Shopify vs WooCommerce: Fixed Costs, Fees and Who Fits (2026)
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In this article
Shopify vs WooCommerce comes down to who runs the store. Shopify is a hosted platform billed as a plan, with hosting included. WooCommerce is a free WordPress plugin that you host and maintain yourself. Cost depends on store size, so this page works through three hypothetical stores with the arithmetic shown (US prices, as of October 2026).
Quick verdict
Choose Shopify if you want hosting and an SSL certificate inside one plan price. Shopify’s pricing page says hosting and a free SSL certificate are included (US, checked October 2026).
Skip it if you want to pick your own host and payment gateway. Shopify charges 2%, 1% or 0.6% on top when you use a third-party payment provider (Basic, Grow, Advanced).
Choose WooCommerce if you already run WordPress or want control over hosting. The core plugin is free to download, and WooPayments lists no monthly fee (woocommerce.com, checked October 2026).
Skip it if you do not want to apply updates yourself. WooCommerce’s update guide puts updates and backups on the store owner.
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Key takeaways
- Shopify US plans, as of October 2026: Basic $25 a month or $19 a month billed yearly, Grow $65 or $49, Advanced $399 or $299.
- WooCommerce core is free to download. You pay for the parts around it: a host, a domain and any paid extensions.
- WooPayments lists 2.90% + $0.30 for a US card payment. Shopify’s US pricing page shows no online card rate, so that line is left blank here.
- On the fixed yearly line alone, the example WooCommerce host costs less than each Shopify plan used below. That line is not the full cost.
- Updates and backups are the store owner’s job on WooCommerce, per its update guide. Shopify’s pricing page says it helps keep the site secure automatically.
How we compared Shopify and WooCommerce
This comparison uses public pages only: Shopify’s pricing page and Help Center, WooCommerce’s site, documentation and fee pages, the WordPress.org plugin page, and one hosting price page. We did not open accounts, and we did not build a store on either platform. All prices are in dollars. Shopify and Hostinger figures are US dollars from US pages; the WooCommerce marketplace page shows only a $ sign. Shopify and WooPayments prices and rates differ by country; these are the US figures, so check your own country page before you decide.
- Plan and hosting cost (Shopify pricing page, one hosting price page)
- Card processing (WooPayments fee page; Shopify pricing page)
- Setup and maintenance (WooCommerce docs, Shopify Help Center)
- Themes and extensions (WooCommerce marketplace, Shopify Theme Store)
Not checked: Shopify’s online card rate (not shown on its pricing page), domain prices, developer time, and speed or ease of use. No public page measures ease of use, so this post does not score it.
Checked: October 22, 2026.
What is the difference between Shopify and WooCommerce?
Shopify is a hosted platform you rent as a plan. WooCommerce is a plugin that runs on your own WordPress site. Because WooCommerce sits on WordPress, the content-management side of the choice is covered in our Shopify vs WordPress comparison.
| Aspect | Shopify | WooCommerce | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who hosts | Hosting is included with the plan | You choose any host; woocommerce.com lists recommended hosts | Shopify pricing page FAQ; woocommerce.com home and hosting pages |
| How it is billed | A plan, monthly or billed yearly | Core plugin is free; paid extensions are sold separately | Shopify pricing page; WooCommerce install guide |
| Payments | Shopify’s own payment provider; a fee of 2%, 1% or 0.6% applies with third-party providers (Basic, Grow, Advanced) | WooPayments, or other gateways from the marketplace | Shopify Help Center and pricing page; woocommerce.com |
| Updates | Pricing page says Shopify helps keep the site secure automatically | Store owner updates WooCommerce from the WordPress admin and makes a backup first | Shopify pricing page FAQ; WooCommerce update guide |
| Themes and extensions | Shopify Theme Store and App Store, free and paid | WordPress.org plus the woocommerce.com marketplace, free and paid | Shopify Help Center; woocommerce.com products page |
The WordPress.org plugin page calls the WooCommerce core platform free and says the plugin “offers additional paid commercial upgrades or support.” The WooCommerce install guide points to recommended hosting providers if you need a new host.
How much does Shopify cost compared with WooCommerce each year?
