Short answer: choose Shopify if you want a store that runs reliably with little technical work and you are happy to pay a monthly fee plus a small cut of each sale. Choose WooCommerce if you already have a WordPress site, need custom features or B2B pricing, or want lower running costs and are willing to look after updates and security. For most first-time sellers in India with under a few hundred products, Shopify is the easier start.
We build stores on both at Arcbig, and owners in Modinagar, Ghaziabad and Meerut ask us this question more than almost any other. The honest answer depends less on which platform is "better" and more on how you plan to run the store day to day. Here is how the two compare on the things that actually matter for an Indian small business.
What is the basic difference between Shopify and WooCommerce?
Shopify is a hosted service. You pay a monthly subscription, and Shopify looks after the servers, security, updates and checkout. You log in, add products and sell. You cannot change the core software, but you can extend it with themes and apps.
WooCommerce is a free, open-source plugin that turns a WordPress website into a store. You need your own hosting and domain, and you (or your developer) are responsible for updates, backups, speed and security. In return you get full control over the code, design and data.
WordPress itself is enormous. According to W3Techs, it runs about 39.6% of all websites on the internet, which is one reason WooCommerce developers and plugins are easy to find in India.
What does Shopify actually cost per month in India?
Shopify's India pricing page lists these plans (prices as shown in October 2026, excluding GST):
| Plan | Billed monthly | Billed yearly (per month) | Extra fee with a third-party payment gateway |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | ₹1,994 | ₹1,499 | 2% |
| Grow | ₹7,447 | ₹5,599 | 1% |
| Advanced | ₹30,164 | ₹22,680 | 0.6% |
The last column is the one most Indian sellers miss. Shopify's own payment system, Shopify Payments, is not available in India, so Indian stores connect a third-party gateway such as Razorpay, Cashfree or PayU. When you do that, Shopify charges its transaction fee on each order on top of whatever the gateway charges.
On top of the plan, budget for a paid theme if the free ones do not suit you, and for apps (reviews, WhatsApp chat, shipping, invoices). Apps are often charged in US dollars every month, and they add up quietly.
What does WooCommerce actually cost?
WooCommerce itself is free, with no monthly subscription. Your real costs are:
- Hosting: a reliable host with enough resources for a store. Cheap shared hosting is the most common cause of slow, hacked WooCommerce sites we are asked to fix.
- Domain and SSL: yearly.
- Theme and extensions: many are free; premium extensions are usually charged per year.
- Maintenance: someone has to update WordPress, WooCommerce, the theme and plugins regularly, take backups and watch security. This is either your time or a monthly fee to a developer.
There is no platform transaction fee on WooCommerce. You pay only your payment gateway's charges.
How do payment gateway fees compare?
Whichever platform you choose, the gateway charges its own fee. Razorpay's standard pricing, for example, is 2% per transaction plus GST, with no setup fee.
Here is a simple worked example for a store doing ₹2,00,000 of online sales a month:
- Shopify Basic with Razorpay: Shopify's 2% third-party fee is ₹4,000, and Razorpay's 2% is another ₹4,000 plus GST. That is about ₹8,000 a month in fees before your plan, apps and GST.
- WooCommerce with Razorpay: only Razorpay's 2%, so ₹4,000 plus GST. You still pay for hosting and maintenance.
At low sales the difference is small, and Shopify's convenience is usually worth it. As sales grow, the per-order fee becomes a real number, and either moving up a Shopify plan or considering WooCommerce starts to make sense. Run this sum with your own expected sales before deciding.
Which is easier to manage without a technical team?
Shopify, clearly. Updates, security patches, server capacity during a Diwali sale and checkout reliability are Shopify's problem, not yours. Adding products, managing orders and printing invoices is straightforward, and the mobile app works well for owners who run the shop from their phone.
WooCommerce is manageable for non-technical owners once it is set up properly, but it needs regular care. Skipping updates for months is how stores get hacked. We have spent a lot of this year cleaning malware off neglected WordPress sites; our guide on what to do if your WordPress site is hacked explains why maintenance matters.
Which is better for SEO and getting found on Google?
Both can rank well. What matters more is the content on your product and category pages, page speed, and how the site is set up.
- WooCommerce gives you complete control over URLs, structured data, page templates and content, and WordPress is excellent for blogging. That flexibility helps if content marketing is part of your plan.
- Shopify handles the technical basics well out of the box and is fast on its hosted infrastructure, but some URL structures are fixed (for example, products sit under `/products/` and categories under `/collections/`).
For a local business, your Google Business Profile and reviews will often matter as much as the platform.
Which suits which kind of Indian business?
Shopify usually suits:
- First-time online sellers who want to launch quickly.
- Fashion, jewellery, home decor, gifting and D2C food brands with a few dozen to a few hundred products.
- Owners without a regular developer.
- Brands planning big festival sales, where server stability matters.
WooCommerce usually suits:
- Businesses that already have a WordPress website and want to add a store.
- Wholesalers and manufacturers who need B2B features such as dealer pricing, minimum order quantities or quote requests.
- Stores with unusual requirements: custom product builders, bookings, memberships or integration with local billing software.
- Businesses with someone (in-house or an agency) to handle maintenance.
What about Hindi, COD and Indian shipping?
Both platforms handle the essentials Indian buyers expect:
- Cash on delivery: both support it, and both can be set up to confirm COD orders before shipping.
- UPI and Indian cards: through gateways such as Razorpay, Cashfree or PayU.
- Shipping: both integrate with aggregators such as Shiprocket for pin-code serviceability and labels.
- GST invoices: available through apps on Shopify and plugins on WooCommerce.
- Hindi: both can show a Hindi or bilingual storefront, though setting up translations properly takes some work on either.
If you are still deciding whether to sell online at all, start with our guide on how to start an e-commerce business in India.
Can you switch later?
Yes. Products, customers and orders can be moved in either direction, and it is a common project for us. The parts that need the most care are URLs (old links must redirect so you do not lose Google rankings), customer passwords (customers usually have to reset them) and any custom features. Our WooCommerce to Shopify migration guide covers the steps.
That said, switching is work you would rather avoid, so it is worth spending an hour on the decision now.
How we help
At Arcbig we build stores on both Shopify and WordPress/WooCommerce, and website projects start from ₹15,000. We will tell you which platform we would choose for your business and why, with the monthly running costs written out, before you commit. See website development, or email contact@arcbig.com with what you sell and roughly how many products you have.
Frequently asked questions
Is Shopify or WooCommerce cheaper in India?
WooCommerce has no subscription or platform transaction fee, so it is usually cheaper to run at higher sales volumes, but you pay for hosting and maintenance. Shopify costs ₹1,499 to ₹1,994 a month on the Basic plan plus a 2% fee per order when using an Indian payment gateway, which is often worth it for smaller stores because it needs far less upkeep.
Does Shopify Payments work in India?
No. Shopify Payments is not available for Indian stores, so they use third-party gateways such as Razorpay, Cashfree or PayU. Shopify then charges its third-party transaction fee on each order, depending on your plan.
Is WooCommerce really free?
The WooCommerce plugin is free. You still need hosting, a domain, possibly premium extensions, and regular maintenance to keep the store secure and fast.
Which is better for SEO, Shopify or WooCommerce?
Both can rank well. WooCommerce offers more control over URLs and content, while Shopify handles technical basics well with less effort. Content, speed and reviews usually matter more than the platform itself.
Can I move from WooCommerce to Shopify later?
Yes. Products, customers and orders can be migrated, and old URLs should be redirected to protect your Google rankings. Customers usually need to reset their passwords after the move.