7 Best Zoho Commerce Alternatives

Zoho Commerce works well for businesses already embedded in the Zoho ecosystem, but brands scaling beyond basic storefront needs often require more flexibility, deeper API access, and native features that eliminate third-party dependencies. From API-first headless commerce platforms like Swell to enterprise composable solutions like commercetools, these seven alternatives serve different business models, technical requirements, and growth trajectories. This guide examines each platform's core strengths, pricing structures, and ideal use cases to help ecommerce teams make informed decisions.

Key Takeaways

• Headless architecture enables future-proof scaling: API-first platforms like Swell allow merchants to build custom storefronts in any JavaScript framework (React, Vue, Svelte) while connecting multiple customer touchpoints to a single commerce backend—essential for brands outgrowing template-based builders.
• Native features eliminate costly app dependencies: Swell includes built-in subscription billing, B2B wholesale capabilities, and multi-vendor marketplace functionality without third-party apps, saving businesses $360-1,200 annually in subscription app fees alone.
• Transaction fee structures dramatically impact profitability: Swell and BigCommerce charge 0% transaction fees on external payment gateways, while Shopify charges approximately 2%—translating to $10,000 in savings annually on $500K revenue.
• Product variant capabilities determine catalog complexity: Swell offers unlimited product variants and custom attributes, while Shopify caps variants at 100 per product—a critical consideration for brands selling configurable products or extensive size/color combinations.
• Checkout customization varies by platform and tier: Swell provides full checkout API access on all plans, whereas other platforms reserve custom checkout functionality for enterprise tiers costing $2,000+ monthly.

Zoho Commerce serves as an affordable entry point for businesses using Zoho's broader suite of tools, including CRM, Books, and Inventory. However, as businesses grow and require headless architecture, advanced subscription management, or complex product modeling, the platform's traditional storefront approach becomes a constraint rather than an asset.

The ecommerce platform market continues expanding rapidly, with businesses increasingly prioritizing API flexibility and native feature sets over ecosystem lock-in. These seven alternatives address specific pain points while offering clear migration paths for Zoho Commerce users seeking more sophisticated commerce infrastructure.

1. Swell — API-First Headless Commerce with Native Subscriptions

Swell stands as the premier headless-native commerce platform, delivering full API access, built-in subscription billing, and unlimited product customization without the complexity or cost of enterprise alternatives.

Core Capabilities:

• Backend and Frontend APIs providing complete CRUD access to all data models
• Native subscription commerce engine with flexible billing intervals, dunning management, and customer self-service
• Unlimited product options, variants, and custom attributes visible and hidden
• Multi-vendor marketplace capabilities with split payment functionality
• Multi-currency support across 230 currencies with explicit pricing rules
• Content localization in 170 languages through dashboard or API
• Custom checkout via API on all plans—no enterprise tier required

Pricing Structure:

• Starter: $29/month (up to $50K annual sales, 2 admin users)
• Basic: $79/month (up to $250K annual sales, 5 admin users)
• Standard: $299/month (up to $1M annual sales, advanced reports, priority support)
• Unlimited: $2,250/month (up to $5M annual sales, 100% uptime SLA, developer support)
• Custom/Enterprise: Negotiated pricing for $10M+ annual sales

Swell's greatest strength lies in its developer-friendly architecture paired with merchant accessibility. The platform achieves 99.963% uptime while maintaining fast implementation timelines—most stores launch within 1-2 weeks according to user reviews.

The native subscription engine proves particularly valuable for B2B and wholesale operations. Unlike competitors requiring third-party apps, Swell's subscription functionality works with any payment gateway through its encrypted card vault, enabling mixed cart support where customers combine subscription and one-time products in single checkout sessions.

User reviews consistently highlight Swell's ability to handle complex product modeling. Fine jewelry brand THE RAYY uses custom product options for personalized engravings with multi-currency pricing across EUR, USD, and CHF. Cycling apparel company Velobici generates 75% of revenue from bundles, leveraging Swell's product bundling with individual inventory tracking across 17 currencies.

