Three paths to an online store. Each suits different business stages, budgets, and technical requirements.
Overview
Shopify: Fully hosted e-commerce platform. Everything included: hosting, checkout, payments, inventory, shipping. Start selling in hours.
WooCommerce: Free WordPress plugin. Self-hosted. Requires WordPress, hosting, and setup. Maximum WordPress ecosystem flexibility.
Custom E-commerce: Purpose-built online store using frameworks like Next.js with Stripe. Full control over every pixel and process.
Cost Comparison
Shopify
| Item | Monthly Cost |
|---|---|
| Basic plan | $39 |
| Standard plan | $105 |
| Advanced plan | $399 |
| Shopify Plus | $2,000+ |
| Transaction fees (if not Shopify Payments) | 0.5-2% |
| Premium theme | $4-20 (amortized) |
| Apps (average store) | $50-200 |
| Typical total | $100-600/month |
WooCommerce
| Item | Monthly Cost |
|---|---|
| WordPress hosting | $10-100 |
| WooCommerce plugin | $0 (free) |
| Premium theme | $3-10 (amortized) |
| Essential plugins (security, backup, SEO) | $20-50 |
| Payment processing (Stripe) | 2.9% + $0.30 |
| SSL certificate | $0 (Let's Encrypt) |
| Typical total | $30-200/month |
Custom E-commerce
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Development (one-time) | $20,000-100,000+ |
| Hosting (Vercel) | $0-100/month |
| Payment processing (Stripe) | 2.9% + $0.30 |
| CMS/admin panel | $0-100/month |
| Ongoing development | $1,000-5,000/month |
| Monthly (after build) | $1,000-5,200/month |
| Year 1 total | $32,000-162,400 |
Feature Comparison
| Feature | Shopify | WooCommerce | Custom |
|---|---|---|---|
| Setup time | Hours | Days | Weeks-Months |
| Hosting included | Yes | No | No |
| Payment processing | Built-in | Plugin (Stripe/PayPal) | Direct integration |
| Inventory management | Built-in | Built-in + plugins | Custom |
| Shipping calculation | Built-in | Plugin | Custom |
| Tax calculation | Built-in | Plugin | Custom or API |
| Multi-currency | Built-in | Plugin | Custom |
| Abandoned cart recovery | Built-in | Plugin | Custom |
| Product variants | 100 per product | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Checkout customization | Limited (Plus = full) | Full | Full |
| SEO control | Good | Full | Full |
| Speed optimization | Managed (limited control) | Full control | Full control |
| Custom functionality | Apps + Liquid templates | Plugins + PHP code | Unlimited |
| POS integration | Shopify POS | Plugins | Custom |
Performance
| Metric | Shopify | WooCommerce | Custom (Next.js) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Typical page speed | 2-4s | 2-6s | 0.5-2s |
| Lighthouse score | 40-70 | 30-70 | 80-100 |
| CDN | Global CDN included | Must configure | Vercel Edge Network |
| Image optimization | Basic | Plugin (Smush, etc.) | next/image (automatic) |
| Server response | Managed (no control) | Depends on host | Optimized |
Custom development produces the fastest stores. Shopify is consistent but not fast. WooCommerce varies wildly based on hosting and plugins.
Scalability
| Revenue Level | Shopify | WooCommerce | Custom |
|---|---|---|---|
| $0-100K/year | Ideal | Good | Overkill |
| $100K-1M/year | Good | Good | Good |
| $1M-10M/year | Good (Shopify Plus) | Challenging | Excellent |
| $10M+/year | Shopify Plus | Not recommended | Purpose-built |
Shopify scales without effort (they handle infrastructure). WooCommerce requires careful server management at scale. Custom is built to your exact scaling needs.
When to Choose Shopify
- Fastest launch (selling within hours)
- Non-technical founder who needs to manage the store themselves
- Budget under $20,000 for the complete store
- Standard e-commerce (physical products, standard checkout flow)
- Shopify's app ecosystem covers your needs
- POS needed for a physical retail location
When to Choose WooCommerce
- Existing WordPress site that needs e-commerce
- Budget-conscious (lower monthly costs)
- Content-heavy store (blog + shop combined)
- WordPress developer on your team
- Many product variations (WooCommerce has no variant limits)
- High customization needs without enterprise budget
When to Build Custom
- Unique checkout experience (configurators, subscriptions, B2B pricing)
- Performance is revenue-critical (every 100ms impacts conversions)
- Complex business logic (custom pricing rules, inventory systems, integrations)
- Brand differentiation (the store IS the product experience)
- Headless commerce (custom frontend with Shopify/Saleor backend)
- Revenue exceeds $1M/year and margins justify the investment
Headless Commerce: The Hybrid Approach
Use Shopify's backend (inventory, checkout, payments) with a custom Next.js frontend:
Benefits:
- Shopify handles commerce complexity
- Custom frontend for speed and design freedom
- Best of both worlds
Cost: $15,000-50,000 development + Shopify plan + hosting
This is increasingly popular for mid-market stores that need performance and design flexibility without building commerce infrastructure from scratch.
Our Recommendation
| Scenario | Recommendation |
|---|---|
| Starting out, < $100K revenue | Shopify |
| WordPress site adding a shop | WooCommerce |
| $100K-1M, need speed/design | Headless (Shopify + Next.js) |
| $1M+, complex requirements | Custom or headless |
| Unique business model | Custom |
Contact us to discuss your e-commerce project.