management
• Stripe for payments
• Simple landing page (or Subbly site)
• ShipStation/Shippo later when volume grows

2. Best if you expect a bigger ecommerce brand: Shopify

If the box is only one part of the business (you’ll also sell one-off products, bundles, gifts, etc.), Shopify is often the better foundation. Shopify offers subscription tools, including its own Shopify Subscriptions app, plus third-party subscription apps. Shopify

3. Cheapest if you have technical help: Stripe Billing

If you already have a website and someone can build checkout/customer flows, Stripe can be very cost-efficient. It gives you the billing engine, but you’ll need to create more of the subscription experience yourself. Shopify

What I would avoid at the beginning

• Enterprise subscription tools like Chargebee/Recurly unless you already have significant revenue.
• Building your own recurring billing logic.
• Paying for advanced analytics/CRM features before you have subscribers.

For a first 100–500 subscribers, I’d lean Subbly if the product is a pure subscription box, or Shopify + subscriptions if you want a full ecommerce brand. Subbly Shopify

If you tell me your box type (physical goods vs digital, expected monthly price, and whether you already have a website), I can narrow it down to the cheapest stack.

For a photographer selling both physical prints and digital images/licensing, I’d look first at Pixieset. It’s unusually well matched to photography and lets you start without a monthly fee.

My shortlist

*Pixieset supports adding a digital image license to digital-download products, which is particularly relevant to your use case. Pixieset Help Center

1. Pixieset — my first choice

Pixieset's free Client Gallery plan gives you 3 GB of storage, unlimited galleries, an integrated Store, online payments, and the ability to sell prints and other products. The catch is a 15% commission on store sales while you're on the free plan. Pixieset Pixieset Help Center

It specifically supports:

• Prints, with automatic lab fulfillment or your own fulfillment. Pixieset
• Digital downloads, automatically delivered to the customer after purchase. Pixieset Help Center
• Digital-image licensing, so you can structure products around different usage rights. Pixieset Help Center
• Packages combining prints and digital files. Pixieset Help Center

If sales start coming in, the Basic plan is $8/month when billed annually ($10 monthly) and removes the store commission, while increasing storage to 10 GB. Pixieset

Important: If your licensing business is a major part of what you're selling—for example, commercial licenses with different terms for advertising, editorial, web, exclusivity, territory, etc.—I'd treat Pixieset as the storefront rather than assuming it is a full-blown stock/licensing management system.

2. Pic-Time — excellent alternative

pic-time.com is particularly attractive if the gallery experience and print sales are central to your business.

It has a permanent free plan, and paid plans currently start around $7/month annually ($8 monthly). The free tier has a 15% commission when Pic-Time processes the sale. Pic-Time Onboarding Pic-Time Help Center

Pic-Time also has sophisticated download pricing—you can sell individual downloads, packages, or full-gallery downloads, for example. Pic-Time Help Center Pic-Time Help Center

One thing I'd investigate carefully for your particular business: Pic-Time's licensing workflow is less obviously suited to a photographer whose primary business is ongoing commercial image licensing than Pixieset's digital-license functionality.

What I'd do in your situation

I'd start with Pixieset Free and structure the store something like:

• Fine-art prints — various sizes/paper options
• Single digital image — personal use
• 10-image digital collection — personal/editorial use
• Full-resolution commercial license — with your own license terms
• Extended/commercial license — separate pricing
• Print + digital package

You can then test whether people actually buy before committing to a monthly ecommerce platform.

The 15% free-plan commission is the main tradeoff. Once you're doing enough sales that 15% exceeds $8–$10/month, the paid Pixieset plan starts making much more economic sense. Pixieset

If you tell me roughly how many images you have, expected monthly sales, typical print price, and whether licensing is personal-use, editorial, or commercial, I can compare Pixieset vs Pic-Time vs Shopify vs a dedicated licensing platform and work out the approximate monthly cost for each.

One thing I'd investigate carefully for your particular business: Pic-Time's licensing workflow is less obviously suited to a photographer whose primary business is ongoing commercial image licensing than Pixieset's digital-license functionality.

