Last Updated on September 30, 2026
Commission never buys a place in a ranking. Full disclosure: how we make money and our review methodology.
Shopify’s plan price is the smallest part of what a UK shop pays it. On £20,000 a year of online card sales, the Basic plan is £228 and the card fees are £500. Any comparison of Shopify alternatives that stops at the monthly fee is comparing the wrong number.
We read the UK pricing pages for Shopify, Square Online, Squarespace, Hostinger’s managed WooCommerce hosting and Stripe on 30 September 2026, then priced a year of trading on each. On £20,000 of online card sales, Shopify Basic came to about £728 and Square Online’s free plan to about £380.
The quick verdict
Small catalogue, testing an idea, or already taking payments with Square in person: Square Online’s free plan. It was the cheapest route we priced at both £20,000 and £100,000 of sales.
Comfortable running WordPress: WooCommerce on managed hosting with Stripe. Close to Square on cost, and you own the whole site. You also maintain it.
A brand-led site that sells a few products: Squarespace Core. It charges no transaction fee of its own. Avoid Squarespace Basic for selling: it adds a 2% transaction fee on store sales.
Stay on Shopify if you rely on its apps or plan to grow past the point where the platform fee stops mattering. The gap to the cheapest route is real, but switching a live shop costs time, redirects and search rankings.
What each platform charges
Prices read from each vendor’s own UK pricing page on 30 September 2026. Plan prices are per month. Card rates are the online rates for standard UK cards on the entry plan.
| Platform | Entry plan | Online card rate | Platform transaction fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shopify Basic | £19 billed yearly, £25 monthly | 2% + 25p (Shopify Payments) | None with Shopify Payments; 2% with a third-party provider |
| Square Online | Free plan £0; paid plans from £20 | 1.4% + 25p (UK cards); 2.5% + 25p (non-UK cards) | None stated |
| Squarespace Basic | £12 billed annually, £16 monthly | From 2.0% + £0.25 | 2% on online store sales |
| Squarespace Core | £17 billed annually, £24 monthly | From 2.0% + £0.25 | 0% |
| WooCommerce on Hostinger, with Stripe | £3.99 a month on a 48-month prepay (£191.52), renews at £13.99 | 1.5% + 20p (Stripe, standard UK cards) | None |
What a year of trading costs
Our model: a UK shop selling online at an average order of £50, all paid by standard UK cards, on each platform’s own payment processing (Stripe for WooCommerce). Annual billing where offered. Apps, themes, domains and VAT are left out because they vary too much by shop to average.
| Route | £20,000 of sales (400 orders) | £100,000 of sales (2,000 orders) |
|---|---|---|
| Shopify Basic | £728 | £2,728 |
| Shopify Grow | £1,028 | £2,788 |
| Squarespace Basic | £1,044 | £4,644 |
| Squarespace Core | £704 | £2,704 |
| WooCommerce on Hostinger, with Stripe | £427.88 | £1,947.88 |
| Square Online, free plan | £380 | £1,900 |
At £20,000 the cheapest route saves about £348 a year against Shopify Basic. At £100,000 it saves about £828. At £20,000 most of the gap is Shopify’s £228 plan fee. At £100,000 the card rate is the larger share: 1.4% on Square and 1.5% on Stripe against 2% on Shopify Basic.
The trap in each price
Shopify: fees on the card, and on the apps
Shopify Basic’s card rate is 2% + 25p online. Use a payment provider other than Shopify Payments and Shopify adds a 2% transaction fee on Basic. Many themes and apps are priced separately. Our Shopify vs WooCommerce comparison prices a full first year including those.
Square Online: the free plan is the start
Square describes the free plan as including every feature you need to start selling online, with paid plans from £20 a month. Non-UK cards cost 2.5% + 25p online. If a large share of your buyers are overseas, rework the model with that rate.
Squarespace: Basic carries a transaction fee
Squarespace Basic adds a 2% online store transaction fee on top of card processing. At £100,000 of sales that is £2,000 a year, which is why Basic is the dearest route in our table at that size. Core removes it for £5 a month more on annual billing.
WooCommerce: cheap to run, yours to maintain
The £3.99 hosting price depends on paying £191.52 upfront for 48 months, and it renews at £13.99 a month. The plugin is free, but updates, security and fixing plugin conflicts are your job or a developer’s. Budget that time before choosing it on price. Check current Hostinger WooCommerce hosting pricing.
Which route fits, by stage
Start. Proving people will buy. Square Online’s free plan or Shopify’s opening offer (3 days free, then £1 a month for 3 months) keeps the cost of finding out low. Do not prepay four years of hosting for a shop that has not taken an order.
Build. Steady sales and a catalogue that is settled. The card rate is now the biggest line, so compare it first. Square Online and WooCommerce with Stripe both undercut Shopify Basic on the percentage card rate.
Scale. Several sales channels and staff accounts. Shopify’s higher plans cut its card rate (1.7% on Grow, 1.5% on Advanced) and its app ecosystem starts to earn its keep. At this stage price the switch itself, including redirects and lost rankings, before moving a working shop.
Before you switch a live shop
- Map every product and category URL to its new address and set up 301 redirects before the old shop closes.
- Export customers and order history, and check what your new platform can import.
- Run a real test order end to end, including the confirmation email and the refund.
- Recheck the card rate you will actually pay against your own mix of UK, overseas and Amex cards.
What this page did not check
We read published prices and rates. We did not build a shop on each platform or compare features, speed or checkout conversion. Wix showed us prices in dollars on 30 September 2026, so we have left it out instead of guessing a pound figure. Card rates are the published starting rates; your statement will depend on your card mix.
The takeaway
Price a Shopify alternative on a year of sales, because the card fee outweighs the plan fee. On £20,000 of online card sales, our model on prices read on 30 September 2026 put Shopify Basic at about £728 a year and Square Online’s free plan at about £380.
Related: our Shopify review, Shopify vs WooCommerce, the best ecommerce platforms for UK businesses and UK payment processors compared.
Common questions
What is the cheapest alternative to Shopify in the UK?
Of the routes Whito priced on 30 September 2026, Square Online’s free plan was cheapest: about £380 a year on £20,000 of online card sales, against about £728 on Shopify Basic. The difference is the £228 plan fee plus the card rate, 1.4% + 25p on Square against 2% + 25p on Shopify Basic.
How much does Shopify cost in the UK?
On 30 September 2026, Shopify’s UK plans were Basic at £19 a month billed yearly or £25 monthly, Grow at £49 or £65, and Advanced at £259 or £344. Online card rates start at 2% + 25p on Basic.
Is WooCommerce cheaper than Shopify?
On fees, yes. In our model WooCommerce on Hostinger’s managed hosting with Stripe cost about £428 a year on £20,000 of sales, against about £728 on Shopify Basic. You maintain a WooCommerce site yourself, so count your time or a developer’s.
Does Squarespace charge transaction fees?
On Basic, yes: a 2% online store transaction fee on top of card processing, as shown on Squarespace’s pricing page on 30 September 2026. Core showed a 0% store transaction fee.
Does Shopify charge a fee if I use another payment provider?
Yes. Shopify’s UK pricing page on 30 September 2026 showed third-party transaction fees of 2% on Basic, 1% on Grow and 0.6% on Advanced.
Sources
All read by Whito from a UK connection on 30 September 2026: shopify.com/uk/pricing (monthly and yearly billing, card rates and third-party transaction fees); squareup.com/gb/en/online-store; squarespace.com/pricing (annual and monthly billing, GBP); hostinger.com/uk/woocommerce-hosting; stripe.com/gb/pricing. The trading model is Whito’s own calculation from those published figures.
