Ecwid review
by Ecwid, Inc. (Lightspeed)E-commerce platforms
An online store you can add to an existing website or run on its own Instant Site, from Starter at $5 a month, with no Ecwid transaction fees.
- Paid only
- Self-serve
- Flat rate
- Public prices
What you're paying for
- Worth the price (main value)
- Built-in reach
A store you can add to the website you already have, with no Ecwid transaction fee and abandoned cart emails and subscriptions from $49 a month.
Ecwid adds a store to an existing site on WordPress, Wix, Squarespace and other builders, or runs one on its own Instant Site, and the same catalog feeds Facebook and Instagram shops, free Google listings and a mobile POS. Business, at $49 a month billed yearly, covers 2,500 products, 2 staff accounts, abandoned cart emails, recurring subscriptions, gift cards, product reviews and real-time carrier rates. Ecwid’s pricing page lists no transaction fee on any plan, and Lightspeed Payments charges 2.9% + 30¢ in the US.
- Adds to the website you already haveThe store can be embedded in an existing website on WordPress, Wix, Squarespace, Joomla and others, or run on Instant Site, from Starter up.Evidence: Ecwid pricing page and site menus (2026-10-16)
- No Ecwid transaction feesThe plan table shows $0 in fees charged per sale by Ecwid on every plan, and the FAQ says there are no setup or transaction fees.Evidence: Pricing page plan table and FAQ (2026-10-16)
- Subscriptions and cart emails on BusinessBusiness ($49 billed yearly) includes abandoned cart emails, recurring subscriptions through Lightspeed Payments or Stripe, product reviews and wholesale groups.Evidence: Pricing page plan table (2026-10-16)
- Social and Google listingsFacebook and Instagram shops start on Venture in supported countries, and Google Shopping for Ecwid lists products for free, with an optional $20-a-month managed service.Evidence: Pricing page and Sell on Google page (2026-10-16)
- Best for
- Small merchants who already have a website or blog and want to add a store to it without a platform fee per sale.
- Good to know
- Abandoned cart emails and staff accounts start on Business, which allows 2 staff; more staff needs Unlimited ($119 a month billed yearly).
How Ecwid compares
Against 3 other products we reviewed in E-commerce platforms: what you pay for with each, the five access facts, the plan limits we recorded and each review's bottom line. The note under the table says how each one was checked.
| Metric | Ecwid | Square Online | Shopify | BigCommerce |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| What you're paying for | Worth the priceA store you can add to the website you already have, with no Ecwid transaction fee and abandoned cart emails and subscriptions from $49 a month. | Worth the priceAn online store that shares one catalog, customer list and payments account with Square POS, free to start and taking real orders. | Built-in reachA store, its payments, in-person selling and the main sales channels in one admin, with card rates that fall as you move up a plan. | Built-in reachA hosted store with unlimited staff and products on every plan, marketplace channels built in and ISO 27001 behind it. |
| Overall score | 6.1 | 7.7Best | 7.5 | 6.0 |
| Free option | Paid only | Free plan | 3-day free trial | 15-day free trial |
| Card to start | –Not measured | –Not measured | No card needed | No card needed |
| Getting access | Self-serve | Self-serve | Self-serve | Self-serve |
| Starter priceCheapest paid plan | $5/mo | $49/location/mo | $29/mo | $29/mo |
| Pricing model | Flat rate | Flat rate | Flat rate | Tiered |
| Pricing page | Public prices | Public prices | Public prices | Public prices |
| Billing unit | Flat monthly plan per store, plus card processing | Monthly plan per location, plus card processing | Flat monthly plan per store, plus card processing | Flat monthly plan per store, tied to annual sales (GMV caps), plus card processing |
| Free option | No free plan for new sign-ups; no trial listed; Starter $5/mo | Square Free with real orders (unlimited products, square.site address); 30-day trial of Plus or Premium | No free store plan; 3-day trial, no card, then $1/mo for 3 months on most plans | No free plan; 15-day trial, no card |
