Ecwid vs PayPal Comparison 2026
Both cover monetization & payments. Here is what separates them on price, billing, what you can take with you, and coverage.
A store that bolts onto a site you already have
Card and wallet payments with no monthly fee
At a glance
- Only PayPal has a free tier.
Side by side
Ecwid | PayPal | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | From $5 | Free |
| Pricing model (they differ) | Paid subscription | Free |
| Free tier (they differ) | No | Yes |
| Billing | Not stated | Usage-based |
| Free trial | Not stated | Not stated |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Data export | Not stated | Not stated |
| Their cut | Not stated | Not stated |
| Runs on | Web, iOS, Android | Web, iOS, Android |
| Covers |
Shaded rows are where the two answers disagree and both listings have answered. A row where one side has not stated a fact is left plain, because silence is not a difference.
Ecwid
A store that bolts onto a site you already have
Ecwid adds a shop to a site that already exists rather than asking anybody to rebuild on a new platform, which is what makes it the answer when the site is fine and only the selling is missing. It will also stand on its own with an included site builder and a free subdomain. Plans are separated by product count first: ten on the cheapest, a hundred on the next. Selling through Instagram and Facebook, the mobile management app and automated tax all start one tier above the entry plan.
Our note
Count your products before choosing, because the jump from ten to a hundred is the whole difference between the first two tiers and it is not a soft limit. If the shop is going to be the main event rather than an addition, pay for Shopify or BigCommerce now instead of migrating in a year.
Only on this side
- Covers digital products & storefronts
PayPal
Card and wallet payments with no monthly fee
PayPal charges nothing monthly for a business account and takes its money on each transaction, which is what makes it the default for anybody whose income arrives unevenly. Buyers can pay with a PayPal balance, a card, Venmo or a pay-later option without a merchant account of their own. The rate depends on how the money arrives rather than on a plan, and receiving from another country adds a percentage on top. Its dispute process is the part sellers complain about, and it is worth reading before it matters.
Ratings are the average of reviews readers left. The facts are stated by each tool’s own listing and are not verified by CloutStack. How we make money.