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When it comes to online sales, choosing the right platform to build your digital storefront is critical for success. Weebly and Shopify are well-known website-building platforms catering to aspiring entrepreneurs and established businesses. Each comes with its distinct advantages. Here, we’ll explore the intricacies between the two, comparing their features, pricing, user-friendliness, and security to help you discern which platform best serves your eCommerce ambitions, whether it is Shopify, Weebly, or another alternative.
Shopify and Weebly: A Quick Overview
Shopify and Weebly are website builders. Shopify focuses exclusively on eCommerce, while Weebly supports various website types, such as blogs, portfolios, and business sites.
Since its acquisition by Square in 2018, Weebly has enhanced its eCommerce capabilities. It stands out for its user-friendly design tools and flexible drag-and-drop builder, allowing customization beyond standard templates. Square provides the platform with payment processing, POS services, and business tools to manage your online and brick-and-mortar stores.
Meanwhile, Shopify has always focused on eCommerce. As one of the biggest global eCommerce platforms, Shopify supports small to enterprise-level businesses, offering a scalable solution for online sales. The platform supports international selling in 132 currencies and comes replete with marketing, dropshipping, payment processing, and customer engagement tools.
Weebly vs Shopify: A Detailed Look
Square created and launched Square Online after acquiring Weebly. The platform augments Weebly’s website builder tools with Square’s sales suite, making it an ideal solution for businesses selling online and in-store. If you set up a new Weebly account for eCommerce (as opposed to personal use or blogging), you will automatically create a Square account.
To clear up any confusion, please note:
- You can still create an account from Weebly’s website
- After creating your account, you will log in with your Square credentials to the Square admin dashboard each time you log in
- Despite this, you can still access the Weebly builder/editor
We recommend signing up with a Square Online plan from the beginning to avoid having to migrate from Weebly to Square at a later stage. Although Weebly will be supported through at least July 2025, it is unlikely to get updated. While Weebly’s future beyond 2025 is uncertain, it makes sense to hedge your bets. In addition, Square Online offers a free eCommerce plan not listed on Weebly.
With regard to pricing, Weebly’s eCommerce plans have thus merged with Square’s. We recommend looking into the differences between Square and Shopify pricing details to understand what works for you.
Here, we’ll unpack other differences unique to Weebly and Shopify as hosting services.
Ease of Use
Shopify and Weebly are user-friendly platforms that let you set up an online store without coding knowledge. They offer customizable pre-designed templates with a drag-and-drop interface. While Weebly offers more design freedom for non-technical users than Shopify, the latter prioritizes eCommerce functionality.
Shopify simplifies the design process by offering pre-defined sections. While this limits creative flexibility, it makes the platform straightforward. Advanced users can gain access to code editing for more elaborate customization.
If you prioritize eCommerce functionality over intricate design customizations, Shopify can be a great choice. However, if design is a high priority and your store doesn’t need fancy eCommerce features, Weebly works well.
eCommerce Features
Shopify is a dedicated eCommerce platform, meaning its features are specifically built to support and enhance online businesses. It offers various sales tools and functionalities catering to various business sizes, from small startups to large enterprises.
Weebly is more of a general website builder with eCommerce capabilities. While it is a solid choice for small businesses needing a website with some eCommerce functions, its tools for online selling aren’t as robust as Shopify’s.
Features offered by both platforms include:
- Unlimited product listings
- Unlimited storage
- Shipping
- Inventory management and tracking
- Analytics
- Coupons and gift cards
- Store management from a mobile app
- Ability to sell physical and digital products
- POS capabilities to sell in-person
Weebly offers integration with Shippo, enabling you to apply real-time shipping rates directly to customer purchases. However, discounts are limited to 40%, with only USPS and DHL. While shipping with additional carriers is possible by linking your account, these will not include discounts.
In contrast, Shopify offers a higher discount of up to 88% (77% for the Basic plan) with USPS, UPS, and DHL, offering greater flexibility. Shopify also offers integrated dropshipping and a broader range of multi-channel integrations for selling on Instagram, Facebook, Amazon, eBay, and more.
Marketing Features
Both Shopify and Weebly offer integrated email systems. With Weebly, you can use a drag-and-drop builder to design every element of your email campaigns for a unique format. You can also use ready-made templates for newsletters, sales, product launches, promotions, and events. Weebly only offers automated abandoned cart emails on the highest-tier plan. In contrast, all Shopify plans include this feature.
Shopify also provides a range of customizable email templates, lets you upload images, and includes an option for an express checkout button in the email. The Shopify Magic feature can automatically create effective email subject lines for you. These tools can help you maximize your sales capability on the platform.
Regarding SEO marketing, both platforms provide several useful built-in features. In addition to meta-descriptions and automatic site optimization for mobile, you can write keyword-driven titles, add image alt tags, and customize page URLs. Each platform provides a thorough yet beginner-friendly SEO guide to help users navigate optimization features.
