8 Best Ecommerce Platforms for Small Business (And the Hidden Fees That Change Everything)

Shopify is the best ecommerce platform for most small businesses — it powers over 5 million active stores across 175+ countries, requires zero technical knowledge to launch, and its Shop Pay checkout converts at the highest rate of any platform in the category. But the platform that gets a solo founder from zero to first sale in a weekend is a very different animal from the one an established retail brand needs when it's doing $500K/year in revenue across multiple channels and its Shopify app bill has quietly grown to $400/month on top of its subscription.

Here is what most ecommerce platform comparisons refuse to acknowledge: the monthly subscription is only a fraction of your real platform cost. A Shopify Basic store at $29/month can realistically cost $400–$600/month once you add transaction fees, essential apps, email marketing, and a premium theme. WooCommerce is "free" — until you factor in hosting, security, plugin subscriptions, and the developer hours required to maintain it. BigCommerce charges $0 in transaction fees but triggers automatic plan upgrades when your revenue crosses thresholds you didn't know existed.

This guide gives you the honest total cost of ownership picture, the platform that wins for each business type, the real math behind transaction fees at different revenue levels, and exactly when switching platforms makes sense — and when it costs more than it saves.

The Four Types of Ecommerce Platform (Know Which Category You're Shopping In)

Before comparing any specific tool, understand the architecture of what you're choosing — because these platforms don't work the same way under the hood:

Type 1 — Hosted SaaS Platforms (All-in-One) Examples: Shopify, BigCommerce, Wix You pay a monthly subscription and the platform handles hosting, security updates, SSL, checkout, and core features. No server management, no maintenance overhead. The platform controls the stack — which means limitations on some customisations but zero technical maintenance burden.

Type 2 — Self-Hosted Open Source Examples: WooCommerce (WordPress plugin), Adobe Commerce (Magento) You own the software, pay for hosting separately, and control everything — but you're responsible for server performance, security patches, plugin updates, and resolving conflicts. Maximum flexibility, maximum maintenance overhead.

Type 3 — Website Builders With Ecommerce Examples: Squarespace, Wix (commerce plans), GoDaddy Originally designed as website builders that added shopping cart functionality. Good design flexibility and ease of use; less depth for complex inventory, multi-channel, and B2B selling than dedicated ecommerce platforms.

Type 4 — Marketplace-Hybrid Examples: Ecwid/Lightspeed (eCom), BigCartel Add a store to an existing website or social presence rather than building a full standalone store. Best for sellers already established elsewhere who want to add a direct channel.

Most small businesses should start in Type 1 or Type 3. Type 2 makes sense when you have a developer on staff or the budget to hire one. Type 4 is right for very small inventories or creators adding a store to an existing platform.

The Real Cost of Running an Ecommerce Platform

The monthly subscription price you see on a platform's pricing page is the rent. Here's the full list of costs most comparison guides omit:

Transaction fees — the percentage Shopify, BigCommerce, or Squarespace takes from every sale. These compound at scale. At $10,000/month in revenue, a 1% fee difference is $100/month — more than the cost of upgrading to the next plan tier.

Payment processing fees — separate from transaction fees. All platforms pass through Stripe/PayPal's standard 2.9% + $0.30 per online transaction (or similar). This is unavoidable regardless of which platform you choose — but some platforms add their own transaction fee on top of this if you use a non-native payment processor.

Apps and plugins — the biggest hidden cost category. Shopify's 8,000-app marketplace means most "missing" features are available — but they cost $10–$80/month each, and a typical growing store runs 8–12 apps. Independent research estimates that subscription fees plus apps typically run $100–$500/month for most Shopify stores beyond the base subscription.

Themes — free themes are functional; premium themes cost $180–$350 one-time. For a brand where visual presentation is a competitive advantage, a premium theme is often non-negotiable.

Hosting (for self-hosted platforms) — WooCommerce requires hosting at $10–$50/month, SSL certificates, and a CDN for performance at scale.

The rule: Always calculate your total cost at your current revenue and at 3x your current revenue before choosing a platform. The platform that costs least today may cost most tomorrow.

The 8 Best Ecommerce Platforms for Small Business

1. Shopify — Best All-Round Ecommerce Platform for Small Business

The verdict in one line: Shopify is the gold standard for small business ecommerce — it combines the fastest launch time, the deepest app ecosystem, the highest checkout conversion rates, and the most complete set of multichannel selling tools of any platform in the category.

