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Shopify vs WooCommerce for a US/Canada Small Store: Cost, Fees & What to Choose

By Hamid MumtazPublished Updated 16 minutesE-commerce
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Direct answer: Choose Shopify if you want a hosted store that is fast to launch and needs little maintenance. Choose WooCommerce if you want full control over your code, data, and content, and you can manage hosting and updates. The cheaper option in year one depends on your sales volume, apps or extensions, and how much help you need.

Contents
  1. What is the difference between Shopify and WooCommerce?
  2. What does Shopify really cost in year one?
  3. What does WooCommerce really cost in year one?
  4. How do the year-one totals compare?
  5. Payments, taxes, and shipping: what to check before you choose
  6. SEO, speed, and content: where each platform is stronger
  7. Ownership and migration: what you keep if you leave
  8. Decision checklist: choose by catalogue, team, content, and growth
  9. Mistakes to avoid
  10. Frequently asked questions
  11. About the author
  12. Related posts
  13. Sources

What is the difference between Shopify and WooCommerce?

Shopify is a hosted commerce platform. Shopify runs the servers, security updates, backups, SSL certificate, and content delivery network, and you pay a monthly subscription to use the system. That hosting is what the subscription buys: predictability and less maintenance, in exchange for working inside Shopify's structure and rules.

WooCommerce is a free, open-source plugin that turns a WordPress site into an online store. There is no monthly platform fee and no revenue share for the plugin itself. You choose and pay for hosting, a domain, a theme, extensions, and payment processing, and you or your developer manage WordPress updates, backups, and security. That ownership is what WooCommerce buys: control, in exchange for responsibility for the technical stack.

Day to day, Shopify is mostly configuration; WooCommerce means setting up hosting and WordPress first, then configuring payments, shipping, and taxes.

QuestionShopifyWooCommerce
Who runs the servers?Shopify, inside the subscriptionYou, through your hosting provider
Platform feeMonthly subscription, $39 to $399 in the US (see below)$0 for the plugin; hosting and extensions are separate
Code and databaseHosted by Shopify; you own your data, migration is less directYours, on your server; move it to another host
URL structureFixed /products/ and /collections/ prefixesFully customizable permalinks
Content systemShopify's built-in pages and blogFull WordPress content system
Best fitFast launch, low maintenance, predictable billingContent-led stores, deep customization, full ownership

Start with a free demo: Gamma Agency builds a free demo of your store first, so you can review the actual design before you pay anything. Pricing for US and Canadian clients is quote only, confirmed in writing after scope. Start your project or message Gamma Agency on WhatsApp.

What does Shopify really cost in year one?

Shopify's cost has three parts: the subscription, card processing on every sale, and any apps or theme costs you add. The subscription alone is not the total, and the card rate alone is not the total. Add all three, on your own expected sales, before you compare.

Subscription prices, checked October 2026

In US dollars, the three standard plans cost $39 (Basic), $105 (Grow), and $399 (Advanced) per month when billed monthly, and $29, $79, and $299 per month when billed yearly, according to Shopify's pricing page as compiled in September and October 2026. Shopify Plus starts at about $2,300 per month on a three-year term, and $2,500 per month on a one-year term, and is priced per contract. In Canadian dollars, monthly billing is CAD $49 (Basic), CAD $132 (Grow), and CAD $517 (Advanced), according to the same October 2026 compilation, with Advanced at CAD $389 per month when billed yearly. Confirm the live pricing page before you commit. Most small stores start on Basic or Grow.

Card processing and third-party gateway fees

With Shopify Payments, the online card rate in the United States is 2.9% plus 30 cents per transaction on Basic, 2.7% plus 30 cents on Grow, and 2.5% plus 30 cents on Advanced, according to the October 2026 compilations. Canadian card rates differ by country, so check the Canadian pricing page for the current Canadian rates before budgeting. Shopify Payments is available in the United States and Canada, according to multiple sources checked in October 2026. When you use Shopify Payments, there is no additional Shopify transaction fee. When you use a third-party gateway instead, Shopify adds a transaction fee on top of whatever the gateway itself charges: 2% on Basic, 1% on Grow, 0.6% on Advanced, and 0.2% on Plus, according to the October 2026 compilations. If Shopify Payments fits your business, using it removes the surcharge entirely.

