Shopify vs WordPress for Ecommerce

Choose Shopify if you want a hosted store and your essential payments, shipping and checkout features fit the plan you can afford. Choose WordPress with WooCommerce if you want to pick your host, build around an existing WordPress site or control more of how the store works. A managed WooCommerce plan can take care of some of the upkeep. Ask the provider what it covers before pricing the two options.

Here, WordPress means a self-hosted WordPress site running the WooCommerce plugin. A Shopify subscription brings the store software and hosting together. With WooCommerce, the core plugin is free and you choose where to host it and who maintains the installation.^{1, 2}

Duplika sells managed WooCommerce hosting. We compare both platforms using their published documentation and an illustrative budget you can replace with your own numbers.

The main differences

What to compare	Shopify	WordPress with WooCommerce
What you buy	A hosted store subscription, with apps or extra services as needed.	Hosting and any maintenance, extensions or development your store needs.
Selling costs	Payment processing and, where applicable, a Shopify fee for using an external provider.	Payment processing and any costs of your chosen extensions. WooCommerce core takes no share of sales.
Technical work	Shopify runs the platform. Your team still looks after its theme, apps and integrations.	You or your provider look after WordPress, WooCommerce, the theme, plugins and backups.
Checkout changes	Standard customisation with Basic or above. Certain advanced changes require Plus.	More control over the installation. Check that extensions support the checkout you use.

Platform and plan details. Shopify pricing, WooCommerce pricing, Shopify fees, Shopify checkout, WooCommerce updates and WooCommerce checkout.

What does each platform cost to run?

Start with your required setup. Include the theme, initial build, domain, recurring platform or hosting fees, paid apps or extensions, maintenance and the time your team spends on routine work. Divide annual charges by twelve for comparison and record when you actually have to pay them. For Shopify, use the prices for your country and billing term. For WooCommerce, compare hosting quotes that cover the same work.^{1, 2}

First-year cost = setup + 12 × monthly fixed costs + payment processing and other variable charges over the year.

Keep the processor’s charge separate from any platform transaction fee. Shopify can charge an extra fee when you use an external provider. The rate depends on the plan and applies to eligible orders. Manual methods such as a bank transfer configured as a manual payment are exempt. Shopify’s fee calculation includes discounted product prices, tax and shipping, so use the amount subject to the fee rather than a rough total of all sales.³

A worked example in USD

Suppose the Shopify setup costs $300 upfront and $60 a month for the plan and apps. Suppose WooCommerce costs $900 upfront and $110 a month for hosting, extensions and maintenance. These are example budgets. The table excludes payment processing on both sides and compares Shopify with no extra transaction fee against an illustrative 2% extra fee on eligible orders.

Monthly amount subject to the extra fee	Shopify with no extra fee	Shopify with a 2% extra fee	WooCommerce
$0	$60	$60	$110
$2,500	$60	$110	$110
$5,000	$60	$160	$110
$10,000	$60	$260	$110

With the illustrative 2% fee, recurring costs match at $2,500 a month in eligible orders. Include setup and the first-year totals match at $5,000 a month, assuming that volume every month. Both come to $2,220 for the year before processing. If your Shopify setup carries no extra fee, it stays cheaper in this example. Price your actual processor on both sides, because its rates and payout terms can change the result.

Check payments, shipping and checkout before choosing

Payments where your business is based

Check that the processor accepts your business location and category. Then check the currencies, payment methods, payout timing and refund rules you need. Shopify Payments is available in supported countries and regions, with eligibility requirements that vary by location. On WooCommerce, check the gateway extension as well as the processor’s terms. A gateway that works with the classic checkout may require separate support for the Checkout block.^{4, 8}

Shipping at checkout

Be specific about the rate a customer should see. A flat rate by zone is a different requirement from a live quote from a particular carrier. Shopify’s third-party carrier-calculated shipping is available on Advanced and Plus. Grow can add it through annual billing or an additional charge, according to Shopify’s documentation. With WooCommerce, check that the extension supports your carrier, origin, destinations and checkout.⁹

Custom rules

List the changes you actually need. Changing colours and adding branding is different from adding functionality to the payment step. Shopify offers standard checkout customisation from Basic, while certain app extensions in the information, shipping and payment steps require Plus. In WooCommerce, confirm which extension or development work covers each rule and who will maintain it after an update.^{5, 8}

Who keeps the store working?

