This review is sponsored by Nexcess. We do not allow our advertisers to influence rankings, however.
If you’re looking for a platform to build your online store, our Nexcess StoreBuilder review can help you decide if it’s the right option for your ecommerce website.
With so many ecommerce platforms out there, it’s hard to know what could work for your online business. If all you do is focus on a company’s marketing materials, that makes the choice even harder. They’re designed specifically to promote sales, not to give you a clear picture of what it’s like to use the service.
While it’s true Ecommerce CEO works with affiliate partners, we aim to provide unbiased, objective reviews based on data. We use a rating system that prevents our affiliates from being able to influence their score. All ecommerce platforms are rated on a set of criteria that ensures we make it easier for you to compare apples to apples.
If you spend time and money on an ecommerce platform to later find out, it’s not what your business needs, you’ll deal with the inconvenience of finding and switching to another platform.
How does the Nexcess StoreBuilder stack up? Keep reading to find out.
Nexcess StoreBuilder Overview
You may already be familiar with Nexcess, since it’s a managed WordPress hosting provider. The StoreBuilder product is a recent addition to their service offerings. It includes WooCommerce, web hosting, and a suite of other plugins to create a cohesive ecommerce site builder. More than a tool, it uses artificial intelligence (AI) to help you build and customize your store.
History
Nexcess is a Liquid Web company, most well known as a cloud hosting solution. The StoreBuilder product was introduced in February 2021, as an easy way for non-technical business owners to build a website quickly and easily. Traditionally, WooCommerce requires a bit more technical knowledge because it runs on the WordPress open-source platform.
StoreBuilder makes it easy to create an online store with WooCommerce and WordPress much like Shopify, without having to pay an expensive monthly fee.
Is it Right for You?
It depends. If you’re not a tech savvy person, you may not have even considered WooCommerce. It requires web hosting, which is included with platforms like Shopify and BigCommerce.
If you want something that gives you a bit more control than a hosted platform, but still doesn’t require a ton of technical knowledge, then StoreBuilder is an excellent option for your online store. You get the benefits of managed WooCommerce hosting, without needing to know how to code.
Businesses Powered By StoreBuilder
StoreBuilder doesn’t have the user base like the industry giants do, but that doesn’t mean it’s not on par with what they offer.
StoreBuilder Comparisons
The StoreBuilder is a stand-alone product, but for those who invest in a managed hosting package can take advantage of it for free. Platforms like WooCommerce give you more freedom over the technical aspects of your website since you’ll still have to invest in a hosting plan. However, managed WordPress hosting places some limitations on the technology you can use. In exchange, you don’t have to deal with keeping everything up to date and backed up yourself.
With SiteBuilder, you get to use a well-respected platform, WordPress, with WooCommerce, without needing all the technical knowledge.
Nexcess StoreBuilder is a great option for people who:
- Want something that’s easy to use
- Want to set-and-forget
- Have limited IT resources
- Don’t need any special features or functionality
- Need to integrate with other apps and tools. WordPress is full of premium plugins that make it easy.
Pricing and Plans
Nexcess StoreBuilder features several plans to choose from. All these plans include web hosting.
Nexcess web hosting plans start at $19/month ($15.83/month when billed annually) and go up to $999/month ($832/month when billed annually). A separate hosting plan is not required to use the StoreBuilder product, but if you already have one of these hosting plans, you can use StoreBuilder for free.
Starter Plan
Nexcess StoreBuilder has a starter plan for $19/month. New users can get one month free upon signing up. You can also opt for an annual plan for $190/year.
It includes:
- 1 WooCommerce store
- Up to 500 orders an hour
- Drag-and-drop page builder via Beaver Builder
- Advanced Store and Product listing functionality via Iconic WP
- 30 GB disk space
- 3 TB Bandwidth
Creator Plan
This plan, for $79/month, supports:
- 3 WooCommerce Stores
- Up to 1,000 orders/hour
- Drag-and-drop page builder via Beaver Builder
- Advanced Store and Product listing functionality via Iconic WP
- 60 GB disk space
- 5 TB Bandwidth
Merchant Plan
For $149/month you’ll get:
- 5 WooCommerce Stores
- Up to 2,500 orders/hour
- Drag-and-drop page builder via Beaver Builder
- Advanced Store and Product listing functionality via Iconic WP
- 100 GB disk space
- 5 TB Bandwidth
Standard Plan
For $299/month you’ll get:
- 10 WooCommerce Stores
- Up to 3,000 orders/hour
- Drag-and-drop page builder via Beaver Builder
- Advanced Store and Product listing functionality via Iconic WP
- Dropshipping and marketplaces
- 300 GB disk space
- 5 TB Bandwidth
Growth Plan
For $549/month you’ll get:
- 20 WooCommerce Stores
- Up to 5,000 orders/hour
- Drag-and-drop page builder via Beaver Builder
- Advanced Store and Product listing functionality via Iconic WP
- Dropshipping and marketplaces
- Advanced custom business intelligence via Glew.io
- 500 GB disk space
- 10 TB Bandwidth
Enterprise Plan
For $999/month you’ll get:
- 30 WooCommerce Stores
- Up to 10,000 orders/hour
- Drag-and-drop page builder via Beaver Builder
- Advanced Store and Product listing functionality via Iconic WP
- Dropshipping and marketplaces
- Advanced custom business intelligence via Glew.io
- Elasticsearch via Jetpack
- 800 GB disk space
- 10 TB Bandwidth
No plans include a free domain name, but all plans include:
- Automated updates
- Instant backups
- Security monitoring
- Automatic free SSL
- 24/7/365 support
Features
StoreBuilder has an impressive set of features to help you build your online store.
