Shopify vs. WooCommerce
Which is the better eCommerce solution?
This article compares the two eCommerce systems with which I have had experience, WooCommerce and Shopify. WooCommerce and Shopify are the two biggest players in the eCommerce website market.
When I first had the opportunity to make eCommerce websites, I read several articles online to decide on an eCommerce system to use. My initial research in 2015 brought me to choose Shopify as the best online eCommerce solution. I called Shopify and talked through the website I planned to make on their platform, and the customer service staff were very helpful. Shopify is developer friendly, and they helped me set up a developer account so I could make staging websites for my clients. And at only $29 a month, the price was right.
A few years and several websites later, I was less sure about Shopify. Every time a client needed an additional feature on their website, their monthly invoice went up. One client was rejected for Shopify Payments, and Shopify added 2% of sales to their invoice each month. At the same time I was hearing that WooCommerce was a great eCommerce solution. I began to make new eCommerce websites on WooCommerce instead of Shopify.
How are Shopify and WooCommerce different?
Shopify is a full-service eCommerce solution. $29 a month includes website hosting, an SSL Certificate, and 24/7 support.
WooCommerce is a completely different model and, in fact, is very disruptive to the eCommerce market. To run an eCommerce website with WooCommerce, first you need to have a website host, then an installation of WordPress, and finally you can install the free WooCommerce plugin. It is not a one-stop shop, like Shopify. WooCommerce is a plugin that adds e-commerce functionality to WordPress.
How do Shopify and WooCommerce make money?
Nothing in life is really free, so it is important to know how companies you work with make money.
Shopify makes money is through its monthly fees. With that in mind, the way Shopify makes more money is to entice you to buy more services, which means more monthly fees. Shopify is an all encompassing service that includes website hosting, security, backups, and service.
WooCommerce is an free WordPress plugin that makes a WordPress website into an eCommerce store. Since WooCommerce plugin is free, how does it make money? WooCommerce is owned by Automattic, and CEO of Automattic, Matt Mullenweg, is one of the founders of WordPress. Automattic sell a variety of services for WordPress users but also gives away significant services for free. The most used of the Automattic services is WordPress.com, where anyone can make a WordPress website for free.
WooCommerce is completely free for most of my customers who use it. Some customers pay $79 a year for a WooCommerce plugin to accept payments via Authorize.net. (WooCommerce has free credit card services for Stripe and Square.) One client pays $99 a year for a WooCommerce plugin that sends automated emails. If you were to purchase WooCommerce Extension for your store, you would pay for one year of updates and support for use of the plugin, ranging from $49 to a few hundred dollars a year.
Shopify Pros
24/7 Service: The Shopify online service is tremendous. Because everything is in one place, they are accountable for the website. They provide service 24/7.
Excellent UI: Because they only make eCommerce stores, it is fairly easy to click around intuitively to find what you need to do.
Customizations: Once I found my way around the Shopify code, code customizations were very easy to make and easier than in WordPress. Shopify has their own coding language called, “Liquid”, but your developer doesn’t need to learn it. HTML, CSS and Javascript can be co-mingled with the Liquid.
Price: $29 a month is a great price, when you consider all that is included. 24/7 service, SSL, automated backups, and stellar security it really is a value.
Exceptional Checkout Process: The Shopify checkout process for your customers is very elegant. I have WooCommerce clients that come to me and ask me to make their checkout process look like Shopify’s checkout process.
Developer-friendly: Shopify gives developers a place to create a free developmental website. When the website is turned over to a paying customer, the developer receives a commission. Learn more at shopify.dev.
Shopify Cons
Shopify Payments: When you run an eCommerce store, you need a way to process credit card payments. Shopify offers one of these for free, called “Shopify Payments”. Assuming you can be approved for Shopify Payments, your cost can truly be as low as $29 per month. However, if you have any problems in your credit history, like a Chargeback, Shopify Payments will drop you like a hot potato. At that point you need to install a different payment service, and Shopify takes 1-2% of all of your sales, in addition to what you pay to the credit card company.
Shopify Upgrades: The problem with Shopify is that you will likely want to upgrade from the services you receive for $29 a month. One of your first upgrades may be to go to the $79 per month level. Also, if you would like to add functionality, then you need to purchase a Shopify Add-On, which adds to your monthly Shopify bill. In contrast, there are more free plugins available in WordPress, and if you do need a paid plugin, then you likely pay once per year and much less for the service.
