CriteriaWoo-commerceShopify
1. PlatformIs a self-hosted ecommerce platformIs a platform as a service
2. ControlAllows complete control over websiteAllows limited control over website
3. Worldwide AdoptionWoocommerce is the world's most popular eCommerce platform, it drives 28% of the top one million websitesShopify powers 20% of top 1 million websites.
4. PriceOpen-Source & FreeMonthly Fee
5. ScalingCan be easily scaled to unlimited products without any incremental costCan be scaled to unlimited products but incremental costs apply. You will need to move to the advanced or enterprise plan.
6. Hosting & securityAs it is a self-hosted platform, can be fast and performance packed. Hosting & security can be selected to be the best.Can be fast and performance packed. Hosting & security is part of the plan. Cannot be changed.
7. Traffic (seo) CapabilitySEO Friendly Platform with organic traffic generation ability Not SEO friendly. Good for stores looking to rely on paid adverts only. To get the benefit of content marketing you will need to add WordPress as your content CMS
8. Feature additionAlmost any feature can be added at an affordable costAdditional features not in the base plan are fairly expensive
9. 3rd Party Plugins PricingFeatures can be hand coded or can be added via plugins at annual / or one-time-lifetime pricing.Themes and feature plugins are fairly expensive with monthly billing.
10. Payment gatewaysAll major as well as niche payment gateways are available for free. You are only charged transaction fees by your payment gateway or your bank.Shopify charges an extra 2% fees on each transaction made through third party payment gateways. This is on top of the transaction fees charged by the payment gateway. You can reduce the fee to 0.5% by paying $299 per month for Advanced Shopify plan.

Shopify Payments has credit card fees, but no other transaction fees. Credit card rates start from 2.9% + 30¢ for the basic plan and get lower for other plans.
11. MiscellaneousAgencies earn no affiliate incomeShopify pays high commission rates to affiliates. For each referral who signs up for a paid plan, agencies receive a 100% commission on the first and second payments. The 200% commission applies to all plans, excluding Shopify Plus. This can lead to the platform being recommended even when not required.
12. RecommendationIf you are looking for fine control, full customization, affordable solution go with woocommerce and find a great team like BrandLoom with UI/UX experience. 1) If you are looking to manage the website yourself and have no experience with software management go with the frill-free Shopify base plan at $29.
2. If expense is not an issue for you (i.e. with investor funding) go with the shopify plus $2000 monthly plan and full theme customization by hiring a developer with UI/UX experience.
Anupama Singh
Author Anupama Singh

Co-Founder @ Brandloom Consulting Besides business and health, learning, teaching, and cooking are my other interests in life. I have a bachelors in engineering and an unbeatable streak of optimism, come what may!

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