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Compare · for small business · 2026

Shopify vs WooCommerce for small business (2026)

Shopify when you want a store that runs itself: hosting, security, checkout and updates handled by the platform for a monthly fee. WooCommerce when the store needs custom logic, wholesale pricing, local payment rules or lives next to a WordPress catalogue, and you accept the upkeep. We build both.

Updated 2026-09-04 · we build both · the criteria below are the ones that decide, not a feature list

Criteria

Where each one wins, row by row

Pick what matters to you; the score below counts only those rows. Hover a row to see which way it leans.

3 Shopify · 4 WooCommerce · 1 even

CriterionShopifyWooCommerce
Monthly cost versus upkeepA monthly plan plus transaction fees; nothing to update. Predictable.No platform fee; your hosting plus updates for core, theme and plugins, or a maintenance arrangement. Cheaper per month, more to maintain.
Local payment methods and deliveryMajor methods built in; local ones such as BLIK or Przelewy24 through providers and apps. Delivery zones and rates are standard.Any local gateway with a plugin, cash on delivery, parcel lockers by plugin; more flexible, more to configure.
Custom logic and wholesaleWholesale and custom pricing possible through apps or higher plans; complex rules get expensive or impossible.Any rule can be written: tiered wholesale prices, quotes instead of carts, custom checkout fields.
Time to launchFastest path from zero to selling: theme, products, payments, go.Longer: hosting, theme, plugins, payments, testing. Worth it when the logic needs it.
Catalogue next to contentProducts first; content pages are fine but a large editorial or catalogue site alongside is awkward.The store lives inside WordPress next to any catalogue or content the site already has.
Security and reliabilityThe platform’s job: PCI, uptime, patches. You never think about it.Your job or your maintainer’s: updates, backups, a firewall. Doable; not free.
Campaigns without a developerDiscounts, bundles, collections and landing pages from the admin; the theme holds.Possible with the right plugins and a block-based theme; depends on how it was built.
Data and leavingProducts, customers and orders export as files; the theme stays on the platform.Everything is on your hosting and in your database; move it anywhere.

When each one wins

When Shopify wins
  • A brand selling direct with a standard checkout that has to be live in weeks.
  • A small team that wants campaigns, discounts and collections without a developer.
  • Nobody in the company should ever think about updates, backups or security.
  • Selling in several countries with the platform’s built-in currencies and taxes.
When WooCommerce wins
  • Wholesale tiers, quotes instead of carts, or checkout rules the platform does not allow.
  • Local payment methods and delivery options that need a specific gateway or plugin.
  • A store that lives next to a WordPress catalogue or a large content site.
  • You want the data and the code on your own hosting, with no monthly platform fee.

What we do

Our part in this comparison

We build stores on both. For most small brands we start with Shopify and say so; The Beast Beauty is a WooCommerce store because the catalogue and the languages needed it, and Dallie Smokehouse is on Shopify because a maker selling direct needed to be live fast. Either way a store starts from €2 000 on our ladder, and the platform’s own fees are named in the quote.

Shopify storesWordPress and WooCommerceE-commerce industry page

Questions

Questions people ask when choosing

Is Shopify or WooCommerce cheaper for a small store?

Per month, WooCommerce has no platform fee, but it needs hosting and maintenance. Shopify costs a monthly plan and fees and needs nothing else. For a small store with no custom logic, Shopify usually costs less in time; for a store with wholesale rules, WooCommerce costs less in workarounds.

Can Shopify take Polish payment methods like BLIK?

Yes, through payment providers and apps; WooCommerce takes them through a gateway plugin. Both work; WooCommerce is more flexible and needs more configuration.

When should a store move from Shopify to WooCommerce, or the other way?

To WooCommerce when the rules outgrow the platform: wholesale tiers, quotes, custom checkout, or a catalogue that lives in WordPress anyway. To Shopify when the upkeep of WooCommerce is eating the team’s time and the logic is standard. We say which after seeing the store.

Tell us what you sell and to whom.

We reply with the platform and a fixed price for the store.

Get a fixed quoteSee pricing