Shopify vs WooCommerce

Updated: September 2026

QUICK ANSWER This is, at its core, the "hosted SaaS vs. self-managed plugin" comparison: Shopify charges a monthly subscription and takes care of hosting, security and updates; WooCommerce is free as a plugin, but runs on WordPress and requires your own hosting, plugins and maintenance, which in practice also has a cost — just spread across other line items.

Criteria	Shopify	WooCommerce
Software cost	From $5/month (Starter) to $399/month (Advanced)	Free (0% fee for the plugin itself)
Real cost of running the store	Included in the subscription + transaction fee	Hosting + extensions + theme + payment processing, separately
Who manages the hosting	Shopify (all included)	The user chooses and pays for their own hosting
Customization	Good within Shopify's ecosystem of themes and apps	Very high, since it is WordPress + open source
Learning curve	Low to medium	Medium to high (requires understanding WordPress)

Shopify

Shopify is an all-in-one ecommerce platform: hosting, security, payment gateway and checkout are already taken care of, with an ecosystem of themes and apps to extend features. In 2026 it added a free "Agentic" plan focused on selling your catalog through AI assistants (ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot, Perplexity).

WooCommerce

WooCommerce is a free, open-source plugin that turns a WordPress site into an online store. It doesn't charge for the software, but the real cost of a working store (hosting, theme, extensions, payment processing) can end up similar to or even higher than a Shopify plan, depending on how much you customize.

Key differences

Shopify charges a fixed subscription and handles everything technical; WooCommerce is free but shifts those costs to the hosting, theme and extensions you choose.
Shopify's Starter plan ($5/month) charges a transaction fee of 5% + 30 cents, something that doesn't exist as a concept in WooCommerce (there you pay the payment processor directly, e.g. ~2.9% + $0.30 with WooPayments/Stripe).
WooCommerce allows virtually unlimited code customization since it is open source on top of WordPress; Shopify limits customization to what its ecosystem of themes and apps allows.
In 2026 Shopify launched a free "Agentic" plan for selling your catalog through AI assistants, charging only per completed sale — a model that WooCommerce doesn't offer natively.

Pricing

Updated: September 2026 — source: official pricing pages (see Sources).

Shopify

Starter — $5/month + 5% and 30¢ per transaction (selling via link, no full store).
Basic — $39/month ($29/month billed annually).
Grow — $105/month ($79/month billed annually).
Advanced — $399/month ($299/month billed annually).
Shopify Plus — from $2,300+/month, for enterprise operations.

WooCommerce

The plugin itself — $0, no fee per sale.
Estimated real cost of a store in production — between $1,800 and $15,000+ per year, depending on hosting, theme, extensions ($29–$299/year each) and payment processing (~2.9% + $0.30 per transaction with WooPayments/Stripe).

Features and integrations

Shopify wins on speed of setup: you pick a theme, connect payments and you already have a working store. WooCommerce wins on total flexibility, because as a WordPress plugin it can be combined with any other plugin or feature in the WordPress ecosystem, at the cost of more pieces to keep updated.

Ease of use

Shopify is simpler for people who don't want to deal with hosting, updates or server security. WooCommerce requires understanding (or paying someone who understands) WordPress, plugins and hosting — in exchange for more control over every detail.

Who is each tool for?

Shopify: People who want to launch a store quickly, without worrying about technical infrastructure, and prefer a predictable monthly cost.

WooCommerce: People who already use WordPress, want full control of the code and are willing to manage (or pay for) hosting and maintenance separately.

Verdict

Shopify wins on speed and cost predictability; WooCommerce wins on control and flexibility for those already in the WordPress ecosystem.

Alternatives

Shopify vs Tiendanube

Frequently asked questions

Is WooCommerce really free?

The plugin is, but a store in production has hosting, theme, extensions and payment processing costs that in total can exceed the price of a Shopify plan.

Does Shopify charge a fee per sale?

The Starter plan ($5/month) charges 5% + 30 cents per transaction. Basic plans and up reduce that fee or eliminate it depending on the payment processor used.

Which one is easier for someone with no technical knowledge?

Shopify, because it doesn't require choosing or managing hosting or understanding WordPress.

Which one allows more customization?

WooCommerce, since it is open source on top of WordPress, lets you modify virtually any aspect of the store with your own code or third-party plugins.

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