Who it's for: Any small business wanting to launch a professional online store quickly without technical expertise — and any brand that plans to sell across multiple channels (website, social media, marketplaces) from a single dashboard.

Pricing (2025/2026):

Third-party payment gateway surcharge (if not using Shopify Payments): 2% (Basic), 1% (Grow), 0.5% (Advanced)

⚠️ The trap: Shopify's monthly subscription is the smallest part of your true platform cost. A typical Shopify Basic store at $29/month adds: 8–10 essential apps at $10–$40/month each ($80–$400 in apps) + payment processing at 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction + a premium theme ($200–$350 one-time) + email marketing ($15–$100/month). Total realistic first-year cost for a basic store doing $10,000/month in revenue: $700–$1,000/month. The $29/month price is a door, not a ceiling. Additionally, Shopify's gated ecosystem adds costs for "outside" solutions — using a third-party payment processor adds 0.5–2% per transaction on top of that processor's own fees. This effectively locks most merchants into Shopify Payments.

What it does exceptionally well:

• Shopify powers over 20% of all online stores globally and surpassed $1 trillion in cumulative GMV in 2024 — the dominant platform for a reason

• Shopify Magic (AI tools suite) generates product descriptions, blog posts, newsletter copy, and store imagery from simple prompts — included on all plans at no extra charge

• Shop Pay checkout converts at the highest rate of any checkout experience in the category — Shopify reports Shop Pay improves conversion rates by up to 50% compared to guest checkout on competing platforms

• 8,000+ apps in the Shopify App Store — the deepest integration ecosystem of any ecommerce platform

• Multichannel selling: list products on TikTok Shop, Instagram, Facebook, Amazon, Walmart, and eBay from a single Shopify dashboard with automatic inventory sync

• Shopify POS for in-person selling is the smoothest integration with an online store — a single inventory across physical and digital channels

• 24/7 customer support via phone, email, and chat on all plans

What it doesn't do well:

• Total cost of ownership is significantly higher than the headline subscription price — apps are not optional extras but often core features on most stores

• Using a non-Shopify payment processor triggers an additional 0.5–2% transaction fee per sale — an effective lock-in mechanism

• BigCommerce includes more B2B features natively; Shopify requires paid apps for wholesale pricing, customer-specific catalogs, and invoice management

• Theme and design customisation requires Liquid coding knowledge for deep modifications — less accessible than Squarespace for non-technical founders who prioritise aesthetics

The real total cost at $10,000/month revenue:

• Basic plan + Shopify Payments: $29 subscription + $290 (2.9% processing) + $30 (100 orders × $0.30) + $150 (apps estimate) = ~$499/month

• Grow plan: $79 + $260 + $30 + $150 = ~$519/month — better for processing cost savings at higher volumes

2. WooCommerce — Best for Maximum Flexibility and Long-Term Cost Control

The verdict in one line: WooCommerce is the world's most customisable ecommerce platform — it gives you complete ownership of your store's code, data, and design — but the flexibility that makes it powerful also makes it the most technically demanding platform in this guide.

Who it's for: WordPress users who already have a website and want to add ecommerce; technically capable founders who want maximum control without recurring platform fees; businesses with unique product types or checkout flows that hosted platforms can't accommodate natively.

Pricing (2025/2026):

⚠️ The trap: WooCommerce is not free — it's free software that you host yourself. Once you account for quality hosting, security plugins, backup solutions, an email marketing plugin, a page builder plugin, and performance optimisation tools, a WooCommerce store running on quality hosting with essential plugins costs $100–$250/month before a single sale is made. Additionally, WooCommerce requires maintenance: plugin updates, WordPress core updates, PHP version compatibility, and security patches all need regular attention. A plugin conflict can take your store offline. If you don't have a developer on retainer or the technical skills to troubleshoot these issues yourself, the "free" platform can generate expensive emergency support bills at the worst possible time.

