What are the differences between WooCommerce and Shopify?

If we are thinking about creating online store in real-quick and get going then we will find out WooCommerce or Shopify. Both WooCommerce and Shopify are good, secure and useful for creating online store for selling products.

What is WooCommerce?

WooCommerce is an open source eCommerce platform built for WordPress for selling product online. It is free, powerful and popular online eCommerce platform. World’s 30% online eCommerce stores are built with WooCommerce.

What is Shopify?

Shopify is a complete commerce platform that allows us to start, grow, and manage a business. By using Shopify we can create and customize an online store easily. Shopify is NOT free but one we build an online store without any technical knowledge.

Following are some differences on WooCommerce and Shopify in terms of advantages:

WooCommerce

Shopify

Absolutely free to useNot free. It has a free trail version
Lots of theme availableIt also has nice, professional themes
Setup needs a bit of technical knowledgeSetup is relatively easy and no technical knowledge is required
Lot of plugins to useIt also has lot of plugins
More control over the codeThe control is limited
The payment gateway needs to be setupInstant payment gateway
Almost no tech supportTech support is good
A blog or website is integratedNo blog available
Good SEOSEO is average

Following are some differences on WooCommerce and Shopify in terms of disadvantages:

WooCommerce

Shopify

It requires frequent updateIt is handled by the system
It is less costlyIt is costly
It has security risk if things are not done rightIt has less security risk
It might have SSL cost if free SSL is not usedSSL comes with the system
Too many plugins might conflictsLess chance of conflicts
Customization is allowed at any levelVery limited in case of customization

Conclusion

From the above comparison we can see both the eCommerce platform has some advantages and disadvantages. Shopify is costly but WooCommerce requires technical knowledge. In the conclusion we say:

Shopify

When we need a proof of concept to be delivered quickly and to start quickly we can try Shopify.

WooCommerce

We we need a mature, advanced and sustainable eCommerce system we should try using WooCommerce.