Shopify vs WooCommerce: hosted or self-hosted e-commerce platform in 2025?

The choice between Shopify and WooCommerce is one of the most common questions when starting an online store. Both platforms are enormously popular but represent fundamentally different philosophies: Shopify is a fully hosted all-in-one solution you pay a monthly fee for, while WooCommerce is a free WordPress plugin you must host and manage yourself.

In this comprehensive article, we compare both platforms on all crucial aspects: total costs (including the notorious Shopify transaction fees), flexibility, control, scalability, and suitability for the Dutch market. This way you can make an informed choice that fits your situation and ambitions.

The fundamental difference: hosted vs self-hosted

Shopify: the hosted all-in-one solution

Shopify is a Software as a Service (SaaS) platform. This means you pay a monthly subscription and Shopify handles all technical aspects for you:

• Hosting is included
• Automatic updates and security patches
• Built-in SSL certificate
• 24/7 uptime monitoring
• Automatic backups
• PCI DSS compliance for payments

You pay for convenience and peace of mind. Everything works out-of-the-box and you don't need technical knowledge.

WooCommerce: the self-hosted flexible solution

WooCommerce is a free WordPress plugin you install on your own web hosting:

• You choose and pay for your own hosting
• You're responsible for updates and security
• Full control over your data and platform
• Unlimited customization possibilities
• No monthly platform costs

You pay with time and knowledge (or money for professionals). You have complete freedom but also complete responsibility.

Cost comparison: what do you really pay?

Shopify pricing structure

Monthly subscriptions:

• Shopify Basic: $29 per month

  • Unlimited products
  • 2 staff accounts
  • Standard reporting

• Shopify: $79 per month

  • 5 staff accounts
  • Professional reporting
  • Lower transaction fees

• Shopify Advanced: $289 per month

  • 15 staff accounts
  • Advanced reporting
  • Lowest transaction fees
  • Real-time shipping rates

Critical extra costs:

• Transaction fees: 2% (Basic), 1% (Shopify), 0.5% (Advanced) when using external payment providers
• Shopify Payments fees: 1.9% + $0.25 per transaction (no extra transaction fees)
• Apps: $0 - $500+ per month (average $50-150)
• Premium theme: $0 - $350 (one-time)

WooCommerce cost structure

Basic costs:

• WooCommerce plugin: Free
• WordPress: Free
• Hosting: $5 - $150 per month (depending on size)
• Domain name: $10 - $15 per year
• SSL certificate: Often free (Let's Encrypt)

Optional costs:

• Premium theme: $0 - $100 (many free options)
• Premium plugins: $0 - $500 per year
• Payment gateway fees: Only gateway fees, no platform fees
• Developer: $50 - $100 per hour (if needed)

Realistic Total Cost of Ownership

Small store ($2,500 revenue/month):

Shopify Basic:

• Subscription: $29 x 12 = $348
• Transaction fees (2% of $30,000): $600
• Apps: $50 x 12 = $600
• Theme: $200 (one-time)
• Total year 1: $1,748
• Total year 2+: $1,548/year

WooCommerce:

• Hosting: $20 x 12 = $240
• Theme: $60 (one-time)
• Plugins: $100/year
• Domain + SSL: $15
• Total year 1: $415
• Total year 2+: $355/year

Medium store ($15,000 revenue/month):

Shopify:

• Subscription: $79 x 12 = $948
• Transaction fees (1% of $180,000): $1,800
• Apps: $150 x 12 = $1,800
• Total year 1: $4,548
• Total year 2+: $4,548/year

WooCommerce:

• Hosting (VPS): $60 x 12 = $720
• Plugins: $300/year
• Maintenance: $50 x 12 = $600
• Total year 1: $1,620
• Total year 2+: $1,620/year

Large store ($50,000+ revenue/month):

Shopify Advanced:

• Subscription: $289 x 12 = $3,468
• Transaction fees (0.5% of $600,000): $3,000
• Apps: $300 x 12 = $3,600
• Total: $10,068/year

WooCommerce:

• Managed hosting: $150 x 12 = $1,800
• Plugins: $500/year
• Developer maintenance: $200 x 12 = $2,400
• Total: $4,700/year

Winner: WooCommerce is significantly cheaper, especially at higher revenues where Shopify transaction fees add up quickly.

