--- title: "Shopify vs WooCommerce in 2026: 3-year cost for US stores" description: "Shopify or WooCommerce for a US store? Three-year costs at USD 15k and 100k a month with arithmetic, sales tax tools, real-user speed data and migration steps." url: "https://dardo.studio/en/blog/shopify-vs-woocommerce/" language: "en" updated: "2026-10-22T04:42:04.391Z" --- [Blog](https://dardo.studio/en/blog/) # Shopify vs WooCommerce in 2026: three-year cost for a US store at two sizes, sales tax, speed and migration Card fees are most of the bill on both. WooCommerce saves money only if you maintain it; past USD 30,000 a month, Shopify's lower card rates usually win. By [Nicolás Cerón](https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicoceron/) · October 21, 2026 ![A night river crossing with an iron truss bridge, an amber-lit stone tollhouse and a lowered crimson toll gate arm at the centre.](https://dardo.studio/_astro/01M5GYMK6TXY1HGD71HH9ZKTH4_Z1AYzQL.webp) ## Key takeaways - Card processing was 90% to 96% of the three-year bill for both example stores on both platforms, before any WordPress care plan, so the payment processor matters more than the platform fee. - A US store selling USD 15,000 a month saved about USD 600 over three years on WooCommerce when maintained in-house, but paid about USD 8,000 more once a USD 239-a-month care plan was added. - At USD 100,000 a month, Shopify Grow's 2.7% card rate against WooPayments' 2.9% saved USD 7,200 over three years, and Shopify came out about USD 10,000 cheaper than WooCommerce with a tax service. - Shopify Tax is free until USD 100,000 in lifetime sales and then charges 0.35% per taxed order up to USD 0.99; WooCommerce Tax is free but only handles the store's home location. - In September 2026, 85.5% of US Shopify stores passed Core Web Vitals on mobile against 54.7% of WooCommerce stores, mostly because only 17.8% of WooCommerce stores had a good server response time. ## The short answer For most US stores, Shopify and WooCommerce cost about the same to run, because card fees are roughly nine-tenths of the bill on both. WooCommerce only comes out cheaper when you maintain it yourself: a store selling USD 15,000 a month saves about USD 600 over three years that way, and loses about USD 8,000 once it pays a WordPress care plan. As sales grow, Shopify's lower card rate on its Grow plan tips the math its way: at USD 100,000 a month, it's about USD 10,000 cheaper over three years than WooCommerce with a tax service, and real shoppers' Core Web Vitals pass rate on Shopify stores is 85.5% against WooCommerce's 54.7%. Choose WooCommerce when you need to own the code and data, sell something Shopify's checkout or catalog can't model, or already run a WordPress site with a team that maintains it. Choose Shopify when you'd rather pay a platform than run one. Prices below are US prices from each vendor's own pages, read on 21 October 2026 unless a date says otherwise. ## The prices behind the comparison Shopify shows prices by the visitor's country, and on 21 October our connection was outside the US, so Shopify's US plan prices and card rates come from the [Internet Archive's copy of its US pricing page](https://web.archive.org/web/20261017203248/https://www.shopify.com/pricing), as published on 17 October 2026. | | Shopify Basic | Shopify Grow | Shopify Advanced | WooCommerce | | -------------------------------- | -------------- | -------------- | ---------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | | Platform, billed yearly | USD 29 a month | USD 89 a month | USD 359 a month | Free software | | Platform, billed monthly | USD 39 | USD 105 | USD 399 | Free | | Hosting | Included | Included | Included | Yours: WooCommerce estimates USD 25 to 350 a month for most stores | | Online card rate | 2.9% + 30¢ | 2.7% + 30¢ | 2.5% + 30¢ | WooPayments: 2.9% + 30¢ | | Fee for another payment provider | 2% | 1% | 0.6% | None | | Updates and security | Shopify's job | Shopify's job | Shopify's job | Yours, or a care plan | Sources: Shopify pricing (US page as published on 17 October 2026), [WooCommerce pricing](https://woocommerce.com/pricing/) and [WooPayments fees](https://woocommerce.com/document/woopayments/fees-and-debits/fees/) for the United States. Two rows decide most comparisons. Card rates are identical on Basic and WooPayments, and Shopify's get lower as the plan gets more expensive. And Shopify charges its own transaction fee when you use a provider other than Shopify Payments: on Grow, a store taking USD 100,000 a month through Stripe or PayPal would pay Shopify an extra USD 1,000 a month, before the provider's own fee. E-commerce development Want Dardo to do this for you? Tell us what you need. Nico replies personally within one business day. [Get a proposal](https://dardo.studio/en/contact/?service=ecommerce-development) · [See the service](https://dardo.studio/en/services/ecommerce-development/) ## Three years, two US stores We priced two stores from published rates only, billed yearly: - **Store A**: USD 15,000 a month in sales, 200 orders at USD 75, about 20,000 visits a month. Collects sales tax in its home state only, where 20% of orders ship. - **Store B**: USD 100,000 a month, 1,000 orders at USD 100, about 100,000 visits a month. Collects tax in five states, which account for 60% of orders, and sells subscriptions and bundles. Both take cards through the platform's own processor at the standard online rate. Left out because they cost the same on either platform: the domain, email marketing, shipping, marketing and the cost of designing and building the store, which our guide to [ecommerce website costs](https://dardo.studio/en/blog/ecommerce-website-cost/) covers. | Line, 36 months | A on Shopify Basic | A on WooCommerce | B on Shopify Grow | B on WooCommerce | | ----------------------------------- | ------------------ | ---------------- | ----------------- | ---------------- | | Platform or hosting | 1,044 | 750 | 3,204 | 2,700 | | Card processing | 17,820 | 17,820 | 108,000 | 115,200 | | Subscriptions and bundles | Not needed | Not needed | 0 | 1,074 | | Sales tax calculation | 308 | 0 | 7,350 | 9,588 | | **Total, you maintain WooCommerce** | **USD 19,172** | **USD 18,570** | **USD 118,554** | **USD 128,562** | | Care plan for WooCommerce | | 8,604 | | 8,604 | | **Total with a care plan** | **USD 19,172** | **USD 27,174** | **USD 118,554** | **USD 137,166** | How each line is calculated: - **Platform or hosting.** Shopify Basic USD 29 × 36 and Grow USD 89 × 36. For WooCommerce, [Pressable](https://pressable.com/pricing/), a managed WordPress host that says it was built by the team that built WooCommerce: Signature 1 at USD 250 a year (up to 30,000 visits) for Store A and Signature 4 at USD 900 a year (up to 150,000 visits) for Store B, × 3. - **Card processing.** A: 2.9% of USD 15,000 plus 30¢ on 200 orders = USD 495 a month, on either platform. B: on Grow, 2.7% of USD 100,000 plus USD 300 = USD 3,000 a month; on WooPayments, 2.9% plus USD 300 = USD 3,200 a month. - **Subscriptions and bundles.** Shopify's own [Subscriptions](https://apps.shopify.com/shopify-subscriptions) and [Bundles](https://apps.shopify.com/shopify-bundles) apps are free. On WooCommerce, [WooCommerce Subscriptions](https://woocommerce.com/products/woocommerce-subscriptions/?currency=USD) is USD 279 a year and [Product Bundles](https://woocommerce.com/products/product-bundles/?currency=USD) USD 79 a year: USD 358 × 3. - **Sales tax.** Explained in the next section. - **Care plan.** [WP Buffs](https://wpbuffs.com/plans/) Perform, the tier that includes e-commerce plugin management, at USD 239 a month × 36. The pattern holds beyond these two stores. Card processing is 93% of Store A's Shopify bill and 91% of Store B's, so the platform choice moves the total by single-digit percentages, while the processor choice can move it far more: if Store B kept Shopify but processed cards through another provider, Shopify's 1% fee alone would add USD 36,000 over three years. ## Sales tax: who calculates, and who files Where you must collect sales tax depends on each state's rules, so this section compares tools, not obligations; ask an accountant which states apply to you. [Shopify Tax](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/taxes/shopify-tax/pricing) is built in. For stores created on or after 13 May 2026, it's free until the store reaches USD 100,000 in lifetime sales; after that it charges 0.35% of each order on Basic, Grow and Advanced (0.25% on Plus), capped at USD 0.99 per order, and only on orders from states where you've turned on tax collection. In our table, Store A crosses the threshold after about 1,333 orders, and 20% of the remaining 5,867 orders pay USD 0.26 each: USD 308. Store B crosses it after 1,000 orders, and 60% of the remaining 35,000 pay USD 0.35: USD 7,350. Shopify Tax calculates; it doesn't file your returns. [WooCommerce Tax](https://woocommerce.com/document/woocommerce-shipping-and-tax/woocommerce-tax/) is a free extension that calculates rates automatically, but WooCommerce's documentation is explicit about its limits: it uses your store address as the primary tax location, "does not discover or maintain every state where your business may have a tax obligation", and doesn't file or