Difference Between Shopify and WooCommerce

Both Shopify and WooCommerce are industry leading website builders that make it easy for you to start your own fully functional online store in order to help your business grow in a highly competitive market. But the question is which one should you choose that would best fit your business needs and help with your future endeavors? Let’s take a look.

What is Shopify?

Shopify is a powerful, easy to use complete ecommerce solution for businesses or individuals looking to sell their products online. If you are one of those ever dreamed of working from home or anywhere in the world and running your own online store, then Shopify is the perfect solution for you. Shopify is a popular ecommerce platform created for entrepreneurs and businesses alike or just anyone who’d like to setup their own online store and sell their products online. Having your own ecommerce website is one of the most rewarding things you can do and Shopify helps you pursue your dreams and makes it easy for you to set up and launch your own ecommerce website without much of the hassles.

What is WooCommerce?

WooCommerce is a fully customizable, open source ecommerce platform used with WordPress self-hosted websites to create online stores. Although, you might not be as familiar with WooCommerce as some of the other popular ecommerce solutions such as Shopify, it is still just as popular. It is actually a plug-in for WordPress that turns your website into a complete online store. It is for those users with an existing WordPress website who want to add ecommerce functionality to their current solution such as add products, a shopping cart, and a checkout. It is a DIY ecommerce solution that is directly available from within the WordPress Dashboard, making it easy to manage and update. Launched in 2011, it quickly became the default ecommerce solution for WordPress used by a number of high-traffic sites.

Difference between Shopify and WooCommerce

Pricing

 – Shopify definitely makes creating an ecommerce website incredibly easy, but a little burdensome to use, especially with so many pricing plans to choose from – starting from $29 a month and going up to $299 per month. You get more advanced features as you upgrade your plans. It also has a 14-day trial period. WooCommerce, on the other hand, is a plugin for WordPress, which itself is open source, meaning you can use both for free and you have a lot more control over what and where you can spend.

Operational Charges 

– It is clear that the cost of building a basic WooCommerce store is quite cheaper compared to Shopify because of the fact that WooCommerce does not charge any commission fee for operations. However, the costs start to increase as you purchase premium extensions as well as the cost of accommodation as your store starts to gain traction and shows growth. Plus, there are a number of free themes and plug-ins available for WooCommerce which kind of give you control over your cost. 

Customizability

 – Both the platforms are designed to offer a simple, easy to use ecommerce solution, but the difference lies in their customizability. When it comes to customizations, WooCommerce is really flexible as it is an open source platform and you have absolute control of the platform. With over 1,000 plug-ins and more than 1,000 themes, WooCommerce offers limitless customization so you can customize your store to your liking and preferences. The official Shopify premium themes are more expensive compared to the official WooCommerce themes.

Ease of Use 

– WooCommerce is a far more technical platform which is not hosted, which means you’ll need to install WooCommerce plug-ins, maintain backups, manage updates and security of your website all by yourself. WooCommerce is not beginner friendly meaning you need some basic knowledge of coding to get started. Shopify, on the other hand, is a lot easier to use and it has a plethora of payment options on top of its own payment solution.

Shopify vs. WooCommerce: Comparison Chart

Summary

While both the platforms are designed to offer a simple, easy to use ecommerce solution for your business, they are not without their fair share of pros and cons. Shopify is a complete ecommerce solution that is very easy to use and get started, compared to WooCommerce, which is a far more technical platform for beginners to set up their online store. WooCommerce, however, is more scalable on the long run. Since WooCommerce is a self hosted platform, you only pay the transaction fees that are charged by your payment gateway or your bank, so you have more control there. Overall, Shopify is a clear winner but some would also prefer WooCommerce for their future endeavors.

Is Shopify better than WooCommerce?

Shopify is a complete ecommerce solution that is very easy to use and get started, compared to WooCommerce, which is a far more technical platform and requires some coding skills to set up store. Plus, Shopify has plethora of built-in sales tools, payment options, and quick build time.

Are WooCommerce and Shopify the same thing?

While both the platforms are designed to offer a simple, easy to use ecommerce solution for your business, they are not the same thing. WooCommerce is a more customizable, open source platform used with WordPress self-hosted websites to create online stores.

Should I change from WooCommerce to Shopify?

Both are powerful platforms to start your online store, but when it comes down to choosing between the two, it’s all about your personal preferences and requirements. Also, the cost of building a basic WooCommerce store is quite cheaper compared to Shopify and it’s free to install. So, migrating to WooCommerce won’t hurt.

Should I use Shopify or WordPress?

Shopify is much easier to set up and use than WordPress. And there are a lot of features that are available right out of the box when you’re using Shopify, like payment gateways, integrations, ecommerce features, etc.

Is WordPress slower than Shopify?

Since, Shopify is easier to set up and use, it has a direct impact on the build time, meaning Shopify is clearly faster and convenient when it comes to ease of use.

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