WooCommerce vs Shopify: Which Is the Better Choice?

Choosing the right platform for your online shop can determine how long it will take to reach your financial and professional business goals. Indeed, there’s much to consider when deliberating between options like Shopify, WooCommerce, and their eCommerce competitors.

Today, we’ll help you make the right decision for your unique venture by diving into two of the most popular eCommerce platforms. WooCommerce and Shopify have collectively amassed an estimated 7 million users and counting ^[1]Yaguara.co. “63 Shopify Statistics 2024 (Number Of Users & Stores).” Accessed August 12, 2022. ^[2]around the globe. These two leading platforms remain the go-to default for many online retailers.

Merchants ultimately have to choose one or the other. Which is the best choice for your business? In this comprehensive guide, we’ll unpack the pros and cons of both WooCommerce and Shopify to help you prepare to make a decision that could propel you to eCommerce success. Pricing, features, user experience, customer support: we’ll talk about it all! Read on to learn more.

WooCommerce vs Shopify: A Quick Overview

Shopify was founded in 2006 by Tobias Lütke and Scott Lake, two snowboard gear merchants disenchanted with what other eCommerce platforms were offering at the time. Since its inception, Shopify has become an exceedingly popular all-in-one eCommerce solution. For entrepreneurs looking to get their online merchant presence up and running with no extraneous fuss, Shopify is a user-friendly option.

WooCommerce, meanwhile, is a flexible, open-source eCommerce plugin designed for WordPress. Its origin story began with a desire to customize a WordPress theme. This theme eventually became WooTheme before an acquisition by Automattic in 2015. Unlike Shopify, which includes hosting in its services, merchants will need to secure their own hosting options if they choose WooCommerce. For context, merchants often opt for web hosting services instead of an in-house server.

WooCommerce has the edge in customizability, which is also true of the vast array of extensions the service offers. This flexibility allows merchants to personalize their online business as they see fit.

WooCommerce

Shopify

WooCommerce vs Shopify: A Deeper Look

While Shopify and WooCommerce share some fundamental similarities, they are also markedly different in ways that warrant a detailed explanation. Merchants who dream of starting a successful eCommerce venture would be wise to familiarize themselves with the points of divergence.

Below, we’ll look deeper into both platform’s strengths, weaknesses, and critical features.

Shopify is a ready-to-use subscription-based platform. The platform caters to a broader audience since it requires little technical knowledge to use efficiently. In terms of creating a fully functional and operational site, it’s as user-friendly a setup as any you could ask for.

Shopify’s dashboard is easy to navigate, making adding products to your site simple. No prompts for actions or additional information are necessary. The ideal audience for WooCommerce is comprised mainly of programmers and designers. In other words, business owners needing more development experience will be at a disadvantage.

While the WooCommerce dashboard is easy enough to navigate, the service still requires technical setup and integrations before your store can launch. You must download WordPress and its requisite themes, set up a hosting account, and secure a domain name. For those less familiar with WordPress and its various plugin options, Shopify may be a more practical resource that will save you time (and maybe money) in the long run.

When you sign up for your Shopify account, you also sign up for access to Shopify’s in-house theme store. The theme store includes both free and paid templates.

Shopify’s design and functionality are free and accessible to users, and its paid templates are pre-programmed. Merchants can then customize the images, fonts, and colors. Compared with other eCommerce options, Shopify is notable for how easy it is to set up a store on its platform. Your site is automatically rendered mobile-responsive via free Android and iOS apps.

However, while Shopify periodically releases new customizable themes, everyone who uses the platform has access to the same options. In other words, you must work extra hard to differentiate your operation from other online stores.

If more customizable layouts are what you’re seeking, you may want to go with WooCommerce. WooCommerce allows users to choose from hundreds of designs and tailor them to their heart’s content. You can also use exclusive designs and construct yours to be mobile-responsive. The tradeoff with this is that you will inevitably need to spend more time setting up your online presence. If you lack coding experience, this might be the time to hire a developer.

Shopify and WooCommerce both offer various options for businesses of any size. Let’s explore the details.

WooCommerce

WooCommerce lacks a pre-designed, one-size-fits-all pricing package. Users must pay for their SSL certificates, domain registration, and hosting plan. That said, the platform’s software and plugins are free to use.

The cost of these services runs the gamut: hosting ranges from $5 to $30 a month, while domain names tend to cost around $9 a year to use. Meanwhile, the cost of SSL certificates, a must for keeping your site secure, can range from free to $100 a year. Strategically selecting WooCommerce third-party apps will be the key for those looking to keep costs down when building their site. To that end, the WooCommerce app store contains ample free themes and plugins. Of course, a high-functioning eCommerce site with premium templates, extensions, and customization options almost always comes with a price tag.

