Looking for a solution that gives you more flexibility and control than Shopify?

WooCommerce might be just what you need!

In fact, as of June 2024, over 14% of the top one million ecommerce sites use WooCommerce.

But where do you start?

In this step-by-step guide for 2024, we’ll show you exactly how to set up your WooCommerce store from start to finish.

How do you start a WooCommerce store? (A 12-step walkthrough)

These are the 12 steps on how to start a WooCommerce store in 2024:

1. Come up with your product idea
2. Define your ideal target audience
3. Choose a fulfillment method
4. Find a supplier
5. Install WordPress and WooCommerce
6. Pick a WooCommerce theme according to your niche
7. Add products to your store
8. Create your standard online store pages
9. Install the right WooCommerce plugins
10. Design and brand your WooCommerce store
11. Set up your store’s settings and payment gateways
12. Choose a marketing method that fits you and start advertising

Let’s take a look at them in some more detail!

1. Come up with your product idea

The first step in starting your WooCommerce store is to clearly define what product(s) you want to sell.

Why?

Your product choice will shape the entire process of building your store. It influences your choice of supplier, the name of your store, and the theme you select.

To get started, look for the following characteristics of a winning product:

If you don’t know where to start, check out these articles to get your creative juices flowing:

Ask yourself these questions to spark product ideas:

• What do you enjoy?
• What are your hobbies?
• What do you wish existed?
• What problems do you want to solve?
• What do you know a lot about?

If you’re still struggling to find product ideas, consider using a product research tool. These tools compile popular products, making it easier to find a winning item.

If you’re not sure which tool to pick, try our product research tool quiz to find one that best suits your needs.

Not a fan of quizzes? Some excellent tools to explore include Sell The Trend, Niche Scraper, and Thieve.co.

Now, you may also want to think about whether you want to start a general, niche, or one-product store:

Type	Short description	Pros	Cons
General store	A store selling products in various categories.	You can take advantage of different product trends.	Marketing can be difficult.
		Reach more people.	It’s challenging to build a loyal customer base.
Niche store	A store focused on a single niche (e.g., fitness or pet)	You can focus on a specific target audience.	It can be hard to pick a niche and stick to it.
		You can start social media theme pages.	Less freedom.
		Upselling is easier.
One-product store	A store selling just one product.	Dedicate your focus to a single product.	It’s crucial to sell a winning product.
		It’s easier to optimize marketing campaigns.	No possibility of upselling or cross-selling.
		Easier to improve your conversion rate.

It’s okay if you’re not entirely sure about the store type right now.

You can start by selecting the products you want to sell, and then choose the most suitable store type based on those decisions.

2. Define your ideal target audience

The next step is to define your target audience—the group of people you want to sell your products to.

They often share similar interests, hobbies, ages, or genders.

Now, why is identifying your target audience important? Philip Kotler, an American marketing expert, puts it this way:

There is only one winning strategy. It is to carefully define the target market and direct a superior offering to that target market.

Philip Kotler

The most common methods to define your target audience are:

• Develop a buyer persona. A buyer persona is a fictional character that represents your ideal customer. Creating a buyer persona helps you understand who your target audience is and what their needs are.
• Analyze your product’s benefits. Look at its key benefits and consider who would find them most valuable.
• Test different audiences. Sometimes, the best way to find your ideal audience is through testing. Run ads targeting different groups and analyze which performs best.

For a detailed step-by-step guide on defining your ideal target audience, check out this article!

3. Choose a fulfillment method

Before starting your WooCommerce store, you need to decide how to fulfill orders.

Here’s an overview of three recommended fulfillment methods, along with their pros and cons:

Fulfillment method	Short description	Pros	Cons
Dropshipping / Print on demand	Sell products without keeping them in inventory	Quickly test various products.	Less control of the fulfillment process.
		Low start-up costs.	Long shipping times.
		Low-risk.	High competition.
Third-party fulfillment	Buy your own inventory and let a third party fulfill your orders.	More control over your inventory and shipping.	More risk (will your product sell?).
		Shorter shipping times.	Higher upfront investment.
		You can buy your inventory in bulk, which is cheaper.
In-house fulfillment	Manage the fulfillment of your products yourself.	Full control over the fulfillment process.	It can require more time or money.
		Great opportunity to use custom packaging.	It distorts you from other tasks.
		Learn more about the whole fulfillment process of an online store.	You are responsible for everything.

Let’s take a look at each one in more detail.

Dropshipping / Print on demand

Dropshipping is the most popular and straightforward method of running a WooCommerce store.

When a customer orders a product, you contact your supplier, who then ships the product directly to the customer.

In short, it’s perfect for entrepreneurs looking to start with a low upfront investment!

A similar fulfillment method is print on demand (POD).

While it’s similar to dropshipping, POD focuses on selling custom-printed products like t-shirts, mugs, and phone cases.

This method is perfect for those who want to sell self-designed products without any initial investment or risk.

If you can’t choose between dropshipping and print on demand, take a look at this infographic:

Third-party fulfillment

With third-party fulfillment, you ship your products to a third-party logistics company (3PL) that stores, packs, and ships them for you.

The main advantage of third-party fulfillment is that it gives you more control over your inventory and shipping.

Plus, if you choose a fulfillment warehouse in your customer’s country, shipping times should be way quicker.

However, this method requires a higher upfront investment as you need to purchase inventory in bulk, which comes with more risk if your products don’t sell.

In-house fulfillment

In-house fulfillment involves managing the entire process yourself. This gives you complete control over inventory, packaging, and shipping.

You can even use custom packaging to improve your brand!

However, it can be time-consuming and may distract you from other important tasks like marketing, customer service, and accounting. Plus, it requires an investment in storage space, equipment, and materials.

So, you can choose this fulfillment method if you want full control over your operations and are prepared to dedicate the necessary time and resources.

4. Find a supplier

So, you’ve found the product you want to sell.

Great! But that’s just half the battle.

