WooCommerce and Shopify are the two most common e-commerce platforms we work with, and the question of which to choose comes up on almost every e-commerce project we scope.
The short answer: both are legitimate, and the right choice depends on your specific situation. Here's how to think through it.
The fundamental difference
Shopify is a hosted, all-in-one platform. You pay a monthly subscription and Shopify handles hosting, security, updates, and infrastructure. You're renting a managed system.
WooCommerce is a free, open-source plugin that turns a WordPress site into an e-commerce store. You own the code, you manage the hosting, you handle updates. You're owning your own infrastructure.
This distinction drives almost everything else about how the two platforms compare.
Cost comparison
Shopify
Shopify charges a monthly fee for the platform itself:
- Basic: ~$49 AUD/month
- Shopify: ~$132 AUD/month
- Advanced: ~$533 AUD/month
On top of that: transaction fees (if not using Shopify Payments), app subscriptions (almost every advanced feature requires a paid app), and theme costs.
For a medium-complexity store with a handful of apps, expect $200–$600+ AUD/month in ongoing Shopify costs, not including your developer.
WooCommerce
The plugin itself is free. Your costs are:
- Hosting: $30–$150 AUD/month (quality varies significantly)
- Domain: ~$20 AUD/year
- SSL certificate: often free through your host
- Premium plugins: varies, but one-off or annual costs
- Developer time for setup and maintenance
A well-set-up WooCommerce store often has lower ongoing costs than Shopify — particularly if you're not relying on expensive apps for core functionality. But the trade-off is more maintenance responsibility.
Ease of use
Shopify wins here, and it's not particularly close. The admin interface is clean, intuitive, and consistent. Adding products, managing orders, processing refunds, running discount codes — all straightforward. Staff can be trained quickly.
WooCommerce is functional but more complex. The WordPress ecosystem adds flexibility at the cost of simplicity. A non-technical business owner managing a WooCommerce store will encounter more friction than the same person on Shopify.
Who this matters for: If you or your staff will be managing the store day-to-day without technical support, Shopify's simplicity is genuinely valuable. If you have a developer available, the WooCommerce learning curve is manageable.
Flexibility and customisation
WooCommerce wins here decisively. Because it's open-source and built on WordPress, you can customise literally anything — product types, checkout flows, pricing logic, user roles, integrations. There are over 59,000 WordPress plugins, and most will integrate with WooCommerce.
Shopify is customisable within its boundaries. You can change a lot — but when you hit the edge of what Shopify allows, you're stuck unless you build a custom app (expensive) or find a workaround.
Real-world examples where WooCommerce wins:
- Complex product configurators
- Custom trade pricing by customer group
- Unusual checkout logic or multi-step flows
- Deep integration with accounting, ERP, or CRM systems
- Membership + e-commerce combinations
Real-world examples where Shopify's standardisation is fine:
- Straightforward physical product stores
- Dropshipping operations
- Stores that need to get up quickly with minimal development
SEO capabilities
Both platforms can produce well-ranking e-commerce stores. Neither has an inherent SEO advantage — it's about how they're configured.
That said, WooCommerce on WordPress gives you more SEO control. Plugins like Yoast or Rank Math give granular control over meta tags, structured data, sitemaps, and technical settings. The URL structure is fully customisable.
Shopify has improved its SEO capabilities significantly but still has some structural quirks (like the /collections/ URL structure that's difficult to change) that can be mildly limiting.
For most stores, this isn't a deciding factor. Both will rank equally well if they're configured properly.
Australian-specific considerations
Payment gateways: Both platforms support Australian payment processors including Stripe, Square, and Afterpay. Shopify Payments is now available in Australia, which removes transaction fees. WooCommerce integrates with the same providers through plugins.
GST handling: Both can handle Australian GST correctly, though the setup varies. WooCommerce gives more flexibility for complex tax scenarios (e.g., GST-free products mixed with taxable products).
Afterpay / Buy Now Pay Later: Both platforms support major BNPL providers. Shopify has native Afterpay integration; WooCommerce uses a plugin.
Australian fulfilment integrations: If you're using Australian-specific fulfilment services (e.g., StarTrack, Australia Post eParcel, Starshipit), both platforms have integration options, though WooCommerce generally offers more flexibility.
Which should you choose?
Choose Shopify if:
- You're selling standard physical products
- You want to manage the store yourself without technical support
- You're launching quickly and don't need custom functionality
- You're comfortable with ongoing platform costs
- You're doing high volume and need Shopify's infrastructure to handle it
Choose WooCommerce if:
- You need custom product types, pricing logic, or checkout flows
- You want full ownership and control of your platform
- You're already on WordPress and want to keep your stack unified
- You have developer support available for setup and maintenance
- You want lower long-term ongoing costs and don't mind the trade-offs
Don't choose either if:
- You're running a single-product or very simple store — consider BigCommerce or even a landing page + payment link
- You need a genuine SaaS or subscription-first business — neither platform is purpose-built for that
The platform question matters, but it matters less than the quality of execution. A well-built WooCommerce store will outperform a poorly built Shopify store, and vice versa. The most important decision you'll make is who builds it and whether they understand your business goals.
If you're scoping an e-commerce project and want an honest view of which direction makes sense for your specific situation, get in touch — we're happy to talk it through before you commit to anything.