WooCommerce vs Shopify: Ecommerce Face-off (2024 Comparison)

Shopify vs WooCommerce, both are the most used platforms to start an online store. Although at first glance we would think that they are very similar, the truth is that they have Huge differences.

 

There are many options for creating an online store, however, there are two giants in the online store market for SMEs and they are Shopify vs WooCommerce. In this article at Discipline Infotech, we will explain the biggest differences between Shopify vs WordPress Woocommerce, Shopify vs WooCommerce and much more.

 

What is Shopify?

 

Shopify is a software as a service SASS, which means that it is a service that rents your software. The store you have on Shopify is not really yours, since the day you stop paying, you will no longer have your store created. It is also limited to the changes that the company allows you to make. This platform has everything included, so you do not need a web hosting service.

 

What is WooCommerce?

 

WooCommerce is a plugin that is added to the most used platform in the world to create web pages: WordPress. It is completely free, you only need a web hosting service to operate and you can make as many changes to the platform as you require.

 

What is the difference between Shopify and WooCommerce?

 

Shopify is easier for beginners but it does come with a cost up front and as you need more features you will have to pay more. WooCommerce is free and although its learning curve may be steeper, a basic course will be enough to create an online store.

 

Let's analyze the advantages and disadvantages of Shopify and WooCommerce platforms from different perspectives.

 

Ease: How easy is it to create an online store?

 

The use of Shopify and WooCommerce is similar, they have very user-friendly editors with which it is very practical to create online stores, from this point of view, Shopify is the winner.

 

WooCommerce

 

Due to WooCommerce's flexibility to make all kinds of changes, it makes it a little more complex at first and a basic course is needed to understand how it works and create a store.

 

In summary, the steps to set up an online store in WooCommerce are:

 

• Hire a web hosting service.
• Install WordPress.
• Configure WooCommerce.
• Choose a topic.
• Create the store.
• Set up a payment gateway.

 

Shopify

 

Once you register an account and make your first payment, it will take just a few hours to have an online store up and running with a basic template.

 

To create a store on Shopify, the steps are:

 

• Create a Shopify account.
• Pay the first month.
• Hire a custom domain.
• Choose a template.

 

Price Cost: Shopify vs WooCommerce?

 

The price factor is considerably different and one of the biggest differences between Shopify vs WooCommerce. Without a doubt the winner in this category is WooCommerce.

 

WooCommerce

 

WooCommerce is free, however, the cost involved in using it to create an online store is a web hosting service with the domain. The truth is that it is very economical, a service that we highly recommend to start with top sites, where we can expect the best offers and discounts as well.

 

In addition, these hosting services include corporate email accounts, allowing you to have your emails personalized with your company name.

 

Shopify

 

Shopify is a platform that rents out its software to create online stores, meaning that once you stop paying, you will no longer have an online store. The prices of these may vary into these 3 plans:

 

• $29 per month.
• $79 per month.
• $299 per month.

 

Their basic plan starts at $29 per month and as you need special features you will need to upgrade to one of their higher plans.

 

SEO: How do they rank on Google?

 

SEO optimization to appear in the top spots on Google is essential for an online store, and due to the deep customization that WooCommerce allows in this regard, it is the winner.

 

WooCommerce

 

Thanks to plugins dedicated to SEO optimization such as Rank Math, they allow for in-depth SEO optimization in Shopify vs Wordpress Woocommerce with ample possibilities of positioning yourself in the first results on Google.

 

Shopify

 

The tools to optimize positioning on Google are limited and very basic, with SEO being the most important digital marketing strategy in e-commerce, which is a major disadvantage of this platform's online stores.

 

Conclusion

 

Shopify and WooCommerce are the best platforms to create an online store, but they have big differences as we saw throughout all the features. Choose the one that best suits you according to each of the points of view.

 

If you ask us for a final recommendation, we prefer WooCommerce since it allows you to start without an initial cost and allows you to grow as much as you want since, ultimately, the platform allows you to have an online store of your own that you can modify as much as you want.

 

Questions? Leave your questions in the comments section below and we’ll be happy to answer them at Discipline Infotech.