WooCommerce or Shopify: which is right for your webshop?

Should your webshop run on WooCommerce or Shopify?
It is one of the questions we hear most often from business owners who are about to start selling online.
Both platforms are excellent, and both power millions of shops around the world.
But they are built in very different ways, and the right choice depends on your budget, your products and how much you want to manage yourself.
Here are the honest pros and cons of each, based on the shops we build and run.

The short version

Shopify is a complete, hosted shop system that you rent for a monthly fee.
It is fast to get started with, very stable, and you never have to think about servers or updates.
WooCommerce is a free plugin that turns a WordPress website into a webshop.
It gives you full control and ownership, but you are responsible for hosting, updates and security.
As a rule of thumb, Shopify suits businesses that want simplicity, and WooCommerce suits businesses that want flexibility and lower running costs.

What is Shopify?

Shopify is a software-as-a-service platform.
You pay a monthly subscription, and Shopify takes care of hosting, security, speed and updates.
You choose a theme, add your products, set up payments and shipping, and you can be selling within days.
Extra features are added through apps from the Shopify App Store, many of which have their own monthly fee.

Pros of Shopify

• Quick and easy to start.
  Everything is in one dashboard, and you do not need technical skills to run the shop day to day.
• Stable and secure.
  Hosting, SSL, backups and security updates are handled by Shopify.
• Fast checkout.
  Shopify’s checkout is well tested, works great on mobile and supports Shop Pay, Apple Pay and Google Pay.
• Built-in payments.
  Shopify Payments is integrated, so you do not need a separate payment provider.
• Good for selling on many channels.
  It connects easily to Facebook, Instagram, Google Shopping, marketplaces and physical shops with Shopify POS.
• Support around the clock.
  Shopify offers support by chat and email.

Cons of Shopify

• Monthly costs add up.
  The Basic plan starts at around $29 a month on yearly billing, and prices vary by country and plan.
  On top of that come paid apps and a premium theme, so many shops end up paying much more each month.
• Extra fee if you use another payment provider.
  If you do not use Shopify Payments, Shopify charges an extra fee on each order: 2% on Basic, 1% on Grow and 0.6% on Advanced.
• Less control.
  You rent the platform, so you are limited to what Shopify and its apps allow.
  Some changes to the checkout and URL structure are not possible on the cheaper plans.
• Harder to move away.
  Moving a large shop from Shopify to another platform takes work, so think long term before you start.
• Content and blogging are basic.
  Shopify can run a blog, but it is not as strong for content and SEO-driven sites as WordPress.

What is WooCommerce?

WooCommerce is a free, open-source plugin for WordPress, the system behind a large part of all websites in the world.
You install it on your own WordPress site, and it adds products, a cart, a checkout and order management.
You choose your own hosting, your own theme and your own payment and shipping solutions.

Pros of WooCommerce

• No monthly platform fee.
  WooCommerce itself is free.
  You pay for hosting, a domain and any premium plugins you choose.
• Full ownership and control.
  Your shop and your data are yours, on your own hosting.
  You can change almost anything, from the design to the checkout flow.
• Free choice of payment provider.
  You can use Stripe, PayPal, Redsys with Bizum, WooPayments or others, without an extra platform fee per order.
• Strong for content and SEO.
  WordPress is excellent for blogs, guides and landing pages, which helps you get found on Google.
• Huge ecosystem.
  There are plugins for almost everything, from bookings and subscriptions to B2B prices and product feeds.
• One site for everything.
  Your company website, blog and shop can live in one place, built with tools like Elementor.

Cons of WooCommerce

• You are responsible for maintenance.
  WordPress, WooCommerce, the theme and plugins must be updated regularly, and something can occasionally break after an update.
• Security is your job.
  You need good hosting, backups, a security plugin and strong passwords.
• Speed depends on your setup.
  Cheap hosting and too many plugins make a WooCommerce shop slow.
• More decisions at the start.
  You have to choose hosting, theme, payment, shipping and plugins yourself, or get help to do it.
• Support is spread out.
  There is no single support line for everything, because each plugin and host has its own support.

Costs compared

The real cost of a shop is not just the platform.
It is the setup, the monthly costs and the fees on every sale.