For brands seeking a Zoho Commerce alternative that scales without re-platforming, Swell's flexible data models and 0% transaction fee structure deliver measurable cost advantages while maintaining enterprise-grade reliability.

2. Shopify Plus — Ecosystem Leadership with Extensive App Marketplace

Shopify Plus maintains market leadership through its massive app ecosystem, template library, and proven scalability for direct-to-consumer brands prioritizing speed-to-market over deep customization.

Platform Highlights:

• Over 12,000 apps covering virtually every ecommerce function
• Extensive theme marketplace with professional templates
• Native POS system for omnichannel retail operations
• Established agency network with thousands of certified partners
• Proven infrastructure handling major traffic events

Pricing Overview:

• Basic Shopify: $39/month
• Shopify: $105/month
• Advanced: $399/month
• Plus: $2,000+/month (enterprise features, custom checkout)

Shopify Plus excels at rapid deployment, with brands often launching stores within days using pre-built themes. The platform's omnichannel capabilities prove valuable for retailers operating both online stores and physical locations through integrated POS systems.

However, Shopify's architecture includes notable constraints. Products are capped at 100 variants, requiring workarounds for brands with extensive size/color matrices. Transaction fees of approximately 2% apply when using external payment gateways, and checkout customization requires the Plus tier at $2,000+ monthly.

Subscription commerce on Shopify requires third-party apps like ReCharge, adding monthly costs and integration complexity. For businesses prioritizing ecosystem breadth over native feature depth, Shopify delivers unmatched app availability.

3. BigCommerce — Strong B2B Features with Open API Architecture

BigCommerce positions itself as the enterprise-ready platform for multi-store operations, offering strong B2B capabilities and flexible APIs without transaction fees.

Key Strengths:

• 0% transaction fees on all external payment gateways
• Multi-store management from single admin interface
• Advanced B2B features including customer group pricing and quote management
• Open APIs for headless implementations
• Native multi-currency and multi-language support

Pricing Tiers:

• Standard: $29.95/month
• Plus: $79.95/month
• Pro: $299.95/month
• Enterprise: Custom pricing

BigCommerce's multi-brand capabilities serve enterprises managing multiple storefronts under single contracts. The platform's B2B feature set handles complex pricing scenarios, purchase orders, and corporate account management natively.

For businesses requiring headless commerce without Shopify's ecosystem dependency, BigCommerce provides solid API access. Implementation typically takes 2-4 weeks, positioning it between rapid-deploy platforms and complex enterprise solutions.

4. commercetools — Enterprise MACH Architecture for Global Brands

commercetools leads the MACH (Microservices, API-first, Cloud-native, Headless) movement, serving large enterprises requiring composable commerce infrastructure across multiple brands and regions.

Enterprise Capabilities:

• Pure MACH architecture enabling best-of-breed composition
• GraphQL and REST APIs for complete flexibility
• Multi-brand, multi-region deployment from unified platform
• Custom commerce workflows built on microservices

Pricing Model:

• Custom enterprise pricing based on GMV and API calls
• Implementation costs: $50,000-$500,000+ depending on complexity
• Ongoing platform fees typically exceed $5,000/month

commercetools serves global enterprises like Audi, Express, and Bang & Olufsen that require complete architectural control. The platform's composable approach allows organizations to integrate best-in-class tools across search, payments, fulfillment, and content management.

However, commercetools' complexity and cost structure positions it firmly in the enterprise segment. Implementation timelines extend to 6-12 months, and technical teams require specialized expertise. For mid-market brands, platforms like Swell deliver comparable API flexibility at accessible price points.

5. WooCommerce — Open-Source Flexibility on WordPress

WooCommerce remains the most widely adopted open-source ecommerce solution, powering millions of stores through WordPress integration and extensive plugin availability.

