Ecommerce Platforms With No Transaction Fees (2026)

If you want an online store that takes nothing from your sales, you have more choices than most lists admit. LotsCommerce, Big Cartel and Ecwid take 0% on every plan. Shopify, BigCommerce and Squarespace reach 0% only with their own payments, approved providers or a higher plan. Your payment provider's own fee still applies everywhere.

I've put LotsCommerce first and the other 0% platforms right next to it with their real prices, including the ones that cost less to start. I opened every vendor's own pricing page on 19 October 2026 and read the fee rows, not the headlines. Prices are in US dollars before tax, monthly first, then the per-month price when billed yearly where the vendor shows one. Sources are at the end.

Two fees, not one

Every online sale can carry two separate charges, and "no transaction fees" usually only talks about the first.

1. The platform fee. A percentage the store platform keeps from each sale, on top of your plan. This is the fee you can avoid.
2. The payment processing fee. What Stripe, PayPal, Square, Razorpay or the platform's own payments service charges to move the money, usually a percentage plus a few cents. Every platform passes this on in some form. Nobody here can make it zero, and nobody should promise you that.

So the useful question is: on the plan I'd actually buy, with the payment provider I'd actually use, does the platform take a cut? Here's the answer for each one.

Ecommerce platforms with no transaction fees at a glance

Checked on 19 October 2026.

1. LotsCommerce: 0% of your sales, paid straight into your own account

This is the one I built. LotsCommerce gives you a store that looks established on your own domain, takes orders day and night, and pays you directly. We take 0% of your sales. You pay per store, and every plan has every feature.

• Who it's for, in order: agencies and freelancers who build stores for clients, founders starting a product brand, and shops that sell through Instagram, WhatsApp or in person today and lose orders in DMs.
• The money never passes through us. You connect your own payment account and shoppers' payments land there. With Stripe, shoppers pay on Stripe's own checkout page and the money goes to your Stripe balance; you create a restricted key with only the permissions the store needs, and you can switch it off in Stripe at any time (how to connect Stripe). Businesses registered in India can connect their own Razorpay account for cards, UPI, netbanking and wallets (how to connect Razorpay). You can also take UPI to your own UPI ID or orders on WhatsApp, settled with you directly. Your provider charges its own processing fee; we add nothing on top.
• No product caps. Products, variants, orders, customers and teammates are unlimited on every plan, so a growing catalog never pushes you up a tier.
• Several stores on one plan. Starter is $12 a month for 1 store, Pro $29 for 3 stores and Business $79 for 10 stores. Billed yearly, that's $120, $290 or $790 (two months free), so Starter works out at $10 a month. Extra stores on a plan are at your plan's rate. Without a plan, each store is $15 a month from LotsTech Credits, charged daily. Pro and Business also include LotsNotes Pro while active.
• A store that runs every day. Your logo, colours, pages and policies on a free yourstore.lotscommerce.com address or your own domain with HTTPS. Products with variants, categories and collections, CSV import and export, stock per variant with a low-stock view. You accept each order before it goes ahead, then fulfil, ship with any carrier (with a tracking number and link) and refund from the dashboard. Shopper accounts, wishlists, reviews you approve, discount codes, your own shipping zones and rates, and analytics with a visit-to-order funnel.
• Nothing deleted if a payment lapses. The storefront stays readable, new orders pause and the dashboard turns read-only until the store is funded. Orders already placed can still be fulfilled and refunded.
• Free start: new accounts get 15,000 free credits, valid 90 days, no card. That's about a month of one store.

Full plans are on the pricing page.

2. Big Cartel: 0% and a free plan for makers

Big Cartel says it plainly on its pricing page: no hidden fees, and "we never take a cut". It's aimed at makers and musicians.

• Plans: Gold is free with limited features. Platinum is $15 a month after 7 free days, with custom domains, physical and digital products, shipping labels and shop design. Diamond is $30 a month and adds abandoned cart recovery, scheduled product drops, password-protected products, Zapier and priority support. An annual price isn't shown on the page I read.
• Payments: cards, PayPal, Afterpay and more.
• Where it's strong: a genuinely free way to start, sales tax autopilot, label printing with up to 90% off shipping, and selling in person from your phone.
• How it compares: both of us take 0%. Big Cartel is cheaper to start, with a free plan. If you run several shops, LotsCommerce Pro covers 3 stores and Business 10 under one plan.

3. Ecwid: 0% and the lowest paid entry price

Ecwid (by Lightspeed) says it doesn't charge "any setup or transaction fees on any of our plans". You can run it as a standalone store or add it to a site you already have.