Since Shopify prioritizes eCommerce, it does not offer extensive blogging tools. However, it enables you to create a blog with basic features. Weebly has superior blogging tools and provides an archive feature, social bookmarking, and search feature. Nevertheless, you can add third-party extensions to Shopify to enhance its capabilities—although this may come at an extra cost.
Apps and Integrations
Integrations allow you to enhance your site by connecting it with other services, such as social media shops, SEO tools, shipping assistance, or accounting software.
Weebly offers over 370 apps, covering categories from eCommerce and communication to marketing and site design enhancement. Notable apps include Google Ads for marketing synchronization, Facebook Live Chat for real-time customer service, and TrustedSite for displaying certifications to build trust. These apps vary, with both free and paid options available.
Meanwhile, Shopify offers over 8,000 apps including everything from sales, orders, and shipment processing, to marketing, analytics, accounting, and customer communication. For instance, you can feature your products on TikTok, streamline sales accounting with QuickBooks, or efficiently handle multiple AliExpress dropshipping orders with DSers.
Security
Weebly and Shopify provide free SSL certificates across all plans. This ensures the encryption of sensitive data such as login and customer payment information. Both platforms allow the creation of password-protected pages for restricted access.
However, Weebly lacks a self-restore feature, requiring assistance from their support team for site recovery should something go wrong. On Shopify, you can facilitate self-restoration by adding the Rewind app, with plans starting at $3 monthly.
Customer Support
Shopify provides 24/7 phone support, live chat, and email assistance. Weebly only offers phone and live chat support during business hours, though you can also contact customer support via email.
Note that if you have a problem with third-party apps or services, you must contact the app developer directly. Support for each application will vary according to the provider.
Which Is Best for My Business Needs: Shopify or Weebly?
When deciding between Weebly and Shopify, the best solution will depend on your business goals, needs, and size.
Small Business
Weebly is ideal for businesses with only a handful of products to sell. The platform offers a low-cost entry point for newcomers and lets you set up a store quickly with its user-friendly website builder.
Meanwhile, Shopify offers more extensive features tailored for online selling. These include many payment gateways, a vast app marketplace, and robust scalability. It can easily handle growing inventories and sales volumes—making it a good choice for small businesses focusing on growth.
Middle Market
Shopify is a great option for middle-market businesses, particularly those focusing on eCommerce. It supports high sales volumes and complex operations with extensive app integrations and professional reporting. Shopify is built to scale and can accommodate the growing demands of a mid-sized business.
Weebly, however, may be a more cost-effective option and enables you to customize the look of your website to a greater extent to make your brand stand out. In addition, its partnership with Square makes it a good choice if a large portion of your business entails in-person sales.
Corporate
Shopify Plus, the enterprise level of Shopify, offers a powerful, scalable, and customizable eCommerce platform tailored to large-scale businesses. It supports international sales, offers advanced analytics, and can handle high-volume online transactions.
Weebly simply cannot match Shopify Plus’s extensive integration capabilities large corporations require to manage complex operations and multi-channel marketing strategies.
Drive Sales and Profits With the Right Payment Processor
When deciding between Weebly and Shopify, consider your company’s size, growth plans, and long-term goals. If you seek an affordable and easy-to-setup option, Weebly is ideal. It’s a good choice for small to medium businesses not requiring extensive features. Shopify can be more costly and complex to manage. Still, it provides a robust and scalable solution with abundant features for expanding businesses.
Successfully managing a multi-channel business requires offering customers convenient payment methods. Integrating the best payment processing option can help you drive sales and reduce unnecessary fees.
PaymentCloud’s eCommerce merchant accounts provide tailored payment processing solutions for businesses of all sizes, ensuring transaction fees don’t erode profits. We also offer a secure, PCI-compliant gateway, seamless cart integration, and quick transactions. Boost your sales by enabling customers to pay however is most convenient for them. Connect with a payment expert today!
Weebly vs Shopify FAQs
Can I Connect Shopify to Weebly?
Yes. You can directly import your store from Shopify to Weebly or embed a Shopify Buy Button on your Weebly site for a monthly fee of $5.
Can I Buy a Domain From Weebly or Shopify?
Yes, you can purchase domains directly through both Weebly and Shopify. Each platform offers domain registration services, allowing you to choose a custom name for your website or online store.
Will Weebly Be Discontinued Soon?
Square acquired Weebly in 2018. Square has refrained from making any clear business decisions regarding Weebly’s longevity. However, they have stated that it will be supported through at least July 2025—though further updates seem unlikely.
While Weebly is not officially on the chopping block, Square has pushed users toward its proprietary product, so keep this potential cancellation in mind. Luckily, as we’ve mentioned, starting a site on Weebly is relatively easy. You can transfer it to Shopify or Square if you so choose.
