The right e-commerce platform depends on three things: how much technical work you want to do, how big and complex your catalogue is, and what the store will cost you over two years, not just at launch. Start by deciding whether you want to rent a ready-made store or run open-source software on your own hosting; the rest follows from that.
This is a short checklist. For a detailed side-by-side of WooCommerce, PrestaShop, Magento, Shopify and BigCommerce, with pros and cons for Indian merchants, read Comparing PrestaShop vs WooCommerce vs Magento vs Shopify vs BigCommerce.
Choose WooCommerce if you want a flexible, low-cost store on WordPress, PrestaShop for store-first open-source software, Magento Open Source only with a developer and a VPS, and Shopify or BigCommerce if you want the least technical work and accept monthly fees. For a very small shop that takes orders on WhatsApp and UPI, a website builder with a cart may be enough.
1. Know your requirements first
Write these down before you look at any platform:
- Catalogue: how many products, and how many variants (sizes, colours).
- Payments: the gateway you want, such as Razorpay, PayU, Cashfree or PhonePe, with UPI, cards and net banking.
- GST invoices, cash on delivery and shipping: check each is supported for your courier or aggregator.
- Integrations: accounting, email marketing, analytics, inventory.
- Who maintains it: someone must apply updates every month on a self-hosted store.
- Budget for year one and year two: software or subscription, hosting, theme, extensions or apps, payment fees and developer time.
2. Hosted or self-hosted
| Question | Hosted (Shopify, BigCommerce) | Self-hosted (WooCommerce, PrestaShop, Magento) |
|---|---|---|
| Who runs the servers | The platform | You, on your hosting |
| Software cost | Monthly subscription | Free, open source |
| Updates and security | Done for you | Your job |
| Freedom to customise | Within the platform's rules | Full access to the code |
| Moving away later | Export data, rebuild the design | You own the files and database |
Neither is cheaper in every case. Compare the full two-year cost for your store size, and check each platform's own pricing page on the day you decide, because plans and fees change often.
3. The popular options in one line each
4. Where Domain India fits
- WooCommerce or PrestaShop on shared hosting. Our cPanel and DirectAdmin plans include Softaculous, and cPanel also has WP Toolkit for WordPress. Install WordPress and add WooCommerce, or install PrestaShop directly. New shared hosting purchases have a full refund within 30 days.
- Magento on a VPS. A VPS gives you root access and the resources Magento needs. It is self-managed, and cPanel is not offered on VPS.
- A small shop without a platform. The AI Website Builder Pro and Business plans include an online cart where visitors order on WhatsApp or pay by UPI.
- 25 GB NVMe SSD Storage
- 50 GB Monthly Bandwidth
- 1 Website
- 10 Email Accounts
The price on the card is a live Domain India list price and excludes 18% GST.
Which e-commerce platform is best for a small business in India?
For most small businesses, WooCommerce on WordPress or a hosted platform such as Shopify. WooCommerce costs less in fees but you maintain it; Shopify costs more each month but needs almost no technical work.
Is WooCommerce free?
The WooCommerce plugin is free. You pay for hosting and a domain, and optionally for premium themes and extensions.
Can I run Magento on shared hosting?
Not reliably. Magento needs a search service such as OpenSearch, Composer and several gigabytes of memory. Domain India shared hosting can't provide the search service or that much memory, so use a VPS for Magento.
Can I move my store to another platform later?
Yes, with effort. Products, customers and orders can usually be exported and imported; the design and extensions must be rebuilt. Using your own domain from the start makes the move easier.
Ready to open your store? Read the full platform comparison, follow setting up your online store with WooCommerce, or compare cPanel hosting plans.
Install WooCommerce or PrestaShop from your control panel, with free SSL and weekly backups included.
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