WordPress vs Shopify

Let’s take off the gloves

If you’re choosing between WordPress and Shopify for your next website, here’s the blunt truth: one gives you control, power, and flexibility. The other boxes you into a slick, overpriced walled garden.

WordPress Wins.
Shopify is Convenient, But Cramped & Limited.

Let’s break it down — here’s where WordPress outclasses Shopify:

• Customisation:
  WordPress offers endless flexibility. Want to change the layout, extend features, or build something totally custom? Go for it.
  Shopify? You’re stuck inside a theme unless you upgrade or pay a developer.
• Cost:
  WordPress scales with your needs — low start-up costs and no per-transaction fees.
  Shopify starts cheap but balloons fast once you factor in apps, themes, and premium features.
• Ownership:
  With WordPress, you own everything — your code, your data, your destiny.
  Shopify keeps you fenced in. You’re renting space on their system.
• SEO:
  WordPress is an SEO dream — clean URLs, full control over metadata, and powerful tools like Rank Math or Yoast.
  Shopify’s SEO is surface-level, with key areas (like URLs) locked down.
• Content & Blogging:
  WordPress was built for content. It’s the benchmark for blogging, content marketing, and editorial control.
  Shopify’s blog? An afterthought with basic functionality.
• Scalability:
  WordPress can grow infinitely with your brand. More pages, more products, more complexity — no issue.
  Shopify hits friction fast if you step outside their predefined use cases.

Shopify: Shiny, Simple — and Strangely Expensive

Shopify’s value proposition is simple: pay a monthly fee, drag-and-drop your store to life, and you’re off. It sounds dreamy. Until reality kicks in.

You’ll pay for every little thing. Need subscriptions? Add an app. Want better SEO? Another app. Custom checkout? You’ll need Shopify Plus. Want to switch templates? Hope you’re cool with reconfiguring your whole storefront.

Shopify does one thing well: ecommerce. But even there, it’s optimised for templated, mid-range stores — not custom builds or content-driven brands. You rent the platform. You play by their rules. And if you leave, you’re not taking much with you.

WordPress: Build What You Want. Scale How You Like.

WordPress isn’t just a blogging platform anymore. With WooCommerce, it’s a full-scale ecommerce machine — but unlike Shopify, it doesn’t stop there.

You’re not stuck inside a theme or app ecosystem. WordPress is open-source, meaning full code access. It’s yours to shape. Whether you need a product configurator, gated content, multilingual setup, or advanced SEO structure — WordPress can do it. Shopify usually can’t, or not without duct-taping overpriced apps together.

And yes, it requires a little more setup. But what you gain in freedom, performance, and future-proofing more than makes up for it.

Let’s Talk SEO — Shopify Doesn’t

WordPress was built with search engines in mind. Clean URL structures, powerful plugins like Rank Math or Yoast, control over metadata, speed optimisation — all out of the box.

Shopify? You get a few settings, fixed URL structures (e.g. /collections/, /products/), and limited control over technical SEO. Oh, and a reliance on third-party apps if you want proper schema, 301s, or sitemaps.

If search traffic matters, WordPress runs circles around Shopify.

Cost: Shopify Is the Gym Membership You Forget to Cancel

At first glance, Shopify looks tidy — $39/month. But then you add $20 here for apps, 2% transaction fees if you’re not using Shopify Payments, and maybe a premium theme or a dev to tweak things Shopify won’t let you touch.

WordPress can be run for a fraction of the cost, especially as you scale. Hosting is cheap. Most plugins are free or low-cost. And you’re not locked into a SaaS subscription to access your own data.

Blogging, Content, and Control… WordPress invented blogging. Shopify tacked it on like an afterthought.

Need a content hub, smart taxonomy, or custom post types? WordPress was made for it. Shopify’s blog is… there. Barely.

If content is a growth engine for your brand — WordPress gives you the keys. Shopify hands you a tricycle.

The Honest Trade-Offs

Shopify is fine if:

• You’re launching fast, with very basic needs
• You’re okay with boring cookie-cutter design
• You don’t care about content or ranking in Google
• You don’t mind paying to patch limitations

WordPress is better if:

• You want creative freedom and ownership
• You need an impressive front-end website designed
• You value Google Ranking, content, and flexibility
• You want to grow without migrating later
• You hate getting nickel-and-dimed for every single extra

Final Thoughts

If you want to build a business that adapts, evolves, and owns its presence online, go WordPress. If you want a pretty interface with invisible handcuffs, Shopify’s waiting.

Own your brand. Don’t rent your future.