This is a guest post by Aljaz Fajmut. If you’d like to contribute to our blog, feel free to get in touch with us.
Quick Platform Capsule (What This Comparison Covers)
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With so many e-commerce platforms available, choosing the right one can feel overwhelming. Beyond comparing features, you also need to consider how the platform impacts your search engine rankings and how difficult it might be to migrate in the future. This guide will help you navigate those decisions with clarity.
There are indeed a bunch of e-commerce platforms from which to choose in 2026, and today we are going to explain two types of e-commerce platforms, find out the most important pros and cons of WooCommerce, Wix, Shopify, BigCommerce, Magento, and Prestashop, compare their SEO and functionality aspects, and choose our winner.Looking to migrate from another platform to WooCommerce? Explore our WooCommerce migration services.
Self-Hosting or Managed Hosting?
Before we get into the important features of all the e-commerce platforms, it is important to explain self-hosting and managed hosting services.Managed Hosting Services
| Managed hosting services are e-commerce platforms that include web hosting, shopping carts, and technical support. They cater to users who don’t have a ton of tech skills and don’t want to jump through various technical barriers. |
Pros
- Easy to Use – If you have basic computer skills, getting set up on a managed hosting platform won’t be incredibly hard.
- Technical Support – If you select a platform such as BigCommerce, which excels in customer support, you won’t have to worry about the technical aspects of your store.
- Lower Backend Costs – With managed hosting platforms, you won’t need to have a state-of-the-art IT team. Instead, just tech savvy employees will do.
- No Manual Upgrades – You don’t have to worry about upgrading any software manually since the platform is – you guessed it – managing everything.
Cons
- Limited Customisation Options – Since you aren’t in control of the e-commerce platform, there are limitations when it comes to customisation options, for example, category permalinks and specific theme functions.
- Transaction Fees – Many managed hosting services will charge you a transaction fee per sale, which can be quite costly if your products are priced low.
- Not Ideal for Global Companies – If you plan to serve consumers across the globe, your managed hosting platform may not be able to accommodate you.
- Domain Issues – Some managed hosting services make you use their domain for checkout instead of your company’s domain to avoid dealing with SSL issues. This can potentially make your domain seem less professional with yourstore.shopify.com instead of yourstore.com.
Self-Hosting Services
| Self-hosting services are platforms that require web hosting to function. Stores on WooCommerce, Magento and Prestashop platforms can be set up on pretty much any provider. |
Pros
- You Choose Your Preferred Hosting Provider – If your e-commerce store is ever to outgrow your hosting provider, you can easily move it to a new host without worrying about the “lock-in” that comes with the majority of the managed hosting services.
- You Have More Flexibility with Customisations – Since you have full control over your platform, you can do as many extensive customisations and adjustments as you like.
Cons
- Higher Initial Costs – Self-hosting platforms are generally more expensive. This can be an issue since you may have to hire someone tech-savvy enough, up to a complete IT team, to help you set everything up.
- Long-term Increased Costs – As your store grows, your host will require you to pay more money for hosting due to the increased traffic.
- Security – Since you’re on your own, you will have to make sure that your security is top-notch to avoid any breaches.
WooCommerce
WooCommerce powers around 37% of the e-commerce stores worldwide, making it the preferred platform among businesses. The system provides users with both open-source code and complete control over their online store. The plugin itself is free, which makes it more likeable.
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However, running a WooCommerce store requires various other expenses because you need to pay for hosting services, domain registration, premium extensions and developer assistance at times. Pros- Complete Ownership & Flexibility – WooCommerce is self-hosted, which means you control everything from design to functionality.
- Highly Customizable SEO Structure – You can fully customise permalinks, meta titles, descriptions, schema markup, and more. Combined with WordPress, it offers strong SEO potential.
- Massive Plugin Ecosystem – From payment gateways to advanced shipping rules, there’s a plugin for almost everything.
- Requires Ongoing Maintenance – Updates, plugin conflicts, and performance optimisation need regular attention. It’s not a “set it and forget it” platform.
- Performance Depends on Hosting – Unlike hosted platforms, speed and reliability depend heavily on your hosting provider and technical setup.
- Costs Add Up – While the core plugin is free, premium themes, security tools, backups, hosting upgrades, and paid extensions can increase monthly expenses.
Shopify
Shopify is recommended by entrepreneurs because of its simple interface and affordability: there are plenty of user-friendly themes, and a basic package costs only $39 per month.
However, don’t let the low prices fool you – In 2026, Basic starts at $39/month on monthly billing, Advanced starts at $399/month (monthly) and Plus starts at $2,300/month billed yearly on a 3-year term. Additionally, just like with any other e-commerce platform, Shopify has its own pros and cons. We will share the top ones below.
Pros
- Allows Customizable Permalinks with Limitations – Being able to customise permalinks benefits Shopify e-commerce stores SEO-wise. This is because a permalink serves as a hint to what is being offered, which helps search engines index it better for relevant keywords.
- Allows Easy Content Modifications – Shop owners can easily make content modifications, which makes marketing websites a breeze. Shopify offers custom title tags, meta descriptions on category pages, and customizable landing pages.
- SEO Friendly – Shopify has an SEO friendliness score of 10. Search Engine Journal has even published a blog post that shows exactly how to optimise Shopify e-commerce stores for success.
- Full Integration with Payment Providers – Shopify is integrated fully with payment providers, and since it features speed checkout, customers can pay without a long load time.
