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Platform comparisons
Shopify vs WooCommerce: Rent the Platform or Own the Store?
Shopify is hosted software you rent. WooCommerce is a free plugin for WordPress that you run. The real decision is who carries hosting, updates, and security, and what you can take with you later.
Shopify or WooCommerce: Which Is Right for Your Store?
Choose Shopify when you want the platform operated for you and your time goes to selling. Choose WooCommerce when you want to own the code and data and have someone to maintain a WordPress site. Both run serious stores; the difference is who carries hosting, updates, and security. We manage both, with retainers from $97/month.
Which should you choose, Shopify or WooCommerce?
Shopify suits a store that should run without a technical owner. WooCommerce suits a store that already lives on WordPress, needs control over the code, or has to bend the platform to an unusual workflow. Neither is the cheaper choice by default, because the cost sits in different places.
Shopify fits when
- You want hosting, security, and updates handled by the platform.
- Nobody on the team wants to maintain a WordPress site.
- The store is the business and checkout has to just work.
WooCommerce fits when
- The store sits inside a content-heavy WordPress site.
- You need to own and move the code, database, and data.
- You have a team or partner to handle updates, backups, and security.
How do Shopify and WooCommerce differ on what matters?
Linked facts come from the vendor's own documentation, checked 10 October 2026; unlinked cells are our description. Vendors change these policies, so verify before you commit.
Shopify
- What it is
- A hosted commerce platform. Shopify runs the infrastructure and states it is certified Level 1 PCI DSS compliant (Shopify security page).
- Who runs hosting and updates
- Shopify hosts the store and operates the platform.
- Payments
- Shopify Payments avoids third-party transaction fees. Third-party payment providers carry transaction fees (Shopify Help Center: Third-party payment provider transaction fees).
- Extending it
- Apps and the platform APIs.
- Taking your data out
- Products, customers, and orders each export as CSV files (Shopify Help Center: Exporting products, Shopify Help Center: Exporting customers, Shopify Help Center: Exporting orders).
WooCommerce
- What it is
- A free, open-source plugin that runs on WordPress, with 7+ million active installs (WooCommerce plugin page on WordPress.org).
- Who runs hosting and updates
- You install and maintain it. Updates and backups are your responsibility, or your provider's. WordPress applies minor and security updates automatically on most sites, major releases need a manual update, and the docs advise a backup first (WordPress Documentation: Updating WordPress, WordPress support manual: WordPress.com vs WordPress.org).
- Payments
- 100+ payment gateways are listed, including Stripe, PayPal, and Square (WooCommerce plugin page on WordPress.org).
- Extending it
- Extensions and blocks for subscriptions, bookings, memberships, shipping carriers, and tax, plus a REST API (WooCommerce plugin page on WordPress.org).
- Taking your data out
- You hold the code and database, so the data is yours to move (WordPress support manual: WordPress.com vs WordPress.org).
Sources, checked 10 October 2026
- Shopify security page
- Shopify Help Center: Third-party payment provider transaction fees
- Shopify Help Center: Exporting products
- Shopify Help Center: Exporting customers
- Shopify Help Center: Exporting orders
- WooCommerce plugin page on WordPress.org (last updated 9 October 2026)
- WordPress Documentation: Updating WordPress (last updated 15 September 2024)
- WordPress support manual: WordPress.com vs WordPress.org (updated 2014)
What does each one cost beyond the sticker price?
Comparison pages usually stop at the plan price. The larger costs are the ones that arrive after launch.
Shopify: fees and apps
Payments routed through a third-party provider add transaction fees, and every app you add is another script and another subscription. Speed work on a Shopify store is mostly app-script cleanup, not removing features.
WooCommerce: hosting and upkeep
The plugin is free, and paid upgrades and support are offered on top of it. Hosting, updates, backups, and security are yours, so the real cost is whoever does that work, from $97/month with us.
Either: the work nobody lists
Checkout health, plugin or app compatibility after every update, and speed on product pages all need an owner. See ecommerce website management for how that is scoped on both platforms.
What if neither Shopify nor WooCommerce fits?
Sometimes the requirement is a workflow, not a catalog: tiered B2B pricing, multi-warehouse routing, or an approval step between quote and order. Both platforms answer that with more plugins or apps, and the stack becomes the maintenance burden. A small custom application built against the platform's own API is the honest alternative at that point. Moving a store between the two is a documented process: the WordPress to Shopify migration guide covers the WooCommerce side, and the Website Migration Services page covers the process, with an assessment from $495 before any quote.
Which Side Is Your Store On?
Moving a Store Between Platforms Without Losing Rankings
Leave your platform, keep your rankings: full 301 redirect mapping, staged cutover, and 90-day post-migration rank monitoring, plus zero-data-loss AWS server and database migrations.
Ongoing Management for Shopify and WooCommerce Stores
Updates, security, backups, and uptime monitoring on fixed-fee tiers.
What Do We Actually Do on Each Platform?
What We Fix, Maintain, or Migrate on Shopify
What we fix, maintain, or migrate specifically on Shopify.
What We Fix, Maintain, or Migrate on WordPress and WooCommerce
What we fix, maintain, or migrate specifically on WordPress.
Comparing More Than Two Platforms?
Wix vs Shopify
Hosting lock-in, product export limits, and when a store should move.
Squarespace vs Shopify for E-Commerce
The line between a store section and a store business.
Going deeper
Shopify vs WooCommerce questions
Is Shopify or WooCommerce better for a small store?
Shopify is usually the lower-effort choice for a store with no technical owner, because the platform is hosted and operated for you. WooCommerce fits when the store sits on a WordPress site you already run or when you need control over the code.
Is WooCommerce really free?
The plugin is free and open source, with paid upgrades and support available. You still pay for hosting, and for whoever handles updates, backups, and security.
Does Shopify charge extra transaction fees?
Shopify's help center says using Shopify Payments avoids third-party transaction fees, and that third-party payment providers carry transaction fees. Check the current terms for your plan before you decide.
Can I move my store from Shopify to WooCommerce, or back?
Yes. Shopify exports products, customers, and orders as CSV files, and a WooCommerce store gives you the code and database. The work is mapping data and redirects so rankings survive the move.
Who handles security on each platform?
Shopify states it is certified Level 1 PCI DSS compliant for the platform it runs. On WooCommerce, WordPress and plugin security updates are yours, or your provider's, which is why a maintenance plan matters there.
Which one should I pick if I am not sure?
Book a Strategy Hour with your catalog and channels on the table. "Stay where you are" is a real and frequent answer.
Platform comparisons
Pick the Right Store Platform: Shopify or WooCommerce.
If checkout, speed, or upkeep already feel like a fight on your current platform, the audit names the actual cause before you switch anything.