Shopify or WooCommerce: which platform is right for you?

01Rented or self-run: the core difference

Shopify

Hosted, hosting in the plan

WooCommerce

Plugin for WordPress

Result

Who carries servers and updates

Shopify includes hosting, unlimited bandwidth at no extra charge and a free SSL certificate in the plan [1]. Every store is PCI compliant by default, PCI DSS being the card industry security standard [1]. You sign up, pick a theme and set up products and payments.

WooCommerce is a free, open source plugin for WordPress, with no monthly subscription and no revenue share [2]. You choose the server yourself. WooCommerce recommends PHP 8.3 or higher, MySQL 8.0 or higher or MariaDB 10.6 or higher, HTTPS and a WordPress memory limit of at least 256 MB [3]. PHP is the programming language WordPress runs on, MySQL and MariaDB are the databases behind it.

The difference shows after launch. With Shopify, Shopify installs the platform updates. With WooCommerce, WordPress, WooCommerce, the theme and every extension are separate parts that you have to keep up to date. If you are torn between Shopify and a platform for many business customers, our comparison with Shopware covers the third option.

02What Shopify and WooCommerce really cost

Shopify

Basic CHF 29 or EUR 27 a month

WooCommerce

Free software, hosting extra

As of

14 Nov 2026

With Shopify you pay a subscription that covers a lot. With WooCommerce you pay for each part separately. Here are the blocks side by side:

The ranges for hosting and extensions come from WooCommerce itself, in US dollars [2]. Above all, they show how wide the costs can spread. What a developer charges for setup and maintenance is not in any public source we consider reliable. Budget for it anyway.

All Shopify plans and fees with worked examples are in our guide on what a Shopify store costs each month.

03Payments in Switzerland and Germany: TWINT, Swiss francs, fees

Switzerland

TWINT in Shopify Payments

Germany

Cards on WooPayments from 1.50%

Watch out

Surcharges for foreign cards and currency

In Switzerland, TWINT matters. Shopify Payments lists TWINT at 1.75% plus CHF 0.30 per payment on the Basic plan [1]. The WooPayments fee list for Switzerland does not include TWINT [7]. If you want TWINT on WooCommerce, look at other payment providers and their extensions.

WooPayments charges Swiss merchants 2.90% plus CHF 0.30 per card payment. On top come 2% for cards from abroad, 2% for currency conversion and 8.1% Swiss VAT on the fees [7]. For German merchants a card payment costs 1.50% plus EUR 0.25, with a 2% surcharge for cards from outside Europe. Without a valid VAT ID, 19% German VAT on the fees comes on top [7].

On Shopify, prices in local currencies and local payment methods are tied to Shopify Payments [1]. If you use another provider, you pay Shopify a transaction fee between 2% and 0.2% depending on the plan, on top of the provider’s own fees [1]. WooCommerce charges no extra fee for third-party payment providers [2].

A worked example, in each case without tax on the fees: CHF 5,000 in Swiss card revenue across 50 payments costs CHF 162.50 in fees with Shopify Payments on Basic [1], and CHF 160 with WooPayments [7]. In Germany, EUR 20,000 across 200 payments costs EUR 430 with Shopify Payments on Basic [4] and EUR 350 with WooPayments [7]. So for European card payments in Germany, WooPayments is cheaper than Shopify Payments on Basic to Advanced [4][7]. After that, hosting, extensions and whether you need TWINT make the difference.

04Updates, security and who takes care of them

Shopify

Platform updates by Shopify

WooCommerce

Backup and staging copy before every update

Effort

Ongoing, not one-off

WooCommerce advises making a current backup before every update and, where possible, testing the update first on a copy of the store, a so-called staging site [8]. There you update WooCommerce, extensions, payment gateways and the theme together, then test product pages, cart, checkout, payments, shipping, taxes and order emails. According to WooCommerce, you should not test directly on the live store [8].

