If you’re launching an online store in the UK, this is the decision everything else sits on. Shopify’s marketing is everywhere; WooCommerce powers more stores worldwide but doesn’t advertise at you. We build WooCommerce stores for a living — bias declared — so this comparison includes the cases where we tell clients to pick Shopify anyway.
WooCommerce stores for a living →
The Money — Three-Year Totals
Shopify Basic runs about £25–£30/month, but real stores rarely stay basic: apps for reviews, bundles, subscriptions and SEO commonly add £30–£100+ monthly, and unless you use Shopify Payments you’ll pay extra transaction fees on every sale. Three-year reality for a typical UK store: £2,000–£4,500+ in platform costs — and rising with your success.
WooCommerce: the software is free; you pay for the build (£850–£1,600 for most stores with us) plus hosting (£15–£40/month) and any premium extensions you choose. Three-year reality: usually £1,500–£3,000 all-in — front-loaded, then cheap to run, with NO per-sale platform cut, ever. The bigger you grow, the wider the gap.
Ownership and Control
Shopify is rental: excellent rental, but rental. Your store lives on their platform, under their rules, checkout customisation is fenced off, and leaving means rebuilding. WooCommerce is ownership: your files, your hosting, your checkout, your data — and the entire WordPress ecosystem for content and SEO attached. For businesses treating the store as a long-term asset, that difference compounds yearly.
Where Shopify Honestly Wins
Three real cases. One: you’re testing an idea and want a store live this weekend with zero technical anything — Shopify’s onboarding is genuinely superb. Two: you have no one (and no budget) for any maintenance ever; Shopify’s hosted model removes that duty. Three: heavy multichannel selling where Shopify’s native integrations fit your exact workflow. In these cases we say so and wish you well — it’s the right tool.
Where WooCommerce Wins (Most Growth-Minded UK Stores)
You want margins protected as you scale (no platform cut), full control of design and checkout, serious content-driven SEO alongside the shop, UK VAT and shipping handled your way, and an asset you own outright. Built properly — fast hosting, clean product architecture, product schema for rich results — WooCommerce gives a growing store room Shopify meters out by subscription tier.
Is WooCommerce really free?
The plugin is free; a working store isn’t — you’re paying for the build, hosting and any premium extensions. It’s still typically cheaper than Shopify over three years, and the gap grows with your sales because there’s no platform cut.
Can WooCommerce handle a large catalogue?
Comfortably — thousands of products on properly sized hosting. Catalogue size is a hosting question, not a platform limit, and we spec hosting to match yours.
Can I move my Shopify store to WooCommerce?
Yes — products, customers and order history migrate, and 301 redirects preserve your Google rankings through the move. It’s one of our most common projects.
