Shopify or WooCommerce —
which one for your store?

The real difference

Shopify is a rented shop: everything works out of the box, hosting and security are handled, and you pay a monthly toll forever. WooCommerce is a shop you own: more flexible, cheaper to run at scale, and entirely your responsibility to maintain. Neither is better — they suit different businesses.

When we say Shopify

Choose Shopify if you want to sell this month, your catalogue is under a few hundred products, and you'd rather pay subscription fees than think about hosting. The admin is genuinely excellent, staff can learn it in an afternoon, and the app store covers most needs. The catch: transaction fees stack up, and deep customisation means paying for apps or fighting the theme system.

When we say WooCommerce

Choose WooCommerce if margins are tight, the catalogue is large or complex (think thousands of SKUs, trade pricing, weird shipping rules), or you want full ownership. No per-transaction platform fee, and it does things Shopify genuinely can't without expensive workarounds. The trade-off: someone has to maintain it — either you or a maintenance plan.

The Australian specifics

Both handle GST fine. Shopify's AUD pricing and local payment gateways are sorted out of the box. WooCommerce needs a bit more setup for AusPost shipping rates and Afterpay, but nothing painful. Where it matters: if most of your customers are mobile — and they are — both platforms are fine, as long as the theme is built light.

The deciding question

Ask yourself: 'Do I want to think about my website software ever again?' If no — Shopify, happily pay the toll. If yes, or if your margins can't absorb transaction fees — WooCommerce. And if you're still not sure, that's literally what our first conversation is for.