WooCommerce vs Shopify: A Store Owner's Comparison
If you have already decided you are building a shop, the question narrows: WooCommerce or Shopify. The differences that matter here are transaction fees, checkout control, how each behaves as catalogue size grows, and what happens when you want something the platform did not anticipate.
Transaction fees — the number people miss
Shopify charges its subscription, and then an additional fee of up to 2% on each order if you use a payment gateway other than Shopify Payments. WooCommerce charges nothing itself; you pay only your gateway's rate.
| Monthly revenue | WooCommerce (Stripe) | Shopify Basic + Shopify Payments | Shopify Basic + external gateway |
|---|---|---|---|
| $5,000 | ~$145 | ~$174 | ~$274 |
| $20,000 | ~$580 | ~$609 | ~$1,009 |
| $50,000 | ~$1,450 | ~$1,479 | ~$2,479 |
Figures are indicative and exclude hosting and apps. The pattern is what matters: at low volume the difference is small; as revenue grows, the extra gateway fee becomes the dominant factor.
Checkout control
Shopify's checkout is locked down on standard plans. That is partly a feature — it is well tested and converts well — but it means you cannot add custom fields, restructure the steps, or deeply brand the flow without moving to Shopify Plus.
WooCommerce lets you change anything in the checkout. Useful if you need delivery date pickers, trade account fields, or unusual tax handling. Also a way to make things worse if changes are made without testing conversion.
Catalogue size and performance
- Under 100 products — both handle this comfortably
- 100 to 1,000 — both fine; WooCommerce needs decent hosting and caching
- 1,000 to 10,000 — WooCommerce needs proper optimisation; Shopify handles it natively
- Over 10,000 — Shopify or a well-engineered WooCommerce setup on serious infrastructure
WooCommerce performance problems at scale are almost always hosting and configuration problems rather than platform limits — but that is cold comfort if nobody is available to configure it.
Apps, plugins and extensions
| WooCommerce | Shopify | |
|---|---|---|
| Marketplace size | Large, plus the whole WordPress ecosystem | Large, store-focused |
| Typical pricing | One-off or annual licence | Mostly monthly subscription |
| Quality control | Variable | Reviewed, generally consistent |
| Cost pattern | Higher upfront, lower ongoing | Low upfront, accumulates monthly |
Choosing
- Choose Shopify if you want to focus on selling rather than maintaining, and can use Shopify Payments
- Choose WooCommerce if you need checkout customisation, want lower ongoing fees, or already run WordPress
- Choose Shopify if nobody will handle updates, backups and security
- Choose WooCommerce if content marketing is central to how you acquire customers
Frequently asked questions
Is WooCommerce free?
The plugin is free, but running a store is not — you pay for hosting, likely some paid extensions, and either your time or someone else's for maintenance. Budget realistically rather than treating it as zero.
Which handles large catalogues better?
Shopify handles large catalogues well by default. WooCommerce can match it but needs appropriate hosting, caching and database tuning — which means someone has to do that work.
Can I customise the Shopify checkout?
Only in limited ways on standard plans. Full checkout customisation requires Shopify Plus. WooCommerce allows complete control at any level.