The self-serve EKM alternative
Orbit Commerce vs EKM.
Looking for an EKM alternative? EKM now sells one managed-service plan at £327 + VAT a month. Good value if you want a team running your shop for you. But it's no longer the £30-to-£80 self-serve platform many merchants signed up for. Orbit is UK-based and self-serve: plans in pounds from £25 a month, unlimited products, and the growth features included.
| Orbit Commerce | EKM | |
|---|---|---|
| Model | Self-serve platform. You run the store, tools included | Managed service. EKM’s team builds and runs the store |
| Published price | Solo £25 / Team £85 / Pro £249 per month (£19/£64/£187 yearly) | £327 + VAT/mo, single plan (50% off first 3 months; varies by business size) |
| Platform fee on sales | None. One published card rate per plan | None. EKMPay processing from 1.4% + 20p + VAT |
| Products | Unlimited on every plan | Managed within the service |
| Storage | 100GB to 1TB by plan | Managed within the service |
| Subscriptions & recurring billing | Included (Team and up), with failed-payment recovery | Via the managed service |
| Gift cards & abandoned-cart recovery | Included in the plan | Via the managed service |
| Staff accounts | 1 / 10 / 40 by plan | Managed for you |
| Who does the work | You, with a page builder, imports and UK support | EKM’s team, with a dedicated ecommerce manager |
| Free trial | 14 days, full platform, no card required | 14 days (card details required after) |
EKM left the self-serve market.
No drama here. Just a change worth understanding before you choose, because it changed what EKM is.
For most of two decades, EKM's tiered monthly plans were the default UK answer to "I want a British ecommerce platform." When we checked ekm.com in July 2026, those tiers were no longer for sale. EKM's published offer is now a single managed-service plan at £327 + VAT a month. Their team builds the store, runs it, and assigns you a dedicated ecommerce manager.
As a done-for-you service, that can be fair value. Plenty of businesses pay an agency more for less. But most people searching for EKM want a platform they run themselves, at a price a small shop can carry. EKM doesn't sell that any more. So if you're comparing self-serve platforms, the shortlist has changed, and Orbit is on it.
Orbit's plans are £25, £85 and £249 a month, or £19, £64 and £187 billed yearly. Every plan has unlimited products and 100GB to 1TB of storage. Subscriptions, gift cards, abandoned-cart recovery and the page builder come included. There's no platform fee on your sales. The published card rate is the whole story.
Keep the UK-first part.
The reasons you shortlisted a UK platform in the first place all still apply.
Choosing EKM was usually a vote for a British company. Bills in pounds that don't move with exchange rates. VAT invoicing done properly. Support in your timezone. Switching to Orbit keeps all of that. Orbit is built and run in the UK, priced in pounds, with published card rates per plan (2%, 1.7% or 1.5% + 25p online, stepping down as you grow). UK payment gateways, Royal Mail and UK courier integrations are built in, and support comes from the team that builds the platform.
And if part of EKM's appeal was having people to lean on: our enterprise tier comes with a dedicated account manager and custom development done in-house. It sits between running everything yourself and paying for a fully managed store.
Who should pick which.
Different businesses, different right answers. Here's our honest take.
Choose Orbit Commerce if…
- You wanted what EKM used to sell: a UK platform you run yourself, at a monthly price a small business can carry.
- You want unlimited products and the growth features (subscriptions, gift cards, cart recovery) in the plan, not priced separately.
- You want to keep bills in pounds, with a published card rate and no platform fee on your sales.
- You’d like a middle path later: enterprise brings a dedicated account manager and in-house custom development when you’re ready.
- You want a modern page builder and imports that take your whole catalogue, on every plan.
EKM may fit better if…
- You want a done-for-you store. Their team builds it, runs it and advises you, and £327 + VAT a month is fair against an agency retainer.
- You’d rather have one accountable company than platform + freelancer + apps.
- EKMPay’s processing rate (from 1.4% + 20p + VAT) suits your volumes and you’re happy inside one ecosystem.
Moving from EKM, without losing your rankings.
Switching platforms sounds scarier than it is. Here's what actually moves.
Export your products, customers and orders from EKM. Orbit's importer takes CSV or Excel files with as many rows as you have. Products land with variants and images mapped, customers keep their details, and order history comes across for your records. URL redirects are set up as part of the move, so the links that rank on Google today keep resolving afterwards. That's the part of replatforming that most often goes wrong, and the part we've made routine.
Run the import from your dashboard and point your domain when you're ready. Or book a free migration call and walk your catalogue through it with our team first. Email and live chat support are included on every plan; see pricing for what each plan includes.
Still weighing the UK field? Our comparison of EKM, ShopWired and Bluepark puts all the UK-native platforms in one table, with ourselves included and clearly labelled.
Questions, answered.
Straight answers from the team building it. If we don't know, we'll tell you.
EKM pricing and features checked 21 July 2026 against ekm.com and other published sources, and reviewed regularly. EKM is a trademark of its respective owner; all figures exclude VAT unless stated. Spotted something out of date? Tell us.
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