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Starting an eCommerce business remains an evergreen way to make money online, there are now many platforms that will make it easy to start and build a profitable eCommerce brand and the two that stands out are woocommerce and Shopify. This article will compare woocommerce vs Shopify to help you decide which platform is the best for your eCommerce business
Woocommerce vs Shopify: A Brief Overview
Shopify is an all-in-one software that you can use to build a customized online store, add your products,integrate payment gateway and handle shipping. It works out of the box with little effort required from you and it’s suitable for complete beginners
Woocommerce on the other hand is an open-source solution which is built on top of WordPress, that enables business owners to setup and run an online store.
Woocommerce vs Shopify: How they compare
When we talk about some of the more impactful differences between Shopify and WooCommerce we have to mention the price. While Shopify offers plans starting from $24.00 per month, WooCommerce is free, but you need to buy your own domain and hosting.
These are the bullet points of the Shopify vs WooCommerce showdown, so keep an eye out for your favorite features:
| SHOPIFY | WOOCOMMERCE |
|---|---|
| Offers three different plans for its users, starting at $24.00 per month. | Completely free, although you will need to purchase your own hosting. |
| Comes with a free myshopify.com subdomain for all plans. | Doesn’t include a free domain – you need to buy your own. |
| Enables you to add unlimited products to your store. | Also supports an unlimited number of products. |
| Charges you specific fees for all your payments. | Payment fees depend on which payment processors you decide to add. |
| The platform offers its own app shop – both free and paid – which enables users to extend the functionality of their stores. | Comes with an extension system (basically the same as WordPress plugins) which provides additional functionality to your store. Extensions come in both free and premium varieties. |
| 24/7 support. | The developers behind WooCommerce offer support through a help desk for their users, as well as extensive documentation for the software. |
| Dozens of premium themes are available to customize the look and feel of your site. | There are dozens of premium and free themes for WooCommerce. |
| Includes a Secure Socket Layer (SSL) certificate alongside all its plans. | Includes SSL support (as long as you’ve obtained your own certificate). |
| Features its own analytics system, and can also be integrated with Google Analytics. | Can be integrated with Google Analytics using a plugin. |
As mentioned in the table above, using WooCommerce requires you to buy your own web hosting. Although this might seem intimidating at first, it’s actually not that difficult of a task to handle.
Just to point you in the right direction, a while ago, we compared the top hosting providers in the e-commerce space – the best hosts for all kinds of e-commerce sites. Long story short, if you’re looking for an affordable solution that will be able to handle your WooCommerce setup, check out SiteGround – they will give you a suitable hosting plan for $3.95 / month. (They’ll also handle setting up the site for you, but that’s another story.)
Want to learn more? See our comparison of Alidropship vs Shopify
Alternatives Worth Considering
Magento
Currently used by nearly 200,000 websites on the planets, Magento is an ecommerce website platform owned by Adobe that specializes in ecommerce websites. Magento users have access to hundreds of unique features that help them connect with their customers and sell their products.
Plans and Pricing?
Shopify offers three pricing plans including, Basic $32/month, Shopify $92/month and Advanced $399/month.
There is also a custom plan which is called Shopify plus, this is an all-in-one solution for high volume businesses and pricing start at $2,000
There’s 3 days free trial with an option to get extra months paying just $1 each on selected plans
WooCommerce, on the other hand, costs nothing upfront, but you need to set up hosting on your own. Hosting costs may vary depending on the scale of your store but generally speaking, a modest operation should run you less than Shopify’s basic plan.
WooCommerce extensions tend to cost more upfront than their Shopify counterparts, but they’re usually sold as one-time licenses rather than month to month subscriptions (as is the case with Shopify).
Woocommerce vs Shopify: Which one is right for you?
We’ve made it to the end of the Shopify vs WooCommerce brawl, and now it’s time to determine which platform is best for you.
It’s perfectly normal to feel intimidated by the choice of which e-commerce platform to pick. Running an online store is a massive undertaking, and choosing the wrong one could potentially cripple your operation right from its inception.
Both Shopify and WooCommerce are great platforms on their own right – although each has its own set of pros and cons. As long as you go with whichever one suits your needs the best, you’ll have made the right decision.
???? Shopify is the way to go for users who don’t want to deal with a complicated setup process and need premium support. The service guarantees a smooth ride at the expense of a monthly subscription.
???? WooCommerce can go blow-for-blow with Shopify and come out on top due to its inherent flexibility. However, its setup process is a bit more complicated and will require you to get your hands dirty. It’s perfect for those of you who have an affinity for open-source software and want to customize every aspect of your experience.
If you are determined to go with WooCommerce as your e-commerce solution, you can still make the setup process easier on yourself. For instance, web hosting companies such as Bluehost offer one-click installations of WordPress and WooCommerce. What this means is that all the heavy-lifting is done for you, and you just walk in to a working site that’s ready for your products. You can get started with Bluehost for $2.75 / month.
For which platform are you rooting when it comes to Shopify vs WooCommerce? Tell us why in the comments section below!
