The two biggest e-commerce platforms. Which one should power your store?
Bottom line: Shopify is the better platform for most new store owners — it handles hosting, security, updates, and payments out of the box. WooCommerce wins on total cost of ownership at scale, infinite customization, and for stores already on WordPress. Start with Shopify if you want to sell; choose WooCommerce if you want to build.
| Feature | Shopify | WooCommerce |
|---|---|---|
| Setup difficulty | Easy (1-2 days) Win | Moderate (technical knowledge needed) |
| Hosting | Included, managed Win | Self-managed required |
| Base cost | $39-399/mo | Free plugin + hosting Win |
| Customization | Good | Unlimited (open source) Win |
| Transaction fees | 0.5-2% (non-Shopify payments) | No transaction fees Win |
| Plugin/app ecosystem | 8,000+ apps | 60,000+ WordPress plugins Win |
| Security/SSL | Managed automatically Win | Your responsibility |
| SEO control | Good | Excellent (WordPress SEO) Win |
| Scalability | ✓ Scales well | ✓ Scales well |
| POS (point of sale) | Built-in POS system Win | ~ Extensions needed |
| Support | 24/7 Shopify support Win | Community + premium |
True WooCommerce total cost with hosting, extensions, and maintenance often reaches $50-150/month for a real store — comparable to Shopify.
WooCommerce's plugin is free, but a production-ready store requires quality hosting ($15-30/month), a premium theme ($50-150/year), essential plugins for SEO, caching, security, and payments ($100-300/year), and possibly a developer for setup and maintenance. The true annual cost is comparable to Shopify — often more once developer time is included.
At scale, WooCommerce's transaction fee savings are significant. Shopify charges 0.5-2% on non-Shopify-Payments transactions. On $100,000/month in revenue, that's $500-$2,000/month in fees. WooCommerce charges nothing. For high-volume stores, this calculus strongly favors WooCommerce.
Launch in hours without technical knowledge
No transaction fees at any volume
Native WordPress integration
Best-in-class POS system
WordPress SEO is unmatched
Managed platform, 24/7 support