Key Takeaways
- Compare Shopify with WordPress plus WooCommerce when both websites need an online checkout. A brochure website is a different purchase.
- Use normal renewal prices for year two, with introductory discounts removed and the same sales assumptions on both sides.
- Separate fixed costs, transaction costs, planned improvements and staff time. Otherwise, you can count some charges twice and miss others entirely.
- A platform subscription does not cover every app, design change or business support task. Free core software still needs hosting and maintenance.
- Choose from a written annual budget and a demonstrated working process, rather than the cheapest headline price.
There is no honest universal answer to whether Shopify or WordPress is cheaper after year one. The useful answer comes from the store you need to run, the help included in your agreement and the jobs your team must still do.
Imagine two quotes for the same small shop. One has a clear monthly platform charge. The other says the ecommerce software is free. Both can be accurate while telling you very little about next year's bill.
For this comparison, WordPress means a self-hosted WordPress website using WooCommerce for online selling. It does not mean every WordPress.com plan, and it does not mean comparing a service-business website with a fully working shop. Our wider Shopify versus WooCommerce guide covers platform fit. Here, we are building a second-year running-cost budget.
Start with the Same Shop on Both Sides
Write a short operating brief before collecting prices. Include the number of products and variants, markets served, payment methods, stock locations, staff who need access and any special ordering rules.
Then describe the recurring work. Who adds products? How often do prices change? Does someone manually copy orders into another system? Are you selling subscriptions, trade packs or made-to-order items? Those details determine what tools and support you actually need.
Ask both suppliers to price the same brief. A Shopify proposal with a stock connection cannot fairly be compared with a WooCommerce proposal that leaves the owner retyping stock figures every Friday. Equally, a heavily customised WordPress build may be unnecessary for a straightforward shop.
An ecommerce development review should expose those assumptions before recommending a platform. Keep optional features in a separate column so they do not make the basic comparison impossible to follow.
Split the Budget into Four Parts
A useful annual worksheet has four sections: fixed running costs, sales-related charges, planned development and internal labour. Record the supplier, renewal date and what each line covers.
| Budget section | Typical entries | Question to ask |
|---|---|---|
| Fixed running costs | Platform or hosting, domain, apps, extensions and agreed support | What is the normal renewal charge? |
| Sales-related charges | Payment processing and any applicable platform or app transaction fees | Which transactions attract each fee? |
| Planned development | New templates, integrations, checkout work and campaign changes | What is included in support and what is separately quoted? |
| Internal labour | Product administration, checking orders, fixing imports and reporting | How many hours does the process take? |
Keep tax treatment consistent when comparing supplier figures. Record whether each quote includes or excludes VAT, and ask your accountant how to treat recoverable VAT in your own budget. Do not mix gross and net figures because one pricing page happens to display a smaller number.
Also distinguish money paid this year from a monthly equivalent. An annual commitment can have a lower monthly equivalent while still requiring the full amount upfront. That affects cash flow even when the annual total looks sensible.
What Belongs in the Shopify Column?
Start with the selected plan at its normal renewal rate and billing interval. Shopify's UK pricing page lists plan differences and payment charges. Confirm the live terms when you buy or renew.
Add every app needed for your actual requirements. Record whether the charge is fixed, usage-based, linked to orders or billed separately. Shopify explains different charge types in its billing documentation. An app and the main subscription can follow different billing cycles.
Then add the human work. Hosted infrastructure does not write product descriptions, improve a confusing menu, investigate every third-party integration or design a new collection page. Your supplier may provide those services, but the agreement should say so.
Our Mint Velvet Shopify development project shows theme, performance and feature work beyond a platform subscription. Use the Shopify SEO guide to identify ongoing search work for your budget too.
Include domain renewal and any separately purchased tools. Avoid charging for a theme twice if it was a one-off purchase in the first year. However, allow for future theme changes or developer support if your business has a genuine plan for them.
What Belongs in the WordPress Column?
WooCommerce describes its core platform as free to download and use. A working store still needs suitable hosting and whatever paid extensions, technical support or custom development your setup requires. Avoid using a vendor's overseas example costs as a UK quote.
List hosting, domain renewal, paid plugins, backups, security services and maintenance. Some may be bundled together. Ask the supplier to mark the bundled items clearly so you do not add the same backup service or hosting charge twice.
Check who owns each subscription and what happens if you change developer. An agency licence might remain available only while the support agreement continues. That is a contract question to settle early, not an assumption to discover at renewal.
Our website maintenance guide explains the jobs that can sit behind a monthly fee. For your spreadsheet, use the scope and price actually offered to you. A WordPress development consultation should separate routine care from new features and from fixing pre-existing faults.