Transaction fees: the hidden cost

Shopify transaction fees explained

This is where Shopify can get expensive. There are two types of fees:

1. Payment processing fees (always):

• Shopify Payments: 1.9% + $0.25 per transaction
• External providers (Mollie, Stripe): their own fees

2. Extra transaction fees (only with external providers):

• Basic: 2% extra
• Shopify: 1% extra
• Advanced: 0.5% extra

Example calculation: At $10,000 revenue/month with Mollie (1.29% + $0.25):

• Mollie fees: $154
• Shopify extra transaction fees (Basic 2%): $200
• Total: $354 (3.54% of revenue)

With Shopify Payments:

• Shopify Payments fees: $215
• No extra transaction fees
• Total: $215 (2.15% of revenue)

Problem: Shopify Payments doesn't support direct iDEAL checkout. For Dutch customers, this is a significant disadvantage.

WooCommerce payment gateway costs

With WooCommerce you pay only the payment gateway fees:

• Mollie: 1.29% + $0.25 (iDEAL, credit card, etc.)
• Stripe: 1.5% + $0.25
• PayPal: 2.49% + $0.35
• MultiSafepay: from 1.2%

No platform fees on top of these costs.

At $10,000 revenue/month with Mollie:

• Mollie fees: $154
• WooCommerce platform fees: $0
• Total: $154 (1.54% of revenue)

Winner: WooCommerce saves you $200/month in this example, or $2,400 per year.

Flexibility and control

Shopify: coloring within the lines

What's possible:

• Theme customization (within limits)
• Add apps from App Store
• Liquid templating for adjustments
• Custom CSS and limited JavaScript

What's not possible:

• Access to underlying code
• Add your own server-side functionality
• Certain payment gateways
• Custom checkout (only on Plus from $2,000/month)
• Database queries or modifications

Example limitations:

• Want a complex loyalty system? Must use app (extra costs).
• Want a specific checkout flow? Only possible on Shopify Plus.
• Want to determine your own server resources? Not possible.

WooCommerce: complete freedom

What's possible:

• Full code access (open source)
• Integrate any payment gateway
• Build custom functionality
• Database optimization
• Adjust server resources as desired
• Custom checkout flows
• Own ERP/CRM integrations

What requires effort:

• Requires technical knowledge or developer
• Make choices yourself about hosting, plugins, etc.
• Responsible for performance yourself

Example possibilities:

• Complex loyalty program? Build it yourself or use plugin.
• Specific checkout? Customize with hooks and filters.
• Custom product configurator? Fully possible.

Winner: WooCommerce wins convincingly on flexibility and control. Shopify is easier but more limiting.

Dutch payment methods: crucial for conversion

Shopify and Dutch payments

iDEAL implementation:

• Via Shopify Payments: not available as primary checkout
• Via Mollie: possible, but +2% transaction fees (Basic plan)
• Via MultiSafepay: possible, but +2% transaction fees
• Problem: Dutch customers expect direct iDEAL checkout

Other NL methods:

• Bancontact: via apps
• Klarna: built-in
• In3: via apps
• PayPal: built-in

User experience issue: Customers often need extra clicks to get to iDEAL if Shopify Payments is default. This lowers conversion.

WooCommerce and Dutch payments

iDEAL implementation:

• Via Mollie plugin: perfectly integrated
• Via Stripe: good integration
• Via MultiSafepay: excellent
• iDEAL directly visible at checkout

Other NL methods:

• Bancontact: via Mollie/MultiSafepay
• Klarna: via official plugin
• In3: via Mollie
• PayPal: official plugin
• Tikkie: available
• Riverty (formerly AfterPay): available

Conversion advantage: Dutch customers immediately see their trusted payment methods. Higher conversion, especially with new customers.

Winner: WooCommerce is superior for the Dutch market. Better iDEAL integration and lower costs.

Ease of use and learning curve

Shopify: ready to use

Setup process:

• Create account: 2 minutes
• Choose theme: 10 minutes
• Add products: start immediately
• Configure payments: 5 minutes
• Live in: 1-3 days

Daily management:

• Intuitive interface
• Clear navigation
• Built-in tutorials
• No technical knowledge needed
• Mobile app for on-the-go

Ideal for:

• Beginners without technical knowledge
• Entrepreneurs who want to start quickly
• People who don't want to spend time on technology

WooCommerce: more preparation

Setup process:

• Install WordPress: 5-30 minutes
• Install WooCommerce plugin: 2 minutes
• Choose and configure theme: 30-60 minutes
• Install plugins (payments, SEO, etc.): 30 minutes
• Live in: 3-7 days (without experience)

Daily management:

• WordPress admin interface (also intuitive)
• More options = sometimes overwhelming
• WooCommerce setup wizard helps
• Basic technical knowledge handy
• Apply updates yourself

Ideal for:

• People with WordPress experience
• Entrepreneurs who want control
• Websites already running on WordPress
• People with technical skills or budget for help

Winner: Shopify wins on ease of use and setup speed. WooCommerce requires more learning time but isn't difficult.

