Open source e-commerce is on the rise. It is an e-commerce platform that gives users full access to the source code, which means anyone can modify the code for customization.
The rise of open-source e-commerce has created a wide array of user options.
Different platforms have different reputations. A collection of vendors offers various features and add-ons available to make your online store look, function, and feel like the one you want it to be.
Do you want to know about the top free, open-source e-Commerce platforms? We have listed the 25 best free e-commerce platforms in 2022. Let's get into it.
Square is one of the most popular online payment processing platforms. It’s also one of the best free e-commerce platforms.
While Square became popular because it offers versatile payment solutions to brick-and-mortar stores, it has become famous for its open-source e-commerce platform.
Anyone who doesn’t know how to write code can also create an online store with Square. You just need to choose one of the themes and customize it accordingly.
Moreover, the use of the platform is free. You do not need to pay any fee upfront while setting up your online business. However, you need to pay 2.9%+30 cents for every transaction.
Plus, it integrates with your existing Square account, so you don't need to use another software application or create a new account.
If the default features seem insufficient, you can always add integrations to add more functionality to your store. But, you can build your specialized integrations if you know how to write code.
Wix is another excellent e-commerce platform that offers a wide range of features to help businesses get started quickly on their way to selling online.
It includes a drag-and-drop builder for creating websites from scratch.
Wix offers a free version of the platform. You can use it to create a beautiful online store in minutes.
Choose a template, and customize it accordingly. Thanks to the intuitive drag-and-drop editor, you can create a website without coding thanks to the intuitive drag-and-drop editor.
Simple SEO and marketing tools are also available with the accessible version of Wix. It is the best choice for beginners who want to start their business and do not want to invest much money in website building.
You also get a free domain name with the free version, but it will have the “wixsite.com” attached to the URL. You must buy a paid plan starting from $4.50 monthly to get a customized URL.
Ecwid is one of the most popular open source e-commerce platforms today, thanks mainly to its simple design and ease of use. It is best for sellers who want to sell those products online without spending any money upfront.
Ecwid has a free version, which lets you have one page and sell up to 10 products. But the free version has limited functionalities. You can’t sell digital products with Ecwid’s free version.
Ecwid is a shopping cart that you can add to any site. You can integrate it on any website and become a fully functional store.
The best thing about the paid versions of Ecwid is that you can create an app for your store and even use payment gateways like Apple pay.
It also offers automated marketing tools like abandoned cart messages, Google advertising, and more that make your seller's life easier.
Ecwid is suitable for newbie sellers who do not want to expand their businesses but want to try out a new (free) e-commerce tool.
WooCommerce is a WordPress e-commerce plugin you can use to build your online store. It's compatible with any WordPress site.
All you have to do is log in to your WordPress account and add the WooCommerce plugin.
WooCommerce is highly customizable so that you can create anything from a simple product listing page to an entire digital storefront.
One of the best things about WooCommerce is its flexibility: You can customize every aspect of your store to suit your needs perfectly!
Moreover, it is free if you already have a WordPress site. But there are additional costs for a domain name, themes, and extensions.
WooCommerce is best for merchants who already have a WordPress site and want to add an e-commerce store to their website.
CS-Cart Multi-Vendor is in a different league altogether. Not only is it a full-stack e-commerce platform that allows you to sell products to customers on your website, but it also allows you to create a multi-vendor platform like Etsy or Amazon.
CS-Cart sells two types of e-commerce services, one for sellers who want to get their stores up and running quickly.
But the other CS-Cart multi-vendor platform allows enterprises to create marketplaces. If you are one of the big guns or want to be, you can use CS-Cart multi-vendor software to create a marketplace.
It is one of the most popular open-source e-commerce platforms. It has excellent features such as quick invoice generation, multiple shipping options, and even built-in payment gateways like PayPal & Stripe.
You can also customize the theme of your store if you so choose or use the free themes.
The multi-vendor program is not entirely free, you will have to pay a one-time fee for using the service, but it is worth the price. It may cost anything between $1500 - $10,000, depending on how you want your online store to be.
CS-Cart is best for enterprises who want to set up successful stores with many functionalities. To be the next Amazon, you should use this e-commerce platform.