Imagine a customer reports that a shipping option has disappeared. On Shopify, the issue could involve the platform, the theme or a carrier app. Shopify sends support queries for third-party apps to their developers. On WooCommerce, ask your host or maintenance provider whether it will diagnose the whole checkout, apply a fix and verify that ordering works again. If it covers only hosting incidents, identify who owns the rest of the investigation.¹⁰

For WooCommerce updates, check that your provider can test changes on a staging site and that it has a recovery procedure for your files and database. Ask what happens to new orders if the store is restored from an older backup. Shopify lets you export records and download your theme. Its duplication guide also describes data that needs separate handling and settings you must configure again. Check whether an export, a backup app or a provider’s recovery service covers the changes you need to undo.^{6, 7}

Run the same store test before committing

Set up one representative product on each candidate, with the variants and delivery rules you use. Test with the intended plan, apps and payment gateway. Keep the product, destination and device the same so the comparison is useful.

Buy on mobile. Add a variant, change the quantity, enter a destination and check that the total and delivery method match your rules.
Try the payment outcomes. In a test environment, check a successful payment and a failure. See whether the order status, stock and customer notification match what happened.
Handle a return. Rehearse a partial refund and check who updates stock, sends the customer a message and records the refund.
Practise everyday administration. Change stock, fulfil a test order and export a product and an order. Record the time and any tools or permissions needed.
Ask for a recovery walkthrough. Identify who responds when checkout breaks, what they can restore and how you would preserve orders placed after the last backup.

If a required payment, shipping or invoicing workflow fails, ask what would make it work and add that cost to your quote. An inexpensive plan can become the wrong fit once a required upgrade or custom integration enters the picture.

Which should you choose?

Shopify makes sense when you want a hosted setup, the plan handles your must-have workflows and you are comfortable with its subscription, app charges and payment terms.
WooCommerce makes sense when you already have WordPress, want to choose your provider or need more control over the store. Budget for the person or service responsible for its upkeep.
Managed WooCommerce is worth comparing when you want that control and want to delegate maintenance. Compare the actual scope of checkout testing, troubleshooting and recovery with the support you would buy for Shopify.

For Duplika’s WooCommerce hosting and support scope, see managed WooCommerce hosting. If your business is based in Argentina, our comparison for selling in Argentina (in Spanish) covers Mercado Pago, local shipping, invoicing and costs in pesos.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need WordPress to use Shopify?

Shopify can host your storefront on its own. If you already have a WordPress site, you can keep it for your content and run the store separately, or use WooCommerce to run the store within WordPress.^{1, 2}

Is WooCommerce free to use?

The core plugin is free. To run a live store, budget for hosting and payment processing, plus any paid extensions or maintenance you need. Price those items against the Shopify plan and apps that cover the same requirements.^{1, 2}

Can I move my domain when I change platforms?

Usually you can keep using a domain you control and point it to the new store. Review where the domain and email are managed. If product and category URLs change, set up redirects for the old addresses and test them after the switch.¹¹

Can I move all my Shopify orders with a CSV?

Shopify lets you export orders. Its duplication documentation says you cannot import orders into another store through the Shopify admin. If past orders need to be available in the new store, check the migration tool or API workflow before committing.⁶

Can a WordPress developer maintain my WooCommerce store?

Ask about the ecommerce work your store needs. Someone who can update a theme may also need to verify a gateway, shipping rates and stock handling. Agree on who runs those checks after updates and how a failed checkout is handled.⁷

Does selling more automatically make WooCommerce cheaper?

The answer depends on your costs and how they grow. More orders may increase Shopify’s extra fees where they apply, and they can also increase WooCommerce hosting, support or extension costs. Recalculate with the expected payment mix and the resources required at that volume.

Sources

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