Nexcess StoreBuilder Features and Plans
Site Wizard
Once you set up your account, you’ll be able to log in to WordPress and set up your site. After providing some basic information, you’ll
You’ll walk through the process step-by-step. Once you’re finished, you’ll move on to choose your template and design elements.
Kadence WP Built-In
Kadence WP is a well known WordPress theme, page builder, and set of premium plugins. The basic installation includes:
- Kadence Blocks – Gutenberg Blocks for Page Builder Features
- Kadence Pro – Premium add-on for Kadence Theme
Using Kadence, you can customize your WordPress page layouts however you need to.
Staging and Development Environments
If you want to build your online store before pushing it live to customers, you can easily create a staging environment from within your Nexcess dashboard.
If you need custom development work done, but don’t want to mess with the live site while you work, the development environment lets you work and test without disrupting your live site. You’ll get one environment on the starter plan for testing, but can add more staging sites for a fee.
Premium Plugins
If you run multiple online stores, you may wish to upgrade to a plan that includes premium plugins.
Upgrading to the Creator plan includes an Iconic WP plugin for advanced store and product listing functionality. Upgrading to the Merchant plan adds Jilt for abandoned cart recovery. Moving to the Growth or Enterprise plans adds advanced custom business intelligence via Glew.io.
WordPress Video Tutorials
For beginners who aren’t familiar with WordPress, Nexcess includes WordPress video tutorials to help you learn how to use the platform. Nexcess offers a stripped-down version of the WordPress dashboard, but for experienced WordPress WooCommerce users, there’s the option to revert to the full WordPress dashboard.
Performance
Overall, Nexcess StoreBuilder performs well. It’s on par with major platforms like Shopify and BigCommerce. StoreBuilder is among the fastest loading platforms of all the one we reviewed. It loads twice as fast as WooCommerce itself, which proves how important the right web host is.
| Platform | Performance | Load Time | Mobile Speed | Desktop Speed | Avg SEO Traffic |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shopify | 3.9 | 1.3 | 63 | 75 | 11717 |
| Sellfy | 3.1 | 1.4 | 46.8 | 72 | 134 |
| Zyro | 3.3 | 2.1 | 51 | 89 | 128 |
| Nexcess StoreBuilder | 4.0 | 1.93 | 53 | 72 | 58,645 |
| ShopWired | 4.3 | 1.38 | 56 | 80 | 717 |
| Pixpa | 2.3 | 1.6 | 22.66 | 65.5 | 72 |
| Freewebstore | 3.5 | 1.89 | 53 | 79 | 927 |
| Ecwid | 3.5 | 5.0 | 50 | 82 | 15,517 |
| Square Online | 2.8 | 2.03 | 1.0 | 3.0 | 65,317 |
| BigCommerce | 4.5 | 2.2 | 63 | 80 | 33626 |
| Woocommerce | 3.1 | 3.4 | 42 | 52 | 72968 |
| Shift4Shop | 3.0 | 2.8 | 50 | 58 | 9703 |
| Volusion | 2.9 | 3.5 | 48 | 56 | 15779 |
| Adobe Commerce | 2.8 | 4.8 | 39 | 43 | 19408 |
| Prestashop | 2.9 | 4.62 | 50 | 52 | 33851 |
| SquareSpace | 3.5 | 3.5 | 42 | 63 | 5678 |
| Wix | 3.9 | 3.2 | 69 | 81 | 543 |
| Weebly | 2.6 | 3 | 49 | 59 | 186 |
Load Time
Nexcess SiteBuilder is one of the best platforms for loading time, which is key to a successful commerce website. Our performance tests show that Nexcess websites load in average of 1.9 seconds.
