Thinking of starting your e-commerce business or upgrading the existing one? But often, the question arises: which platform is better for your e-commerce presence? Sifting through the various options to choose the platform that best suits your business can be challenging. You may be familiar with WooCommerce and Shopify, two well-known e-commerce platforms, but you are not sure which one to pick.
Not to worry, because we are here! As a business owner, you want a platform that is feature-rich, reasonably priced, and adaptable. However, it’s a fact that every platform has a unique set of difficulties that must be considered before choosing.
In this article, we have discussed everything about two big platforms, Shopify and WooCommerce, including their benefits, drawbacks, and features to help you pick the best one for your e-commerce business. So, let’s dig in!
What Is WooCommerce?
WooCommerce is a well-known open-source plugin that you can add to your WordPress application to make it an online store. It isn’t a stand-alone online store. Installing the WooCommerce plugin on your WordPress website will make setting up an online store simple.
With over 6.2 million users, WooCommerce, which was introduced in 2011, has rapidly grown in popularity within the e-commerce industry and is currently the most widely used e-commerce solution.
This is a result of its robust feature set, extensive customization possibilities, and ease of use. The fact that your online business can be operated with WordPress, the most widely used content management system (CMS) worldwide, is what makes it so fantastic.
What Is Shopify?
It is not an open-source platform like WooCommerce, but Shopify has many features to suit various purposes.
Shopify offers a monthly fee package in addition to a commission on each transaction. But even without coding knowledge, Shopify makes it simple for beginners to create an online store from scratch. Customization might call for expert help.
Shopify is renowned for its user-friendly platform and is regarded as the benchmark for other e-commerce platforms.
WooCommerce Vs. Shopify – Which E-Commerce Store Is More Popular?
Shopify was created for e-commerce from the ground up, while WooCommerce was created after WordPress was built as an e-commerce plugin instead of an integrated product. Both platforms come with incredible features and have experienced consistent growth in popularity. However, the Shopify store is better for e-commerce, with over 8,000 apps, as it is an easy-to-set-up store and has an award-winning 24/7 support team, which makes it exceptional.
A Detailed Comparison
Now that you are aware of what exactly Shopify or WooCommerce platform is. It’s time to delve deeper into the brief comparison of both:
1. Cost
When launching an e-commerce store online, the cost is a crucial factor to consider. So, how much does WooCommerce or Shopify cost? Well, it depends! Because WooCommerce is free, it is less expensive than Shopify, which charges between 0.5 and 2% of your sales and offers plans ranging from $25 to $399 each month. To have a better understanding of the costs of both platforms, let’s take a closer look.
WooCommerce
WooCommerce is less expensive than Shopify, as mentioned earlier because it is a free WordPress plugin. Nevertheless, hosting packages, plugins, and themes are extra expenses.
For instance, a premium theme can cost anywhere from $30 to $300 or more per month, while a Cloudways-managed WooCommerce hosting package can cost at least $11 per month.
Plugins and add-ons that are paid for typically run about $50. Keep in mind that these prices may go up if you require more services or a larger hosting package.
Shopify
You don’t have to worry about paying for third-party hosting, themes, or plugins when you use Shopify because everything you need for your online store is included in your pricing plan.
However, Shopify charges a transaction fee for sales made through third-party payment processors, and pricing options range from $9 to $299 each month. It’s crucial to remember that the more advanced pricing plans can offer features you don’t require, costing you money for resources you don’t use.
Winner
Although the WooCommerce store is a more economical choice because it is free and doesn’t impose transaction fees, it’s essential to take into account other expenses, such as hosting, themes, and plugins.
Everything you need for your online business is included in Shopify’s pricing plans; however, as you grow, the cost may go up and may include underused resources. The winner ultimately comes down to your budget and particular requirements.
2. Ease of Use
Your time is crucial as an online store owner, so you should prioritize doing the most important things, such as processing orders, collecting feedback from customers, responding to their inquiries, and managing vendors. To accomplish this perfect scenario, you also need an e-commerce platform that is simple to use and maintain.
WooCommerce
Let’s examine how user-friendly WooCommerce is compared to Shopify when installed on WordPress.
Your WordPress dashboard will provide many options when installing WooCommerce, such as the ability to add products, orders, coupons, and more. With only a few clicks, you can add products or change the look straight from the dashboard.
