Shopify suits an owner who values a hosted storefront and can fund its complete stack; WooCommerce suits an owner who wants WordPress control and assigns hosting, maintenance and recovery. Neither is universally cheaper.
Choose Shopify when you want a hosted store and fewer infrastructure decisions. Choose WooCommerce when you want to build on WordPress and can assign responsibility for the operating stack. The cheapest subscription is not automatically the cheapest functioning store. Payment methods, extensions and maintenance can change the result.
This researched comparison uses official documentation checked on 8 October 2026. Our cost worksheet is editorial analysis, not a benchmark from stores we operated. Start with the same shop: the same products, people, shipping destinations and essential features.
Which route fits your situation?
| Your priority | First route to investigate | Check before choosing |
|---|---|---|
| A hosted storefront with one platform relationship | Shopify | Complete subscription, payment and app budget |
| A store closely integrated with an existing WordPress site | WooCommerce | Extension compatibility, hosting and recovery ownership |
| No one can maintain a WordPress stack | Shopify or a managed service with explicit scope | Who handles data recovery and third-party apps |
| A page showing products, without online checkout | An ordinary website first | Whether a full store is necessary at all |
A fictional solo craft seller and a wholesaler needing several staff logins are different purchases. Write down the job before comparing tiers. A paid store platform can be premature when you have not decided what you sell or how orders will be fulfilled.
US and Portugal prices are separate references
| Plan | USD monthly billing | USD monthly equivalent on annual term | Calculated 12-month commitment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | US$39 | US$29 | 12 × US$29 = US$348 |
| Grow | US$105 | US$79 | 12 × US$79 = US$948 |
| Advanced | US$399 | US$299 | 12 × US$299 = US$3,588 |
These observations match our maintained price catalog and the official US and Portugal pages. Taxes, exact first promotional invoice and future renewal remain unconfirmed. Portugal does not establish a rate for every European country. Verify the quote for your real business and billing address.
WooCommerce core has no software subscription charge. That is a software price, not a zero-cost hosted store. An optional recurring-payments extension is also a different product from the free core. Obtain your actual host, domain, extension and processor quotes before declaring a winner.
Build a cost worksheet that leaves unknowns visible
| Budget line | Shopify route | WooCommerce route |
|---|---|---|
| Base subscription or software | Selected regional plan | Core software: free |
| Public hosting | Included with the store plan | Your compatible hosting quote |
| Domain and business email | Record each purchase and renewal | Record each purchase and renewal |
| Required paid features | Apps and any paid theme | Extensions and any paid theme |
| Payments | Processor fees plus applicable platform transaction fees | Chosen processor and any required gateway extension |
| Recovery and maintenance | Required export/backup service and app administration | Updates, backups, restore testing and support |
| Unconfirmed items | Keep a separate open-questions subtotal | Keep a separate open-questions subtotal |
For a transparent hypothetical workload, write down 100 paid orders per month at an average USD 40: USD 4,000 of monthly order value before any adjustments. With a quoted processor rate r and fixed charge f, the simplified processing estimate is USD 4,000 × r + 100 × f. Those are inputs, not supplier rates. Refunds, cross-border charges, taxes, shipping and the actual fee base need separate treatment.
Add the annual fixed charges to twelve comparable monthly processing estimates. Keep one-time setup apart from recurring costs and value maintenance time using your own assumption. If a required app has no quote, the total remains incomplete; treating it as zero only hides the decision.
Processing and platform transaction fees are different
Shopify documents additional transaction fees for applicable third-party payments. Its calculation includes products after discounts, tax and shipping. These fees are separate from the processor’s charge. Shopify Payments has specified exemptions, but gift-card and store-credit conditions can depend on when the store was created. Do not reduce this to “all payments are free” or “every order has two fees.” Confirm the methods you will actually accept.