remit. That's enough for Store A. For Store B's other four states you'd either maintain manual rates yourself or pay a tax service. The table uses Avalara's Core Compliance at [USD 799 per state per year](https://www.avalara.com/us/en/products/sales-and-use-tax/pricing.html) for four states (USD 9,588 over three years), which also files the returns. [TaxJar](https://www.taxjar.com/pricing) starts at USD 39 a month for 200 orders a month, with 2 AutoFile credits a year included and more at USD 50 each. So the tax line isn't like for like: Avalara includes filing that a Shopify store would also have to buy or do by hand. If you file yourself, Store B on WooCommerce with manual rates costs about USD 118,974, the same as on Shopify. ## Speed: what real shoppers experience The HTTP Archive's [technology report](https://cdn.httparchive.org/v1/cwv?technology=Shopify,WooCommerce&geo=United%20States%20of%20America&rank=ALL&start=latest) measures, every month, how many stores on each platform pass Google's Core Web Vitals for real Chrome users. September 2026 was the latest month on 21 October: | United States, September 2026 | Shopify | WooCommerce | | ---------------------------------------- | ------- | ----------- | | Stores measured (mobile) | 118,969 | 54,089 | | Pass all Core Web Vitals, mobile | 85.5% | 54.7% | | Pass all Core Web Vitals, desktop | 82.7% | 52.2% | | Good server response time (TTFB), mobile | 88.9% | 17.8% | | Good Largest Contentful Paint, mobile | 92.1% | 59.3% | | Good Interaction to Next Paint, mobile | 95.1% | 96.8% | | Median page weight, mobile | 4.52 MB | 3.32 MB | | Median JavaScript, mobile | 2.59 MB | 1.01 MB | Sources: HTTP Archive technology report, [Core Web Vitals](https://cdn.httparchive.org/v1/cwv?technology=Shopify,WooCommerce&geo=United%20States%20of%20America&rank=ALL&start=latest) and [page weight](https://cdn.httparchive.org/v1/page-weight?technology=Shopify,WooCommerce&geo=United%20States%20of%20America&rank=ALL&start=latest), Chrome UX Report data. The gap is server response. Shopify stores ship heavier pages, more than twice the JavaScript, yet pass more often, because 88.9% of them answer fast enough for a "good" time to first byte, which Google's web.dev defines as [0.8 seconds or less](https://web.dev/articles/ttfb). Only 17.8% of WooCommerce stores do. That's a hosting and caching problem, and it's fixable: a WooCommerce store on hosting with full-page caching for catalog pages can respond as quickly. Responsiveness (INP) is nearly identical. These are averages across every store on each platform, not a forecast for yours; our [website platform speed report](https://dardo.studio/en/tools/website-platform-speed-report/) shows the latest month by country. ## Apps and extensions Shopify's [App Store](https://apps.shopify.com/) says it has "over 16,000 apps"; app listings state that charges are billed in USD every 30 days. WooCommerce stores can use WooCommerce.com's paid extensions, which WooCommerce prices at USD 29 to 299 a year each, and the [WordPress plugin directory](https://wordpress.org/plugins/), which lists over 76,000 free plugins. The pricing models differ. Shopify apps are monthly subscriptions. A WooCommerce.com extension is an annual [subscription for updates and support](https://woocommerce.com/document/managing-woocommerce-com-subscriptions/); letting it lapse means no more updates, which on a checkout means no security fixes. Shopify's own apps cover a lot for free (subscriptions, bundles, the Store Migration importer), where WooCommerce often needs a paid extension. In the other direction, deep changes to checkout or catalog logic are a code change on WooCommerce, while on Shopify they depend on what apps and your plan allow. ## Migrating in either direction **WooCommerce to Shopify.** Shopify's free [Store Migration app](https://apps.shopify.com/store-migration) imports product and customer data from WooCommerce, either from CSV files or by connecting your account. Shopify's [migration guide](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/migrating-to-shopify) recommends importing products first, then customers, then historical orders, and warns that each imported order can trigger a new-order email to staff unless you turn notifications off first. The hard part is URLs: Shopify's product and collection pages live under fixed `/products/` and `/collections/` paths, and you can only [redirect](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/online-store/menus-and-links/url-redirect) a URL that no longer loads a page (up to 100,000 redirects outside Plus). Map every old product URL before launch; our [redirect map generator](https://dardo.studio/en/tools/redirect-map-generator/) builds the list from your sitemaps. **Shopify to WooCommerce.