Shopify vs WordPress: Which Is Better for Ecommerce?
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Shopify and WordPress are two of the most renowned e-commerce website builders. The distinction lies in their focus: Shopify is dedicated solely to online stores, while WordPress is a versatile website builder that also offers e-commerce functionalities. In this article, Nextsky will help you determine whether Shopify or WordPress is more suitable for your business needs.
Shopify vs. WordPress: At a Glance
Shopify and WordPress are two prominent platforms for building e-commerce websites, each with its unique strengths.
Shopify
Shopify is an all-in-one e-commerce platform that includes everything from an online store editor to domains and hosting. It also features an integrated point-of-sale (POS) system, enabling seamless synchronization of online and in-person sales, and includes built-in inventory and order management features. This makes Shopify ideal for businesses that want to start selling quickly without needing extensive technical skills.
Wordpress
On the other hand, WordPress is one of the most popular content management systems on the web. While it doesn't come preloaded with as many features as Shopify, it allows for extensive customization through plugins and manual coding. This flexibility makes WordPress suitable for businesses that want to create unique shopping workflows and have greater control over their website's design and functionality.
Read more: Shopify vs Etsy: Which Is Better for Your Business for Merchant?
1. Cost
Shopify
Shopify offers five pricing plans (these are US, USD prices, but the names and fees are similar in other countries):
- Starter: $5/month
- Basic: $29/month
- Grow: $79/month
- Advanced: $399/month
- Plus: Negotiated separately, usually $2,300 – $2,500/month, depending on payment method (yearly or 3 years).
If you pay for the entire year in advance for some plans, the fee will drop to $29/month for Basic, $79/month for Grow, $299/month for Advanced. Shopify also offers a 3-day free trial, which is relatively short compared to its competitors. However, Shopify is currently offering an extended 3-month trial for $ 1 per month (via a special link).
WordPress
Estimating the cost of building a WordPress website is challenging due to various factors. Although WordPress CMS is free, to run a professional website, you need to consider:
-
Hosting: Where WordPress is installed and data is stored.
- Shared hosting: a few dollars/month (HostGator, Hostpapa).
- Managed WordPress hosting: faster and more secure, but costs about $35/month (Kinsta, WP Engine).
- Template/Theme: Interface design.
- Plugin/E-commerce integration: Add online sales functionality.
- Developer: If you need technical support or advanced customization.
Reference annual cost (Professional WordPress):
- Managed WordPress Hosting: $350
- Premium theme: $175
- E-commerce integration (e.g. Ecwid): $360
- 4 paid plugins: $100
- Maintenance & security services: $600
2. Ease of use - Shopify Win
Shopify
Shopify is an all-in-one platform that helps you quickly open a store. After signing up, you are guided step-by-step through creating a store, managing products, orders, and payments right from the dashboard. In just a few minutes, you can start selling, with AI-assisted product description creation on the fly. Everything works seamlessly, without having to switch between multiple themes or systems.
WordPress
WordPress is a self-hosted CMS and requires plugins to create an online store. Initially, the dashboard is empty, with only a theme, but no e-commerce feature. Therefore, you must purchase hosting, install WordPress, and add plugins such as WooCommerce to manage your store. Although managing the separation between the dashboard and plugins can be challenging for beginners, WordPress is flexible and allows integration with many e-commerce solutions, including Shopify.
Verdict: WordPress is suitable if you want deep customization and integration with many different solutions. Meanwhile, Shopify is the optimal choice if you want to open a store quickly and without worrying about technical issues.
3. Design and Templates - WordPress
Shopify
Shopify themes offers 24 free themes and 958 premium themes, many of which have variations, increasing the real choice. Standout themes like ‘Dawn’ and ‘Horizon’ are professional, easy to edit, responsive, display well on all devices, and are supported by Shopify or an approved provider. However, the number of themes is smaller than WordPress, and customization options are limited, with a focus mainly on built-in e-commerce features.
Read more: 31+ Stunning Free Shopify Themes For Any Online Store 2025
WordPress
WordPress offers thousands of free and premium themes, including over 13,000 in its official library, as well as numerous options from third-party marketplaces. Being open-source, WordPress allows for almost unlimited customization through themes, plugins, or code, enabling unique looks and functionality. Most themes are responsive, but users should opt for “safe” templates to minimize the risk of malware from unreliable sources.
4. Sales features - Shopify (Wins)
Shopify
- Built-in sales tools are user-friendly and easy to configure.
- Create discounts, promotions and flash sales quickly, and checkout is optimized on all devices.
- Support multi-channel sales (Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Amazon) and an abandoned cart recovery tool.
- Manage all sales from a single dashboard, save time and improve efficiency.
