Shopify vs. WooCommerce dropshipping is probably the most talked about topic among dropshippers. This is because Shopify and WooCommerce are the two most popular eCommerce store builders.
Both WooCommerce and Shopify have pros and cons, but they’re both good choices. Which one you choose will depend on your options and needs.
This well-researched comparison sheet was made to help you decide between Shopify and WooCommerce. Let’s jump in and find out which site builder is best for you.
Shopify vs. WooCommerce Feature Comparison
How do you choose between the two best eCommerce builders in the world, Shopify and WooCommerce? Of course, with our help.
WooCommerce
We did a lot of research and put together this detailed comparison of all the features that WooCommerce and Shopify have. With this side-by-side comparison, you can decide which one is best for you.
Ease of use
Let’s start with Shopify, which is an all-in-one solution that gives you a fully functional, hosted, and secure online store.
As a user, you don’t have to do anything technical like install or download anything. After you sign up and pick a plan, you’ll be sent to a page where you can choose a theme and start making your store.
Shopify lets you build an online store even if you’ve never done it before. It has a simple drag-and-drop editor that makes it easy for people who have never done it before. Shopify is easy to use, but because of this, not everything can be changed.
On the other hand, you will need to know how to build a website before you can use WooCommerce, either through coding or a paid builder like Elementor. Plus, you’ll be responsible for hosting, domain registration, security, and backups.
Shopify dropshipping wins when it comes to how easy it is to use.
Pricing
WooCommerce is an open-source WordPress plugin that you can install and use for free. But you’ll have to pay for WordPress hosting, a domain name, and maybe even a theme. Also, most WordPress sites need a number of different plugins, some of which are free and some of which cost money.
On the other hand, Shopify’s pricing is very easy to understand. They don’t have a plan that is free. The Basic plan costs $29 a month and includes hosting and SSL. The regular plan from Shopify costs $79 per month and comes with a domain name.
Price of Shopify
On the other hand, WooCommerce doesn’t have transaction fees for third-party payment services like Shopify does.
WooCommerce is free, but you have to pay for things like plugins, domains, and hosting. Shopify, on the other hand, costs money but comes with more features. But the transaction fees that Shopify charges are a con. So, in terms of prices, WooCommerce wins.
Integrations and plugins
Both Shopify dropshipping and WooCommerce are great when it comes to their integrations and add-ons.
Shopify has its own Shopify App Store, where you can find hundreds of third-party integrations, both free and paid. With these integrations, you can add payment gateways, lead generation, SEO, discounts, countdowns, reviews, and more to your online store.
As a plugin for WordPress, WooCommerce can be used with more than 58.000 free and paid plugins. WordPress has a plugin for just about any feature you can think of, from social media sales channels to email marketing.
Plugins for WordPress
If you want to use custom APIs, it will be much harder to do so in a Shopify store than in a WooCommerce or WordPress store.
WooCommerce wins this category because it can be changed to fit your needs and because it has a much larger number of free and paid plugins and integrations.
Time to build
Shopify has a drag-and-drop editor that is easy for beginners to use. You don’t need to know how to code, and you can get everything up and running in 30 minutes. Plus, it comes with its own hosting and SSL, which makes things easier.
Even though the WooCommerce plugin is easy to install and use, you’ll need to have a WordPress website before you can use it. To make a WordPress site, you’ll need to know some technical stuff.
Aside from choosing a theme and making changes to it, you’ll also need to pick a hosting plan and a domain name for your website. With WordPress, you have to manually set up and buy hosting, which is another learning curve.
One good thing about WooCommerce is that you can copy stores, which makes it faster to set up more than one store. With Shopify, you’d have to start from scratch for each store.
Shopify is the winner for this feature because it makes building an online store much easier and faster, especially for people who have never done it before. But WooCommerce might be better if you want to make more than one shop faster.
Themes
Shopify has more than 70 themes that have been made by professionals. But only about ten of them can be used for free. You’ll have to pay for the rest. All Shopify themes look great and work well on any mobile device.
You can choose from hundreds of free and paid themes with WooCommerce. Some of these themes are fully customizable, and others can be changed in some ways, but there are more free themes to choose from than on Shopify.
