WooCommerce or Shopify: which one to choose for your online store?

The fundamental difference: renting or owning

Think of it like a retail store. Shopify is like a space in a shopping mall: the space is ready, security and maintenance are taken care of, and you can open quickly. In return, you pay rent every month, you abide by the mall's rules, and if you want to leave, you can't take the building with you.

WooCommerce is your own store. You choose the location (the hosting provider), the layout, the rules. You can customize everything. But maintenance, security, and repairs are your responsibility, or that of the person you entrust with them.

In short: Shopify sells peace of mind, WooCommerce sells freedom. Everything else stems from that.

How much does it really cost?

On the Shopify side, the subscription depends on the plan. Here are the prices observed in France at the end of September 2026 (source), which may change:

Be aware of one potentially thorny detail: if you use a payment method other than Shopify's, an additional fee will be charged (2 % on the Basic plan). And most importantly, consider the apps: every feature not included in the plan (customer reviews, subscriptions, loyalty program, translation, etc.) requires an app, often billed monthly. After a year, this is frequently the biggest expense.

On the WooCommerce side, the extension is free. You pay:

• accommodation, choose a quality one: a few tens of euros per month;
• the payment : with WooPayments, 1.5 % + €0.25 per payment by European card, without subscription (Stripe or PayPal are in the same order of magnitude);
• paid extensions that you need, generally billed annually;
• maintenance : updates, backups, security. You can do it yourself or entrust it to someone else.

Let's take a small shop that generates €5,000 in sales per month across 60 orders. Payment fees are virtually identical on both platforms: around €90 per month. The real difference lies elsewhere: Shopify covers subscriptions and apps, while WooCommerce covers hosting and maintenance. For a simple shop, both are comparable. However, the more specific your needs, the higher the Shopify bill will be due to the additional apps, whereas WooCommerce remains relatively stable.

When I recommend Shopify

I'm not a WordPress advocate. Shopify is often the best choice if:

• you sell classic physical products (fashion, cosmetics, home decor, gourmet food) with a simple catalogue;
• you want to launch quickly and test your market before investing;
• No one will deal with the technical aspects, neither you nor a service provider, and you never want to hear about updates;
• You sell a lot on social media and marketplaces., where Shopify is very well connected;
• you have large traffic spikes (sales, launches, TV appearances) and don't want to worry about the server's upkeep.

When WooCommerce is the best choice

• Content matters as much as sales. WordPress remains unbeatable for publishing articles, guides, and pages that attract traffic from Google. A shop that thrives on organic search engine optimization is right at home there.
• Your model is out of line. Subscriptions, software licenses, reservations, custom products, quotes, different prices for professionals: WooCommerce adapts to your business, instead of the other way around.
• You already have a WordPress site. Adding a shop to an existing site avoids managing two tools, two subscriptions and two identities.
• You want to own your own home. Your customer data, your website, your freedom to change hosting providers without rebuilding everything.

That's my case. On this site, I sell WordPress extensions with automatic license key generation, annual subscriptions, and card renewals. It all runs on WooCommerce, with a few well-chosen extensions. On Shopify, the same setup would have required several paid applications, resulting in a less flexible solution.

The comparison at a glance

Pitfalls to avoid, on both sides

• On Shopify Stacking apps "because they look useful." Review them every six months and delete those that aren't generating any revenue.
• On WooCommerce Installing extensions galore, choosing the cheapest hosting, and forgetting about updates. That's the recipe for a slow and unreliable system.
• In both cases Choosing the tool before listing your needs: What products, what payment methods, what delivery options, what inventory management, who handles it on a daily basis? The answers often make the choice obvious.

My intuition, after years on both sides of the counter: most merchants who start out would be well-suited to Shopify, and most of those who have a slightly different model, or a real content strategy, end up on WooCommerce sooner or later.

If you choose WooCommerce, I'll take care of everything: creating a custom store, then providing monthly maintenance support if you wish. Details and pricing are available on my website. Services page.

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