AddTheShop vs Ecwid
Ecwid, now Ecwid by Lightspeed, pioneered the embeddable store and remains a solid choice for a mid-sized catalogue. Its pricing has moved up over the years, and its admin has grown with it. AddTheShop is what Ecwid's free plan used to be, rebuilt for sites made with AI.
| Ecwid | AddTheShop | |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly fee | Free plan limited to 5 products; paid from about $25/mo | None |
| Transaction fee | None from Ecwid on paid plans; gateway fees apply | 2% per sale, plus Stripe's fee |
| Products | Up to 100 on Venture, more on higher plans; variants, digital goods | Unlimited simple products, stock counts |
| Embed | Script embed, also Instant Site | One script + div; buy buttons anywhere |
| Checkout | Ecwid checkout with many gateways | Stripe hosted checkout |
| AI management | Admin UI, API | OAuth MCP server for Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor; REST |
| Marketplaces and POS | Yes (Lightspeed) | No |
Where Ecwid wins
Variants, digital products, many payment gateways, selling on marketplaces and social, point of sale through Lightspeed. If you need those, Ecwid is the more complete tool.
Where AddTheShop wins
No monthly fee, so a shop with three products does not cost more than it makes. Stripe's checkout on your own account. And a way to run the shop that did not exist when Ecwid was designed: tell your AI. Connect Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor to our MCP server and add products, change prices and read orders by chatting.
Built for sites built with AI
Our install path is a prompt. Paste it into Lovable, Bolt or Cursor and the AI places the shop and matches your design. That is the audience we built for.