Shopify or WooCommerce? An honest comparison for your first store
Both are good platforms, but for different people. Here's a clear look at monthly cost, technical burden and customisation, so you can tell which one fits you.
There's no single right answer to this question. But there is definitely an answer that fits you, and finding it comes down to three questions.
Question 1: Do you want to deal with technical work?
An online store isn't finished when it's built. Server updates, backups, security patches, plugin conflicts — these are ongoing jobs.
Shopify takes all of that on. You only deal with products and sales. The chance of waking up to "the site won't load" is close to zero.
WooCommerce runs on your own server. You have the control, but you also have the responsibility. Unless you take a maintenance package, keeping up with this is your job.
Question 2: How much can you pay monthly?
Shopify has a monthly subscription, and as your turnover grows you may need to move to a higher plan. If you don't use its own payment system, there's an extra fee per transaction.
With WooCommerce you pay the platform nothing. You only pay for hosting — for a small store that stays well below a Shopify subscription. Some plugins, though, carry annual licences.
Roughly: at low turnover WooCommerce is cheaper; at high turnover the gap closes.
Question 3: Is your business standard?
A standard store — products, variants, cart, shipping — sets up on Shopify without friction.
But if your business carries unusual logic (pricing by square metre, dealer-specific price lists, delivery calculated from production time, a connection to your own accounting software), WooCommerce gives you far more room. Because the code is yours, the limit is set by your needs, not the platform's rules.
In short
Choose Shopify if: this is your first store, you want to start selling quickly, you'd rather not deal with technical upkeep.
Choose WooCommerce if: you want lower long-term costs, your workflow is non-standard, you want your data to sit entirely on your own server.
Can you switch later?
Yes, but not for free. Products and customers can be migrated; the design and any custom development are rebuilt. That's why taking your time on the first choice costs less than migrating afterwards.
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