Introduction

Thinking about having your online store? Confused between Woocommerce or Shopify? One of the biggest hurdles here is choosing the right platform. With so many options available, it becomes quite a challenge to choose one.  But WooCommerce and Shopify are two of the most popular names.  We are here to help you make a detailed comparison so that it is easy to choose one.  Below, we discuss every aspect of these two platforms in detail to help you make an informed choice. Let’s dive in. 

WooCommerce vs Shopify: What Defines Them?

WooCommerce is a WordPress plugin, and Shopify stands on its own and doesn't require programming or hosting expertise. But there is a lot more to these platforms, and we have covered it below to help you get an idea on Woocommerce or Shopify which is better. Read on.

WooCommerce

WooCommerce is an open source plugin you can install onto the WordPress application to create an eCommerce store. You can quickly set up an online store by adding the WooCommerce plugin to your WordPress website. In 2011, the company was launched, and it gained traction in the e-commerce market in no time. Today, it has become the most well-known ecommerce service platform, with more than 6.2 million customers.  It's user-friendly and packed with features, with unlimited possibilities for customisation.

Shopify

Compared to WooCommerce, Shopify is not an open-source platform. However, it does provide many options to meet the needs of different customers. Shopify charges a monthly fee in addition to a commission on every sale. It allows novices to create an online store from scratch, even if they lack programming expertise.  However, customising might require assistance from a professional. Shopify is generally known for its user-friendly platform and is considered the standard for other e-commerce platforms.

WooCommerce vs Shopify: Comparison

Here's a simple tabular comparison that shows why Woocommerce is better than Shopify or vice versa. Check it out to get an idea of what each platform can offer.  
Key Features WooCommerce Shopify
Hosting Self-hosted (requires separate hosting) Fully-hosted
Pricing Free to install, pay for hosting and domain only Subscription-based, starting at $29/month
Customisation Highly customisable with plugins and themes Moderately customisable, with limited theme and app options
Payment Gateways Wide range of payment gateways, including third-party options Integrated with Shopify Payments, supports other gateways for a fee
Scalability Scalable with the right hosting plan Scalable with Shopify's different pricing plans
Support Community-driven support, with limited official support 24/7 official support, with a large knowledge base
  By checking Google Trends data for the past 5 years, it can be seen that the demand for WooCommerce and Shopify development agency services have grown significantly in popularity among merchants. However, Shopify maintains a slight edge, with over 4 million merchants currently using the platform. This is likely due to Shopify's simpler and merchant-friendly interface, which has helped it gain more new merchants over time.  At the same time, WooCommerce's open-source nature and flexibility have allowed it to successfully retain its existing user base of over 6 million merchants. Overall, both platforms have emerged as formidable competitors and continue to attract new merchants annually. But, the question remains among Woocommerce vs Shopify which is better! We move to a detailed comparison below to get clarity on it. 

WooCommerce V/S Shopify: Detailed Comparison

Here is a detailed comparison of Woocommerce and Shopify development services to help you decide which platform is better for creating your online store and increasing your business’s presence.

  • Dropshipping

Dropshipping is a popular business model for many ecommerce stores. Both WooCommerce and Shopify allow merchants to start a dropshipping business with ease.
  • WooCommerce: Merchants can choose from various Dropshipping plugins, such as Dropship, available for WooCommerce.me, AliDropship, etc. According to the top WooCommerce development agency, this provides flexibility to customise the store per their needs.
  • Shopify: It also has apps like Spocket and CJdropshipping for Drop Shipping integration. Dropshippers can connect their Shopify store to marketplaces like AliExpress, Oberlo, and Printful directly.
Winner: Though both platforms are good options, WooCommerce has a slight edge due to its vast library of extensions and highly customisable nature, which is essential for a Dropshipping store. Hopefully, you are clear on choosing Woocommerce or Shopify for Dropshipping. 
 

  • Cost

Initially setting up WooCommerce is cheaper since it is free to use. Merchants only need to pay for hosting, themes and some plugins.
  • WooCommerce: This makes the overall upfront cost lower compared to Shopify. Merchants have complete control over budgeting and scaling costs based on business needs.
  • Shopify: It offers monthly subscription plans starting at $29, which include hosting and other features. However, Shopify charges additional transaction fees.
Winner: WooCommerce is more cost-effective for smaller stores, while Shopify subscription plans ensure all requirements are met for larger, established stores. Overall, cost depends on individual business needs.
 