What I'd do in your situation

I'd start with Pixieset Free and structure the store something like:

• Fine-art prints — various sizes/paper options
• Single digital image — personal use
• 10-image digital collection — personal/editorial use
• Full-resolution commercial license — with your own license terms
• Extended/commercial license — separate pricing
• Print + digital package

You can then test whether people actually buy before committing to a monthly ecommerce platform.

The 15% free-plan commission is the main tradeoff. Once you're doing enough sales that 15% exceeds $8–$10/month, the paid Pixieset plan starts making much more economic sense. Pixieset

If you tell me roughly how many images you have, expected monthly sales, typical print price, and whether licensing is personal-use, editorial, or commercial, I can compare Pixieset vs Pic-Time vs Shopify vs a dedicated licensing platform and work out the approximate monthly cost for each.

For a photographer selling prints + digital downloads + licensing, I’d look first at Pixieset and Pic-Time. Both are built specifically around photography rather than being generic ecommerce platforms.

My shortlist

🥇 Pixieset — probably the easiest starting point

pixieset.com

Pixieset's free plan is genuinely usable: 3 GB storage, unlimited galleries, an integrated storefront, online payments and automatic print fulfillment. The tradeoff is a 15% commission on store sales. The Basic plan is currently $8/month when billed annually and removes the commission. Pixieset Pixieset

It supports print products, digital downloads and packages, so you could structure a gallery like:

• Digital download — web resolution
• Digital download — full resolution
• Fine-art print — various sizes
• Print + digital bundle
• Commercial image license — custom/negotiated

Pixieset Help CenterWhy I'd consider it: very little technical setup. You can have a polished photography storefront without building Shopify/WordPress yourself.

🥈 Pic-Time — particularly interesting for selling prints

pic-time.com

Pic-Time has a permanent free plan, and its Print Shop is included without a monthly fee. It can automatically fulfill prints through 30+ labs worldwide. The free plan has a 15% commission, while the Beginner plan is $7/month annually. Pic-Time Pic-Time Onboarding

It also has unusually good controls for digital-download packages, volume pricing, full-gallery pricing, and custom products. Pic-Time Help Center Pic-Time Help Center

That makes it attractive if you're selling photography more like art/stock/licensed imagery rather than simply delivering client galleries.

What about licensing?

This is the one area where I'd distinguish "selling digital files" from "selling licenses."

If by licensing you mean something like:

"Commercial use of this photograph for one print campaign, one year, North America, $500"

I'd want a platform where you can create a custom digital product/payment + license terms, rather than treating it as an ordinary photo download.

For a small photography business, you can keep the storefront on Pixieset/Pic-Time and handle unusual commercial licenses through a custom product/invoice and a separate license agreement. That avoids paying for a much more complicated stock-photo platform before you actually need one.

What I'd choose

Starting out / keeping costs near zero: Pixieset Free.

Print-heavy fine-art photography: Pic-Time Free, especially if automated lab fulfillment matters.

Regular commercial licensing: I'd use Pixieset or Pic-Time for the storefront and galleries, but build a more explicit licensing workflow around them rather than relying on a generic "download" product.

If you tell me roughly how many images you have, whether you're selling fine-art prints vs. client prints, and what kind of licensing (editorial/commercial/stock), I can narrow this down to the most economical setup and show you exactly how I'd structure the store.

For a tight-budget, headless-first shop, I’d put Medusa at the top of the evaluation list.

• Medusa — particularly compelling if your team is comfortable with TypeScript/Node. Its managed Cloud starts at $29/month, has 0% GMV fees, and includes backend + storefront hosting. You can also self-host, so you retain an escape hatch if infrastructure costs become important. docs.medusajs.com
• Saleor — very capable GraphQL/headless option, with an open-source version you can self-host. However, its managed Cloud pricing is currently much higher, starting at $1,599/month, so it makes more sense if you specifically value its architecture/features or have the engineering resources to self-host. saleor.io
• Shopify + Hydrogen — worth evaluating if minimizing engineering/operations work matters more than minimizing platform cost. It's generally a different tradeoff: managed commerce infrastructure and ecosystem versus greater platform dependence.