You’ll also need a reliable supplier who can provide high-quality products at the perfect price range.

Some suppliers specialize in dropshipping, others in in-house fulfillment, and some focus exclusively on print on demand.

Here’s how to identify a good supplier:

Got it? Now, let’s look at some of the best suppliers for different fulfillment methods!

Best suppliers for dropshipping, in-house, or third-party fulfillment stores

We’ve created a table to help you find a supplier for your store.

Click on the supplier’s name to visit their website, or the ‘Read Review’ link to see a detailed review, including pros and cons.

These platforms easily integrate with your WooCommerce dropshipping store. They allow you to browse and import products with a click of a button.

For example, here is the one for Spocket:

If you’re interested in suppliers in a specific region, you can find them in these lists:

Alternatively, you can find a local supplier through a quick Google search.

In our experience, they often provide the fastest delivery times, which is essential for dropshipping stores.

Plus, working with local suppliers can help you avoid the ‘software fees’ that platforms like Spocket or Syncee charge on their higher plans.

However, keep in mind that most local suppliers do not offer direct integration with WordPress websites. This means you will likely need to manually add products and process orders.

Tip: Always order samples before committing to a supplier to ensure product quality.

Best suppliers for print on demand stores

If you want to start a print on demand store, you’ll need a specific type of supplier. These suppliers specialize in customizing products based on your designs.

Here are our top two picks:

For more print on demand suppliers, check out our article here with the 15 best print on demand companies!

5. Install WordPress and WooCommerce

If you’re new to WordPress, let’s clear up some common confusion before diving into the installation of WordPress and the WooCommerce plugin.

People often mix up WordPress.com with WordPress.org, but they’re quite different.

WordPress.com is a fully hosted platform similar to Shopify. It handles all the hosting and maintenance for you but has restrictions on customization and monetization.

On the other hand, WordPress.org is what many consider the ‘real WordPress.’

It’s an open-source platform that you can download for free and install on your own hosting account.

Plus, it opens up a world of plugins that WordPress is famous for!

In this guide, we’ll focus on WordPress.org because it’s free and feature-rich, which is exactly what we need to set up an ecommerce store!

Now, let’s talk about WooCommerce.

This powerful plugin transforms your WordPress site into a fully functioning ecommerce store at no cost.

It is essential for creating your online store as it provides the framework for cart functionality, product listing, checkout processes, and payment options.

With this background in mind, let’s move on to installing WordPress and WooCommerce.

Option 1: Direct installation through your hosting provider

The easiest way to install WordPress and WooCommerce is directly through your hosting provider.

For example, if you’re using SiteGround, you can simply choose ‘WooCommerce’ during the setup process.

This will automatically install both WordPress and WooCommerce for you. This one-click installation saves you a ton of time!

And if you encounter any issues, most hosting services have support teams ready to assist. So, if you’re stuck, don’t hesitate to reach out to them!

Option 2: DIY install

If you prefer a more hands-on approach or if your host doesn’t offer direct installation, you can set up WooCommerce manually.

Here’s how:

First, make sure you have a WordPress site ready.

Then install WooCommerce by following these steps:

1. Go to ‘Plugins’ in the WordPress left-side menu.
2. Search for ‘WooCommerce’.
3. Click ‘Install Now,’ then ‘Activate.’

After activation, WooCommerce’s setup wizard will guide you through the initial setup.

The five steps include:

• Store Details. Enter your store’s address.
• Industry. Select the industry that best fits your store.
• Product Types. Choose ‘Physical products’ or other options if you offer customizable products.
• Business Details. Share how many products you plan to list and if you’re selling on other platforms. If you’re just starting, select ‘I don’t have any products yet.’
• Theme. Start with the free Storefront theme or stick with your current theme by selecting ‘Continue with my active theme.’

We’ll dive deeper into choosing themes in the next step.

6. Pick a WooCommerce theme according to your niche

Now that you’ve set up WordPress with the WooCommerce plugin, it’s time to choose a theme that matches your niche.

Think of your theme as your website’s outfit—it sets the first impression and vibe of your store.

The best part? You can always change your store’s appearance by switching to a different theme!

You have two main options for adding a theme:

• Choose a free (or premium) theme from WooCommerce.
• Upload a third-party or custom theme.

WooCommerce offers three themes:

• Storefront. A versatile option that works well for most stores.
• Deli. Earthy tones, perfect for natural or handcrafted products.
• Boutique. Designed for small shops and boutique stores.

Storefront is a reliable choice for most stores, although it’s fairly basic and offers limited customization options.

For more flexibility, you can choose a free third-party WooCommerce theme like OceanWP or WoodMart.

To install a third-party theme, follow these steps:

1. Download the theme’s .zip file.
2. On your WordPress dashboard, navigate to Appearance > Themes and click ‘Add New.’
3. Click ‘Upload’ to add the .zip file.
4. Click ‘Activate.’

Tip: Need a quick recommendation? Have a look at 10 best WooCommerce themes for ecommerce and dropshipping stores!

7. Add products to your store

After choosing a supplier, it’s time to add products to your WooCommerce store!

We recommend entering the important details about your products now. This way, you can start to see how your store is shaping up before diving into further customization.

If you’re using a dropshipping platform like CJdropshipping or Syncee, you can simply integrate their plugin with your WooCommerce store, and then add products from their catalog with a single click.

Dealing with a local supplier? You’ll probably be adding products yourself.

If you’re familiar with WordPress, you can upload your product details in bulk using a CSV file directly into the platform.

For those adding products one by one, check out this detailed WooCommerce guide on adding and managing products.

8. Create your standard online store pages

Next, let’s add content to your ecommerce store by creating the standard pages that any online store needs.

These include your FAQs, return policy, and shipping policy pages.

Although these pages might seem a bit boring to create, they are crucial for every online store!

They build trust and ensure your customers have all the information they need, which can help reduce inquiries and improve overall satisfaction.