Not Open Source: Shopify gives developers incredible access to make changes to the files, but the Checkout Process screens and the databases are not available to modification.
Code Modifications: Fewer developers know how to work with Shopify than with WooCommerce. So when you need a new developer, you may have trouble finding someone with experience.
Learning Curve: Creating your first website on Shopify will take most of a weekend. The user interface is unique to Shopify so the time you spend learning it will not translate to websites on other platforms.
WordPress/WooCommerce Pros
Overall Lower Price: WooCommerce and WordPress are free. While the software is free, you still need a place to put it (your website hosting) and, at a minimum, you need to install SSL (HTTPS and the little lock) on your website. To get all of the hosting features equivalent to Shopify you will likely need to pay @$30 per month. White Buffalo sells a hosting plan for $120 a year that does most of what Shopify includes in their hosting. Where WordPress really keeps prices low is when you would like to add additional functionality to your website. With WordPress most plugins are free. Overall, your costs will be significantly lower on WordPress.
Many Free Upgrades: WordPress is an open source model and there are many upgrades you can make to your eCommerce offering for free. 33% of the websites in the world are made on WordPress, so developers churn out new options all the time.
WordPress Community: If you need help with a WordPress website, you don’t necessarily need to hire a developer. You can find solutions online and even go to a WordPress meeting to get help. Many website designers do not know HTML and CSS…they use WordPress plugins to design their websites.
Value of WordPress Skills: Because WordPress powers one/third of websites, familiarity with WordPress is a desirable skill and something to add to your resume.
WordPress/WooCommerce Cons
No Service: With WordPress and WooCommerce, there isn’t a 24/7 line you can call for help with your website. If your website goes down you will need to call your website developer or start Googling for an answer.
The Bottom Line: Shopify vs. WooCommerce
WooCommerce is the hands down winner, because of the cost and the ability to find free solutions to problems. With Shopify, the initial price is great; however, if you plan on making ongoing enhancements to your store, the monthly bill with grow and grow. If you have less than a perfect credit rating, then you may owe 1-2% to Shopify of your sales each month. However, if your credit is excellent, and you want to do much of the work yourself, consider Shopify as a solution.
Learn more about e-commerce website. Here are some articles that may be of interest to you:
Alternatives to Creating an E-Commerce Website: An e-commerce website may not be the right choice for you. This article outlines the alternatives, like selling on Amazon.com or Etsy.com.
Planning Your E-Commerce Website: Making an e-commerce website is more work for the website owner than for the developer. This article describes what you need to have ready before you work with a developer on your website.
How to Create an E-Commerce Website with WooCommerce: If you already know a bit of WordPress, this article show you how to create an e-commerce website. If you don’t already know WordPress, then check out our training program on WordPress.
Frequently Asked Questions
Shopify is the better platform for one-stop shopping and service. However, Shopify can be much more expensive than WooCommerce, especially if you don’t quality for Shopify Payments. As a developer for small clients, I have moved all of my Shopify websites to WooCommerce in order to reduce costs for my clients. If you are going to do the work without a developer and you don’t know any WordPress, then Shopify may be the better option. If you are going to hire a developer to help you, then I would recommend WooCommerce, unless you have a trusted Shopify developer.
Most certainly! Think of it like this. Right now I have a dripping faucet. I probably could find some wrenches and try to switch out the faucet myself. It will take me 5 times longer than it would take a plumber. Along the way I will have at least one major problem, like a nut that has rusted and can’t be turned.
If you decide to make your own e-commerce website, plan on spending most of a weekend on it. You will need to watch videos. It will be frustrating. And it also will be a lot of fun, if you enjoy learning and don’t get too frustrated when there are problems. And there will be problems.
I would do the following. Get website hosting over at Siteground. (Note that this is an affiliate link. I’ve had great luck with Siteground hosting lately.) Purchase a domain name at Hover.com. To make it simpler, you can also purchase the domain name from Siteground, but you will pay a bit more for it. Set up a WordPress website on the Siteground hosting, and then add the WooCommerce plugin for e-commerce. To save money, use the free StoreFront theme that is made for WooCommerce.
If you need some background on WordPress and WooCommerce, you can check out our free training program.