Nexcess hosting with the StoreBuilder includes a plugin performance monitor. It’s an exclusive feature that monitors site performance before and after you change the theme or plugins on your site. This helps you see how particular plugins influence your overall site performance.
You’ll also get a sales performance monitor. If the platform notices that sales have dropped after you’ve made a site change, you’ll be alerted so you can make adjustments.
Desktop Site Speed
When it comes to desktop site speed, Nexcess is in the middle. It’s slower than platforms like Zyro, Wix, and BigCommerce, but scores better than Sellfy, Squarespace, and WooCommerce. It’s nearly the same as Shopify.
Mobile Site Speed
Nexcess could use some improvement in terms of mobile site speed. But, it ranks well above several platforms on our list, including WooCommerce, Shift4Shop, and Zyro.
Average SEO Traffic
Nexcess is great for SEO, falling second to WooCommerce, which makes sense. Nexcess SiteBuilder uses WooCommerce, which is the best ecommerce platform for SEO. If they were to make improvements to the mobile site experience, it would likely give an even bigger SEO boost.
Apps and Integrations
With WordPress and WooCommerce, there’s no shortage of apps and integrations. As of this writing, there are over 55,000 plugins to add features and functionality to your website.
Nexcess StoreBuilder Integrations and Plans
With Nexcess hosting, your plugins will be updated alongside the core WordPress files, so you can keep everything running smoothly.
Selling Online with Nexcess StoreBuilder
When you create your account and answer all the questions, you’ll wait a few minutes for the account to be created within your Nexcess dashboard.
Once that’s ready, you’ll be able to login to your WordPress installation to add your content and customizing your store.
Nexcess customized the dashboard to make it easy for beginners to get started, with clear buttons to:
- Update Content
- Accept Payments
- Add Products
- Set up Shipping
- Change Design
- Add Your Team
There are additional options for advanced steps, such as:
- Creating coupons
- Configuring Email
- Designing Invoices
And there are links to tools you’ll need, including:
- Analytics
- Page Speed
- WP 101
- Store Settings
Once you’ve customized your site, you’ll need to follow some steps to make sure the domain name you want to use is pointing to your site. Nexcess provides instructions on how to change the DNS records on your domain so that it points to your hosting environment where you’ve already built the site.
After you’ve edited the DNS records (which can take up to 48 hours to propagate), you can enter your domain name in the Go Live! box in your WordPress dashboard. Nexcess will take care of the rest.
Customer Support
Nexcess offers stellar customer support for your online store. The support team is available via phone, email, and live chat. There’s also an extensive knowledge base to help you find answers.
Templates and Design
Since StoreBuilder uses WordPress and WooCommerce, you can use any number of WooCommerce themes to find the right design for your site. There a ton of options, both free and paid, to choose from.
| Platform | Design & Themes | Visual Design | Mobile UX | Cost Of Premium Themes | # of Free Themes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shopify | 4.0 | 5.0 | 97 | $140 | 9 |
| Sellfy | 5.0 | 5 | 93 | $0 | 5 |
| Zyro | 5.0 | 5.0 | 92 | $0 | 50+ |
| Nexcess StoreBuilder | 4.3 | 3.0 | 94 | $20-$100 | 4 |
| ShopWired | 4.3 | 5 | 93 | $3495+ | 20 |
| Pixpa | 4.3 | 5 | 94 | 0 | 131 |
| Freewebstore | 4.3 | 5 | 92 | 0 | 100+ |
| Ecwid | 4.3 | 5.0 | 93 | $60 | 1 |
| Square Online | 3.7 | 5.0 | 92 | $0 | 1 |
| BigCommerce | 3.8 | 5.0 | 94 | $150 | 12 |
| Woocommerce | 4.3 | 3.0 | 97 | $39 | 1000+ |
| Shift4Shop | 4.3 | 4.0 | 95 | $200+ | 50+ |
| Volusion | 3.7 | 4 | 92 | $180 | 18 |
| Adobe Commerce | 3.7 | 5.0 | 5 | $300+ | 1 |
| Prestashop | 3.2 | 4 | 94 | $29+ | 0 |
| SquareSpace | 4.3 | 5.0 | 5 | 100.00% | 14 |
| Wix | 4.7 | 5.0 | 92 | 0 | 72 |
| Weebly | 4.3 | 5 | 97 | $45 | 15 |
StoreBuilder takes care of that for you, though, with KadenceWP. The theme is versatile, and with the Pro Block plugin included, it’s easy to customize to your site.
