"Should I build on Shopify or WooCommerce?" comes up in almost every store call we have. Both can run a serious online shop, both work well on phones, and both have thousands of apps. The real difference is not features. It is who runs the platform, and how you pay for it. Shopify rents you a ready store. WooCommerce gives you a store you own. Once you know which of those suits you, the choice is easy.
The one big difference
- Shopify is a service. You pay a monthly fee and Shopify takes care of hosting, security, updates and the checkout. You log in and sell.
- WooCommerce is software you own. It is a free plugin on top of WordPress, on your own hosting. You (or your developer) look after it, and in return you can change anything.
Think of it like renting a fully furnished shop in a mall versus owning your own building. Renting is quicker and the landlord fixes the roof. Owning costs more effort, but nobody can change the rules on you.
What each one really costs
Neither one is free once you are selling.
Shopify:
- a monthly plan (the Basic plan is around $39 a month, a bit less if you pay yearly; check Shopify's own pricing page, it changes)
- card fees on every sale, plus an extra fee per sale if you do not use Shopify Payments
- paid apps: most stores end up with 3 to 6 of them, often $10 to $30 a month each
WooCommerce:
- WooCommerce itself is free
- good hosting, usually $10 to $40 a month for a small to medium store
- card fees from your payment provider (Stripe, PayPal and others), with no extra platform fee
- some paid plugins, mostly paid once a year instead of every month
The pattern we see: Shopify is cheaper on day one, WooCommerce is often cheaper in year three, once the app bills add up and sales grow.
Choose Shopify if
- you want to start selling quickly and never think about hosting or updates
- you sell a normal range of products with a standard checkout
- nobody on your team wants to deal with anything technical
- you are fine with paying a monthly fee in return for less work
On our side a Shopify store starts from $499, because Shopify already brings the hosting, security and checkout. We build the theme around your products and set up only the apps you actually need.
Choose WooCommerce if
- you want to own your store, your data and your code
- you need something Shopify does not do well: custom product options, bookings, special pricing rules, B2B prices, or a marketplace with many sellers later on (see our WooCommerce or Dokan guide)
- you already have a WordPress site with a blog that brings you traffic
- you want to avoid a growing list of monthly app bills
A WooCommerce store starts from $1,299 with us, because we set up the hosting, speed, security and checkout ourselves, and it is all yours afterwards.
What about SEO and speed?
Both can rank well on Google. Shopify is quick out of the box but gives you less control over page addresses and some technical details. WooCommerce gives you full control, but only stays fast if it is built and hosted well. A slow WooCommerce store is almost always a hosting or plugin problem, not a WooCommerce problem (we wrote about why WordPress sites get slow).
Pick the platform for the store you will have in two years, not the one you have today. Moving later is possible, but it is never free.
Can you switch later?
Yes. Products, customers and orders can move from Shopify to WooCommerce or the other way round. It takes planning: old page addresses need redirects so you keep your Google rankings, and some apps or plugins have no direct match on the other side. If you are unsure now, it is cheaper to spend a little more time choosing than to move a live store later.
The short version
- Want to start fast, keep it simple and pay monthly: Shopify.
- Want to own everything, need custom features or plan to grow into a marketplace: WooCommerce.
- Still on the fence: tell us what you sell and how, and we will give you a plain answer.
Tell us about your store and you get a written quote within 48 hours, for whichever platform fits, even if the answer is "Shopify is enough for you".