Decide who owns the work
| Task | Shopify question | WooCommerce question |
|---|---|---|
| Infrastructure | What does the hosted plan cover? | What does the host manage, and what remains yours? |
| Apps and extensions | Who checks permissions, billing and changed behavior? | Who tests compatible updates before live changes? |
| Recovery | Which data can you restore, and through what tool? | Which files and tables are backed up, and how are new orders protected? |
| Exit | What exports require rebuilding or another tool? | Can you restore the full stack on compatible infrastructure? |
Shopify’s export documentation describes limitations, including that ordinary admin import does not restore orders from CSV. WooCommerce recovery needs files and the database; a content-only export is insufficient. Hosted infrastructure does not remove the need to understand recovery.
Choose the smallest suitable commitment
Compare one representative product, shipping rule, payment method and refund workflow before committing. These are suggested checks, not tests we performed. Choose Shopify if its complete hosted workflow fits; choose WooCommerce if WordPress control is valuable and the work has an owner. Read builder versus WordPress and our restore checklist, then inspect the company guides below for current scope and limits.
Costs alongside this guide
WooCommerce core has no software subscription fee; a functioning store still needs hosting, domain, maintenance, recovery and any required extensions. Do not compare a hosted Shopify subscription with a zero-cost complete WooCommerce store.
A hosted Shopify starting point
Basic is a solo-store starting point, not a complete store budget or a plan for additional staff accounts. Prices use the published USD reference. Check payments, domain, email, apps and recovery separately.
USD · US / global observations
Shopify
Shopify · Basic — annual
- Initial term & commitment
- Listed rateUS$29.00per month equivalent; annual billing12-month commitment · First invoice: check quote
- Renewal
Check local tax at checkout
Price observed 2026-10-08 · Recheck due
Plan details & sources
A solo store owner who does not need additional staff accounts.
0 additional staff accounts; unlimited products; hosted storefront and SSL. Paid apps, themes, domain registration and payment processing are separate costs.
Choose another option if: You need only an information page, or cannot sustain the full store budget.
United States USD public pricing reference · Check local tax at checkout
Exact first invoice unconfirmed; the standard annual commitment is calculated separately from any introductory promotion.
Renewal: Future renewal amount and invoice term not confirmed.
Check local tax at checkout
Prices checked 2026-10-08 · recheck dueOfficial price source ↗- Domain: Not included. Domain registration separate
- Hosting & SSL: Included. Hosted storefront & SSL
- Email: Not included. Business mailboxes require a separate email host
- Online payments: Included. Store included; payment fees separate
- Domain, Hosting & SSL, Online payments ↗Features checked 2026-10-08
- Email ↗Features checked 2026-10-08
Observed 2026-10-08 · Recheck due
Official price evidence ↗Recorded prices can change. Check eligibility, taxes and the current full bill with the provider. Different currencies and services are shown separately.
Sources and verification
Editorial review 2026-10-08. Source check dates are recorded separately. Notes describe what each source supports and its limits.
View sources
- Shopify US pricingChecked US Basic, Grow and Advanced subscription rates, annual terms, staff limits and included hosting/SSL.
Limits: Public standard references, not a verified initial checkout or guaranteed renewal. Tax and store eligibility are unknown. - Shopify official USD standard plan referencesChecked Basic USD39 monthly or29/month equivalent annually; Grow105 or79; Advanced399 or299. Annual calculated subtotals are USD348,948 and3588 respectively.
Limits: Annual subtotals are calculations, not observed checkout invoices. Promotions, purchaser-specific tax, eligibility and future renewal amounts remain unconfirmed. - WooCommerce pricingChecked WooCommerce core is free software; hosting, optional extensions and processing are separate operating decisions.
Limits: Vendor cost estimates are not this store's invoice or an independent comparison. - Shopify third-party transaction feesChecked Additional transaction fees differ from processor fees, include specific payment-method conditions, and use a defined calculation base.
Limits: Eligibility depends on store, country, gateway, plan and payment method; no live transaction or refund tested. - Shopify backups and duplicationChecked CSV exports and theme copies have limitations; a store export is not an automatic complete restore.
Limits: No export, app restore or migration was performed. - WooCommerce WordPress backup guidanceChecked Store files and database both matter; backup and recovery capabilities depend on the chosen service.
Limits: Documentation does not prove every host or backup plugin preserves current orders during restore.