Shopify vs WooCommerce for Australian Online Stores
If you are setting up an online store in Australia, you have likely come across two names more than any others: Shopify and WooCommerce. Both are excellent platforms, but they take fundamentally different approaches to e-commerce.
Choosing between them depends on your technical skills, budget, business size, and what you need your store to do. Let us break down the key differences to help you make an informed decision.
Quick Overview
Shopify is a hosted e-commerce platform. You pay a monthly subscription and Shopify handles everything: hosting, security, updates, and the core software. You build your store using Shopify’s tools.
WooCommerce is a free, open-source plugin for WordPress. You install it on your own WordPress website and have full control over everything. However, you are also responsible for hosting, security, and updates.
Think of it this way: Shopify is like renting a fully furnished apartment. WooCommerce is like buying a house and furnishing it yourself.
Cost Comparison
Shopify Costs
Shopify offers three main plans:
- Basic Shopify: $39 USD/month (approximately $55 AUD)
- Shopify: $105 USD/month (approximately $150 AUD)
- Advanced Shopify: $399 USD/month (approximately $570 AUD)
All plans include hosting, SSL certificate, and a basic theme. Transaction fees apply unless you use Shopify Payments (Shopify’s built-in payment processor).
Additional costs may include premium themes ($180 to $350 AUD one-off), premium apps ($5 to $200 AUD/month each), and your domain name ($20 to $50 AUD/year).
WooCommerce Costs
WooCommerce itself is free, but you need:
- Web hosting: $10 to $50 AUD/month for shared hosting; $50 to $200+ AUD/month for managed WordPress hosting
- Domain name: $20 to $50 AUD/year
- SSL certificate: Often included with hosting, or $50 to $150 AUD/year
- WordPress theme: Free to $100 AUD one-off for a premium theme
- WooCommerce extensions: Free to $300+ AUD/year per extension
For a basic WooCommerce store, expect to spend $200 to $500 AUD per year on hosting and essentials. For a more fully featured store, costs can easily reach $1,000 to $3,000 AUD per year when you add premium extensions.
The Verdict on Cost
For a basic store, WooCommerce can be cheaper. But once you start adding features, the costs can approach or exceed Shopify’s monthly fee. Shopify’s pricing is more predictable, while WooCommerce costs can vary widely.
Ease of Use
Shopify
Shopify is designed for non-technical users. The dashboard is clean and intuitive. You can set up a basic store without any coding knowledge. Adding products, managing orders, and customising your design all happen through a user-friendly interface.
The drag-and-drop theme editor makes design changes straightforward, and Shopify’s onboarding process guides you through the initial setup.
WooCommerce
WooCommerce has a steeper learning curve. You need to be comfortable with WordPress, which means understanding themes, plugins, menus, and basic website management. You do not need to code, but some technical confidence helps.
Setting up WooCommerce involves installing WordPress, installing the WooCommerce plugin, configuring settings, choosing and customising a theme, and setting up payment and shipping. It is more hands-on than Shopify.
The Verdict on Ease of Use
If you want simplicity and are not particularly technical, Shopify wins. If you are already comfortable with WordPress or willing to learn, WooCommerce is manageable.
Design and Customisation
Shopify
Shopify’s Theme Store offers a selection of free and paid themes. They are all mobile-responsive and well-designed. Customisation is possible through the theme editor, but deeper changes require knowledge of Shopify’s templating language, Liquid.
While Shopify themes look great out of the box, you are somewhat limited by the theme’s structure unless you get into custom development.
WooCommerce
WooCommerce benefits from the entire WordPress theme ecosystem. There are thousands of themes available, both free and paid, and you can customise virtually everything. If you can imagine it, WooCommerce can likely do it.
This flexibility is a double-edged sword. More options mean more decisions, and poor theme choices can lead to performance or compatibility issues.
The Verdict on Design
WooCommerce offers more design flexibility. Shopify offers more consistency and polish out of the box. For most small businesses, both platforms offer more than enough design options.