On the fixed yearly line the example WooCommerce host is $24.12 to $3,276.12 lower than the Shopify plan in the three profiles below. A full total needs Shopify’s online card rate, which its US pricing page does not show. The profiles are hypothetical. Each shows its inputs, the formula and the result. For Shopify, see also our guide to Shopify plan prices explained.
Which prices and rates are used?
- Shopify plan, yearly billing (US pricing page): Basic $19, Grow $49 and Advanced $299 a month.
- Shopify fee on third-party payment providers (same page): 2% on Basic, 1% on Grow, 0.6% on Advanced.
- Shopify online card rate: not shown on the pricing page when checked, so it is left blank. Our Shopify Payments vs Stripe post covers the payment side in more detail.
- WooCommerce software: free to download (woocommerce.com), so $0.
- WooCommerce hosting, one example only and not a recommendation: Hostinger’s WooCommerce hosting page lists Unlimited renewing at $16.99 a month and Cloud Startup at $25.99 a month. It also lists lower 48-month promotional prices billed up front. The renewal rate is used here. Year one for a new customer can be lower than this.
- WooPayments for a US card: 2.90% + $0.30 per payment, no monthly fee (woocommerce.com fee page). The same table lists +1.50% for international cards and +1.00% for currency conversion; the profiles use the base fee only.
Left out of every total: domain, themes, apps and extensions, developer time, taxes, and the fees of other payment gateways. A paid WooCommerce extension can add to the bill. For example, woocommerce.com lists WooCommerce Subscriptions at $279 for a 1-year plan.
Profile A: small store (hypothetical)
Inputs: $2,000 in sales a month, $50 average order. That is $2,000 / $50 = 40 orders a month, 480 orders and $24,000 in sales over 12 months. Shopify Basic (see our Shopify Basic plan review) against the Unlimited hosting example.
| Line | Shopify | WooCommerce |
|---|---|---|
| Plan or software | Basic: 12 x $19 = $228 | Core plugin: $0 |
| Hosting | Included in the plan | Example host: 12 x $16.99 = $203.88 |
| Fixed yearly line | $228 | $0 + $203.88 = $203.88 |
| Card processing on $24,000 and 480 orders | Blank, not $0: rate not shown on the pricing page | WooPayments: 2.90% x $24,000 + $0.30 x 480 = $696 + $144 = $840 |
| If a third-party provider is used instead | Shopify fee: 2% x $24,000 = $480, plus that provider’s own fees | Not applicable |
Profile B: mid-size store (hypothetical)
Inputs: $15,000 in sales a month, $75 average order. That is $15,000 / $75 = 200 orders a month, 2,400 orders and $180,000 in sales over 12 months. Shopify Grow against the Unlimited hosting example.
| Line | Shopify | WooCommerce |
|---|---|---|
| Plan or software | Grow: 12 x $49 = $588 | Core plugin: $0 |
| Hosting | Included in the plan | Example host: 12 x $16.99 = $203.88 |
| Fixed yearly line | $588 | $0 + $203.88 = $203.88 |
| Card processing on $180,000 and 2,400 orders | Blank, not $0: rate not shown on the pricing page | WooPayments: 2.90% x $180,000 + $0.30 x 2,400 = $5,220 + $720 = $5,940 |
| If a third-party provider is used instead | Shopify fee: 1% x $180,000 = $1,800, plus that provider’s own fees | Not applicable |
Profile C: larger store (hypothetical)
Inputs: $60,000 in sales a month, $100 average order. That is $60,000 / $100 = 600 orders a month, 7,200 orders and $720,000 in sales over 12 months. Shopify Advanced against the Cloud Startup hosting example. Whether that host plan carries this traffic is an assumption, not a claim from the host’s page.
| Line | Shopify | WooCommerce |
|---|---|---|
| Plan or software | Advanced: 12 x $299 = $3,588 | Core plugin: $0 |
| Hosting | Included in the plan | Example host: 12 x $25.99 = $311.88 |
| Fixed yearly line | $3,588 | $0 + $311.88 = $311.88 |
| Card processing on $720,000 and 7,200 orders | Blank, not $0: rate not shown on the pricing page | WooPayments: 2.90% x $720,000 + $0.30 x 7,200 = $20,880 + $2,160 = $23,040 |
| If a third-party provider is used instead | Shopify fee: 0.6% x $720,000 = $4,320, plus that provider’s own fees | Not applicable |
Under these inputs, the example host line is $24.12 lower than Shopify Basic in Profile A, $384.12 lower than Grow in B, and $3,276.12 lower than Advanced in C. That is the fixed line only. The rows for domain, extensions, developer time and Shopify’s card rate are blank, so these figures do not give a full yearly total for either platform. Fill the blank rows with your own quotes before you decide.
Card fees are the largest sourced line for WooCommerce in all three profiles ($840, $5,940 and $23,040 against $203.88, $203.88 and $311.88 of hosting), so the fixed-line gap is not the deciding number. A Shopify plan bundles the platform, hosting and its listed features; the host line buys hosting only.
How much work does each platform need?
The WooCommerce documentation lists a host check, a plugin install and updates. Its install guide assumes a WordPress site and a host that meets the server requirements, which include HTTPS support. Shopify’s setup steps list an account and optional billing details.
- WooCommerce: the install guide says to review the server requirements first, and describes installing from the WordPress admin as the simplest route for an existing site.
- WooCommerce updates: the update guide says to apply them from the WordPress admin, make a backup first, and test on a staging site when possible. Third-party extensions and themes are updated by their developers.
- Shopify: the Help Center setup steps are to start a trial, create an account, optionally add billing details, and optionally complete a questionnaire. Hosting and an SSL certificate come with the plan, per the pricing page.
No public page gives hours for either route, so this post does not rank them by effort.
Who should choose Shopify, and who should choose WooCommerce?
Choose Shopify if you want hosting and security handled inside a plan and you plan to stay on its payment provider. Choose WooCommerce if you already run WordPress, want to pick your own host and gateway, and accept the maintenance. The table lists the situations where the pages we read point one way or the other.
| Situation | Fits Shopify because | Fits WooCommerce because |
|---|---|---|
| Do you want hosting inside the bill? | The pricing page says hosting is included, so you do not buy it separately | You choose any host |
| Do you already run a WordPress site? | The Help Center setup steps need only an account, not a WordPress site | The install guide assumes a WordPress site and installs from its admin |
| Who should handle updates? | The pricing page says Shopify helps keep the site secure automatically | The update guide gives updates and backups to the owner |
| Do you want to choose your payment gateway? | Shopify’s own payment provider avoids the third-party fee; other providers carry 2%, 1% or 0.6% on Basic, Grow, Advanced | The home page says “Choose any payments, any features, any host” |
| Where do themes come from? | Theme Store: free themes exist; the priced themes on its home page ran from $150 to $450 | Marketplace: themes listed as free or at $47 and $59 annually |
If most rows point to Shopify for you, check the plan prices and match a plan to your sales. For store designs, see our list of the best Shopify themes.
Compare Shopify plan prices paid link
We earn a commission if you buy through this link.
Weighing more platforms? Read Shopify vs BigCommerce and our other platform comparisons.
Can you move from WooCommerce to Shopify later?
Yes. The Shopify Help Center has a guide, Migrate from WooCommerce, covering products, customers, orders, themes, shipping, taxes, payments and domains. It lists several methods, from manual copying to hiring a Shopify Partner (checked October 22, 2026).
FAQ
Sources
- Shopify pricing page, shopify.com/pricing (US, checked October 22, 2026)
- Shopify Help Center: Shopify overview (checked October 22, 2026)
- Shopify Help Center: initial setup (checked October 22, 2026)
- Shopify Help Center: Migrate from WooCommerce (checked October 22, 2026)
- Shopify Theme Store, themes.shopify.com (US, checked October 22, 2026)
- WooCommerce home page (checked October 22, 2026)
- WooPayments fees, US section (checked October 22, 2026)
- WooPayments overview (checked October 22, 2026)
- WooCommerce documentation: installing WooCommerce (checked October 22, 2026)
- WooCommerce documentation: server requirements (checked October 22, 2026)
- WooCommerce documentation: updating your site (checked October 22, 2026)
- WooCommerce recommended hosts (checked October 22, 2026)
- WooCommerce marketplace and WooCommerce Subscriptions (checked October 22, 2026)
- WooCommerce on WordPress.org (checked October 22, 2026)
- Hostinger WooCommerce hosting page, hostinger.com/woocommerce-hosting (US dollars, checked October 22, 2026; one example, not a recommendation)
