Choosing between Shopify and WooCommerce is one of the most consequential decisions you will make for your online store. Both platforms power millions of shops worldwide, yet they serve fundamentally different needs. This comparison cuts through the marketing to help you make an informed decision — with practical considerations for businesses operating in Malta and Europe.
Platform Overview
Shopify is a fully hosted, Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform. You pay a monthly subscription, and Shopify handles hosting, security, updates, and infrastructure. It is designed for merchants who want to focus on selling rather than managing technology.
WooCommerce is a free, open-source plugin for WordPress. It transforms any WordPress site into an online store. You are responsible for hosting, security, and maintenance — but you gain complete control over your codebase and data.
Feature-by-Feature Comparison
| Feature | Shopify | WooCommerce |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | From $39/month + transaction fees | Free plugin; hosting from $10-50/month |
| Hosting | Fully managed, included | Self-hosted, your responsibility |
| Ease of use | Excellent — built for non-developers | Moderate — requires WordPress familiarity |
| Customisation | Good within Liquid themes; limited beyond | Unlimited — full PHP/WordPress access |
| Scalability | Excellent — handled by Shopify | Depends on hosting and optimisation |
| SEO | Good defaults, some URL limitations | Excellent — full control with plugins like Yoast |
| Payment gateways | Shopify Payments + 100+ gateways | Any gateway via plugins |
| Data ownership | Shopify retains platform access | 100% yours — self-hosted database |
Pricing in Practice
Shopify's pricing appears straightforward — Basic at $39/month, Shopify at $105/month, and Advanced at $399/month — but the true cost includes transaction fees (0.5-2% unless using Shopify Payments), app subscriptions (most stores need 5-10 paid apps), and premium theme costs. A realistic monthly budget for a mid-market Shopify store is typically $200-500/month.
WooCommerce's "free" plugin is misleading when you factor in hosting ($20-100/month for managed WordPress hosting), premium plugins for essential features like subscriptions or bookings ($50-300/year each), SSL certificates, and developer time for maintenance and updates. Expect a total monthly cost of $80-300 for a comparable mid-market store.
Scalability and Performance
Shopify handles scalability automatically. Whether you receive 100 or 100,000 visitors in a day, the platform manages server resources, load balancing, and CDN distribution. This is arguably Shopify's strongest advantage for growing businesses.
WooCommerce scalability depends entirely on your hosting setup. A basic shared hosting plan will buckle under traffic spikes, but a properly configured cloud hosting solution (such as Cloudways, Kinsta, or AWS) can handle significant scale. The trade-off is that you need technical expertise to set this up and maintain it.
Customisation and Flexibility
WooCommerce wins decisively on customisation. Because it is open-source and built on WordPress, you can modify literally every aspect of your store — from custom checkout flows to bespoke product configurators to complex pricing logic. The WordPress ecosystem provides over 50,000 plugins for additional functionality.
Shopify offers excellent customisation within its boundaries. The Liquid templating language is powerful for theme development, and the App Store provides thousands of extensions. However, certain fundamental changes (like modifying the checkout process) require Shopify Plus, which starts at $2,000/month.
SEO Capabilities
WooCommerce paired with a plugin like Yoast SEO or Rank Math offers the most comprehensive SEO toolkit available. You control URL structures completely, can implement custom schema markup, manage canonical tags, and optimise every technical SEO element without restriction.
Shopify provides solid SEO fundamentals — automatic sitemaps, robots.txt, canonical URLs, and meta tag editing. However, it enforces certain URL structures (e.g., /collections/ and /products/ prefixes) that cannot be changed, and some advanced technical SEO tasks require workarounds or apps.
Malta and European Business Considerations
For Malta-based businesses, several factors carry additional weight. Both platforms support multi-currency selling, but WooCommerce offers more flexibility for complex EU VAT rules through plugins like WooCommerce EU VAT Compliance. Shopify Markets simplifies multi-region selling with built-in duties and tax calculation.
GDPR compliance is crucial for any European online store. Key considerations include:
- Data residency: WooCommerce lets you host your data in the EU. Shopify stores data primarily in North America, though they offer EU data residency for Shopify Plus merchants.
- Cookie consent: Both platforms can integrate with GDPR cookie consent tools, but WooCommerce offers more granular control over tracking scripts.
- Local payment methods: For serving Maltese and European customers, both platforms support Stripe and PayPal. WooCommerce supports additional local payment methods like BOV and bank transfer integrations more readily.
Our Recommendation
Choose Shopify if you want a managed, reliable platform with minimal technical overhead, your team does not include developers, and you value speed to market over total customisation. Shopify is excellent for merchants who want to focus on their products and marketing rather than infrastructure.
Choose WooCommerce if you need deep customisation, already have a WordPress site or blog driving significant traffic, want complete data ownership, or have specific requirements that off-the-shelf solutions cannot satisfy. WooCommerce is ideal when you have access to development resources and want maximum flexibility.