9. Install the right WooCommerce plugins

Your WooCommerce store becomes even more powerful with the right plugins. By adding plugins, you can introduce features like pop-ups, size guides, and memberships.

The best part? Most of the 55,000+ WordPress plugins are free or follow a freemium model!

To start, check out these essential WooCommerce plugins for your dropshipping website:

To install plugins, navigate to Plugins > Add New in your WordPress dashboard.

Keep in mind that while plugins enhance functionality, adding too many can slow down your website.

Also, always install plugins from reputable companies to avoid the risk of hacking or being locked out of your own online store.

Tip: If you have a dropshipping store, take a look at these 14 best WooCommerce plugins for dropshipping stores!

10. Design and brand your WooCommerce store

To customize your WooCommerce store, you need to:

• Design your logo
• Add content
• Style your store

Let’s start with your brand logo!

Your store’s logo is just as important as its name—it leaves a lasting impression on your visitors.

For tips on designing a standout logo, check out this guide: How to Get a Logo for Your Dropshipping Store? (5 Options)

Next, let’s style your store to reflect your brand!

From the WooCommerce dashboard, navigate to Appearance > Customize. The ‘Customizer’ provides a live preview of your store as you make changes.

Here’s what you can personalize:

• Site Identity. Set your site title, tagline, and logo.
• Header. Customize the layout, colors, and content of your header.
• Footer. Adjust the footer layout, text, and widgets.
• Typography. Choose fonts and styles for your text.
• Buttons. Style your buttons to match your brand.
• Product Catalog. Configure the layout and appearance of your product listings.
• Product Page. Design the individual product pages.
• Checkout. Customize the checkout page to ensure a smooth purchasing process.

For a more detailed guide on managing the layout, store notice, and more, read this detailed article here.

11. Set up shipping, payment gateways, and tax settings

Fantastic progress! You’re almost ready to open your WooCommerce store to your first customers.

The final step is setting up shipping, payment gateways, and tax settings. It might seem tricky, but we’ll simplify it for you.

Let’s start by setting up your shipping zones.

These zones are the regions where you’ll deliver your products. For instance, you could have a ‘Domestic’ zone for all US states or a ‘West Zone’ for just the western states.

Then, add shipping methods to each zone. WooCommerce offers three main shipping methods:

1. Flat rate
2. Free shipping
3. Local delivery

You can mix and match methods for different zones based on what you need.

Finally, apply rates to these shipping methods. For example, if your supplier charges $10 for shipping anywhere in the US, you could set a flat rate of $10 for all US zones.

To find these settings, go to WooCommerce > Settings > Shipping in your dashboard.

For more help, check out this free guide:

Now, let’s set up your taxes!

Setting up taxes with WooCommerce is simple, especially if you’re selling in the US, Australia, Canada, the UK, or Europe.

Just use the WooCommerce Tax plugin to automatically calculate sales tax at checkout based on the customer’s location.

If you’re selling in another country, look for tax plugins specific to your country in the WordPress Plugins store.

Lastly, let’s talk about payment gateways. Here are some top options for WooCommerce:

12. Choose a marketing method that fits you and start advertising

Once you’ve set up your WooCommerce storefront, it’s time to start marketing!

Remember, marketing is an ongoing effort. It’s not a one-time task; you need to be consistent and persistent.

That being said, there are many different ways to market your store, and the best methods depend on your goals.

If you’ve identified your niche, product, and target audience, this article will help you find your best marketing method!

For a quick overview of which marketing methods might work for you, check out this infographic:

Once you’ve decided on your plan, you’re ready to launch your WooCommerce dropshipping store!

Why you should start a WooCommerce store in 2024

First off, starting an online store is a smart move, as online shopping is one of the fastest-growing segments in the retail industry.

Check out the growth of retail ecommerce sales worldwide:

You’ll see that sales are skyrocketing.

But why choose WooCommerce specifically?

Simply put, WordPress with the WooCommerce plugin is one of the best overall ecommerce platforms out there. It’s no surprise that it’s the second most popular shopping cart in the world!

With over 5.8 million stores and a presence in more than 175 countries, WooCommerce offers valuable features like:

• Built-in payment processing.
• Customizable checkout options.
• Local customization.
• Ability to list unlimited products and product images.
• A large community of merchants, developers, and other users.

If you’re not sure if WordPress (with WooCommerce plugin) is the best platform for you, take our quiz here for a personalized recommendation based on your specific needs.

FAQs about starting a WooCommerce store

Here are some frequently asked questions about starting a WooCommerce store. We hope these will address any remaining questions you might have:

Is WooCommerce good for small businesses?

Yes, WooCommerce is an excellent choice for small businesses due to its flexibility, extensive customization options, and cost-effectiveness. It allows businesses to scale as they grow without significant upfront investment.

Does WooCommerce cost money?

While WooCommerce itself is free, there are associated costs such as hosting, premium themes, and various extensions. These additional expenses can vary depending on the specific needs and scale of the business.

What is the difference between WooCommerce and Shopify?

WooCommerce is a WordPress plugin that offers extensive customization and control but requires a separate hosting setup. In contrast, Shopify is an all-in-one hosted platform known for its ease of use and built-in ecommerce features, suitable for those preferring simplicity and convenience.

Do you need hosting for WooCommerce?

Yes, WooCommerce requires a WordPress site, which necessitates a hosting service. The choice of hosting can affect site performance, security, and scalability, making it an important consideration for any WooCommerce store.

Is WooCommerce good for beginners?

No, you need some technical expertise to run a WooCommerce store. While adding plugins might be easy, handling security, backups, and troubleshooting requires experience. However, there are tutorials available to help beginners in navigating these technical aspects.

Summary

Before we go to the conclusion, we’ve created a quick summary of this article for you, so you can easily remember it:

• Taking the time to find the right product and a reliable supplier is essential; don’t rush this step.
• Choose a theme from the WooCommerce theme store for better customization options instead of using the default Storefront theme.
• Enhance your store’s functionality by exploring and adding plugins from the WordPress Plugins store.
• Limit the number of plugins you install. Just like too many apps can slow down your phone, an excess of plugins can affect your site’s speed, compatibility, and security.
• Marketing is an ongoing process for your online store. Keep promoting and connecting with your target audience.
• When you find a successful product, consider scaling up to maximize profits by importing in bulk or using fulfillment centers like Amazon.

