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For our money, Shopify is the best ecommere solution out of the two, as its website and sales features scored better than Woocommerce’s in our research. In our tests, Shopify scored an amazing 4.7/5 against Woocommerce’s 3.8/5 total score.
We’ll admit that the playing field is not entirely level here. Woocommerce is a standalone ecommerce software, unlike Shopify, which is a full ecommerce/builder platform. To put it simply: Woocommerce will render your online shop operational, whereas, with Shopify, you’ll be able to build your webstore from the ground up.
While looking into ecommerce solutions may be daunting, we’ve done the hard work so you don’t have to. With 10+ years of experience, we tested both platforms. Here are the results.
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| Score 3.8 | Score 4.3 |
| Best For Those looking to work on their own | Best For Advanced sales features |
| Price Range Incl GST Platform itself is free, but associated charges could average $35/month (incl GST) | Price Range Incl GST A$7-$2,000 USD+/month (incl GST) |
| Key Features
| Key Features
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| Website builder? | Website builder? |
| Hosting included? | Hosting included? |
| App store? | App store? |
| Free Plan | Free Plan |
| Try Woocommerce | Try Shopify |
Woocommerce vs Shopify: Head-to-head
Woocommerce allows for deeper customisation and offers more hands-on support than Shopify. These qualities make it great for small businesses, self-starters and design-centred shops.
For medium and large businesses, Shopify’s scale and advanced reporting makes it a better option than Woocommerce. Shopify’s sales features trump what Woocommerce offers, despite Woocommerce’s support being more comprehensive than Shopify’s. Overall, we think Shopify’s the best between the two.
| Woocommerce | Shopify | |
| Website Features (Winner: Shopify) | Functions provided by WordPress. No website builder, hosting or domain purchase. | Build your website, host, and buy a domain. |
| Sales Features (Winner: Shopify) | Five major payment platforms. | Three major payment platforms, plus social media and in-person sales. |
| Design Functionalities (Winner: Shopify) | 52 native themes but requires tech-savviness. | 92 themes that look pristine. |
| Value for Money (Winner: Woocommerce) | Customised billing. | Fixed-price tiers – on the higher end. |
| Help and Support (Winner: Woocommerce) | 24/7 support plus knowledge centre. | No support on Starter plan). Knowledge centre lacks detail. |
| Customer Score (Winner: Shopify) | Users found it too intricate. | Highly likely to recommend it. |
| Ease of Use Tie | May require external help unless you’re tech savvy. | Useful automation during set-up. |
The difference between the tools can bring strategic advantages. For instance, Woocommerce is based on the popular content management system WordPress. If you already have a site there and want to develop it into a store, we’d be hard-pressed to give you an easier way to do so.
That said, for someone starting fresh without a site, Shopify offers an all-in-one platform allowing you to create and host a website with sales features.
Woocommerce overview
Woocommerce is a free ecommerce software which enables you to turn a WordPress site into an online shop. For the cost-conscious, it’s a cheap way of getting into ecommerce.
Woocommerce is an ecommerce software that allows customers to turn a WordPress site into a webstore. It was designed as a plugin to expand the possibilities of WordPress, whose team developed it before it branched out. It scored 3.8/5 in our research, with its help and support scoring a perfect 5/5. For this reason, we recommend it for small business owners who may be inexperienced with ecommerce tools.
Woocommerce's greatest asset is its low price tag - the tool itself is free - plus strong customisation options, both in design and functionality. Unlike most of its competitors, its features are priced separately, not as parts of set tiers, which means you only pay for what you need. Extensions allow for deep customisation, but require a tech-savvy person to set them up.
Its Achilles' heel, however, is the steep learning curve the platform poses to new users, as the wide possibilities it offers require some degree of technical knowledge - something even happy customers pointed out.
Shopify overview
Shopify is a full ecommerce web builder platform with which you can build and host your online shop. Shopify is not as customisable as Woocommerce but its set-up is more intuitive.
Shopify is an integrated web builder and ecommerce platform that offers customers the chance to set up an online shop with very little hassle. It scored 4.7/5 in our research, thanks to its intuitive layout and spot-on backend automation. Its website and sales features also scored highly.
Shopify's strongest suit is integration, in the sense that you can manage a considerable part of your business in one place and expand its potential through plugins. For business owners who haven’t got a site yet, it’s a neat solution despite the relatively high price tag. It suits medium to large businesses owners, who will appreciate the detailed stock and reporting capabilities.
