Shopify or WooCommerce – Which is Better?
If you have ever thought about opening your own eCommerce store online there is little doubt you would have considered using an eCommerce out-of-the-box platform such as Shopify or WooCommerce. These are the two most popular platforms and both make it easy to create an online store and offer a bunch of features that you can take advantage of.
With all that said, how do you decide which of the two to use or which is the better one for your particular store?
Design
Many of the selling on Shopify reviews you will find from users of the platform will say that the visual quality of its themes is one area where it stands out. They have tons of mobile responsive templates to choose from whether you want to opt for one of their free ones or their premium ones which can cost a fair bit.
As for WooCommerce, as you might know, this is more of a plugin to be used on WordPress rather than a standalone webstore builder. This means that when it comes to design, you are in the hands of whatever is available on WordPress. You then just simply integrate WooCommerce into your site once designed.
Cost
Now you might think that WooCommerce is a clear winner when it comes to price as it is free but you have to look at the broader picture. While you will be paying monthly for Shopify, you will be getting hosting, a free SSL certificate and a top-level domain for that money each month.
With WooCommerce, you will have to go and pay for hosting, an SSL certificate and for your top-level domain too. SO when you actually add everything up, you are not paying much more for Shopify at all and do not have to do half as much work to get it all setup as they do most of it for you.
Features
In terms of the features provided, both Shopify and eCommerce are actually quite similar. You will be able to accept credit card payments, offer your site in a variety of languages, list an unlimited amount of products, give your customers the ability to create accounts and allow your products to be reviewed among many other features.
An app store is where you can grab many of the features if you ever wanted to have them implemented into your eCommerce store.
Ease of Use
Actually running your online store when using either of these platforms is equally easy but where we feel Shopify wins is through setting up the site in the first place. As you read from Shopify reviews in UK, this platform makes it very easy to create an online store. WooCommerce, on the other hand, is more difficult as you will have to handle things like purchasing an SSL certificate, getting hosting and using WordPress to initially create your website. This is all long before you even implement WooCommerce.
And the winner is…
We have to say that Shopify is the best option but it is close. It just about edges it on aesthetics, and ease of use while in most other areas they are fairly equal. Both are still a great option but if you prefer something that is easier to set up, Shopify is the one for you.