Shopify vs WooCommerce: The Operator’s Decision Framework
The “best platform” question is usually a proxy for who will own operations. Shopify reduces technical burden; WooCommerce increases flexibility but shifts cost into engineering and maintenance.
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Compare the real trade-offs
| Dimension | Shopify | WooCommerce |
|---|---|---|
| Time to launch | Fast | Medium–slow |
| Ongoing maintenance | Low | Medium–high (plugins, updates) |
| Customization | High within platform | Very high (you own stack) |
| Predictability | High | Varies by hosting + plugin quality |
| Total cost | Recurring fees + apps | Hosting + dev time + plugins |
User cases
Choose Shopify if…
- You want checkout reliability and decent performance without devops.
- Marketing needs to ship landing pages and merchandising quickly.
- You are optimizing for conversion and speed-to-iteration.
Choose WooCommerce if…
- You have technical ownership and want deep customization.
- You need unconventional product logic and are willing to build it.
- You want to control hosting, data layer, and integrations end-to-end.
Migrations: the “no regrets” approach
- Map revenue-critical pages (home, collections, top products).
- Export products/customers/orders; reconcile SKUs and variants.
- Plan redirects from day one; treat SEO like a migration project, not an afterthought.
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