Choosing between Shopify and WooCommerce is the single biggest technical decision an Australian online retailer makes. Both are excellent — but they're excellent at different things.
Shopify: fast to launch, easy to run
Shopify is a fully hosted, all-in-one platform. Pay a monthly fee, everything is included: hosting, security, payment processing, POS. Setup can take days rather than weeks.
Cost: $47–$454 AUD/month + transaction fees (unless using Shopify Payments).
Best for: Retailers who want to focus on selling, not managing tech.
WooCommerce: total control, deeper customisation
WooCommerce is a WordPress plugin. You own everything, extend everything, and pay only for hosting + the plugins/extensions you use.
Cost: ~$30–$100 AUD/month for hosting + one-off plugin costs.
Best for: Businesses with complex needs, custom workflows, or content-heavy sites.
Head to head
- Ease of use: Shopify wins
- Customisation: WooCommerce wins
- Total cost of ownership: Very close — depends on apps
- Payment gateways for AU: Both support Stripe, PayPal, Afterpay, Zip
- SEO: WooCommerce edges ahead with more control
- Speed: Shopify wins out of the box; WooCommerce wins if properly optimised
Our recommendation for Australian retailers
If you have under 500 products and want to launch this month → Shopify.
If you have a WordPress content site already, or need heavy customisation → WooCommerce.