| Reference scenario ($10K/mo, 2 staff, annual) | $399/mo on Business ($49 + $290 + $60), computed | $399/mo on Square Plus ($49 + $290 + $60), computed; monthly billing only | $409/mo on Grow ($79 + $270 + $60), computed | $598/mo on Scale ($299 + $239 + $60), computed; Growth’s $100K sales cap is exceeded |
| Month-to-month price | $5 / $35 / $65 / $149 for Starter, Venture, Business and Unlimited | $0 / $49 / $149 per location for Free, Plus and Premium | $39 / $105 / $399 for Basic, Grow and Advanced | $39 / $105 / $399 for Core, Growth and Scale |
| US online card rate | 2.9% + 30¢ on Lightspeed Payments, every plan | 3.3% + 30¢ (Free), 2.9% + 30¢ (Plus and Premium) | 2.9% + 30¢ (Basic), 2.7% + 30¢ (Grow), 2.5% + 30¢ (Advanced) | 2.89% + 30¢ (Core), 2.59% + 30¢ (Growth), 2.39% + 30¢ (Scale) |
| Fee with another payment provider | $0 on Ecwid pages; Lightspeed agreement sets a monthly fee for eligible customers | Checkout lists only Square payments | 2% / 1% / 0.6% (Plus 0.2%) | 2.0% / 1.0% / 0.6% on Open Payment Providers; 0% on 21 embedded providers |
| Products and staff | 10 / 100 / 2,500 / unlimited products; staff 0 / 0 / 2 / unlimited | Unlimited items; team members on every plan, no limit stated | Unlimited products; staff 0 / 5 / 15 / unlimited | Unlimited products and staff accounts on every plan |
| Abandoned cart recovery | Business and up | Square Plus and up | Every plan | Growth and up |
| Selling channels | Facebook, Instagram, Google listings; marketplaces through third-party apps; mobile POS | Square POS, Facebook, Instagram and Google listings on every plan | POS, Google, Meta, TikTok on every plan; Amazon, eBay, Walmart via Marketplace Connect | Amazon, eBay, Walmart built in; Google and Meta through Feedonomics; POS through apps |
| PCI / SOC 2 / ISO 27001 | PCI DSS Level 1; SOC 2 Type II (Lightspeed E-Series); ISO 27001 not stated | PCI DSS Level 1; SOC 2 not stated on a public page; ISO 27001 | PCI DSS Level 1; SOC 2 Type II; ISO 27001 not stated | PCI DSS Level 1; SOC 2 (type not stated); ISO/IEC 27001:2022 |
| Data export | CSV of products, orders and customers from Venture; REST API on paid plans | Items and customers to CSV; order export not stated; Square APIs and webhooks | CSV of products, orders and customers; Admin API on every plan | CSV or XML of products, orders and customers; API and webhooks on every plan |
| Data after closing | Erased when the account is deleted; $12.50/mo Suspension plan | No fixed retention period stated | Kept 2 years after deactivation | Deleted 30 days after cancellation |
| Bottom line | From its public pages, Ecwid is a low-cost way to add a store to an existing site, with cart emails, subscriptions and full CSV export from $49 a month. There is no free plan or trial, and whether Lightspeed’s monthly fee for other payment providers applies to Ecwid stores is worth asking. | From its public pages, Square Online offers the most complete free start here: a store with unlimited items that takes real orders and shares Square’s POS and payments, with Plus at $49 for a custom domain and cart emails. Live shipping rates need Premium, and payments are in one currency. | From its public pages, Shopify has the broadest set of selling features here on the plan our scenario needs, with PCI Level 1, SOC 2 Type II and a 2-year data window. Staff accounts start on Grow, and a store that uses another payment provider pays Shopify a fee on top. | From its public pages, BigCommerce puts unlimited staff, reviews and marketplace channels on every plan and lets you keep your own processor. Plans are tied to sales, so our $10,000-a-month store lands on Scale, and several pages disagree on trial and billing details. |
Evidence: Ecwid: facts checked 2026-10-16 from its public sign-up and pricing pages, no completed hands-on run; Square Online: facts checked 2026-10-16 from its public sign-up and pricing pages, no completed hands-on run; Shopify: facts checked 2026-10-16 from its public sign-up and pricing pages, no completed hands-on run; BigCommerce: facts checked 2026-10-16 from its public sign-up and pricing pages, no completed hands-on run. Prices in USD as listed, excluding tax. "–" means not recorded.
