Are you undecided between Woocommerce and Shopify as an e-commerce platform?
These two e-commerce platforms are the most frequently utilised in the globe, so I’m sure you’ve heard of them before.
It can be difficult to choose between the two, especially when it comes to something as crucial as running an e-commerce site.
I’ll offer you all the details you need to know about Shopify and WooCommerce so you can pick which platform is right for your company.
What is WooCommerce, and how does it work?
It’s a free e-commerce plugin that turns any WordPress site into a robust online store. It’s an open-source platform, so it’s perfect for budget-conscious customers, but there are a few services that you’ll have to pay for. For example, web hosting and themes.
What exactly is Shopify?
It’s robust, dependable, and user-friendly, with a large library of templates and good customer care, all for a monthly fee.
Which is better for an e-commerce website: Shopify or WooCommerce?
These characteristics can help you recognise the difference between Shopify and WooCommerce:
You should be familiar with WooCommerce and Shopify’s e-commerce methods.
WooCommerce and Shopify have two basic techniques for developing and managing your store, similar to how website creation tools like Squarespace or Wix compare to Word Press as a whole.
- Because your store is hosted on your own server, you have complete control and flexibility in customising WooCommerce.
- Although you have a lot of control, because Shopify hosts and runs the software on your behalf, you can only make modifications that Shopify allows you to do.
In other words, WooCommerce is more flexible than Shopify, but it is less user-friendly for novices, whereas Shopify’s platform is more user-friendly, but it has some tight limitations that WooCommerce does not.
As of 2021, WooCommerce was powering 23 percent of all e-commerce websites, with Shopify following in second with an estimated 20 percent of all e-commerce companies.
Design
The design of a website is crucial, especially for e-commerce companies. Customers have little faith in a website that doesn’t look or work well.
- Design by Shopify
The look and feel of Shopify’s themes is a big selling feature. It’s really lovely, in our opinion.
Many of Shopify’s store templates are available for no cost. It’s also worth mentioning that each Shopify theme comes with its own set of features.
What’s more, they’re all mobile-friendly and come in a variety of colours. They offer a clean and contemporary look that is ideal for modern websites.
Shopify isn’t a design firm, by the way. The job is delegated to a group of web designers, who ensure that it is as current and appealing as possible. It’s a fantastic opportunity for us to acquire a diverse range of ideas from a variety of businesses and individuals.
The premium Shopify themes can cost up to $180. You do, however, receive a wonderful design in exchange.
It’s fortunate that there are also free alternatives.
Because of its rapid attractiveness, many websites may use the identical Shopify themes. Shopify users who constructed their own website have complained that it seems too similar to other websites in some circumstances. Because of this, personalization is encouraged.
Modifying Shopify themes is, for the most part, an easy operation. Additional experienced developers can make more tweaks and offer the brand a unique design thanks to the platform’s “Liquid” language.
Even better, they include a theme editor built right into the platform.
In the theme editor, sections can be hidden without being removed.
The theme’s hidden sections can still be edited in the theme editor, but they won’t be shown in the store.
This strategy has two advantages: it allows you to create sections for future releases and it reduces theme duplication (a common problem that most developers face with WordPress).
- Design for WooCommerce
WooCommerce is a plugin designed by WooThemes’ developers (and acquired by Automattic).
As a result, it lacks any distinguishing design traits. It enables you to market and sell your goods and services over the internet.
WooCommerce is meant to operate effectively with most themes on the market as long as you follow basic recommendations and best practises.
As a result, when it comes to WordPress themes and WooCommerce compatibility, you have a lot of options.
WooCommerce-optimized themes are also available, but they aren’t as popular as WooCommerce-specific themes. When selecting a theme, your WooCommerce store’s appearance should be a top priority.
The Storefront theme from WooCommerce is a wonderful place to start (free). It’s a nice design that emphasises all of the important components of an online store.
You may also acquire a child theme to further personalise the design of your Woocommerce store.
There are many WooCommerce themes available, and you may purchase one from ThemeForest if you want a more modern, customised theme for your store.
On marketplaces like ThemeForest, you can find thousands of WooCommerce-compatible themes.
WooCommerce actually outperforms Shopify in terms of design.
The Shopify themes are great, however the themes offered in the Shopify store are restricted.
Because WooCommerce is open source, developers are selling (or giving away) WooCommerce themes for a variety of enterprises and purposes.
Pricing
- Pricing on Shopify
To put it another way, Shopify’s pricing is straightforward. WooCommerce, on the other hand, is not the same.
WooCommerce is a free open-source plugin that can be downloaded. Despite the fact that the plugin is free, you must consider the costs connected with establishing an internet business.
Even if you use WordPress, you’ll need to pay for things like hosting (which is cheap), a domain name (which is also cheap), and an SSL certificate (which is included in WordPress hosting ).
All you have to do is create a Shopify account to gain access to all of the tools you require.
The starting bundle includes everything you’ll need to get started with your own online business as soon as you sign up.
Both Shopify and WooCommerce provide a range of upgrade options if you want to scale your Shopify or WooCommerce store to match your business’s specific demands.
To keep things simple, I’ll only look at the most affordable option: the cost of running a WooCommerce vs Shopify e-commerce store.
Shopify Hosting and SSL : $29/month
Woocommerce is available for as little as $5 per month.
