WordPress vs Shopify: Which Is Cheaper?

Sticker price vs true cost

Shopify starts at $39/month and Shopify hosting/security/updates are included. WordPress is free — but you pay for hosting ($10–$40/month), a theme ($0–$100 one-time), premium plugins ($100–$500/year), and maintenance ($0 if you DIY, $600–$1,800/year if you hire).

Once you add everything up, a real WordPress ecommerce site costs $800–$2,500/year all-in. A basic Shopify plan costs $468/year plus transaction fees. For most small ecommerce, Shopify is cheaper the moment you stop DIY-ing WordPress maintenance.

Where WordPress actually wins on cost

Content-heavy sites (blogs, publications, resource libraries) where ecommerce is secondary. Sites with under 10 products and simple checkout. Sites where you already have a developer on staff.

In those cases WordPress + WooCommerce runs $200–$600/year all-in and outperforms Shopify's cheapest tier.

Where Shopify wins on cost

Anything that actually sells stuff. Inventory across multiple channels. Sites that need reliable checkout with no maintenance windows. Anything doing over $5,000/month in revenue where downtime literally costs money.

The hidden costs nobody tells you about

WordPress: security plugins ($50–$150/year), premium page builder ($100/year), SEO plugin ($100/year), backup service ($50–$200/year), staging environment ($100+/year), emergency malware cleanup ($150–$500 per incident).

Shopify: app subscriptions add up fast ($10–$100/month each), transaction fees if you don't use Shopify Payments (0.5–2%), theme purchase ($150–$400 one-time), and premium apps for advanced features.

3-year total cost, apples to apples

Small service business with 5 products, self-maintained: WordPress ~$900 vs Shopify Basic ~$1,400. WordPress wins.

Small ecommerce with 50 products, professional look: WordPress ~$3,600 (with maintenance) vs Shopify ~$1,900. Shopify wins by nearly 2x.

Serious ecommerce with 200+ products: WordPress ~$6,000+ vs Shopify $2,400. Shopify wins decisively.

Recommendation

If you're selling physical products and you're not a developer, Shopify almost always wins on total cost of ownership. If you're a content-first business that happens to sell a few things, WordPress wins. If you're not sure — start with Shopify. Migrating a small store off Shopify later is easier than fixing a broken WordPress site during a launch week.

If you want this done for you at a small-business price, our cheap website design service ships a launch-ready site in 5–7 days from $299.