When it comes to themes and design, it’s important to note that Shopify’s themes have fixed parts that can’t be changed completely. But with WordPress themes, you can make as many changes as you want.
WooCommerce is the best when it comes to the number of themes, especially free ones, that you can use.
SEO and content
WordPress and WooCommerce are better optimized when it comes to SEO and blogs. But Shopify kind of stands out in terms of speed, clean code, and URLs.
Make sure you use good hosting to speed up WooCommerce websites and improve their search engine rankings. Most of the time, shared hosting isn’t enough for big eCommerce stores with a lot of product pages.
Both WooCommerce and Shopify have great SEO options, but marketers tend to use the Yoast SEO plugin for WordPress sites the most. With this, you can change your meta titles, meta descriptions, ALT tags, and other SEO elements to rank higher.
SEO
Last but not least, we need to talk about load times, which are a very important part of SEO. If your store takes too long to load, people will leave before they get there.
In this way, Shopify stores have great hosting, which is what makes them load so quickly. On the other hand, WooCommerce stores won’t be as fast unless you use a good hosting service.
WooCommerce is still better than Shopify when it comes to SEO and blogging. But keep in mind that Shopify stores load quickly, while WooCommerce stores need more work to make them faster.
Customer support
Shopify and WooCommerce are very different when it comes to customer service and support. Shopify users can get support at any time, no matter what plan they have. That is an undeniable benefit, especially for dropshippers who sell in different time zones.
You can get help with Shopify through email, the phone, live chat, or even Twitter. Shopify also has a knowledge base with guides, video tutorials, and other materials that can help you get started.
Help for customers
WooCommerce, on the other hand, is a free, open-source plugin. That means it won’t have the kind of customer service you’re used to. Instead, you can find answers to many WooCommerce problems on online forums and blogs.
WooCommerce is used by almost half of all online stores, so it shouldn’t be hard to find help. You can also find a lot of how-tos and step-by-step guides to help you fix problems with WooCommerce.
Because WooCommerce doesn’t offer direct customer service, we have to say that Shopify is the winner in this race.
Security
When it comes to security, there’s nothing to worry about with Shopify. An SSL certificate is part of all Shopify plans. Plus, Shopify handles all your updates, backups, and security issues on the back end.
SSL is what makes the difference between an unsecure http// and a secure https//, or that little lock next to the URL that lets you know you’re going to a safe website.
SSL certificates are not included with WooCommerce stores, which is a shame. WooCommerce works with WordPress sites, so you’ll also need to buy an SSL for your domain.
In some cases, when you buy hosting or a domain, you might get an SSL for free. But in any case, it will be up to you to keep your WooCommerce store safe.
In general, both stores are safe in terms of security. But if you use Shopify, you get an SSL certificate automatically without having to do anything. So, Shopify is the clear winner.
Payment options
Shopify Payment is the name of the payment processor that Shopify has. This system is run by Stripe, and when you use it, there are no transaction fees.
Paying with Shopify
But Shopify charges a transaction fee if you use a third-party payment processor like Amazon Pay or PayPal. The price varies by plan. The basic plan will charge 2% of the amount, the regular plan will charge 1%, and the advanced plan will charge 0.5%.
WooCommerce doesn’t have its own payment processor, but it does have PayPal and Stripe built right in. WooCommerce doesn’t charge a fee for using third-party payment services like Shopify does.
Stick with WooCommerce instead of Shopify if you sell to developing countries or places that aren’t as common and don’t have as many payment options.
Both services offer a variety of ways to pay, but WooCommerce may be less expensive in the long run.
Growth and scalability
When it comes to being able to grow, both WooCommerce and Shopify can be great options.
Shopify has a regular plan and an advanced plan that can help you handle a lot of traffic and sales without going over your budget. The regular plan has lower transaction fees and more staff accounts to help you manage your daily operations.
Shopify will take care of everything else you need for scalability, like good web hosting, fast site speed, site uptime, etc. You’ll have to pay to move from Basic to Regular or Premium, but you won’t have to pay for things like office rent.
In the case of WooCommerce, you’ll need a strong web host to handle a rise in traffic. Also, you’ll need to fix the speed of your website and make sure that your store is mobile-friendly.
