Table of Contents
The Core Difference
Shopify is a hosted SaaS platform — you pay a monthly subscription and Shopify handles everything including hosting, security updates, and CDN. WooCommerce is a WordPress plugin that you self-host, giving you complete control but requiring more management.
Cost Comparison for Indian Businesses
Shopify Basic: $29/month (~Rs 2,400) plus 2% transaction fees on non-Shopify Payments (Shopify Payments not available in India, so you always pay the fee). WooCommerce: Rs 400-1,399/month hosting + domain (~Rs 800/year) + free WooCommerce plugin. For a store doing Rs 1 lakh/month in sales, Shopify's 2% fee costs Rs 2,000/month versus WooCommerce's one-time payment gateway integration cost.
GST and Indian Payment Integration
WooCommerce has excellent GST plugins (WooCommerce GST Suite, GST Number Field for WooCommerce) and direct Razorpay, PayU, CCAvenue integration. Shopify's India support has improved but still requires workarounds for proper GST invoice generation.
FAQ
Can I migrate from Shopify to WooCommerce?
Yes. Tools like Cart2Cart automate migration of products, customers, and orders. Expect 1-2 days for a large store migration.
Ready to deploy?
Host WooCommerce on NVMe VPS
Dedicated vCores and NVMe storage for fast WooCommerce — from Rs 400/mo.
