Volusion vs. 3dcart

Looking for ecommerce software? Here's how Volusion and 3dcart stack up.

Matthew Taylor

Matthew Taylor

Last updated 2o July 2020


Volusion

4.4  Stackupp rating


Pricing from

$ 29.00 / month

Free Plan?

Trial


Best for

Small businesses expecting to scale that are looking for a feature-rich platform.

3dcart

4.4  Stackupp rating


Pricing from

$ 19.00 / month

Free Plan?

Trial


Best for

3dcart is one of the “big boys” of hosted ecommerce platforms, catering to businesses of all sizes.

Volusion or 3dcart: Which is best?

Can't decide between Volusion and 3dcart?

Find the best platform for you with our side by side comparison of Volusion and 3dcart. See how each platform stacks up across ease of use, design, support and value for money.

Let the comparison begin. Don't worry, we'll guide you.

Is Volusion right for you?

Volusion is a fully-hosted ecommerce platform with a loyal user-base and a wide selection of features. While the platform is suitable for businesses of all sizes, the intuitive user interface, high-quality customer support, and extensive feature-set make it an attractive choice for small and medium-sized retailers that are looking to scale.

Four pricing plans are available, beginning at $29/month and running all the way up to a custom option with VIP support. It is important for retailers to ensure that all the features they need are included with the package they select, as some features aren’t offered in lower-tier plans, like integration with third-party payment gateways and reviews and ratings functionality.

Advantages

  • Easy to get up and running with a good selection of templates.
  • An extensive set of features which make Volusion ideal for fast-growing stores.
  • 24/7 customer support with access to design and marketing specialists.

Drawbacks

  • Features that some retailers may consider essential are not included at lower price-points.
  • Themes can be pricey, usually costing $180 for paid options.
  • There are some hidden costs.

Use Volusion if you’re starting out or if you’re looking to scale and need access to a comprehensive set of ecommerce features. Larger stores that prefer to use a fully-hosted solution and wish to make a switch will also find a lot to like in Volusion.

Is 3dcart right for you?

3dcart is a widely-used and fully-hosted ecommerce platform that comes with an extensive set of features.

Like Shopify, 3dcart offers packages for retailers of all sizes. Smaller online sellers can take advantage of a site-builder and straightforward management dashboard. Larger retailers, on the other hand, can choose from a comprehensive premium plan or several enterprise options (for stores turning over millions of dollars).

For retailers that want to start on a smaller plan but are expecting to scale, 3dcart will be particularly attractive.

On the negative side, absolute beginners may benefit from a more intuitive, streamlined platform like Weebly or Squarespace. The themes aren’t the most visually-pleasing that we’ve seen, either.

Advantages

  • Wide range of plans for retailers of all sizes.
  • Extensive feature set, especially on the “Plus” and “Pro” plans.
  • Excellent 24/7 customer support options.

Drawbacks

  • There are a few “hidden” costs.
  • Understanding the central management dashboard takes a little time.
  • The free themes aren’t particularly visually attractive.

Use if you’re a large retailer looking for a fully-hosted solution with a wide feature set, extensive customizability, and excellent customer support. Equally, smaller retailers that are expecting to scale should consider 3dcart.

Ease of Use

Our first comparison criteria, ease of use. Why? Because it’s the most important.

Think about it. You don’t want to invest a lot of your precious time setting up an online store and tweaking the design only to find out that it’s a pain in the butt to manage day to day.

We take a look at how simple the Volusion and 3dcart platforms are to run.

How easy is Volusion to use?

Rated 5/5 for Ease of Use

Volusion is incredibly intuitive and easy to use. Users have access to a store builder, making it possible to design storefronts without any coding knowledge. Adding product listings, managing inventory and shipping, and setting up payment gateways, are all straightforward processes. What’s more, store-owners have 24/7 access to a variety of specialists.

What Volusion customers are saying...

“Always an awesome experience!”
“The online "chat" techs have been absolutely great. Solved my problems and are going to help me with a special "tweak" that I need done on my site. Should be ready to publish shortly.”
“Tech support is top of the list for all V2 owners. They are there for you to help you out for better ecommerce service.”

How easy is 3dcart to use?

Rated 4/5 for Ease of Use

3dcart offers a site-builder and collection of ready-made themes for beginners, along with an advanced editor for developers. Setting up a store for the first time is a straightforward process.

Because 3dcart has a huge array of features, the interface can feel a little overwhelming at first. And it doesn’t boast the same level of intuitiveness as some other platforms.

That said, once users are familiar with the various features, store-management becomes easy. Extensive video and written tutorials are also provided.

What 3dcart customers are saying...

I like it. At first it was a bit over whelming. I am self taught, so just had to figure things out my self.
I would never use another shopping cart software. I started using them in 2010. They have always been light years ahead of the others.
I like 3Dcart. I have been using them for about 10 years.
Volusion is our winner for ease of use

Design

Powerful features are great, but we all know first impressions count. So, do Volusion and 3dcart templates actually look any good? See for yourself. We outline each platforms design options, plus showcase a few real life examples.

How good are Volusion's themes?

Rated 4/5 for Design

Volusion is an excellent choice for users with limited design abilities that want to create a professional site. The site builder utilizes drag-and-drop content blocks (for reviews, images, testimonials, etc.), an editor for tweaking page elements, and also offers a variety of out-of-the-box features like search functionality.

