Count the maintenance and Shopify usually comes out cheaper over two years for a small Australian or UK store, even though WooCommerce's card fees are lower. Already on WordPress? Need something unusual? Got someone who'll keep the plugins updated? Then WooCommerce is the better pick. Either way, card fees cost you more than the plan.
We build both, which makes this a slightly awkward article to write. Clients expect us to have a favourite. We don't, really. We have a favourite for each kind of business, and that's what this piece is about.
We pulled every price here in late 2026, from the sources linked under each table. Shopify tweaks its pricing now and then, so look again before you commit.
What does Shopify cost in Australia and the UK?
Shopify charges a monthly plan fee, then card fees on every sale. Paying yearly knocks roughly 25% off the plan.
| Plan | Australia (monthly / yearly billing, per month) | UK (monthly / yearly billing, per month) |
|---|---|---|
| Basic | A$56 / A$42 | £25 / £19 |
| Grow | A$149 / A$114 | £65 / £49 |
| Advanced | A$575 / A$431 | £344 / £259 |
Card fees through Shopify Payments for online sales:
| Plan | Australia, domestic cards | UK cards |
|---|---|---|
| Basic | 1.75% + 30c | 2.0% + 25p |
| Grow | 1.6% + 30c | 1.7% + 25p |
| Advanced | 1.4% + 30c | 1.5% + 25p |
Go with a different payment provider and Shopify takes an extra cut on top: 2% on Basic, 1% on Grow, 0.6% on Advanced. Hardly anyone bothers, for obvious reasons.
Sources: Aspire (Australia, September 2026) and Charle (UK, May 2026).
What does WooCommerce cost?
The plugin is free. Everything around it isn't.
You pay for hosting, a domain, an SSL certificate (often included with hosting), probably a premium theme, and a few paid plugins for things like shipping rules or subscriptions. Card fees go to your payment provider. With Stripe, that's 1.65% + A$0.30 for domestic cards in Australia and 1.5% + 20p for standard UK cards, though premium UK cards cost 2.8% + 20p (Stripe Australia, Stripe UK).
Then there's the bit people leave out of comparison tables: someone has to update WordPress, the theme and the plugins, check backups, and fix whatever breaks after an update. Either that's you, on a Sunday, or it's someone you pay.
Which is cheaper over two years? A worked example
Let's take a small Australian store doing A$10,000 a month in online sales, with an average order of A$80. That's 125 orders a month, or 3,000 orders over two years. Assumptions for the extras are ours, and they're fairly typical for a store this size.
| Two-year cost (Australia) | Shopify Basic, yearly billing | WooCommerce with Stripe |
|---|---|---|
| Plan or hosting | A$1,008 | A$960 (A$40 a month hosting) |
| Card fees, percentage | A$4,200 (1.75%) | A$3,960 (1.65%) |
| Card fees, per order | A$900 | A$900 |
| Apps or premium plugins | A$1,200 (A$50 a month) | A$800 (A$400 a year) |
| Maintenance | Included in the platform | A$2,400 (A$100 a month) |
| Total | about A$7,300 | about A$9,000 |
Now a UK store doing £8,000 a month, average order £64, so again 3,000 orders over two years:
| Two-year cost (UK) | Shopify Basic, yearly billing | WooCommerce with Stripe |
|---|---|---|
| Plan or hosting | £456 | £600 (£25 a month hosting) |
| Card fees, percentage | £3,840 (2.0%) | £2,880 (1.5%, standard UK cards) |
| Card fees, per order | £750 | £600 |
| Apps or premium plugins | £960 (£40 a month) | £600 (£300 a year) |
| Maintenance | Included in the platform | £1,920 (£80 a month) |
| Total | about £6,000 | about £6,600 |
See what happened? WooCommerce is cheaper on fees in both countries, and in the UK the gap is bigger. But the maintenance line flips the result. If you can genuinely handle updates yourself, WooCommerce comes out ahead in the UK example. If you can't, Shopify is cheaper and you sleep better.
The build itself isn't in these tables, because it's similar for both. A clean store with up to 50 products costs about the same on either platform when we build it.
When does it pay to move up a Shopify plan?
Only when your sales cover the bigger plan fee through cheaper card rates. Rough break-even points, using yearly billing:
- Australia: Grow costs A$72 a month more than Basic and saves 0.15% on card fees. That only pays off above roughly A$48,000 a month in online sales.
- UK: Grow costs £30 a month more and saves 0.3%. You'd need about £10,000 a month in sales before that's worth it.
Below those numbers, stay on Basic unless you need a Grow feature. Plenty of stores upgrade too early because the sales rep made it sound important.
When is WooCommerce the better choice?
We'd point you to WooCommerce if:
- you already have a WordPress site with years of blog content and rankings you don't want to risk;
- you need something odd, like complex B2B pricing, unusual product builders or a membership area tangled into the shop;
- you sell in volume and the card-fee difference is real money every month;
- there's someone, in house or on a support plan, who'll keep it updated.
When is Shopify the better choice?
Shopify makes more sense when the people running the shop aren't technical, when you want to start selling in weeks rather than months, or when you'd rather pay a known monthly fee than deal with plugin conflicts. For most stores with two or three staff and a few hundred products, that's us recommending Shopify, nine times out of ten.
One more thing. You can switch later. It just costs you. Product data moves easily, while URLs, reviews, customer passwords and SEO take careful work. So choose for where the shop will be in three years. This month's cheapest option is a poor tiebreaker.
Frequently asked questions
Is Shopify or WooCommerce cheaper in Australia?+
For a small store doing around A$10,000 a month, Shopify Basic usually ends up cheaper over two years once you include maintenance. WooCommerce has slightly lower card fees with Stripe, but paying someone to maintain it often cancels that out.
Is Shopify or WooCommerce cheaper in the UK?+
It's close. WooCommerce with Stripe has lower fees on standard UK cards, so it can be cheaper if you maintain the site yourself. If you pay for maintenance, Shopify Basic usually costs less over two years.
Does Shopify charge transaction fees?+
Not if you use Shopify Payments; you pay the card rate only. If you use another payment provider, Shopify adds 2% on Basic, 1% on Grow and 0.6% on Advanced, on top of that provider's fees.
Is WooCommerce really free?+
The plugin is free. Hosting, a domain, premium plugins, a theme and ongoing maintenance aren't, and together they can cost as much as a Shopify plan.
Can I move from WooCommerce to Shopify later?+
Yes. Products, customers and orders can be migrated, and old URLs should be redirected to keep your rankings. Plan it carefully, because a rushed migration is the most common way stores lose search traffic.
Which platform is better for SEO?+
Both can rank well. WordPress gives you more control over content and structure; Shopify is simpler and has fewer technical things to break. Good product pages and fast loading matter more than the platform.