Shopify and WooCommerce are two of the most popular and well-known content management systems (CMS) you can use to build your website. Shopify runs more than 1.7 million stores around the world, while WooCommerce is used by 4.4 million stores around the world. With these eCommerce platforms, you can easily make your own website even if you don’t know how to code. This is because they make the process of building a website simple and easy for regular users. Both Shopify and WooCommerce have their pros and cons, but depending on the features you want for your store’s website, either one of them could be a good choice.
In this article, you’ll learn about the main differences between these two platforms so that you can make a better choice about which one to use. You will have all the information you need to know exactly which platform is best for you and your brand.
What are the main differences?
When you look at Shopify and WooCommerce side by side, it’s clear that both have their main pros and cons. Before getting into more details, the goal of this section is to show the main ways in which the two are different.
Pros and Cons of Shopify
The best things about Shopify are:
- Shopify is an all-in-one solution for eCommerce;
- Fair and clear pricing so you know exactly how much you’ll have to pay each month for Shopify’s services;
- You can add thousands of apps from the Shopify app store to your website to change the way it looks or the things it can do.
- There are many themes from which you can choose to make your Shopify web design stand out;
- Shopify gives you the chance to have your website hosted;
- It lets you get your store up and running in just a few minutes;
- Shopify makes it easy to drop ship.
The main problems with Shopify are:
- You won’t have as much control over your Shopify website as you would on other platforms. You’ll also have to consider your monthly payments, which are likely to go up even more in the future.
WooCommerce’s pros and cons
The best things about WooCommerce are:
- WooCommerce is an open-source plugin for building stores in WordPress;
- WooCommerce lets you change everything about your store, inside and out.
- There are thousands of extensions like these best WooCommerce plugins that were made by WooCommerce and by other people.
- You can choose from a lot of different themes to make your store stand out;
- When you have a WordPress site, it only takes a few minutes to turn it into a WooCommerce store;
- You can get the WooCommerce plugin for free and use it as much as you want.
The main issues with WooCommerce are:
Even though the WooCommerce plugin itself is free, you would have to pay for things like high-quality themes and plugins and hosting services, which can quickly add up and make it more expensive than Shopify. You would also have to take care of your own security, hosting, and backups.
Now that you know the main pros and cons of each platform, keep reading to learn more about how Shopify and WooCommerce are different.
The way your website looks and how it was made.
When it comes to eCommerce stores, design is very important because it affects what people buy. Customers will be more likely to trust you and your business if your website looks like it was made by a professional.
Create on Shopify
Shopify has a total of 80 themes, and most of them can be changed in terms of style or color. This means that you have around 200 themes to choose from. Most of the themes cost money, and some can cost as much as 350 USD. However, there are some free themes that come in more than one color. All Shopify themes are made by professional web designers, so you can be sure they are of high quality and have beautiful designs. This is one of the things that makes Shopify so popular.
One of the best and most important things about Shopify themes is that they all work on mobile devices. In today’s world, this is becoming more and more important. By the end of 2021, MCommerce sales are expected to make up 72.9% of all eCommerce sales. This means that close to three-quarters of eCommerce shoppers buy things on their phones. Because of this, you must have a website that works well on mobile devices and is easy to use on all devices.
The only bad thing about Shopify themes is that there are so many of them to choose from. With only a little more than 200 themes to choose from, you will have to focus a lot on customization. If you know how to code, you can use Shopify’s “Liquid” language to make bigger changes that will make your brand stand out. However, you will need to know how to code to do this.
Make things on WooCommerce
WooCommerce is a plugin that makes it easier to sell things on WordPress-based websites. Unlike Shopify, it does not come with design features. The way your store looks will depend on the WordPress theme you put on your website before. WooCommerce works with most WordPress themes, so you can choose the one you like best and make it work with WooCommerce as well.
On the other hand, you can find themes that are made for WooCommerce and help your products stand out. If you have the money, we think you should choose one of these. Since almost any developer can make WooCommerce themes, you can look through online marketplaces to find a unique theme for your store that you will never see on a competitor’s website.
How Shopify and WooCommerce set their prices
We’ve already talked about how the pricing for each CMS platform is very different in the pros and cons section of this article. Shopify’s prices are clear and easy to understand, but WooCommerce’s prices change based on a number of factors.
Shopify wants to make it as easy as possible for you to create and manage your website by giving you a single, all-in-one solution. All you have to do is buy a Shopify monthly plan for a fixed price, and you’ll be ready to go. Each monthly plan comes with an eCommerce website, a blog, hosting, and an SSL certificate that lets you open your store right away. But if you want to change your store even more and make it your own, you will have to pay a one-time fee for a paid theme and pay a monthly fee for apps.
With WooCommerce, setting up your store is free, but you will have to take care of hosting and security yourself through a third party. You will also have to buy a theme and any other extensions you need to make your store look the way you want. At the end of the day, when you add up the costs of running your website on both platforms, they are probably going to be about the same.
You should also think about the fact that both platforms charge a transaction fee for each sale you make through them. The amount of the transaction fee can also change depending on the plan you choose or the country from which the order is paid. But keep in mind that there will be a fee for each sale you make, so check these out before deciding between Shopify and WooCommerce.
Shopify and WooCommerce both have different features.