Final thoughts

That’s it! Now you have the key information to start your WooCommerce store in 2024.

Starting a store isn’t easy, but by following this guide, you’ll be well on your way to success.

If you’re on a limited budget, consider dropshipping and check out this article where we show you how to create a dropshipping WooCommerce store for free!

We hope you found this guide helpful and wish you the best of luck with your WooCommerce journey.

If you have any questions, please feel free to drop a comment below.

Want to learn more about WooCommerce?

Ready to move your online store to the next level? Check out the articles below:

While popular selling platforms like Shopify help business owners get up and running quickly, they can also come with limitations because of their proprietary nature. For those looking for more customization and control over their online store, open source ecommerce platforms are the way to go.

But it takes a lot of time to develop or migrate an online shop. So it’s important that you choose the right platform for your business. Here are five popular open-source ecommerce selections that are ideal for entrepreneurs and businesses looking for more freedom and flexibility.

5 Best Open Source Ecommerce Options for Entrepreneurs

As an ecommerce shop owner, I know the frustration of not being able to integrate my CRM or email marketing software into a proprietary platform. These restrictions, on top of often higher overall costs, make closed-source ecommerce less appealing.

When you embrace open-source ecommerce, you’ll have a lot more control over your store. And the ambitious can even build stand-out features that help differentiate your store from the competition.

These five options each offer a robust set of features, a large community of contributors, and extensive documentation that can help in setting up and customizing your store. And I’ve noted where a program stands out from the pack in case you need a specific feature for your business.

1. WooCommerce: User-Friendly Option for WordPress Users

Built as a plugin for WordPress, WooCommerce benefits from the same open-source principles that define WordPress itself. This means that users have complete access to the source code. The program has the second largest market share

among ecommerce platforms, second to Shopify.

WooCommerce gives users control over:

• Product Management: Users can easily add, manage, and categorize products, including setting prices, descriptions, and images.
• Customizable Themes: WooCommerce supports various customizable themes, allowing for a tailored look and feel to match the brand’s aesthetics.
• Payment Gateways: The platform supports various payment gateways, including PayPal, Stripe, and many others, facilitating smooth transactions.
• Extensions and Plugins: A wide range of extensions and plugins are available to enhance functionality. This includes cart abandonment tools, SEO optimization, and more.
• Analytics and Reporting: Built-in analytics tools provide insights into sales, customer behaviors, and product performance.

With a large community of developers, users can access support and resources for any issues or customization needs they may have. Woocommerce also offers a free resource library to help those new to open soure ecommerce get started.

If you’re considering this platform, check out our comprehensive Woocommerce review for more details.

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2. Prestashop: Thousands of Customizable Modules

PrestaShop is a powerful open-source ecommerce platform used by over 290,000 websites. Its standout feature is its customizable modules, which are available in the PrestaShop marketplace for free or at a reasonable price. This helps newer open source shop users bootstrap their way to a well-developed online storefront.

Customizations not only include design and performance enhancements but also integrations with various third-party services.

A few helpful features include:

• Out-of-Stock Message Customization: Personalize notifications to keep customers informed.
• Multi-Currency and Multi-Language Support: Easily reach global markets.
• GDPR Compliance Tools: Simplify regulatory compliance.
• Discount Codes and Limited-Time Offers: Enhance promotions to drive sales.
• Facebook and Instagram Integrations: Increase visibility and engagement on social media.

PrestaShop is ideal for startups and small businesses needing a scalable, feature-rich ecommerce solution. Boutique apparel shops can customize their brand features, niche food retailers can use discount codes for seasonal sales, and accessory businesses benefit from multi-currency support. It’s a great catch-all program for a variety of small to medium businesses.

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3. Adobe Commerce (Formerly Magneto): Best for Large Inventories

Adobe Commerce (formerly Magento), part of the Adobe Creative Cloud, is a headless ecommerce platform powering over 250,000 large online stores, including HP. It manages big inventories and high traffic well, so if you have a lot of products in your catalog, it may be a good choice for your team.

With many plugin options, you can build landing pages, manage inventory, and grow your store. Adobe Commerce also offers:

• Scalability: Handles many products and transactions.
• 24/7 Support: Help is always available.
• Extensions: Over 400 plugins for ads, email marketing, CRM, SEO/SEM.
• Integrations: Connects with other systems and POS for in-store sales.
• SEO Tools: Improves search engine rankings for various ecommerce niches.
• Analytics Dashboard: Built-in tools for data insights.
• Customization: Drag-and-drop builder, nine free themes, personalization editor.

Adobe Commerce is great for big businesses wanting a flexible, developer-friendly platform that can handle large inventories and perform well. It’s also great for B2B companies offering specific features like the ability to manage company accounts, create special catalogs, and allow purchase orders and quotes.

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4. OpenCart: Great for Multi-Store Management

OpenCart is a popular open-source ecommerce platform for multi-store management, allowing you to control several stores from one interface. It combines the functionality of Adobe Commerce with the ease of use of WooCommerce, making it perfect for small and medium-sized direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands.

• Affiliate Marketing Module: Create custom programs without third-party add-ons.
• Rewards Program Tool: Boost customer loyalty and encourage repeat purchases.
• Templates and Extensions: Choose from over 1,000 templates and 13,000+ add-ons.
• Admin Dashboard: Quick overview of key features for seamless management.
• Mobile Management: Use the mobile app to manage your store on the go.

Used by over 400,000 website owners worldwide, including Red Cross UK, OpenCart offers powerful marketing tools and a user-friendly setup. OpenCart does lack low-stock alerts and specialized multi-source inventory support. Still, it’s an excellent option for DTC brands looking for a versatile and scalable ecommerce platform.