** WooCommerce.com sells a [Migrate & Import Shopify to WooCommerce](https://woocommerce.com/products/migrate-import-shopify-to-woocommerce/?currency=USD) extension for USD 79 a year that imports products, categories, orders, coupons, blogs and pages through Shopify's API. WooCommerce's product URL base is [configurable](https://woocommerce.com/document/permalinks/), so you can often keep `/products/` paths and need fewer redirects. Customer passwords don't come across: the [Shopify Data Migrator](https://woocommerce.com/products/shopify-data-migrator/?currency=USD) listing explains that Shopify's APIs don't provide them, so plan a password-reset email for returning customers. Either way, the SEO risk is the same as any replatforming, and our [website migration SEO checklist](https://dardo.studio/en/blog/website-migration-seo-checklist/) covers it step by step. ## Which one fits | Your situation | Better fit | Why | | ------------------------------------------------------ | -------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | Small team, no developer, selling standard products | Shopify | No hosting, updates or security to run | | You already run WordPress and someone maintains it | WooCommerce | One system, and the cost advantage is real if upkeep is in-house | | Over about USD 30,000 a month, standard checkout | Shopify Grow or Advanced | Grow's 0.2-point lower card rate covers its extra USD 60 a month over Basic from USD 30,000 in monthly sales | | Unusual products: configurators, quotes, complex rules | WooCommerce | You can change any part of the code | | You want to process cards with a specific provider | WooCommerce | No platform fee on outside processors | | Speed matters and you won't invest in hosting | Shopify | 85.5% of US stores pass Core Web Vitals on mobile | | Store sales tax filed across many states | Either, plus a tax service | Neither platform's built-in tool files returns | ## What to do next Put your own monthly sales, average order and the states where you collect tax into the table above; the card line will tell you most of the answer. If you want Dardo to build or move the store, our [ecommerce development](https://dardo.studio/en/services/ecommerce-development/) service explains how we scope one, and our comparison of [Wix vs WordPress](https://dardo.studio/en/blog/wix-vs-wordpress/) covers the smaller-site end of the decision. ## Common questions **Is WooCommerce cheaper than Shopify?** Only if you maintain it yourself. With identical card rates on Shopify Basic and WooPayments, a store selling USD 15,000 a month saved about USD 600 over three years on WooCommerce, but a care plan that handles plugin updates added about USD 8,600 and made it the more expensive option. **Does Shopify charge transaction fees?** Not when you use Shopify Payments, which charges card fees instead. If you use another payment provider, Shopify adds its own fee on top of the provider's: 2% on Basic, 1% on Grow and 0.6% on Advanced, according to its US pricing page as published on 17 October 2026. **Which is faster, Shopify or WooCommerce?** On average, Shopify. In September 2026, 85.5% of US Shopify stores passed Core Web Vitals on mobile against 54.7% of WooCommerce stores. The gap is mostly server response time, which good hosting and full-page caching can fix on WooCommerce. **How do Shopify and WooCommerce handle US sales tax?** Shopify Tax calculates tax for the states where you turn on collection, free until USD 100,000 in lifetime sales and then 0.35% per taxed order, capped at USD 0.99. WooCommerce Tax is free but uses your store address as its tax location. Neither files returns; services like Avalara or TaxJar do, for a monthly or per-state fee. **Can I move from WooCommerce to Shopify without losing SEO?** Yes, if you redirect every old URL. Shopify's free Store Migration app imports products and customers from WooCommerce, but Shopify puts products under fixed /products/ paths and only redirects URLs that no longer load a page. Map the old URLs before launch and test the redirects. **When should a store choose WooCommerce?