My evaluation shortlist

For a small team, I'd prototype the same simple store in Medusa and Shopify/Hydrogen, then compare the actual monthly cost and developer effort. Medusa's $29 Cloud entry point makes that experiment relatively inexpensive. docs.medusajs.com

If you tell me your expected monthly orders, SKU count, and frontend stack (e.g. Next.js), I can narrow this to a concrete low-cost architecture and estimated monthly bill.

For a tight-budget, headless-first shop, I’d put Medusa at the top of the evaluation list, with Shopify as the “pay more, operate less” comparison point.

Why I'd evaluate Medusa first

Medusa is explicitly built as an open-source commerce engine, and its current managed Cloud pricing starts at $29/month, with no GMV/platform transaction fee. The platform supports products, pricing, regions/currencies, payments, shipping, carts and orders, while leaving the storefront to your stack. Medusa Medusa Documentation

That makes a relatively inexpensive architecture like:

Next.js storefront → Medusa → Postgres → Stripe/payment provider

quite practical. You can also self-host Medusa if minimizing recurring platform spend matters more than minimizing DevOps work. ShipGarden

The Shopify alternative

Shopify is worth evaluating even if you're specifically looking for headless. Its Storefront API is designed for custom storefronts and works with frameworks including Next.js, while Shopify retains the product, inventory, checkout and administrative infrastructure behind the API. Shopify Shopify

So the tradeoff is basically:

• Medusa: lower platform cost + more control + more engineering/operations responsibility.
• Shopify: higher ongoing platform dependence/cost + substantially less commerce infrastructure to build and maintain.
• Vendure: similar open-source philosophy to Medusa, particularly interesting if your team is strongly TypeScript/NestJS-oriented.
• Saleor: particularly worth testing if GraphQL/Python is already your team's strength, though its current managed Cloud pricing is far above a shoestring deployment. Saleor Commerce Kryeo

My evaluation shortlist would therefore be: Medusa + Shopify + Vendure. I'd only add Saleor if your team has a reason to favor its GraphQL/Python architecture.

If you tell me your expected monthly orders, catalog size, frontend stack, and whether you want to self-host, I can turn this into a concrete $/month architecture comparison.

Next.js storefront → Medusa → Postgres → Stripe/payment provider

quite practical. You can also self-host Medusa if minimizing recurring platform spend matters more than minimizing DevOps work. shipgarden.com

The Shopify alternative

Shopify is worth evaluating even if you're specifically looking for headless. Its Storefront API is designed for custom storefronts and works with frameworks including Next.js, while Shopify retains the product, inventory, checkout and administrative infrastructure behind the API.

So the tradeoff is basically:

Payhip is probably the simplest fit for your test. It has a $0/month plan, lets you create a storefront/product page, and supports physical or digital products. You pay 5% per sale, plus Stripe/PayPal processing fees. Payhip Payhip

• payhip.com — best if you want the whole shop + checkout handled.
• Carrd is excellent for a polished one-product landing page, but its free tier doesn't include payment features; those require Pro. Carrd Carrd

For a few-week product validation, I'd use Payhip and keep the setup extremely lean: product photos → benefit-focused copy → price → checkout → simple thank-you page.

If you’re testing one product for a few weeks and want $0/month recurring cost, I’d avoid full Shopify-style setups at first. You mainly need:

• a focused landing page
• checkout/payment link
• basic order handling
• no monthly subscription

Good options:

For a 2–4 week product validation test, I’d probably choose:

1. Physical product: Square Online or Corpus + Stripe
2. Digital product: Payhip
3. Ad-testing landing page first (before building a store): Zoho LandingPage + payment link

A simple test stack could be:

• Landing page: free builder
• Checkout: Stripe Payment Link
• Analytics: Google Analytics or the landing page’s built-in analytics
• Traffic: organic posts or small ad test

I would avoid starting with Shopify unless you already know the product sells, because the monthly subscription becomes a fixed cost before you have proof of demand.

If you’re launching a clothing brand on a tight budget, I’d narrow it to Shopify, Big Cartel, and WooCommerce.

