Choosing between Shopify and WooCommerce is one of the first big decisions when you start selling online, and it is easy to get wrong. Most comparisons are written by companies that sell one of the two, and many skip the details UK sellers actually care about, such as VAT, UK payment fees, and how much the whole thing really costs.
This guide compares Shopify vs WooCommerce honestly for UK businesses. It covers verified costs, a worked example, and the situations where each one is the better choice. Prices were checked in October 2026 and can change, so confirm them on each platform before you commit.
Shopify is a hosted platform. You pay a monthly fee, and Shopify looks after the hosting, security, and updates. WooCommerce is a free plugin that turns a WordPress website into an online shop, so you choose and pay for your own hosting and look after the maintenance.
In short, Shopify is simpler and more predictable, while WooCommerce is more flexible and gives you more control. Neither is automatically cheaper or better. The right choice depends on your products, your budget, your technical confidence and how you plan to grow.
How Much Does Shopify Cost in the UK?
Shopify’s UK plans are listed on its pricing page as follows. The lower price applies when you pay yearly.
Basic: £25 a month, or £19 a month billed yearly. Online card payments through Shopify Payments cost 2% + 25p.
Grow: £65 a month, or £49 a month billed yearly. Online card payments cost 1.7% + 25p.
Advanced: £344 a month, or £259 a month billed yearly. Online card payments cost 1.5% + 25p.
There is an important catch. If you use a payment provider other than Shopify Payments, Shopify adds its own transaction fee on top of the provider’s charges: 2% on Basic, 1% on Grow and 0.6% on Advanced. Shopify also offers an introductory trial, which at the time of writing was 3 days free followed by £1 a month for three months.
Apps are the other cost to plan for. Many features, such as advanced reviews, subscriptions and email marketing, come from paid apps, often charged monthly. Check whether the prices shown include VAT before you budget.
How Much Does WooCommerce Cost in the UK?
The WooCommerce plugin itself is free, but running a shop on it is not. You will pay for several things:
Hosting. Roughly £5 to £25 a month for a small store on decent shared or managed hosting, and more as traffic grows.
Domain and security. A domain typically costs £7 to £12 a year, and you should budget for an SSL certificate (often included), backups and security tools.
Theme and extensions. Many themes are free, but paid themes and extensions for subscriptions, bookings or shipping rules commonly add £100 to £500 a year, depending on what you need.
Maintenance. Updates, backups and security fixes need someone’s time. That is either yours or a developer’s.
Payment fees. Stripe and similar gateways typically charge around 1.4% to 1.5% + 20p on standard UK cards, with no extra platform fee on top. Check current rates with your provider.
Which Is Cheaper? A Worked Example
Take a store taking £5,000 a month from 100 orders averaging £50 each. These figures use the Shopify rates above and typical WooCommerce costs, and they leave out apps, plugins and VAT.
Shopify Basic with Shopify Payments (billed yearly): £19 plan + £100 (2%) + £25 (25p x 100 orders) = about £144 a month.
Shopify Basic with Stripe: £19 plan + £100 Shopify fee + about £95 Stripe fees = about £214 a month.
WooCommerce on £20 hosting: £20 hosting + about £95 payment fees = about £115 a month.
On those numbers, WooCommerce looks slightly cheaper, but the gap is small, and it ignores the biggest cost differences. Shopify’s apps add a monthly bill, while WooCommerce’s extensions, security and maintenance add a yearly one plus your time. A store that needs lots of add-ons can cost similar amounts on either platform.
The honest conclusion is that fees are rarely what separates the two. Time, add-ons, and the cost of getting it built properly matter far more.
Which Is Easier to Use and Faster to Launch?
Shopify is easier for most beginners. You pick a theme, add products, and start selling, with hosting, security and checkout already sorted. WooCommerce takes longer because you set up hosting, WordPress, a theme and several plugins first, and you need to keep them updated.
That said, a store you build yourself often looks like it. If sales matter to your business, professional e-commerce website development on either platform usually pays for itself through better design, faster pages, and a smoother checkout, which are the things that turn visitors into orders.
