Is there a free alternative to Shopify? The cheapest ways to sell online
Shopify starts at $29 a month. If you sell a handful of things to people who find you on social media, here are the cheaper ways to take orders and get paid.
Utilica4 min read
Yes, but what you should use depends on how you sell. Shopify is built to run a full online store. If you sell a handful of products to people who find you on Instagram, TikTok or at a market, you may not need a store at all, just a page that takes orders.
What Shopify costs
From Shopify's US pricing page, checked in October 2026:
- Basic: $39 a month, or $29 a month paid yearly
- Online card fee on Basic: 2.9% + 30¢ per sale
- Extra fee if you use a payment company other than Shopify Payments: 2% on Basic
Shopify offers a short free trial, but there is no free plan. On a small shop the monthly fee is often the biggest cost. Ten $100 sales a month on Basic costs about $7.10 per sale once the plan is spread across them. We worked through the numbers in how much Shopify takes from a $100 sale.
Who Shopify's biggest competitors are
The platforms people usually compare it with fall into four groups:
- Other full store builders, like BigCommerce, Wix and Squarespace. Similar idea, similar monthly fees, different strengths.
- Marketplaces, like Etsy, eBay and Amazon. No store to build and buyers already there, but you pay per listing and per sale, and the customer belongs to the marketplace.
- Point-of-sale companies with online stores, like Square. Strong if you also sell in person.
- Link-in-bio storefronts. A single page that lists what you sell and takes orders, made for sellers whose customers come from social media.
What is the cheapest way to have an online store?
For a small seller, the cheapest setup is usually:
- A free storefront page instead of a monthly store plan,
- Payment apps your customers already have, which charge little or nothing,
- Your existing social profiles for traffic, instead of paid ads.
That is how many food trucks, bakers, makers, stylists and resellers already work. The weak point is usually the middle: orders arrive in DMs and payments arrive in apps, and someone has to match them up.
What is the best free website to create an online store?
It depends on your catalog:
| You sell | Good fit | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Hundreds of products, shipped nationwide | A full store builder like Shopify | Inventory, variants, apps and a full checkout |
| One-off handmade items to buyers searching for them | A marketplace like Etsy | The buyers are already there |
| A short menu or a few products to your followers | A link-in-bio storefront | Free, fast, and lives where your customers already are |
| Services and appointments | A booking page with deposits | Bookings and payment in one step |
Which ecommerce site is best for small businesses?
The one whose costs match your sales. A rough guide:
- Selling under about $1,000 a month: avoid monthly fees. A free storefront page and payment apps will keep the most money in your pocket.
- Selling steadily to strangers online: a full store builder starts to earn its monthly fee through search, checkout and apps.
- Selling in person too: look at tools that handle both, so your orders live in one place.
A free storefront you can put in your bio
Utilica is a free storefront page for the link in your bio:
- List what you sell, with photos, sizes and sections. The free plan includes one page with 5 products.
- Customers order on the page. It adds up the total, with tax, and opens Cash App, Venmo, PayPal or Zelle with the exact amount filled in.
- Every order gets a number and lands in one list, so you know who paid for what.
- No fee from us on payment app payments, on any plan.
- Cards are optional, at Stripe's fee plus 3% on the free plan, 1% on Pro or nothing on Business.
- Ship or deliver: shipping rates, tracking emails, and digital products that deliver themselves.
It is not trying to be Shopify. If you have hundreds of products and want an app store, Shopify is the better tool. If you have a handful and want to start selling today without a monthly bill, it is a good place to start.
FeatureA page that takes orders, not just clicks.One page for your links, menu and prices. Visitors add items, see the total and pay you in Venmo, Cash App, PayPal or Zelle.utilica.app/features/link-in-bioHow to switch from Shopify without losing sales
- Start with your best sellers. Add them to the new page first.
- Change the link in your bio to the new page.
- Keep your old store open for a few weeks while customers adjust, then cancel.
- Put a QR code at your stall or on packaging that opens the new page, so repeat customers find it.
If you are moving from a link-in-bio tool rather than Shopify, see our comparisons with Linktree, Stan Store and Beacons.
