Shopify is a hosted store you rent by the month, from $19 a month billed yearly as of October 2026, with hosting, security and updates handled for you. WooCommerce is a free, open-source plugin for WordPress: the software costs nothing, but you pay for hosting and paid extensions and you look after the site yourself.
| WooCommerce | Shopify | |
|---|---|---|
| Software | Free, open source | Monthly plan |
| Entry price | $0 plus hosting | Basic: $19/mo yearly, $25/mo monthly |
| Hosting | You choose it; Woo lists $25 to $350 a month for most stores | Included |
| Built-in payments | WooPayments, about 2.50% to 2.90% + 30c per transaction | Shopify Payments; card rates vary by plan |
| Extra features | Extensions, Woo lists $29 to $299 a year each | Apps from the Shopify App Store |
| Updates and security | Your job (or your host's) | Shopify's job |
Updated
Neither platform is cheaper in every case. Shopify's price is predictable and the work is done for you; WooCommerce trades a bigger setup and upkeep job for full control of the code and data. Put your own numbers into the estimator to see where the monthly costs land for your store, then read the trade-offs that a price table cannot show.
WooCommerce: $216.50 a month
Shopify: $194.00 a month
Of each total, $175.00 is card processing.
Left out: Shopify's third-party transaction fee if you skip Shopify Payments, paid apps or themes, a premium WordPress theme, developer time, and your domain.
Defaults are examples, not quotes. The card rate defaults to the top of WooPayments' published range; Shopify's card rates vary by plan, so enter yours.
| Plan | Billed yearly | Billed monthly |
|---|---|---|
| Basic | $19 | $25 |
| Grow | $49 | $65 |
| Advanced | $299 | $399 |
| Plus | From $2,300 | From $2,300 |
Both platforms import products from CSV, but the column names differ. Map these core fields when you move a catalog.
Left is the heading in Shopify's current product CSV template, right is the WooCommerce importer column. Older Shopify templates used different names, and variants need extra care on both sides.
{
"Title": "Name",
"Description": "Description",
"SKU": "SKU",
"Price": "Regular price",
"Inventory quantity": "Stock",
"Product image URL": "Images"
}You want to sell this week, you do not want to think about servers, and a predictable monthly bill suits you. Hosting, checkout security and platform updates are part of the subscription, and support is one company.
The trade-off is control. You work inside Shopify's checkout and data model, and features beyond the plan usually come as monthly app subscriptions.
You already run WordPress, you need custom behaviour that a hosted platform will not allow, or you want to own the code and database outright. Every part of the store can be changed by a developer.
The trade-off is responsibility. Updates, backups, security and speed are yours or your host's, and costs creep as extensions accumulate.
The plugin is free and open source, with no revenue share. Running a store still costs money: WooCommerce's own pricing page lists hosting at roughly $25 to $350 a month for most stores and paid extensions at $29 to $299 a year each.
As of October 2026, Shopify's pricing page lists Basic at $19 a month billed yearly or $25 monthly, Grow at $49 or $65, Advanced at $299 or $399, and Plus from $2,300 a month. Payment processing and apps are extra.
Both can rank well. WooCommerce runs on WordPress, so you can change any template or URL and use any SEO plugin. Shopify gives you fewer levers but also fewer ways to break things. Useful product pages and fast loading matter more than which of the two you pick.
Shopify, for most people. There is no server, no plugin updates and no backups to arrange. WooCommerce asks you to choose hosting, install WordPress, and keep WordPress, plugins and theme updated.
Yes. Both export and import products as CSV, and customers and orders can be carried over with export tools or a migration app. Expect to rebuild the theme and redirect old URLs either way.
Related: How to start a Shopify store, How to build an ecommerce website, Shopify alternatives, WooCommerce alternatives, Shopify vs WordPress.
Start for free or see all free tools. We.Inc is free to start, with no card needed. AI building is on paid plans from $20 a month.
We.Inc is an AI-powered website builder you can resell under your own brand. Launch a branded client dashboard, bill on Stripe Connect, and deliver AI-generated websites in minutes. White-label plans start at $99 a month for 25 client sites, with a 7-day free trial and no per-site fees.