Shopify vs WooCommerce vs custom: which store is right?

There is no single best e-commerce platform, only the best fit for your products, your team and your plans. Here is how the three most common options compare.

Shopify: fastest way to start selling

Shopify is a hosted platform: you pay a monthly subscription and Shopify looks after hosting, security and updates. It is quick to launch, has many apps and themes, and is easy for non-technical teams.

The trade-offs are ongoing subscription and app costs, transaction fees in some setups, and less control over how deeply you can customise checkout and data.

WooCommerce: flexible and owned by you

WooCommerce is a free plugin for WordPress that you host yourself. You own everything, can change almost anything, and can combine your shop with a powerful content site.

In return you are responsible for hosting, speed, backups, updates and security, and many extensions add their own costs. It works best with someone looking after it.

Custom store: built around your business

A custom-built store makes sense when your products, pricing or processes do not fit standard platforms: complex configurators, B2B pricing, subscriptions, marketplaces or tight integration with your own systems.

It costs more to build and needs a reliable development partner, but there are no platform limits and no per-sale platform fees.

How to decide

• Small catalogue, want to launch fast: Shopify.
• Content and SEO matter, want full ownership: WooCommerce.
• Unusual products or processes, or growing fast: custom.

Whatever you choose, plan for payments, shipping, taxes, product photos and how you will get traffic, because the platform is only one part of a successful store.