WooCommerce is free and Shopify is not — and that is the least useful fact in this comparison. Both charge the same card rate on US cards. The real trade is between a monthly fee that buys you someone else’s operations team, and free software that makes you the operations team.
We earn a commission if you sign up through the links on this page. We pay for every tool we test and no brand sees a draft before it goes live. How this site makes money.
The short answer
Choose Shopify if you want to spend your time on products and customers, and you are happy to pay a monthly fee so that hosting, security and updates are never your problem. Choose WooCommerce if you already run WordPress, want to own every file and every row of data, or need to use a payment provider other than Shopify’s without paying Shopify an extra fee for it.
| Shopify | WooCommerce | |
|---|---|---|
| Software | From $29/mo, billed yearly | Free, open-source plugin for WordPress |
| Hosting | Included | Paid separately, to a host you choose |
| Card rate, US cards | 2.9% + 30¢ on Basic | 2.9% + 30¢ with WooPayments |
| International cards | Higher rate, listed per country | +1.5%, plus 1% if currency is converted |
| Extra fee for other payment providers | 2% on Basic, falling on higher plans | None |
| Monthly payment fees | None beyond the plan | None |
| Updates, security, backups | Handled by Shopify | Your responsibility |
| If you leave | Products, customers and orders export; the design does not | You own the files and the database |
WooCommerce figures from WooCommerce's WooPayments fee documentation, checked 24 September 2026. Shopify figures from its published US pricing, checked 24 September 2026.
Where WooCommerce wins
- You own it. The code, the database and the design are yours. Leaving a host means moving files, not rebuilding a store.
- No penalty for your choice of processor. Shopify adds 2% per order on Basic if you process payments outside Shopify Payments. WooCommerce adds nothing.
- Content comes built in. It runs on WordPress, which is a far better publishing system than Shopify’s blog.
- Unlimited customisation. If PHP can do it, your store can do it.
Where Shopify wins
- Nothing to maintain. No plugin updates that conflict, no security patches, no backups to test, no host to call at 2am during a sale.
- One vendor. When checkout breaks on WooCommerce, the problem could be the host, WordPress, WooCommerce, the theme or any of a dozen plugins. On Shopify it is Shopify’s.
- One bill. Hosting, security, the checkout and payments come from one company on one invoice.
- Speed to launch. A working Shopify store is an afternoon. A working, secure, fast WooCommerce store is a project.
The cost question, honestly
On paper WooCommerce is cheaper: the software is free and the card rate on US cards is identical to Shopify Basic’s. Against Shopify’s $29 a month you have to set hosting, a premium theme if you want one, paid extensions for things Shopify includes, and — the line nobody puts in the spreadsheet — your own hours keeping it all running. If you would do that work anyway, WooCommerce wins on cost. If you would pay someone to do it, it rarely does.
Questions we get asked
Is WooCommerce really free?
The plugin is. The store is not: hosting, domain, theme and extensions all cost money, and WooPayments charges per transaction like any processor.
Can I move from WooCommerce to Shopify later, or the other way?
Yes, both ways. Products, customers and order history move with import tools; the design and any custom functionality have to be rebuilt.
Start your free trialNo credit card to start