All of this will have to be done by hand on WooCommerce, since the platform is not an all-in-one solution like Shopify.
Both WooCommerce and Shopify can help your store grow and expand if they are set up correctly. Shopify wins here because it is easy to grow a store with it.
Shopify for Dropshipping: an Overview
Shopify is an all-in-one hosted store builder that lets you make a shop quickly even if you don’t know much about technology. All Shopify plans include hosting and SSL, so you won’t have to worry about this.
In short, if you use Shopify, you won’t have to worry about any part of running a website. You’ll only have to worry about making sales.
To use Shopify’s dropshipping feature, you’ll need to find a supplier to help you find products and fulfill orders. You can complete an order in three different ways:
By installing and integrating an app like CJDropshipping that helps you find and fulfill suppliers,
By using dropship-friendly B2C or B2B marketplaces like AliExpress, Chinabrands, etc.;
The Shopify App Store has a lot of dropshipping suppliers that you can use. Some of them will automatically sync with your Shopify store, while others will require you to manually upload their product catalog.
Shopify Pros and Cons
Let’s look at all of the pros and cons of using Shopify for dropshipping:
Shopify Pros
Setup that is quick and easy for beginners;
A powerful drag-and-drop builder;
URLs and code that are clean and work well;
There are many ways to connect tools or apps;
Beautiful themes made by the company itself;
Hosting is included, as is SSL;
Good customer service;
Shopify Cons
fewer ways to make something unique;
Your online store will be harder to manage;
In the long run, it will cost more;
Not a lot of free ones;
Higher fees for transactions;
WooCommerce for Dropshipping: an Overview
WooCommerce is a free plugin for WordPress websites that lets them sell things online. WooCommerce and WordPress online stores can be changed in any way you want because they use an open-source platform.
Even though the backends of WooCommerce and Shopify stores may be easy to use every day, setting up a WooCommerce store for the first time is more complicated and takes more time.
WooCommerce is great because it can be customized and has a lot of apps and add-ons for third-party dropshipping suppliers.
Most dropshipping suppliers and order fulfillment companies have apps for WooCommerce, which makes it easy for dropshipping, order fulfillment, and stock sync to be done automatically.
WooCommerce Pros and Cons
If you’re still not sure if WooCommerce is the best choice for a shop builder, here are all of its pros and cons:
WooCommerce Pros
A free tool;
More customization possibilities;
You’ll have more power over your store;
There are a lot of free and paid themes to choose from;
This is great for SEO;
No fees for doing business;
More flexibility for larger stores;
WooCommerce Cons
A more difficult set-up;
needs a website with WordPress;
research or technical knowledge in advance;
You are in charge of hosting, SSL, and registering domains;
If you use paid WordPress plugins, it will cost you;
Not very beginner-friendly;
Not enough direct customer service;
Shopify vs. WooCommerce Side-By-Side Table Comparison
Here is a picture of all the features that Shopify and WooCommerce have:
| Features | WooCommerce | Shopify Basic | Shopify Regular | Shopify Advanced |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free | $29/month | $79/month | $299/month |
| Abandoned cart mail | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Digital products | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Transaction fees | No | 2% without Shopify Payments | 1% without Shopify Payments | 0.5% without Shopify Payments |
| Brick-and-mortar PoS | No | Yes (at +$89 per month) | Yes (at +$89 per month) | Yes (at +$89 per month) |
| Built-in payment | Stripe, PayPal | Shopify Payments | Shopify Payments | Shopify Payments |
| Real-time shipping rates | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Open-source | Yes | No | No | No |
| Hosted | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| SSL certificate | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Up & cross selling | Yes | No | No | No |
| Free themes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Supplier integrations | Yes, WordPress plugins | Yes, Shopify App Store | Yes, Shopify App Store | Yes, Shopify App Store |
| 24/7 customer support | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Free Domain | No | Yes, (Shopify and Shopify Advanced) | Yes, (Shopify and Shopify Advanced) | Yes, (Shopify and Shopify Advanced |
FAQs on Shopify vs. WooCommerce Dropshipping
No comparison guide would be complete without an FAQ section. So, if you still have questions about Shopify vs. WooCommerce dropshipping, here are the answers to the most common ones.