• Plans: Starter $5 a month with up to 10 products and a company.site address. Venture $35 a month ($29 billed yearly) with up to 100 products, a custom domain and selling on Instagram and Facebook. Business $65 ($49 yearly) with up to 2,500 products, marketplaces, subscriptions and 2 staff accounts. Unlimited $149 ($119 yearly) with unlimited products and staff, and in-person selling.
• Payments: more than 70 providers, including Stripe and PayPal.
• Where it's strong: the cheapest paid start on this list, a big payment provider choice, and marketplace selling from the Business plan.
• How it compares: Ecwid is cheaper to start, and $5 is a fair price for a shop with a handful of products. The difference is catalog size. Ecwid caps products at 10, 100 and 2,500 until the $149 plan. LotsCommerce has no product caps on any plan, so the $12 store and the $79 ten-store plan carry the same unlimited catalog.

4. Shopify: 0% only with Shopify Payments

Shopify is the biggest and most complete store platform, with a deep app and theme ecosystem. Whether it charges a transaction fee depends on how you take payments.

• Plans: Basic $39 a month ($29 billed yearly), Grow $105 ($79 yearly), Advanced $399 ($299 yearly). Plus starts at $2,300 a month. New stores get 3 days free, then $1 a month for 3 months.
• The fee: with Shopify Payments there's no third-party transaction fee. With any other payment provider, Shopify adds 2% on Basic, 1% on Grow and 0.6% on Advanced (0.2% on Plus).
• Card rates with Shopify Payments: from 2.9% + 30¢ on Basic, 2.7% + 30¢ on Grow and 2.5% + 30¢ on Advanced, plus 1% on international cards. Shopify says Shopify Payments is available only in certain countries.
• Where it's strong: everything. Unlimited products, apps for almost any need, live third-party shipping rates on Advanced, and in-person selling.
• How it compares: if Shopify Payments works for you, Shopify's 0% is real. If you'd rather keep your own Stripe account, or Shopify Payments isn't offered where you are, the 2% on Basic comes off every sale. LotsCommerce takes 0% whichever of its supported providers you connect.

5. Squarespace: 2% on Basic, 0% from Core

Squarespace is a design-led website builder with a store built in. The transaction fee depends on your plan.

• Plans: Basic $25 a month ($19 billed yearly), Core $39 ($29 yearly), Plus $65 ($49 yearly), Advanced $139 ($99 yearly).
• The fee: a 2% online store transaction fee on Basic, "applied when selling online products, services, or donations". Core, Plus and Advanced are 0%.
• Payments: Squarespace Payments, Stripe or PayPal. Card rates from 2.9% + $0.30 on Basic and Core, 2.7% + $0.30 on Plus and 2.5% + $0.30 on Advanced.
• Where it's strong: beautiful templates and a full website around the store.
• How it compares: for 0%, the real Squarespace entry price is Core at $39 a month ($29 yearly). LotsCommerce is 0% from Starter at $12 ($10 yearly).

6. BigCommerce: 0% with its embedded payment providers

BigCommerce is a hosted platform for growing stores. It charges no fee on orders paid through its "Embedded Payment Providers", a list that includes Stripe, PayPal, BigCommerce Payments, Adyen and Klarna.

• Plans: Core $39 a month ($29 billed yearly), Growth $105 ($79 yearly), Scale $399 ($299 yearly). Performance starts at $1,499 a month, billed annually.
• The fee: orders through any provider not on its list carry an "Open Payment Provider" fee of 2% on Core, 1% on Growth and 0.6% on Scale, billed monthly.
• Sales caps: each plan is sized by trailing 12-month sales. Core covers up to $30K and Growth up to $100K, and you're moved up a plan when you pass the cap. Scale charges 0.9% on sales above $33,333 a month.
• Where it's strong: a long list of fee-free providers, multi-storefront options and room to grow into large volumes.
• How it compares: with Stripe or PayPal, BigCommerce is 0%. The thing to watch is the sales cap: a good year can move your plan. LotsCommerce prices by store, not by sales.

7. WooCommerce: no platform fee, but you run the hosting

WooCommerce is a free plugin for WordPress. There's no platform fee on your sales because you host the store yourself.

• Price: the plugin is free; hosting, a domain and any paid extensions are separate (WooCommerce doesn't list a hosting price on these pages).
• Payments: WooPayments installs at no cost with no setup or monthly fees for online payments. For US stores, cards are 2.90% + $0.30, plus 1.5% on international cards and 1% for currency conversion. Other gateways plug in through extensions.
• Where it's strong: full control and a huge extension library. Many agencies already know it well.
• How it compares: WooCommerce's 0% comes with hosting, updates and security on you, or on the agency looking after the client. LotsCommerce is hosted: one price per store, nothing to update.

8. Square Online: no platform fee, processing through Square

Square Online is Square's store builder. It doesn't add a separate platform fee; Square earns through its own card processing.