Content marketing and SEO

Shopify SEO and content

SEO features:

• Good basic SEO (titles, meta descriptions, URLs)
• Mobile optimized
• Fast loading times
• Automatic sitemap
• Limited blog functionality

Content limitations:

• Blog is basic (one blog per store)
• No custom post types
• Limited taxonomy options
• No visual page builders
• Landing pages via apps or Shopify Pages (limited)

SEO disadvantages:

• Mandatory /products/ and /collections/ in URLs
• Limited control over site structure
• Harder for content-heavy sites

WooCommerce SEO and content

SEO features:

• WordPress = SEO king
• Yoast SEO, Rank Math (free premium SEO plugins)
• Full control over URLs
• Custom post types
• Taxonomies as desired
• Schema markup
• Extensive content possibilities

Content advantages:

• Unlimited blogs and content pages
• Visual page builders (Elementor, Divi, Gutenberg)
• Perfect for content marketing
• Easy to create landing pages
• Product content + blog content integrated

SEO advantages:

• Better content = better rankings
• More organic traffic possible
• Lower customer acquisition cost

Winner: WooCommerce clearly wins on SEO and content marketing. Crucial if you want to generate organic traffic.

Scalability and performance

Shopify scalability

Advantages:

• Automatically scales during traffic spikes
• CDN included
• 99.98% uptime SLA
• No hosting worries
• Optimal performance out-of-the-box

Limits:

• 100,000 product variants (option combinations)
• API rate limits
• Less control at very high volumes
• Shopify Plus needed for enterprise features ($2,000+/month)

Performance:

• Fast standard themes
• Apps can slow down site
• Limited optimization possibilities

WooCommerce scalability

Advantages:

• Scalable up to 50,000+ products (with good hosting)
• Unlimited product variations
• Full control over optimization
• Hosting upgrade as desired

Challenges:

• Performance dependent on hosting choice
• Optimization requires knowledge
• Plugins can cause conflicts
• With very large catalogs (100,000+ products) more complex

Performance optimization:

• Caching plugins (WP Rocket)
• CDN (Cloudflare)
• Database optimization
• Image optimization
• Best WordPress hosting crucial

Winner: Shopify wins on worry-free scalability. WooCommerce can scale just as far but requires more technical knowledge and the right hosting.

Apps vs Plugins ecosystem

Shopify App Store

Advantages:

• 8,000+ apps available
• Simple one-click installation
• Apps often work well together
• Shopify controls quality

Disadvantages:

• Most apps are paid ($10-$100/month)
• Monthly costs add up
• Apps can slow down site
• Lock-in: when switching you lose apps

Popular apps (with costs):

• Klaviyo (email marketing): $20-$1,000/month
• Judge.me (reviews): free-$15/month
• Oberlo (dropshipping): free-$80/month
• Privy (popups): free-$45/month

Average app costs: $50-$150/month

WooCommerce Plugin ecosystem

Advantages:

• 60,000+ WordPress plugins
• Many free premium plugins
• Open source community
• One-time payments (not monthly)

Disadvantages:

• Quality varies enormously
• Plugin conflicts possible
• Updates can cause problems
• More own responsibility

Popular plugins (with costs):

• Mailchimp: free
• Yoast SEO: free (premium $99/year)
• Elementor: free (pro $59/year)
• WPML (translations): $99/year

Average plugin costs: $0-$300/year

Winner: WooCommerce has a larger and cheaper ecosystem. Shopify apps are more expensive but often plug-and-play.

Data ownership and vendor lock-in

Shopify data and migration

Data ownership:

• Your data remains yours
• Export of customers, products, orders possible
• Database access: not possible

Vendor lock-in:

• Migrating to another platform complex
• Liquid templates only work on Shopify
• Apps and customizations lost when switching
• Shopify keeps getting paid otherwise you're offline

Risk: If Shopify raises prices, you're stuck.

WooCommerce data and migration

Data ownership:

• Full database access
• All data on your own server
• Backup of your choice
• Export in any desired format

Vendor lock-in:

• No platform lock-in
• Migrating to another platform easier
• Hosting switch always possible
• WordPress knowledge universally applicable

Freedom: Full control and portability.

