The choice between WooCommerce vs Shopify is one of the most important decisions you make as a store owner. Both platforms are popular, but they work in fundamentally different ways. WooCommerce hosting is a free WordPress plugin that you run on your own hosting. Shopify is a closed SaaS platform that you pay for monthly. In this article we compare both options fairly, with concrete TCO calculations, feature comparisons, and advice for the Dutch market.

Up front: we are Theory7, a Dutch hosting provider that offers WooCommerce hosting. So we have an interest in WooCommerce. But we are not going to pretend that Shopify is no good at anything. Shopify is an excellent platform for specific audiences. The honest answer to "WooCommerce or Shopify?" is: it depends on your situation. After this article you will know exactly which platform suits you.

WooCommerce vs Shopify: the core differences

Characteristic	WooCommerce	Shopify
Type	Open-source WordPress plugin	Closed SaaS platform
Ownership	You own everything	Shopify owns the platform
Hosting	Choose it yourself (e.g. Theory7)	Included with Shopify
Monthly costs	Only hosting (from €0.49)	From €36/month (Basic plan)
Transaction fees	None (only the payment gateway)	0.5-2% on top of gateway costs
Customizability	Unlimited (open source)	Limited to Shopify's framework
Plugins/apps	60,000+ free WordPress plugins	8,000+ Shopify apps (many paid)
SEO	Full control	Limited (URL structure not adjustable)
Technical knowledge	Some basic knowledge is handy	No technical knowledge needed

Total Cost of Ownership: the real costs over 3 years

Cost calculation WooCommerce + Theory7

Cost item	1 year	2 years	3 years
Hosting Theory7 (€0.49/month)	€5.88	€11.76	€17.64
Domain name (.nl)	€0.45	€4.44	€8.43
SSL certificate	Free	Free	Free
WooCommerce plugin	Free	Free	Free
WordPress theme (one-time)	€0-€59	€0-€59	€0-€59
Mollie payment costs (1.8% average)	€432	€864	€1,296
Email	Included	Included	Included
Total	~€444	~€888	~€1,332

Cost calculation Shopify

Cost item	1 year	2 years	3 years
Shopify Basic (€36/month)	€432	€864	€1,296
Domain name	€14	€28	€42
Shopify transaction fees (2%)*	€480	€960	€1,440
Shopify Payments (1.9% + €0.25)	€516	€1,032	€1,548
Premium apps (2 apps on average)	~€240	~€480	~€720
Total (with Shopify Payments)	~€1,202	~€2,404	~€3,606
Total (with Mollie + 2% surcharge)	~€1,598	~€3,196	~€4,794

* Shopify charges an extra 2% transaction fee if you do not use Shopify Payments. In the Netherlands, many online stores use Mollie for iDEAL, so that costs you an extra 2% on top of the Mollie fees.

Cost difference over 3 years

Scenario	WooCommerce + Theory7	Shopify (best case)	Difference
1 year	€444	€1,202	€758 more expensive
2 years	€888	€2,404	€1,516 more expensive
3 years	€1,332	€3,606	€2,274 more expensive

Over 3 years you pay at least €2,274 more with Shopify than with WooCommerce + Theory7 hosting. And that is the best-case scenario with Shopify Payments. If you want to use Mollie for iDEAL (which most Dutch online stores do), a 2% transaction fee is added on top and the difference rises to more than €3,400 over three years. You can better invest that money in marketing, stock, or product development.

What can you do with €2,274 in savings?

To make the difference concrete: with the money you save by choosing WooCommerce instead of Shopify, you can invest in things that really make your online store grow:

• Google Ads: €2,274 in Google Shopping ads generates hundreds to thousands of extra visitors, depending on your niche and CPC
• Premium theme and plugins: a professional WooCommerce theme (€59) plus premium plugins for SEO, security, and speed optimization (€200-400 per year), and you still have more than €1,800 left over
• Professional product photography: good product photos are the number-one conversion factor for online stores. For €500-1,000 you can have your complete assortment photographed professionally
• SEO and content: invest in blog content, product descriptions, and landing pages that structurally generate free traffic from Google

Every euro you save on hosting and platform costs can be invested in growth. That is the fundamental advantage of WooCommerce: you invest in your business, not in a platform license.

