Are you in search of a website builder and hosting service software? This WordPress vs Shopify comparison can help you find what you are looking for. It is a known fact that WordPress and Shopify are amongst the top rated web publishing ecommerce platforms. However, to ensure you pick the right platform for your business, it is worth going through this detailed WordPress vs Shopify comparison.
Both WordPress and Shopify are designed to help you build your online store, manage, and grow your customer pool and revenue. However, they are still quite different from one another. Therefore, the in-depth comparison below will help you identify these differences – allowing you to pick the best ecommerce platform for your business.
What Is The Difference Between WordPress and Shopify?
WordPress is a free and open-source web publishing software designed for blogging and website content management. Using WordPress, you can set up any type of website – whether it is an online store or marketing site thanks to its numerous features and app integrations.
Shopify is an ecommerce web builder designed to build and grow your online store. Shopify offers a wide selection of features to help you build your site. Amongst the key features include web design, branding, business name generation, store set up, email marketing, payment, and shipping.
Design & Ease of Use
WordPress is built with an easy-to-follow and user interface – however, there is still a learning curve. When it comes to design, WordPress offers nearly 50 different free design templates. Furthermore, WordPress offers a selection of additional paid-for templates for those who have the budget – with a starting cost of about $49. WordPress also comes with the advantage of offering templates curated for your site needs – whether it’s a portfolio, online magazine, blog, or an online store.
Shopify is popular for its ease of use and simplistic yet, unique designs. Shopify is designed with an easy-to-navigate drag-and-drop menu which makes it easy for anyone to use the software. The best part about using Shopify is you don’t need any coding knowledge. Shopify is equipped with over 170 designs and themes. Whilst some design themes are available for free, others are paid for. With the paid-for themes, you can change other details such as pallet colors.
Alternatively, you can choose to add your design and themes for a more unique look. Furthermore, the Shopify interface and design themes come with the advantage of being both desktop and mobile responsive – allowing your audiences to access your online store comfortably using desktop PCs, laptops, tablets, and smartphones.
Winner: WordPress proves to be quite a resourceful web building software with incredible design tools, however, Shopify still outperforms WordPress with a wider selection of design options and user simplicity with no learning curve.
Integrations& Add-ons
WordPress integration is popularly used by ecommerce business owners and marketers. The integration comes in the form of plugins – of which WordPress offers up to 54,000 free plugins available in the official directory. Amongst these include WordPress Email Marketing, Slider Responsive Slideshow, and Social Media Feed.
Shopify comes with numerous native integrations – including over 100+ native integrations with online payment gateway options such as PayPal. Furthermore, Shopify integrates with other apps such as analytics apps like Google Analytics and Email Marketing apps such as Active Campaign, to mention a few. Additionally, through its integration with Zapier, Shopify can connect with up to 3,000+ other third party apps.
Winner: With up to 54,000 free plugins available through WordPress, it takes the lead when it comes to integrations and add-ons.
Customer Support
WordPress offers a selection of customer support tools – although some are limited to the plan you opt for. For all the plans, you will have access to the WordPress community forum where you can get more information from other users and experts.
Additionally, all plans are given access to the resource center where you can access how-to guides, blogs, video tutorials, and FAQs. Live chat support is available for Premium, Business, and Ecommerce plan users. Live chat support is available 24/7 from Monday to Friday. Additionally, for these plans, email support is available. However, phone support is not available for any WordPress plan.
Shopify also offers a variety of customer support options – including one-on-one and community-based help. The Shopify platform offers 24/7 live chat and phone support as well as interactive email and social media support.
What makes Shopify an excellent option is that all plans will enjoy these services. Furthermore, the Shopify platform offers other tools such as the community forum, how-to articles, and video tutorials. At higher plans, the Shopify platform even offers advanced specialist support.
Winner: With different support tools – including phone and social media support across all plans, Shopify takes the lead.
Pricing
WordPress offers a choice of five key plans – including a free plan. The free plan offers basic features and is ideal for hobbyists. However, if you want to set your own custom domain, you have to opt for a paid plan. The cheapest paid plan is the Personal plan which costs $4 per month. However, the most popular plan is the Premium which is used by freelancers.
The Premium plan costs $8 per month. Alternatively, you can opt for the Business plan designed for small businesses or the ecommerce plan which is perfect for online stores for $25 and $45, respectively. After a year, you will pay a minimum of $12 per year for web hosting. Furthermore, WordPress offers an Enterprise level VIP plan for larger businesses with plans starting at $2,000 per month.
Shopify on the other end doesn’t offer a free plan, however, for any plan you choose, you can get a free 14-day trial to decide whether it works for you or not. Shopify has three key plans. These include the Basic Shopify plan designed for new business and online businesses – costing $29 per month. Other plans include the Shopify plan which costs $79 per month and is designed for a growing business with 1 retail store.
The Advanced Shopify plan is designed for a growing business with 2 or more retail stores and costs $299 per month. Larger enterprise-level businesses can opt for the Shopify Plus plan designed to cater to high volume merchants and offers rates based on the needs of the business. Additionally, Shopify offers a Shopify Lite plan that costs only $9.
This plan is designed for business owners that want to sell in person via the Shopify Lite Gateway or those who want to add a Buy button to their existing website. Additionally, through their online stores, each plan is charged a percentage with every successful sale done- to avoid this extra cost, you can opt to is the Shopify dedicated payment gateway.
WordPressShopifyPricing per monthPricing per monthFree0Basic $29Personal$4Shopify $79Premium$8Advanced Shopify $299Business $25Ecommerce$45
Winner: With a free plan and selection of other affordable paid plans, WordPress takes the lead when it comes to pricing.
Feature Comparison Chart
Both WordPress and Shopify are excellent tools for web building and hosting. Nonetheless, they still hold distinctive differences. For example, whilst Shopify proves to be extremely easy to use, both platforms do the design area more justice. When you look at other areas such as integrations and add-ons, WordPress does a better job due to its versatility as it caters to different site needs no just online stores.
Even their concept is still distinct; Shopify offers a full suite solution as it takes care of all your needs including web hosting and domain. WordPress on the other end offers free design and building; however, its plan covers web hosting, domain, and an SSL certificate. The feature comparison chart below offers a summary of how each platform compares to the other when it comes to the features.
FeaturesWordPressShopifyDesign & Ease of Use4.84.9Integrations & Add-ons4.94.7Customer Support4.74.9Pricing4.94.6Rating 4.8254.775
Final Verdict – WordPress vs Shopify
The WordPress vs Shopify comparison above does an excellent job in helping you distinguish the perks that come with each platform. To a beginner, both software options appear to be the same. However, nothing can be further from the truth. Sure, both WordPress and Shopify allow you to build and grow your site. Additionally, both platforms are perfect for helping your site stand out and help you draw in more audiences.
However, this is as fast as their similarities go. WordPress is designed with more versatility – allowing you to build different types of sites including personal sites, marketing sites, portfolios, and even, blogs. Shopify on the other end is more curated for business owners who want to set up an online store. Due to this nature, Shopify is more automated to make it easy to set up your store from the design to shipping and payment collection needs.