Shopify vs WooCommerce: The True Cost Breakdown (2026)

Shopify's official comparison tool is designed to win you over — not give you accurate numbers. Here is what both platforms actually cost when you add up all the fees, apps, hosting, and hidden charges.

Why Official Comparisons Mislead You

If you have ever used Shopify's Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) calculator, you will notice it tends to show WooCommerce with much higher costs. The reason: it makes generous assumptions about how much Shopify saves you on development and operations, while inflating the complexity of running WooCommerce.

The reality is more nuanced. Whether Shopify or WooCommerce is cheaper depends almost entirely on three things: your monthly revenue, how many third-party apps you need, and whether you have access to a developer.

What Shopify Really Costs in 2026

Shopify's plan prices are clear. The surprise comes from everything else.

The transaction fee is the most commonly missed cost. If you use any payment gateway other than Shopify Payments — including Stripe, PayPal, or a regional processor — Shopify charges an extra 0.5–2% on every single sale. On a $50,000/month store, that is $250–$1,000 per month going straight to Shopify.

Apps are the other sleeper cost. A typical Shopify store relies on apps for reviews, upsells, subscription management, loyalty programs, advanced reporting, and shipping. Most of these cost $10–$50 per month each. It adds up fast.

WooCommerce Hidden Costs in 2026

WooCommerce itself is free. But "free" does not mean "zero cost." Here is what you actually pay to run a WooCommerce store properly.

• Hosting: Budget shared hosting ($10–20/mo) will buckle under real traffic. Managed WordPress hosting on Kinsta, Flywheel, or WP Engine runs $30–$100/mo and is almost always necessary for any serious store.
• Payment processing: Stripe charges 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction with no extra platform fee — this is actually cheaper than Shopify at scale because there is no second layer of transaction fees.
• Plugins: Essential plugins for security, SEO, backups, subscriptions, and advanced checkout add $30–$100/mo depending on your stack.
• Developer time: This is the real wildcard. If you need a developer for setup, customization, or updates, factor in $50–$150/hour. Even a single day of work per month changes the math significantly.
• Updates and maintenance: WordPress and WooCommerce require regular updates. Managed hosting often handles this — but budget hosting does not.

Side-by-Side Cost at Different Revenue Levels

These estimates use Shopify Payments for Shopify and Stripe for WooCommerce on managed hosting. Developer cost for WooCommerce is set to $0.

*At very high revenue with Shopify Advanced plan and Shopify Payments, the lower CC rate (2.4%) starts to offset the higher plan cost. But if you are not using Shopify Payments, the transaction fee flips this entirely.

When to Choose Shopify vs WooCommerce

Choose Shopify if: you want zero maintenance overhead, you are not technical, you are launching fast and want everything in one managed platform, or your revenue is under $30,000/month and you will use Shopify Payments.

Choose WooCommerce if: you need a specific payment gateway that Shopify charges extra fees for, you want full control over your checkout and customer data, you have access to a developer, or you are growing past $50,000/month and want to avoid platform transaction fees.

The most common mistake is choosing a platform based on the plan price alone. The plan price is the smallest part of your total monthly cost once you factor in apps, payment processing, and hosting. Use our calculator to see your actual numbers before you commit.