Shopify's Basic plan currently starts at $29/month when billed annually, includes unlimited products, hosting, checkout, and selling through social/marketplace channels. Shopify Shopify

WooCommerce itself is free and has unlimited product variants, but you'll need hosting and potentially paid extensions, so the "free" price can become less attractive once everything is added up. WooCommerce

What I'd do for a new clothing brand

Start with Shopify Basic if you can comfortably spend ~$30/month. Clothing tends to need lots of combinations—size × color × style—and Shopify gives you a straightforward product/catalog system without having to manage hosting or plugins.

For example:

T-shirt

• Black / S
• Black / M
• Black / L
• White / S
• White / M
• White / L
• Multiple product photos
• Inventory per variant
• $5 off / 10% off promo codes

That gives you a much cleaner foundation than trying to piece together a cheap website builder.

If your absolute priority is spending almost nothing while validating the brand, I'd look at Big Cartel first. Shopify's own 2026 comparison identifies Big Cartel among the $0/month entry-level options, though those inexpensive plans have more limitations. Shopify

One important distinction: if by "product photos" you mean creating professional-looking clothing photos from ordinary phone/model shots, that's separate from the ecommerce platform. I can also give you a $0–$50/month setup for product photography + background removal + mockups + Shopify, which can make a big difference for a new clothing brand.

For a new clothing brand on a tight budget, I’d start with Shopify if you expect to grow, or Big Cartel if you’re keeping the catalog very small.

• Shopify: Strongest for clothing—lots of product images, size/color variants, inventory, discount codes, and room to scale. Basic is currently $29/month billed annually. eCom Design Gallery Merchant Tech
• Big Cartel: Cheapest starting point; paid plans start around $15/month, but it’s much more limited. shopify.com
• Wix: Good middle ground if visual website design matters and you want built-in coupon/discount tools. support.wix.com

My practical pick: Shopify Basic if you can afford ~$29/month; Big Cartel if every dollar matters initially. eCom Design Gallery

For a farmers’ co-op with multiple vendors, I’d focus on platforms that let each farmer manage their own products while the co-op controls the overall storefront, orders, and ideally payouts.

Shortlist

What I'd investigate first

1. WooCommerce + Dokan/WC Vendors — if keeping costs low is the priority

woocommerce.com is open-source and has no monthly platform subscription or revenue share. You'd add a multi-vendor extension so each farmer can have their own vendor account/storefront. WooCommerce estimates typical hosting at roughly $25–$350/month, depending on the store's needs, with extensions priced separately. WooCommerce

This is particularly interesting for a co-op because you can build rules such as:

• Farmer A sells eggs, Farmer B sells vegetables, etc.
• Each farmer manages their own inventory.
• Customers place one combined order.
• The co-op takes a defined percentage or fee.
• Farmers receive their portion.
• You control pickup/delivery options centrally.

The downside is that you'll need to choose and configure the multi-vendor plugin, payment system, hosting, backups, and updates.

2. Sharetribe — if you want less technical work

sharetribe.com is specifically designed for marketplaces rather than ordinary online stores. It supports physical-product marketplaces and lets you configure transactions, vendors/listings, and marketplace commissions. Sharetribe Sharetribe

Its current pricing is $39/month for building/testing, with live plans starting at $99/month billed annually. The Lite plan includes 50 free transactions/month, after which additional transaction fees can apply. Sharetribe

That's attractive if nobody in the co-op wants to become the part-time web developer.

For a farmers' co-op specifically

I'd actually design the system around pickup days, rather than trying to replicate a giant marketplace.

A practical first version could be:

Customer → one co-op website → products from 10–30 farmers → one checkout → weekly pickup at the co-op/market → automatic vendor accounting.

The critical feature isn't merely "multi-vendor." I'd make these requirements mandatory when evaluating software:

• Separate vendor accounts and inventories
• Combined customer cart
• Vendor-level sales reports
• Automatic or easily calculated farmer payouts
• Variable-weight products (e.g. 2.3 lb tomatoes)
• Seasonal/out-of-stock products
• Pickup windows
• Delivery zones, if needed
• Ability to charge a co-op commission
• Simple CSV export for bookkeeping
• Mobile-friendly farmer/vendor interface

One important wrinkle: variable-weight and preorder products can make farmers' markets considerably harder than a normal multi-vendor store. I'd test that workflow before committing to any platform.