PrestaShop is an open-source e-commerce platform that allows users to create their online store and manage their sales for free.
It provides a solution for building an online store with various features, including support for multiple languages and payment gateways.
PrestaShop is designed to be easy to use by all levels of business users, but it is suitable for small & medium scale businesses that don’t want to expand their business.
It offers complete control over product pricing, inventory management, customer data, and more. You can create different websites in various languages and currencies, which makes this free e-commerce platform global.
It is a pretty lightweight platform to use, but it also means that it isn’t as scalable as other e-commerce platforms on the list.
So, if you aren’t planning to build a 6-7 figure business and stick to your small-scale enterprise, then PrestaShop is your choice.
Medusa is an open-source e-commerce platform, which you can use for free. It's a lightweight and high-functionality platform that comes with lots of features.
It is a PHP-based e-commerce solution that offers you a wide range of features to run your online business. You can use Medusa to create an e-commerce store for selling any type of product or service, including digital downloads.
Medusa has been designed from scratch to be as simple as possible, so it doesn't require any coding knowledge to get started.
It comes with several templates already created for you, ready to be customized according to your needs. You can also create your design, add new features, or even change existing ones if required by adding new code snippets in Medusa's template files (PHP).
Its simple user interface allows you to create an online store for your website in minutes without any technical knowledge.
Medusa has an excellent support team that will help you with any issues with the platform.
Medusa is the best choice for sellers who want a free and open-source Shopify alternative. If you have some basic coding skills, you can create your beautiful e-commerce website with just some help from Medusa.
NopCommerce is an open-source e-commerce platform. It’s available free of charge.
There are two main nopCommerce download options: NopCommerce Community Edition (CE) and NopCommerce Enterprise Edition (EE).
The community edition is for sellers who have no IT skills. It provides a one-click installation that comes without a source code.
However, the enterprise version is well suited for developers who want to customize their online stores to the very last details. It has a source code with great customization opportunities.
Regarding pricing, nopCommerce offers the best features in an affordable range. It beats Shopify and Magento with its cheap pricing. Moreover, it has a free trial version that sellers can try before paying for the plans.
nopCommerce is also like Medusa; it is a multi-vendor marketplace. You can create a market plan with nopCommerce.
While the enterprise version provides source code, the one-click installation version is best for sellers who have no idea how to write code. But if you find it hard to install, you can use the Microsoft web platform installer to install nopCommerce without altering the source code.
X-Cart is a free, open-source e-commerce platform that allows you to turn your website into a fully functional online store. It comes with a wide range of features, including SEO tools and social media integration, so it's perfect for any e-commerce business looking to increase its sales.
If you are running an enterprise store, X-Cart seems the most suitable choice. Why? Because it offers multiple payment gateways like PayPal and Sage, it has multi-lingual and multi-currency support.
The X-Cart community is active and supportive, so if you run into any problems or have any questions about the software, you can always find someone who can help. But the downside is you have to pay for customer support.
The paid plans cost anywhere between $5 and hundreds a month. X-Cart’s premium plan costs $495(one-time payment), which seems like a hefty sum to pay.
It is an open-source solution, which means you can add integrations and more functionalities to your store when needed.
If you are happy using the free version for your store and want to get your business off the ground, then X-cart can be your choice.
But if you wish for enterprise-level functions at an affordable price, X-Cart isn’t the right platform.
Solidus was founded by a group of developers who were frustrated with the limitations of existing e-commerce platforms.
The team wanted to create an open-source platform that would allow them to build custom stores for their clients efficiently.
The result was Solidus, which launched intending to become a full-scale e-commerce solution for businesses.
The platform offers several different product types, including physical products and digital goods such as ebooks, music downloads, video downloads, and more.
Solidus is free, but it does require some technical knowledge of Ruby on Rails coding and framework. If you do know to create your store, you need to hire a developer to create your online store.
Solidus is suitable for you if you have some technical knowledge of Ruby on Rails. Even if you don’t, you could hire someone to create the store for you. But if you cannot hire someone to do that, you need to look at other free options that are easy to install.
Magento Open Source is the most popular open-source e-commerce platform. It is a powerful, professional-grade e-commerce solution that provides you with all the tools necessary to create your online store.