Features compared: WooCommerce vs Shopify

Product management

Feature	WooCommerce	Shopify
Number of products	Unlimited	Unlimited
Product variations	Unlimited (with plugin)	Max 100 per product
Product categories	Unlimited, hierarchical	"Collections" (limited)
Digital products	Yes (free)	Yes (via app)
Subscriptions	Yes (WooCommerce Subscriptions)	Yes (via app, extra cost)
Import/export	CSV, XML, API	CSV, API
Bulk editing	Yes (native + plugins)	Limited

WooCommerce wins on flexibility in product management. The limit of 100 variations per product on Shopify is a well-known frustration for online stores with many options (clothing, furniture, custom work). A clothing store with 5 sizes and 10 colors per product is already at 50 variations, half of Shopify's limit. Add a third dimension (fabric type, length, width) and you quickly hit the wall.

Design and theme customization

Design aspect	WooCommerce	Shopify
Available themes	11,000+ (free and premium)	~150 (12 free, the rest paid)
Theme customization	Unlimited (PHP, CSS, HTML)	Limited (Liquid templating)
Page builders	Elementor, Divi, Beaver Builder, etc.	Shopify's own editor
Custom checkout	Fully customizable	Only via Shopify Plus ($2,000+/month)
Custom post types	Yes (lookbooks, recipes, etc.)	No (only via apps)
Multilingual	WPML, Polylang (free options)	Shopify Markets (limited)

The design difference is significant. With WooCommerce you can literally adjust every aspect of your online store: the product page layout, the checkout process, the confirmation page, emails, even the behavior of the shopping cart. With Shopify you are limited to the customization options of your theme and the Liquid templating language. Do you want to adjust the checkout? That is only possible with Shopify Plus, which costs more than $2,000 per month.

For many store owners this is not a problem, because the standard Shopify themes look professional. But as soon as you have specific wishes (a size configurator, a product bundler, a personalized return process), you run into limitations with Shopify that do not exist with WooCommerce.

Payment methods and payment providers

This is a crucial point for the Dutch market. iDEAL is the dominant payment method in the Netherlands. More than 70% of online payments go via iDEAL. This has major consequences for your choice.

Aspect	WooCommerce + Mollie	Shopify + Shopify Payments	Shopify + Mollie
iDEAL costs	€0.29 per transaction	1.9% + €0.25	€0.29 + 2% surcharge
Credit card costs	1.8% + €0.25	1.9% + €0.25	1.8% + €0.25 + 2%
Bancontact (BE)	€0.39	Not native	€0.39 + 2%
Extra transaction fees	None	None	2% on top of everything
Choice of payment provider	Free (Mollie, Adyen, etc.)	Shopify Payments recommended	2% penalty for external

The difference is enormous for Dutch online stores. With WooCommerce + Mollie you pay a fixed amount of €0.29 per iDEAL transaction. With Shopify Payments you pay 1.9% + €0.25, so on an order of €50 that is €1.20 instead of €0.29. And if you still want to use Mollie on Shopify (for Bancontact, Klarna, etc.), a 2% transaction fee is added on top. That eats into your margin.

Let's make this concrete with a calculation example. Suppose you have 200 orders per month with an average order value of €50. With WooCommerce + Mollie you pay €0.29 per iDEAL transaction: 200 x €0.29 = €58 per month. With Shopify Payments you pay 1.9% + €0.25 per transaction: 200 x (€0.95 + €0.25) = €240 per month. The difference: €182 per month, or €2,184 per year. In transaction fees alone. Add the €432 Shopify subscription costs and you are €2,616 per year more expensive than with WooCommerce + Mollie + Theory7 hosting.

