Is Shopify or WooCommerce better for an Australian online store?
For most small to mid sized Australian stores, Shopify wins the Shopify vs WooCommerce decision. It's quicker to launch, easier to look after and nothing breaks while you're not watching. WooCommerce wins when you need full control over the code, already run a big WordPress site, or need custom features Shopify can't do.
The core difference is who's responsible. Shopify is hosted: you pay a monthly plan and Shopify handles the servers, security, updates and checkout. WooCommerce is a free plugin for WordPress: you own everything, and you're also responsible for hosting, updates, backups and fixing things when one plugin update clashes with another.
| If you... | Pick |
|---|---|
| Want to launch fast and spend your time selling | Shopify |
| Don't have anyone to handle updates and security | Shopify |
| Want to sell on Instagram, Google and in person from one stock count | Shopify |
| Run a content heavy WordPress site and want to add a shop | WooCommerce |
| Need unusual pricing rules, trade logic or deep custom integrations | Usually WooCommerce |
| Want to own the code and host it wherever you like | WooCommerce |
Who each one is NOT for: WooCommerce is a poor fit for a busy owner with no developer and no time for upkeep. Shopify is a poor fit if you need something it simply won't do, or you don't want a monthly plan for as long as the store runs.
How much do Shopify and WooCommerce really cost?
WooCommerce is free to download, but it isn't free to run. Once you add decent hosting, paid plugins and someone to keep it updated, a properly run WooCommerce store can cost as much as Shopify, sometimes more.
| Cost | Shopify | WooCommerce |
|---|---|---|
| Software | Included in the plan | Free plugin |
| Plan or hosting | About $42 to $431 a month billed yearly (Basic to Advanced). Shopify Plus from about $3,700 a month | About $10 to $40 a month for entry level hosting, about $90 to $270 a month for managed WooCommerce hosting from an Australian host |
| Security and SSL | Included | Depends on your host, often included |
| Updates and backups | Done for you | Your job, or a paid care plan |
| Themes | Free themes, or a one-off paid theme | Free themes, or a paid theme often billed yearly |
| Extra features | Apps, many charged monthly | Plugins, many charged yearly |
| Domain (.com.au) | About $10 to $25 a year | About $10 to $25 a year |
Shopify prices are rounded from Shopify's Australian pricing as of November 2026. Billed monthly, Basic is about $56 and Grow about $149. Hosting prices are typical Australian figures and change often, so check them before you commit.
The hidden cost on WooCommerce is time. WordPress, WooCommerce, your theme and every plugin release updates through the year. Skip them and the store gets slow or exposed. Apply them without testing and something can break at checkout. Either you do that work, or you pay someone to.
What payment and transaction fees apply in Australia?
Card fees are close on both platforms. Shopify Payments starts at about 1.7% + 30c per online card sale on Basic. WooPayments is about 1.75% + 30c for Australian cards, with GST added on the fee. The bigger difference is Shopify's extra fee if you don't use Shopify Payments.
| Fee | Shopify | WooCommerce |
|---|---|---|
| Domestic card processing | About 1.7% + 30c on Basic, 1.55% + 30c on Grow, 1.35% + 30c on Advanced | About 1.75% + 30c with WooPayments, plus GST on the fee. Stripe is about 1.65% + 30c including GST |
| International cards | Higher than domestic | About 3.25% + 30c with WooPayments |
| Platform fee with another gateway | 2% on Basic, 1% on Grow, 0.6% on Advanced | None |
On $20,000 a month in sales, Shopify's 2% third party gateway fee on Basic would be $400 a month on top of card fees, so on Shopify, use Shopify Payments unless there's a strong reason not to. WooCommerce never takes its own cut of your sales, which is a real advantage for a high volume store with a developer on hand.
Which is easier to run day to day?
Shopify. You log in, process orders, add products and check sales, and there's no server, plugin update or backup to think about. WooCommerce runs inside the WordPress dashboard, which is flexible but busier, and the upkeep sits with you.
Here's how day to day compares:
- Shopify: one admin and a good mobile app for orders, stock, customers and discounts. Support is available around the clock. Updates happen in the background.
- WooCommerce: the WordPress dashboard plus a menu for each plugin. Help comes from your host, your developer or each plugin's support. Updates and backups are on you or your developer.
- Security: Shopify is PCI compliant and handles checkout security for you. On WooCommerce, security depends on your host, your plugins and how up to date everything is.
- Speed: Shopify runs on its own global network. WooCommerce speed depends on your hosting plan and how many plugins you run.
If you go with WooCommerce, budget for upkeep from day one, either your own hours each month or a paid care plan. In a Shopify vs WooCommerce comparison for a time-poor owner, this is usually the deciding point.
Is Shopify or WooCommerce better for SEO?
WooCommerce has the edge for content heavy SEO, because it runs on WordPress, which gives you full control over URLs, page structure and blogging. Shopify is plenty good for product and category rankings, and most stores never hit its limits.
- URLs: WooCommerce lets you set any URL structure. Shopify uses fixed /products/ and /collections/ folders, which doesn't stop you ranking.
- Blogging and guides: WordPress is the stronger tool for publishing articles, buying guides and landing pages.
- Technical setup: Shopify handles sitemaps, SSL and canonical tags automatically. On WooCommerce an SEO plugin does it, and you configure it.
- Speed: a lean Shopify theme is fast with little effort. A WooCommerce store can be just as fast, but only on good hosting with a light theme.
Either platform can rank. What ranks is strong category and product pages written for what Australians search, plain answers that Google's AI answers and ChatGPT can quote, and a site that loads fast on a phone. Our Shopify SEO page covers what works on Shopify specifically.
Which handles growth and custom features better?
WooCommerce, if you have a developer. Because you own the code, you can build almost anything: custom pricing for trade customers, unusual product builders, direct links into your own systems. Shopify can do a lot through apps and its Plus plan, but you work within its rules.
Growth looks different on each. A Shopify store handles a big sale or a busy Black Friday without you upgrading anything. A WooCommerce store needs hosting that can take the load, and you have to plan for it. On the other hand, WooCommerce costs don't step up with plan tiers the way Shopify's do.
Ownership matters to some owners too. With WooCommerce, the site and its data live on hosting you control and can move. With Shopify, you can export products, customers and orders, but the store itself only runs on Shopify. Weigh that up honestly in any Shopify vs WooCommerce decision, because it's hard to undo later.
Can you move from WooCommerce to Shopify?
Yes, and it's one of the most common platform moves. Products, customers, order history, pages and blog posts can all be moved, and every old URL gets a 301 redirect so you keep your Google rankings.
The redirects are the part to get right. WooCommerce and Shopify structure their URLs differently, so every product, category and page needs mapping to its new address. Skip that and the new store can lose the traffic the old one earned. Our Shopify migration page covers what moves, the risks and the timeline.
Do you need a developer for Shopify or WooCommerce?
For Shopify, not necessarily, but a developer gets you live faster and set up properly. For WooCommerce, yes, or at least someone technical, because setup and upkeep are part of the deal.
Source Digital builds on both. Shopify stores start at $4,500 + GST and usually take 2 to 3 weeks. WooCommerce stores start at $8,000 + GST, because there's more setup in hosting, plugins and security. Every quote is a fixed price in writing before work starts, with no lock-in contracts. Our Malaya Swimwear Shopify rebuild launched 21 products on a bespoke theme in 3 weeks.
See Shopify website design for how a store build works, or our website care plans if you run WooCommerce and want updates and backups handled, from $200 a month.