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5. Shopware: Best for Advanced Automation Features

Shopware’s advanced automation features make for efficient workflows for ecommerce teams. This German open source ecommerce platform, founded in 2000, combines Symfony on the backend and Vue.js on the front end. It has a large developer community and 100,000+ customers worldwide, including brands like Aston Martin and M&Ms.

• Integrated CMS Capabilities: Similar to Drupal, it offers robust content management.
• Customization: Drag-and-drop interface makes store customization easy.
• SEO and Marketing Tools: Built-in tools to enhance search engine visibility and marketing efforts.
• Extensions: Access over 4,000 extensions for added functionality.
• Hosting Options: Choose between self-hosted or cloud-hosted variations.

While the free version of Shopware offers limited functionality, the platform includes extensive features suitable for both market and enterprise brands. Note that customer support requires an additional subscription.

Understanding the Costs associated with Open Source

While open source ecommerce platforms like WooCommerce are free to download and use, there are still costs associated with building and maintaining an online store. These costs include web hosting, domain registration, payment gateway fees, and potentially hiring a developer for any customization needs.

Thankfully, these expenses are typically much lower than the monthly subscription fees of proprietary ecommerce solutions. Plus, open source platforms often have active support communities that can help onboard new users.

Benefits of Open Source Ecommerce Platforms

Here are a few reasons you may want to choose an open-source platform for your online shop:

Cost-Effective for Entrepreneurs on a Budget

While initial costs like web hosting, domain registration, and plugins may come into play, they’re often cheaper than the subscription fees of proprietary platforms. And if you put in the sweat equity and are comfortable with technology, you can set up shop without the expense of a developer.

More Customizable for Code-Savvy Business Owners

For those who have coding skills or can hire a development team, an open-source ecommerce platform can offer unparalleled levels of customization. You have control over:

• Design: Open-source platforms offer more flexibility in terms of design, allowing you to create a unique brand experience for your customers.
• Features and Functionality: Since the source code is available, developers can create custom features and functionalities to meet specific business needs.
• Integrations with Third-Party Tools: With open access to the platform’s code, it’s easier to integrate third-party tools like CRMs or email marketing software into your online store.

This can be an advantage over proprietary platforms that may not have open APIs or adequate integration options.

Community Support and Constant Development

Open source platforms thrive on their vibrant communities consisting of developers, designers, and users who continually contribute to their improvement. This collective effort ensures that these platforms are inherently more secure, regularly updated, and packed with the latest features.

When a Closed Source Option is Best

These open-source Shopify alternatives aren’t always the right choice for everyone. Here are a few instances where opting for a closed-source solution may be advantageous:

Ease of Use for Non-Technical Business Owners

Don’t know how to code or have the budget for a developer? A proprietary solution may be the best option, as it typically comes with user-friendly interfaces and templates that can be easily customized without coding knowledge.

Quick Launch Time

If you’re looking to get your online store up and running quickly, a closed-source platform may be the way to go. Since they come with pre-built templates and features, they require minimal setup time compared to open-source platforms, where customization can take longer.

Well-Rounded Security and Stability

While open-source platforms have a strong community and regular updates, if security is your top concern, a closed-source solution may be worth the investment. These platforms often have dedicated teams working on security and ensuring stability for their users.

Best Closed-Source Ecommerce Solutions

When considering a closed-source ecommerce solution, the following platforms are some of the best options available:

• Shopify: Known for its simplicity and robust feature set, Shopify is a preferred choice for many due to its ease of use, customization options, and extensive app store. It’s suitable for businesses of all sizes and offers a variety of plans to meet different needs. Check out these Shopify success stories to see how the platform may benefit you.
• Squarespace: Primarily famous for its stunning design templates and user-friendly interface, Squarespace is ideal for those who prioritize aesthetics and simplicity. It includes built-in ecommerce tools and integrations, making it a great choice for small to medium-sized businesses looking to create a visually appealing online store quickly.

These are the two main players in the industry, with well-vetted reviews and longstanding consistency in the ecommerce market.

Final Thoughts: Open Source Ecommerce Platforms

Open-source ecommerce platforms are great options for lean-budgeted, tech-savvy entrepreneurs looking for full creative control. While you can expect to pay for hosting at a minimum and may need to hire a developer for advanced customization, the overall costs are still significantly lower than using a closed-source platform.

Ultimately, the best ecommerce platform for your business will depend on your specific needs and priorities. Consider your budget, technical capabilities, desired features, and long-term goals when deciding between open source.

And finally, make sure to do your research and choose a reputable platform with strong community support for the best possible experience. The 5 above options perform great, but there are always new contenders on the market.

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HostGator is a popular hosting company that currently powers over 707,000 websites. HostGator offers hosting packages for websites of all shapes and sizes, ranging from shared hosting to dedicated hosting.

I signed up for a HostGator plan and thoroughly reviewed HostGator’s plans, pricing, functionality and security. I also reached out to customer service to establish how effective HostGator’s live chat, email and phone teams are. You can learn more about the process I’ve used for reviewing and testing HostGator by reading how we test web hosting services.

Overall, I found HostGator’s service acceptable for basic websites, especially sites with a North American audience. The tools are easy to use and the performance is decent. Site speed varies a lot by region and isn’t great outside of North America. There are also issues with customer service, so I don’t recommend HostGator for a site with complex needs.

HostGator plans and pricing: You can find the type of hosting to fit your needs and budget

HostGator offers several types of web hosting: web (shared) hosting, WordPress hosting, e-commerce hosting, virtual private server hosting, dedicated hosting and reseller hosting.