Shopify's provided in five priced tiers. For all the features it offer, it requires a considerable initial investment - hence its lower score low in our value for money assessment. Its help and support is not available to Starter plan customers.
Woocommerce pricing vs Shopify pricing
Woocommerce offers the best value, plus you don’t have to pay if you already own a WordPress site. In our research, Woocommerce scored 4.3/5 against Shopify’s 3/5 on value for money – a result influenced by Shopify’s lack of free plan and high price on its Advanced plan.
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| Price (Paying Annually) $7/month | Price (Paying Annually) $42/month | Price (Paying Annually) A$114/month | Price (Paying Annually) A$433/month | Price (Paying Annually) From $3,000/month |
| Best For Adding a buy button to your existing website or social media | Best For Starting a small online store | Best For Growing your business | Best For Larger online stores | Best For High volume merchants, large businesses |
| Key Features
| Key Features
| Key Features
| Key Features
| Key Features
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As we’ve already mentioned, Woocommerce has no price plans because it’s free to download and use. However, there may be some costs that arise if you’re using Woocommerce that you wouldn’t face with Shopify.
Extra costs associated with Woocommerce:
- Hosting, average $21 per month.
- Extensions, average $79 per year.
- Theme, average $38 per year.
- Domain (eg .com), $21.99 per year.
Woocommerce vs Shopify: Which one has the best free plan?
Woocommerce is free by its nature – while Shopify doesn’t have a free plan at all. That said, despite its nominal $0 cost, Woocommerce usually entails payments for extensions, as well as hosting and perhaps a template to render your online shop operational. While lacking a free plan, Shopify does offer a 14-day free trial.
Best for website features: Shopify
Shopify has better web features because, unlike Woocommerce, you can build and host a website there. Being a plugin, Woocommerce websites are actually WordPress ones and their hosting is handled by third-party companies. For its ability to set up shop with less faff, Shopify’s a clear winner.
| Woocommerce | Shopify | |
| Score | 3.9 | 4.2 |
| Key Feature | Hosting is provided by WordPress | Hosts website and allows for domain purchase |
Best for sales features: Shopify
While Woocommerce does have more payment options (it offers or integrates with five major payment platforms: Amazon, Stripe, Square, PayPal and Apple Pay), Shopify’s ability to set up shop pretty much anywhere more than compensates for the three payment platforms it currently works with (Stripe, Square and PayPal). With Shopify, you can also sell directly through social media, so it wins this one too.
| Woocommerce | Shopify | |
| Score | 4 | 4.7 |
| Key Feature | Integrates with POS systems | Integrates with POS systems and social media platforms |
Best for design functionaties: Shopify
Design-wise, Shopify’s greatest asset is the fact that it allows you to have a slick website even if you’re the most code-averse of business owners. The templates look pristine and highly customisable. Woocommerce’s customisation, while extensive, will require more time and effort. As far as we can tell, it’s third time lucky for Shopify.
| Woocommerce | Shopify | |
| Score | 2.5 | 3.9 |
| Key Feature | Design is bound by tech knowledge of the user | Plentiful responsive themes with no need for coding input |
Best for value for money: Woocommerce
Compared to Shopify’s set price tiers, Woocommerce allows you to build a set-up which works for you while allowing for the spending to be very compartmentalised – and therefore more manageable. Also, it’s worth noting that Shopify charges payment fees of its own while Woocommerce doesn’t, which ended up hurting the former’s cost-benefit assessment. Therefore, Woocommerce wins in this category.
| Woocommerce | Shopify | |
| Score | 4.3 | 3 |
| Key Feature | Features are priced separately so pricing can attend specific needs for less | Pricing is set into tiers that gravitate towards the dear end |
Best for help and support: Woocommerce
Woocommerce’s 24/7 live chat is a key pro of the platform, plus the knowledge centre is very thorough and provides a lot of answers – this comes in handy if you don’t feel like speaking to someone. Shopify also offers 24/7 support but not for all plans – Starter users don’t have access to it – and its knowledge centre doesn’t cover as much ground, so Woocommerce comes out triumphant here.
| Woocommerce | Shopify | |
| Score | 5 | 4.4 |
| Key Feature | 24/7 text-based support available to all users | 24/7 text- and phone-based support available to most users |
Best in customer score: Shopify
Beyond our own testing, we also reach out to fellow users of the platforms with a survey so we can compare our findings to that of an outside audience. Our research into this topic shows that users side with Shopify. Users highlighted that Woocommerce was an intricate platform, with many customers saying they either required help from a dedicated professional to run it, or needed to set time aside to learn it for themselves. In the end, Shopify’s intuitive layout won over the clientele.
| Woocommerce | Shopify | |
| Score | 3.8 | 4.8 |
| Key Feature | Users highlighted the intricacy of the platform | Customer praised its intuitive layout |
Best for ease of use: Tie
Both platforms score 3.5/5 in this category. Shopify allows for a relatively hassle-free start and you can make it work without coding knowledge. However, the design bit can be a bit clunky and overwhelming at times, which isn’t ideal.