Available payment methods in the Netherlands

The Dutch market is unique in Europe in terms of payment behavior. iDEAL is by far the most popular method, but customers also expect options such as Bancontact (for Belgian customers), Klarna (pay later), credit card, and Apple Pay/Google Pay. Mollie supports all these methods seamlessly via a single plugin. With Shopify you have to install paid apps for some methods, or you accept the 2% surcharge for using Mollie.

Payment method	WooCommerce + Mollie	Shopify Payments
iDEAL	€0.29 fixed	1.9% + €0.25
Bancontact	€0.39 fixed	Not available
Klarna (pay later)	Via Mollie plugin	Via Klarna app
Apple Pay	Via Mollie plugin	Native
PayPal	Via Mollie plugin	Native
SEPA transfer	Via Mollie plugin	Not available

SEO comparison: WooCommerce vs Shopify

SEO aspect	WooCommerce	Shopify
URL structure	Fully customizable	Fixed: /products/name, /collections/name
Meta tags	Fully customizable (Yoast, Rank Math)	Basic adjustments
Schema markup	Fully customizable	Limited (standard Product schema)
Sitemap	Automatic + customizable	Automatic (not customizable)
Robots.txt	Fully editable	Not editable
Canonical tags	Fully customizable	Automatic (sometimes incorrect)
Page speed	Depends on hosting	Good (CDN included)
Blog	WordPress (the best in the world)	Basic blog function
Redirects	Fully via .htaccess or plugin	Via Shopify admin (limited)

WooCommerce wins convincingly on SEO. The combination of WordPress (the best CMS for content) and full control over URL structure, schema, sitemaps, and technical SEO is unbeatable. Shopify forces you into their URL structure (/products/name) which you cannot change, a well-known frustration for SEO specialists.

A concrete example: with WooCommerce you can make your product page reachable at /blue-sneakers/. With Shopify it always becomes /products/blue-sneakers. That seems like a small difference, but shorter, clean URLs demonstrably score better in Google.

Content marketing and blogging

Content marketing is one of the most powerful strategies to attract free organic traffic to your online store. A blog with valuable articles about your niche structurally generates visitors from Google. And here WooCommerce wins by a mile: WordPress is the best blogging platform in the world. The editor, the SEO plugins (Yoast, Rank Math), the flexibility in categories and tags, the interlinking options, it is unmatched.

Shopify's blog function is basic. You can write and publish articles, but the functionality is limited: no categories (only tags), no advanced SEO options, no internal-linking tools, no content planning. If you are serious about SEO and content marketing, and you should be as a store owner, WooCommerce is the only real choice.

Page speed and Core Web Vitals

Shopify has an advantage in the area of page speed: their CDN and hosting infrastructure are optimized and you do not have to do anything for it. WooCommerce depends on your hosting choice. On a poor host WooCommerce can be slow; on a good LiteSpeed host with NVMe storage, WooCommerce is at least as fast as Shopify, and often faster.

What Shopify stores regularly struggle with is app bloat: every Shopify app adds JavaScript and CSS to your frontend. After installing 5 to 10 apps (which is normal), your online store can become noticeably slower. With WooCommerce you have more control over which scripts are loaded and you can limit the impact with caching and minification.

Flexibility and ownership

WooCommerce: you are the owner

With WooCommerce you own your complete online store:

• Code: you can adjust every line
• Data: your database is on your server
• Design: unlimited theme customizations
• Hosting: you can switch providers at any time
• No vendor lock-in: you do not depend on a single company

If Theory7 were to stop tomorrow (hypothetically), you move your online store to another host and everything keeps working. Your data, your products, your customer details, everything is yours.

Shopify: you rent a platform

With Shopify you rent a platform:

• Code: limited adjustments via Liquid templates
• Data: is on Shopify's servers
• Design: limited to Shopify themes
• Hosting: tied to Shopify
• Vendor lock-in: migrating from Shopify is complex

If Shopify raises its prices (which it does regularly; in 2023 prices rose by 33%), you have little choice. If they remove a feature or change their policy, you have to adapt. This is not a theoretical risk: Shopify has repeatedly banned apps that were previously allowed, causing store owners to lose their features.