• Plans: Square Free $0 a month, Square Plus $49 and Square Premium $149, each per location. Plus and Premium have 30-day trials.
• Processing: online card payments are 3.3% + 30¢ on Free and 2.9% + 30¢ on Plus and Premium. In person, 2.6%, 2.5% or 2.4% + 15¢ by plan.
• Where it's strong: a free plan and the same system for online and in-person sales, with Square hardware.
• How it compares: the free plan is truly $0 a month, and the price is a higher online card rate on every sale. Payments run through Square. With LotsCommerce, you choose your own provider and keep its normal rate.

Platforms that do take a cut

These came up in my research and are popular with creators, so here's what they charge, checked on 19 October 2026.

• Gumroad: $0 a month, then 10% + $0.50 on each sale through your profile or direct links, and 30% on sales through its Discover marketplace. In return Gumroad acts as merchant of record and handles sales tax for you. It's built for digital products.
• Payhip: Free Forever with a 5% transaction fee, Plus at $29 a month with 2%, and Pro at $99 a month with no transaction fee. PayPal and Stripe still charge their standard rates on all plans. Also focused on digital products and memberships.

On a store selling $1,000 a month, Gumroad's direct-sale fee is $100 plus 50¢ an order, before any processing. A flat-priced 0% platform pays for itself well before that.

How to choose

• You build stores for clients. Look at how many stores one plan covers and where each client's money goes. On LotsCommerce Business ($79 a month for 10 stores) each store connects the client's own Stripe or Razorpay account, so their sales go straight to them, and each client gets the role they need (admin, manager, staff or viewer).
• You're starting a product brand and want 0% from day one. LotsCommerce, Big Cartel and Ecwid are all 0% on every plan. Pick Ecwid if you have under 10 products and want the lowest price, Big Cartel if you want a free plan and label printing, and LotsCommerce if you want unlimited products, your own payment account and room for more stores.
• You want the biggest app ecosystem. Shopify, with Shopify Payments so you stay at 0%.
• You want a full website with a store. Squarespace Core or higher.
• You'll pass $30K a year on a hosted plan. Read BigCommerce's sales caps before you choose a tier.

Manage your store from ChatGPT or Claude

Everything in LotsCommerce works in the dashboard. If you already use ChatGPT, Claude or another assistant, you can also connect it and manage the store in plain words. It works with the AI agent you already use. For example:

Which orders are waiting for me to accept? Then create a 10% code WELCOME10 for first orders, valid until the end of the month.

Every change shows up in your dashboard. Here's how to connect your assistant.

FAQ

Which ecommerce platforms have no transaction fees?

LotsCommerce, Big Cartel and Ecwid take 0% of sales on every plan. Shopify is 0% only with Shopify Payments, BigCommerce only with its embedded payment providers such as Stripe and PayPal, and Squarespace from its Core plan. WooCommerce and Square Online add no separate platform fee. Your payment provider's own fee still applies on all of them.

Does Shopify charge transaction fees?

Not if you use Shopify Payments. With any other payment provider, Shopify adds a third-party transaction fee of 2% on Basic, 1% on Grow and 0.6% on Advanced, on top of that provider's own processing fee (checked on 19 October 2026).

Is there a free ecommerce platform with no transaction fees?

Big Cartel has a free Gold plan with limited features and takes no cut. Square Online's Free plan is $0 a month, with online card processing at 3.3% + 30¢. WooCommerce is a free plugin, but you pay for hosting. LotsCommerce has no free plan; new accounts get 15,000 free credits, valid 90 days, no card, about a month of one store.

Do I still pay payment processing fees on a 0% platform?

Yes. A 0% platform takes nothing from your sales, but Stripe, PayPal, Razorpay or whichever provider moves the money charges its own fee. On LotsCommerce you pay your provider's normal rate in your own account, and we add nothing on top.

Which platform suits an agency running several client stores?

Look for several stores on one plan and payments that go to each client. LotsCommerce Pro covers 3 stores for $29 a month and Business 10 stores for $79, each store connects the client's own payment account, and each client gets a team role. LotsCommerce takes 0% of every store's sales.

Does LotsCommerce hold my money?

No. Shoppers' payments go straight into your own Stripe or Razorpay account, or to you directly for UPI and WhatsApp orders. LotsCommerce never holds the money and takes 0% of your sales.

Sources

Checked on 19 October 2026: LotsCommerce pricing, Connect Stripe guide, Connect Razorpay guide, Big Cartel pricing, Ecwid pricing, Shopify pricing, Squarespace pricing, BigCommerce pricing, WooPayments, WooPayments fees, Square Online plans, Gumroad pricing, Payhip pricing.