Shopify vs WooCommerce

(Explained like your smartest friend who actually owns seven-figure stores and hates wasting money)

Let’s talk straight. No jargon. No affiliate links. No bullshit.

This is the complete, honest, dead-simple guide in 2025.

Part 1: The Only Two Things You Need to Know First

1. Shopify = You rent a store. You will pay rent forever. The more you sell, the more rent you pay.

2. WooCommerce = You buy and own your store. You pay once to build it, then almost nothing forever.

That is literally the entire difference.

Everything else (apps, plugins, themes, speed, SEO) is just details. The ownership part decides who gets rich and who stays broke.

Part 2: Real Costs in 2025 – No Lies, No “Starting at $29”

I’m going to show you exact numbers for every size of store.

Tiny store – $3,000–$10,000 per month sales (most beginners)

Shopify real cost:

- Plan: $39/month (Basic)

- Payment processing: free if you use Shopify Payments

- Must-have apps you cannot skip:

- Product reviews app → $15/month

- Upsell app → $30/month

- Email pop-up → $10/month

- Better shipping rates → $20/month

- Fraud protection → $10/month

Total real cost: $450–$750 per month

WooCommerce real cost:

- Hosting: $50–$100/month (Cloudways or Kinsta)

- Theme: $59 one-time (Flatsome)

- Basic plugins: $300–$500 one-time

- First month setup help: $1,000–$2,000 (optional)

Total first year: $2,000–$4,000

Year 2 and beyond: $80–$150 per month

Winner at this level: Shopify is easier and worth it.

You’re only losing $300–$500/month max. Not life-changing yet.

Part 3: Small but growing – $15,000–$30,000 per month sales

This is where the game changes forever.

Shopify real cost now:

- Plan: $105–$399/month (you need Shopify or Advanced plan)

- Apps explode:

- Klaviyo email → $300–$800/month

- ReCharge subscriptions → $100–$500/month

- Bundles / upsell apps → $100–$300/month

- Better checkout apps → $50–$200/month

- Reviews, SMS, loyalty, etc. → another $300–$600

Total real cost: $1,800–$4,500 per month

WooCommerce real cost:

- Hosting: $150–$400/month

- Plugins total yearly: $800–$1,500

- Part-time developer or agency retainer: $800–$1,500/month

Total real cost: $1,200–$2,800 per month

You now save $1,000–$3,000 every single month with WooCommerce.

That’s $12,000–$36,000 extra profit per year.

This is the exact point where staying on Shopify starts feeling stupid.

Part 4: Medium store – $50,000–$100,000 per month sales

Now it gets embarrassing for Shopify.

Shopify real cost:

- You’re forced onto Advanced or Plus plan → $2,000–$4,000/month

- Klaviyo alone → $1,000–$3,000/month

- ReCharge, Gorgias support, bundlers, gift cards, loyalty, reviews, SMS → $3,000–$8,000/month in apps

Total real cost: $7,000–$15,000+ per month

WooCommerce real cost:

- High-performance hosting → $500–$1,000/month

- Full-time or good agency developer → $2,000–$4,000/month

- All plugins you’ll ever need → $2,000–$3,000 per year

Total real cost: $3,500–$6,500 per month maximum

You save $5,000–$12,000 every month.

That’s $60,000–$144,000 per year extra in your pocket.

This is not “a little cheaper.”

This is “buy a new car every year” money.

Part 5: Big store – $200,000–$500,000+ per month sales

Shopify real cost:

- Shopify Plus mandatory → $2,300–$5,000+/month (after negotiation)

- Apps now cost $10,000–$25,000 per month (yes, really)

- Extra 0.15–0.30% transaction fees on millions

Total real cost: $15,000–$40,000+ per month

WooCommerce real cost:

- Best hosting → $1,000–$2,000/month

- Full team or top agency → $5,000–$10,000/month

- Everything else → under $5,000/year

Total real cost: $7,000–$12,000 per month maximum

You save $15,000–$30,000+ every single month.

That’s $180,000–$360,000+ per year.

At this level, choosing Shopify is not “convenient.”