On the downside, Volusion only offers forty-five themes, which is lower than some competitors. Only eleven themes are free. The remaining paid options each cost $180. Users should take advantage of the free trial to see if the templates and website builder are a fit for their store. It’s also worth reiterating that all customers have access to design specialists if they want to make changes or tweaks that require coding knowledge.

Volusion Examples

  • Fitness Finders
    Fitness Finders
Item 1 of 3

How good are 3dcart's themes?

Rated 4/5 for Design

Generally speaking, 3dcart excels when it comes to design flexibility. Developers and designers that are seeking a solution that balances a high level of customizability with the benefits of a fully-hosted plan should definitely consider this platform.

Retailers will little design experience will also benefit from a solid website builder that allows them to make changes to their site’s look-and-feel and layout options. The one downside is that the free templates are a little lacking in terms of visual appeal.

Experienced developers can take advantage of the theme editor. A REST API is available for the creation of apps to add extra functionality to 3dcart’s existing feature-set.

3dcart Examples

  • Steeda
    Steeda
Item 1 of 3
It's a draw!

How much do they cost?

Everyone’s favourite topic - pricing. Let's dive in to see if Volusion or 3dcart offers better value for money.

How much does Volusion cost?

Rated 4/5 for Pricing

Volusion is fairly competitive on the pricing front. Even on the basic plan, users have access to a broad array of features, including checkout, inventory management, access to templates, and so on.

There are a few things to watch out for, however.

First, some features that might be considered essential, like ratings and reviews, third-party payment gateway integrations, and omnichannel store management, are only available on higher-tier plans.

Second, there are some hidden costs involved. All store-owners must purchase an SSL certificate, for example, and customer support is only available via the web on the entry-level plan.

How much does 3dcart cost?

Rated 4.5/5 for Pricing

3dcart is very competitive when it comes to pricing. The lowest-priced “Startup” plan, which has everything you need to run an online store (unlike some other ecommerce platforms where the entry-level plans have limited feature-sets), costs $19/month. There are no extra transaction fees on any of the packages. New users can also sample the software with a 15-day free trial.

The top “Pro” plan, which is suitable for stores making up to $1 million in sales per year, and comes with omnichannel sales, 24/7 support, and unlimited bandwidth and product listings, costs $229/month. There are significant discounts for a yearly subscription across all plans. 3dcart is also one of the few ecommerce platforms to publicly show it’s enterprise options, which begin at $499.99 a month for stores making up to $5 million a year.

3dcart is our winner for cost

Help and Support

If things go wrong (and they often do) you need to know someone’s there to help get you back on track. So, how does Volusion's and 3dcart's support measure up?

How good is Volusion support?

Rated 4.5/5 for Help and Support

Volusion excels in customer support. A 24/7 service is available and provides access to technical, design, and marketing specialists. As web chat is only available on the beginner plan, you will need to upgrade to the next package for phone support. More extensive support packages, such as “homepage optimization” or Google Analytics training, are available for an extra cost.

How good is 3dcart support?

Rated 5/5 for Help and Support

3dcart offers one of the best support packages on the market. All plans include live chat and help tickets. All but the lowest-priced option also offer 24/7 phone support. Customer reports regarding the quality of support are very positive.

Furthermore, users have access to extensive documentation and an active community of fellow retailers and developers.

3dcart is our winner for support

The Bottom Line

The final say. Let's wrap up our thoughts on each platform.

Volusion: Our Verdict

Volusion has a great package of features, competitive pricing, and outstanding customer support. Retailers that require access to a team of technical, design, and marketing specialists should consider Volusion. Anybody without coding skills looking for a way to build and manage a store will feel at home with Volusion’s easy-to-use and intuitive dashboard.

The platform isn’t perfect, however. There are some hidden costs, like the requirement to buy or transfer an SSL certificate. Many features that might be considered essential, like omnichannel store management, coupon creation, and reviews and ratings functionality on product pages, are not included in the basic plan. Furthermore, third-party payment gateways are only available on the “Business” or “Prime” package.

Retailers should carefully check the features on offer to make sure they’ll have what they need with the plan they can afford.

In short, Volusion is an excellent platform for the right retailers. If you’re a small or medium-sized business looking for a platform that can scale as you grow, take advantage of the 14-day free trial to see if it’s a fit.

3dcart: Our Verdict

Overall, we were very impressed with 3dcart. Pricing is competitive, the feature-set is comprehensive, and there are plans to suit every type of online outlet, from small boutiques to international enterprise-level stores.

Features include support for multiple staff accounts, omnichannel sales, advertising automation, unlimited products and bandwidth, access to hundreds of payment processors, and more. Beginners can take advantage of a robust site-builder. And more experienced developers will find it easy to make deeper backend changes via the code editor or through the use of the REST API.

With all of that in mind, there are a small handful of downsides. Costs for apps can run into hundreds of dollars per month, there’s no support for multiple languages, and the quality of themes isn’t as high as some other providers. Smaller retailers that aren’t expecting to grow significantly might also prefer a more streamlined solution.

Our advice? If you’re looking for a powerful hosted solution that won’t break the bank, give 3dcart a whirl and see how the features work for you.

Overall, we couldn't pick a clear winner as Volusion and 3dcartscored similarly.

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