It offers an intuitive user experience, and its admin panel is easy to use. The feature list is overwhelming.
It includes coupons, sitemaps, bulk import/export, and conversion tools such as one-page checkout and order tracking.
You can send out product alerts to customers for automated marketing campaigns that help you increase sales and customer loyalty.
One of the main advantages of Magento is that it has a wide range of extensions available for sale on its official website, which is easy to install and configure.
You have more control over your e-commerce website than any other open-source platform!
The free version of Magento is suitable for developers and small businesses who want to start their online stores. However, the paid plans of Magento are expensive and ideal for enterprise-level companies.
OpenCart is a free, open-source e-commerce platform built on PHP. It’s the most popular solution for anyone looking to build an online store, with thousands of developers using it daily.
OpenCart is suitable for any store, from small one-off shops to enterprise-level businesses. Whether you want to sell physical goods or digital products, OpenCart can handle it all.
Although it is free to download and easy to use UI (great for exploration), OpenCart isn’t geared toward beginners. It requires some technical expertise to get started and then some time and effort to customize the site, so it suits your needs.
OpenCart provides basic functionality right out of the box, but if you need more advanced features, you will have to build them yourself or hire someone who can do so for you. This makes it ideal if you want maximum control over how your website looks and functions.
osCommerce is a powerful eCommerce management solution. It's open source, easy to use, and powerful enough for even the most demanding online store needs.
The software can be downloaded for free and is the best choice for anyone who needs a strong community.
osCommerce is recommended for small to medium-scale businesses that do not want to scale too much. The platform isn’t scalable and is perfect for small to medium-scale businesses.
Moreover, you also have to spend more time maintaining the online store. From managing updates, app installations, and new features to writing the code, you need to invest a lot of time in the store if you use osCommerce.
However, it has a strong community, thousands of free features, and is open to customization. So, if you can handle a little tech and know how to write code, osCommerce may be right up your alley.
Drupal Content Management System is a powerful e-commerce platform thousands of businesses use worldwide. It's also one of the best open-source e-commerce platforms for professionals.
So even if you are an experienced web developer, you may have difficulty getting used to the Drupal Commerce interface.
The fact that Drupal is open source means that anyone can contribute their skills and expertise to the community, which means more features will get added over time.
Moreover, Drupal has a very tight in-built security system that's frequently updated to keep the platform running smoothly.
Even if Drupal Commerce is free to use, the customer support charge is more than $500, which can be hefty.
If you are a developer with the skills to handle Drupal, you should go ahead with this platform. Or if you are someone who can hire a developer to design the e-commerce store for your enterprise.
WP eCommerce is a powerful and easy-to-use e-commerce platform that allows you to create an online store without any coding knowledge.
It is often overlooked because of WooCommerce, but it is still a solid WordPress plugin for creating an online store.
WP eCommerce has built-in support for popular payment gateways like PayPal and Stripe, so you can start accepting payments immediately.
It's also one of the most customizable e-commerce platforms available. You can create your custom elements, like product categories and variations.
However, there aren’t many plugins in the free version, which restricts the customization. Moreover, there isn’t much support available to guide you through the installation.
If you already have a WordPress site and want to open an online store, then you can try WP eCommerce. If you do not like it, you can always switch from WP eCommerce to WooCommerce.
The Spree platform is built on Ruby on Rails, giving you all the benefits of a full-blown e-commerce platform.
You can create custom storefronts for each product, add your shipping and payment methods, track orders, and more.
The software has a simple interface, so users can easily navigate its features and customize it according to their needs.
It also offers integration with various e-commerce platforms like Google Optimize and Facebook, making it easy for sellers to start their businesses from scratch.
However, suppose you’re not familiar with coding. In that case, this platform might not be for you as it requires extensive knowledge about designing themes and plugins and other technical aspects of running an online store.
If you are well-versed in coding or are well-equipped to hire a team of tech experts, then you can use Spree commerce to set up your store. Using it is not a one-person job because Spree has a steep learning curve.
Joomla is a free, open-source web application that's been used by millions of people since its inception in 2005.
Joomla is popular for small businesses, bloggers, and larger enterprises. It has unique features and extensibility.
