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Shopify, WooCommerce or Custom? UK E-commerce Platforms Compared

Shopify suits most UK retailers who want to trade quickly. WooCommerce suits you if you are already on WordPress, need unusual functionality, or want to avoid transaction fees at volume. Custom is worth it only if you have genuinely outgrown both. Any agency that always recommends the same platform is telling you about itself.

Prabhu SolutionsPublished 6 September 2026Last reviewed 19 September 20266 min read

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How do Shopify, WooCommerce and custom compare?

Shopify costs less to build and hands you hosting, security and PCI compliance in exchange for a monthly fee and transaction costs. WooCommerce removes those fees and hands the maintenance back to you. Custom removes every limit and every safety net at once. All three sit inside the same e-commerce development work.

FactorShopifyWooCommerceCustom
Build costLowerSimilar to slightly higherSubstantially higher
Monthly platform feeYesNone — you pay hostingNone — you pay hosting
Transaction feesYes, unless using Shopify PaymentsNone beyond your payment providerNone beyond your payment provider
Hosting and securityHandled for youYours to manageYours to manage
Maintenance burdenMinimalReal and ongoingReal and ongoing
CustomisationLimited, especially at checkoutExtensiveUnlimited
App ecosystemEnormousLargeBuild it yourself
Content and SEOGoodExcellent — it is WordPressWhatever you build

When should you choose Shopify?

Choose Shopify when you want to be trading in weeks rather than months, when your requirements are broadly standard, and when you would rather pay a monthly fee than think about servers, security or PCI compliance at all.

  • You want to be trading in weeks rather than months.
  • Your requirements are broadly standard.
  • You do not want to think about servers, security or PCI compliance.
  • You would rather pay a monthly fee than manage infrastructure.
  • Your catalogue is straightforward.
  • The trade-off: monthly fees plus transaction costs at volume, and real limits on customising the checkout unless you are on the enterprise tier.

When should you choose WooCommerce?

Choose WooCommerce when you already run WordPress and content marketing matters to you, when you need functionality Shopify will not permit, when transaction fees at your volume would exceed the cost of managing hosting, or when you have complex B2B requirements.

  • You already run WordPress and content marketing matters to you. Whether WordPress or a custom build fits your site is the same decision one layer down.
  • You need functionality Shopify will not permit, particularly around checkout.
  • Transaction fees at your volume would exceed the cost of managing hosting.
  • You want to own the code and the data outright.
  • You have complex B2B requirements — trade pricing, credit terms, minimum orders.
  • The trade-off: you own the maintenance, the security and the performance. That is a real ongoing responsibility, and it is why a website maintenance plan is not optional here.

When should you choose custom commerce?

Rarely. Choose custom only when your business model genuinely does not fit a product — configurable products, complex quoting, deep production integration — or when you have tried both platforms and are fighting all of them.

  • Your business model genuinely does not fit a product — configurable products, complex quoting, deep production integration. That is a bespoke software project with a shop attached, not a shop.
  • You have tried both platforms and are fighting all of them.
  • Rarely the right answer. Most businesses that ask for custom commerce are better served by WooCommerce with bespoke extensions, which is cheaper and keeps the ecosystem.

What arithmetic actually decides it?

Volume. At low volume, Shopify's monthly and transaction fees are trivial and the convenience is worth it. At higher volume, those fees become a meaningful annual cost, and the maintenance burden of WooCommerce starts to look cheap by comparison.

Where that crossover sits depends on your margins and your order values, and it is worth calculating rather than assuming. Set the annual fee total against what ongoing website care actually costs and the answer stops being a matter of opinion.

Our honest view: most UK SME retailers are well served by Shopify or WooCommerce, and the choice is more about your team than your technology. If nobody in the business wants to think about hosting, choose Shopify.

The point

Our honest view: most UK SME retailers are well served by Shopify or WooCommerce, and the choice is more about your team than your technology.

Questions people ask about this

Can I migrate from one platform to another later?

Yes, and it is a real project rather than an export — products, customers, order history, and a full URL map with redirects so you do not lose rankings. What it costs is driven by catalogue size, how clean the data is and how many URLs need mapping. Plan it properly rather than treating it as a weekend job.

Which platform is better for SEO?

WooCommerce has an edge because it is WordPress, and content marketing is easier. Shopify is perfectly capable. Platform matters less than category page content, site speed and how faceted navigation is handled.

What about Magento or BigCommerce?

Both are capable. Magento suits large, complex catalogues and carries a substantial development and hosting cost. For most UK SMEs they add complexity without adding value.

Do I need a developer for Shopify?

Not to launch a basic store. You do for a custom theme, unusual functionality or integrations with your other systems — which is most businesses within a year of starting.

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