If you are forming your business entity and launching a simple store at the same time, ZenBusiness provides your legal formation, tax ID, and an integrated e-commerce website in one place. For a business that is already established and requires complex inventory management to scale a large catalog, Shopify provides the deepest specialized retail tools on the market.

The realities of opening a new online store

Starting a new e-commerce venture involves two parallel tracks. You have to establish the legal and financial foundation of the business, and you have to build the digital storefront where customers will actually buy your products.

According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, there is no right method for every business when it comes to getting a website online. The choice depends entirely on your budget, your specific technical needs, your timeline, and your in-house capability. A typical custom website price starts at $2,000 and can easily go into five figures if you hire a professional developer to build a store to your exact specifications. Custom development gives you total control and professional support, but it requires a significant upfront investment of capital that a store just getting started may not have.

The alternative is a DIY website builder. Paid plans typically run less than $30 a month, making them an order of magnitude cheaper than a custom build. Using a DIY builder means you get professional designs, instant software updates, and included hosting and security without needing to manage servers. The trade-off is limited customization and platform lock-in, meaning your store is tied to the proprietary infrastructure of the builder you choose.

For the vast majority of founders just getting started, the DIY route is the most practical choice. However, choosing the software is often a secondary step. Someone forming a business now needs the legal entity, the Employer Identification Number, a separate business checking account, and then ZenBusiness accounting or bookkeeping support, typically in that exact order. Once the legal wrapper is in place and the personal and business finances are separated, the focus shifts to designing the store and listing the inventory.

Understanding local search for a new store

Many new online stores also operate with a local presence, whether that means a physical retail location, local pickup options, or regional delivery routes. New store owners often look for a website builder that promises to rank them highly in local search results.

Google itself documents exactly how local search ranking works in its Business Profile Help documentation. Local results are based primarily on three factors: relevance, distance, and prominence. Relevance refers to how well a local business profile matches what a potential customer is searching for. Distance calculates how far each potential search result is from the location term used in a search. Prominence refers to how well known a business is, based on information Google gathers from across the web, including links, articles, and directories.

No website builder can guarantee a top ranking in local search. Credit local placement to your own efforts in building a complete, accurate business profile and generating genuine local prominence, rather than a magical feature inside a store builder.

The options to build your store

The providers below are listed alphabetically. The order is not a ranking. Prices move frequently, and all figures below are verified as of October 6, 2026.

GoDaddy

GoDaddy is widely known for domain registration but operates a dedicated website builder aimed at getting businesses online quickly. The platform is built around speed and simplicity, relying on pre-designed structures rather than open-canvas drag-and-drop editing.

As of October 6, 2026, GoDaddy offers a free tier, a Starter plan at $9.99 per month, a Professional plan at $24.99 per month, and an Ultimate plan at $99.99 per month. Every paid tier is billed annually. The free tier includes 50 AI credits a month, which can be used to generate text or product descriptions, but it does not allow you to connect a custom domain. To establish a professional brand identity with your own web address, a new store owner will need to upgrade to one of the paid tiers.

Hostinger

Hostinger is a traditional web hosting company that includes a proprietary website builder with its hosting packages. The platform is highly aggressive on introductory pricing, making it a common choice for founders looking to minimize their initial launch costs.

As of October 6, 2026, the ongoing renewal rates are Premium at $10.99 per month, Unlimited at $16.99 per month, and Cloud Startup at $25.99 per month. Hostinger heavily advertises promotional rates of $2.99, $3.99, and $7.99, but these require committing to a 48-month term paid entirely up front. That is not the ongoing price. The gap between the advertised introductory rate and the standard renewal rate is significant. A store owner just getting started must factor the eventual renewal prices into their long-term budget, as the platform becomes substantially more expensive once the four-year promotional window closes.

Shopify

Shopify is the definitive industry standard for dedicated e-commerce. If your store requires deep inventory management, complex shipping routing, advanced point-of-sale integration, and the ability to scale a massive product catalog, Shopify is the answer. It offers an unmatched ecosystem of retail-specific applications that ZenBusiness and other generalist builders do not attempt to replicate.

