Choosing the right platform for your eCommerce website is one of the most important decisions for any online business. Two major players dominate this space — Shopify and WordPress (with WooCommerce). Both platforms come with powerful features, but they differ significantly in terms of ease of use, customisation, pricing and scalability. The right choice will most likely come down to your business needs, technical skills and long-term plans. In this article, we weigh up Shopify vs WordPress to help you decide which platform is best for your eCommerce website.
WordPress, combined with WooCommerce, offers more complexity but also significantly more control than you get with Shopify. While WordPress isn’t quite as plug-and-play as Shopify, it empowers users to fully control every aspect of their website, from hosting to design. Yes, you’ll need to set up hosting, security and various plugins to optimise your website (if you work with a web design agency, this will all be done for you!*), but this effort results in complete ownership and total flexibility. For those willing to invest a little more time, WordPress allows for endless customisation and scalability. It powers 43.5% of websites across the web for a reason, and this really is one of them.
*As well as agencies, there are also website-as-a-service platforms available to those looking to work with WordPress. These allow you to get started with WordPress and WooCommerce without configuring it all yourself. However, essential hosting and security services aren’t always guaranteed with these platforms.
Shopify is a fully hosted, user-friendly platform designed to get your online store up and running quickly. It handles hosting, security, and maintenance, allowing you to focus on selling. With its drag-and-drop interface, you can create a functional store without needing technical expertise. For those who want simplicity and fast setup, Shopify excels in delivering a quick eCommerce solution with minimal hassle.
Shopify is arguably easier for beginners, but WordPress offers far more flexibility and control for those willing to learn or work with a website development team.
Because it’s an open-source platform, working with WordPress means you have total control over the design and functionality of your website. There are thousands of free and premium themes available, and you can customise them to your heart’s content using a wide range of plugins or custom code. If you’re building a unique brand or need specialised features, WordPress will allow you to build a completely personalised site that suits your vision. You’re not restricted by pre-built templates or proprietary code.
Shopify comes with a selection of professionally designed themes, many of which are mobile-friendly and optimised for conversion. You can customise these themes using Shopify’s intuitive tools, but more advanced changes often require knowledge of Shopify’s proprietary Liquid language. While you can extend functionality with Shopify apps, you’ll be working within a structured framework that may limit deep customisations.
If customisation is a priority, WordPress is the clear winner. It gives you complete creative freedom, whereas Shopify’s design options are somewhat limited.
While WordPress itself is a content management system, when paired with WooCommerce, it becomes a highly capable eCommerce platform. WooCommerce is free to use, but more advanced features—such as subscriptions, product add-ons, or memberships—are available through paid extensions. However, WordPress really shines in its ability to integrate with a vast ecosystem of third-party plugins and tools. You can add just about any feature or function you can imagine, making it perfect for businesses that need specific or unique solutions.
Shopify is designed specifically for eCommerce, which means that many essential features come built-in, such as product management, payment gateways, shipping options, and analytics. Shopify’s App Store offers thousands of apps that can extend your store’s functionality, though many of these come at an extra cost. The platform is feature-rich and caters to eCommerce merchants who want convenience without extensive customisation.
WordPress and WooCommerce offer more flexibility and potential for unique features. Shopify provides everything you need for eCommerce out of the box but can be limited for advanced customisations or unique features.
WordPress is the gold standard for SEO. With plugins like Yoast, you can fine-tune every aspect of your on-page SEO, from meta tags to advanced technical SEO features. WordPress also makes it easy to create and manage a blog, giving you a powerful content marketing tool. For businesses looking to drive organic traffic, WordPress allows you to implement a much more sophisticated SEO strategy, giving you full control over how your site is indexed and ranked by search engines.
Related Read: A Quick Guide to Yoast
Shopify comes with a number of built-in SEO features like customizable meta tags, alt text for images, and a mobile-friendly structure, which helps with search engine rankings. It also integrates with many popular marketing tools and apps, allowing you to run email campaigns or retargeting ads easily. While Shopify’s SEO tools are effective, they don’t offer the same depth of control as WordPress.
WordPress is superior for SEO and content marketing, offering much more control and flexibility. Shopify provides the basics but lacks advanced SEO options.
