If you’ve been going back and forth between Shopify and WordPress for your new online store, you’re not alone – it’s the first big decision almost every business owner gets stuck on, and honestly, most of the advice out there is written to sell you one or the other rather than help you actually decide.
I build both. So I don’t have a horse in this race – I just want you to end up with the store that fits your business, not the one with the loudest marketing budget. Here’s the honest, plain-English breakdown of Shopify versus WordPress (using the WooCommerce plugin), covering cost, ownership, ease of use, and everything in between.
The Short Version
Shopify is an all-in-one platform – you pay a monthly fee and everything (hosting, security, updates) is handled for you. It’s simpler to get started with and there’s less for you to manage.
WordPress + WooCommerce is a free plugin added to a WordPress website you own. It costs more upfront to build properly and needs ongoing care, but you own every part of it outright, and it can grow into pretty much anything you need.
Neither one is “better” in general – they’re better for different situations. Let’s get into the details.
Cost: Upfront and Ongoing
This is where most of the confusion comes from, because both platforms have costs that aren’t always obvious on the surface.
| Shopify | WordPress + WooCommerce | |
|---|---|---|
| Professionally built store | From $1,800 AUD | From $3,999 AUD |
| Monthly platform fee | ~$32-$105+/month (Shopify plan) | $0 – you’re not renting the platform |
| Hosting & security | Included in the monthly fee | Separate, e.g. Care Plan from $110/month |
| Transaction fees | Extra fee unless using Shopify Payments | None from the platform itself – just your payment processor’s normal rate |
| Apps/plugins for extra features | Many charge their own monthly fee | Huge free plugin library, though some premium ones do cost extra |
The honest takeaway: Shopify tends to look cheaper to start, but you’re renting the platform forever, and the “little” app fees add up fast once you need reviews, upsells, subscriptions, or better email marketing. WordPress costs more to build properly upfront, but once it’s built, you’re not paying a platform tax on top of your hosting – just hosting and care, however you choose to manage that.
Ownership: Who Actually Owns Your Store?
This is the one most business owners don’t think about until it’s too late. With Shopify, your store lives on Shopify’s platform. If they change their pricing, their policies, or – worst case – suspend your account for a reason you disagree with, you have very limited recourse. You’re a tenant, not an owner.
With WordPress, the website, the code, the content, and your customer data all belong to you. You could move hosting providers tomorrow if you wanted to, take your files with you, and nothing changes for your customers. It’s your business asset, not a service you’re leasing.
I talk to a lot of local business owners who’ve built their whole presence on a rented platform – whether that’s a website builder or purely social media – without realising they don’t actually own any of it. It’s worth thinking about the same way with your online store.
Ease of Use: Getting Started and Day-to-Day Running
Shopify wins here, plain and simple, if you want to log in and manage products yourself with the smallest learning curve. The dashboard is built specifically for selling, it’s intuitive, and Shopify’s own support team can help you directly.
WordPress with WooCommerce has a steeper learning curve out of the box, but once your site is set up properly (which is where I come in), day-to-day product management – adding items, updating stock, processing orders – is genuinely not much harder. The bigger difference is in the setup and maintenance stage, not the daily running of it.
Flexibility and Growth
This is where WordPress pulls ahead for most growing businesses. Because WooCommerce is a plugin on an open platform, you can add almost any feature imaginable – custom booking systems, wholesale pricing tiers, membership areas, unique checkout flows, deep integrations with your other business tools – without being boxed in by what one company decides to offer.
Shopify is flexible within its own ecosystem, but if you want something outside of what Shopify or its app store supports, you’re often stuck, or paying a developer to build a custom (and expensive) workaround.
Other WordPress Store Plugins Worth Knowing About
WooCommerce is the plugin I recommend for the vast majority of stores – it’s the most established, the best supported, and has the widest range of extensions. But it’s not the only option, and it’s worth knowing what else exists:
- Easy Digital Downloads – purpose-built for selling digital products like ebooks, courses, and software licences. If you’re only ever selling downloadable products, it’s a lighter, more tailored option than WooCommerce.
- BigCommerce for WordPress – combines BigCommerce’s more powerful backend with a WordPress front end. Worth a look if you expect very high order volumes down the track, though it comes with its own monthly platform cost, similar to Shopify.
For most trades, salons, retailers, and service businesses selling physical products, WooCommerce remains the most practical choice – the other two are for more specific situations.
SEO: Getting Found on Google
Both platforms can rank well on Google – I want to bust the myth that one is inherently “better for SEO” than the other. What actually matters is the work put into the site: page speed, content, structure, and technical setup.
That said, WordPress gives you more granular control over technical SEO details – things like URL structure, schema markup, and page-level optimisation – which matters more once you’re competing seriously for local or industry search terms. Shopify has improved a lot here, but some technical SEO elements are more locked down than on WordPress.
Payments and Checkout
Shopify has payments built in from day one (Shopify Payments, or various gateways). WooCommerce needs a payment gateway plugin connected – commonly Stripe or similar – but this is a standard, well-supported part of any WooCommerce build and isn’t a real barrier.
So Which One Should You Choose?
Rather than telling you which is “best,” here’s the honest, decision-framework version:
Shopify might suit you if…
- You want the fastest, simplest way to start selling
- You’d rather not think about hosting or technical maintenance at all
- Your product range and business model are fairly standard
- You’re comfortable with an ongoing monthly platform fee
WordPress + WooCommerce might suit you if…
- You want to fully own your website and customer data
- You expect your store to grow into something more custom over time
- You already have (or want) a WordPress site for the rest of your business
- You’d rather pay more upfront and avoid ongoing platform rent
If you’re still not sure after reading all that – that’s completely normal, and exactly what a quick chat is for. I’ll ask a few questions about how you actually plan to run the business day-to-day, and tell you honestly which platform fits, even if that means recommending the option that isn’t the more expensive build for me.
Not sure which store is right for you?
I build both Shopify and WordPress/WooCommerce stores for businesses across Lake Macquarie, Newcastle, the Central Coast and the Hunter Valley – and I’ll always point you toward the one that actually fits, not just the one I’d rather build. Payment plans are available either way.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Shopify or WordPress cheaper in the long run?
It depends on how long you plan to run the store. Shopify’s ongoing monthly fee means costs keep accumulating for as long as the store exists. WordPress costs more to build but has lower ongoing platform costs, so over several years it’s often the cheaper option – though hosting and care plan fees still apply.
Can I switch from Shopify to WordPress later if I start with Shopify?
Yes, though it does involve migrating your products, content, and customer data across, and rebuilding your design. It’s easier to choose the right platform from the start where possible, but switching later is a normal part of many businesses’ growth.
Do I need to know how to code to run a WooCommerce store?
No. Once the store is built and set up properly, day-to-day tasks like adding products, updating stock, and processing orders are done through a straightforward dashboard, the same as you’d expect with Shopify.
Which platform is better for local Australian businesses?
Both work well for Australian businesses. The right choice comes down to your specific business – product range, growth plans, and how much control you want over the technical side – rather than the platform itself.
Kaz Wolter
Full Circle Creative
Bonnells Bay, Lake Macquarie NSW