Payment Processing in Australia
Shopify
Shopify Payments is available in Australia and supports major credit cards. Processing fees on the Basic plan are 1.75% plus $0.30 AUD per transaction for domestic cards. You can also use third-party payment gateways like PayPal, Afterpay, and Zip Pay, though Shopify charges an additional transaction fee if you do not use Shopify Payments.
WooCommerce
WooCommerce supports virtually any payment gateway through extensions. Popular Australian options include:
- Stripe: 1.75% plus $0.30 AUD per transaction
- PayPal: Varies by plan
- Square: 1.6% per tap/insert transaction
- Afterpay: Available through extensions
- eWAY: An Australian payment gateway popular with local businesses
WooCommerce does not charge any additional transaction fees on top of your payment processor’s fees.
The Verdict on Payments
Both platforms work well for Australian businesses. WooCommerce has a slight edge in flexibility and no platform transaction fees. Shopify is simpler to set up but may cost more if you do not use Shopify Payments.
Shipping for Australian Businesses
Shopify
Shopify offers built-in shipping features including calculated shipping rates, label printing (primarily for US businesses), and integration with Australian shipping providers through apps like Shippit and Sendle.
WooCommerce
WooCommerce offers flexible shipping options through its core settings and extensions. You can set flat rates, free shipping thresholds, weight-based shipping, and more. Australian-specific shipping extensions integrate with Australia Post, Sendle, and other local carriers.
The Verdict on Shipping
Both platforms handle Australian shipping well through integrations. WooCommerce may offer more granular control, while Shopify provides a smoother out-of-the-box experience.
SEO (Search Engine Optimisation)
Shopify
Shopify handles basic SEO well. You can edit title tags, meta descriptions, URLs, and alt text. Shopify also generates a sitemap automatically and handles SSL and page speed reasonably well.
However, Shopify has some SEO limitations. URL structures are fixed (for example, products are always at /products/product-name), and blog functionality is basic compared to WordPress.
WooCommerce
WooCommerce on WordPress is the stronger SEO platform. WordPress was built for content, and with plugins like Yoast SEO or Rank Math, you have extensive control over every aspect of your on-page SEO. URL structures are fully customisable, and WordPress’s blogging capabilities are far superior.
If content marketing and SEO are important parts of your strategy, WooCommerce has a clear advantage.
The Verdict on SEO
WooCommerce wins on SEO flexibility and content capabilities. Shopify is adequate for basic SEO needs.
Scalability
Shopify
Shopify scales effortlessly because it is a hosted platform. As your business grows, Shopify handles increased traffic and transactions without you needing to worry about server capacity. Shopify Plus is available for high-volume businesses.
WooCommerce
WooCommerce can scale, but it requires you to upgrade your hosting as your store grows. A small store on shared hosting will struggle with high traffic. You may need to move to managed hosting, implement caching, and optimise your database as your product catalogue and customer base grow.
The Verdict on Scalability
Shopify is easier to scale. WooCommerce can scale but requires more technical management.
Which Should You Choose?
Choose Shopify If:
- You want a simple, all-in-one solution
- You are not technically inclined
- You want predictable monthly costs
- You primarily sell physical products
- You want to get up and running quickly
Choose WooCommerce If:
- You already have a WordPress website
- You want maximum flexibility and customisation
- SEO and content marketing are important to you
- You want to avoid platform lock-in
- You are comfortable with some technical management
Consider Your Business Type
For a product-focused business with straightforward needs, Shopify is often the better choice. For a business that combines e-commerce with strong content, services, and customisation needs, WooCommerce may be the way to go.
Making the Decision
There is no universally right answer. Both Shopify and WooCommerce power successful Australian online stores. The best choice depends on your specific needs, technical comfort level, and long-term business goals.
If you are a Western Sydney business looking to start or improve your online store, Cosmo Web Tech can help you evaluate your options and build a store that suits your business. We work with both Shopify and WooCommerce and can guide you to the right choice.
For insights on building a digital strategy that ties web, mobile, and cloud together, visit Ash Ganda’s blog.
Part of the Ganda Tech Services family, Cosmos Web Tech delivers specialist web design and digital marketing for Australian small and medium businesses.