  • Ease of Use

Managing an online store via WordPress' learning curve can overwhelm non-technical merchants. Though popular themes simplify WooCommerce usage, its working knowledge of WordPress remains mandatory.  On the flip side, Shopify presents an intuitive admin panel that anyone can easily navigate right from sign-up. Features like product/order management and customer support are just a click away without manual customisations.  All in all, Shopify delivers a markedly less complex, stress-free store ownership experience for novice entrepreneurs.
  • WooCommerce: It requires knowledge of WordPress and familiarity with plugins. However, things are simplified with popular themes.
  • Shopify: Its dashboard offers an intuitive interface, simplifying store management. Features like products, orders, and customers are easily accessible.
Winner: Shopify scores over WooCommerce in terms of ease of use as it can be managed comfortably by anyone without technical expertise.
 

  • Scalability

As business scales and traffic/sales surge, the choice of platform needs to support high volumes without lagging on your performance. While WooCommerce can scale suitably with optimised hosting and caching plugins, uptime depends on the merchant's technical acumen.  Shopify elegantly handles spikes through its cloud-hosted infrastructure, which automatically scales to ensure lightning-fast responses even during peak periods. It offers seamless handling of huge product catalogues and order numbers critical for established brands.  Overall, Shopify impresses with its built-in, reliable scalability provisions optimised for expansion.
  • WooCommerce: With the right hosting and optimisation, it can scale according to store traffic and sales. Customisable themes also aid in scaling stores.
  • Shopify: Being cloud-hosted, Shopify infrastructure automatically scales to ensure high performance even during peak traffic. It easily accommodates large catalogues and order volumes.
Winner: Though both platforms can scale, Shopify's automated scalability through premium plans makes it a more reliable option for stores expecting high growth.
 

  • Support

Merchant support is crucial, especially for new store owners who face initial setup, plugin installation, and other issues.  While WooCommerce lacks a dedicated support team, its huge community forums can resolve most queries. However, responses can be delayed and may not solve complex problems.  On the other hand, Shopify's 24/7 phone, email, and chat support ensures merchants get instant personalised assistance from experts for any store-related clarifications or troubleshooting, providing much-needed peace of mind.
  • WooCommerce: It needs a dedicated support team, but a vast community helps solve issues. Hosting partners may offer support.
  • Shopify: It provides 24/7 phone, email, and chat support for store management and growth queries.
Winner: Shopify's round-the-clock customer support gives it a definitive edge over community-dependent WooCommerce support.
 

  • Integrations and Add-ons

When your online store expands, you must include more features to speed up operations. WooCommerce and Shopify provide a variety of extensions and integrations, but let's look at which one is superior in this area.
  • WooCommerce: WooCommerce’s open-source nature and integration with WordPress mean it has a vast library of plugins and extensions. You can easily find and download many free WooCommerce extensions and add-ons on the WordPress repository. 
In addition, WooCommerce offers add-ons on woocommerce.com, some of which are free, while others require a one-time fee.
  • Shopify: Shopify also has an extensive library of add-ons available on its app store. While some add-ons are free, others require a one-time premium fee or a monthly subscription. Shopify offers an add-on for almost every function you need.
For example, you can check out Privy Web Push and OptinMonster for email marketing. The built-in function makes setting up Shopify discount codes easy, as you can set the type of discount, duration, and number of users.
Winner: WooCommerce wins this category because of its vast library of plugins and extensions, which offers users more flexibility and customisation options. Shopify’s proprietary nature can limit the range of integrations and add-ons available to users. While Shopify still provides a great selection of add-ons, WooCommerce’s open-source nature and integration with WordPress give it the edge in this area.
 

  • Level of Security

How you secure your online store contributes to customer satisfaction. Let's examine how these platforms fare with regard to security.
  • WooCommerce: The WordPress CMS is where things become amazing for WooCommerce stores. There are so many plugins that you can install to have tight-locked security for your stores. Some of the plugin options include:
    • MalCare Security Solution
    • iThemes Security
    • Sucuri Security
    • All In One WP Security & Firewall
    • Wordfence
Plus, having secure WooCommerce hosting can offer solid additional layers of security to your WooCommerce store.
  • Shopify: Shopify is a PCI-compliant platform that offers a decent level of security. Users usually have a secure browsing experience when using Shopify stores.
However, you’ll always be limited in your options and dependent on the platform to keep upgrading its security standards. Also, Shopify isn’t a self-hosted platform, which means you can’t tighten your store’s security with your own hosting choice.
Winner: WooCommerce is a clear winner in the security game. Why? Because you have a lot more control over the security of your store compared to Shopify. Shopify does have a decent security protocol in place, but there’s very little wiggle room. Whereas, with WooCommerce, you can have as tight a security as you like with top-notch security and WooCommerce hosting options.
 

WooCommerce vs. Shopify: Pros and Cons

Let's examine each platform's strengths and drawbacks now. The pros and cons specified below can help you better decide which one is best for you.

WooCommerce: Pros and Cons

Pros
  • Open Source: WooCommerce is an open-source platform. Those with technical knowledge can make as many customisations as they want. Plus, the developers release continuous updates of the plugin.
  • Cost-Effective: Being a free WordPress plugin, the initial costs are low. You can just pay for a good WooCommerce hosting and domain name and get started. Because WordPress and WooCommerce are both free to use.
  • WordPress Integration and Plugins: Since WooCommerce is a WordPress plugin, users benefit from WordPress's powerful content management capabilities. Plus, there’s a vast library of compatible plugins for WooCommerce in different areas, such as security, SEO, backups, payment gateways, etc.
  • Customisable: With access to the code and a vast community of developers, you can create a highly tailored online store. You may need some technical assistance with it, though.
  • SEO Advantage: Integrated with WordPress, known for its SEO capabilities, giving online stores a potential advantage in search engine rankings. You can install plugins such as Yoast and All-in-one SEO.
  • Scalability: With the right hosting environment and setup, WooCommerce can handle large stores and high traffic. So, setting up large stores on the platform isn’t an issue.
Cons
  • Requires Technical Knowledge: You'll need some technical knowledge to have a highly customised store. You can work around this point by hiring technical assistance.
  • Maintenance: Being self-hosted means you’re responsible for updates, backups, and security.
  • Potential Compatibility Issues: Keeping the plugins updated with the site can take time and effort. However, with self-updating options such as SafeUpdates by Cloudways, your store updates on autopilot. 
It even resists updates of a specific plugin if it can cause problems with the store. So, this issue isn’t something to fret about.
  • No Customer Support: WooCommerce doesn’t offer any support to users. However, there’s a vast community of WooCommerce users available to help you.

Shopify: Pros and Cons

Pros
  • User-Friendly Interface: Shopify offers a clean dashboard. Users can easily set up and manage a store. While Shopify can be restrictive in various aspects, its ease of setup is surely worth noting.
  • A Decent Range of Themes and Templates: Shopify provides a variety of customisable templates that can sufficiently cater to many types of businesses.
  • Integrated Payment Gateway: Shopify Payments allows merchants to accept credit cards directly without third-party accounts, although it also supports other payment gateways. This can be a beginner-friendly solution for merchants who want to do business without worrying much about payment gateway integrations.
  • 24/7 Customer Support: Shopify provides round-the-clock customer support via phone, chat, and email. This means if you ever get stuck, help is readily available.
Cons
  • Transaction Fees: If you’re not using Shopify Payments, the platform charges additional transaction fees. This can especially be a problem for bigger stores who’d not want to pay a lot in transaction fees.
  • Customisation Limitations: For more advanced customisations, users might need to know Liquid, Shopify’s templating language, or hire a developer.
  • Cost: Shopify can be a costly platform, considering the monthly fee, transaction fees, and any paid apps or themes. Plus, you may need a developer for unique customisations, which will be an additional cost.
  • Platform Lock-in: Migrating from Shopify to another platform can be a complicated process, primarily if you’ve used a lot of Shopify-specific features or apps.