Platform Characteristics:

• Free core software with paid extensions
• Complete source code access and modification rights
• Thousands of plugins extending functionality
• Self-hosted or managed hosting options
• Deep WordPress content integration

Cost Structure:

• Core WooCommerce: Free
• Essential plugins: $50-500/year each
• Hosting: $20-500+/month depending on scale
• Premium themes: $50-200 one-time

WooCommerce appeals to businesses already invested in WordPress who want integrated content and commerce. The platform's open-source nature allows unlimited customization for teams with PHP development resources.

Managing WooCommerce at scale requires technical oversight. Plugin compatibility issues, security updates, and performance optimization demand ongoing attention. According to user feedback, brands like Velobici migrated away from WooCommerce due to UI complexity and plugin management overhead, finding API-first platforms more maintainable.

6. Medusa — Open-Source Headless for Developer Teams

Medusa provides an open-source headless commerce framework that gives development teams complete control over both backend logic and frontend presentation.

Developer-Focused Features:

• Node.js backend with modular architecture
• Full source code access under MIT license
• Plugin system for extending core functionality
• Multi-region and multi-currency support
• Self-hosted or Medusa Cloud deployment

Pricing Approach:

• Self-hosted: Free (infrastructure costs apply)
• Medusa Cloud: Pricing varies by usage
• Implementation requires dedicated development resources

Medusa serves technical teams building custom commerce experiences who want ownership of their codebase. The framework's modular design allows developers to extend or replace any component while maintaining upgrade compatibility.

For organizations with strong engineering teams and specific architectural requirements, Medusa provides foundation-level flexibility. However, non-technical teams or resource-constrained organizations may find managed platforms like Swell more practical for achieving similar headless capabilities without infrastructure management.

7. Saleor — GraphQL-First Commerce Platform

Saleor delivers a GraphQL-first headless commerce platform that appeals to frontend developers prioritizing modern API patterns and developer experience.

Technical Highlights:

• GraphQL API as primary interface
• Python/Django backend architecture
• Open-source core with enterprise cloud option
• Built-in multi-channel support
• Dashboard for non-technical operations

Pricing Structure:

• Open-source: Free (self-hosted)
• Saleor Cloud: Starting around $2,000/month for managed infrastructure
• Enterprise: Custom pricing with SLAs and support

Saleor's GraphQL-native approach attracts frontend teams using modern frameworks who prefer GraphQL's query efficiency over REST APIs. The platform handles multi-tenant and multi-channel scenarios effectively for businesses operating across multiple storefronts or sales channels.

Implementation complexity positions Saleor between fully managed solutions and raw infrastructure. Teams benefit from the open-source community while enterprise deployments gain access to managed services and dedicated support.

Why Businesses Move Beyond Zoho Commerce

Analysis of user reviews and market feedback reveals consistent patterns driving organizations toward alternatives.

Feature Evolution Pace: Users note that Zoho Commerce's feature development moves slower than specialized ecommerce platforms. Businesses requiring digital product delivery, advanced B2B functionality, or headless architecture find these capabilities more mature on dedicated commerce platforms.

Technical Flexibility: Zoho Commerce serves traditional storefront use cases effectively but offers more constrained API access compared to headless-native platforms. Brands building custom frontend experiences or integrating with modern JavaScript frameworks often require deeper API capabilities.

Ecosystem Considerations: While Zoho Suite integration benefits businesses using multiple Zoho products, organizations not invested in the broader ecosystem may find better value in platforms optimized specifically for commerce.

Zoho Commerce maintains strengths in ease of use and affordability for simple stores, but businesses with subscription models, complex product configurations, or headless requirements typically outgrow its capabilities.