But keep in mind that a WooCommerce website can be more complicated because it’s a WordPress plugin, and using it properly requires some familiarity with WordPress. Since WordPress and the WooCommerce plugin need to be installed and configured, there are additional setup requirements.
Shopify
Shopify is a fully hosted e-commerce platform. This implies that Shopify handles all aspects of maintaining your website’s uptime, including server maintenance, security upgrades, and website backups. Put differently, the only thing you need to concentrate on is creating your web store.
Shopify’s onboarding wizard guides you through selecting a theme, adding products and content, and launching your website when you sign up. The drag-and-drop option makes it simple to add, remove, and rearrange items on Shopify.
Winner
Shopify is widely seen as being easier to use than WooCommerce because of its simple interface, which makes it convenient for even non-technical users to set up and maintain their stores.
3. Build Time
When it comes to build time, both come with different timeframes.
WooCommerce
WooCommerce is better suited for users who don’t want to make many sales right away. Compared to Shopify, creating stores on this platform offers you the creative freedom to change your website properly. If you are prepared to put in the effort, switching to WooCommerce will allow you to be genuinely creative as opposed to many website builders that can force your store into a box owing to tight themes.
Shopify
Compared to WooCommerce, Shopify will allow you to launch your store more quickly. You can add certain keywords, and artificial intelligence will write the descriptions for you using Shopify – the best AI website builder feature called the product description tool. Shopify is made to save you time when you construct and manage your store.
This platform is an excellent choice if you’re trying to transfer providers or don’t have much experience with technology. Your store can go “live” more quickly and easily. With assistance, you can customize the appearance and feel of your store by selecting and modifying themes. With Shopify, there is no manual setup process, in contrast to the WordPress store setup.
Winner
The main components of Shopify are pre-built, its themes only require your content to be added, and it’s simple to use. Overall, if you’re upgrading from another provider or switching, Shopify setup is far faster than WooCommerce setup so you may have a functioning Shopify store in less than a week!
4. Scalability
Scalability is crucial for expanding your e-commerce store. Your business will suffer if your e-commerce platform is unable to accommodate the growing number of orders.
WooCommerce
The scalability of WooCommerce depends upon the hosting provider you choose. The more powerful the hosting provider, the more scalable your WooCommerce store.
But it also implies your hosting expenses will rise, which makes WooCommerce less affordable than Shopify. Codment, a reputable software development company, can design an e-commerce website for you that offers support expansion and scalability.
Shopify
The majority of technical issues, like site hosting, are handled by Shopify, making it simple to manage larger stores and more orders. Since you may upgrade to a more expensive Shopify pricing plan as your company expands, scaling up is very simple.
Shopify provides a one-stop shop solution, saving you from the trouble of looking for a reliable Shopify hosting company, an e-commerce theme, and the requirement to engage a technical team, even though it may be more expensive.
Winner
Because Shopify is a hosted platform that handles all the technical components of scaling your store, it is the recommended option overall for scalability.
5. Design and Themes
Picking a great theme is only part of the WooCommerce vs Shopify battle – when you pick a good design and theme, it automatically makes your products and services fascinating, attracts the customers, and encourages them to shop from you. Therefore, give this factor the attention it deserves.
WooCommerce
Themes for WooCommerce may be more responsive on mobile devices. Storefront, its debut theme, is completely mobile-responsive. It also has a brand-new, clean layout. There are some hidden gems among the new WooCommerce themes that designers are producing.
The inability to locate a theme similar to the one they left behind and the consequent need to rebrand their store are common complaints among switchers and upgraders. But compared to Shopify, WooCommerce has access to a far broader collection of themes. For example, you can browse over 1,000 unique e-commerce themes on ThemeForest.
Nevertheless, WooCommerce lacks Shopify designs with polished and modern aesthetics. Your technical skill level and willingness to put in the hours will determine how well your design appears on WooCommerce. Although WooCommerce has a great range of products, Shopify’s collection is more refined.
Shopify
There are more than 100 themes available on Shopify; most of them are paid for, but others are free. Shopify is a specialized e-commerce platform. Therefore, its themes are well-polished and meant to increase sales.
