Compare · store platforms
Shopify vs WooCommerce vs owning it.
No spin: Shopify is genuinely great at some things, WooCommerce at others, and both quietly cost more than their sticker price. Here's the three-way comparison we'd want if it were our money — because on our own stores, it is.
Side by side
The comparison, line by line.
Shopify AU pricing as published 2026 (ex-GST); WooCommerce figures are honest ranges plus our own store's measured data; the third column is the stack we build and run ourselves.
| Shopify | WooCommerce | Own it (Salty stack) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Platform fee | A$56–575/mo; Plus A$3,700/mo | Free software | None — you own the code |
| Hosting | Included | $30–150/mo, quality varies | Included in care plan, edge-hosted |
| Apps / plugins for core features | Typically $100–800/mo, forever | $50–200/mo + update conflicts | Built in, built once |
| Payment processing | 1.4–1.75% + 30¢ (Shopify Payments) | Stripe/PayPal standard rates | Stripe standard (~1.7% + 30¢) |
| Extra fee on third-party payments | Up to +2% of every sale | None | None |
| Wholesale / B2B price tiers | Gated behind Plus | More plugins | Included where needed |
| Checkout customisation | Limited below Plus | Full, DIY | Full — it's your code |
| Typical mobile speed | Decent, theme-dependent | Slow — ours measured 13.5s | About a second — published |
| Maintenance burden | Low (that's what rent buys) | The plugin treadmill | On us — care plan |
| Who owns the store | Shopify — you rent access | You | You — code, data, customers |
| Leaving | Export CSVs, rebuild elsewhere | Portable | It's yours — nothing to leave |
Sources: Shopify's published Australian pricing (2026, ex-GST) including third-party payment surcharges; app-spend ranges from industry migration research (US-dollar figures — higher again in AUD); the 13.5-second WooCommerce measurement is our own store, pre-rebuild, published in the case study.
The worked example
A $200k/yr store on Shopify Grow with a modest $300/mo app stack pays roughly A$9,000 a year — about $5,400 of it pure software rent, before anyone works on growth. Our Store Care plan is $299/mo with humans included — and the store is yours.
The honest verdict
When each one wins.
Choose Shopify if…
- You're launching your first store this month, solo, with no dev help
- You want the biggest app ecosystem and don't mind paying monthly for it
- Speed-to-launch matters more than cost of ownership
Stay on WooCommerce if…
- Your store already runs on it and performs acceptably
- You have WordPress skills in-house and enjoy the control
- You're not ready to invest in a rebuild — we can still grow it as-is
Own your store if…
- You're established and the rent line is real money now
- You need wholesale/B2B pricing without a $3,700/mo plan
- Speed, custom flows and owning the asset matter to you
Questions
The ones everyone asks.
Depends on why you're leaving. If it's the monthly app stack and fees: a store you own — a modern storefront with Stripe checkout — removes plan rent, app rent and surcharges entirely. If it's just curiosity, honestly, Shopify might still be your best fit; it's excellent at day-one convenience. The audit tells you which side of that line you're on, with your own numbers.
For a small store, Shopify's plan plus a few apps usually beats Woo's hosting-plus-plugins-plus-maintenance once you price the labour honestly. For an established store, both keep charging forever — Shopify in fees, Woo in upkeep. That's the trap the third option exists for: pay once to build it properly, then a flat care plan instead of rent.
For a typical established Australian store on Grow with a modest app stack: roughly A$9,000 a year — about $5,400 of it pure software rent — before anyone does any marketing. We've published the full worked breakdown on our blog.
Yes — that's the standard process: baseline frozen first (rankings, speed, revenue), every URL redirected properly, and the before/after published. Migration is only worth it when the numbers say so, and the audit is where we check.
A modern Next.js storefront on edge hosting, the open-source Medusa commerce engine, and Stripe for payments — the same stack we run our own stores on. You own all of it; we build it fixed-price and care for it from $299/month.
Get the comparison run on your store.
Book a free 30-minute audit. We'll add up what your current platform really costs you — plan, apps, surcharges, speed — and tell you straight whether staying or owning is the better deal.