Ease of Use
Nexcess SiteBuilder is fairly easy to use. When you create your account, you answer questions to determine the base Kadence WP theme design your site uses.
The system generates your WordPress access details, which display in a popup in your dashboard for a while after you create the account. If you need to get back to it after closing that popup, you must go to “Environment” and then “Admin.”
If you don’t have your password, you’ll have to reset it.
| Platform | Ease of Use | Phone Support | 24/7 Support | Chat Support | Community Rating | # of Apps/ Plugins |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shopify | 4.9 | Yes | Yes | Yes | 5 | 5,000 |
| Sellfy | 3.5 | No | Yes | No | 4 | 4 |
| Zyro | 3.7 | No | Yes | Yes | 4.7 | 30 |
| Nexcess StoreBuilder | 4.5 | Yes | Yes | Yes | 3.6 | 50,000+ |
| ShopWired | 4.5 | No | No | Yes | 4.9 | 72 |
| Pixpa | 3.7 | Yes | No | Yes | 4.7 | 103 |
| Freewebstore | 3.4 | No | No | Yes | None | 25+ |
| Ecwid | 3.6 | 5.0 | 1.0 | 5.0 | 4.7 | 100+ |
| Square Online | 4.0 | 5.0 | 1.0 | 5.0 | 4.2 | 25+ |
| BigCommerce | 4.8 | Yes | Yes | Yes | 4.0 | 1000 |
| Woocommerce | 3.3 | No | No | Yes | 4.0 | 250+ |
| Shift4Shop | 4.3 | Yes | Yes | Yes | 3.0 | ~250 |
| Volusion | 4.1 | Yes | Yes | Yes | 2 | ~20 |
| Adobe Commerce | 2.2 | No | No | No | 4 | 3000+ |
| Prestashop | 2.9 | Yes | No | No | 3 | 3000+ |
| SquareSpace | 3.8 | No | Yes | Yes | 3.0 | 10+ |
| Wix | 4.2 | Yes | Yes | No | 4.5 | 700 |
| Weebly | 3.6 | Yes | No | Yes | 2 | ~350 |
Since Nexcess customizes the WordPress dashboard, it’s pretty easy to make adjustments to your site and add your content. WooCommerce is an easy-to-use ecommerce platform built exclusively for WordPress.
The part that gets a bit confusing is when it comes to the site dashboard itself within Nexcess. The good thing is, though, you shouldn’t need to adjust those settings. If something changes, you can always reach out to customer support for help.
Alternatives
If, as you read this review, you’re afraid the Nexcess StoreBuilder isn’t the right ecommerce platform for your needs, here are a few alternatives worth looking at:
Shopify
Shopify is an ecommerce platform industry leader. Ultimately, Nexcess StoreBuilder is more affordable than Shopify. The Enterprise level Nexcess plan allows for 30 stores, while Shopify Plus starts at $2,000/month and is for a single store.
Since Nexcess is WordPress with WooCommerce, there’s a much bigger app marketplace, with many free options to choose from. Performance wise, they are on par with one another, but Nexcess wins SEO.
BigCommerce
Store Builder is close to BigCommerce on many fronts, with a slightly higher overall score. This is because of the better overall performance.
BigCommerce is the industry leader for larger brands or brands with massive inventories. It’s an ideal option for B2C private label businesses. StoreBuilder works well for smaller ecommerce websites, or agencies looking to maintain multiple online stores for their clients.
Wix
Wix is a platform best suited to beginners who don’t want to learn WordPress or deal with hosting. It’s not a good option for those who are concerned about SEO and performance.
However, both platforms are a great choice for small stores, print on demand, and boutiques. Neither Wix nor StoreBuilder charges transaction fees and both are affordably priced.
User Ratings and Reviews
If you have experience with StoreBuilder, consider leaving a review to help others. Our goal is provide unbiased reviews, and we need people like to help us do it!
If you’re considering using Nexcess StoreBuilder, your research should always include reading reviews like this one (and thoughts from real users, too.) We hope our data and objective StoreBuilder review can be helpful in making your final choice – whether you choose SiteBuilder or another product.
Is Nexcess StoreBuilder Worth It?
If you’re looking for an affordable managed WordPress hosting option that makes it easy to use WooCommerce with your website, then Nexcess StoreBuilder is definitely worth it. Even if you’re completely new to WordPress and WooCommerce, the platform has plenty of education to help you learn how to use it.
However, the main dashboard can be difficult to navigate and understand if you have no technical background.
The right ecommerce platform is crucial for business success. But what’s right for one online store isn’t right for all of them. The right choice comes down to factors such as budget, technical skill, desired level of involvement in the technical aspects, catalog size, and more.
