Shopify powers 4M+ stores with a fully-hosted, $39/mo Basic tier and 8,000+ apps. WooCommerce powers 6.5M+ stores as a free WordPress plugin with full code ownership. The honest verdict depends on what you value more: convenience or control. We ran a real store on each for 6 months — here's the math.
After 6 months running real stores on both platforms, tracking pricing, performance, ease of use, and after-sales support — here's the honest answer.
Shopify charges a monthly subscription. WooCommerce is free — but you pay for hosting, domain, plugins, and themes. Here's the side-by-side, current as of 2026.
Every meaningful comparison axis, scored honestly. We've highlighted the winner on each line — but the right pick for your business depends on which lines matter most.
| Feature | Shopify |
WooCommerce |
|---|---|---|
| Starting Price | $5–$39/moStarter or Basic plan | $0 + hosting~$5–$15/mo hosting required |
| Setup Time | ~15 minutesHosted, guided onboarding | 2–8 hoursWordPress + plugin + theme setup |
| Hosting | Included & managedAuto-scaling, 99.99% uptime | Your responsibilityCloudways, Kinsta, or budget hosts |
| SSL Certificate | Free & automatic | Free via host (Let's Encrypt) |
| Transaction Fees | 0–2% via 3rd party0% with Shopify Payments | $0 platform feeOnly payment processor fees |
| Payment Processing | 2.4–2.9% + 30¢Shopify Payments | 2.9% + 30¢WooPayments or Stripe |
| App / Plugin Ecosystem | 8,000+ appsCurated, paid-heavy | 60,000+ WP pluginsMany free, more variable quality |
| Customization | Liquid theme editorSome limits without dev access | Unlimited code accessEdit anything, including checkout |
| Code Ownership | ✗ Platform-lockedMigrating off is hard | ✓ Full ownershipMove servers, change hosts freely |
| Maintenance & Updates | Automatic, hands-offShopify handles everything | Manual or via hostWP core + plugin updates |
| Security | PCI DSS Level 1 by defaultShopify-managed | Your responsibilityPlugins like Wordfence, Jetpack |
| Multi-Channel Selling | Native POS, social, marketplaceShop Pay, Amazon, Instagram | Plugin-basedRequires multiple integrations |
| Support | 24/7 official supportPhone, chat, email | Community forums + hostNo central support team |
| Best For | Sellers who want convenience$0–$10M ARR stores | Devs who want controlBloggers + content-heavy stores |
There's no universal winner — only the right pick for your situation. We've matched each platform to the business types where it genuinely shines.
Beyond plan price, here's the annualized total cost for both platforms at four common store sizes. Includes hosting, plugins, themes, support — everything you'll actually pay over 12 months.
| Store Size | Shopify Annual | WooCommerce Annual | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hobby / Side Project <$1K/month revenue · 10–50 products |
$468 Basic plan, annual billing |
$300 Shared hosting + free theme |
WooCommerce |
| Growing Brand $1K–$10K/month · 100–500 products |
$948 Grow plan annual + 2 apps |
$1,400 Managed hosting + premium theme + 3 plugins |
Shopify |
| Established Store $10K–$50K/month · 500–1,000 products |
$3,588 Advanced plan annual + apps |
$3,900 Cloudways/Kinsta + dev support + plugins |
Shopify (barely) |
| Enterprise / High Volume $100K+/month · custom needs |
$27,600+ Shopify Plus annual contract |
$15,000+ Enterprise host + dev retainer |
WooCommerce |
Pricing aside, four areas separate Shopify from WooCommerce. These are the categories that decide whether you'll be happy with your choice 18 months from now.
You can have a functional Shopify store live in 15 minutes. Pick a theme, add products, connect a payment processor, hit publish. The dashboard guides you through every step. Themes are professional out of the box. The mobile app lets you manage everything from your phone.
WooCommerce requires more upfront work: pick a host, install WordPress, install WooCommerce, pick a theme, install essential plugins (security, SEO, caching), configure each one. A first-time setup typically takes 2–8 hours. Not difficult — but not 15 minutes either.
Want to fundamentally change how the checkout works? Add custom product configuration logic? Build a completely unique storefront with headless architecture? WooCommerce lets you do all of it because you have full code access. 60,000+ WordPress plugins and an open architecture means almost no limit.
Shopify is more constrained. Themes are editable via Liquid templating, and there are 8,000+ apps in the App Store. But you can't modify Shopify's core checkout (without Plus) or fundamentally rebuild the platform. For most stores, the limits don't matter — but they exist.
WooCommerce charges nothing on transactions — you only pay your payment processor's standard fee (typically 2.9% + 30¢ via Stripe or WooPayments). No platform surcharge, no revenue share, no Plus-tier override clause.
Shopify charges 0% if you use Shopify Payments — but adds 0.6%–2% if you use a third-party gateway like Stripe, PayPal, or Klarna. On the Basic plan that's 2% of every sale on top of payment processing. On $50K/month revenue using a third-party gateway, that's $1,000/month extra — more than the plan itself.
Shopify has a 24/7 dedicated support team — phone, chat, email, all included on every plan. PCI compliance, SSL, security patches, server scaling, backups: all handled automatically. You'll never get woken up at 3 AM because your store crashed under traffic.
WooCommerce has no central support team. Help comes from community forums, plugin developers, your host's support team, or hired developers. WordPress core, WooCommerce core, and every plugin update is your responsibility. Plugin conflicts and security patches require attention. For technical users, this is fine. For everyone else, it can become a real burden.
Eight questions every store owner asks before committing. For deeper dives, browse our full eCommerce rankings or our comparison blog.
Both win at different things. The right answer depends on your business, your budget, and whether you value convenience or control more. Try both — and trust your instincts.