What it does exceptionally well:

• Zero platform transaction fees — you pay only your payment processor's fee (typically 2.9% + $0.30 via WooPayments or Stripe), with no additional Shopify-style surcharge

• Complete data ownership — your customer data, order history, and product catalog live on your own server, not in a third-party platform that can change pricing or terms

• The deepest customisation of any platform in this guide — if you can imagine it, a WooCommerce developer can build it

• Over 60,000 WordPress plugins available — far larger ecosystem than any hosted platform

• Full content marketing integration — WooCommerce runs on WordPress, meaning your ecommerce store and your SEO-driven content blog share a single platform with perfect technical integration

• One-time costs rather than recurring subscriptions for most themes and many plugins — long-term total cost of ownership can be lower than Shopify for technically capable businesses

What it doesn't do well:

• Technical maintenance burden is the highest of any platform in this guide — not suitable for non-technical founders without developer support

• Launch time is significantly longer than Shopify — setting up WooCommerce properly takes days to weeks, not hours

• Support is community-driven rather than a dedicated support team — troubleshooting plugin conflicts can require sifting through forums

• Scaling WooCommerce to handle high traffic requires server infrastructure investment that hosted platforms handle automatically

Real honest total cost for a self-managed WooCommerce store: $100–$250/month in ongoing subscriptions and hosting, plus developer time at $75–$200/hour when issues arise.

3. BigCommerce — Best for Scaling Businesses With Complex Catalogs

The verdict in one line: BigCommerce is purpose-built for stores that are outgrowing Shopify's app-dependency model — it includes more native features (B2B wholesale, multi-storefront, advanced SEO, no transaction fees), making it the right choice for businesses whose app bills are climbing and whose needs are becoming enterprise-grade.

Who it's for: Growing businesses with large or complex product catalogs, B2B and wholesale sellers who need native wholesale pricing, and merchants processing over $100K/year who want to reduce per-transaction costs.

Pricing (2025/2026):

⚠️ The trap: BigCommerce's revenue-based plan upgrade is the most significant gotcha in the ecommerce platform market. If your store processes more than $50,000 per year on the Standard plan, BigCommerce automatically upgrades you to the Plus plan — and charges you the higher rate retroactively from when you crossed the threshold. A business that hits $55,000 in annual revenue in month 10 of its subscription year doesn't just get bumped to the Plus plan — it may be billed the Plus rate for the preceding months it exceeded the Standard limit. Always check BigCommerce's current revenue cap enforcement policy before signing up on a plan you expect to exceed within 12 months.

What it does exceptionally well:

• Zero transaction fees on every plan regardless of which payment processor you use — unlike Shopify's 0.5–2% surcharge for third-party gateways

• Native B2B features: customer group pricing, custom catalogs for wholesale accounts, invoice portal, and net payment terms — all without Shopify-level app subscriptions

• Built-in multi-storefront management: run multiple separate stores under one BigCommerce account — the strongest native multi-brand capability of any platform in this guide

• No throttle on API calls — developers can build deep integrations without the rate limiting that frustrates Shopify's more complex implementations

• Native faceted search for large catalogs — customers can filter by multiple attributes simultaneously without a paid app

• 140+ currencies and 65+ payment gateway integrations included natively — best international selling infrastructure in the SMB category

What it doesn't do well:

• The automatic revenue-based plan upgrade is the most disruptive pricing mechanism in this guide — budget unpredictability for fast-growing stores

• App ecosystem (1,200+ apps) is significantly smaller than Shopify's 8,000+ — some integrations available on Shopify aren't available on BigCommerce

• No native AI tools — BigCommerce's AI Copywriter app fills the gap but requires a separate download

• Learning curve is steeper than Shopify for non-technical merchants — the dashboard complexity reflects the platform's enterprise aspirations

At what revenue level does BigCommerce's no-transaction-fee advantage outweigh Shopify's better ecosystem? At $100,000/year in sales using a third-party payment processor, Shopify Basic's 2% surcharge costs $2,000/year. BigCommerce charges $0. At this volume, BigCommerce's Plus plan ($79/month = $948/year) is $1,052 cheaper than Shopify Basic ($29/month + $2,000 surcharge = $2,348) — assuming all else equal.

4. Squarespace — Best for Design-Led Brands and Service Businesses

The verdict in one line: Squarespace is the most beautiful ecommerce platform available — its 194+ templates are the best-designed in the category, and its new plan structure makes commerce available at every tier, making it the right choice for creative businesses, consultants, and service providers selling both products and services from one site.

Who it's for: Creative professionals, photographers, designers, artists, service providers, restaurants, and any business where visual presentation and brand aesthetics drive purchase decisions over raw feature depth.

