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WooCommerce vs Shopify is a choice between ownership and convenience. Shopify is a hosted ecommerce platform: you pay a monthly plan and Shopify runs the hosting, security and checkout for you. WooCommerce is a free, open-source plugin that turns a WordPress website into a store, so you control everything but you’re responsible for hosting, updates and security. Both run successful Australian stores.
What is the difference between Shopify and WooCommerce?
The biggest difference is who runs the platform. With Shopify, Shopify does. With WooCommerce, you (or your developer) do, on hosting you choose. Here’s how Shopify vs WooCommerce compares side by side:
| Shopify | WooCommerce | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A hosted, all-in-one ecommerce platform | A free, open-source plugin for WordPress |
| Platform cost | A monthly plan: Basic, Grow, Advanced or Plus | Free software, with no platform fee or revenue share |
| Hosting and security | Included and managed by Shopify | You choose, pay for and maintain your own hosting |
| Payments | Shopify Payments, or an extra fee for third-party providers | Choose your payment processor; no extra platform fee |
| Add-ons | Apps from the Shopify App Store, many with monthly fees | WordPress plugins and WooCommerce extensions, many with yearly fees |
| Content and blogging | A built-in blog and pages | The full WordPress content system |
| Control | Work within Shopify’s rules and checkout | Full access to code, data and hosting |
| Best for | Store owners who want to focus on selling, not maintenance | Businesses that want full control or already run WordPress |
Is Shopify better than WooCommerce?
Neither is better for everyone. Which is better, Shopify or WooCommerce, depends on what you want to manage yourself.
Choose Shopify if you want to launch quickly, don’t want to think about hosting, updates or security, sell physical products in a fairly standard way, or plan to sell in person too with Shopify’s point of sale.
Choose WooCommerce if you already have a WordPress website, want your store and content in one place, need unusual product options or custom features, want to avoid platform transaction fees, or want to own and move your site and data freely.
When a client asks us “Shopify or WooCommerce?”, we start with three questions: who will run the store day to day, how much content (articles, guides, landing pages) sits around the products, and what the store needs to do that’s unusual. The answers usually make the choice clear.
Shopify vs WooCommerce pricing
The two charge in very different ways, so compare the total cost over a year rather than the headline price.
Shopify costs
- A monthly plan. Basic, Grow and Advanced, with Plus for large businesses (from US$2,300 a month). Paying yearly lowers the monthly price.
- Payment processing. Card fees through Shopify Payments, or an extra fee if you use a third-party provider instead: 2% on Basic, 1% on Grow, 0.6% on Advanced and 0.2% on Plus.
- Apps and themes. Free and paid themes, and apps that often charge a monthly fee.
Plan prices are shown in your local currency on Shopify’s pricing page and change from time to time, so check there for current Australian prices.
WooCommerce costs
- The software is free, with no monthly subscription and no revenue share (WooCommerce pricing).
- Hosting. You pay for hosting that can handle a store. Ours starts from $400 + GST a year.
- Payment processing. Only your chosen processor’s fees.
- Extensions. Paid extensions for features like subscriptions, bookings or advanced shipping, usually billed yearly.
- Maintenance. Updates, backups and security, done by you or a care plan. Our website care plans start from $275 + GST a month (minimum 6 months), and Premium ($549 + GST a month) is built for online stores.
Is WooCommerce cheaper than Shopify?
Often, but it depends on the store. WooCommerce has no platform fee, which helps a busy store. But once you add hosting good enough for ecommerce, paid extensions and someone to maintain it, the yearly total can be close to a Shopify plan. A small store with no technical help is often cheaper and simpler on Shopify; a store that sells a lot or needs custom features can come out ahead on WooCommerce.
Is Shopify faster than WooCommerce?
Shopify’s hosting is managed and tuned for stores, so a Shopify site is usually quick without much effort. A WooCommerce store can be just as fast, but its speed depends on your hosting, theme, plugins and image sizes. Cheap shared hosting and too many plugins are the usual reasons a WooCommerce store feels slow.
Which is better for SEO?
Both can rank well. WooCommerce, being WordPress, gives you more control over technical settings and makes content-heavy SEO (guides, articles, category pages with lots of text) easy. Shopify handles the basics well and has apps for the rest, though some web address structures are fixed. In practice, product descriptions, category content, site speed and links matter more than the platform. Our Shopify SEO service covers the search side for Shopify stores.
Can you migrate between WooCommerce and Shopify?
Yes, in either direction. Products, customers and orders can be moved with import tools or migration apps, but the design, apps or plugins and some settings need to be rebuilt on the new platform. The most important step is mapping every old product and category address to its new one with permanent (301) redirects, so you don’t lose your search rankings. Our website migration service can plan and handle the move.
Does WooCommerce work with Shopify?
Not as one store: they’re separate, competing platforms. Some businesses run a WordPress site for content and use Shopify for the store, linked with Shopify’s buy buttons or a headless set-up, but for most small businesses one platform is simpler.
How we build online stores
We build WooCommerce websites for businesses that want full control and a store that sits inside their WordPress site, and we work on Shopify stores too. Our ecommerce website design package starts from $6,000 + GST, or 6 monthly payments of $1,000 + GST, for a full website with an online store, shopping cart and payment gateway. Shopify plan and app fees are paid to Shopify. If your store would be better on the other platform, we’ll tell you before we quote.
Frequently asked questions
Is WooCommerce good for beginners?
It can be, especially if you already use WordPress, but there’s more to set up and look after than on Shopify. Many beginners have a developer build the store and a care plan maintain it, then manage products and orders themselves.
Do I need to know coding to use Shopify or WooCommerce?
No. Both let you add products, edit pages and manage orders without code. Coding helps when you want custom features or design changes beyond what themes and apps allow.
Which is better for selling in person?
Shopify has its own point-of-sale system that syncs stock between your shop and your website. WooCommerce can do this too, but it needs a separate point-of-sale extension or integration.
Can I sell digital products or subscriptions?
Yes, on both. WooCommerce handles digital downloads out of the box and subscriptions with an extension; Shopify handles both with apps.
The short version
In WooCommerce vs Shopify, pick Shopify for a fast launch with hosting, security and checkout taken care of, and WooCommerce for full control, no platform fees and a store built into your WordPress site. Compare the total yearly cost, not the headline price.
If you’d like help choosing a platform or building your store, book a free 30-minute discovery call.