Use a Worked Example Without Mistaking It for a Quote
The following numbers are entirely illustrative. They are not current Shopify fees, WooCommerce market averages or MattDarm package prices. Their purpose is to show how easily the result changes when the assumptions change.
Suppose one hosted-store option has £900 of annual platform and app costs, plus £900 of agreed support. That gives £1,800 before payment fees, planned improvements and internal time.
Suppose a self-hosted option has £480 of hosting, £360 of annual extensions and £1,200 of maintenance. That gives £2,040 on the same limited basis. The difference is £240 a year.
Now assume the cheaper option requires two extra hours of administration each month. At an illustrative internal planning cost of £25 an hour, that is another £600 a year. The nominally cheaper option then costs £360 more when that labour is included.
Reverse the administrative difference and the conclusion reverses too. This is why the example should become your own worksheet, using a short trial of the real process. Do not turn the £25 assumption into a claim about an employee's wage or count time saved as cash saved unless that cost genuinely disappears.
Calculate Payment Charges from Your Trading Pattern
Use expected annual card revenue and the number of transactions, not revenue alone. Where a payment charge has a percentage and a fixed amount per transaction, both parts affect the result.
For a simple hypothetical rate of 2% plus 20p, £60,000 of eligible card revenue across 1,000 transactions would cost £1,400: £1,200 from the percentage and £200 from the fixed element. That is an arithmetic example, not a provider quote.
Your real calculation may need separate lines for domestic cards, international cards, alternative payment methods and any other applicable charges. Ask the provider about refunds, disputes, currency conversion and third-party gateway fees rather than applying one headline rate to everything.
Run low, expected and higher-sales scenarios. A plan with a larger fixed fee can sometimes reduce another cost, but the saving needs to exceed that extra commitment. Confirm which rates and transactions are eligible before using the calculation to justify an upgrade.
Put a Price on Changes You Already Expect
Look at the coming year's business plans. A new product range, a wholesale area or a connection to your accounts system belongs in the decision if it is likely to happen. A vague possibility five years away should carry less weight.
If wholesale ordering is on the plan, our guide to WooCommerce versus Shopify for trade pricing can help you define the requirements to price.
Ask how each supplier would deliver two or three representative changes. Request an indicative scope and clarify the assumptions, rather than demanding a fixed quote for work nobody has specified.
A low ongoing bill can be a poor fit if every ordinary campaign needs expensive development. The reverse also happens: a business pays for an elaborate editing system that nobody uses. Review your last six months of changes to identify the work you really repeat.
Keep the cost of correcting a broken current setup separate from normal annual running costs. Otherwise, a one-off rescue project can make a perfectly suitable platform look permanently expensive.
Compare Responsibility Alongside the Total
Two maintenance agreements at the same price may cover very different jobs. Ask who investigates a failed order, who contacts an app supplier and who tells you when an integration stops sending data.
Write down response arrangements and any exclusions. A promise of support during business hours is different from round-the-clock incident cover. Ask how urgent issues are classified and what happens when the person who normally handles the website is away.
Check your exit route as well. Find out what data can be exported, which subscriptions remain yours and what assistance a future handover would cost. You do not need to plan a migration immediately, but you should understand the commitment you are making.
Build Your Year-Two Decision Sheet
Collect one full renewal schedule for each option. Add expected payment costs, known development work and a realistic allowance for internal administration. Mark uncertain items clearly and ask the supplier to resolve them before signing.
Then test one normal product update, one awkward order and one likely change request. Record where the team needs help. Those observations are more useful than a debate about which platform is always cheaper.
If you would like help checking the comparison, send us your requirements and cost categories, without customer data or account credentials. Start with the two annual totals and the assumptions beneath them. That gives us something concrete to question before you commit.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Shopify cheaper than WordPress after the first year?
It depends on the store's requirements, support arrangement, payment mix and internal work. Compare Shopify with WordPress plus WooCommerce on the same scope, then use normal renewal prices rather than introductory offers.
Does free WooCommerce mean a free online shop?
No. The core software is free to use, but a store needs hosting and may need paid extensions, development and ongoing maintenance. Use an itemised budget to see which costs apply to your own setup.
Should payment processing be included in the comparison?
Yes. Calculate it using both eligible revenue and transaction count, with the actual rate for each payment type. Check separately for applicable platform fees, currency charges, refunds and disputes.
How do I compare yearly and monthly subscriptions?
Show the annual total, the payment dates and the length of the commitment. A discounted monthly equivalent on an annual contract is different from a cancellable monthly payment. Check renewal terms before comparing them.
What should I ask an agency before agreeing ongoing support?
Ask which maintenance jobs and content changes are included, who handles integration faults, which third-party subscriptions you pay separately and what response arrangements apply. Keep future feature development separate from routine care.
