How to Choose an E-commerce Platform

Your e-commerce platform choice affects everything downstream — available payment processors, app integrations, and how much technical maintenance you'll own.

Hosted platforms (Shopify, BigCommerce) trade some customization for speed and reliability. Self-hosted platforms (WooCommerce) trade more setup effort for full control and no platform fees.

Compare total cost including transaction fees, not just the sticker price of the monthly plan — fee structures vary widely between platforms.