Shopify has a predictable monthly subscription, plus apps, plus payment fees.
For a small shop, the total is often between €50 and €150 a month once a few apps are added.

WooCommerce usually costs less per month.
Good hosting is typically €10 to €40 a month, and some premium plugins have yearly licences.
The hidden cost is time, because someone has to keep the site updated and secure.
Many shop owners solve this with a maintenance plan, so they do not have to think about it.

When it comes to building the shop, the price depends on design, number of products and integrations.
At Marketing Group Málaga a WooCommerce webshop starts from €1,500 and a Shopify webshop from €2,400.
You can see all our prices on the pricing page.

Speed, SEO and getting found on Google

A webshop that nobody finds does not sell, so it is worth looking at how each platform handles search engines.
Shopify shops are generally fast out of the box, because Shopify runs a large, optimised infrastructure.
The basic SEO settings are there, such as page titles, descriptions and redirects.
The limits show up when you want full control, for example over URL structures or advanced technical settings.

WooCommerce runs on WordPress, which is one of the strongest systems for content and SEO.
With a plugin such as Rank Math or Yoast you control titles, descriptions, schema markup, sitemaps and much more.
The catch is that speed depends on you.
With good hosting, caching and a lightweight theme, a WooCommerce shop can be very fast.
With cheap hosting and too many plugins, it can be painfully slow.

If you plan to win customers through blog posts, guides and buying advice, WooCommerce usually gives you more room to grow.
If most of your traffic will come from ads and social media, the difference matters less.

Payments and Spanish customers

If you sell mainly to customers in Spain, think about payment methods early.
Many Spanish customers like to pay with Bizum, which is usually connected through your bank’s Redsys terminal.
On WooCommerce, adding Redsys and Bizum is straightforward with a plugin.
On Shopify, you normally use Shopify Payments, and other providers cost an extra transaction fee.
Read our guide on which payment gateway to choose for a full overview.

Can you switch later?

Yes, but it is not free.
Products, customers and orders can be moved between the platforms with migration tools.
Designs, apps and special features usually have to be rebuilt, and old URLs must be redirected so you do not lose your Google rankings.
For a small shop a move can be done in a few weeks, while large shops need careful planning.
That is why it pays to choose the right platform from the start.

Which one should you choose?

Choose Shopify if:

• You want to start quickly and spend your time on selling, not on technology.
• You sell physical products and want a very stable checkout.
• You plan to sell on social media, marketplaces or in a physical shop as well.
• You prefer a fixed monthly cost and do not mind paying for apps.

Choose WooCommerce if:

• You want full control over design, data and functionality.
• Content, blogging and SEO are an important part of your marketing.
• You want a free choice of payment providers, such as Redsys and Bizum for Spanish customers.
• You already have a WordPress website and want to add a shop to it.
• You want to keep monthly costs low and have help with maintenance.

What about affiliate and comparison sites?

If your site does not sell its own products, but earns commission by sending visitors to other shops, the choice is different.
Here WordPress is usually the better foundation, because the site is mostly about content, reviews and comparisons.
Shopify can also work for affiliate sites with product feeds, but it is less common.

Checklist before you start building

• How many products do you have, and do they have variants such as size and colour?
• Where are your customers, and which payment methods do they expect?
• How will you ship, and what will shipping cost the customer?
• Who will update the shop, add products and answer customers?
• How will people find the shop: Google, ads, social media or email?
• What is your budget for the build and for the monthly running costs?

With answers to these questions, the choice between WooCommerce and Shopify usually becomes clear.

Our honest advice

There is no wrong choice between WooCommerce and Shopify, only a choice that fits your business better or worse.
For small and medium businesses in Spain that want to be found on Google and keep costs down, we often recommend WooCommerce with a maintenance plan.
For businesses that want to grow fast, sell on many channels and avoid technical work, Shopify is often the better choice.
Whatever you choose, plan your payment methods, shipping and product data before you start building.

Not sure which platform fits your business?
Tell us what you sell and who your customers are, and we will give you an honest recommendation.
Contact us for a free chat, or see our prices.

Prices and fees are based on public information in October 2026 and can change.
Always check the current prices with the provider.