For most small businesses, Shopify is the safer choice: you pay a flat monthly fee, hosting and security are included, and a store can go live fast. WooCommerce is the better fit if you already run a WordPress site, sell something unusual, or want full control over your code and data. Both can run a serious store, so the right answer depends on how you work, not on which one is "better."
The short version
| Shopify | WooCommerce | |
|---|---|---|
| Software cost | Monthly plan, from $29 (billed yearly) | Free to download |
| Hosting | Included | You pay a host, $25 to $350 a month for most stores |
| Add-ons | Apps, many billed monthly | Extensions, $29 to $299 a year each |
| Setup effort | Low | Medium, more decisions |
| Control over code | Limited to themes, apps and Liquid | Full access to the code |
| Best for | Owners who want to sell, not maintain | Owners who want flexibility or already use WordPress |
The Shopify figures come from Shopify's pricing page and the WooCommerce figures from WooCommerce's own pricing page, both checked on November 6, 2026. Prices change, so confirm them before you budget.
What you pay each month
Shopify sells plans. On its pricing page, Basic was $29 a month when billed yearly (or $39 billed monthly), Grow $79 and Advanced $299, with Plus starting at $2,300. Hosting, a free SSL certificate and unlimited products are part of the plan. Standard online card rates on Shopify Payments run from 2.9% + 30 cents on Basic down to 2.5% + 30 cents on Advanced.
WooCommerce is free software, so the monthly bill is the sum of its parts. WooCommerce says most stores pay a host $25 to $350 a month, depending on traffic and performance needs, and extensions cost $29 to $299 a year each. Payment processing depends on the gateway you pick. WooPayments is the option built by Woo, and there are more than 100 other gateways, including Stripe, PayPal and Square.
One detail that surprises people: if you use Shopify but process cards through an outside gateway instead of Shopify Payments, Shopify adds a third-party transaction fee. Per its pricing page that is 2% on Basic, 1% on Grow, 0.6% on Advanced and 0.2% on Plus. On $100,000 in yearly sales that is $2,000 on Basic, before the gateway's own fees. WooCommerce has no such fee.
What it costs to build
If you build the store yourself, the cost is mostly your time. If you hire a senior team, the typical range for an online store on Shopify or WooCommerce is $8,000 to $20,000, and a custom or headless store runs $20,000 to $45,000. Each integration (a shipping tool, an ERP, a subscription app) usually adds $1,500 to $4,000. These are typical ranges, and a call turns them into a fixed quote. For a closer look at the Shopify side, see our guide on what a Shopify store costs to build.
Where each one wins
Choose Shopify if:
- You want to launch in weeks and spend your time on products and marketing.
- You do not have anyone to handle updates, backups and security patches.
- You sell in person as well as online and want one system for both.
- You prefer one monthly bill and one support team to call.
Choose WooCommerce if:
- Your site already runs on WordPress and content, such as a blog or guides, drives most of your sales.
- You need custom product logic, such as configurable products, bookings or memberships, and want to build it your way.
- You want to choose and switch payment providers freely.
- You want to own your code and data fully, and you have a developer or an agency to look after the site.
The costs people forget
With WooCommerce, the hidden cost is upkeep. Someone has to update WordPress, WooCommerce and every extension, keep backups, watch security and fix things when an update breaks a plugin. If that person is you, count your hours. A host that includes managed updates costs more but removes much of that work.
With Shopify, the hidden cost is apps. Features that WooCommerce handles with a one-time or yearly extension may be a monthly app on Shopify, and, for example, ten apps at $15 each is $150 a month. List the apps you need before you pick a plan, and add them to the budget.
On both platforms, plan for a domain, email, design work, product photos and marketing. A store with no traffic earns nothing, whatever it runs on.
How to decide in ten minutes
- Write down what you sell and how many products you have.
- List the features you must have on day one, such as subscriptions, bookings, wholesale pricing or local delivery.
- Ask who will maintain the site in a year. If the honest answer is "nobody," lean toward Shopify.
- Check whether you already have a WordPress site you want to keep. If you do, WooCommerce avoids a split between your content and your store.
- Price both options for 12 months: platform, hosting, apps or extensions, payment fees and the hours you will spend.
- Think about the exit. Moving a store later takes time and can affect search rankings, so pick the one you can live with for several years.
When you do not need an agency
If you have under a few hundred products, standard shipping and a clean theme, you can build on either platform yourself in a few weekends. Bring in help when you need custom features, a migration from another platform, integrations with your accounting or inventory tools, or a speed and SEO setup you do not have time to learn.
If you want a second opinion, book a 30-minute call and we will tell you which platform fits your store, even if the answer is that you can do it yourself. You can read more about what we build on our Shopify development page, get a quick range from the website cost calculator, or see what a small business website should cost if you are still weighing a store against a simpler site.