Apps, themes, and the build

Shopify's app and theme stores add variable costs that no pricing page can total for you. Many stores run on free themes and a small number of paid apps. Stores that need subscriptions, bundles, advanced reviews, loyalty, or custom shipping rules can add several paid apps, each with its own monthly fee. This guide does not state an average app bill, because app needs differ too much between stores. List the apps your store actually needs, price each one, and add the monthly total to the subscription and card fees. Five paid apps at $20 per month each add $1,200 per year, before a single sale is counted.

A worked illustration, with assumptions stated

Take a store doing 100 orders per month at a $60 average order value, or $6,000 in monthly sales. On Basic with Shopify Payments, card fees are 2.9% of $6,000, or $174, plus 30 cents per order, or $30, for $204 per month. Add the Basic yearly subscription at $29 per month, and the running total is $233 per month, or $2,796 per year, before apps, a paid theme, and the build. The same store on Grow, at $79 per month billed yearly with a 2.7% card rate, pays $162 plus $30 in card fees, or $192, plus $79, for $271 per month. Do the same arithmetic with your own numbers, and re-check the pricing page at decision time, because fees change.

What does WooCommerce really cost in year one?

WooCommerce has no platform fee, so its cost is a set of separate bills: hosting, a domain, extensions, payment processing, and help. The plugin costs $0, with no revenue share, according to WooCommerce's own pricing statements reported in September 2026. That $0 is real, and incomplete as a budget. A live store still pays for hosting, a domain, payment processing, and usually a few extensions, and still needs someone to keep WordPress, the theme, and the plugins updated and compatible.

Hosting is the largest fixed bill and the widest range. WooCommerce's own published figure for most stores is $25 to $350 per month, as reported in September 2026, while budget shared hosting is advertised from $3 to $10 per month, with renewal prices often far higher than the first-term price. A domain typically costs $10 to $20 per year. Premium extensions typically cost $29 to $299 per year each, according to a cost guide checked in late September 2026, with a second guide putting the range at roughly $30 to $300 each. Extensions add features WooCommerce does not include by default: subscriptions, bookings, memberships, product add-ons, and advanced shipping rates. Five premium extensions at $100 per year each add $500 per year. Published 2026 market ranges for maintenance retainers run roughly $500 to $3,000 or more per month, so do not treat a retainer as a small line item if you need one.

Payment processing depends on the gateway you choose. Stripe and WooPayments both publish 2.9% plus 30 cents per transaction for US domestic cards, according to September 2026 reporting, and PayPal Checkout publishes 3.49% plus 49 cents. Card fees of roughly 2.5% to 2.9% plus 30 cents per order are the usual range cited for small stores. There is no platform surcharge on top of the gateway rate, which is the key fee difference from Shopify's third-party route. Confirm current gateway rates and tax obligations with the provider and a qualified adviser before launch.

Two published totals show how wide the range is. A guide checked in late September 2026 puts a lean small store at about $135 to $195 per year, and a growing store at about $715 to $1,555 per year, before payment fees and developer time. A second guide puts a small store at about $135 to $1,300 per year before payment fees, depending on store type. The gap between lean and fuller totals is the whole decision: hosting quality, extension count, and help. Price your own list, line by line.

How do the year-one totals compare?

The totals cross over. WooCommerce is usually cheaper in fixed costs for a lean store with an owner who can manage the technical work. Shopify is usually cheaper in total cost once hosting quality, extensions, and developer or maintenance help are added to WooCommerce, or once sales volume makes Shopify's bundled support and lower card rates worth the subscription. No single total applies to every store, because the totals depend on sales volume, order count, app and extension count, and help.