Data portability and GDPR

With European privacy legislation (GDPR), data portability is an important topic. If you use WooCommerce, all customer data is on your server, in your database. You have full control over where the data is stored, how long you keep it, and how you delete it when a customer requests it.

With Shopify your customer data is on the servers of a Canadian company. Shopify has data centers in the US, Canada, and Europe. You have less control over the exact storage location and have to rely on Shopify's privacy policy. This is not necessarily a problem, because Shopify is GDPR-compliant, but it is a difference you should consciously consider, especially if you work with sensitive customer data.

Another aspect: if you decide to leave Shopify, you can export your data as CSV. But the export is not always complete. Order history, customer notes, and some metadata can be lost in the migration. With WooCommerce you always have full access to your database and can take everything to a new host or another platform.

Future-proofing

An online store is a long-term investment. You build a brand, a customer base, and an online presence. The choice of a platform is therefore not only a technical decision, but also a business one. With WooCommerce you invest in an open ecosystem that has existed since 2011 and is maintained by a community of millions of developers. WordPress runs on more than 40% of all websites in the world; it is not going anywhere.

Shopify is a publicly listed company that has to make a profit for shareholders. That means prices rise (as in 2023), features are removed or limited if they are not profitable, and the platform's priorities do not always match yours as a store owner. With WooCommerce you are the only one who decides how your online store looks, works, and grows.

Who is Shopify better for?

• You have absolutely no technical knowledge and are not willing to learn anything. Shopify's interface is so simple that anyone can work with it.
• You want to go live as fast as possible. Shopify can be set up in an afternoon. WooCommerce takes a little more time (although with a good host such as Theory7 it is also arranged within a day).
• You primarily sell via social media. Shopify has strong integrations with Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook Shops.
• You have a very small assortment (fewer than 20 products) and little ambition to grow.
• Budget is no issue, if you are willing to pay €3,600+ over 3 years for convenience.

An honest nuance: Shopify is not bad. It is an excellent product that serves millions of store owners worldwide. The question is not whether Shopify works, because it certainly does, but whether it is the right choice for your specific situation. If you fall into one of the categories above, Shopify is a fine option. But if you consider even one of the criteria below important, WooCommerce wins.

Who is WooCommerce better for?

• You want to minimize costs. With WooCommerce hosting at Theory7 (€0.49/month) you save thousands of euros over 3 years.
• You take SEO seriously. WooCommerce with WordPress offers unmatched SEO capabilities.
• You want full control over your online store, data, and future.
• You have a large assortment with many variations and categories.
• You want Dutch payment methods without a 2% transaction surcharge.
• You do content marketing. WordPress is the best blogging platform in the world.
• You want to grow without costs rising exponentially.
• You want to be independent of a single platform.

For most Dutch store owners, WooCommerce is the wiser choice. The combination of low costs, full control, superior SEO, and the use of Mollie without a transaction surcharge makes it unbeatable for anyone serious about e-commerce.

Apps and plugins: the ecosystem compared

WooCommerce plugins

WordPress has more than 60,000 free plugins in the official repository, thousands of which are made specifically for WooCommerce. For most functions you need, a free plugin exists: SEO (Yoast or Rank Math), security (Wordfence), caching (LiteSpeed Cache), forms (WPForms), email marketing (Mailchimp for WooCommerce), and so on. Premium plugins usually cost €39 to €99 per year, a one-time purchase, not monthly.

Shopify apps

Shopify has about 8,000 apps, the majority of which are paid. The prices are often higher than WooCommerce plugins: €10 to €50 per month per app is normal. An average Shopify store uses 6 to 8 apps, which quickly means €100 to €200 per month in app costs. Moreover, you pay monthly; it never stops. After two years you have spent €2,400 to €4,800 on apps, for functions that are often available for free with WooCommerce.

