3 min read

Shopify and Woocommerce are both online ecommerce platforms that you can use to build your online store. Both platforms have been designed for easy management of an online shop without the need for extensive technical knowledge.

WooCommerce is widely used because it is open source and you can get started for free, which gives you a lot of freedom in terms of customization and building your online store, but it has a deeper learning curve or you will need to hire a developer.
Shopify, on the other hand, is a closed-source, subscription-based platform. It is more limited in terms of customization (via the dashboard), but offers a more complete package and guides you step-by-step through creating your online store, you can still make more complex changes or create new templates, but you will need some technical expertise or pay an expert to change the code.
WooCommerce requires some integrations before you can have your online shop, like buying a domain name, finding a hosting account, SSL certificate, downloading WordPress, installing WooCommerce and the theme of your choice. With Shopify, you can do all of this within the platform (if you want your domain without Shopify in the URL, you will have to pay an additional annual fee).

Shopify offers a 3-day free trial, after which you will need to subscribe to one of their plans. Basic costs €36 per month and 1.8% + €0.25 online transaction fees. The next level is €105 per month with 1.6% + €0.25 online transaction fees and finally Advanced is €384 with 1.4% + €0.25 online transaction fees.
You can get started with WooCommerce for free, but remember that you will need to add plugins depending on your business needs, such as SEO plugins. For payments, WooCommerce supports a wide range of options, transaction fees will vary depending on which you choose.

See the comparison table for an overview of the two platforms:

	WooCommerce	Shopify
Free Trial	Free and Open-source	3 day trail no credit card required
Customer Support	Mostly online forums. Or if you bought a plugin, contact them directly.	You can search for your question in the Shopify Help Centre. You can also contact someone directly if you need help.
Hosting	Not included	Is included
Subdomains	Unlimited amount of subdomains	Unlimited amount of subdomains
Payment Methods	WooCommerce accepts over 80 different payment gateways.	They strongly recommend that you use Shopify Payments, as they will charge you a slightly higher fee if you choose another gateway. However, the options available to you will also depend on the country in which your business is based.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Tools	There are several SEO plugins available.	Shopify allows you to edit title tags, meta descriptions and URLs. You can also pay for an SEO app for additional features.
Blog	Yes	Yes

If you want an all-in-one platform, then Shopify is your choice as it is all-inclusive and easy to set up. Shopify will take care of the more technical aspects for you. It also offers good customer support.
WooCommerce is a better option if a) you already have a Wordpress site, b) you are on a tight budget and want to start with the bare minimum, or c) you have a specific integration or want to have more authority over your theme and code and make it highly customisable.