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Ecommerce Platform Comparison: What to Check

25 October 2026 · DigifyNow

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Don't pick an ecommerce platform by its design. The operating model matters most. With a hosted platform like Shopify, where DigifyNow is a partner, the vendor handles hosting and updates. With open source like Shopware Community Edition, WooCommerce or PrestaShop, that's on you. After that, look at the inventory and payment integrations, B2B pricing logic, and how you'd export your data and URLs. Settle these before anyone builds the first template.

Ecommerce platform comparison: which platforms are worth considering?

Most ecommerce platform comparisons list the same names again and again. For each one, here's how it works technically, who it's built for and where it hits its limits. Since Shopify is on the list, a quick disclosure first: DigifyNow is a Shopify partner, specifically an official Shopify Partner agency.

• Shopify: Subscription software (SaaS). The vendor provides hosting, security updates and checkout, and you pay a plan fee. A good fit for B2C merchants who want to start selling fast and don't want to manage servers. The limits: You can only change the data model and checkout within the boundaries Shopify sets, and many extra features come as third-party apps.
• Shopware: Ecommerce software from Germany. It comes as the free Community Edition for your own server and as paid editions run by the vendor. Suited to merchants with many product variants, pricing and shipping rules, or a B2B share. The limit: Without developers who know Shopware, you won't get far with customizations and updates.
• WooCommerce: A free store plugin for WordPress that runs on your own web hosting. A fit if you already have a WordPress site and a manageable catalog. The limit: You're responsible for WordPress core, the theme and every plugin. Lots of plugins slow the site down and make updates risky.
• Magento Open Source and Adobe Commerce: the open-source core and the licensed enterprise version. Built for large catalogs, multiple storefronts and custom business logic. The limit: Hosting and development take serious effort, which is usually overkill for a small store.
• PrestaShop: Open-source ecommerce software with its own module marketplace. An option for small and mid-sized stores on your own server. The limit: As with WooCommerce, you handle updates yourself and make sure the modules work together.
• JTL-Shop: Ecommerce software from the vendor JTL, built to work with its inventory management system JTL-Wawi. Makes sense if your warehouse, orders and marketplaces already run through JTL-Wawi. The limit: Almost the entire advantage depends on JTL-Wawi. Without it, there's little reason to choose JTL-Shop.
• Site builders like Wix, Jimdo or Squarespace: website builders with a store feature. Enough for a handful of products alongside a company website. The limit: Variant logic, integrations with inventory systems and data export are restricted.
• Headless commerce, such as commercetools or Shopify with a custom frontend via the Storefront API: The platform delivers products, cart and orders only through an API, and the storefront is built separately. A fit for stores that need full design or technical freedom on the frontend. The limit: You maintain two systems for good, the backend and your own frontend.

Which platform fits? As a rule of thumb: If you sell B2C and have no in-house IT, you'll usually end up with a hosted platform. With complex pricing rules, B2B business or many variants, Shopware or Magento are more likely candidates. JTL-Shop pays off if JTL-Wawi is already in place. WooCommerce and site builders suit small catalogs. We cover the head-to-head between the two most common candidates in detail in a separate article, WooCommerce or Shopify: criteria for small and mid-sized businesses. The same disclosure applies there: DigifyNow is a Shopify partner.

Comparing ecommerce platforms: who runs what?

The most important question in any comparison: Who's responsible when a security update is due in the middle of the night or the server goes down? The table shows this the same way for every platform. It covers the operating model, not the features of individual plans. Always check those in the vendor's current documentation. Note: DigifyNow is a Shopify partner.

Which criteria should decide your choice?

Before you look at a single theme, answer these questions in writing. Any one of them can rule a platform out.

1. Inventory management and ERP: Where does your stock live, and who maintains it? A store that doesn't sync with your inventory system will sooner or later sell goods you no longer have. Ask whether there's a ready-made integration or whether a custom one has to be built.
2. Payments: Which payment methods does your audience need, such as invoice, direct debit or card? Do they run through the platform's own payment service or an external provider? On some hosted platforms, using an external provider adds a fee on every transaction.
3. B2B logic: customer-specific pricing, tiered pricing, purchase approvals, pay by invoice. Depending on the platform, this is built into the core, added through an extension or only included in higher editions.
4. Markets and languages: multiple countries, currencies, tax rates. Check whether a single multilingual store can handle this or whether you'll have to maintain several stores.
5. Extensibility: Is there a documented API and webhooks for orders, products and customers? That's how your CRM, shipping and accounting will connect later.
6. Exit: Can you fully export products, customers and orders, for example as CSV or via API? And can you set up redirects for old URLs?

