Shopify vs WooCommerce
Shopify and WooCommerce are both E-commerce tools. Shopify is aimed at small businesses and enterprise, while WooCommerce is aimed at small businesses and agencies. Only WooCommerce has a free plan.
Shopify
The leading hosted e-commerce platform
WooCommerce
Open-source commerce for WordPress
| Pricing | Paid · $39 | Open source |
| Starting price | $39/mo | Not published |
| Free plan | No | Yes |
| Free trial | 3 days | — |
| Built for | Small businesses, Enterprise | Small businesses, Agencies |
| Platforms | web, ios, android | web |
| Country | CA · 2006 | US · 2011 |
| Rating | — | — |
Choose Shopify if
Merchants of any size who want a managed, scalable store and are in a Shopify Payments country.
- Most complete hosted commerce stack
- Reliable checkout with high conversion (Shop Pay)
- Enormous app and theme ecosystem
Look elsewhere if: Digital-only creators (Gumroad, Payhip) or teams wanting full code control (WooCommerce, Medusa).
Choose WooCommerce if
Merchants with WordPress skills who want ownership and flexibility.
- Free and open source
- Unlimited customization
- Strong content and SEO with WordPress
Look elsewhere if: Non-technical merchants wanting a hosted, maintenance-free store (Shopify, ikas).
Shopify vs WooCommerce pricing
Shopify
- Basic$39/mo$29/mo billed annually; 2.9% + 30¢ online card rate
- Grow$105/mo$79/mo billed annually; 2.7% + 30¢, 5 staff accounts
- Advanced$399/mo$299/mo billed annually; 2.5% + 30¢, 15 staff accounts
- Plusfrom $2,300/moEnterprise features, B2B, checkout customization
WooCommerce
- WooCommerce plugin$0Free, open source, 0% revenue share
- Hosting$25–350/moThird-party host, typical store range
- Extensions$29–299/year eachOptional, bought à la carte
Shopify · Key features
- Themes and a drag-and-drop online store editor
- Shopify Payments, Shop Pay and multi-currency with Markets
- Inventory, orders, shipping labels and POS
- App store with 8,000+ apps and Flow automation
- Checkout extensibility, B2B and headless (Plus)
- Shopify Magic AI and Sidekick assistant
Cons
- Transaction fees unless using Shopify Payments (not available everywhere)
- App costs add up quickly
- Theme customization needs Liquid knowledge
WooCommerce · Key features
- Products, variations, inventory and orders
- Payments via Stripe, PayPal and local gateways
- Shipping zones, taxes and coupons
- Thousands of extensions and themes
- Block-based checkout and product editor
- Full ownership on WordPress
Cons
- You manage hosting, updates and security
- Extension costs add up
- Performance needs tuning at scale
Shopify vs WooCommerce: FAQ
Do Shopify and WooCommerce have a free plan?
Shopify has no free plan, a 3-day free trial. WooCommerce has a free plan.