Here’s a quick overview of HostGator’s plans for each type of web hosting:

Hosting type	Best for	Price
Shared hosting	Blogs, for-fun hobby sites and small business websites	$3.75-6.25 a month, renews at $10-20 a month
WordPress hosting	Users starting a blog, for-fun hobby site or small business website on WordPress	$4.50-14 a month, renews at $15-27 a month
eCommerce hosting	Online stores built with WordPress	$10-13 a month, renews at $25-40 a month
VPS hosting	Medium-to-large business websites or sites with complex data needs	Starts at $37-96 a month, renews at $86-149 a month
Dedicated hosting	Large business websites or sites with complex data/server customization needs	Starts at $92-142 a month, renews at $182-291 a month

Shared hosting is the best option for most first-time site owners so I’ll explore those plans in detail and share some brief information about the other types of hosting packages HostGator offers. Reseller plans aren’t covered here, as those plans are intended for users who want to create a hosting company, not regular website creators.

All prices listed here are based on a three-year term, as those plans offer the steepest discounts.

Shared hosting plans

Shared hosting — referred to by HostGator simply as “web hosting” — is designed for sites with low data storage and traffic needs. Sites on these plans are placed on servers shared with hundreds of other sites, sharing resources like processing power and bandwidth.

All HostGator shared hosting plans include:

• Pre-installed WordPress
• Free domain for the first year
• SSL certification for the first year
• Unmetered bandwidth
• 99.9% uptime guarantee
• 24/7 customer support via live chat
• Basic email hosting for one account

The table below provides a detailed explanation of the HostGator shared hosting plans, with cost based on purchasing a three-year plan. 

I was particularly pleased to see that the Baby and Business plans both offer a content delivery network, which uses interconnected servers to store data in caches all over the world so visitors’ browsers can quickly pull data from the cache closest to them. Both of these plans also provide a small amount of dedicated resources, such as bandwidth, via virtual central processing units.

Plan name	Storage	Security features	Additional features	Cost
Hatchling	10GB SSD	N/A	N/A	$3.75 a month for first term, $10 a month on renewal
Baby	20GB SSD	Malware scanning	CDN, 2vCPUs	$4.50 a month for first term, $15 a month on renewal
Business	50GB SSD	Malware scanning, daily backups and domain privacy	CDN, 3 vCPUs	$6.25 a month for first term, $20 a month on renewal

WordPress hosting plans

WordPress hosting through HostGator is shared hosting with pre-installed WordPress — a popular content management system, or CMS, for managing content like blog posts — and multiple virtual central processing units — CPUs — to boost performance. You’ll be responsible for maintaining and updating the WordPress software, including themes and plugins, yourself.

The Baby WordPress hosting plan is the most affordable option for this type of hosting, starting at $4.50 a month and renewing at $15 a month. The most expensive option for HostGator WordPress hosting is the Pro Plan, starting at $14 a month and renewing at $27 a month. 

eCommerce hosting

HostGator also offers advanced WordPress hosting with everything you’ll need to start an online store, including the Yoast SEO plugins. Several YITH plugins — independent tools created for the e-commerce plugin WooCommerce — are also included for booking and appointments, gift cards and wishlist creation. These plans are managed, so WordPress updates and daily backups will be conducted for you.

The Online Store plan starts at $10 a month and renews at $25 a month. The Online Store + Marketplace plan starts at $13 a month and renews at $40 a month. 

VPS hosting

Virtual private server hosting or VPS hosting gives you access to a virtual server with dedicated resources, such as bandwidth and processing power. The lowest-tier HostGator VPS plan includes 120GB of solid-state drive — SSD — storage and two-core CPUs.

The most affordable HostGator VPS hosting package is Snappy 2000, starting at $37 per month and renewing at $86. Snappy 8000 sits at the other end of the price range, starting at $96 a month and renewing at $149.

Dedicated hosting

Dedicated hosting gives you an entire physical server. You can use all of its storage — starting at 1TB HDD or 512GB SSD — bandwidth and processing power. You’ll also get full control over your server’s digital configuration.

Value Server is the most affordable HostGator dedicated hosting plan, starting at $92 and renewing at $182  a month. Enterprise Server is the most expensive option, starting at $142 a month and renewing at $291 a month.

HostGator ease of use: One of the most user-friendly web hosts

Now that we’ve explored the hosting packages, it’s time to look at what happens after you’ve selected a plan. I used the Hatchling plan for this part of my HostGator review and examined three aspects of using HostGator: purchase process, account management and website and server management.

Purchase process

Buying a plan from HostGator is remarkably easy. You can enter your domain, HostGator account credentials and billing information all on the same page.

There are a couple of things I dislike about the purchase process. The first issue is that you don’t see renewal pricing on the plans page; it’s found instead in small text under your term length on the purchase page. This renewal cost is easily overlooked if you’re in a hurry to buy your plan.

The other issue is in the Add Additional Services area. Nearly every web host offers some upsells during the checkout process, but HostGator automatically signs you up for the SiteLock Essentials service.

SiteLock Essentials is highlighted to stand out when you’re scrolling, but I dislike automatically opting users into extra services. Moreover, this add-on comes with its own renewal pricing, jumping from $35.88 to $95.88 a year and it’s billed annually even if you choose a three-year hosting plan.

Account management

When I entered my HostGator account for the first time, I had the opportunity to create a PIN to verify my account ownership during customer service interactions. A personal identification number is a great security measure, except it didn’t work on my first attempt:

I was able to move on to the account dashboard without creating my PIN but I received a warning that I could only skip creating a PIN four times. This was concerning, especially since the error wasn’t my fault. Thankfully, I managed to create a PIN on the third attempt.

I liked what I saw once I got into the HostGator account dashboard. The dashboard is easy to navigate, and there’s a guided tour to help you understand what (and where) the important areas are.

Billing and account management is accessed through a drop-down menu connected to the profile image in the top right corner. I’d have preferred these areas to be more visible, but this is a common placement for account management links, so I can’t fault HostGator for it.

There’s one big downside to HostGator’s account management area: Every time I logged in after the first time, HostGator redirected me to a page trying to convince me to buy backups through the WordPress plugin Jetpack. Jetpack is great, but I don’t appreciate being sent to a purchase page before accessing my account dashboard.