What Is Shopify?
Shopify is an all-in-one eCommerce store builder platform that includes hosting, SSL, and site maintenance. In short, it’s a complete solution that has everything you need to get an online store up and running quickly.
With the Basic plan, you have to buy a domain separately. With the Regular and Premium plans, however, a domain is included.
Shopify is a complete eCommerce store solution that gives you access to a backend panel or dashboard to help you manage your store’s design, product listings, orders, payments, and more.
What Is WooCommerce?
WooCommerce is not a stand-alone solution like Shopify. Instead, it’s a free plugin that adds eCommerce capabilities to WordPress sites.
As a result, you’ll need a WordPress website before you can have a WooCommerce store. The best thing about WooCommerce is that it is an open-source plugin, which means that you can change it to fit your needs.
The bad news is that you’ll need to know how things work. First, you need to install WordPress, buy a domain name, pick a web hosting company, buy an SSL certificate, etc.
To start your dropshipping business with WooCommerce, you have to deal with all of these things. That can be seen as both good and bad: it’s more complicated and takes more time, but it also gives you more ways to customize and make it your own.
Is Shopify or WooCommerce Better for Dropshipping?
Both of these store builders have a big share of the market because they are two of the most popular eCommerce platforms.
So, the choice between Shopify and WooCommerce usually comes down to a few key questions:
How well do you use technology?
How much money do you have?
How soon do you want to get started?
How flexible and in charge do you want to be?
How much do you know?
Shopify is a good choice for people who are new to dropshipping but aren’t very tech-savvy and want to build and open a store quickly.
WooCommerce and WordPress are the best choices for people who know how to code and need a store with many different features that can be changed in many ways. But, unlike Shopify stores, it can take a few weeks to build a WooCommerce store.
Both platforms have a lot of supplier apps and integrations to choose from, but WooCommerce is the best.
What Are the Best Dropshipping Suppliers for Shopify?
Check out the Shopify App Store to find good dropshipping suppliers for Shopify. CJDropshipping, Oberlo, DSers, Spocket, Printful, Printify, SPOD, etc. are some of the best-rated dropshipping supplier apps for Shopify.
What Are the Best Dropshipping Suppliers for WooCommerce?
Spocket, CJDropshipping, AliDropship, WooDropship, DropshipMe, Printful, Spreadr, and others are some of the best dropshipping providers with apps or tools that work well with WooCommerce.
Can You Use WooCommerce or Shopify for Free?
Only WooCommerce is free, which is a shame. But if you want to try Shopify, you can do so for free for 14 days. That’s more than enough time to look at its features and how it works to see if it’s right for you.
If you want to dropship without spending any money, you should know that a WooCommerce store will also have costs like hosting, domain, SSL, plugins, themes, and so on.
Do I Have to Pay for Hosting with WooCommerce or Shopify?
Shopify is a hosted platform, which means that they handle all the technical stuff on the back end. With Shopify, you pay a fixed price every month, which includes hosting and a free SSL.
On the other hand, WooCommerce does not come with hosting. WooCommerce is just a plugin that makes eCommerce work on WordPress sites. So, they don’t offer web hosting, and you’ll have to take care of that yourself.
Do You Have to Pay for a Domain with WooCommerce or Shopify?
If you choose the Basic plan from Shopify, you’ll need to buy a domain and link it to your store. But if you buy their Regular or Advanced plan, you’ll get a free domain.
WooCommerce doesn’t come with a plugin, so you’ll have to pay for a domain.
Which Is Faster, WooCommerce or Shopify?
The speed of a Shopify page is much faster than that of a WooCommerce store that hasn’t been optimized. And speed is a big part of SEO and where your site ranks on SERPs.
Website Speed
First, you’ll need to pick a good web host if you want to make a WooCommerce store quickly. Also, you might want to limit the size of your website’s fonts, images, and other media.
So, Shopify is better from the start when it comes to how fast a website loads.
Is Shopify or WooCommerce Better for SEO?
Even though we said that Shopify loads faster, WooCommerce is built on WordPress websites. And when it comes to SEO, you can’t do better than WordPress when it comes to content management systems (CMS). In the end, it was made to blog.
How to Build a Store with Shopify?
