On our blog, we write about the development of online stores on Shopify and Shopify Plus. And that’s what we mainly focus on. However, we get a lot of questions about comparing Shopify to other e-commerce platforms. So far, we have covered two of them. What are these solutions?
- Shopify and PrestaShop – PrestaShop is an open-source platform, the configuration of which requires the help of a developer;
- Shopify Plus and Magento – Magento is the most developed e-commerce platform, so we decided to compare it to Shopify Plus.
How does WooCommerce compare with Shopify? You’ll find out about it in a moment. WooCommerce ranks second in the popularity rankings of e-commerce platforms. Nothing unusual. WooCommerce is an e-commerce plugin for WordPress, and this CMS needs no introduction. When to choose WooCommerce and when to choose Shopify? We will answer this question in today’s article.
Shopify vs WooCommerce – what do you need to start your store?
The first difference between Shopify and WooCommerce is visible when you set up your store. WooCommerce is a WordPress plugin, to start selling online with its help, you need to install WordPress, purchased hosting and your own domain. Setting up a shop is very simple, and there are many tutorials on the Internet on this subject. A WordPress plugin like WooCommerce has many enthusiasts.
Right after uploading the WooCommerce plugin to WordPress, you need to configure your store. In WooCommerce> Settings, you will configure basic information, i.e. select the store currency, enter the store address, add products and integrate with shipping and payment systems, add marketing plugins and those that will help you issue invoices to customers.
What do you need to launch your Shopify store? Shopify is a turnkey solution. Unlike WooCommerce, you don’t need hosting or a domain, but you can connect your own domain as the free one has the end of myshopify.com. After creating an account, you have access to the sales platform and, just like in WooCommerce, right after logging in, it’s time to complete the basic information, add products, customize the template and upload the integration.
To sum up, both Shopify and WooCommerce have a very transparent configuration process, stores are set up very quickly. WooCommerce is a WordPress plugin. For this reason, in order to start selling, we need to install WordPress on the domain we purchased. Shopify has its own hosting. To start selling, we need to configure the store.
How much does a shop on Shopify cost and how much on WooCommerce?
Shopify is a paid platform. It costs from $ 29 (or even $ 9 if you only need the “buy now” button) to $ 299 a month, and the price depends on the plan you choose. Unlike other platforms of this type, you do not pay for the number of products, but for the chosen plan. The higher the plan, the more functionalities, which does not mean the cheapest plan is not salable. In addition to the monthly subscription, each user pays a commission on sales. Additionally, the monthly cost of the platform increases when we install paid marketing and sales applications.
WooCommerce is a free plugin. Installing WordPress is also free. However, you have to arrange hosting and security certificates yourself. The price of hosting is from 10 to 200 pounds per month – it all depends on the number of subpages, extensions and the speed of the website you want to achieve. When choosing WooCommerce, also be prepared to buy plugins or to pay a developer to help you maintain the platform (Shopify maintenance is on the platform side).
WooCommerce may be a cheaper option for you than Shopify. Especially if you run a small shop with a limited assortment. However, it is possible that you may need the help of a developer at the start of the store if you are not familiar with programming. The Shopify dashboard is more intuitive and you can easily add more sales channels, connect your store with your Google advertising account, or edit the template.
Shopify Capabilities
Shopify is an e-commerce platform that is constantly releasing new features. By logging into the admin panel for the first time, you will quickly connect all the functionalities you need to start selling and driving traffic to the site . Shopify has built-in integrations with sales channels, i.e.
- shop on Facebook
- selling on Instagram
- selling on Pinterest
What’s more, you can link Shopify to advertising accounts such as Google and run campaigns from within Shopify. You will quickly add regulations, translate the store into another language and launch additional functionalities that will give you full control over marketing, sales and customer service. Shopify has a built-in cart recovery system via email sending.
What about the appearance of the stores? Shopify has some of the cutest e-commerce templates. The templates are fully editable, responsive and meticulously tested for conversion optimization. You just can’t edit the checkout process, unless you’re on an enterprise plan – Shopify Plus.
Test Shopify for free. Sign up for a 14-day trial period with no obligations.
WooCommerce capabilities
WooCommerce is a great option for sellers with a small product portfolio. If you have a blog on WordPress and you want to monetize traffic from articles, for example, selling calendars, T-shirts, pins, etc., then the WooCommerce plugin will be perfect for this role. The same is true when you sell digital products. WooCommerce will allow you to easily configure the sale of PDFs, graphics, videobooks or courses.
However, if you plan to sell clothes or other products that have a lot of variants, go for Shopify or an alternative platform. WooCommerce also does poorly when a store with a large assortment is placed on it. Remember – this is a WordPress plugin, not an autonomous sales platform. Either way, WooCommerce templates – even the ones you can use for free – look professional and mobile-friendly (see, for example, this compilation of the best free templates ), and some of them are very intuitive to edit.
WooCommerce is an open-source plugin, we know that it allows us to fully interfere with the source code. Thanks to this, you can make any changes to the functioning of the online store. All you need to do is know the PHP programming language or ask someone who can write code in this language for help. Unfortunately, it also means that you can easily break something and the store will stop working.
Half of the success of a WooCommerce store depends on hosting. If you have good hosting your store will load quickly. Shopify does not have this problem, as Shopify makes sure that the seller has a reliability guarantee. The platform does not want to lose a customer.
Which solution suits you better – Shopify or WooCommerce?
We have presented you with the most important information on the basis of which you can compare Shopify and WooCommerce. The decision is yours. We’d love to know which platform you’ve chosen and what you think about it.
