Shopify or woocommerce?

Hi guys! I'm about to build an ecommerce, and I want to make it as friendly as possible, in case I want to sell it in the future. What would you recommend me to use? Shopify or Woocommerce?

I'd suggest to go with woocommerce as it's highly customizable.

+1 for woocommerce

You still need to invest some $ to buy good plugins (or use gpldl.com or @Festinger's vault) but there aren't any monthly subscriptions that are present in shopify. Probably there is a bit more legwork involved but worth it in the long run.

vasi36 said:

I'd suggest to go with woocommerce as it's highly customizable.

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Thank you! Yes, I really prefer woocommerce.

legion85 said:

+1 for woocommerce

You still need to invest some $ to buy good plugins (or use gpldl.com or @Festinger's vault) but there aren't any monthly subscriptions that are present in shopify. Probably there is a bit more legwork involved but worth it in the long run.

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fastinger's Vault is great, I will use woocommerce without doubts. I have a lot of experience with wordpress, but if it's not a problem for the possibility of selling it it's great!

legion85 said:

+1 for woocommerce

You still need to invest some $ to buy good plugins (or use gpldl.com or @Festinger's vault) but there aren't any monthly subscriptions that are present in shopify. Probably there is a bit more legwork involved but worth it in the long run.

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Thanks for the mention @legion85

Nicololo said:

Thank you! Yes, I really prefer woocommerce.


fastinger's Vault is great, I will use woocommerce without doubts. I have a lot of experience with wordpress, but if it's not a problem for the possibility of selling it it's great!

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Thanks Nicololo! I would go for WooCommerce too.

if you're building to sell, i think shopify is easier, since you just give username/password or something.
while with woo, its hosted on your server, and you need to copy files and db to different location and do some extra work. (unless you sell the host as well and got no other websites on that)

I've been using woocommerce until now, but I will have a try with shopify. Woocommerce sometimes it's too messy and can be hard to customize on the way we want. If you are not a good developer you will probably need to use a bunch of extra plugins to achieve the look and experience that you want, what will also affect the site speed.

Also, if you are hoping to be able to sell it, it will be way easier with Shopify.

effigodd said:

if you're building to sell, i think shopify is easier, since you just give username/password or something.
while with woo, its hosted on your server, and you need to copy files and db to different location and do some extra work. (unless you sell the host as well and got no other websites on that)

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It's easier than you think, just use duplicator pro plugin and it does it for you, takes minutes, I do it a lot

blogzandstuff said:

It's easier than you think, just use duplicator pro plugin and it does it for you, takes minutes, I do it a lot

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well yeah, if you're a bit techy it shouldnt be much of a problem.
but still, shopify is much easier and less risky (you're not dependent on plugins that might change/expire/whatever) to sell.
and also i assume that OP is not that techy (i might be wrong, but i'm basing my assumption on the question being asked), so thats why i recommended shopify.

i might be wrong tho

Shopify is more 'user-friendly' and easier when it comes to customizing. But I would go with WooCommerce as it's free, fully customizable, with great plugins and because you have a full control on your shop.

effigodd said:

well yeah, if you're a bit techy it shouldnt be much of a problem.
but still, shopify is much easier and less risky (you're not dependent on plugins that might change/expire/whatever) to sell.
and also i assume that OP is not that techy (i might be wrong, but i'm basing my assumption on the question being asked), so thats why i recommended shopify.

i might be wrong tho

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No you are not wrong, both have merits. You are right about woocommerce, it's a bit technical. Shopify is easier but more expensive, 50/50 I'd say as to merits

woocommerce is the best. You can do whatever you want there and is well supported.

Nicololo said:

Shopify or Woocommerce?

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go with shopify.. Woocommerce is easy but for professional store setup try shopify as google love it too

im using shopify now, very good to start with since there is a 14 days trial.
i created like 3 different trial accounts before i actually launch my store.

never used woo, cuz i heard you need to know coding. which i dont have any idea at all

Shopify:

1. set pricing
2. prices range from $29 to $299 per month

woocommerce:

1. free
2. comes with extra costs, including hosting, a domain name, and security

Shopify is for you if you need an all-in-one-package. You can build and publish your own online store entirely through Shopify, and make use of its neat features and apps.

WooCommerce is for you if you already have a website. It’s a plugin that works with WordPress, and helps turn your website into an online store.
i'm using shopify for my product selling.

Its just $29 a month and you get out of the box apps with completely responsive themes. WooCommerce is just a wordpress plugin..

It depends on your level of experience. If you´re just starting out in this world and/or not too familiar with WordPress and how to set up a website and everything related then Shopify is your best choice.
But if on the other hand, you have some experience and/or had built websites in the past or have the patience to watch tutorials on youtube on how to build/customize a website based on Wordpress then is not even close...WooCommerce ALL THE WAY!

You would want to answer a few questions below :

1. Do you know how to manage a VPS/hosting? Let's say security, configurations, and backups (important), ...
- Yes -> Woo
- No -> Shopify
2. Can you afford downtime and the hassle to fix your site whenever it has issue?
- Yes -> Woo
- No -> Shopify
3. Do you want your sites to be fastest to your customer as possible?
- Yes -> Shopify
- No -> Woo
4. Do you like simplicity?
- Yes -> Shopify
- No -> Woo
5. Do you plan to scale your store as fast as possible?
- Yes -> Shopify
- No -> Woo
6. Do you want more statistic of your stores?
- Yes -> Shopify
- No -> Woo
7. Need live chat support?
- Yes -> Shopify
- No -> Woo

Regarding pricing, if you want to have a service level same as Shopify (CDN, Anycast, fully backed up, Live chat, POS, integrated apps) those things will cost you more in both time and money

And no for god sake, you don't want to go through the hassle of migrating between 2 platforms, even if they have the import apps, a lot of things can go wrong and costs you a lot in time (and time is money), so think on the long run

My vote would be Shopify

I have not been around here a lot for a pretty long time, but I saw this and thought that I might add my 2 Cs.

With all due respect, may I say that some of the responses here are not informed...kind of.
$29 is just to get the VERY basic functionality in Shopify. The free apps are NOT the ones that earn you money. In fact, to use good functional apps on shopify, your store could cost you between $100 - $150 per month to maintain. Almost every useful app costs serious money - most of them monthly!

And Woocommerce ...
You don't need to be a techy head to use it. If you are even slightly knowledgeable on Wordpress, you are good to go. In fact, few hours of video tutorials on Youtube is all you need. It's just a simple plugin that works right out of the box, with a very clear instruction on what to do to connect the most important functions you want such as paypal, stripe, etc. Check this out:

Woocommerce Plugin - free
domain - $10/year
Hosting - Between $2 - 7.50/month for multiple domains (That is $12 -$90 per year and you can host up to 5 or more domains )
Tons of free plugins - practically for anything
Tons of free themes - modern and responsive (Even the standard Woo theme is FREE)
Even the free versions of most of the plugins and themes are great.
Wocommerce always up to date, backed by a world-famous company

With plugins like AliDropship (not affiliated), you could build an amazing ecommerce/dropship store with Woocommerce.
Don't be deceived: Shopify is not as easy as it is hyped to be, though it is still a great platform.

I will go with Woocommere everytime.

Woocommerce all the way, can't go wrong with full customization and also the monthly fees are lower.