Cons
- Doesn’t Allow Root Customizable Permalinks for Products or Categories– Even though customizable permalinks are available, this doesn’t include customizable permalinks for products or categories.
- Monthly Cost Increases if You Use Apps – While Shopify boasts integrations with more than 16,600 apps, store owners can’t use these additions without upping their bill. For example, adding FreshBooks to your store will cost you an additional $19–$60 per month.
- You Must Know Liquid to Customise the Theme – Even those who know code can’t go in and customise a Shopify theme extensively unless they are familiar with Liquid, which is what Shopify uses. Therefore, you’re probably looking to spend more money hiring a Liquid expert to make the customisations for you.
Wix
Wix provides an easy-to-use interface that allows users to create websites through its drag-and-drop feature. The system enables users to start their projects immediately without needing any technical setup work.
The business plans begin at approximately $27 per month, with pricing that varies based on selected features and geographical location.
Pros
- Easy to Use – Wix’s visual editor makes it simple to design pages without coding knowledge.
- All-in-One Hosting – Hosting, security, and updates are handled for you. No need to manage servers or plugins.
- Built-In Features – Email marketing tools, basic analytics, and payment integrations come pre-installed.
- Quick Setup – Ideal for small stores that want to go live fast without technical complexity.
- Limited Customisation Flexibility – Compared to WooCommerce or Magento, customisation options are more restricted. The possibilities for creating customised solutions are more restricted in this system because it provides fewer options than WooCommerce and Magento for making adjustments.
- SEO Limitations for Larger Stores – Despite being praised for its SEO booster feature, Wix may still be lacking precisely what will be a concern for a more disciplined store owner out there.
- Scaling Challenges – Larger catalogues and complex workflows can feel restrictive over time.
BigCommerce
BigCommerce is one of Shopify’s biggest competitors. They match Shopify’s basic package of just $39/month (Standard), then $105/month (Plus), and $399/month (Pro), with Enterprise pricing quoted based on needs. Furthermore, they have some incredible features that Shopify just can’t match. Read on:
Pros
- Allows Customizable Permalinks – BigCommerce allows customizable permalinks for both products and categories.
- Integrated Education – BigCommerce has created its own educational training material, known as BigCommerce University. With this educational material, it’s clear that they want their users to succeed while using their platform.
- Remarkable Built-in Features – Virtually anything that you could need for your e-commerce store to succeed is already built into the BigCommerce software. For example, they have bulk 301 redirects built right in, instead of store owners having to use a plugin, like they would have to with other platforms. They even have a variety of built-in marketing tools.
- Outstanding Customer Service – Customer service is available 24/7 via email, chat, or phone. Plus, you have your own “e-commerce consultant” who is always available to answer any questions that may arise.
Cons
- Small App Marketplace – When compared to Shopify, BigCommerce’s app offering is small.
- Lock In – If you want to move your store to another platform, it is going to be incredibly hard, again, due to the features being built into BigCommerce’s software.
- Limited Free Templates – When compared to Shopify, which has 23 free templates and 1028 paid templates, Big Commerce only provides 12 free templates.
Magento
Magento (often discussed as Magento Open Source and Adobe Commerce) is both an e-commerce builder and a website builder. Pricing varies because Open Source is free (license-wise), while Adobe Commerce is enterprise and typically quote-based depending on deployment model and requirements.
Pros
- Ultimate Flexibility – With Magento being a self-hosted e-commerce platform, you have complete flexibility when it comes to customisations.
- Allows Customizable Permalinks – You can customise permalinks to help boost your e-commerce store’s SEO.
- SEO Friendly – Magento has an SEO friendliness score of 8. This means that they provide very powerful URL customisations, but this requires some additional effort with configuration or additional modules.
- Large Selection of Features – Magento allows e-commerce stores to experience features that can’t be found on other platforms, such as multiple currency options, multiple languages, and VIP pricing.
- Able to Handle Business Growth – As e-commerce sites grow, it’s important that the platform grows with it. Magento can handle hosting up to 500,000+ products and thousands of transactions per hour.
Cons
- Expensive – While the community version is free, the enterprise version runs more than $15,000 per year.
- Expensive Developers – If you have an issue while using Magento, getting a developer to help you isn’t going to be cheap.
- Unimpressive Customer Support – Users of Magento report delayed customer support times, which could potentially be an issue if you have something that needs to be taken care of right away.
Prestashop
PrestaShop’s nonexistent price tag may make you think it is the platform for you, but don’t choose it just because it’s free. You could be potentially sacrificing features, functionality, and support to pay nothing.
Pros
- Allows Customizable Permalinks with Limitations – This is great for SEO purposes.
- SEO Friendly – Prestashop has an SEO friendliness score of 8. Therefore, you can have access to powerful URL customisations with some additional effort on your part.
- Fairly Easy to Build Ecommerce Stores – Between the community of experts, customizable store elements, and comprehensive training materials, getting started on this ecommerce platform doesn’t have to be hard.
Cons
- Doesn’t Allow Root Customizable Permalinks for Products
- Limited Customisation for Free – To customise your e-commerce store to your liking, you are going to have to spend money on themes, plugins, and extensions, with themes on average starting at $74.99.
The Winners
We’ve compared these e-commerce platforms by listing their pros and cons as well as their SEO friendliness features. It’s time to narrow it down to two winners.Self-hosting solution – WooCommerce
WooCommerce easily wins for the self-hosting solution. You can create a truly unique e-commerce store, and the functions and customisations are the cherry on top.Planning to migrate to WooCommerce? WisdmLab’s experts are here to help.
