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Shopify vs WooCommerce

Shopify and WooCommerce are both ecommerce options. Shopify lists 6 features across 3 platforms; WooCommerce lists 6 features across 1 platform — see the full breakdown below, sourced from each vendor's own site rather than ratings or reviews.

Side-by-side summary

ComparingShopifyWooCommerce
CategoryEcommerceEcommerce
Alternatives tracked22
PlatformsWeb, iOS, AndroidWeb
Pricing modelPaid plansOpen source

Before you price a migration

Products, customers, orders and URLs are separate migration jobs

A successful product import is not proof that the business history moved. Shopify's current WooCommerce migration guide handles products, customers and historical orders through different procedures, and it calls for URL redirects when old paths will change.

Products

WooCommerce has a built-in product CSV exporter. Shopify's guide imports WooCommerce product data separately and tells you to verify fields such as variants, price, weight and inventory after import.

Customers

Customer data follows its own CSV path. Shopify says the WooCommerce export must be edited to match Shopify's customer CSV headings and notes that customer CSV import has no data-mapping support.

Historical orders

Shopify documents order history as another path: export it from WooCommerce, then use a supported third-party migration app to import it. Do not count an exported CSV as a completed order-history migration.

URLs and domain cutover

Shopify warns that page paths can differ from the old store. Map important old URLs to their new destinations before moving the domain, then test the redirects after launch. Shopify also supports importing redirects by CSV.

Test a representative variable product before you quote the catalog migration

Do not validate the catalog with one simple product. Use at least one variable product that has multiple option values, child variants, distinct SKUs, prices and stock. Shopify's WooCommerce mapping requires multiple attribute values to become separate rows with one option value per row. WooCommerce's built-in CSV format likewise represents a variable parent separately from its variation rows and links children back to the parent by ID or SKU.

After import, reconcile the sample row by row: option names and values, variant SKU, price, inventory, weight and images. If the Shopify store uses multiple locations, its migration guide directs inventory quantities to the separate inventory CSV rather than treating the product CSV as the whole inventory move.

Price the payment path separately

If the store needs a third-party payment provider, verify that provider for the business country and checkout flow before choosing the platform. Shopify documents a third-party transaction fee that is separate from the provider's own processing charge, and the Shopify rate depends on the selected plan and payment method. Do not treat one published percentage as universal.

WooCommerce core does not have a monthly platform subscription, but that does not make the full store free: hosting, payment processing, extensions, development and maintenance remain separate cost lines. Compare the same payment provider and the same operating workload on both sides.

Treat each row above as its own acceptance gate and owner. If one gate is unresolved, keep it in the migration quote instead of hiding it inside the platform subscription. Use the store decision checklist to record the unresolved work.

Documentation checked September 17, 2026. This is a planning checklist, not a hands-on migration result or a guarantee that rankings, historical records or integrations will be preserved.

Shopify WooCommerce migration guideWooCommerce product CSV documentationShopify third-party payment providersShopify third-party transaction feesWooCommerce pricing model

Best for Shopify

Positioned for businesses of all sizes — from solo entrepreneurs launching their first store to large enterprises.

Best for WooCommerce

Aimed at merchants, developers, and agencies who want full control/customization of their store on WordPress, from small businesses to larger companies needing multichannel selling.

Feature comparison

Every feature listed here comes directly from each vendor's own official site.

Shopify

  • Website builder with themes and AI-assisted design
  • Shopify Checkout with Shop Pay
  • Built-in and third-party payment processing
  • Multichannel selling (social, marketplaces, POS)
  • 21,000+ app ecosystem
  • Shipping/international tools (Shopify Markets)

WooCommerce

  • Full checkout/data ownership (self-hosted on WordPress)
  • Choice of any payment processor, plus native WooPayments
  • Theme and extension marketplace for customization
  • Mobile app for managing the store
  • Multichannel sales sync
  • Online and offline (in-person) sales support

Pros and cons

Shopify

Pros
  • Website builder with themes and AI-assisted design
  • Shopify Checkout with Shop Pay
  • Built-in and third-party payment processing
  • Multichannel selling (social, marketplaces, POS)
  • 21,000+ app ecosystem
  • Shipping/international tools (Shopify Markets)
Cons

We don't infer weaknesses from missing or differently worded vendor marketing copy. Use documented plan limits, migration requirements, and other sourced constraints as decision inputs; anything not supported by a source remains unverified.

WooCommerce

Pros
  • Full checkout/data ownership (self-hosted on WordPress)
  • Choice of any payment processor, plus native WooPayments
  • Theme and extension marketplace for customization
  • Mobile app for managing the store
  • Multichannel sales sync
  • Online and offline (in-person) sales support
Cons

We don't infer weaknesses from missing or differently worded vendor marketing copy. Use documented plan limits, migration requirements, and other sourced constraints as decision inputs; anything not supported by a source remains unverified.

Key differences

The feature summaries above use each vendor's own terminology; unmatched wording is not proof that the other platform lacks a capability. For a store-platform decision, verify the requirements that matter to your workflow in the cited vendor sources instead of treating wording differences as a capability matrix.

Choose Shopify if…

Choose Shopify if this fits: Positioned for businesses of all sizes — from solo entrepreneurs launching their first store to large enterprises.

Visit Shopify

This is an affiliate link. See our Affiliate Disclosure.

Choose WooCommerce if…

Choose WooCommerce if this fits: Aimed at merchants, developers, and agencies who want full control/customization of their store on WordPress, from small businesses to larger companies needing multichannel selling.

Facts on this page are sourced from each vendor's official site (linked below), not from ratings or reviews. Products change — verify anything that matters to your decision directly on the vendor's own site before switching. See our Disclaimer and Sources Policy.

Shopify sources

Last verified August 1, 2026

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