Pricing (2025/2026):

⚠️ The trap: Squarespace's Basic plan ($16/month) charges 2% on every commerce sale and 7% on every digital product sale. At $3,000/month in digital product revenue, the 7% fee costs $210/month — significantly more than the Core plan ($23/month) that drops transaction fees to 0%. Anyone selling digital products or courses on Squarespace should start on Core, not Basic. Additionally, Squarespace's abandoned cart recovery — one of the highest-ROI ecommerce automations — is only available on the Advanced plan at $99/month. For stores where abandoned cart automation is a priority, this forces an immediate Advanced upgrade from day one.

What it does exceptionally well:

• The most visually stunning templates of any ecommerce platform — Squarespace's designs consistently outperform Shopify and WooCommerce themes on aesthetic quality

• Blueprint AI (2025 launch) builds a complete personalised website from a style quiz — the fastest design-quality website setup of any platform

• Squarespace is consistently rated best for solopreneurs and creative professionals who want everything — portfolio, blog, booking, and store — in one platform

• Fluid Engine drag-and-drop editor provides more design layout freedom than Shopify's section-based editor

• Acuity Scheduling integration: sell products alongside appointment bookings from the same platform — ideal for service businesses adding product sales

• Squarespace acquired Google Domains in 2023 — domain management and website management are now unified

• All plans include unlimited products and subscriptions — no tier-based product limits

What it doesn't do well:

• Ecommerce feature depth is shallower than Shopify or BigCommerce — no native B2B tools, limited multichannel selling, no dedicated inventory management

• Abandoned cart recovery only on the Advanced plan ($99/month) — a key automation locked behind the highest tier

• App ecosystem is very limited compared to Shopify — extensibility requires developer API integrations

• Less suitable for high-volume product stores with complex inventory, variants, or fulfillment requirements

Real cost for a photographer selling digital prints: Core plan at $23/month — 0% transaction fees, analytics, Zapier integration. Squarespace is likely the best overall platform for design-led businesses at this price.

5. Wix — Best Website Builder Ecommerce for Service-First Businesses

The verdict in one line: Wix provides the most design flexibility of any website builder with ecommerce — its drag-and-drop editor allows pixel-level layout control that Shopify and Squarespace don't match, making it the right choice for businesses where the website experience matters as much as the shopping cart.

Who it's for: Service businesses adding a small product shop to their existing website, local businesses that need booking + products + blog + events on one platform, and non-technical founders who want design control without code.

Pricing (2025/2026):

⚠️ The trap: Wix's Core plan ($29/month) only supports basic product selling — subscriptions, abandoned cart recovery, multiple currencies, and advanced ecommerce analytics are locked behind the Business plan ($36/month). Additionally, Wix's open-ended drag-and-drop editor — its biggest strength for design flexibility — makes it very easy to create slow, poorly optimised page layouts if you're not careful. Page speed on complex Wix stores can lag behind Shopify and BigCommerce for high-traffic use cases. Wix is excellent for light to moderate ecommerce volume; at high volume, it starts to show infrastructure limitations.

What it does exceptionally well:

• The most design-flexible drag-and-drop editor of any platform in this guide — Wix allows positioning of any element anywhere on the page with pixel precision

• Wix ADI (AI Design Intelligence) generates a complete personalised website from a questionnaire — the fastest complete website setup of any platform

• Wix Events + Wix Bookings + Wix Store in one platform — the best combined service/event/product platform for hybrid businesses (yoga studios, art classes, local retailers)

• 900+ professional templates across all business types

• Wix's Business plan supports subscriptions and recurring billing — important for box subscriptions, memberships, and service retainers

• App Market with 700+ apps — smaller than Shopify but sufficient for most small business needs

What it doesn't do well:

• Once you choose a Wix template, switching templates requires rebuilding your site from scratch — a significant lock-in risk

• Less suitable for product-first ecommerce businesses compared to Shopify or BigCommerce

• Wix's open editor flexibility can produce slow sites if layouts become complex — Shopify's structured section-based editor naturally produces faster pages

• No native multichannel selling to Amazon, Walmart, or TikTok Shop at the depth Shopify offers

6. Ecwid by Lightspeed — Best for Adding a Store to an Existing Website

The verdict in one line: Ecwid is the only ecommerce platform that operates as an embeddable store widget — it adds a fully-functional shopping cart to any existing website, CMS, or social media presence without replacing your current site.