Both Shopify and WooCommerce give your eCommerce store the features you need to sell your products. The features that come with the store are pretty basic, but you can add apps and extensions to your website to give it all the features you need.
Shopify’s monthly plans include a number of features
Not all monthly plans come with these features, so this list can change based on how much you pay for your plan.
- You can add as many products as you want to your store;
- You can store as many files as you want, no matter how big they are;
- Orders can be made both by hand and by computer;
- For marketing, discount codes can be made and added to cart totals;
- On your website, you can run a blog;
- Several credit card companies can be used;
- You can choose to show your store in more than one language;
- Rates for shipping and taxes can be changed by hand;
- On your website, customers can make profiles;
- Integrates well with dropshipping apps;
- You can add your social media to the website for your store;
- Daily backups give you peace of mind;
- Access to reports and statistics about how well your website and products do;
- CSV files can be used to bring in a lot of products at once;
- helps keep track of inventory;
- Makes it possible for your customers to buy gift cards;
- Helps find carts that have been left behind.
WooCommerce has free add-ons.
As a free open-source platform, WooCommerce focuses on extensions made by third-party developers that you will probably have to pay for. However, there are some features that come with WooCommerce that you don’t have to pay for.
- You can list and sell as many physical and digital items as you want;
- PayPal and Stripe can be used to make payments;
- Rates for shipping and taxes can be changed by hand;
- You can create unlimited product categories;
- Helps you keep track of your stock and inventory;
- Structure that works well on mobile devices;
- You have full control over all of your data and backups;
- You don’t have to buy a new WordPress theme to keep using the one you already have.
- Numerous extensions are available at your fingertip;
- A free Facebook store extension can help you out;
As you can see, neither Shopify nor WooCommerce is missing any important features, so your choice between the two will come down to what you like best. Shopify offers an easy-to-use and functional solution while WooCommerce can be more complex to configure as it is an extension of WordPress. But it does give you a platform with more things to do.
Shopify and WooCommerce differ in how much help they offer.
When you build your own website without the help of a web developer, customer service is very important because you are likely to run into problems as you go.
Shopify is known for its world-class customer service, which you can reach by phone or email at any time of day or night. You can also read articles about how to start, run, market, and grow your eCommerce store in the Shopify Help Center, which is a great knowledge base.
On the other hand, since WooCommerce is a free plugin, customer support is not as easy as it is with Shopify. You can get help from WooCommerce’s support team or from other developers by reading the WordPress forum or posting a question there. You can also go to WooCommerce.com, sign in with your user account, and send in tickets to get help.
Since both CMSs are used by a lot of people, you can probably find the answers to your questions on blogs online. You just have to do your own research.
Shopify and WooCommerce both have add-ons and plugins
No matter which platform you choose, plugins and extensions will be a big part of how you customize your site. You can add plugins or extensions to both platforms to improve all parts of your business, like marketing, stock management, customer service, and SEO. Both Shopify and WooCommerce have free and paid plugins and extensions that can be reviewed by other customers to help you choose the best one for your store. With Shopify, you can install one of about 1,200 trustworthy apps.
On the other hand, WooCommerce gives you over 50,000 add-ons to choose from so you can make a store that is truly unique and doesn’t have any limits. This is because WooCommerce is an open-source platform, which means that anyone can make an add-on for it. But this comes with some risks because these add-ons aren’t as well managed as Shopify.
Optimization for Search Engines (SEO)
Search Engine Optimization is important if you want customers to find you naturally, visit your website, and then buy something from you. If you do SEO right, you can move up in search engine results, making your website more visible to people who are looking for the keywords you are targeting. When it comes to SEO, it’s hard to say which platform is better between Shopify and WooCommerce because both can help your store show up on the first page of search results.
You can build an eCommerce store with code that is SEO-friendly on both platforms. Also, both have a lot of add-ons and apps that let you dig deep into metadata, change URLs, and scan your site to see where it could be better. The only difference is that, since WooCommerce is an open-source platform, it has a lot more add-ons for you to choose from
Shopify vs. WooCommerce
If you want to get into the dropshipping business, it is very important to choose an eCommerce option that lets you integrate well with your dropshipping supplier. Leading providers like dropship-empire offer automated integration with the most popular eCommerce platforms, such as Shopify and WooCommerce.
The WooCommerce integration is supported by a plugin that you can download and add to your store. For Shopify-based stores, dropship-empire has made a unique Shopify App that you can easily install from the Shopify App store. You’ll benefit from automated integration, which lets you import products in bulk, keep track of stock levels automatically and in real time, control and set your desired profit margins, convert currencies automatically, and sync your orders with your supplier in real time.
So, if you want to use dropship-empire for dropshipping, you can build your eCommerce store on either Shopify or WordPress + WooCommerce. To put it another way, dropship-empirecatalog of high-end products works with both options, so you’ll have an easy time dropshipping.
To sum up
After reading this article, you know everything you need to know about the differences between Shopify and WooCommerce. This makes it easy for you to choose which one is best for you and your brand. Both CMSs are great ways to build your own store, so your choice of platform will come down to how you like the design, features, extensions, and other marketing and sales tools. We suggest that you make a list of your wants and needs before making a choice. This will help you understand your business better and help you choose the winner.