Winner: WooCommerce for data freedom and future-proofing.

Support and community

Shopify support

Official support:

• 24/7 chat, email and phone support
• Shopify Help Center (extensive documentation)
• Shopify Academy (free training)
• Good response times

Community:

• Shopify Community Forums
• Active Facebook groups
• YouTube tutorials
• Shopify Partners (agencies)

Disadvantage: Shopify support can't help with custom code or app problems.

WooCommerce support

Official support:

• WooCommerce.com documentation
• Support tickets (for premium extensions)
• Community forums
• No 24/7 phone support

Community:

• Enormous WordPress community
• WooCommerce Facebook groups
• Stack Overflow
• Dutch WooCommerce groups
• Numerous blogs, tutorials, courses

Advantage: For any problem you'll probably find a solution online.

Winner: Shopify for direct official support, WooCommerce for community and resources.

Comparison table: Shopify vs WooCommerce

Aspect	Shopify	WooCommerce
Monthly costs	$29 - $289	$0 (plugin free)
Hosting costs	Included	$5 - $150/month
Transaction fees	0.5-2% extra (external providers)	No platform fees
Payment fees	1.9% + $0.25 (Shopify Payments)	Only gateway fees
Setup time	1-3 days	3-7 days
Technical knowledge	Not needed	Basic knowledge handy
Flexibility	Limited (within Shopify framework)	Unlimited (open source)
Code access	No (only Liquid templates)	Yes (full access)
iDEAL integration	Possible but not ideal	Perfectly integrated
NL payment methods	Via apps, extra costs	Excellently supported
Content/SEO	Basic blog	WordPress = SEO king
Page builders	Limited	Elementor, Divi, etc.
Apps/Plugins	8,000+ (often paid)	60,000+ (many free)
Scalability	Automatic, worry-free	Very scalable (with right hosting)
Maintenance	Automatic	Own responsibility
Support	24/7 official support	Community + docs
Data ownership	Limited, no DB access	Full ownership
Vendor lock-in	High	None
Best for	Quick start, beginners	Flexibility, content marketing
TCO (small)	$1,500-$2,000/year	$400-$800/year
TCO (medium)	$4,000-$5,000/year	$1,500-$2,500/year
TCO (large)	$10,000+/year	$4,000-$7,000/year

When do you choose Shopify?

Shopify is the best choice if:

1. You want to go online quickly without technical knowledge: Setup in days, no hosting worries, everything works out-of-the-box.

2. You have no time or desire for technical management: Automatic updates, security and performance.

3. You want predictable costs: Fixed monthly price (but watch out for rising transaction costs).

4. You serve mainly international markets (not primarily NL).

5. You want scalability without hassle: With sudden traffic you don't need to do anything.

6. You find 24/7 support important.

7. ❌ BUT: prepared to pay 20-50% more for that convenience.

Choose WooCommerce if you:

• ✅ Want to minimize costs (especially when growing)
• ✅ Serve the Dutch market (iDEAL, low payment fees)
• ✅ Content marketing and SEO are crucial
• ✅ Want full control and flexibility
• ✅ Already use or will use WordPress
• ✅ Want to own your own data
• ✅ Need specific custom functionality
• ❌ BUT: have basic technical knowledge or budget for developer

Practical tips for your choice

1. Calculate your Total Cost of Ownership over 3 years: Including transaction fees, apps/plugins, and expected growth.

2. Test both platforms for free: Shopify has 3-day trial, WooCommerce you can install locally.

3. Make a feature list: What are absolute must-haves? Can your chosen platform do this?

4. Check reviews in your niche: Find stores in your industry. Which platform do they use?

5. Talk to your payment provider: Ask Mollie, MultiSafepay or Stripe about their experiences with both platforms.

6. Think about your growth path: Where will you be in 2-3 years? Choose a platform that grows with you.

7. Consider your technical skills realistically: Be honest: do you have time and knowledge for WooCommerce? Or would you rather pay for convenience?

8. Pay attention to Dutch-specific needs: iDEAL is crucial for conversion in the Netherlands. Test how both platforms offer this.

For most Dutch entrepreneurs, WooCommerce is the smart choice: cheaper, more flexible, better Dutch payment integration and superior for content marketing. Shopify is ideal if you sell mainly internationally, want to avoid technology and have budget for higher costs.

More information about Shopify? Read our comprehensive Shopify review for an in-depth analysis of the platform.