Who it's for: Businesses that already have a website (on WordPress, Wix, Squarespace, or any platform) and want to add ecommerce functionality without rebuilding the whole site, and social-first sellers who want a unified inventory across Facebook, Instagram, and their website.

Pricing (2025/2026):

⚠️ The trap: Ecwid's free plan is limited to 5 products — enough to test the platform but insufficient for any real store. The Venture plan at $25/month caps you at 100 products. Businesses expecting to scale their catalog quickly will find themselves on the Business plan ($45/month) within months. Additionally, Ecwid's strength — its embeddable nature — is also its limitation. It's an add-on, not a platform. For businesses building ecommerce as their primary channel, a dedicated platform like Shopify offers deeper native ecommerce features, better analytics, and more app integrations.

What it does exceptionally well:

• The only platform that embeds seamlessly into any existing website without replacing it — add Ecwid to a Wix, Squarespace, or WordPress site with a single embed code

• Unified inventory syncs across your website, Facebook Shop, Instagram Shopping, and TikTok Shop from a single dashboard

• No transaction fees on any paid plan — pay only the payment processor's standard rate

• Instant mobile app: your Ecwid store automatically creates an iOS and Android-optimised shopping experience without additional development

• Real-time shipping rates from major carriers included on all paid plans — no separate integration required

• Multilingual support on all paid plans — sell in the customer's language automatically

What it doesn't do well:

• Free plan's 5-product limit makes it unsuitable for any established product business

• Product limit on Venture (100) is restrictive for brands with broad catalogs

• Less analytics depth than Shopify or BigCommerce for data-driven merchants

• Not designed to be a standalone primary ecommerce platform — best as a supplement to an existing web presence

7. Squarespace vs Shopify Head-to-Head: The Decision That Matters Most

Before moving to tools 7 and 8, it's worth addressing the comparison that generates the most search traffic in this category directly — because the answer depends entirely on what kind of business you're running:

Choose Shopify if:

• Ecommerce is your primary business model — products, not services

• You need multichannel selling to social platforms and marketplaces

• You anticipate needing extensive third-party app integrations

• You want the best checkout conversion rates in the market (Shop Pay)

• You're building a DTC brand and expect to scale significantly

Choose Squarespace if:

• Your business is primarily service-based with a secondary product offering

• Visual presentation and brand aesthetics are your primary conversion driver

• You want the simplest all-in-one platform for website + blog + booking + store

• You're a creative professional (photographer, designer, artist) where design is the product

• You're selling digital products — Squarespace Core ($23/month with 0% fees) beats Shopify Basic ($29/month) for digital-first stores

7. BigCartel — Best for Independent Artists and Makers With Small Catalogs

The verdict in one line: BigCartel is purpose-built for independent artists, makers, and creators who want to sell a small collection of original works or limited-run products with zero technical complexity and the lowest possible platform cost.

Who it's for: Independent artists, musicians, potters, printmakers, small batch makers, and any creative with fewer than 500 products who wants the simplest possible store without ecommerce complexity.

Pricing (2025/2026):

⚠️ The trap: BigCartel's product limits are generous only if you sell a small, curated collection. At 50 products on Platinum and 500 on Diamond, the platform is explicitly designed for small-batch creators — not brands with broad or scalable product lines. BigCartel does not support variants beyond 3 options per product, cannot handle complex tax requirements well, and lacks the inventory management depth for businesses running multiple SKUs with size/colour/material combinations. It's the right tool for a specific creator use case; it's the wrong tool for any business expecting to scale.

What it does exceptionally well:

• The lowest-cost fully-functional ecommerce platform in this guide — $15/month for a complete store with custom domain and discount codes

• No transaction fees on any plan — BigCartel keeps 0% of your sales

• Designed specifically for the independent creator economy — features, templates, and onboarding all oriented around small-batch, limited-edition, and original work selling

• Dead simple setup — most sellers have a live store within 30 minutes

• BigCartel integrates with Printful, Printify, and other print-on-demand services for zero-inventory merchandise

What it doesn't do well:

• Product limits are hard caps that cannot be exceeded — not suitable for growing product lines

• No abandoned cart recovery — a significant revenue leak for any store with meaningful traffic

• Limited customisation compared to Shopify or WooCommerce

• Analytics are basic — Google Analytics integration required for meaningful traffic data

8. Shopify vs WooCommerce: The True Cost of Ownership at Scale

This is the comparison that determines the long-term platform decision for most small businesses — and the answer changes dramatically depending on your technical capability and annual revenue.