That isn’t all, though. Other plugins, such as SEO, payment gateways, and so on, may be required by WooCommerce. These plugins can be expensive, costing up to $39 or more, but you can get by with the free ones.
However, there is a catch to WooCommerce’s low price: you’ll need a lot more work, and you’ll have to be careful not to go over budget because every additional plugin costs money and you’ll have to pay for it. If you decide to use WooCommerce, just use free plugins, or buy a premium theme and you’ll get a lot of premium plugins for free.
The Shopify pricing is more standard. The four options that offer users a wide selection of features upfront are Lite ($9), Basic ($29), Shopify ($79/month), and Advanced Shopify ($299/month).
Finally, there’s the transaction fee to think about. In summary, when you sell things on either platform, you will be charged a tiny fee (for processing the payment, getting the money into your account, etc.). Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions regarding these prices. Before signing up for any of the sites, make sure to examine the actual charges, which normally run from 2% to 4% of each transaction.
Features
Regardless of their pricing differences, both systems are identical when it comes to providing your e-commerce website with the capabilities it requires. Shopify and Woocommerce, for example, are simpler platforms that incorporate the fundamentals of e-commerce into the core software.
Both, however, have excellent app stores where you may acquire additional functions.
- Features of Shopify
Regardless of whether or not you require third-party apps to get the most out of Shopify, there are a number of free solutions.
In a nutshell, Shopify gives you the following:
- You can create an unlimited number of products.
- File storage is limitless.
- Automated fraud detection.
- Integration with Oberlo.
- Order creation by hand.
- Promotional Codes
- A free SSL certificate is available.
- The site is mobile-friendly.
- Credit Card Transactions
- A variety of languages are available.
- Taxes and shipping charges can be changed.
- Incorporation of social media.
- Both physical and digital goods
- Backup on a daily basis.
- And there’s a lot more…
With WooCommerce, some of these free functionalities are not available.
Features of WooCommerce
WordPress, which is known for its open-source nature, allows third-party developers to create a variety of plugins and addons. WooCommerce accomplishes this by offering a large range of plugins. You may do everything from improving the layout and design of your website to sell on Facebook, expand your email marketing, and discover more about your consumers’ behaviours.
The following are some of the features of WooCommerce:
- It can be used to sell both physical and digital things (such as software and apps), as well as affiliate marketing.
- PayPal and Stripe payment options built-in (plus a bunch of other gateways available for an extra fee)
- Taxes and shipping prices can be altered.
- An infinite number of products (Depending how powerful your Hosting Provider).
- Maintain inventory levels.
- Optimized for mobile devices
- You have total control over your information.
- WordPress themes that are compatible.
- Hundreds of (free) plugins are available.
- Incorporation of social media.
- And there’s more…
Shopify vs. WooCommerce
Here’s a side-by-side comparison of Shopify vs WooCommerce’s e-commerce features to help clarify everything:
Woocommerce It’s a complete e-commerce solution that’s ready to use right now. It’s a feature-rich WordPress plugin that’s available for free. WordPress must be hosted and operational in order to work. It enables you to sell anything you want (physical, digital, products, services). It enables you to sell anything you want (physical, digital, products, services). Shopify’s Point of Sale can be utilised both online and offline (through an e-commerce firm). It’s only for using the internet (e-commerce store). Customer service is available by email, live chat, and phone 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Ticket and forum assistance, as well as a range of other blogs, are available online.
Because Shopify is a closed platform, you can only update your store in the ways that Shopify allows. Open Source – You have complete control over the appearance and functionality of your store. There are no limitations or constraints. Shopify is in charge of all of your store’s data.
Your data is completely under your control. There are approximately 60 different store themes to pick from (6 are free). There are thousands of different store themes to pick from (through WordPress themes and Themeforest). Hosting is included in the price. You’ll need your own web host. Each plan includes a free subdomain (eg YOURSTORE.shopify.com).
However, you’ll need a domain name. A domain name must be purchased. You can sell as many things as you want. You can sell as many things as you want. A free SSL certificate is available.
Your hosting package includes a free SSL certificate. There is no limit to how many files you can store. The amount of storage you have is determined by your hosting provider. Accept a variety of payment methods, including PayPal, Stripe, and credit cards, as well as bank deposits, cash on delivery, and other methods. Accept a variety of payment methods, including PayPal, Stripe, and credit cards, as well as bank deposits, cash on delivery, and other methods (may need a plugin). Reports and data on sales. Reports and data on sales. Multiple languages are natively supported.
Third-party plugins provide support for multiple languages. Both shipping and tax rates can be changed.
As you can see, both platforms have a lot to offer. You can pick one over the other based on your preferences or how much you believe open source software is worth in comparison to the competition.
To put it another way, if you want a straightforward way to launch an online store with no complicated setups, Shopify is the way to go.
Woocommerce is the best solution for you if you want complete control over your store and are comfortable with WordPress.
Conclusion
It’s not always easy to make these kinds of comparisons. Our counsel is continually changing based on the specific circumstances of each of our clients.
That’s all I have to say on the subject. Which platform you prefer is entirely up to you. Have you ever found yourself having to switch between the two? Is there anything more you want to know about the differences between WooCommerce and Shopify? In the comments box below, I’d love to hear from you.
