The Question Everyone Gets Wrong

"Should I use Shopify or WooCommerce?" is usually the wrong question. The right question is: what does your business actually need in the next 18 months?

I've migrated stores from WooCommerce to Shopify, from Shopify to WooCommerce, and built fresh on both. Here's the honest breakdown.

Where Shopify Wins

Speed to revenue

A properly configured Shopify store can be live and taking payments in a day. WooCommerce requires hosting setup, plugin configuration, payment gateway integration, and security hardening before you sell a single product.

For a client launching a new product line with a hard deadline, Shopify is almost always the right call.

Reliability at scale

Shopify handles hosting, CDN, PCI compliance, and uptime. During Black Friday 2024, my WooCommerce clients were sweating server load — my Shopify clients weren't thinking about infrastructure at all.

Checkout conversion

Shopify's native checkout converts at roughly 15–36% (their published data). It's battle-tested, fast, and supports Shop Pay, which has a documented 50% higher checkout conversion for returning customers.

{% comment %} Shopify's one-page checkout — you get this for free {% endcomment %}
{% render 'checkout-button', product: product %}

The ecosystem

3,000+ apps. Most business problems have a $20/month Shopify app solution. The cost adds up, but so does developer time.

Where WooCommerce Wins

Total ownership and flexibility

You own your data, your code, your server. No platform can change their pricing model, remove a feature, or shut down your store. For some businesses, this matters enormously.

Complex custom logic

Need a quote system where pricing depends on 12 variables, integrates with a proprietary ERP, and sends PDFs to a custom workflow? WooCommerce with custom plugins handles this. Shopify's checkout customisation (even with Checkout Extensions) has real limits.

Cost at volume

Shopify takes 0.5–2% of every transaction unless you use Shopify Payments (which isn't available everywhere). On $500k+ annual revenue, those basis points add up to serious money. WooCommerce payment processing fees go directly to your processor.

Content-heavy stores

If you're running a store where editorial content is as important as the product catalogue, WordPress + WooCommerce gives you a proper CMS. Shopify's blog is an afterthought.

The Migration Reality

I've migrated stores in both directions. The honest truth:

WooCommerce → Shopify is generally cleaner. Products, customers, and orders migrate well. The pain points are custom shipping logic and anything that relied on bespoke WordPress plugins.

Shopify → WooCommerce is harder than people expect. Shopify's export format is inconsistent, metafields are a mess to migrate, and you're now responsible for everything Shopify was handling silently.

My Decision Framework

| Situation | Recommendation | |-----------|---------------| | New store, non-technical founder | Shopify | | < $50k/year revenue | Shopify | | $50k–$500k/year revenue | Either — evaluate custom needs | | > $500k/year, custom checkout logic | WooCommerce or Shopify Plus | | Strong content + commerce mix | WooCommerce | | International, multi-currency | Shopify Markets | | Existing WordPress site | WooCommerce (avoid the migration) |

The Line I Always Give Clients

Shopify rents you a world-class shop on a perfect street. WooCommerce sells you the land to build whatever you want. Neither is wrong — it depends whether you want to run a business or build a platform.

Most early-stage businesses should rent. Most established businesses with specific needs should own.

If you're not sure which applies to you, let's talk through it.