Woocommerce’s set-up is not easy, requiring considerable time and effort. While usage gets progressively smoother, even fans of the platform note these growing pains.
| Woocommerce | Shopify | |
| Score | 3.5 | 3.5 |
| Key Feature | Learning curve can be steep | Start is relatively hassle-free |
Woocommerce vs Shopify: How do they compare to the competition?
| Shopify | Wix | BigCommerce | Squarespace | Woocommerce |
| |  |  |  | |
| Score 4.3 | Score 4.7 | Score 4.4 | Score 4.7 | Score 3.8 |
| Best For Advanced sales features | Best For Creating a good-looking website with excellent sales features | Best For Multichannel selling | Best For Selling digital products or portfolios | Best For Those looking to work on their own |
| Price Range Incl GST A$7-$2,000 USD+/month (incl GST) | Price Range Incl GST
| Price Range Incl GST A$43–$444/month | Price Range Incl GST
| Price Range Incl GST Platform itself is free, but associated charges could average $35/month (incl GST) |
| Key Features
| Key Features
| Key Features
| Key Features
| Key Features
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| Free Plan | Free Plan | Free Plan | Free Plan | Free Plan |
| Free trial | Free trial | Free trial | Free trial | Free trial |
| Try Shopify | Try Wix | Try BigCommerce | Try Squarespace | Try Woocommerce |
According to our research, Shopify is top among the best ecommerce platforms. Big Commerce, due to its focus on large scale orders and ultra detailed inventory features, is still the best choice for large businesses but, apart from these, Shopify covers you.
Wix and Squarespace are other massively popular alternatives that get high praise for their design and, like Woocommerce, it also appeals to self-starters. It’s Shopify’s inventory features that trump them all. It’s also worth mentioning Squarespace’s cheaper price tag beats Shopify and puts it close to Woocommerce in value for money.
How We Compared WooCommerce and Shopify
We've tested and researched 16 market-leading website builders, evaluating their functionality, usability, integrations and customer support so we can make the most useful recommendations to businesses
Our rigorous testing process means these products have been scored and rated in seven main categories of investigation and 33 subcategories. We then gave each category score a ‘relevance weighting' to ensure the product's final score perfectly reflects the needs and requirements of Expert Market readers.
Our main testing categories for website builders are:
- Sales features: the sales capabilities and sales functionalities offered by an ecommerce platform, including shipping, product capacity, payment options, tools for in-person selling, and more.
- Website features: the capabilities and functionalities offered by a website builder, e.g. blog functionality, SEO capability, marketing capacity, and AI tools.
- Design functionality: the aesthetic appeal and visual layout of a website created using a website builder. It encompasses aspects such as page templates, customisable themes, and content display tools (accordions, tabs, etc.)
- Ease of use: how user-friendly and intuitive a website builder is for people with varying levels of technical expertise.
- Value for money: the balance between the cost of a website builder and the benefits it provides. It considers factors such as pricing plans, subscription models, and available features.
- Reputation: external customer opinion; the feedback and ratings given by customers who have used a particular website builder – the market position and reputation a website builder holds.
- Help and support: the assistance and resources available to users when they encounter issues or need guidance while using a website builder. This can include tutorials, knowledge bases, and email or chat support.
For the numerous solutions it offers, alongside a sleek design and advanced sales features, Shopify trumps Woocommerce here. Woocommerce does lend itself better to self-starters who are keen on customising a digital storefront to perfection, but Shopify is an all-around platform that ticks more boxes without sacrificing user-friendliness.
However, Woocommerce’s customer service is top-notch and its compartmentalised pricing means that you can personalise your shop with precise investment – the savings can be even bigger if you have a WordPress site. This is not a common feature among the ecommerce tools we surveyed so, if it sounds interesting to you, check Woocommerce’s website to know more.
Due to its scalability and insightful reports, Shopify is a platform which can benefit medium and large businesses that are looking to expand and consolidate. Its priced tiers include various native and integrated functions, which is key to achieve these goals. If your business is at this stage, head on over to Shopify’s website to know more.