How the store, inventory system and payment provider exchange data technically is explained in our article on APIs with a store example. For external payment providers, the developer documentation, Stripe's for instance, shows which events a store has to receive. If those signals don't arrive, an order stays "pending" even though it's been paid.

Free ecommerce platforms compared: what "free" really means

With ecommerce platforms, "free" almost always means the license, not running the store. You can use WooCommerce, PrestaShop, Magento Open Source and Shopware Community Edition without a license fee. You still pay for things: a server or web hosting, the domain, an SSL certificate if your host doesn't include one, plus premium themes and extensions for payment methods, shipping or legal texts. Then there's the time spent on updates, which you cover yourself or pay a service provider for. With site builders, free usually means a free plan with restrictions, such as no custom domain or the vendor's ads on your site. That's rarely enough for a store that's meant to sell. Hosted platforms like Shopify charge a plan fee from day one but take care of hosting and updates in return. DigifyNow is a Shopify partner. How plans, per-transaction fees and apps add up on Shopify is covered in our article Shopify pricing: plans, fees and extra costs. So when you choose, don't compare license against license; compare total cost over several years: license, hosting, extensions, maintenance and integrations.

Ecommerce platform comparisons from 2017 to 2020: what still holds?

Older comparisons still show up in search results. The criteria in them are often still valid; the versions they name often aren't. Here's how to read them today:

• Ecommerce platform comparison 2017: Many lists from that year still feature Magento 1 and Shopware 5. Both generations have since been replaced by Magento 2 and Shopware 6, which were rebuilt from the ground up. So assessments of usability and extensions from back then don't carry over.
• Ecommerce platform comparison 2018: Back then the debate was often hosted versus self-hosted. That question is just as relevant today. Feature lists and plans from that time, however, are outdated; check them against the current vendor documentation.
• Ecommerce platform comparison 2019: This is when Shopware 6 launched as the successor to Shopware 5, and many articles still describe the old version. Pay attention to which major version is being compared.
• Ecommerce platform comparison 2020: That year many merchants rushed online, and comparisons mostly praised platforms that let you launch quickly. For a store meant to run for years, the inventory system integration and the export path matter more than launch speed.
• For every year: Don't take prices or plan names from old comparisons at face value. Shopify, where DigifyNow is a partner, and the other vendors change plans and fees regularly.

Why choosing an ecommerce platform goes wrong in practice

The platform is rarely to blame. Usually a question didn't get asked before the decision. These mistakes come up again and again:

• Choosing by template: You can change the design on any platform, but not the integration with your inventory system. If you pick based on looks, you only notice the gap at the first stock sync.
• Too many extensions: Every app and plugin brings its own code and its own updates. When two extensions clash, the checkout often breaks, and you only notice because orders stop coming in.
• Migrating without redirects: If product URLs change and nobody sets up permanent redirects from the old addresses to the new ones, links from search engines, ads and newsletters lead nowhere.
• Incomplete export: Order history, customer accounts and passwords can't always be moved over one to one. Passwords are usually stored only in encrypted form, so customers typically have to reset them after a migration.
• Too much platform: For a store with a handful of products, an enterprise system eats up more maintenance than it's worth.

If you're planning a switch, a trial run with real data followed by a side-by-side check of the old and new store helps. Our data migration checklist shows how that works.

How DigifyNow builds online stores

This section isn't part of the comparison above; it describes our own services. DigifyNow, based in Unnau in Germany's Westerwald region, is a Shopify partner, as an official Shopify Partner agency, and works as an ecommerce agency for small and mid-sized businesses. We set up stores, connect them to inventory systems, CRM and shipping, and build a custom frontend on top of the store's APIs when needed. When a custom frontend pays off compared with paid apps is something we've covered in a separate article on Shopify with a custom frontend. If Shopify doesn't fit your requirements, we'll tell you. Which other tools we recommend and where we're partners is listed openly on our system recommendations page.

When outside help is worth it

Outside help is worth it when the store has to connect to an existing inventory system or ERP, when B2B pricing or multiple countries come into play, or when an existing store needs to move along with its order history. For a small B2C store with a few products on a hosted platform, setting it up yourself is often enough. For a conversation, have these ready: the number of products and variants, your inventory system, the payment methods you need, your target countries and, if you have one, access to the old store. We look at these points in a free, no-obligation assessment of your store project. Afterward, you'll know which platforms are worth considering and what drives the effort.

Request a free assessment of your project