Related Read: KIJO’s Guide to Onsite SEO
WordPress itself is free, but there are costs associated with hosting (starting as low as £3 per month), premium themes, plugins, and any additional WooCommerce extensions you may need. However, the beauty of WordPress is that you have more control over these expenses. You can choose hosting that fits your budget, opt for free plugins, or invest in premium options as your business grows. The total cost can be much lower than Shopify if managed properly, giving you more freedom over how you allocate resources.
Shopify’s pricing starts at £19 per month for its basic plan, but as you grow and need more features or apps, the costs can add up. Additional themes, apps, and transaction fees (unless using Shopify Payments) can increase your expenses. However, Shopify offers a clear and structured pricing model, which includes hosting, security, and customer support, making it easier to predict ongoing costs.
WordPress offers more cost flexibility, allowing you to scale up or down as needed. Shopify is straightforward but can become expensive over time, especially as you add more features.
WordPress can scale just as well as Shopify, but it requires more proactive management. To handle increased traffic, you may need to upgrade your hosting plan, use performance-boosting plugins, and ensure proper security measures are in place. With the right hosting provider and technical setup, WordPress can handle everything from small businesses to large enterprises. The key is to ensure your website is optimised for growth from the start.
Shopify is designed to scale as your business grows. The platform manages all server and performance-related aspects for you, so you won’t have to worry about website crashes or slow loading times during high traffic periods. As you grow, you can easily upgrade to more advanced Shopify plans with additional features to meet your needs. This makes Shopify a solid choice for businesses that prioritise ease of scalability.
Shopify is easier to scale without technical intervention, but WordPress can be just as scalable with the right setup. If you have the right hosting and performance tools, WordPress offers greater flexibility and control in the long term.
In conclusion, you should choose Shopify if you’re looking for an easy, out-of-the-box eCommerce solution that requires minimal technical knowledge. It’s a good solution for small to medium businesses that need a simple platform with solid built-in features, without the need for extensive customisation.
However, if you want full control over your website, from design to functionality, you should choose WordPress. It’s a better fit for businesses that value flexibility, SEO, and content marketing, or have specific needs that Shopify’s limited customisation can’t fulfil. While WordPress requires more hands-on management, the level of customisation and scalability it offers makes it the superior option for businesses that want a highly tailored eCommerce experience.
Ultimately, if you’re ready to invest time in learning or collaborating with an experienced web development team, WordPress is an exceptionally powerful platform, offering limitless customisation, improved SEO, and full control over your website’s long-term growth. For those who want complete ownership of their website, including all its code, WordPress stands out as the top choice. As an agency, flexibility and scalability are key for us and our clients. We often encounter unique requirements and complex integrations that, in our experience, WordPress manages seamlessly.
However, there are clear advantages to both WordPress and Shopify. Our expertise means we can advise your business on the best solution.
There is also the option of Headless WordPress! Headless WordPress refers to using WordPress as a backend content management system (CMS) without relying on its native frontend, delivering content via APIs (REST or GraphQL) to a custom frontend built with frameworks like React, Vue, or Next.js.
When integrated with Shopify, WordPress handles content like blogs and pages, while Shopify manages eCommerce functionality, including product catalogues, baskets, and checkouts. The frontend application fetches data from both WordPress and Shopify APIs, creating a unified experience where content and products coexist seamlessly. This approach can combine the strengths of WordPress’s content management with Shopify’s popular eCommerce capabilities, enabling highly customised designs, improved performance through static-site generation, and scalability for complex projects.
Although it does offer benefits like flexibility, speed, and good user experiences, a headless WordPress-Shopify setup does require managing multiple systems and APIs, higher development costs, and additional SEO configurations. However, this can sometimes still be the ideal option for businesses needing custom, scalable solutions.
If you want to work with a team of WordPress and Headless WordPress experts, reach out to us. We’d be delighted to help!
Need expert guidance on your website design, working with WordPress or Headless WordPress? Book a complimentary, 30-minute consultation with our Head of Partnerships & Co-Founder, Kirk Thompson. During your call, we’ll review your website’s current performance, discuss your goals, analyse competitor insights, and explore the potential of a WordPress-powered website. Let’s bring your vision to life—book your free consultation via the link below:
