Shopify vs WooCommerce (and when to go custom): choosing an ecommerce platform

What is the difference between Shopify and WooCommerce?

An [ecommerce platform](/glossary#ecommerce-platform) is the software that runs your product catalogue, cart, checkout and orders. Shopify and WooCommerce are two of the most common choices for small and mid-sized shops, but they are built on opposite models.

Shopify is software as a service (SaaS). You sign up, pick a theme and start selling; Shopify hosts the store and runs the checkout. WooCommerce is a plugin for WordPress. The WooCommerce FAQ (opens in a new tab) describes the core plugin as free, and you install it on a WordPress site, usually on hosting you choose yourself.

Ownership, hosting and who is responsible for what

With Shopify, the platform carries most of the technical load. Shopify states that it is certified Level 1 PCI DSS compliant (opens in a new tab) and that this compliance extends by default to all stores powered by Shopify. You still own your content and data, but you work within Shopify's rules for themes, checkout and URLs.

With WooCommerce, you own the whole stack and the responsibility that comes with it. The WooCommerce server recommendations (opens in a new tab) list current versions of PHP and MySQL or MariaDB, HTTPS support and a minimum WordPress memory limit, and warn that a server below these specifications may experience security vulnerabilities and poor performance. Paid extensions also need an active subscription to keep receiving updates and support.

• On Shopify you handle: theme changes, app choices, store settings, content, staff permissions and your own data exports.
• On WooCommerce you also handle: hosting, backups, WordPress and plugin updates, security hardening, HTTPS, server performance and checking that plugins work together after each update.

Payments and gateways: check your country first

Payment options often decide the platform for you, so check them before anything else.

• Shopify Payments is only available in certain countries. When this guide was written, Shopify's supported countries list (opens in a new tab) included the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates but not India. If your country is not listed, Shopify says you need a third-party payment provider.
• Third-party transaction fees. Shopify's pricing FAQ (opens in a new tab) says these fees apply to transactions processed through third-party providers. It lists exceptions: manual payment methods are not charged, and PayPal transactions are exempt if Shopify Payments is your primary provider. Check the current policy for your plan before you choose a gateway.
• WooCommerce gateways are plugins. WooCommerce's guide to choosing a payment option (opens in a new tab) tells you to weigh cost, location, security, subscriptions and in-person payments. Its own gateway, WooPayments, has a country list (opens in a new tab) that included the UK and the UAE (Business accounts only in the UAE) but not India when we checked.

Payment availability and fee rules change. Treat the lists above as a snapshot and confirm on the official pages on the day you decide.

Apps, plugins and integrations

Both platforms rely on add-ons for anything beyond the basics: reviews, subscriptions, bundles, loyalty, advanced search, accounting links and Shopify CRM integration or its WooCommerce equivalent. Every add-on is code you did not write, so judge each one before installing it.

1. 1Check that it is actively maintained and supports your current platform version.
2. 2Read what data it accesses and where it sends that data, especially customer details.
3. 3Test its effect on page speed. Many add-ons load scripts on every page, which can hurt Core Web Vitals.
4. 4Prefer one well-built integration over several overlapping ones.
5. 5Write down every add-on and what it does, so you know what to rebuild if you ever migrate.

If you need orders and customers to flow into a CRM, plan the data flow first. Our CRM integration guide covers deduplication, consent and safe retries.

SEO considerations on each platform

Either platform can rank well. The differences are in how much control you have and how much you must manage yourself.

• URLs. Shopify uses fixed paths such as /products/ and /collections/, which you cannot remove. WordPress lets you set your own permalink structure.
• Sitemaps. Shopify generates a sitemap.xml automatically (opens in a new tab) and updates it when you add products, collections, pages or blog posts. On WordPress you configure and check this yourself.
• robots.txt. Shopify's default robots.txt blocks admin, cart, checkout and duplicate filtered collection URLs. You can edit it through robots.txt.liquid (opens in a new tab), but Shopify treats this as an unsupported customisation and warns that incorrect use can result in loss of all traffic.
• Speed and structured data. On both platforms these depend mostly on your theme, apps and images. Keep product structured data accurate and matching the visible page.

Selling in several currencies and markets

If you sell into the UK, the UAE and India from one business, how each platform handles currencies matters.

• Shopify offers international sales tools (opens in a new tab) to set up and manage markets from one store, covering local-currency pricing, translation, international domains and duties.
• WooCommerce core supports one base currency per store (opens in a new tab). Showing or charging other currencies needs a multi-currency extension.
• WooPayments multi-currency lets customers see prices and pay in currencies you choose, but WooCommerce notes that enabling it only changes how prices are shown (opens in a new tab) and does not enable multi-currency payouts.

Payout currency, tax and duties are separate from display currency. Confirm all three with your payment provider and accountant before launch.

Migrating between platforms without losing orders or rankings

Moving platforms is mostly a data and redirect project. Shopify's migration guide (opens in a new tab) says to import products first, then customers, then historical orders, and it notes that importing old orders can send a new-order email to staff for each one unless you turn those notifications off first.

1. 1Crawl the old site and export every URL that has traffic, links or rankings.
2. 2Map each one to its new URL in a spreadsheet.
3. 3Import the redirects. Shopify supports CSV import of URL redirects (opens in a new tab), but only from URLs that no longer load a page.
4. 4Place test orders, check taxes, shipping and emails, then switch the domain.
5. 5Submit the new sitemap in Google Search Console and check the most-visited old URLs redirect correctly.

Use permanent redirects. Google says a 301 or 308 redirect (opens in a new tab) signals that the target should be canonical, while temporary redirects do not.

When does a custom or headless build make sense?

[Headless commerce](/glossary#headless-commerce) separates the storefront your customers see from the commerce engine behind it. With Shopify, the Storefront API and Hydrogen (opens in a new tab) let you build your own front end while Shopify still handles products, cart and checkout.

Shopify's guidance is to consider headless when your needs cannot be met with its sales channels, themes and apps: for example, a front end not built on Liquid, an existing content system you want to keep, or channels Shopify does not support out of the box. It also says plainly that a headless storefront costs more to build and run than a theme, and that you need developers to maintain it after launch.

• Stay on a theme if your catalogue, checkout and content fit the platform's standard patterns.
• Consider headless if you need a custom experience across web, app or other channels and have ongoing development support.
• Consider a fully custom build only when your ordering, pricing or fulfilment rules are so specific that no platform fits, for example complex B2B quoting or bookings tied to stock.

How to decide: a short checklist

1. 1Confirm which payment providers support your business country and your customers' currencies.
2. 2List the features you need on day one and the add-on each one requires.
3. 3Decide who will handle hosting, updates and security, and for how long.
4. 4List the systems the shop must connect to: CRM, accounting, stock, WhatsApp or email marketing.
5. 5If you are moving platforms, budget time for data mapping, redirects and testing, not just design.

If you would like a second opinion, StudAI Works offers a free 30-minute call to talk through platform choice, redesigns and migrations; see our ecommerce service. Before any redesign, our website redesign checklist is a useful companion.