Shopify vs WooCommerce 2026: Transaction Fee Math at $30K/Month Revenue

Shopify charges 0.5–2% transaction fees if you don't use Shopify Payments. At $30K/month that is $1,800–$7,200/year going to the platform. WooCommerce charges no platform transaction fees — you pay only Stripe or PayPal's standard processing fee (2.9% + $0.30), same as Shopify Payments. The fee difference is real and compounds with revenue.

Here is the honest version of the $30K/month math: WooCommerce saves $1,800/year in transaction fees but adds $1,200/year in developer maintenance costs (security patches, plugin updates, occasional fixes). Net saving at $30K/month: $600/year. At $60K/month the transaction fee savings double to $3,600, while maintenance stays flat at $1,200 — net saving: $2,400/year. Above $100K/month, the math clearly favors WooCommerce or a custom solution.

Shopify wins on: ease of setup (no hosting, no WordPress, no technical maintenance), built-in multi-currency and Shopify Markets, 24/7 support, and a reliable update cycle. For non-technical store owners who need to focus on products and marketing rather than platform management, Shopify's total cost of ownership is lower because it includes the time cost of zero technical maintenance.

WooCommerce wins on: SEO flexibility through WordPress (better URL structure, Yoast/Rank Math, stronger content tooling), B2B pricing and wholesale portals without paying Shopify Plus ($2,300/month), custom checkout flows, and no transaction fee at scale. For content-heavy stores, SEO-first brands, and B2B businesses, WooCommerce's flexibility justifies the maintenance overhead.

Neither platform handles enterprise-scale B2B well: account-based pricing, multi-location inventory, complex approval workflows, and ERP integrations require custom development regardless of which platform you start on. This is the use case where Shopify Plus ($2,300/month) competes against WooCommerce + developer vs custom development entirely.

Choose Shopify when: you're non-technical and need to focus on product and marketing, you're under $30K/month revenue and can use Shopify Payments to avoid transaction fees, you need reliable 24/7 support, or you're launching in multiple currencies. The predictable platform maintenance cost is the hidden value of Shopify — someone else handles hosting, security, and updates.

Choose WooCommerce when: you're already on WordPress and want to reuse existing content, you need B2B pricing features without Shopify Plus pricing, your store is content-heavy and SEO is a primary growth channel, or your transaction fees at current revenue make the maintenance cost worth it. The break-even point vs Shopify is typically $25,000–$40,000/month depending on your transaction fee rate.

Choose custom development when: you need marketplace functionality (multiple vendors, commission splits), complex B2B account management, custom subscription logic, or real-time inventory sync across multiple warehouses. At this point, neither Shopify nor WooCommerce delivers cleanly without significant workaround cost — and those workarounds compound over time.