Joomla is an excellent choice for a lot of companies that want to expand across the world. Because it has multilingual support available for growing global teams,
It also has a robust content management system that allows users to create complex websites easily.
Thanks to its extensibility, it has also become one of the most widely used e-commerce platforms, which means it can be customized to suit your needs.
The platform is free to use and incredibly easy to install. It has built-in functionality for building custom content types, such as product pages, blog posts, etc.
And it also allows you to import your existing products into Joomla using third-party tools like WP eCommerce or Magento.
If you're looking for a free, open-source e-commerce solution that helps you make your e-commerce store from scratch, Joomla is one to use.
Zen Cart is an open-source e-commerce platform that is a subsidiary of OSCommerce. It allows you to build your store.
However, the platform is old because it was launched in 2003. The site is simple and easy to use, which is why many people still use it today.
The templates are attractive (although old-school)and make it easy for merchants to customize their sites to match their brands.
The platform has a built-in shopping cart and many other features like payment processing, storefronts, order management, e-mail marketing, and more.
The open-source nature of Zen Cart makes it an easy choice for anyone who wants to start selling their products online without having to worry about any development costs or learning new skills.
Branchbob is an excellent choice for those just starting with e-commerce, but it also has some features that can appeal to more experienced users.
Branchbob also offers an excellent e-commerce design tool that allows you to drag and drop elements such as product images or pricing tables into your site.
The app also offers many other features such as order confirmation emails, tracking numbers, and email confirmations — things that can often be overlooked but are essential to ensure customer satisfaction.
But, you need to know how to write code if you want to use the platform to its fullest. So, if you do not know to code, Branchbob can be tricky to use.
However, if you have some coding experience, you can get the most out of the platform. Also, there’s no need to pay monthly or transaction fees.
Bagisto is an underrated open-source eCommerce framework built on top of Laravel.
It provides many features like multi-currency, localization, multilingual, multi-channel, payment integration, product search, product reviews, and more.
It's one of the few frameworks that aims to solve the problem of building a fully featured, scalable eCommerce application with next to no configuration or boilerplate code. It means you can easily replicate the code and reuse it without errors.
Bagisto can help you to handle multiple inventories from a single website. It makes product management a lot easier and shipping a seamless process.
It is an e-commerce platform that is pretty new in the market. If you want to Bagisto out, you can get a free trial or demo experience on its official website.
Big Cartel is an open-source project that allows anyone to download and modify the code as they see fit.
The platform is a marketplace where artists can sell their merchandise, while consumers can buy directly from the artist.
It’s a great way to sell physical products like t-shirts or vinyl records, but it also allows you to sell digital downloads and even music streaming services.
It has a wide range of features to help your store run smoothly. Some features include - shopping carts with multiple payment options, a fully customizable storefront design with customizable themes, a robust admin panel that allows you to manage inventory and pricing, set up subscriptions, and more.
The main feature of this platform is that it has a built-in payment processor that allows sellers to accept credit cards and PayPal payments directly from their websites.
It makes it easier for artists to sell their work without setting up complicated payment gateways or worrying about potential fraud.
If you are an artist or a creator who wants to sell your work, then Big Cartel is the place for you.
Jimdo is not just another website builder. It's an ideal tool for beginners because of its simplicity. The interface is easy to understand, even if you've never used a website builder.
The purchase process is simple: you can visit the open source e-commerce software and start building your website. It’s free.
After you have chosen a free template and created your website, you can choose a paid plan which starts from $20/month. Then you can add e-commerce functionalities to your site.
This service is especially good for beginners as it's designed with them in mind, but it is unsuitable for enterprises.
If you want to sell online and have little knowledge of how to code, then Jimbo is your best bet. You can create a good, basic site without too much hassle.
The Odoo e-commerce application allows you to sell your products through beautiful online shop pages. The platform's powerful e-commerce features are powered by price lists, marketplace integration, product catalogs, and shopping cart integrations with popular third-party vendors.
The app also includes inventory management tools that track orders and manage stock levels across your stores.
Odoo eCommerce is an open-source e-commerce application that helps you to build your online shop faster and with fewer resources than traditional solutions.