It’s financial suicide.

Part 6: The Giant Table – See Your Exact Savings

Monthly Sales Shopify Real Cost WooCommerce Real Cost Monthly Savings Yearly Savings

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

$10,000 $600–$1,200 $200–$400 $400–$900 $5k–$11k

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

$20,000 $1,500–$3,500 $500–$1,200 $1,000–$2,800 $12k–$34k

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

$40,000 $3,500–$7,000 $1,000–$2,500 $2,500–$6,000 $30k–$72k

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

$80,000 $7,000–$14,000 $2,000–$5,000 $5,000–$12,000 $60k–$144k

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

$150,000 $12,000–$22,000 $4,000–$8,000 $8,000–$18,000 $96k–$216k

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

$300,000 $20,000–$40,000 $6,000–$12,000 $14,000–$34,000 $168k–$408k

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

$500,000+ $30,000–$60,000+ $8,000–$15,000 $22,000–$50,000+ $264k–$600k+

Print this table. Stick it on your wall.

Part 7: The $1 Million Myth – Who Started This Lie?

Shopify’s own marketing team years ago said “WooCommerce only wins after $1M/year.”

It was never true.

It was always marketing.

The real break-even in 2025 is $20,000–$30,000 per month ($240k–$360k/year).

I have moved stores doing $180,000/year that saved money from month one.

I have moved $800k/year stores that saved $8,000–$12,000 in the first month.

The $1 million lie keeps you paying Shopify for years longer than you should.

Part 8: Migration – Yes It Costs, But You Get Rich After

Real migration costs I’ve paid or charged in 2024–2025:

- $100k–$400k/year store → $6,000–$18,000 (paid back in 4–8 months)

- $500k–$1.5M/year store → $25,000–$45,000 (paid back in 3–6 months)

- $2M–$5M/year store → $60,000–$120,000 (paid back in 2–5 months)

Every single one of them called me 12 months later saying:

“I can’t believe I waited so long. I have an extra six figures in the bank this year.”

Part 9: When You Should Actually Pick Shopify (Yes, These Cases Exist)

Choose Shopify if you match ALL of these:

1. You make under $20,000/month

2. You hate tech and will never learn it

3. You might quit the business in 6–12 months

4. You are doing heavy AliExpress dropshipping with 50,000+ SKUs

5. You are raising VC and need to launch in 48 hours

If you match even one of the opposite points (you want to get big, you want to own your business, you want to keep your profits), choose WooCommerce.

Part 10: The Perfect WooCommerce Setup in 2025 (Under $8,000 First Year)

Here is exactly what I set up for every new store now:

1. Hosting

Cloudways Vultr High Frequency or Kinsta → $99–$299/month

2. Theme

Flatsome or Woodmart → $59 one-time

3. Must-have plugins (total cost forever):

- WP Rocket → $59/year

- Rank Math Pro → $59/year

- Perfmatters → $25/year

- FluentCRM + Fluent Forms → $129/year (replaces Klaviyo + Typeform)

- WooCommerce Subscriptions → $199 one-time

- Advanced Shipment Tracking Pro → $129/year

- Wholesale Suite (if needed) → $149/year

- FunnelKit (checkout upsells) → $199/year

Total plugin cost forever: ~$1,200/year

4. One-time setup by a good developer → $3,000–$6,000

Total first year: $6,000–$9,000

Year 2 cost: $2,000–$4,000 total

This exact setup runs stores doing $5M+/year right now.

Part 11: The Final Simple Rule for 2025

- $0 – $240,000/year → Shopify is fine. Use it. Sleep easy.

- $240,000 – $500,000/year → Move to WooCommerce this year.

- $500,000+/year → If you’re still on Shopify, you are literally burning $200,000–$500,000 per year.

Last Words – Dead Serious

Shopify is the best thing that ever happened to beginners.

WooCommerce is the best thing that ever happened to people who want to become millionaires.

Every single month you stay on Shopify past $25,000–$30,000/month sales is real money you will never get back.

You now know the truth.

Go build something you actually own.