If you need a new online store, for most people the choice is between two routes: WooCommerce, which runs on WordPress on your own hosting, or Shopify, a ready-made service you rent. In short: Shopify is the quickest to get started with and needs the least technical responsibility, while WooCommerce gives the most freedom, ownership and room to customize, but requires someone to run and maintain it. Here we go through the differences, so you can choose based on your business and not on who’s selling what.
We should be honest about where we stand: we build and run WooCommerce stores. That’s exactly why we also know when WooCommerce isn’t the right choice.
The basic difference
| WooCommerce | Shopify | |
|---|---|---|
| What is it? | A free, open-source plugin for WordPress | A hosted service with a monthly subscription |
| Where does it run? | On your own hosting | On Shopify’s servers |
| Who owns the data and code? | You | You own your data, but the platform is Shopify’s |
| Operations, security and updates | Your responsibility, or your developer’s or host’s | Shopify’s responsibility |
| Customization | Almost unlimited; you have access to all the code | Within the limits of themes, apps and Shopify’s APIs |
| Content and blog | WordPress is built for content | A basic blog and pages |
| Costs | Hosting, extensions and development | Subscription, apps and any transaction fees |
When Shopify is the right choice
Shopify is strongest when you want to get started quickly and don’t want technical responsibility. Shopify takes care of servers, security, updates and payment security, and if you have a fairly standard range and checkout flow, most features exist as apps. If you have no developer and don’t expect to need one, you get a lot for little work.
The downsides usually show as the store grows. The monthly costs of apps add up, and special needs like different prices for business customers, complex variations or integrations with your own warehouse or ERP can be hard or expensive to solve within the platform’s limits. And if you don’t use Shopify’s own payment solution, Shopify charges an extra fee per order on most plans.
When WooCommerce is the right choice
WooCommerce is strongest when your business doesn’t fit the standard. That could be B2B and B2C in the same store, prices with and without VAT, special shipping rules, configurable products or a checkout that has to work in a particular way. Because you have access to all the code, there’s almost nothing that can’t be built, and you don’t pay a monthly fee for every extra feature.
The same goes for integrations. If the store has to talk to inventory, ERP, accounting or shipping services, you have full control over how and when data moves. Which type of API to use is covered in our comparison of REST, GraphQL, gRPC and WebSocket. And if content is an important part of your marketing, WordPress is built for exactly that: articles, guides and landing pages live in the same place as the store and can link directly to the products.
Finally, you own the whole solution. You can move it to another host or another developer without starting over. The price of that freedom is responsibility: a WooCommerce store needs proper hosting, ongoing updates, backups and monitoring, or it becomes slow and vulnerable. If you choose WooCommerce, also choose who will run it, and read our guide to hosting.
What does it actually cost?
Compare the total costs over a couple of years, not just the starting price. On Shopify, that’s the subscription, apps with their own monthly fees, a theme, payment fees and any extra transaction fees. On WooCommerce, it’s hosting, extensions with annual licenses, payment fees, development and maintenance. Shopify is usually cheapest at the start, while WooCommerce can become cheapest over time for a larger store, but only if operations are in order. A store that’s down or slow is always the most expensive option.
| Cost | Shopify | WooCommerce |
|---|---|---|
| Platform | Monthly subscription that rises with the plan | Free |
| Hosting | Included | Paid separately, and it has to suit an online store |
| Extra features | Apps, often each with its own monthly fee | Extensions, often with an annual license |
| Payments | Payment fees, plus an extra fee per order without Shopify Payments | Payment fees with the provider you choose |
| Design | Free or paid theme, customized within the theme | Theme or custom design |
| Development | Less, but limited by the platform | As needed, without limits |
| Operations and updates | Included | Hosting and maintenance, handled by you or a partner |
The table shows where the money goes, not how much it is, because that depends on the store’s size and needs. Do the math with your own numbers: which apps or extensions will you need, how many orders do you have, and what does it cost to have built what doesn’t exist off the shelf.
Local requirements: payments, VAT and shipping
Both platforms work in most countries, but it’s worth checking the things a store in your market needs. Local payment methods are the first: in Denmark, where we’re based, that’s cards plus MobilePay, the country’s dominant mobile payment app, and both platforms support it either through their own payment solution or through local payment providers. Accounting systems (in Denmark typically e-conomic or Dinero) and shipping carriers are usually connected through ready-made integrations or a shipping service. They exist for both Shopify and WooCommerce, so the difference is rarely whether it can be done, but how much it costs and how much control you have.
VAT is an example. In the EU, prices for consumers have to be shown including VAT, but many business customers want to see them without, and if you sell to both, the store has to handle it in a way customers understand. On WooCommerce, it can be solved directly in the store, for example with our free plugin Tax Toggle for WooCommerce, which lets customers switch between prices with and without VAT. That kind of thing is where WooCommerce’s freedom pays off most clearly for a store selling to businesses.
Is WordPress still the right choice?
WordPress is still the most widely used system for websites, which means a huge choice of themes, plugins and developers. That’s a real advantage: you don’t depend on one company, and there’s a solution for almost everything. But it also means quality varies a lot. A WordPress site with heavy page builders and lots of plugins can become slow and insecure, while a well-built site is both fast and stable. Much of the difference lies in how much JavaScript the site sends.
WordPress is a good choice when you want content and store in one place, full control, and the ability to grow without changing platform. Other solutions can be better if you only need a very simple website and don’t want to maintain anything, or if you’re building an application rather than a website. If the site mostly consists of content that rarely changes, read about the difference between dynamic and static too.
And Wix or Squarespace?
Website builders like Wix and Squarespace are easy to use and fine for a simple website or a small store with few products. They’re hosted services like Shopify, but with e-commerce as an add-on rather than the core. As the store grows, you usually hit the limits sooner than on Shopify and WooCommerce, and it’s hard to take the site with you if you want to switch.
How to decide
Ask yourself these questions:
- Do my range and checkout flow fit the standard, or do I have special needs?
- Does the store need to talk to other systems?
- How important are content and SEO to my business?
- Who will be responsible for operations, updates and security?
- What does it cost in total over three years, including apps, extensions and development?
- How easily can I move if I want to switch later?
If you mostly answer “standard”, “none” and “I don’t want to”, Shopify is probably right. If you answer “special needs”, “yes, several” and “very important”, WooCommerce is the stronger choice. Once the platform is chosen, the next step is to plan the structure and content.
Frequently asked questions
Is WooCommerce free?
The plugin itself is free, but you pay for hosting, any paid extensions, and the work it takes to build and maintain the store.
Can I move from Shopify to WooCommerce, or the other way around?
Yes. Products, customers and orders can be moved with tools or export and import. Design, apps and special features usually have to be rebuilt, and the addresses change, so redirects have to be set up to avoid losing rankings in Google.
Which is better for SEO?
Both can rank well. WooCommerce gives the most control over URLs, structured data and content, while Shopify has fixed limits on things like the URL structure. What matters most, though, is the content, the speed and how well the store is built.
Is WooCommerce secure?
Yes, when it’s kept up to date and runs on proper hosting. Most security problems come from outdated plugins and missing maintenance, not WooCommerce itself.
Considering WooCommerce?
We build, optimize and run WooCommerce stores, and you talk directly to the developer. We’ll also tell you if we think Shopify suits you better.