In other words, plenty of variables come into play when calculating the total cost of a WooCommerce store, at least compared to the more straightforward Shopify. That said, it is worth sorting through all these factors to determine which plan makes the most sense for your professional needs.

Shopify

Shopify provides various pricing plans starting at $5 to $399. These plans cater to businesses of all sizes, with the option to start with an affordable plan and upgrade upon expansion. Every Shopify plan has web hosting capabilities; using a custom domain name sans the Shopify branding in your URL costs an extra $14 annually.

Selecting an annual subscription will result in a 25% discount instead of monthly payments. Prices may differ based on your location.

As a plugin, WooCommerce lets users turn their existing blog or website into a fully functional online store. Compared to Shopify, WooCommerce is noteworthy for its dexterous customization options and the plethora of extensions offered.

Users can find over 55,000 apps in the WooCommerce Plugin Directory. From shipping tools to SEO to payment gateway integrations, merchants can access an abundance of features to meet the needs of their eCommerce business. The directory’s open-source nature and the continual presence of developers ultimately enhance functionality and security.

While it pales in comparison to the sheer size of WooCommerce’s app offerings, the Shopify App Store showcases over 8,000 applications designed to add functionality and personality to your online shop. These apps include loyalty programs, live chat options, social media add features, and more. While free integrations are available, it should be noted that many of these offerings will come at an additional cost.

Shopify operates on a closed platform. This means that its support team can assist with any problems that might arise while using the service. Shopify also provides round-the-clock customer support via phone, email, or live chat. Merchants looking to get the most out of this option can access the platform’s various tutorials, guides, and community forms.

While WooCommerce has support options, its open-platform functionality means the support team may or may not always be able to solve your specific issue. In certain cases, WooCommerce merchants will need to contact a specific plugin developer for assistance.

WooCommerce’s inventory system is flexible and user-friendly, allowing merchants to manage their product offerings with ease. Users can add new items or update existing ones using WooCommerce’s intuitive, built-in WordPress interface.

WooCommerce offers a supremely flexible and user-friendly inventory system, giving you the option of efficiently managing your product offerings. You can add new items or update existing products via the intuitive WordPress interface. Shopify similarly provides users with inventory alerts, comprehensive reports, up-to-the-minute product tracking, and other critical functions for managing inventory. Both platforms enable mass uploads using CSV files, saving a significant amount of time.

One fairly significant difference between the two platforms is product variations. WooCommerce doesn’t limit the number of variations that users can create. On the other hand, Shopify caps its limit at 100 variants and three options per product. To exceed these limits, Shopify merchants must pay extra for a third-party app.

Having a variety of available payment options will boost customer loyalty in the long run. In this regard, both WooCommerce and Shopify support all major credit and debit cards (Visa, MasterCard, American Express), as well as mobile wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay. Unless your customers use a specialized payment method, both platforms should be able to accommodate your needs.

WooCommerce supports prominent payment gateways like Stripe, Square, PayPal, and Authorize.net, as well as regional options like PencePay for emerging markets. WooCommerce does not charge fees for these external gateways. However, specific gateways may be preferable in particular areas, thus necessitating an extra WooCommerce extension. Standard transaction fees rarely exceed what your bank or payment gateway dictates.

Shopify also offers integration via numerous external payment gateways. Depending on your chosen plan, using these integrations incurs added fees of 0.5% to 2% per transaction. Relying on Shopify Payments eliminates this cost.

Through Shopify Payments, users can access an analysis feature that protects them against fraudulent transactions or scams. Regarding chargebacks, Shopify Payments provides a streamlined process for responding to and submitting evidence for a disputed chargeback.

Shopify Payments is not available in certain countries. Third-party gateways can process payments for those who cannot utilize Shopify Payments due to their location.

Expanding your payment processing powers via customized solutions is an alternative worth exploring. For example, merchant service providers offer seamless gateway integrations, efficient setup, expedient processing, and reliable PCI compliance. Online business owners should consider partnering with a merchant service provider tailored to their professional needs.

WooCommerce vs Shopify: POS Options

Whether you’re looking to sell simple goods at a market on the weekends or overseeing the operation of multiple retail outlets, both WooCommerce and Shopify offer POS options for in-person payments.

Among its many features, Shopify lets users access a free POS Lite service that includes all monthly plan options. Through this service, users can add full retail checkout capabilities for a monthly fee. Using Shopify POS Lite enables merchants to accept payments on a mobile app or track in-person transactions, either by using a card reader connected to their mobile device or manually entering card information. To use POS Lite, Shopify users must process payments through Shopify Payments.