Website and server management

Shared plans on HostGator feature pre-installed WordPress, so I could access my WordPress dashboard from the Websites area of HostGator immediately.

I also appreciated that HostGator automatically set my site to display a Coming Soon page and provided a site launcher with a pre-launch checklist:

This area also provides tools for you to:

• View your pages and posts
• Connect WooCommerce and perform basic store management
• Easily access premium tools and services
• Control settings for caching, backups and more

I liked how beginner-friendly this tool is and how it lets you interact with several core WordPress functions in one place. You’ll still need to learn how to use your WordPress dashboard, but there’s a lot you can do from this page.

When I started building my site, I discovered that my plan included Wonder Blocks, a tool for creating pre-formatted blocks like FAQ blocks. I didn’t see this listed in the Hatchling features list, so it was a pleasant surprise, as these blocks make it easy to create an attractive web page in minutes.

Overall, HostGator provides solid tools for getting set up with WordPress. What about the server side of things?

Since this is shared hosting, HostGator does the important stuff, like keeping your operating system and security software up to date. You can go years without needing to focus on the more technical side of things (beyond essential WordPress software updates) unless you’re transferring a site from another host.

If you do want to view or manage more advanced settings, you can access them by going to Websites and clicking the Settings button under your site. This leads to an area where critical site information is displayed:

To quickly access the cPanel itself, you can select Hosting in the sidebar and click on cPanel in the Quick Links area.

Overall ease of use

HostGator’s purchase process is one of the simplest I’ve encountered, and the beginner-friendly account management area makes it easy to perform basic domain, site and account management tasks. HostGator also offers excellent tools to simplify launching and managing your site within WordPress.

I had an issue creating my PIN, but research suggests this isn’t a common experience. What is a shared — and frustrating — is the aggressive attempt to sell you on Jetpack every time you log in. 

Still, HostGator is generally intuitive, so it gets a 9/10 ranking in this category.

HostGator performance: Good enough for basic use

Next, I created a test site using the WordPress theme Total to test three aspects of HostGator’s site performance:

• Performance tools are software — and sometimes hardware — configurations used to improve site speed and reliability.
• Uptime is the amount of time a website spends online.
• Speed is how quickly a site loads.

I conducted these tests over the course of one week to collect enough data to get a good idea of how well HostGator’s shared servers operate.

Performance tools

The Hatchling plan doesn’t offer many performance tools. There aren’t any performance tools listed for Hatchling in the plan comparison table for shared hosting. I was surprised to find caching settings in my site’s Settings area.

These settings let you set up basic caching to increase your website speed by storing data in an easy-to-access space so browsers don’t need to pull from your site’s server. I also like the option to refresh the cache to ensure that visitors see the most up-to-date version of your site.

HostGator offers additional performance tools at higher tiers of hosting:

• Additional central processing units for more processing power, increasing the amount of bandwidth you have.
• Content delivery networks or CDNs to distribute data to global servers so visitors’ browsers can pull information from a server close to their location, improving loading times.

These features can further improve loading speeds and uptime.

Uptime

HostGator offers a 99.9% uptime guarantee, meaning a website shouldn’t be down for more than ten minutes per week. Some web hosts provide the same guarantee, but the best web hosts go beyond this to offer a full 99.99% guarantee, ensuring that a site won’t go down for more than two minutes a week due to server errors.

HostGator’s 99.9% guarantee is on par with a lot of other web hosts, though, so the real question is: Does HostGator’s service live up to that guarantee?

I monitored uptime for my HostGator test site for one week using Better Stack. During this time, my site went down twice, for a total of seven minutes. This does live up to its guarantee, although it’s cutting it pretty close.

Based on these results, HostGator gets a 6/10 ranking for uptime.

Speed

I ran several speed tests over one-week using WebPageTest. The test page I created for this purpose had two images and two text blocks to simulate a real homepage. I enabled HostGator’s built-in caching but didn’t add any additional optimization tools.

I conducted my tests at various times of day and performed tests for a variety of locations to determine what the user experience would be like for users in different parts of the world. Ideally, I hoped to see loading times of three seconds or less in most regions, as bounce rates increase by 32% when loading time goes from 1 – 3 seconds.

I used my tests to calculate average loading times — measured in seconds — for the following locations (remember, lower is better):

Location	California	London, UK	Germany	India	Dubai	Australia
Mobile	2.62	2.99	3.09	4.11	4.2	3.73
Desktop	1.71	2	2	3.02	3	2.74

These numbers suggest that HostGator has an average mobile loading time of 3.45 seconds and an average desktop loading time of 2.41 seconds. This earns it an overall speed rating of 7/10 — with a 6/10 for mobile and an 8/10 for desktop — with a couple of caveats:

• Mobile loading times vary greatly depending on the device you use and the plan you have; the number here is my attempt to create an accurate average, but it may not perfectly represent the mobile experience for all users.
• If your website is aimed at a North American audience, the 1.71-second average brings the speed ranking up to a 9/10 for your audience.

Overall performance

My HostGator test site had mediocre uptime, but the site speed was pretty good for a website without any additional measures to improve loading times. Overall, HostGator gets a 6/10 ranking for performance.

HostGator security: You’ll get the fundamentals, but not much else

HostGator provides a firewall to prevent malicious software from infecting your site, meeting the minimum security standard for a high-quality web hosting company.

Another benefit provided to all HostGator users is Distributed Denial of Service protection to prevent your server from being overwhelmed by malicious traffic.

Some plans also include automated backups and WordPress updates to increase security.

Overall, HostGator’s security is average for a web hosting company. The one common security protocol HostGator lacks with its base shared hosting tier — Hatchling — is malware scanning to detect and eliminate malicious software that sneaks through the firewall. Malware scanning for HostGator sites is only available through the SiteLock Essentials add-on or a more advanced plan, like the Baby/Business shared hosting plans and the WordPress hosting plans.