** When it needs to own its code and data, sell something Shopify's checkout or catalog can't model, use a payment processor of its choice without a platform fee, or already runs a WordPress site with a team that maintains it. ## Sources & further reading Sources behind this page, with further detail from the original publishers. - [Shopify: Pricing (US page, Internet Archive copy of 17 October 2026)](https://web.archive.org/web/20261017203248/https://www.shopify.com/pricing) · web.archive.org - [WooCommerce: Pricing](https://woocommerce.com/pricing/) · woocommerce.com - [WooCommerce: WooPayments fees](https://woocommerce.com/document/woopayments/fees-and-debits/fees/) · woocommerce.com - [Pressable: WordPress hosting plans](https://pressable.com/pricing/) · pressable.com - [Shopify App Store: Shopify Subscriptions](https://apps.shopify.com/shopify-subscriptions) · apps.shopify.com - [Shopify App Store: Shopify Bundles](https://apps.shopify.com/shopify-bundles) · apps.shopify.com - [WooCommerce: WooCommerce Subscriptions](https://woocommerce.com/products/woocommerce-subscriptions/?currency=USD) · woocommerce.com - [WooCommerce: Product Bundles](https://woocommerce.com/products/product-bundles/?currency=USD) · woocommerce.com - [WP Buffs: WordPress care plans](https://wpbuffs.com/plans/) · wpbuffs.com - [Shopify Help Center: Shopify Tax pricing](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/taxes/shopify-tax/pricing) · help.shopify.com - [WooCommerce: WooCommerce Tax documentation](https://woocommerce.com/document/woocommerce-shipping-and-tax/woocommerce-tax/) · woocommerce.com - [Avalara: Sales tax pricing](https://www.avalara.com/us/en/products/sales-and-use-tax/pricing.html) · avalara.com - [TaxJar: Pricing](https://www.taxjar.com/pricing) · taxjar.com - [HTTP Archive: Technology report API, Core Web Vitals (September 2026)](https://cdn.httparchive.org/v1/cwv?technology=Shopify,WooCommerce&geo=United%20States%20of%20America&rank=ALL&start=latest) · cdn.httparchive.org - [HTTP Archive: Technology report API, page weight (September 2026)](https://cdn.httparchive.org/v1/page-weight?technology=Shopify,WooCommerce&geo=United%20States%20of%20America&rank=ALL&start=latest) · cdn.httparchive.org - [web.dev: Time to First Byte (TTFB)](https://web.dev/articles/ttfb) · web.dev - [Shopify App Store](https://apps.shopify.com/) · apps.shopify.com - [WordPress.org: Plugin directory](https://wordpress.org/plugins/) · wordpress.org - [WooCommerce: Managing WooCommerce.com subscriptions](https://woocommerce.com/document/managing-woocommerce-com-subscriptions/) · woocommerce.com - [Shopify App Store: Shopify Store Migration](https://apps.shopify.com/store-migration) · apps.shopify.com - [Shopify Help Center: Migrate to Shopify](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/migrating-to-shopify) · help.shopify.com - [Shopify Help Center: Creating and managing URL redirects](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/online-store/menus-and-links/url-redirect) · help.shopify.com - [WooCommerce: Migrate & Import Shopify to WooCommerce](https://woocommerce.com/products/migrate-import-shopify-to-woocommerce/?currency=USD) · woocommerce.com - [WooCommerce: Permalinks documentation](https://woocommerce.com/document/permalinks/) · woocommerce.com - [WooCommerce: Shopify Data Migrator](https://woocommerce.com/products/shopify-data-migrator/?currency=USD) · woocommerce.com [Nicolás Cerón](https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicoceron/) Nicolás Cerón is the founder of Dardo, a brand, web design and development studio in Bogotá, Colombia. ## Related articles - [**How much does an ecommerce website cost in the US? Platform plans, card fees, build prices and 3-year totals**Shopify plans run $29 to $359 a month, but card fees are most of the bill. Published US prices for platforms, payments, apps and builds, with 3-year totals.](https://dardo.studio/en/blog/ecommerce-website-cost/) - [**Website migration SEO checklist: change platforms or domains without losing rankings**Rankings rarely drop because of the new platform; they drop because URLs that earned traffic stopped answering. A checklist from URL inventory to day 90.](https://dardo.studio/en/blog/website-migration-seo-checklist/) - [**Wix vs WordPress in 2026: three-year costs, ownership, SEO limits and real-user speed**Wix costs USD 612–1,044 over three years with upkeep included and passes Core Web Vitals more often; WordPress is cheaper and portable, if someone maintains it.](https://dardo.studio/en/blog/wix-vs-wordpress/) - [**Framer vs WordPress in 2026: which to choose for a marketing site, with real costs**Framer vs WordPress in 2026: who should pick which, a three-year cost for a bilingual 18-page site with a blog, and what each one makes you give up.](https://dardo.studio/en/blog/framer-vs-wordpress/) ## Keep exploring. - [Service · **E-commerce website development**](https://dardo.studio/en/services/ecommerce-development/) - [Your project · **Start a conversation**](https://dardo.studio/en/contact/)