Function	WooCommerce plugin	Shopify app
SEO optimization	Rank Math (free)	SEO Manager (~€15/month)
Email marketing	Mailchimp (free)	Klaviyo (from €20/month)
Reviews	WooCommerce Reviews (free)	Judge.me (free plan available)
Upsell/cross-sell	WooCommerce native + free plugins	Bold Upsell (~€10/month)
Pay later	Mollie plugin (free)	Klarna app (free, but 2% surcharge)
Multilingual	Polylang (free)	Langify (~€15/month)

Migrating from Shopify to WooCommerce

1. Choose WooCommerce hosting, for example at Theory7 (from €0.49/month).
2. Install WordPress + WooCommerce. With the 1-click installer this is arranged in 5 minutes.
3. Export your Shopify data: products, customers, and orders as CSV.
4. Import into WooCommerce via the built-in CSV importer or a migration plugin.
5. Set up Mollie as your payment provider (no more extra transaction fees).
6. Choose and customize your theme. Thousands of free and premium themes are available.
7. Redirect old URLs. This is important for SEO.
8. Test everything: products, checkout, payment methods, emails.

The whole migration takes 1 to 3 days on average, depending on the size of your online store. Also take a look at our cheap WooCommerce hosting page if you want to save right away after the switch.

WooCommerce + Theory7: the best deal for Dutch online stores

• LiteSpeed web servers: the fastest web server for WooCommerce
• NVMe storage: up to 6x faster than traditional SSD for database operations
• €0.49 per month: cheaper than a cup of coffee
• Free SSL, email, and backups: no hidden costs
• Phone support: a real person on the line
• Free migration: we help you switch for free
• Mollie without extra costs: no 2% Shopify surcharge

With this setup your complete WooCommerce online store costs less than €12 per year in hosting. Compare that with €432 per year for Shopify Basic, excluding transaction fees and premium apps. The difference over 3 years: more than €2,274 saved. You can invest that money in marketing, stock, or a better theme for your online store.

For beginners who need help setting up, take a look at our page on WooCommerce hosting for beginners. There we explain step by step how to set up your first online store.

Getting started with WooCommerce: how do you begin?

Step 1: choose your hosting and domain

Choose a hosting provider with LiteSpeed web servers and NVMe storage for the best WooCommerce performance. At Theory7 this costs €0.49 per month and you can register your domain name directly at the same time. The 1-click WordPress installer saves you the technical setup.

Step 2: install WooCommerce

After installing WordPress (via the 1-click installer) you go to Plugins and install WooCommerce. The installation wizard guides you through the basic configuration: currency (euro), country (Netherlands), shipping options, and tax settings (21% VAT). This takes about 10 minutes.

Step 3: choose a theme

Choose a lightweight WooCommerce theme such as Astra or Kadence. These themes offer WooCommerce-specific layouts and are optimized for speed. Adjust the design via the WordPress Customizer, no code needed.

Step 4: set up Mollie

Create a free Mollie account and install the Mollie Payments for WooCommerce plugin. Link your account and activate the payment methods you want to offer: iDEAL, credit card, Bancontact, Klarna, PayPal, etc. The whole process takes less than 15 minutes.

Step 5: add products

Go to Products and click Add New. Add your product title, description, price, images, and SKU. For products with variations (sizes, colors) you use the variations function. Set up categories and tags for clear navigation.

Step 6: configure shipping and taxes

Set up shipping zones (Netherlands, Belgium, rest of Europe) with the corresponding rates. WooCommerce automatically calculates VAT based on your settings. Use the correct VAT rates for the Netherlands (21%, 9%, 0%) and set up reverse-charged VAT for EU sales if applicable.

Step 7: test your online store

Before you go live, test the full ordering process: product page, shopping cart, checkout, payment (use Mollie's test mode), confirmation email. Also have someone else test it, because fresh eyes see problems you overlook yourself.

Setting up a WooCommerce online store, including adding a handful of products, takes about half a day to a full day. Compare that with the annual saving of more than €2,000 compared to Shopify; you earn that investment back many times over.