Shopify makes it much faster and easier to set up a store than WooCommerce. Here’s what you need to do:
Step 1: Choose a plan and sign up.
Step 2: Purchase a domain from Shopify (or transfer your own)
Step 3: Get a free theme from the theme store or buy one.
Step 4: Make content and add it
Step 5: Change your theme and make it your own.
Step 6: Pick a supplier from the Shopify App Store
Step 7: Connect your store to the app from the supplier
Step 8: Make a list of your goods
Step 9: Change the product titles and descriptions
Step 10: Launch!
As you can see, setting up a Shopify store is easy and only takes ten simple steps.
How to Build a Store with WooCommerce?
Building a WooCommerce store might be a little complicated at first, but it’s easy to use after that. But let’s give you a hand with the hard part:
Step 1: Choose a hosting service and a domain name.
Step 2: Most web hosting services offer free WordPress installation with just one click.
Step 3: Sign in to your WordPress account once the installation is done.
Step 4: Go to the Plugins tab, find WooCommerce, and install it.
Step 5: Choose a fitting theme (free or paid)
Step 6: Change the theme to fit your needs and make it look how you want.
Step 7: Put content there (visuals and text)
Step 8: Connect your store to one of your suppliers.
Step 9: Make a list of your products and change the titles and descriptions
Step 10: Go online and start selling!
To make a WordPress store, you might need to know how to code. If you’re not a developer, you’ll probably need to use a paid page editor plugin like Elementor so you can drag and drop when designing.
Can I Add Shopify to My WordPress and WooCommerce Site?
You might think that WooCommerce and Shopify are similar competitors, but you can add a Shopify extension to your WordPress-based WooCommerce store.
The best way to do this would be to pay $9/month for Shopify Lite, which will let you use a Shopify Buy Button and accept credit card payments on your WooCommerce store.
Does WordPress Have a Shopify Plugin?
Yes. Use WP Shopify, Shopify Connect for WooCommerce, or Shopify for WordPress, for example.
Can I Migrate from Shopify to WooCommerce or Vice Versa?
It might be easier for you to switch from WooCommerce to Shopify than the other way around. That’s because Shopify has a great customer service team that can help you through the process of moving and getting started.
But you can also move your shop from Shopify to WooCommerce, though you’ll probably have to do a lot of work by hand. The best solution is to find a WordPress plugin that helps you move a Shopify store to WooCommerce.
What Are Some Alternatives to Shopify and WooCommerce?
Many dropshippers use platforms like BigCommerce, Wix, Big Cartel, 3dCart, SquareSpace, ShipStation, Weebly, Volusion, Ecwid, Jimdo, and others instead of Shopify or WooCommerce.
You could also sell on well-known sites like Wish, Etsy, Amazon, eBay, or others like them.
Can You Have a Blog on Shopify?
Yes, you can blog with Shopify.
Blogging
Even though WordPress is the most popular CMS platform for blogs, Shopify also has a blog that online stores can use to give visitors and potential customers useful content.
Can a Dropshipping Agent Help Me Source Products for My Shopify or WooCommerce Stores?
Yes! If you want to work with a dropshipping company, try to find one in China that has a fulfillment center for the whole world. If you have a dropshipping agent in China, it will be easier for you to find good products at prices you can afford.
Can I Use Oberlo with WooCommerce?
If you have a WooCommerce store, you won’t be able to use Oberlo because it only works with Shopify stores.
To Wrap It Up
Shopify is best for those who:
Have neither a website nor a store yet;
Know nothing about technology;
Want to set up quickly and easily;
Need fast stores that work well on phones;
Plan to market on social media;
Have higher budgets;
Have a business that you can walk into;
Don’t want to deal with the technical side of running a website;
WooCommerce is best for those who:
already have a WordPress site;
Want a store where you can change everything;
Are short on money;
are skilled and know about technology;
Want to do better with SEO and search engines;
Need payment services in unusual places;
Have a business that is only online;
have time and aren’t in a hurry to start;
When deciding between Shopify and WooCommerce dropshipping, it all comes down to your needs and how you want to run your dropshipping business.
And if you want to do dropshipping, you should work with a dropshipping agent who can find the products you want and fill orders for your business.
