What you will get from this guide
- Shopify plan prices and WordPress running costs, with the sources and their limits
- An 8-question scorecard that gives you a recommendation from your own answers
- What changes if you start on one and switch to the other later
Shopify vs WordPress is mainly a question of what you sell. Shopify is a hosted platform built for selling products: setup, checkout, payments and hosting come together, and your costs are a monthly plan plus apps. WordPress is a general website system; with the WooCommerce plugin it can run a shop, and it suits businesses that need content, memberships or bookings alongside it. If you mostly sell products, Shopify is usually simpler. If your site is mostly content with a smaller shop, WordPress is usually more flexible.
On price, Shopify’s main plans are listed at about $39, $105 and $399 a month on monthly billing, with annual billing about 25% cheaper, according to third-party guides. WordPress software is free, but you pay for hosting, a domain, themes and maintenance. The scorecard below turns your answers into a recommendation. For build help on either, see our Shopify web design and WordPress web design guides.
AJ Creationz builds on both platforms and earns nothing more from one than the other. Many comparison articles online are affiliate-supported, which can tilt their verdicts.
Shopify vs WordPress cost
| Item | Shopify | WordPress (with WooCommerce) |
|---|---|---|
| Core cost | Basic $39, Grow $105, Advanced $399 per month ($29, $79, $299 on annual billing); Starter $5; Plus about $2,300 to $2,500 | Software free |
| Hosting | Included | $40 to $150 per year for a self-managed site |
| Domain | Extra, or via Shopify | $12 to $25 per year |
| Theme | Free and paid themes | Free or premium, about $30 to $100 |
| Extras | Apps for an established store about $200 to $500 per month in one guide; transaction fees when not using Shopify Payments | Paid plugins; security and updates are your responsibility |
| Build cost, freelancer | $2,000 to $10,000 | $1,500 to $5,000 |
| Build cost, agency | $8,000 to $50,000+ | $5,000 to $15,000 |
| Item | Shopify (UK) | WordPress (UK) |
|---|---|---|
| Core cost | Basic £19, Grow £49, Advanced £259 a month on yearly billing; Plus from £1,800 | Software free |
| Hosting | Included | Managed WordPress hosting £15 to £60 a month |
| Domain | Extra, or via Shopify | £10 to £20 a year |
| Payments | Shopify Payments from 2% + 25p per online order on Basic | Depends on your payment provider |
| Build cost, freelancer | Not separately reported in UK guides | £1,500 to £3,500 for a 4 to 6 page site |
| Build cost, agency | £5,000 to £15,000 for a typical UK ecommerce build | £3,500 to £8,000 custom design; WooCommerce from about £5,000 |
A fair way to compare is the three-year cost, not the sticker price. Use the worksheet in our website cost guide and add Shopify’s monthly plan and apps on one side, and hosting, plugins and maintenance on the other.
Shopify vs WooCommerce: how they differ in practice
- Setup. Shopify: pick a plan and theme, add products. WooCommerce: install WordPress, host it, add the plugin and configure payments and shipping.
- Maintenance. Shopify patches the platform for you. On WordPress you apply updates and manage security, or pay someone to.
- Flexibility. WordPress has a huge theme and plugin ecosystem and strong content tools. Shopify’s app store covers most store needs.
- Support. Shopify has built-in support. WordPress has none built in, so support comes from your host or developer.
- Control of data and hosting. WordPress lets you choose where the site lives. Shopify is a closed platform you rent.
Scorecard: Shopify or WordPress?
Answer each question. Add up the points in each column. A difference of three or more is a clear lean; closer than that and the platform matters less than the build quality.
| Question | Points to Shopify if… | Points to WordPress if… |
|---|---|---|
| 1. What is the site mainly for? | Selling products | Publishing content, bookings or memberships, with an optional shop |
| 2. How many products? | Dozens to thousands, with variants | A handful |
| 3. Who will manage it day to day? | A non-technical owner who wants low upkeep | Someone comfortable with updates, or you pay for maintenance |
| 4. How important is blog and SEO content control? | Standard blog is enough | Deep content control is central |
| 5. Do you need custom features? | Mostly standard store features | Bespoke logic, integrations or memberships |
| 6. Do you want predictable monthly costs? | Yes, plan plus apps | I accept variable hosting and plugin costs |
| 7. Will you sell across countries or channels? | Yes: multi-currency, social and marketplace selling | Single market |
| 8. How much do you want to own and control the hosting? | Not important | Very important |
Example: a clothing brand with 200 products, a non-technical owner and plans to sell in two countries would score roughly 6 to 2 for Shopify. A consultancy with a large resource library, bookings and 6 products would score the other way.
Switching from WordPress to Shopify, or back
Moving platforms changes your URLs, templates and often your metadata, so rankings can fall if the move is not planned. Map every old URL to a new one, keep titles and descriptions, and monitor Search Console afterwards. The steps are in our website migration SEO checklist. Plan migration as a separate cost: guides put migration from another platform at about $1,500 to $15,000 on top of a build.
Do this next
Fill in the scorecard, then price the winner over three years using the cost table. If the scores are close, tell us what you sell and how many products you have and we will recommend one in writing.
Frequently asked questions
Is Shopify better than WordPress?
Neither is better for everyone. Shopify is usually simpler for selling products; WordPress is usually more flexible for content-led sites. Use the scorecard.
Is Shopify or WooCommerce cheaper?
WooCommerce software is free but you pay for hosting, plugins and maintenance. Shopify costs a monthly plan plus apps. Compare three-year costs, not sticker prices.
Which is better for SEO?
Both can rank well. The difference is mostly in how well the site is built, structured and maintained, not the platform.
Can I use WordPress for content and Shopify for my store?
Yes, some businesses run a WordPress site for content and Shopify for checkout. It adds complexity, so it needs a clear reason.
How hard is it to switch platforms later?
It is a real project with redirects, data migration and testing. Choose carefully now, and plan migration costs if you switch.
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