The Dutch market: why WooCommerce is extra advantageous

• iDEAL dominance: 70%+ of online payments go via iDEAL. With Mollie on WooCommerce you pay €0.29 per transaction. On Shopify you pay considerably more.
• Bancontact for Belgium: if you sell to Belgian customers, Bancontact is essential. WooCommerce + Mollie supports this seamlessly. On Shopify it is not natively available.
• Dutch hosting providers: there are excellent Dutch hosting providers (Theory7, Cloud86, mijn.host) that offer WooCommerce hosting for a fraction of what Shopify costs.
• GDPR: with WooCommerce on a Dutch server, your customer data is in the Netherlands. With Shopify you have less control over the storage location.
• VAT calculation: WooCommerce supports the Dutch VAT structure (21%, 9%, 0%) and reverse-charged VAT for EU sales.

For the Dutch market, WooCommerce is not only cheaper, but also better adapted to local needs. The combination of Mollie integration, Dutch hosting, and EU tax compliance makes it the logical choice for most Dutch store owners.

Summary: WooCommerce or Shopify?

Criterion	Winner	Why
Lowest costs	WooCommerce	€1,332 vs €3,606 over 3 years
Ease of use	Shopify	Simpler for absolute beginners
SEO	WooCommerce	Full control over URLs, schema, sitemaps
Flexibility	WooCommerce	Open source, unlimited customization
Payment costs NL	WooCommerce	Mollie without a 2% extra surcharge
Ownership	WooCommerce	You own everything
Social selling	Shopify	Better Instagram/TikTok integration
Scalability	Tie	Both scalable, in different ways

WooCommerce wins on 5 of the 8 criteria. Shopify wins on ease of use and social selling. For most Dutch store owners who are serious about their business, WooCommerce is the wiser choice. You save thousands of euros, have full control, and do not depend on the decisions of an American company.

The combination of WooCommerce with affordable, fast hosting from Theory7 makes it the best deal for Dutch online stores. And with a free website builder the threshold to start is lower than ever.

Frequently asked questions about WooCommerce vs Shopify

Is WooCommerce really free?

WooCommerce itself is free and open source. You only pay for hosting (from €0.49/month at Theory7), a domain name (~€6/year), and optionally a premium theme. There are no monthly platform costs or transaction surcharges from WooCommerce. The only thing you pay is the cost of your payment provider (such as Mollie).

Is Shopify worth the money?

That depends on your situation. If you have absolutely no technical knowledge, no interest in learning WordPress, and budget is no issue, Shopify can be worth the convenience. But for most store owners, WooCommerce is a much better deal: more flexibility, lower costs, and better SEO.

Can I move my Shopify store to WooCommerce?

Yes. You can export products, customers, and orders as CSV and import them into WooCommerce. There are also plugins that automate the migration. The switch takes 1 to 3 days on average. Important tip: set up 301 redirects from your old Shopify URLs to the new WooCommerce URLs to preserve SEO.

Which platform is better for SEO?

WooCommerce is significantly better for SEO. You have full control over URL structure, meta tags, schema markup, sitemaps, and robots.txt. With Shopify you are stuck with their URL structure (/products/name) and have limited control over technical SEO aspects.

How much do I save with WooCommerce compared to Shopify?

Over 3 years you save at least €2,274 with WooCommerce + Theory7 compared to Shopify Basic. If you use Mollie on Shopify (for iDEAL) the difference rises to more than €3,400 because of the 2% transaction surcharge that Shopify charges for external payment providers.

Do I need to be able to program for WooCommerce?

No. WooCommerce is designed for non-technical users. You can set up your complete online store, add products, and manage orders without writing a line of code. Programming knowledge is only needed if you want to make very specific customizations, and even then there are plugins for almost everything.

Sources and references

• WooCommerce, official documentation (woocommerce.com)
• Wordfence, WordPress Security Report (wordfence.com)
• Dutch Data Protection Authority, GDPR information (autoriteitpersoonsgegevens.nl)