The server ages too. WordPress recommends PHP 8.3 or higher and warns that older versions have reached end of life and may expose the site to security vulnerabilities [9]. So someone has to keep an eye on hosting, PHP and the database, not just the store.

A routine for every WooCommerce update looks like this:

1. Back up the database and the wp-content folder, which holds themes, extensions and uploads [8].
2. Install the updates on the staging copy and click through cart, checkout and order emails.
3. If WooCommerce shows a database notice, complete the database update before you continue testing [8].
4. Only then apply the same set of updates to the live store.

With Shopify this part goes away, as hosting and the certificate are handled by Shopify [1]. What remains is the theme and the apps, which you review and tidy up regularly.

05Freedom, content and languages compared

WooCommerce

Full control over code and server

Shopify

Fixed standard URLs

Languages

on Shopify in every plan

WooCommerce lets you change almost anything, because you control the code and the server. You can connect any payment provider and run several at once [2]. For brands with a lot of editorial content, it helps that blog and store live in the same WordPress.

Shopify sets more rules. It uses standard URLs such as /products/ for products and /collections/ for collections [10]. You can customise the checkout only to a limited extent on Basic to Advanced, fully only on Plus [1]. What matters for Google is covered in our guide on how an online store gets found on Google.

For languages, Shopify has the edge if nobody on your team writes code: translating your store and local domains per country are part of every plan [1], and Shopify’s own translation app, Translate & Adapt, is free [11]. With WooCommerce, ask your developer how languages will be handled and what the required extensions cost.

06Running a shop and an online store together

Shopify

In-store payments on every plan

POS Pro

CHF 69 or EUR 79 per location

WooPayments

in-person not listed for CH and DE

If you also run a shop or sell at markets, look at the till. On every Shopify plan you can take in-person payments with a smartphone or card reader, on the same platform as your online store [1]. For staff roles, in-store inventory management and in-store pickup there is POS Pro on Basic to Advanced at CHF 69 in Switzerland or EUR 79 in Germany per month and location [1][4]. What an in-person payment costs is not shown on the pricing pages.

WooPayments lists in-person payments only for some countries. The fee lists for Switzerland and Germany have no row for them, while the lists for the Netherlands or Ireland do [7]. With WooCommerce, check early which point-of-sale system you will connect and who will maintain that connection.

For online-only stores this does not matter. For brands with a physical shop, a shared till can tip the balance.

07Switching from WooCommerce to Shopify

Moves over

Products, customers, orders

Not needed

Passwords

Critical

Redirects

Often the question is not which is better, but whether switching is worth it. A move from WooCommerce to Shopify is very doable. Products, variants, customers and past orders can be transferred. You do not need to bring passwords along. Customers on Shopify’s current customer accounts sign in with their email address and a one-time code. The legacy password accounts have been deprecated since February 2026 [12].

Because Shopify uses its own standard URLs [10], every old URL needs a redirect to the matching new one. Otherwise links from Google and other sites lead nowhere. The individual steps are in our checklist for moving to Shopify.

From our work. The store of ZinCuTec, a metal furniture maker from Germany, used to run on WooCommerce, and orders barely came in. We moved it to Shopify with a custom theme instead of a template. 215 old links now redirect so nothing gets lost on Google, and the store runs in five languages today. The full story is in the ZinCuTec case study, and our page on moving to Shopify describes how we work.

08Which platform fits your situation

Shopify

Little tech on the team

WooCommerce

WordPress know-how in house

Check first

Payment methods, languages, upkeep

The table shows tendencies, not rules. What decides it is who will maintain the store two years from now. If there is no such person on your side, that points to Shopify.

Honest limits. The ranges for hosting and extensions come from WooCommerce itself and are in US dollars. We do not estimate costs for developers, maintenance or agencies. Whether TWINT works properly with a specific WooCommerce payment provider is something to check before launch with a real test payment. The bigger picture, from product range to launch, is in our guide to building your own online store.