Year-one cost lineShopify, Basic (yearly)WooCommerce, lean small storeWooCommerce, fuller growing store
Platform or hosting, per year$348 subscriptionAbout $120 hosting + $15 domainAbout $300 hosting + $20 domain, plus paid backups and email
Extensions or apps, per yearVaries; $0 if none needed$0 in the lean example$300 to $800 in the growing-store example
Card fees, 100 orders/month at $60About $2,448 per year at 2.9% + 30¢About $2,448 per year at 2.9% + 30¢ (gateway rate)About $2,448 per year at 2.9% + 30¢ (gateway rate)
Fixed-cost subtotal, before build and help$348, plus apps and themeAbout $135 to $195About $715 to $1,555
Developer or maintenance helpQuoted separatelySeparate; retainer ranges are wideSeparate; retainer ranges are wide

The table uses the same illustration: 100 orders per month at $60, or $72,000 per year. Card fees match at the same gateway rate; the choice changes the fixed bill, surcharge rules, and who does the maintenance. At this volume the lean WooCommerce fixed bill is lower by roughly $150 to $210 per year, before help, and that gap closes once paid extensions or developer help are added.

Payments, taxes, and shipping: what to check before you choose

Payments are the first check, because they affect every order. On Shopify, confirm whether Shopify Payments is available for your business type and country, what card rates apply in your country, and whether Shop Pay or installments fit your average order value. On WooCommerce, confirm which gateway you will use, its published rate for your card mix, and whether it supports the payment methods your buyers expect.

Taxes are the second check, and neither platform files your taxes for you. Both platforms can calculate and collect tax based on settings you configure, but rates, nexus rules, and filing duties depend on where you sell and where you have a tax obligation. In the United States, sales tax rules vary by state. In Canada, GST, HST, and provincial taxes vary by province and by the buyer's location. Confirm your obligations with a qualified tax adviser, and test checkout with addresses in each region you serve.

Shipping is the third check. Confirm which carriers and services you will offer, whether you need live calculated rates at checkout, and whether your plan includes them. On Shopify, live third-party calculated shipping rates are an Advanced feature, or an add-on on lower plans in some cases, so check the current plan details. On WooCommerce, shipping rates usually come from the shipping extension or carrier plugin you choose, plus your carrier account. Test checkout before launch.

SEO, speed, and content: where each platform is stronger

Both platforms can rank well when configured correctly, and neither guarantees a ranking. The difference is control versus automation. WooCommerce, running on WordPress, gives full control over URL structure, robots rules, sitemap configuration, canonical tags, and meta descriptions, through plugins such as Yoast SEO and Rank Math. That control matters most for content-led stores, where guides, comparisons, and category content drive traffic, and for stores that need granular schema and indexation control.

Shopify automates more of the technical base: automatic sitemaps, canonical tags, clean URLs, and redirect handling are built in, and most stores need no plugin for the basics. The main structural limit is the fixed URL structure. Every product lives at /products/product-name and every collection at /collections/collection-name, and you cannot move a product to a nested category path, according to multiple 2026 comparisons. Shopify's built-in blog and pages are sufficient for many stores. For a store whose growth depends on publishing, WordPress remains the stronger content system.

Speed depends more on theme, apps, images, and hosting than on the platform name. Test speed with real product pages, on a phone, before launch and after every major app or plugin change. Compress images, limit the apps and plugins you use, and measure again.

Ownership and migration: what you keep if you leave

Ownership is the clearest difference, and it should be weighed at the start, not when you want to leave. On WooCommerce, you own the code, the database, and the files. You can move the store to another host, change developers, and keep the same URLs, content, and order history, subject to your hosting and license terms. On Shopify, you own your data, and Shopify provides export tools for products, customers, and orders, but the store runs on Shopify's infrastructure. Migrating away means rebuilding the theme, re-creating the checkout and app setup, and redirecting URLs. It is possible, and many stores do it, but it is a project, not an export button.

Before you migrate, list every URL that must redirect, every app or extension function that must be replaced, every payment and shipping integration that must be reconnected, and every piece of content that must move. Test the new store with real orders, including refunds and discounts, before you switch the domain.

Decision checklist: choose by catalogue, team, content, and growth

Work through these seven checks in order, and write down each answer before you decide.