Score
- Pricing clarity
- 5.0 / 10, Fair
- scenario plan priced; card rates published; month-to-month price published; fee on other payment providers stated; Ecwid pages say there are no transaction fees, while the Lightspeed service agreement (where ecwid.com/terms-of-service leads) sets a monthly fee of $200 to $1,120 for eligible customers who process through another provider; whether it applies to Ecwid stores is not stated; the annual toggle says "save 16%", while the listed prices save 0% to 25% depending on the plan; the Lightspeed Payments page charges $15 for a lost chargeback, the help center $15 for every chargeback; the Venture plan page lists promotions, while the plan table puts automatic promotions on Business and up; the service agreement lets customers cancel by downgrading to a free plan, which the help center says new sign-ups no longer have
- Free plan and trial
- 0.0 / 10, Fair
- no free plan or trial stated
- Monthly cost, $10K in sales
- 8.4 / 10, Excellent
- $399/mo: Business $49; card processing $350 (2.9% × $10,000 + 30¢ × 200 orders); no platform fee on top; Business is the first plan with abandoned cart emails and staff accounts (2), and allows 2,500 products; Venture allows 100 products and no staff
- Selling features
- 8.5 / 10, Excellent
- real-time carrier rates on the scenario plan; gift cards on the scenario plan; subscriptions on the scenario plan; multi-currency pricing not listed; in-person selling on the scenario plan; two or more channels on the scenario plan; currency conversion is display-only through a $4.49/mo app, and checkout stays in one currency; Facebook and Instagram shops (limited countries) and free Google listings; Amazon and eBay through third-party apps; mobile POS from Venture, Lightspeed Retail POS from Business
- Compliance and security
- 6.5 / 10, Good
- PCI DSS Level 1, SOC 2 Type II, DPA in the terms, no staff 2FA stated, activity log not listed, staff SSO not listed
- Data access and exit
- 8.0 / 10, Excellent
- CSV export of products, orders, customers; API with webhooks; no 30-day data retention stated; no domain transfer-out or refund stated
Review
Review from public pages
Written from Ecwid's public pages (pricing, security or privacy, and docs) as read on Oct 16, 2026. We did not sign up, and no hands-on run is published yet.
What the public pages show
We read Ecwid's pricing page and plan table, the Starter, Venture, Business and Unlimited plan pages, the Lightspeed Payments page, the Sell on Google and TikTok pages, the developer docs, and Lightspeed's security page, service agreement, transaction fee table, DPA and sub-processor list on Oct 16, 2026. Ecwid's help center refused plain requests from our location, so its articles on plans, staff accounts, payments, chargebacks, exports, domains, downgrades and account deletion were read from Internet Archive copies from Apr 2025 to Mar 2026. We did not sign up for this review.
The pricing page is clear on plan prices and limits: Starter $5, Venture $29, Business $49 and Unlimited $119 a month billed yearly, or $5, $35, $65 and $149 month to month, with product counts, staff accounts and features per plan.
One point needs a question to Ecwid. Its pages say there are no transaction fees, while ecwid.com/terms-of-service leads to Lightspeed's service agreement, which names Ecwid, Inc. and lets Lightspeed charge eligible customers a monthly fee, $200 to $1,120 in the US table, when they process through a provider other than Lightspeed Payments. Ecwid's pages do not say whether this applies to Ecwid stores.
Strengths
- Adds a store to an existing website
Ecwid embeds in WordPress, Wix, Squarespace and other sites as well as running its own Instant Site, so a merchant can keep the website they have.
vs Big Cartel: Shopify, BigCommerce and Big Cartel run the store on their own hosted storefront.
- Lower scenario cost on Business
For our scenario, Business costs $49 billed yearly plus Lightspeed Payments at 2.9% + 30¢: $399 a month (computed), with abandoned cart emails, subscriptions and reviews included.
vs Shopify: Shopify Grow comes to $409 and BigCommerce Scale to $598 for the same scenario (computed).
- PCI Level 1 and SOC 2 Type II from Lightspeed
The pricing FAQ says Ecwid is a PCI DSS validated Level 1 Service Provider, and Lightspeed’s security page lists a SOC 2 Type II report for its E-Series, the Ecwid line in its service agreement.
vs Big Cartel: Big Cartel states neither and leaves card handling to Stripe and PayPal.
- Full CSV export from Venture
Products, orders and customers export to CSV on Venture, Business and Unlimited, and custom apps reach the REST API and webhooks on paid plans.
vs Big Cartel: Big Cartel exports orders only.
Things to know
- No free plan or trial for new stores
The help center says the free plan was discontinued for sign-ups after March 17, 2025, and the pricing page lists no trial; Starter costs $5 a month.
Workaround: Plans are month to month, so a store can start on Starter or Venture and change later.
- Two staff accounts on Business
Business includes 2 staff accounts with set permissions; more staff need Unlimited. No native two-factor login or staff activity log is documented.
Workaround: The help center recommends two-step verification on the Google or Facebook account used to sign in.
- Prices in one currency
A $4.49-a-month app converts displayed prices, but customers pay in the store’s main currency, so there is no multi-currency pricing.
- Deleting the account erases the data
For stores created after March 17, 2025, cancelling means deleting the account, which erases store data; subscription charges are non-refundable.
Workaround: Export products, orders and customers to CSV first, or pause on the $12.50-a-month Suspension plan.
