Guide
Shopify or WooCommerce for an Australian Store?
Pick Shopify if you want to run the store yourself with nothing to host or update. Pick WooCommerce if you're already on WordPress and someone can maintain it. Card fees are about the same on both.
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Where these numbers come from
Every figure was read on 21 October 2026. Shopify's prices and card rates come from shopify.com/au/pricing. WooCommerce's from its own pricing page and its WooPayments fees page. Hosting, extension and build ranges come from two pages of a published Australian cost guide. WooCommerce's own pages show prices with a "$" and don't name the currency, and we've said so where it matters.
The two side by side
| Shopify | WooCommerce | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A hosted platform. You rent the software and the hosting together | A free plugin that turns a WordPress site into a store |
| Platform cost | A$42 a month Basic, A$114 Grow, A$431 Advanced, billed yearly | Free, no monthly subscription |
| Hosting | Included | A$30–150 a month for managed WordPress hosting |
| Card rate, Australian cards | 1.7% + A$0.30 on Basic with Shopify Payments | 1.75% + $0.30 with WooPayments |
| Extra fee for your own payment provider | 2% on Basic, 1% Grow, 0.6% Advanced | None |
| Add-ons | Apps, about A$50–500 a month in total | Extensions, $29–299 each a year |
| Staff logins | None extra on Basic, 5 on Grow, 15 on Advanced | Set by WordPress user accounts |
| Who keeps it updated | Shopify, for the platform | You or your developer: WordPress, the theme and every extension |
Three years of platform costs
| Setup | Platform and hosting | Add-ons | 3-year total before card fees |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shopify Basic | A$42 × 36 = A$1,512 | A$50–500 a month in apps | A$3,312–19,512 |
| Shopify Grow | A$114 × 36 = A$4,104 | A$50–500 a month in apps | A$5,904–22,104 |
| WooCommerce | A$30–150 × 36 = A$1,080–5,400 | A$0–150 a month in extensions | A$1,080–10,800 |
When Shopify fits
Shopify fits when you want to set up and run the store yourself and never think about servers. The admin is easy to learn, updates and security are Shopify's job, and Shopify Payments has no extra transaction fee. The trade-offs are the monthly plan, the apps most stores add, and the 2% fee on Basic if you use another payment provider. Your store also only runs on Shopify. Moving off it later means a rebuild, which the cost guides put at A$3,000 to A$12,000.
When WooCommerce fits
WooCommerce fits when your site is already on WordPress, or you want full control of where the store is hosted and no platform fee. It's free, it takes no cut of sales, and the extension library is large. The cost is upkeep. WordPress, your theme and each extension update on their own schedules, and someone has to test them together. That's why the cost guides budget A$100 to A$500 a month for a WooCommerce care plan. If nobody will do that work, Shopify is the safer choice.
A third option: headless on either
We build stores headless on Shopify or WooCommerce. The shop front your customers see is custom-coded, fast and designed for your brand, and Shopify or WooCommerce runs the products, stock and orders behind it. You get the platform's back office without its theme limits. It's more work to build than a theme, so it costs more upfront. On Shopify, the monthly plan still applies when it runs headless. It's worth it when the store matters to your revenue and a theme can't do what you need.
Four questions that decide it
- Who will run it day to day? If it's you, and you're not technical, lean Shopify.
- Is your site already on WordPress? If yes, WooCommerce adds a store without moving anything.
- Do you want to choose your payment provider? WooCommerce charges no extra fee for it. Shopify Basic charges 2%.
- Who updates it in two years? On WooCommerce, name the person before you build.
Sources
- Shopify pricing (Australia)https://www.shopify.com/au/pricing
Plan prices, card rates, third-party fees and staff accounts. Read 21 October 2026.
- WooCommerce pricinghttps://woocommerce.com/pricing/
Free plugin, extension prices, hosting estimates.
- WooPayments feeshttps://woocommerce.com/document/woopayments/fees-and-debits/fees/
Australian domestic card fee of 1.75% + $0.30.
Where to next
- What an ecommerce website costs in Australia
Build ranges, running costs and card fees.
- Stores and sites we have built
Real client work, with the before and after.
Talk through your store before you choose
Tell us what you sell and who will run the store. We'll tell you which platform fits, quote a headless build on it in writing, and send a free homepage design first.
Common Questions
Some of the sites we've built
All projects