The price of premium themes ranges from $140 to $350. Even though it might appear pricey, you should consider this a one-time investment in your store. Additionally, there are 12 free themes available to get you started if money is tight.
Winner
Evidently, Shopify wins here, which received a 4.4/5 for design. Compared to WooCommerce, its templates are more well-designed, and if you’d like, you may utilize code to change your Shopify designs further. However, you don’t need to know how to code to create a great website. Moreover, keep an eye on website development trends to learn about the latest happenings in the web industry.
6. Dropshipping
With the dropshipping business model, merchants can operate without retaining inventory by having an online store function as a mediator between them and buyers.
You need an e-commerce platform designed specifically for dropshipping businesses to run a profitable procedure. Shopify and WooCommerce are two excellent platforms for dropshipping. Let’s know which is superior, nonetheless.
WooCommerce
WooCommerce’s ease of installation and integration with extensions makes it a popular platform for dropshipping. You may find a plethora of dropshipping extensions on the WordPress repository as well as third-party extensions by Googling “WooCommerce dropshipping extensions.”
Top WooCommerce plugins from third parties include:
- AliDropship
- DropshipMe
- YouDroop
- WooDropship
WooCommerce is highly customizable due to its wide range of plugins and themes.
Shopify
Shopify is a great dropshipping platform as well, with a range of add-ons and extensions to help you optimize your store. Among the top Shopify dropshipping accessories are:
- Spocket
- Ali Orders AliExpress Dropship
- CJDropshipping
- MIIUT – Unlimited Dropshipping
Furthermore, Shopify has integrations with other dropshipping marketplaces like Printify, Oberlo, and AliExpress.
Winner
Shopify and WooCommerce are both preferred choices for managing a dropshipping company. Nonetheless, WooCommerce has a small advantage because of its extensive options for customization, numerous plugins, and ease of use. Although Shopify provides some customization possibilities as well, they can be more constrained.
7. Payment Options and Transaction Fees
You must have more payment options for your clients when you sell online. You have access to more than 100 payment gateway options with both WooCommerce and Shopify. These can be introduced through integrations or are built-in. The principal ones are:
- Stripe
- Debit and credit cards
- PayPal
- Square
- Apple Pay
Transaction costs vary throughout payment gateways, as you are undoubtedly already aware. Make sure you review this factor thoroughly before making a decision.
WooCommerce
WooCommerce has a significant advantage over Shopify in that it doesn’t charge transaction fees when using a third-party payment gateway (i.e., not WooCommerce Payments).
Bank charges from payment processors (such as PayPal) will still be applied while using WooCommerce. WooCommerce makes more sense if you want to expand your site and sell many products. It also allows you to keep control of your existing merchant account instead of opening a new one.
Shopify
Shopify charges 2% for any transaction made through a third-party gateway. Upgrade to a more expensive Shopify plan to lessen this, or use Shopify Payments, the company’s solution, to do away with them entirely.
Additionally, Shopify offers POS systems, so you can decide whether to accept payments online or in person. These solutions enable you to expand your business into the real world and are excellent for market stalls or restaurants. It increases the potential for growth because it’s not entirely impossible for your store to use Shopify and open a brick-and-mortar store as its next big upgrade.
Winner
WooCommerce wins in this case because, in contrast to the majority of other e-commerce platforms, it does not charge transaction fees. You will have to spend more on Shopify unless you use Shopify Payments, which gives WooCommerce the advantage and makes it the better choice for stores that sell large numbers of products.
8. SEO Optimization
To get clients to your online storefront, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is essential. Making ensuring, your store shows up well in Google search results is all that’s required. You want customers to find you when they search for terms associated with your product.
It’s difficult to decide between WooCommerce vs Shopify in terms of SEO. These are reliable e-commerce platforms that will assist you in ensuring that the appropriate customers are seeing your stuff.
WooCommerce
Built with SEO-optimized code, WooCommerce is integrated with WordPress and offers an outstanding choice of SEO plugins. You may go in-depth and provide your site’s comprehensive meta descriptions and titles to let Google know what they’re about.
Customizing your URLs to make it simpler for search engine users to find your pages and the fantastic SEO prompts and suggestions that you can utilize while constructing are some of our favorite SEO features.