HostGator customer support: Great live chat and knowledge base, but lackluster phone and email support

The next stage of my HostGator review involved exploring the two main avenues HostGator offers for customer support: the knowledge base for self-directed troubleshooting and direct communication via live chat, email and phone.

Knowledge base

The HostGator knowledge base offers comprehensive resources on most basic website hosting and creation functions, plus some more advanced topics. The search function is highly visible, making it easy to find the article you need.

Individual resource pages use headers, concise text and images to make tutorials easy for even a beginner to follow. Several of the pages I looked at also included video tutorials.

All of this earns the HostGator Knowledge Base a 10/10 rating.

Direct communication

I ran into a minor error during site creation, reached out to HostGator via live chat and was connected to an agent in three minutes. After half an hour of back-and-forth communication, the agent escalated my complaint to a higher level of tech support and told me to expect an email “soon.”

I got a phone call an hour later. I once again asked them to send me an email, since it was the end of my workday. When I didn’t receive an email the next day, I reached out again via live chat. The live chat representative fixed my initial issue within a few minutes.

This fix brought new errors, so they offered to schedule a call with a more advanced tech support team. I asked them to schedule it for 2:30 PM EDT. I spent an hour waiting for a phone call that never came. Once again, I had to reach out myself.

I eventually got my issue fixed, and everyone I spoke to was polite and attempted to help. I also understand that live chat attendants are typically trained on fixing minor issues, and escalating high-level tech concerns to other teams is normal. If they tell me I’ll receive an email, I expect to receive an email, and if they tell me they’re scheduling a call, I expect to receive it at the scheduled time.

Based on the complete lack of communication I received when my tickets were escalated, I’m giving HostGator’s customer support channels the following rating:

• 10/10 for live chat
• 0/10 for email support
• 5/10 for phone support

Overall customer service

I spent a lot of time debating how to rank HostGator’s customer service. The knowledge base is great, and I received excellent support from the live chat specialists, but things fell apart when my issues had to be escalated. They called me when I specifically asked for an email, and when I asked for a call, I didn’t hear anything back at all.

I settled on a 6/10 for overall customer support. The knowledge base and live chat will usually meet customers’ needs, but the failure of email and phone support means you might be out of luck if you encounter a more complex problem.

Reputation

I may know a thing or two about web hosting, but I’m just one user. The next question becomes: what have other users experienced while working with HostGator?

The answers seem pretty mixed. HostGator has a 4.1 out of 5 rating on TrustPilot, but 24% of the reviews are one star, and poor customer service is a top complaint. There are also allegations on TrustPilot that the company is review-bombing its own page with five-star reviews from employees and other plants, although these haven’t been proven.

There are more red flags on HostGator’s Better Business Bureau page: HostGator isn’t BBB accredited, and there’s a Pattern of Complaint warning citing repeated accusations of deceptive business practices. Specifically, HostGator has consistently failed to honor its money-back guarantee.

All in all, it seems like HostGator’s customer service is poor across the board. HostGator may even use deceptive practices to keep people on its services.

HostGator value: Middle-of-the-pack prices

Based on the pricing plans and all of the data collected during testing, how does HostGator stack up in terms of value?

There’s one more thing I need to do before I can answer that question: take a look at the competition.

Here’s a quick overview of three popular hosts:

Host	Starting plan name	Starting plan features	Starting plan costs	Additional notes
GoDaddy	Web Hosting Economy	25GB storage, free domain for first year, free SSL for first year, site migration, automated daily backups	Starts at $6 a month, renews at $10 a month (based on three-year term)	Lacks key security protocols, lots of additional fees and upsells
DreamHost	Starter	50GB storage, free domain for first year, free SSL certificate, WordPress installer and website builder, automated WordPress updates, daily backups, ModSecurity Firewall	Starts at $2.59 a month, renews at $6 a month (based on three-year term)	Automated system frequently denies signups, live chat isn’t always available
A2 Hosting	Startup	100GB storage, free SSL certificate, unlimited email accounts, free site migration, WordPress auto-install, WordPress auto-updates, security tools suite	Starts at $3 a month, renews at $13 a month (based on one-year term)	Phone customer service can be slow

Let’s break this down a bit:

• HostGator’s starting pricing is slightly more expensive than comparative plans at DreamHost or A2 Hosting, but notably less than GoDaddy’s.
• HostGator’s renewal pricing is the same as GoDaddy’s, which sits between the DreamHost and A2 Hosting prices.
• HostGator’s features are largely in line with what you’ll get from other hosts, including essentials like secure socket layer — SSL — certification and basic security protections. It doesn’t offer much storage — the Baby plan only offers 10 GB, and the most expensive shared hosting plan only offers 40 GB.

As for performance, HostGator’s speed is on the high side of average and the uptime is on the low side of average. The customer service is unreliable, which unfortunately seems common among the similarly-priced hosts I’ve tested so far.

In short, HostGator’s pretty average, providing better value than some hosts — like GoDaddy — and less value than others — like A2 Hosting. Based on these comparisons, HostGator earns a value ranking of 6/10.

HostGator: Is it right for you?

In the beginning, I was excited to dive into HostGator. HostGator is a household name among web hosts, and if you take the TrustPilot rating at face value, it seems like a good company.

I discovered some things I liked during my HostGator review: the easy-to-use account management area, caching settings, pre-installed WordPress and the HostGator WordPress site management tools. Uptime and speed testing were pretty average, and the latter can be improved with free caching plugins for WordPress.

There are some major drawbacks to HostGator. The aggressive upsells are annoying and the customer service is inconsistent across channels, providing extremely limited support for complex issues.

So, what’s the official ranking?

Let’s start with the rankings for each category:

• Ease of use: 9/10
• Performance: 6/10
• Customer support: 6/10
• Value: 6/10

Averaging these numbers out, HostGator receives an overall ranking of 7/10. HostGator’s a solid choice if you want to create a basic site for an affordable price, especially if your audience is North American. Due to the poor customer service, I wouldn’t recommend it for any site with complex needs.