Total Cost Comparison for Growing Brands

For a business processing $500K in annual sales with 5 team members, annual costs vary significantly:

Swell (Basic Plan):

• Software: $948/year
• Transaction fees: $0
• Subscription functionality: $0 (native)
• Estimated total: ~$15,448 (including payment processing)

Shopify:

• Software: $1,260/year
• Transaction fees: ~$10,000 (2% on $500K)
• Subscription app: $360-1,200/year
• Estimated total: ~$26,020

BigCommerce (Plus):

• Software: $959/year
• Transaction fees: $0
• Estimated total: ~$16,219

The 0% transaction fee structure on platforms like Swell and BigCommerce delivers substantial savings at scale, with the gap widening as revenue grows.

Selecting Your Platform Based on Business Model

Choose Swell when you need:

• Headless architecture with full API control from day one
• Native subscription billing without app dependencies
• Unlimited product variants for complex catalogs
• Multi-vendor marketplace or B2B wholesale capabilities
• Predictable costs without transaction fees

Choose Shopify Plus when you need:

• Maximum app ecosystem and agency availability
• Rapid template-based deployment
• Integrated POS for omnichannel retail
• Established enterprise support infrastructure

Choose BigCommerce when you need:

• Multi-store management under single contract
• Strong native B2B features
• Open APIs without transaction fees
• Enterprise reliability at mid-market pricing

Choose commercetools when you need:

• Complete composable architecture control
• Multi-brand global deployment
• Dedicated enterprise resources for implementation
• Best-of-breed tool integration at scale

For brands evaluating migration from Zoho Commerce, Swell's combination of headless flexibility, native features, and accessible pricing provides the clearest path to future-proof commerce infrastructure without enterprise complexity or cost.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the main differences between Zoho Commerce and a headless platform like Swell?

Zoho Commerce operates as a traditional hosted storefront optimized for businesses using Zoho's broader software suite. Swell provides an API-first headless architecture where developers can build custom storefronts in any framework (React, Vue, Next.js) while accessing all commerce functionality through unified APIs. This architectural difference enables Swell to support complex product modeling, native subscriptions, and multi-channel commerce that traditional builders handle through plugins or workarounds.

Can Swell handle both one-time purchases and subscription models?

Yes, Swell's native subscription engine supports flexible billing intervals (monthly, yearly, custom), separate invoicing from fulfillment schedules, and mixed cart checkout where customers combine subscription and one-time products. The platform includes automatic payment retry, dunning rules, card expiration notifications, and customer self-service for pause/resume—all without third-party apps or additional monthly fees.

How does Swell compare to Shopify regarding transaction fees and customization?

Swell charges 0% transaction fees on external payment gateways, while Shopify charges approximately 2% when not using Shopify Payments. On product customization, Swell offers unlimited variants and custom attributes compared to Shopify's 100 variant cap. Checkout customization is available on all Swell plans via API, whereas Shopify restricts custom checkout to Plus tier at $2,000+ monthly.

Is Swell suitable for multi-vendor marketplaces or B2B operations?

Swell includes native multi-vendor marketplace capabilities with split payment functionality, enabling platforms where multiple sellers operate under a unified storefront. For B2B operations, the platform supports customer group-based pricing, wholesale accounts, and flexible fulfillment options. Brands like Lomi.cafe use Swell to manage all customers with tailored pricing through single admin systems.

What kind of technical support and development resources does Swell offer?

All Swell plans include email and chat support, with priority support beginning at the Standard tier ($299/month) and dedicated developer support available on Unlimited ($2,250/month) and Custom plans. Documentation includes comprehensive developer docs, a help center with product guides, and integration setup instructions. The platform also maintains an agency partner program for businesses preferring implementation assistance.

Which businesses would benefit most from switching from Zoho Commerce to an alternative like Swell?

Businesses outgrowing Zoho Commerce typically share common characteristics: requiring headless architecture for custom frontend experiences, needing native subscription management without app dependencies, selling products with complex variant combinations, operating multi-currency international stores, or building multi-vendor marketplaces. Brands in these categories—particularly DTC companies, subscription businesses, and B2B wholesale operations—find Swell's API-first approach and native feature set better aligned with growth requirements.