How To Choose The Right Ecommerce Platform For Your Online Store?

how to Choose The Right Ecommerce Platform The process of selecting the right eCommerce platform can be confusing. Knowing your requirements as a business owner is crucial to make an informed choice. Here are some of the most important factors to think about before selecting an e-commerce platform:

1. Getting Started

If you are familiar with WordPress and its ecosystem, WooCommerce can be an easy option. However, with WordPress and WooCommerce, you are responsible for installation and maintenance.  On the other hand, Shopify is the most accessible platform to get started with, as it guides you through creating your ecommerce store without requiring any technical skills.

2. Ease of Use

As an online store owner, you should focus on essential business-related tasks like taking customer feedback, processing orders, and dealing with vendors. Look for an ecommerce platform that allows you to create and manage your online store with ease.

3. Third-Party Integration

Running an ecommerce store requires multiple tools and services like email marketing and social media tools. Choose an ecommerce platform that easily integrates with these tools. WooCommerce, for example, integrates with MailChimp.

4. Scalability and Growth

Your ecommerce platform should support your business’s growth without limiting it. Ensure that your ecommerce platform allows for customisation and scalability to grow your business how you want.

5. Hosting Options

Reliable hosting is crucial for ecommerce stores that can experience traffic spikes during sales and special offers season. Shopify is a proprietary platform, meaning your ecommerce store is hosted on Shopify’s servers.  With WooCommerce, you choose the provider to host your ecommerce store and can opt for an auto-scalable ecommerce hosting provider to ensure your store remains operational despite traffic spikes.

6. Customization

WooCommerce does not have a theme store, but you can find great-looking and functional themes at marketplaces like ThemeForest.  Ensure you choose a lightweight, responsive theme that provides a smooth experience for visitors on all devices. This allows high customization. Shopify's customization is limited compared to WooCommerce.

7. Add-ons/Extensions

WooCommerce offers a host of extensions, while Shopify has a large App Store with nearly 500 applications. However, WooCommerce extensions are more customisable and open-source, making WooCommerce better than Shopify regarding extensions and add-ons.

8. Payment Gateways

WooCommerce development services also offer multiple payment gateway integrations. PayPal and Stripe are free, while other solutions like Authorize.Net, Amazon Payments, and Braintree require an annual fee of around $100.  Stripe and PayPal are good options for launching an ecommerce store. This shows how WooCommerce has more payment gateway options when compared to Shopify.

9. Shipping Methods

To add shipping management functionality to WooCommerce, you must purchase a plugin. Shopify has partnerships with top players in product delivery. However, WooCommerce's flexibility is better with various shipping plugins available.

10. User Friendliness

Shopify’s drag-and-drop interface makes setting up an online store easy, but making advanced changes requires technical skills. WooCommerce also gets more straightforward to use with good premium themes.

11. Multilingual Support

WooCommerce is an excellent choice for multilingual ecommerce stores. You just need to install WPML, which costs $39 for a Multilingual blog, $99 for a Multilingual CMS, and $199 for a Multilingual agency. This makes WooCommerce better than Shopify for multilingual stores.

12. SEO Optimization

WooCommerce is a robust platform that offers Yoast SEO, a freemium plugin to optimise SEO. Shopify also provides excellent SEO functionality, but there are a few points to consider. WooCommerce has advantages with SEO plugins.

13. Marketing Elements

Shopify provides a system of native emails with customisable templates and automatic email content. In contrast, WooCommerce requires a free plugin and manual configuration of email options. However, WooCommerce plugins allow you to create robust marketing campaigns.

14. Pricing

Shopify, on the other hand, isn’t free. The pricing plans start from $39 and can increase depending on the scale of your business. WooCommerce is free, but running a WooCommerce store may still involve hosting, domain name, and plugin fees. Build Your Perfect Online Store Today

Final Thoughts!

The following are the main elements that help you choose between WooCommerce or Shopify for your ecommerce store. In summary, you must opt for WooCommerce if:
  • Your store must be multilingual and/or multi-currency
  • You want to be able to customise everything
  • You want more flexible options for payment gateways and shipping
  • You want a very high level of customization
  • You want a free and open-source platform
  • Your store has specific needs beyond basic ecommerce functions
Opt for Shopify if:
  • You want a simple-to-use and managed ecommerce platform
  • You don't need advanced customization
  • You are not tech-savvy and want a simple drag-n-drop interface
  • You want 24/7 customer support
  • Your budget is a concern
So, decide wisely and get the store of your dreams hassle-free. Good luck!