You can set up product categories, add products, arrange them in a grid or list view, and display images and videos, prices, and other items such as descriptions and reviews.
Odoo eCommerce also has the option to accept payments through PayPal, credit card, or bank transfer.
Weebly is one of the most popular open-source platform in the marketplace, used by millions of merchants. It's a powerful solution for creating your store and selling products online.
You can start by creating a free account and accessing their services from anywhere in the world. It is an excellent option for anyone who wants to try eCommerce without spending money.
Weebly's minimalistic design makes it easy to customize and add new features. The hosting and the back-end interface are designed to be simple, intuitive, and user-friendly.
Weebly has built-in support for PayPal, Square, Stripe, and many other payment gateways on its Pro Plan.
If you are a beginner who wants to start a small business, Weebly is one of the best e-commerce solutions. Because Weebly is beginner friendly, it's suitable for small-scale businesses that don’t want to scale.
Complete Control
You can choose how your website is built, which technologies you use and how you structure your site's back end.
The flexibility of open source e-commerce allows businesses to tailor the customer experience to their needs.
You control the source code, so you can customize your e-commerce business as you desire.
Widespread Community Support
The open source community is highly active, with developers working together to solve problems and improve the software.
If you encounter an issue, you can find help from other community members who have experienced similar problems.
You can visit blogs, check out the forums, and meet people who have already used the software. However, community support is not always available in free plans, so you might want to check that out.
Avoiding Vendor Lock-in
When building your e-commerce store, you will likely choose a specific platform that best suits your needs and objectives.
However, if you choose open source e-commerce instead, you'll avoid having vendor lock-in!
Open source software gives businesses more flexibility by allowing them to make changes at any time without paying for additional licenses.
Complex
Most open-source e-commerce platforms have a complex setup process because they require users to install many plugins, extensions, and themes before they can start using the platform. It is difficult for new users to create their online store immediately.
The software is often complex, which increases the time it takes to develop and maintain the application.
This complexity also makes it difficult for web developers to understand how their code works and what it does, which can lead to troubles in the website.
Heavy Maintenance
Open source eCommerce is software that is often free for anyone to use and modify, but it requires a lot of maintenance and support from the community.
The main disadvantage of open-source eCommerce is that it can be challenging to maintain.
If you're not a developer yourself, it's unlikely that you'll be able to solve all of the issues with your open-source e-commerce store. You will have to hire a developer or an IT team to take care of your online store.
High Cost
Open-source e-commerce solutions tend to be expensive because they need a lot more development effort than other types of apps (if you want something that doesn't require too much work).
This means that companies with limited budgets may be unable to afford them! Because it means hiring web developers to create and maintain your website, which may be expensive.
Security Vulnerabilities
There are also security vulnerabilities in open-source eCommerce systems that can leave your business vulnerable to hackers if they discover them.
Security vulnerabilities in open source programs can be exploited by hackers and criminals, leading to identity theft or other losses for your business.
You should always check for security issues with open-source programs and update your systems as needed.
You should use open-source e-commerce if you can afford the tech debt of maintaining and creating the store.
If your e-commerce store needs maximum customization, then open source e-commerce is a good option.
It is the best idea to use an open-source e-commerce platform if you want to build your store from scratch.
This way, you will have control over everything in your store and can add more features like payment gateways or analytics tools per your needs.
Open-source e-commerce is a software platform allowing users to build and host online stores.
The software is built with the help of open source code, which means there are no restrictions on the type of application that can be created using it, and it is available for modification.
No, Shopify is not open-source software. It is a closed-source which uses the highest quality technologies available for customers, and they have a solid commitment to transparency, security, and privacy.
Open-source e-commerce software is a software package available in the public domain with no restrictions or limitations on its use.
The source code can be downloaded, modified, and redistributed without cost.
However, many of the features included in open source eCommerce platforms are made available to users for free, while others are paid for.
As we mentioned in this article, there are a vast number of open-source e-commerce platforms out there.
It can be challenging to sift through them all and choose the right one for you. To make things easier, we've compiled a list of the top twenty-five platforms to get you started with your research.
They all have different strengths and weaknesses to consider, but they're worth further investigation if you're in the market for an open-source e-commerce platform.
.jpeg)