Shopify and WooCommerce offer connectors and tools to enhance your store. Yoast, the SEO plugin for WordPress, is incredibly easy to use and provides excellent assistance — it’s like having your SEO consultant! Moreover, WooCommerce has a broader selection of SEO plugins than Shopify.
Shopify
On the other hand, Shopify’s App Store offers offer a variety of SEO plugins. The free SEO Booster, which evaluates your store and suggests repairs for issues that could be degrading performance, is something we like.
Additionally, Shopify makes it simple to include fundamental SEO data in your store. For your sites, items, and photographs, you may add titles and descriptions.
Winner
Shopify and WooCommerce both have top-notch SEO features. WooCommerce provides helpful SEO prompts and guides in addition to a vast selection of top-notch SEO plugins. Although Shopify doesn’t offer as many SEO apps, its keyword helps and prompts are outstanding.
9. Plugins and Integrations
It is possible to add more strings to your e-commerce bow by installing apps or plugins. You may install apps on both platforms to expand the functionality of your business in all areas, such as marketing, SEO, and shipping. But which one offers a better option for apps?
WooCommerce
WooCommerce is an open-source platform that is primarily dependent on plugins. With more than 58,000 options, you can create your website without facing many restrictions. WooCommerce is the provider for you if you are a business owner who enjoys having control over their store and finds it challenging to accomplish your goals with other site builders.
Shopify
Shopify performs well here as well; it receives a flawless 5 out of 5 for applications and provides all the necessities without requiring you to know how to code to install them on your website. However, Shopify only has more than 1,200 premium and free apps in comparison to WooCommerce.
Winner
Since WooCommerce is an open-source software, most of its functionality is provided via plugins. Since WooCommerce features also a plugin, it should come as no surprise that it does well in this particular niche.
10. Help and Support
Remember that we’re contrasting WooCommerce powered by Bluehost with Shopify, which makes the decision between the two platforms quite tricky.
WooCommerce
You have access to Bluehost’s customer assistance when you use it to power your WooCommerce store. This contains a sizable knowledge base brimming with helpful material, as well as round-the-clock phone and live chat service. Using Bluehost’s assistance and support is still recommended, even if you are an expert with web builders or content management systems (CMSs). In this year’s testing, Bluehost received an assistance and support score of 3.5 out of 5.
You may read a variety of setup manuals and open tickets for general support through WooCommerce directly, which will assist you in creating the ideal store from the start.
Shopify
Shopify offers live chat, email, social media, phone, and advanced professional assistance around the clock. Shopify can’t do enough for you when you add a community forum, a setup wizard, and a library of useful tutorials. In reality, our research on customer care gives Shopify a score of 3.9 out of 5.
A significant drawback of Shopify’s assistance and support is its inadequate restoration options. Additionally, while you’re creating your website, you can’t find answers directly in your dashboard because there isn’t any in-editor help. If you want to move or upgrade as soon as possible, this can be annoying, but the new Shopify Sidekick can take care of any of your in-editor questions. If you want to hire the best Shopify developer, you can get in touch with us now!
Winner
However, Bluehost gives exceptional round-the-clock assistance and a wealth of valuable tips for WooCommerce. Shopify goes above and beyond to offer top-notch service, including highly skilled specialized support.
11. Security
Any website should prioritize high-level security. It’s crucial for online retailers, in particular, as you handle both the personal data and the money of your clients. Customers who are switching domains will demand the same level of protection; therefore, you shouldn’t cut corners in this area.
WooCommerce
WooCommerce is self-hosted and integrates with WordPress. Although WooCommerce does offer some security, you are primarily responsible for choosing the appropriate tools to install and secure your website. So, you or your hosting company will need to take care of any security.
Shopify
Shopify takes care of security and is responsible for resolving security breaches and ensuring that your website is safe from hackers because it is a hosted e-commerce platform. Although it lacks member sections, your customers’ logins are exceptionally well protected with passwords.
Winner
It’s essential that you regularly update your plugins, themes, and software when using WooCommerce. Because security problems may arise if your website is not updated, those who utilize Shopify, on the other hand, don’t have to worry because it maintains updates for you.
Because Shopify is a hosted platform, security is managed on your behalf. Shopify is PCI-DSS compliant and includes an SSL certificate. But with WooCommerce, you’ll have to arrange PCI-DSS compliance and obtain SSL on your own.
