How to Create an Online Store for Free in 2026: What's Really Free (and What Isn't)

Search for "create an online store for free" and you'll find dozens of "free" offers. In practice, three very different models hide behind that word. Telling them apart saves you from building your store on a tool you'll have to leave a month later.

The 3 kinds of "free" in ecommerce

The free trial. You pay nothing for 3 to 14 days, then a subscription kicks in. The catch: your store becomes paid, or shuts down, before it has even made its first sales.

The limited free plan. The tool costs nothing, but it caps the number of products or doesn't offer online payments. You can show your products, but not really sell them. And the day you grow, you have to rebuild everything elsewhere.

The commission-based free plan. You pay nothing until you sell, then a small percentage on each order. That percentage eventually adds up as revenue grows, which is why it matters to be able to remove it by moving to a paid plan.

The third model is the fairest way to start: you only pay when you make money. It's the one Magazengo uses.

What a free store should include at a minimum

Before you sign up, check these five points:

1. Built-in card payments: without them, there are no sales.
2. No product limit: otherwise you'll be stuck at your first restock.
3. Variants (size, colour) with separate stock.
4. No time limit: your store stays online as long as you want.
5. No commitment: you can change plans or leave whenever you like.

Creating your free store on Magazengo, step by step

1. Create your account on magazengo.com with your email.
2. Name your store: it is instantly available on a magazengo.com subdomain.
3. Add your products: titles, photos, prices, variants and stock. The number of products is unlimited, even on Free.
4. Connect Stripe or PayPal to accept card payments.
5. Set up shipping and your delivery fees.
6. Publish and share the link with your first customers.

What Magazengo's Free plan includes

With the Free plan, you open a store with no subscription, at €0 per month, with no commitment and no time limit. You publish as many products as you want, with their variants and real-time inventory, and you accept card payments through Stripe or PayPal.

In return, Magazengo takes a 2.5% commission on the sales you make. Your store lives on a magazengo.com subdomain, shows a "Powered by Magazengo" badge and is managed from a single user account. That's more than enough to test a product and take your first orders.

When should you move to a paid plan?

The rule is simple: when the commission costs you more than the subscription. With 2.5% on Free and €50 per month (excl. VAT) on Starter, the break-even point is €2,000 in sales per month, or €24,000 per year. Above that, Starter saves you money, and you also get your own domain name, up to 3 team members and a store with no badge.

You can also move to Starter before that point, simply to use your own domain name.

FAQ

Can I really sell without paying a subscription? Yes. On Free, you only pay 2.5% on the sales you collect.

Is the number of products limited? No, products are unlimited on every Magazengo plan.

Can I keep my store if I upgrade? Yes, you change plans in one click, without rebuilding anything.

Open your store in minutes

Open your free store on Magazengo in minutes. No subscription, no commitment.