At $50,000/year revenue:

The takeaway: At $50,000/year revenue, Shopify and WooCommerce have comparable total cost of ownership — WooCommerce saves on subscriptions but adds hosting and potentially developer costs. Shopify wins on setup speed, support quality, and maintenance-free operation. WooCommerce wins on flexibility and data ownership. The right choice is the one that fits your technical capability.

Real Platform Cost Comparison at $10,000/Month Revenue

*Processing fees estimated at standard 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction (100 orders/month at $100 average order value) **Squarespace Plus uses 2.7% + $0.30

Key insight: Squarespace Core is the cheapest full-featured platform at $10,000/month in revenue — but only if you don't need the depth of Shopify's app ecosystem. For product-first brands needing advanced marketing apps, Shopify's total cost is justified by conversion rate advantages.

The App Dependency Trap: What Most Shopify Stores Actually Spend

This is what distinguishes Shopify's real cost from its headline price. Here is a realistic app stack for a growing Shopify store:

This is a realistic, conservative app stack for a growing DTC brand. On Shopify Basic ($29/month), apps alone can cost 8–14x the subscription fee. BigCommerce includes many of these features natively — faceted search, B2B pricing, multi-currency — reducing app dependency significantly for complex stores.

The audit rule: Review every Shopify app subscription quarterly. Independent research suggests most stores have 2–3 unused apps still billing. At $20/month average, that's $40–$60/month in pure waste.

5 Business Types — Which Platform Wins for Each

🛍️ DTC Brand / Product-First Store (Under $500K/Year Revenue)

Winner: Shopify Basic or Grow Shop Pay conversion rates, the largest app ecosystem, and the best multichannel selling tools make Shopify the default choice for product-first brands. Start on Basic, upgrade to Grow when monthly revenue exceeds $8,000 (the point where lower processing fees offset the higher subscription cost).

🎨 Creative Professional / Design-Led Brand

Winner: Squarespace Core or Plus No platform matches Squarespace's design quality. For photographers, artists, designers, and agencies where the website IS the portfolio, Squarespace's templates are worth the reduced ecommerce feature depth. Core at $23/month with 0% transaction fees is exceptional value for design-first sellers.

🔧 Technical Team / Custom Store Requirements

Winner: WooCommerce If you have a WordPress developer on staff or a developer retainer budget, WooCommerce's complete flexibility, data ownership, and zero platform transaction fees deliver the lowest total cost of ownership for technically capable teams at any revenue level.

🏪 B2B / Wholesale Seller or Multi-Brand Operation

Winner: BigCommerce Plus or Pro Native B2B features (wholesale pricing, customer groups, invoice portal), zero transaction fees with any payment processor, and multi-storefront management make BigCommerce the clear choice for B2B and multi-brand operations where Shopify's app-based approach to these features adds cost and complexity.

🎨 Independent Artist / Maker With Small Catalog

Winner: BigCartel Platinum ($15/month) For creators with fewer than 50 products selling original works or limited-run items, BigCartel's $15/month Platinum plan, 0% transaction fees, and creator-focused design make it the most cost-effective platform in the guide. For selling digital products at this scale, Gumroad (not in this guide) is also worth evaluating.

When to Switch Ecommerce Platforms (And When Not To)

Good reasons to switch:

• Your Shopify app bill has exceeded $400/month for features that BigCommerce includes natively

• You've hired a developer and now have the technical capacity to benefit from WooCommerce's flexibility

• BigCommerce revenue-cap upgrades are adding cost faster than your margins can absorb

• Your primary sales channel has shifted to social media and you need a platform with deeper TikTok/Instagram integration

Bad reasons to switch:

• A competitor is running a promotional price — platform migrations are 2–6 week projects that often cost more in developer time and lost sales than a year of alternative subscriptions

• You've heard another platform is "better" without specific feature requirements in mind

• You're under $5,000/month revenue — at this scale, all major platforms perform similarly and the migration cost is rarely justified

The migration rule: Always migrate at the beginning of a new financial year and after a major seasonal peak. Never migrate during Q4 for a retail business. Budget 4–8 weeks for a clean migration including product imports, SEO redirects (301s from old URLs), customer data migration, and staff retraining.