Woocommerce Vs. Shopify – Pros and Cons
Now that you have an in-detail analysis of your favorite CMS Platforms, it’s time to know about the advantages and disadvantages of both. You’ll find it easy to determine which platform is best for you after going over them.
Keep in mind that there are advantages and disadvantages to both of these platforms. It’s your responsibility as a store owner to select an option based on your work style, business strategy, the state of the market, etc.
WooCommerce Pros and Cons
· Pros
Open Source: The platform behind WooCommerce is open-source. Technically skilled people can customize anything they want. Additionally, the plugin’s producers release updates to it regularly.
Cost-effective: Since the plugin is free for WordPress, there aren’t many upfront expenses. All you need to do to get started is get a domain name and reliable WooCommerce plan hosting. Since WooCommerce and WordPress are both free to use.
WordPress Integration and Plugins: Users can get access to WordPress’ robust content management system since WooCommerce is a plugin for WordPress. Additionally, there is a vast library of WooCommerce-compatible plugins covering a variety of areas, including payment gateways, security, backups, and SEO.
Customizable: You can build a highly customized online store if you have access to the code and a large developer community. However, you might require some technical help with it.
Scalability: WooCommerce can manage big stores and heavy traffic when the proper hosting environment and setup are in place. Thus, opening big stores on the platform is not an issue.
SEO Advantage: Online stores may benefit from an advantage in search engine results because of WordPress’s integration, which is renowned for its SEO capabilities. Plugins like Yoast and All-in-one SEO are installable.
· Cons
Possible Compatibility Problems: It can be challenging to maintain plugin updates in sync with the website. On the other hand, your store updates automatically when you use self-updating tools like SafeUpdates by Cloudways. It even rejects updates from specific plugins if they might interfere with the store. Therefore, there is no need to worry about this matter.
Maintenance: Updating, backing up, and maintaining security are all your responsibility when you host your content.
Requires Technical Knowledge: You’ll need to have some tech knowledge if you want a highly customized store. Hiring technical support will allow you to get over this obstacle.
Lack of Customer Support: Users are not provided with any support by WooCommerce. Nonetheless, you can get assistance from a large community of WooCommerce users.
Shopify Pros and Cons
Pros
Easy-to-use Interface: Shopify provides a clean dashboard. Setting up and running an e-commerce store is simple for users. Even though Shopify can be limited in several ways, its setup simplicity is unquestionably noteworthy.
Integrated Payment Gateway: Although it also accepts other payment gateways, Shopify Payments enables businesses to accept credit cards directly without the need for third-party accounts. For merchants who wish to conduct business without worrying too much about payment gateway integrations, this can be an approachable alternative.
A Good Collection of Themes and Templates: Shopify offers editable templates that are suitable for various business needs.
24/7 Customer Care: Shopify offers phone, chat, and email services that are available 24-seven. This implies that assistance is accessible in case you ever get stuck.
· Cons
Transaction Costs: The platform charges additional transaction costs if you choose not to use Shopify Payments. Large-based retailers may find this particularly challenging as they would prefer not to incur significant transaction costs.
Limitations On Customization: To make more complex changes, users may need to hire a developer or become familiar with Shopify’s templating language, Liquid.
Cost: Taking into account the monthly Shopify cost, transaction fees, and any paid applications or themes, Shopify may be an expensive platform to utilize. Additionally, particular customizations might require the services of a developer, which would require additional fees.
Platform Lock-in: Switching from Shopify to another platform might be difficult, mainly if you’ve made extensive use of Shopify-only features or apps.
Which Platform Is Better for Your Online Business?
We hope that through this in-depth investigation, we have provided you with in-depth knowledge about which platform can be better for your needs. Undoubtedly, Shopify wins in most cases, as it has an extensive feature set, security measures, and a user-friendly, coding-free store design interface!
WooCommerce is less expensive, but you’ll have to do a lot of the work yourself to set up WordPress and create your store, including choosing a hosting company, configuring security, and designing the layout of your site with some tech knowledge.
However, it’s worthwhile to take advantage of a free trial of both first so you can choose which platform best suits your needs. Once you decide, get in touch with Codment – a top-notch e-commerce web development company that offers the best tech solutions. Take a step towards your digital growth now–we are just a click away from assistance!
