As more and more people are looking to start their online businesses, a question often is being searched most, Shopify vs WooCommerce, which one to choose?
To put it simply, firstly, it needs to mention that WooCommerce websites are bigger in numbers than Shopify, but that should not lead you to embrace WooComerce.
There might be plenty of reasons, WooCommerce has become the choice for many people, but there are strong reasons behind choosing Shopify too.
This article will be going through a comparative differentiation to help you figure out which platform is best for you to start your eCommerce store.
Let’s start the comparison with the first point.
Hosting for your eCommerce website:
A website must require hosting whether you are using dedicated hosting, shared, or a whole server for big eCommerce websites. To choose the right hosting for your business you can read: Useful Tips To Choose The Right Hosting- For Beginner To Large Sites. eCommerce websites often require a powerful hosting solution.
First with WooCommerce; Right after deciding that you are going with WooCommerce, you need to buy hosting from any company. Which hosting you would choose, that up to you but you must have a hosting. As per your budget and requirement, you can buy.
The story with Shopify is totally different. Right after choosing your preferred plan, you can start creating your eCommerce website. You do not need to buy hosting for your website separately. It is included with your plan.
SSL certificates for your shopping site:
SSL certificate is the primary security layer of your site and for shopping sites having an SSL certificate is inevitable. It encrypts user-sensitive information from getting into spammers. Now, as most people know they matter, they tend to trust SSL sites more than ever.
When you choose WooCommerce, similar to the hosting, you need to buy an SSL certificate too for your website. Some hosting companies offer you free SSL with your hosting plan for a certain period of time, and right after that, you need to buy it.
The story of SSL with Shopify is as same as the hosting. You do not need to buy an SSL certificate for your eCommerce website separately. 256-bit SSL protects all the pages created through Shopify.
Availability of themes on both platforms:
Your website appearance matters a lot to grab buyers’ interests. To keep audience retention high, you need a solid and professional theme for your eCommerce website. Your website themes decide how your products appear. Besides the looks, the themes should be mobile and search engine friendly too.
You get so many themes both on Shopify and WooCommerce. On Shopify, there are around 80 themes for a different types of products.
Some themes are free to use, and most of them are premium. WooCommerce also offers plenty of themes for different purposes and uses.
But if you visit both theme stores, you might agree that Shopify has more classy themes than WooCommerce. The Shopify themes give more professional themes. Also, you would be able to customize themes if you know about the coding as well.
Ease of using the platforms:
It does not necessarily important to have designing and coding knowledge to start your own eCommerce website. Both WooCommerce and Shopify allow you to build your own site quick and easy way. But Shopify is way easier than WooCiommerce. From choosing your website themes to uploading your products, setting the pages, everything is super easy. Even you do not have any knowledge of that particular field, still you can live your eCommerce website in less than 24 hours.
On the other WooCommerce, things are quite difficult if you are totally beginner and want to start.
Flexibility:
Similar to WordPress, WooCommerce is an open-source platform. Anyone can do any type of customization there. If you know how to develop a website from a scratch, you can make it whatever you want to. You can change whatever you want to on your website. Shopify undoubtedly lets you do many things but it has fewer flexibilities and customization options.
Website security:
Website security is a major challenge for website owners. As the incidents of hacking are rising in number, it’s no wonder you should give more attention to your site security. To combat hackers and spammers, there are many third-party security systems that can be used. Be it firewall, anti-spam features, and like those. When you choose WooCommerce, you need to buy security features separately but Shopify takes care of all of the security. WooCommerce is an open-source CMS, that makes it vulnerable many times. Compared to Shopify, it has a high chance of hacking. Shopify is a premium website-building platform. So, their team takes care of all of the security measures.
Shopify vs WooComerce, which one is cheaper?
Starting your eCommerce business must require money to invest, whether more or less. The cost perspective is quite different in both CMSs.
WooCommerce is a free plugin that you get into the WordPress plugin library. Just like WordPress itself, using WooCommerce is entirely free; little exaggeration. Integrating the WooCommerce plugin into your site is entirely free, but for additional functionalities, and features you have to spend money indeed.
On the other hand, Shopify does not have any free options. They have plans, and according to it, the features are availed of. The beginner plan starts at $29 per month. But don’t judge too quickly. If you choose WooCommerce, you must have hosting. Even the hosting companies offer to host as low as $3 a month or $5 a month but the truth is you have to buy their maximum billing cycle payment option. That means you have to buy 2 years or three years plan at once to avail of the price. That’s a big amount. Shopify will allow you to start your website in less amount. But still, if you check all the aspects, Shopify would cost higher than WooCommerce.
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