What's the main difference between Shopify and WooCommerce?
Who looks after the software. With Shopify, you pay a monthly plan and Shopify handles the hosting, security updates and checkout. With WooCommerce, you add a free plugin to a WordPress site, arrange your own hosting and keep WordPress, WooCommerce and its extensions updated.
Think of it as renting a shop in a well-run shopping centre versus owning the building. Renting is easier. Owning gives you more freedom and more jobs.
Which costs less to run, Shopify or WooCommerce?
It depends on the shop, so compare the total over a few years, not the headline price. Shopify's costs are a monthly plan, any paid apps, and payment fees, with extra transaction fees on some plans if you don't use Shopify Payments. WooCommerce's costs are hosting, paid extensions, a theme and the developer time to keep it all updated and working together.
The cost people forget is their own time. A WooCommerce shop that breaks after an update can cost a day of sales and a developer's bill. Price both platforms with the same features before deciding.
Which is easier to use day to day?
Shopify, for most people. Adding products, handling orders, refunds and stock is straightforward, and there's nothing to update. WooCommerce is usable too, especially if you already know WordPress, but you'll spend more time on upkeep and on making extensions work together.
Which is more flexible?
WooCommerce. You control the code, the hosting, the URL structure and the database, so almost anything can be changed. Shopify is flexible within its rules: themes can be fully custom and apps add a lot, but some parts, such as the checkout and the URL structure for products and collections, work the way Shopify decides.
For most shops those limits never matter. For shops with unusual pricing, complex product builders or tight links to other systems, they can.
Is Shopify or WooCommerce better for SEO?
Neither has a clear edge. Both can produce clean titles, product schema and sitemaps, and both can rank well. WooCommerce gives you full control of URLs; Shopify uses fixed paths for products and collections, which rarely holds a shop back.
What matters more is speed, product descriptions with real detail, clear collection pages and every spec in the HTML. Too many apps or plugins slow either platform down, and that hurts both rankings and sales.
Shopify vs WooCommerce: how do you choose?
Go through these in order and the answer usually becomes clear.
- Decide who will look after the software. If nobody wants to, choose Shopify.
- List the features you need now: subscriptions, bundles, trade pricing, product options, stock links.
- Check each feature on both platforms, and note whether it's built in, an app or an extension, or custom work.
- Price the total running cost over three years for both, including your own time.
- Think about where you'll be in three years: more products, more countries, wholesale or a physical shop.
- If you already run WordPress and your team knows it, give WooCommerce extra weight.
- If you're switching platforms, plan the redirects and product data move before you commit.
Can you move from WooCommerce to Shopify, or back?
Yes. Products, customers and orders can be moved, and old URLs need redirects to their new homes so you keep your rankings. Shopify supports redirects, including bulk imports.
Plan the move like any website migration: list every product and collection URL, map each one, and check Search Console after launch.