Which Is Better for SEO and Site Speed?
Both can rank well on Google. Shopify is hosted on fast infrastructure, so speed is a solid baseline, but its URL structure is fixed, with paths such as /products/ and /collections/. WooCommerce gives you full control over URLs, content, and technical settings, which helps larger or more complex sites, but its speed depends heavily on your hosting and plugins.
In practice, good SEO comes from your content, product pages and site structure, not the platform. A well-run store on either one beats a neglected store on the other.
What Do UK Sellers Need to Know? VAT, Payments, Shipping and the Law
This is where generic comparisons let UK businesses down.
VAT. You must register for VAT if your taxable turnover goes over £90,000 in a 12-month period, according to GOV.UK. Both platforms let you display prices including VAT and add VAT to orders and invoices, but you need to set it up correctly. Consumers expect VAT-inclusive prices.
Payments. UK shoppers expect cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay and PayPal, and many also like buy-now-pay-later options. Both platforms support these. Remember Shopify’s extra fee if you use a third-party gateway.
Shipping. Both connect to Royal Mail, DPD, and other UK couriers through built-in tools, apps, or plugins. Check the monthly cost of the shipping tools you need.
The law. UK online sellers must follow the Consumer Contracts Regulations, which generally give customers a 14-day cancellation right for distance sales. You also need a privacy policy, cookie consent, and UK GDPR-compliant handling of customer data. Neither platform does this for you, so your own policies still matter.
Which Handles Growth Better?
Both scale, in different ways. Shopify scales by moving up plans. Advanced lowers your card rates, and Shopify Plus, aimed at large and fast-growing brands, starts from £1,800 a month. That is a big jump, but it brings enterprise features and support.
WooCommerce scales through better hosting and development work. You can handle very high volumes, but only if the hosting, caching and plugins are set up properly, which usually means paying for managed hosting or a developer. A small store rarely hits these limits, so do not let future growth push you into a more complicated setup than you need today.
Who Owns Your Store, and What Happens If You Leave?
With WooCommerce, you own the files, the database, and the hosting account, so you can move it to another host when you choose. With Shopify, you can export your products and customer lists, but the store itself runs on Shopify’s platform, so moving away means rebuilding the design and re-creating some features.
Neither choice is a trap, but think about it early. Migrating a live store later is possible, though it takes planning to protect your search rankings with proper redirects.
When Should You Choose Shopify, and When WooCommerce?
Choose Shopify if you want to launch quickly, you sell physical products with a fairly standard setup, you are not technical, and you prefer predictable monthly costs with support built in.
Choose WooCommerce if you already use WordPress, you need custom features such as unusual pricing, subscriptions, or bookings, you publish a lot of content, or you want full control over data and hosting.
If you are torn between the two, that is a good moment to talk to a digital agency before spending money. A short conversation about your products, volumes, and plans usually settles the choice, and it costs far less than switching platforms after launch.
Is Shopify or WooCommerce better for a small UK business?
Shopify suits most beginners who want a fast, simple launch. WooCommerce suits businesses that need flexibility, already use WordPress, or want to own the setup.
Is WooCommerce really free?
The plugin is free, but you pay for hosting, a domain, any paid themes or extensions, security, and maintenance.
Does Shopify charge transaction fees in the UK?
Not if you use Shopify Payments. If you use a third-party gateway, Shopify adds 2% on Basic, 1% on Grow and 0.6% on Advanced, on top of the gateway’s own fees.
Do I need to charge VAT on my online shop?
Only once your taxable turnover exceeds £90,000 in 12 months, or if you register voluntarily. Both platforms can handle VAT once you set it up.
Which is better for SEO?
Both can rank well. WooCommerce offers more control, while Shopify offers a fast, stable base. Content and structure matter more than the platform.
Can I switch platforms later?
Yes, but plan it carefully. Moving products and customers is straightforward, while protecting rankings needs correct redirects.