Pricing reality
Ecwid bills a flat plan per store, and its pricing page lists no transaction fee. For our scenario, Business is the first plan with abandoned cart emails and staff: $49 billed yearly, plus Lightspeed Payments at 2.9% of $10,000 ($290) and 30¢ on 200 orders ($60), $399 a month (computed); month to month, $415. More than 2 staff need Unlimited at $119 billed yearly ($469 a month in our scenario, computed). Lightspeed Payments keeps its fee on refunds, charges $15 per chargeback and does not allow digital downloads or drop-shipped and print-on-demand items. Marketplace apps, multi-currency display ($4.49) and the managed Google service ($20) cost extra.
Exit path
From Venture up, products, orders and customers export to CSV, and gift cards and abandoned carts can be exported too; Starter has no export. Custom apps reach the REST API and webhooks on paid plans. A downgrade takes effect at once, with remaining time as credit. Deleting the account erases store data with no grace period stated, and domain fees are non-refundable.
Compared with
- Pick Ecwid when
- You want to add a store to your existing website, at $399 a month for our scenario (computed).
- Pick Shopify when
- You need more than 2 staff with two-step login, multi-currency prices or data kept after closing.
- Pick Ecwid when
- You want annual billing, real-time carrier rates on a $49 plan and a SOC 2 Type II report stated.
- Pick Square Online when
- You want a permanent free plan and Square’s own POS, at the same $399 for our scenario (computed).
- Pick Ecwid when
- You need staff accounts, more than 500 products or a full CSV export.
- Pick Big Cartel when
- You sell a small catalog alone and want a free plan with real orders.
Choose it if
- You already have a website or blog and want to add a store to it.
- You want subscriptions, abandoned cart emails and reviews at $49 a month billed yearly.
- You want no Ecwid fee per sale on any plan.
Look elsewhere if
- You want a free plan or trial to start.
- You need multi-currency pricing or two-factor login for staff.
Bottom line
From its public pages, Ecwid is a low-cost way to add a store to an existing site, with cart emails, subscriptions and full CSV export from $49 a month. There is no free plan or trial, and whether Lightspeed’s monthly fee for other payment providers applies to Ecwid stores is worth asking.
Plan limits at a glance
| Limit | As recorded |
|---|---|
| Billing unit | Flat monthly plan per store, plus card processing |
| Free option | No free plan for new sign-ups; no trial listed; Starter $5/mo |
| Reference scenario ($10K/mo, 2 staff, annual) | $399/mo on Business ($49 + $290 + $60), computed |
| Month-to-month price | $5 / $35 / $65 / $149 for Starter, Venture, Business and Unlimited |
| US online card rate | 2.9% + 30¢ on Lightspeed Payments, every plan |
| Fee with another payment provider | $0 on Ecwid pages; Lightspeed agreement sets a monthly fee for eligible customers |
| Products and staff | 10 / 100 / 2,500 / unlimited products; staff 0 / 0 / 2 / unlimited |
| Abandoned cart recovery | Business and up |
| Selling channels | Facebook, Instagram, Google listings; marketplaces through third-party apps; mobile POS |
| PCI / SOC 2 / ISO 27001 | PCI DSS Level 1; SOC 2 Type II (Lightspeed E-Series); ISO 27001 not stated |
| Data export | CSV of products, orders and customers from Venture; REST API on paid plans |
| Data after closing | Erased when the account is deleted; $12.50/mo Suspension plan |
Read from the vendor's public pages on Oct 16, 2026. No hands-on run is published yet. How we check
We have not published a sign-up run for Ecwid yet. The access facts above were read from its sign-up and pricing pages on Oct 16, 2026.
We have not published API calls for Ecwid yet.
Ecwid lists 4 plans. The cheapest paid plan, Starter, costs $5/mo.
- EcwidLowest priceStarter$5/moSame price billed monthly or yearly
- Up to 10 products
- Instant Site on a company.site address, Linkup page
- Add the store to any website
- No custom domain, staff, coupons or data export
- EcwidVenture$29/moBilled yearly; $35 month to month
- Up to 100 products, custom domain
- Gift cards, discount coupons, digital goods
- Facebook and Instagram shops, mobile POS
- CSV export and REST API
- EcwidBusiness$49/moBilled yearly; $65 month to month
- Up to 2,500 products, 2 staff accounts
- Abandoned cart emails, product reviews, subscriptions
- Product variations, multilingual catalog, wholesale groups
- Marketplaces through third-party apps, Lightspeed Retail POS
- EcwidUnlimited$119/moBilled yearly; $149 month to month
- Unlimited products and staff accounts
- 500 automatic promotions
- Square and Clover POS sync (limited countries)
Prices as listed, USD, excluding tax; observed 2026-10-16.
Source: ecwid.com pricing page. Prices change; the observed date above is when our agent read them.