Shopify or WooCommerce: which is better for your store

We only build on Shopify. That is exactly why it makes sense to start with the opposite — the situations where WooCommerce is the better choice and you shouldn't hire us.

The difference in one paragraph

Shopify is a rented service. You pay monthly and get hosting, security, checkout and updates you never have to think about. WooCommerce is a free WordPress plugin. The plugin itself costs nothing, but hosting, security, updates and much of the functionality are your responsibility and your expense. One gives up control in exchange for peace of mind. The other gives you control in exchange for responsibility.

When WooCommerce is the better choice

• You have someone who maintains WordPress. If you already pay a developer or have someone in-house, WooCommerce gives you more freedom at a lower monthly cost. Responsibility for updates is covered either way.
• Your checkout logic is non-standard. Shopify only opens up the checkout for serious customization on Plus. If you need specific invoicing rules, per-customer pricing or non-standard order steps, on WooCommerce you can build them freely.
• Content is your main growth driver. If you sell through a blog with hundreds of articles, WordPress is a better environment for content and internal linking than the Shopify blog.
• You sell digital products or services in small volumes. A store with ten products and a few orders a week can hardly justify a monthly subscription.
• Your budget really is zero. Not "small" — zero. Then WooCommerce with cheap hosting is the only way to get started at all.

When Shopify is the better choice

• You run ads and your volume is growing. Shopify handles the traffic without you having to think about hosting. That is the difference between a campaign that works and a campaign that takes your site down at the worst possible moment.
• You don't have a technical person. Everything that is your responsibility on WooCommerce — updates, backups, security, compliance with card payment standards — is included in the Shopify subscription.
• You want to run the store yourself. The editor lets you change sections, banners and layout without a developer. On WooCommerce this depends entirely on the theme.
• You also sell outside Bulgaria. Currencies, languages and per-market tax rules are built in.

The differences side by side

The Bulgarian specifics that decide the choice

Cash on delivery. It is the dominant payment method, and both platforms support it. The difference is that on WooCommerce it's a plugin you download, while on Shopify it's an app with a monthly fee. It works in both places — on Shopify you just see it as a separate line on your bill.

Couriers. The argument that Shopify has no coverage for Econt and Speedy is no longer true. At least four apps offer office or locker selection at checkout, pull the real rates and print waybills. WooCommerce's advantage here is historical, not practical.

Card payments. Shopify Payments is available to companies registered in Bulgaria and pays out in euros. The online card rate starts at 1.9% + €0.25 on Basic, 1.8% on Grow and 1.7% on Advanced. If you use a different payment processor, Shopify charges an additional 2% on Basic, 1% on Grow and 0.6% on Advanced. On WooCommerce you choose any processor you like, and Woo takes nothing on top. At high turnover this difference is real and needs to be calculated.

Invoices and VAT. Neither platform issues Bulgarian invoices out of the box. On both, it's solved with an integration. Separately, invoices from Meta and Google are EU services under the reverse-charge mechanism and give you no tax credit to reduce the VAT you pay. If advertising is your main expense, the VAT you owe will be higher than a naive revenue-minus-expenses calculation suggests. Check your specific case with your accountant.

Discounts. When you advertise a discount, the law requires you to show the lowest price from the last 30 days. This is your obligation, not the platform's, and it is set up manually on both.

Two myths to drop

"WooCommerce is free." The plugin is free. Hosting, paid extensions, maintenance and developer hours are not. If you calculate the cost without them, you're comparing two different things.

"Shopify is closed and you can't change anything." The theme is yours and you can code it however you want. The limitation is real in exactly one place — the checkout — and it goes away on Plus.

How to decide

Answer three questions. Who will fix the store on a Sunday night if it goes down? How much traffic do you expect on your busiest day, and can your hosting handle it? Is there anything in your order flow that absolutely has to happen inside the checkout?

If your answer to the first is "nobody", to the second "I don't know" and to the third "no", Shopify is the safer choice. If you have a concrete answer to all three and a person to handle it, WooCommerce will cost you less and give you more.

If you've chosen Shopify, see the full cost breakdown in euros, how the migration works or the stores we've built.