Shopify vs WooCommerce 2021: Which One Is the Best

Shopify and WP WooCommerce, both are most popular and easy-to-use eCommerce platforms available on the market. Both Shopify and WooCommerer have multiple strengths and can possibly be the perfect solution for you to build an eCommerce store. However the best news is that you can do so all on your own, without any help from professional designers and/or developers.

Shopify Pros and Cons

Shopify Pros:

• You know exactly how much you’ll be paying every month and the pricing is fair.
• There’s access to thousands of apps to extend your store.
• The themes are plentiful and beautiful.
• Shopify handles everything for you from hosting, payments, shipping to security.
• It takes just a few minutes to launch your store.
• Dropshipping is rather simple with Shopify.
• The support is the best in the business.

Shopify Cons:

• You don’t have as much control over your site with Shopify.
• Customization is better with other platforms.

WooCommerce Pros and Cons

WooCommerce Pros:

• WooCommerce offers complete customization and control with huge WordPress community.
• The themes and plugins are endless, since just about anyone can make and sell them online.
• WooCommerce is simple to configure on WordPress.
• The WooCommerce plugin is free.

WooCommerce Cons:

• WordPress does have a bit of a learning curve.
• You may find that WooCommerce ends up being more expensive due to plugins, themes, and hosting.
• You’re stuck managing everything from hosting to security, and maintenance to backups.
• You would need to get merchant account and integrations to collect payments.
• You would need to interact with shipping/delivery service providers for integration on site.
• WooCommerce become slow with plugins, custom themes and long products listing on site OR need expensive hosting to run smoothly.
• Woredpress and WooCommerce regular version upgrades may be messy with customized site.

What is main difference between Shopify and WooCommerce?

Different business owners have different opinions for both solutions. The truth is that whether you choose Shopify vs WooCommerce will boil down to a few core differences.

For instance, the main difference and advantage is that Shopify is an all-in-one eCommerce solution designed to give you everything you need to get started online.

Shopify takes the complications and technical aspects out of running an online business and replaces them with easy-to-use tools. Your Shopify store can be set up and running in a matter of minutes. However, this also means that you’re not going to get as much granular control over your site.

On the other hand, if you’re looking for more customization options, WooCommerce is a self-hosted software for eCommerce. This means that you can tap into the code and access various parts of your store if you have coding skill and technical knowledge.

WooCommerce gives you a lot of freedom to build everything into your store, that’s crucial for your team. It also means that you can run your business in conjunction with a WordPress blog site.

However, when you compare Shopify vs WooCommerce, remember that the freedom that you get from WooCommerce comes at a price e.g. themes, plugins and customization cost. In other words, you need to know how to handle the technical side of your site and keep it safe. You may need technical expert to do or manage it.

If you’re starting out with a beginner, and you don’t want to look at things like web hosting and hosting provider details, then Shopify is a good choice. If you want more freedom to experiment with your site, and you already like using WordPress, opt for WooCommerce.

Shopify should be your choice: If you want an all-in-one package for your eCommerce store that gets you up and running quickly with lots of great features and apps.

WooCommerce should be your choice: If you already have a WordPress website and you don’t mind taking more control over your store.