My starting point would be WooCommerce + a reputable multi-vendor extension if you have someone comfortable managing WordPress; otherwise I'd test Sharetribe first. Sharetribe's no-code approach is considerably simpler, while WooCommerce gives you more control over costs and unusual co-op workflows. Sharetribe WooCommerce

If you tell me roughly how many vendors you have, whether customers pick up or get delivery, and your monthly budget (e.g. <$50, <$100, <$200), I can narrow this to 2–3 concrete setups and estimate the actual yearly cost.

I'd actually design the system around pickup days, rather than trying to replicate a giant marketplace.

A practical first version could be:

Customer → one co-op website → products from 10–30 farmers → one checkout → weekly pickup at the co-op/market → automatic vendor accounting.

The critical feature isn't merely "multi-vendor." I'd make these requirements mandatory when evaluating software:

• Separate vendor accounts and inventories
• Combined customer cart
• Vendor-level sales reports
• Automatic or easily calculated farmer payouts
• Variable-weight products (e.g. 2.3 lb tomatoes)
• Seasonal/out-of-stock products
• Pickup windows
• Delivery zones, if needed
• Ability to charge a co-op commission
• Simple CSV export for bookkeeping
• Mobile-friendly farmer/vendor interface

One important wrinkle: variable-weight and preorder products can make farmers' markets considerably harder than a normal multi-vendor store. I'd test that workflow before committing to any platform.

My starting point would be WooCommerce + a reputable multi-vendor extension if you have someone comfortable managing WordPress; otherwise I'd test Sharetribe first. Sharetribe's no-code approach is considerably simpler, while WooCommerce gives you more control over costs and unusual co-op workflows.

For a low-budget farmers’ co-op, I’d shortlist:

• WooCommerce + Dokan — potentially cheapest; Dokan has a free tier with unlimited vendors, but you’ll manage WordPress hosting and setup. Dokan
• Sharetribe — easiest managed option; built specifically for multi-vendor marketplaces, starting at $99/month for a live marketplace on annual billing. Sharetribe
• Shopify + multi-vendor app — easier storefront management, but ongoing app costs can make it less attractive on a tight budget.

My practical starting point: WooCommerce + Dokan if you have someone comfortable managing WordPress; Sharetribe if you want minimal technical maintenance.

For an indie game where you want to sell downloads plus license/key-based access, I’d look at these:

• lemonsqueezy.com — probably the strongest fit if you need actual software-style licensing. It has $0/month pricing, charges 5% + $0.50 per transaction, hosts digital files, and can automatically generate license keys with activation limits and expiration periods. LemonSqueezy Lemon Squeezy Docs LemonSqueezy
• itch.io — particularly attractive for indie games. There are no monthly storefront fees, buyers receive download keys for paid games, and you can generate/revoke bulk keys for press, backers, promotions, etc. It can also distribute external keys such as Steam keys alongside your downloadable game. itch.io itch.io
• gumroad.com — simple for selling downloadable files, with no monthly fee, but its direct-sale fee is currently 10% + $0.50, so it can become relatively expensive as sales grow. Gumroad

What I'd choose

If your priority is game-industry distribution: start with itch.io. It gives you a storefront, game downloads, sales/bundles, and downloadable keys without requiring you to build much infrastructure. itch.io itch.io

If your priority is your own website + proper license activation: choose Lemon Squeezy. Its license API lets your game verify keys, while activation limits give you control over how many machines can use a license. Lemon Squeezy Docs Lemon Squeezy Docs

A practical setup is your own game website → Lemon Squeezy checkout → downloadable build + license key, while optionally also listing the game on itch.io for discovery.

I’d start with itch.io for a budget-friendly indie game storefront. It supports direct game downloads, paid sales, downloadable license/access keys, bulk keys for press/promotions, and optional Steam-key distribution. itch.io itch.io

• itch.io: Best low-cost all-in-one option; no upfront storefront cost, flexible revenue share, hosting included. itch.io
• Gumroad: Simple direct-sales alternative; currently 10% + $0.50 per direct transaction, with tax handling included. Gumroad
• Own store + specialized delivery: More control, but more setup and hosting complexity.

For a solo/indie dev selling downloads + license/Steam keys, itch.io is probably the simplest starting point. itch.io