Thinking of starting a clothing, food, or beauty supply store online? Great idea! In this digital age, your best bet is to give your store an online presence.
Become an insider. Subscribe to our newsletter for more top trending stories like this!
With the right eCommerce platform that fits your business needs, you can expect to succeed online. And that’s where Shopify and WooCommerce, the two top eCommerce platforms in the world, come in.
These platforms have their unique pros and cons, and it can be daunting to decide which is the best fit for your business. To make things easier for you, we’ve done some research and have come up with a comprehensive comparison of Shopify vs WooCommerce.
Shopify vs WooCommerce: What’s the difference?
Shopify is an all-in-one eCommerce solution that enables you to easily create your online store, accept payments, and manage your inventory from a single platform. With Shopify, you don’t need to worry about the technical aspects of managing an eCommerce site, such as web hosting, security, caching, etc.
WooCommerce, on the other hand, is an open-source platform that allows you to turn a WordPress website into an e-commerce store using its free plugin. You can easily customize your online store with WooCommerce and add custom extensions.
Setting up a Shopify vs WooCommerce Store
There are a few things to consider before you launch your online store. These key factors will help you decide which platform is better suited for your needs.
Cost and Pricing
- Shopify cost and pricing
As a beginner, Shopify makes it super easy to start your online store with a 14-day trial on their website. Afterward, you can choose any plans on the platform to get started.
If you already have a website and want to up your game by selling on it without creating a new one, Shopify allows you to sell unlimited items on your website with their Starter and Lite plans, which cost $5.00 and $9.00 monthly, respectively.
If you need a brand new website for your online store, there are other plans you can choose from depending on your budget and need. The Basic Shopify plan, which starts at $29 monthly, comes with enough features to set up a new online store. You can add unlimited products, two user accounts, unlimited file storage, and more. You can also upgrade to the Shopify plan for $79 monthly + 2.6% and 30¢ per transaction or the Advanced Shopify plan for $299 monthly + 2.4% and 30¢ per transaction.
Become an insider. Subscribe to our newsletter for more top trending stories like this!
- WooCommerce cost and pricing
While WooCommerce is an open-source platform, running an online store on it is not free. To create a secure and live website, you will still need to pay for hosting, SSL certificates, and plugins.
A domain name typically costs $14.99, an SSL Certificate costs $69.99, and web hosting costs around $7.99 per month. This can burn a hole in your pocket, especially if you’re just getting started, but luckily, several hosting companies offer specialized WooCommerce hosting plans, significantly lowering the cost.
- Payment methods
Several payment options, including “Shopify payments” powered by Stripe, are available during the checkout process for Shopify. You can also use other third payment gateways. However, Shopify charges 2% on every transaction made through a third-party payment gateway and as little as 0.5% when you are a member of the advanced plan.
For WooCommerce, Paypal and Stripe are the default payment methods. It also supports payment integration for Amazon Pay, AliPay, Square, and many other services, making them simple to set up. The only charge levied during transactions with this payment gateway is by your bank or payment gateway. WooCommerce charges 0% on credit card payments.
- Ease of use
Shopify is a fully hosted platform, meaning you don’t need to install, manage, or update any software. Shopify ensures that your online store’s compatibility, security, and data backups are taken care of. You can select any theme upon signing up that fits your online brand. After that, they walk you through customization and then help you add products. Viola!
Unlike Shopify, WooCommerce is more like a DIY platform. You will need to install the WooCommerce plugin, manage installations and updates, keep backups, and ensure your website is secure. However, many free and paid plugins can automate most of these tasks.
The exciting thing about WooCommerce customization is its flexibility. It allows you to design your website as you’ve imagined with the help of over 59,000 WordPress plugins.
Become an insider. Subscribe to our newsletter for more top trending stories like this!
Now that you know the peculiarities of each eCommerce platform, we hope you can easily make a more informed decision on what’s best for your online store.
