Shopify or WooCommerce: which to choose?

In terms of purpose, Shopify and WooCommerce share a number of undeniable similarities. WooCommerce is an open-source e-commerce solution running on WordPress. Shopify, on the other hand, is a self-hosted platform. Both CMS offer users a wide range of functionalities for managing products, payments and marketing campaigns.

Clearly, WooCommerce and Shopify are two solutions specially developed for e-commerce activities, offering their customers all the tools they need to manage, customize and administer their online store.

Shopify and WooCommerce have similar aims, which are to make everyday life easier for shop owners, but the way they work and the features they offer clearly differentiate them from one another.

Shopify is an e-commerce platform appreciated for its ease of use and configuration. Because it's a fully hosted solution, you don't have to worry about installation, management or updates. Likewise, the CMS takes full responsibility for any performance issues, security problems or backups.

While it doesn't require advanced technical skills, WooCommerce is slightly more complex to set up and configure, and you'll need to take more action to install it. To use the CMS, you'll need to install it like any other WordPress extension. However, both Shopify and WooCommerce have high-quality, ergonomic interfaces, even if Shopify's is more intuitive.

Here's a big difference between the two CMSs that you'll need to examine very closely: price. WooCommerce is 100 % free. Shopify, on the other hand, is an all-in-one solution that requires a subscription. The latter comes in a range of packages, from Basic to Advanced. Please note that this price does not include any additional modules or third-party tools you may acquire to enhance your online store.

As a reminder, WooCommerce is a totally free plugin for WordPress. All you have to do is add it to your CMS. However, to get your website up and running, you'll need hosting and a domain name, which will inevitably incur costs. Likewise, some WooCommerce extensions are not free.

As mentioned above, Shopify is an e-commerce solution that includes hosting for your online store. So you don't have to go looking for hosting, and you don't have to spend any extra money other than your subscription fee.

WooCommerce, on the other hand, requires the purchase of hosting. It's important to remember that your choice of hosting is essential, because a reputable provider will considerably lighten your day-to-day tasks, allowing you to concentrate exclusively on your business.

Scalability and customization are two other crucial criteria when comparing Shopify vs. WooCommerce. In the case of Shopify, the CMS offers hundreds of add-ons to enhance the functionality of your online store. Some of these are free, while others are not.

As for WooCommerce, this is open source software. As a result, the catalog of available plugins is much larger than for Shopify, and you'll even have the opportunity to create your own customized plugins to best meet your needs.