As of October 6, 2026, the Shopify Basic plan is $39 per month or $29 if billed annually. The Grow plan is $105 per month or $79 annually. The Advanced plan is $399 per month or $299 annually. The enterprise-grade Plus plan starts from $2,300 per month. While it carries a higher learning curve and higher monthly costs than simple website builders, it provides the operational ceiling required for a high-volume retail business.

Square Online

Square Online is the website building division of the Square payment processing ecosystem. It is specifically designed to bridge in-person retail sales with digital e-commerce, allowing a store to unify its inventory across physical registers and a web storefront.

As of October 6, 2026, there is a free plan available. Square has moved its paid software pricing to Square Free, Square Plus, and Square Premium plans. Rather than publishing a flat tier table for everyone, the paid pricing depends entirely on the plan and the specific industry selected during checkout. For a store just getting started that already relies on Square hardware for pop-up shops or a retail counter, keeping the digital store within the same ecosystem simplifies inventory tracking and payout schedules.

Squarespace

Squarespace is heavily focused on brand aesthetics and visual presentation. If your online store relies on high-resolution photography, meticulous typography, and a highly polished brand identity, Squarespace offers far more design depth and customization capability than ZenBusiness or GoDaddy.

As of October 6, 2026, the Basic plan is $25 per month or $19 per month annually. The Core plan is $39 per month or $29 annually. The Plus plan is $65 per month or $49 annually. The Advanced plan is $139 per month or $99 annually. Squarespace utilizes a fluid engine layout system that gives you precise control over where elements sit on the page, making it the preferred choice for independent designers, fashion brands, and artisanal goods purveyors who prioritize the look of the store over raw catalog volume.

Webflow

Webflow is a visual web development platform rather than a traditional template-based DIY builder. It writes clean, semantic code in the background while you design the interface visually. Webflow completely outclasses simple builders in terms of total customization, allowing for complex animations and bespoke interactions.

As of October 6, 2026, the Starter plan is free. The Basic plan is $15 per month, and the Premium plan is $25 per month, with both being the billed-yearly rates. The Team plan is $2,500 per month and requires an annual contract. Enterprise pricing is available by quote only. The Optimize and Analyze add-ons are an additional $299 per month and $9 per month. Webflow has a very steep learning curve. It is generally not the right tool for a store owner looking for a quick launch, but it is an incredibly powerful platform for those willing to learn web design principles or hire a specialized agency.

Wix

Wix provides a highly flexible drag-and-drop editor paired with a massive marketplace of third-party applications. If you need your store to connect seamlessly with external dropshipping suppliers, specialized print-on-demand services, or distinct loyalty programs, the Wix app ecosystem is vastly superior to a streamlined platform like ZenBusiness.

As of October 6, 2026, the yearly-subscription rates are Light at $17.77 per month, Core at $29.77 per month, Business at $39.77 per month, and Business Elite at $159.77 per month. Wix provides absolute freedom to drag text and images anywhere on the canvas. This is excellent for creative control but can sometimes result in cluttered mobile layouts if the user is not careful to adjust the mobile view separately from the desktop view.

ZenBusiness

ZenBusiness is uniquely positioned for founders who are standing up their legal entity, securing their tax identifiers, and launching their digital storefront in the same week. No standalone website builder offers legal formation. Doing it all in one place removes the friction of managing multiple subscriptions across different companies.

As of October 6, 2026, the ZenBusiness website builder costs $129 per year, or $15 per month, after a 30-day free trial. The builder is AI-assisted and ships with pre-designed industry templates to get a store online fast. It is fully mobile responsive and includes hosting on Amazon Web Services with a stated 99.9% uptime. The platform includes SSL security, integrated site analytics, and full e-commerce capability with payment processing and inventory management. A custom domain can be attached to the site or bought directly through ZenBusiness, and the company provides phone support seven days a week.

Because ZenBusiness handles the legal side as well, you can package the tools. As of October 6, 2026, the Starter formation plan is $0 plus state fees. The Pro plan is $199, and the Premium plan is $299, with both renewing at their annual prices. The Employer Identification Number and operating agreement are included from the Pro tier up, and are $99 each on the Starter plan. Registered agent service is $199 per year, and the Money Pro financial tool is $30 per month. If you are forming a business anyway, building the store on the same platform simplifies the launch process entirely.

Sources

This article provides general informational content rather than specific legal, tax, or accounting advice, and local regulations and requirements vary and change over time.