A plain-English comparison of WooCommerce and Shopify on cost, control and growth, so you can choose with confidence.
It's the first question most store owners ask us, and the honest answer is that both are excellent. The right choice depends on how much control you want, how you like to pay, and how you plan to grow.
Shopify: fastest from zero to selling
Shopify is a hosted platform. Security, updates and hosting are handled for you, and the checkout is proven at scale. You pay a monthly plan plus transaction fees on some payment methods, and extra features usually come from paid apps.
- Best for: product-first brands that want to launch quickly
- Watch out for: app subscriptions that add up month by month
- We help with: store setup, themes, product sync and migrations
WooCommerce: full control on WordPress
WooCommerce turns a WordPress site into a store. You own everything, can customise almost anything, and pay for hosting rather than a platform plan. It suits businesses that also need rich content, like blogs, guides or ebooks, alongside their products.
- Best for: content-led stores and businesses that want to own their platform
- Watch out for: updates and security need looking after
- We help with: build, customisation, hosting and ongoing maintenance
Choose the platform that fits how you'll run the store in two years, not just on launch day.
Not sure yet?
Book a free 30-minute consultation. We'll look at your products, budget and plans and recommend the platform we'd choose if it were our own business.