WordPress
- Selling via plugins like WooCommerce is flexible, but often requires additional plugins to achieve a comparable level of functionality to Shopify.
- Support multi-channel sales and promotions, but integrations and advanced features require plugins or programming.
- Customize the checkout experience in depth, but more complex and time-consuming than Shopify.
5. Marketing features - Shopify
SEO
Shopify
- Automatic SSL, easy to edit alt tags, titles and meta descriptions.
- Control robots.txt, automatic XML sitemaps and 301 redirects.
- Core Web Vitals reporting helps improve page speed.
- Pre-configured SEO settings reduce the risk of errors.
WordPress
- Nearly limitless technical SEO customization, including URLs, titles, metas and product images.
- Supports powerful SEO plugins, such as Yoast SEO (free of charge).
- Can optimize Core Web Vitals, page speed and Google recommendations.
- Need technical knowledge and high-quality hosting for optimal SEO performance.
Blogging
Shopify
- Features blogging functionality, sufficient for optimizing SEO and creating engaging content.
- Only supports tags, lacks categories, and offers limited customization for multiple authors.
- Simple editing, easy to manage, but more limited than WordPress.
WordPress
- Powerful blogging system, supports multiple authors, categories, tags and saves post history.
- Drag-and-drop editor for easy creation of posts and author pages.
- Suitable for inbound marketing and building long-lasting quality content.
Email Marketing
Shopify
- Integrated Shopify Email tool, easy to use and manage directly from the platform.
- 75 editable email templates, send up to 10,000 free emails per month.
- Support for automated emails such as welcome, upsell, cart recovery, etc.
- No external application is required, but it lacks some advanced features found in dedicated tools.
WordPress
- No built-in email marketing tool.
- Can connect to external services such as Mailchimp, GetResponse, and AWeber via plugin.
- Provides many advanced features but requires additional plugin installation and management.
Verdict: Shopify offers a comprehensive solution with quick deployment and easy management, while WordPress provides maximum customization and flexibility with advanced features, making it ideal for those who require in-depth personalization for their business.
6. Support
Shopify
Shopify offers 24/7 customer support via live chat, and with the Plus plan, you also get phone support. The platform is highly rated on G2 and Capterra (4.2–4.5/5 stars) for its ease of use, intuitive dashboard, and robust app ecosystem. However, Shopify receives a low score on Trustpilot (1.3/5 stars), reflecting issues with customer service, payments, and dispute resolution that some users have encountered.
WordPress
WordPress doesn’t have a centralized support system, relying instead on community forums, plugin and theme support, and services from freelancers or outside companies. The platform is highly rated on G2 and Capterra (4.4–4.6/5 stars) for its flexibility, deep customization, and complete ownership of data. However, its low Trustpilot score (1.9/5 stars) reflects its struggles with a high learning curve, frequent maintenance requirements, and a lack of official support channels.
7. Performance
Shopify
Shopify ensures consistent performance and seamless scalability thanks to its global CDN, speed optimization, and built-in caching, enabling stores to run smoothly without requiring technical expertise. Although it offers fewer customizations and limits the number of new products, Shopify is an ideal choice for merchants who want a simple, fast, and reliable solution.
WordPress
WordPress offers superior performance and virtually unlimited scalability thanks to its optimization plugins and premium hosting. The platform enables flexible store expansion across multiple e-commerce platforms. However, to maximize its potential, you require technical expertise to manage hosting, caching, databases, and content.
8. Built-in Apps - WordPress
Shopify
Shopify offers over 13,000 apps, both free and paid, that seamlessly extend the functionality of your store. Users can integrate third-party plugins or develop their own extensions; however, most of these options are subscription-based, which limits the ability for deep customization.
WordPress
WordPress.org excels with over 60,000 plugins, allowing you to customize and extend your site almost indefinitely. When you self-host, you have complete flexibility to add plugins or develop your own extensions, allowing for maximum customization and expansion of your store.
Shopify vs. WordPress: Which is best for your business
Shopify is the preferred option for businesses that:
- Wish to commence selling immediately.
- Are comfortable with utilizing Shopify's pre-made themes or payment processing system.
- Are smaller and lack the capacity to develop expansive, intricate websites.
WordPress is more suitable for businesses that:
- Desire extensive website customization.
- Prefer to select their own payment gateway.
- Have a broader focus beyond just e-commerce sales.
Read more
- Shopify vs WooCommerce: Which E-commerce Platform Wins?
- Shopify vs BigCommerce: Which Platform Is Better for You?
- Shopify vs Wix: Which Is Better for Your Business?
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Shopify vs Square: Which Is Best for Your Retail Needs?
