Shopify vs WooCommerce
Shopify is a hosted store with a monthly fee; WooCommerce is a free plugin, but you pay for your own WordPress hosting and extensions.
Pick Shopify if…
You want one company to host the store, handle checkout and shipping tools, and are happy to pay a monthly plan. Basic is $24/month billed yearly or $32/month billed monthly.
Pick WooCommerce if…
You already use or want WordPress, want to pick your own host and payment provider, and prefer no platform subscription or revenue share. Be ready to budget for hosting and extensions.
Price
- Paid
- Free
- Open source
Starting price
Free plan
Open source
Works on
| Feature | Hosted commerce platform for building and running an online store, selling in person and on other channels. | Free, open-source ecommerce plugin for WordPress; you supply the WordPress site and hosting. |
|---|---|---|
| Price |
|
|
| Starting price | Basic: $24/month billed yearly, or $32/month billed monthly (USD) | $0 for the core platform (hosting is a separate cost) |
| Free plan | No | Yes |
| Open source | No | Yes |
| Works on | Web, API | Web |
| Try Shopify (opens the Shopify website in a new tab) | Try WooCommerce (opens the WooCommerce website in a new tab) |
Shopify is a hosted platform: you pay a monthly plan and the store, checkout and admin run on Shopify. Per its US-dollar pricing page, plans run from Basic at $24/month billed yearly ($32 monthly) up to Plus from $2,300/month. It also charges a 2%, 1%, 0.6% or 0.2% fee on sales through third-party payment providers, depending on plan. It advertises a trial of 3 days free, then $1/month for 3 months.
WooCommerce is an open-source plugin for WordPress. woocommerce.com lists the core platform at $0, with no monthly subscription and no revenue share. But you need a WordPress site and a host: the same page puts hosting at $25-$350/month for most stores, and extensions at $29-$299/year each.
On payments, WooCommerce adds no surcharge beyond your processor's fees; with WooPayments it lists about 2.50-2.90% + 30 cents per transaction. Shopify lists its own card rates per plan, and a separate third-party fee if you use another provider.
In short, Shopify trades control for a managed service with a predictable plan fee, while WooCommerce gives you control of hosting, code and data, along with the work and costs of looking after a WordPress site.
One new comparison, every week
Two tools side by side with our verdict, in one short email. Unsubscribe any time.
Last updated 16 October 2026. How we make money