Shopify vs WooCommerce (UK, 2026)
For most UK DTC brands doing £0-£10M/year, Shopify wins on speed-to-launch, checkout conversion, PSD2/Strong Customer Authentication handling and total cost of ownership. WooCommerce wins for content-led, high-margin niches that need deep customisation and already run WordPress engineering.
DTC brands £0-£10M scaling paid + email without a dev team.
Content-led, high-margin brands with WordPress and dev in-house.
Side-by-side
| Criterion | Shopify | WooCommerce |
|---|---|---|
| Speed to launch | 1-4 weeks | 4-12 weeks |
| Monthly platform cost | £25-£2,300 | £30-£400 (hosting + plugins) |
| Checkout conversion | Best-in-class, PSD2 handled | Plugin-dependent |
| Design freedom | Themes + sections | Total freedom (dev needed) |
| Plugin/app ecosystem | 8,000+ curated apps | 60,000+ plugins (quality varies) |
| SEO ceiling | High with proper setup | Highest (with dev discipline) |
| Scaling above £5M/yr | Shopify Plus | Requires infra + dev headcount |
| Security & PCI | Managed by Shopify | Your responsibility |
| Ownership | Rented (SaaS) | Fully owned |
- Zero DevOps Shopify handles hosting, security, PCI, uptime
- Best-in-class checkout with Shop Pay accelerator
- Enterprise checkout extensibility on Shopify Plus
- Native Shop Pay Instalments (BNPL) for UK shoppers
- Monthly SaaS + app stack adds up (£300-£1,500/mo typical)
- Some checkout customisation still Plus-only
- Transaction fees if not using Shopify Payments
- Full ownership of code, data and hosting
- Deep WordPress SEO ecosystem (Rank Math, Yoast)
- Any customisation is possible with dev budget
- Low fixed cost at small scale
- Plugin bloat destroys Core Web Vitals
- You own security, updates, backups, uptime
- Slower checkout conversion out of the box
- Scaling past ~£1M/month needs real infra
You're a DTC brand under £10M/year that wants to spend engineering budget on growth, not infrastructure. Especially strong for apparel, beauty, supplements, food & drink.
You're a content-led brand (media, publishing, membership + commerce) already on WordPress with dev capacity, or you need custom checkout logic Shopify Plus cannot deliver.
The bottom line
If you're a UK DTC brand under ~£10M/year and hiring your first ops person, ship on Shopify. The compounding checkout conversion and eliminated DevOps overhead almost always beats the extra platform cost.
Choose WooCommerce when you're content-led, already on WordPress, and have engineering capacity you'd otherwise waste. Above £3-5M/year the platform choice matters far less than your ops, creative and retention systems.
Frequently asked questions
Is Shopify or WooCommerce better for SEO in the UK?
Both can rank equally well. WooCommerce has a higher technical ceiling because you own the stack, but Shopify's built-in structure (predictable URLs, fast global CDN, clean JSON-LD support via apps) means most brands rank faster on Shopify without needing a developer.
What's the real total cost of ownership?
Shopify: platform + apps + payment fees typically £300-£1,500/month for a growing DTC brand. WooCommerce: hosting + plugins + maintenance dev retainer typically £250-£800/month, but a checkout or Core Web Vitals project can add £5k-£30k one-off.
Which converts better in the UK?
Shopify's Shop Pay accelerator and PSD2/SCA-optimised checkout typically converts 5-15% higher on mobile than a default WooCommerce checkout. A custom Woo checkout can close the gap but rarely beats Shop Pay.
Can I migrate WooCommerce to Shopify later?
Yes products, customers, orders, historical data and blog content all migrate cleanly with tools like Matrixify or LitExtension. Redirects and SEO transfer are the make-or-break; plan 3-6 weeks with a specialist.