  1. Catalogue size and type. Count products, variants, and product types. A small catalogue of simple products fits either platform. A large catalogue with complex variants, bundles, subscriptions, or bookings needs the extension or app list priced first.
  2. Team and technical comfort. Be honest about who will run the store day to day. If no one is comfortable with WordPress updates, plugin conflicts, and hosting support, Shopify's managed stack is safer. If you have WordPress experience or a developer on retainer, WooCommerce's control is usable.
  3. Content and SEO priority. If guides, comparisons, and category content will drive traffic, WooCommerce's WordPress system and URL control are stronger. If content is secondary and product pages carry the store, Shopify's built-in setup is sufficient.
  4. Payment needs. Confirm your gateway, card rates, and any surcharge. If Shopify Payments fits, Shopify's fee math is simple. If you need a specific gateway, price both the gateway rate and any platform surcharge.
  5. Growth and sales volume. Estimate sales and order count for year one and year two. Higher volume favors lower card rates and bundled support. Lower volume favors the lowest fixed bill.
  6. Budget predictability. Decide whether you prefer one subscription plus card fees, or separate bills for hosting, extensions, and help. Predictability favors Shopify. Lowest fixed cost, with variable help, favors WooCommerce.
  7. Exit plan. Decide how important it is to own the code and database outright. If full ownership matters most, choose WooCommerce. If managed infrastructure matters more, Shopify is acceptable.

If most answers point to fast launch and low maintenance, choose Shopify. If most point to content, customization, and ownership, choose WooCommerce.

Mistakes to avoid

Do not choose on the subscription price alone, and do not choose on "free" alone. Both headlines hide the real total. Do not ignore the third-party gateway surcharge on Shopify, and do not ignore hosting, extension renewals, and help on WooCommerce. Do not install apps or plugins you do not need, because each one adds cost, weight, and a future compatibility risk. Do not launch without testing payments, taxes, shipping, and refunds with real test orders. Do not assume a platform guarantees search visibility, sales, or a return on ad spend. No platform does.

Frequently asked questions

Is Shopify or WooCommerce cheaper for a small store?

It depends on sales volume, apps or extensions, and help. A lean WooCommerce store can have lower fixed costs than Shopify Basic, before help. A WooCommerce store with paid extensions and developer help, or a Shopify store with many paid apps, can cost more than the other. Price your own app list, extension list, sales, and help needs, and compare the totals.

Can I use Shopify Payments in the United States and Canada?

Yes, according to multiple sources checked in October 2026. Shopify Payments is available in both countries, and using it removes Shopify's additional transaction fee. Card rates differ by country and plan, so confirm the current rates on the pricing page for your country before budgeting. Business eligibility rules also apply.

Do I need a developer for WooCommerce?

Not always, but someone must own the technical work. An owner comfortable with WordPress can run a simple store alone. A store with custom features, many extensions, or high traffic needs a developer or a maintenance retainer. Budget for that help honestly, because unmaintained WordPress stores accumulate update, security, and compatibility risk over time.

Can I move from Shopify to WooCommerce, or the reverse?

Yes, in both directions, but migration is a project, not an export. Products, customers, and orders can be exported, while the theme, checkout setup, apps or extensions, and URL structure must be rebuilt and redirected. Plan redirects, payment and shipping reconnections, and content moves before switching the domain, and test with real orders first.

Which platform is better for SEO?

WooCommerce offers more control over URLs, schema, sitemaps, and content through WordPress and SEO plugins. Shopify automates the technical base and imposes a fixed URL structure. Either platform can rank well when configured correctly, and neither guarantees a ranking. Choose WooCommerce if content and granular control drive your growth, and Shopify if built-in simplicity fits your team.

About the author

Hamid Mumtaz owns Gamma Agency, which builds websites, e-commerce stores, and SEO and advertising work, and works remotely with US and Canadian clients. Gamma Agency has managed over $500 in ad spend across Meta and Google Ads. Check the live work on the Hamid Mumtaz portfolio and test each site on desktop and mobile.

Start with the Gamma Agency homepage and web development and SEO services, then request a quote-only scope for your store.

Next step: Tell Gamma Agency what you sell, how many products you have, and whether you already use Shopify, WordPress, or neither. You will get a free demo of the store design first, and a written, quote-only scope for the build. Contact Gamma Agency or message Gamma Agency on WhatsApp. Email: info@gammaagency.site.

Sources

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