When Shopify merchants use their phones, the first hundred monthly transactions on POS Lite are free. After that, they will pay $0.25 per transaction. The app links to your Shopify account and allows you to accept Apple Pay; if you also opt to use Shopify’s in-house card reader, the hardware will incur a one-time fee of $49.

Shopify POS Pro is a more comprehensive option that provides detailed inventory tracking, employee management, and sales analytics. The service costs $89 a month per location, not including the one-time hardware fee.

The Shopify POS Pro system operates on iPads. It lets you purchase card readers, cash drawers, stands, and additional checkout accessories.

Hardware options for Shopify Pro include a Tap-and-Chip Card Reader ($49), a handheld combination card reader and barcode scanner ($299), and a countertop kit ($459, excluding the iPad touchscreen device).

When it comes to POS options, WooCommerce has plenty going for it. For example, WooCommerce POS integrates your store with an actual, physical retail environment. Thus, it serves as a bridge between the gap that separates offline and online sales. Basically, it lets you manage the entirety of your business from a single interface.

With WooCommerce’s POS plugins and extensions, merchants can sync products, inventory, and sales data between their physical and online stores. They can also integrate with their existing WooCommerce platform. Whenever a sale is made, the system automatically updates inventory levels to help prevent stock discrepancies.

In a physical store, merchants can use WooCommerce’s POS system to process sales, just as they would with a cash register. They can formulate taxes, apply discounts, scan items, and process payments. Customers have multiple payment options, including cash, card, or mobile pay.

Through this system, merchants can also use reporting tools to glean insight into customer behavior, inventory turnover, and sales patterns, helping them make informed, strategic business decisions. WooCommerce users can also store purchase histories and customer details. This is a consistent, reliable process as it applies to both online and offline sales.

Since POS for WooCommerce is a web-based application, all related hardware should be able to interact seamlessly with HTML pages. In other words, WooCommerce does not supply the hardware in question. When selecting POS hardware, ensure that it is compatible with your specific WooCommerce POS plugin and operating system (Windows, macOS, iOS, Android).

Some POS plugins may have preferred hardware partners or recommended models congruent with their software. With this in mind, always check with the provider or plugin developer for a list of supported hardware to guarantee a smooth-running POS system operation.

WooCommerce vs Shopify Security

Online stores are used to handling sensitive customer information, such as credit and debit card data and billing details. Unfortunately, such information frequently attracts the attention of hackers and cybercriminals. As a hosted platform, Shopify protects your online store from cyber threats.

Modern browsers use a padlock icon to show a website has Secure Socket Layer (SSL) encryption. This icon assures users that the site is trustworthy. Shopify provides a built-in SSL, which safeguards a customer’s personal and payment-related data and improves your store’s Google SEO ranking. Measures like this are essential to building and maintaining long-term trust with your customer base.

Admittedly, WooCommerce lacks Shopify’s integrated security features. In terms of protecting their site and all the sensitive information stored from customer card input, it is up to the merchant to choose the security method that best fits their needs. To that end, WooCommerce does not come equipped with an SSL certificate. WooCommerce users who wish to obtain one of these certificates must do so independently. Many merchants choose to do this through their hosting provider upon first signing up for a plan.

WooCommerce also mandates that users regularly update their plugins, themes, and software to bolster online security. Shopify, on the other hand, automatically updates all these components.

Choosing the Right eCommerce Platform

Selecting the right eCommerce platform is a decision that will have repercussions far beyond the day you decide to start using Shopify, WooCommerce, or an alternative platform. Shopify and WooCommerce offer robust solutions that cater to different needs and demographics. Shopify is a profoundly user-friendly, accessible service. It is ideal for those who require built-in features and support with minimal fuss. Conversely, WooCommerce offers unparalleled flexibility and customization options. These features make it a prime choice for those who wish to exert hands-on control over all facets of their online operation.

At the end of the day, you should decide based on a few factors: expansion plans, your level of technical expertise, the particulars of your business model, and what you hope to achieve as a merchant in the eCommerce space. Whether you prefer the simplicity of Shopify or the customizability of WooCommerce, make sure that the platform you’ve chosen aligns with your goals and objectives.

PaymentCloud is a trustworthy merchant service provider capable of integrating with the platforms we discussed today. Start building your eCommerce future today—and remember, the right platform is the one that supports your vision and grows alongside your business.

Whether you’re a completely new business, or a seasoned veteran looking to sharpen your knowledge about eCommerce, we’re here to help.

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