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Short answer: In the Shopify vs Wix vs WordPress choice, pick Shopify if selling products is the main job of your site. Pick Wix if you want a good-looking business site with a small shop on the side. Pick WordPress (with WooCommerce) if content and SEO come first and you are happy to manage hosting, updates and plugins yourself.
Last updated: October 2026 · How we researched this: we checked the official pricing pages of Shopify, Wix and WordPress.com, read Shopify’s help center on transaction fees, and compared the results with recent third-party pricing reviews.
Key takeaways
- Shopify starts at $29/month (billed yearly) or $39/month (billed monthly) and is built only for selling.
- Wix can only take payments from the Core plan ($29/month billed yearly) upward; the Light plan cannot sell.
- WordPress software is free, but you pay for hosting, a domain, and often premium plugins.
- At typical small-store volumes, card processing fees cost more than the plan itself, so compare total cost, not sticker price.
- Shopify adds an extra 2% fee on the Basic plan if you use a third-party payment provider instead of Shopify Payments.
Shopify vs Wix vs WordPress at a glance
These three tools solve different problems. Shopify is a hosted store builder. Wix is a hosted website builder that also sells. WordPress is open-source software that you install on your own hosting (WordPress.org), or rent as a hosted service (WordPress.com).
| Shopify | Wix | WordPress + WooCommerce | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type | Hosted ecommerce platform | Hosted website builder | Self-hosted CMS + free store plugin |
| Best for | Product stores of any size | Service businesses, small shops | Blogs, content sites, custom stores |
| Starting price to sell | $29/mo yearly, $39/mo monthly | Core: $29/mo yearly | Hosting from a few dollars/mo, or WordPress.com Commerce $45/mo yearly |
| Hosting and security | Included | Included | Your job (or your host’s) |
| Learning curve | Low | Lowest | Medium to high |
| Who owns the code | Shopify | Wix | You (open source) |
Prices checked October 2026 on Shopify’s pricing page, Wix plans and WordPress.com pricing. Wix shows different prices by country, so check the page in your own location.
How much do Shopify, Wix and WordPress cost in 2026?
Plan prices are only part of the bill. You also pay card processing fees, apps or plugins, a domain and sometimes premium themes.
Shopify pricing
Shopify Basic costs $39/month, or $29/month on a yearly plan. Grow is $105/month ($89 yearly) and Advanced is $399/month ($359 yearly). Online card rates with Shopify Payments start at 2.9% + 30¢ on Basic and drop on higher plans.
If you use a third-party payment provider, Shopify charges an extra transaction fee: 2% on Basic, 1% on Grow and 0.6% on Advanced. New stores currently get a free 3-day trial, then $1/month for the first 3 months.
Wix pricing
Wix has a free plan with Wix branding, plus Light ($17/month), Core ($29/month), Business ($39/month) and Business Elite ($159/month) on yearly billing in the US. Only Core and above can accept payments and run a store.
Wix does not add its own transaction fee on top of payment processing. Standard US card processing with Wix Payments is about 2.9% + 30¢.
WordPress pricing
The WordPress software and the WooCommerce plugin are free. Your real costs are hosting, a domain, a theme, and any paid extensions (subscriptions, bookings, advanced shipping).
If you want WordPress without managing a server, WordPress.com sells hosted plans. Its Commerce plan ($45/month billed yearly) includes the full WooCommerce toolset.
Real cost example: a store doing $5,000/month
Here is a simple estimate for a store with 100 orders a month at $50 each, paid by card. It uses the yearly plan prices above and standard US online card rates. Apps, themes and taxes are left out.
| Cost item | Shopify Basic | Wix Core | WordPress + WooCommerce |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plan or hosting | $29 | $29 | about $10–$30 hosting |
| Card fees (2.9% + 30¢) | about $175 | about $175 | about $175 (Stripe/PayPal) |
| Extra platform fee | $0 with Shopify Payments | $0 | $0 |
| Estimated monthly total | about $204 | about $204 | about $185–$205 |
| If you use a third-party gateway | +$100 (2% fee) | no change | no change |
The lesson: at this size the platforms cost about the same. The big swing is Shopify’s 2% third-party fee, so use Shopify Payments where it is available, or budget for the fee.
Ease of use: which is easiest to learn?
Wix is the easiest. You drag elements anywhere on the page, and hosting, security and backups are handled for you.
Shopify is close behind. Its theme editor uses sections and blocks, so you can change layouts without code. Product, order and inventory screens are clear because the whole system is built around selling.
WordPress takes the most work. You choose a host, install updates, pick plugins and fix conflicts when they appear. In return, you get full control over your site and data.
Ecommerce features compared
Shopify has the deepest built-in store tools. Abandoned checkout emails, multi-location inventory, Shop Pay, POS and selling on marketplaces are all native or one free app away.
Wix covers the basics well: product pages, inventory, coupons, abandoned cart recovery and bookings. It suits stores with a modest catalog.
WooCommerce can do almost anything, but often through paid extensions. Each extension adds cost, setup time and one more thing to update.
- Choose Shopify if you expect to grow past a few hundred orders a month or sell on several channels.
- Choose Wix if your site is mainly about services, portfolio or events, with some products.
- Choose WordPress if you publish a lot of content and want one site for blog and store.
SEO, speed and security
All three can rank well on Google. Shopify and Wix give you editable titles, meta descriptions, alt text, sitemaps and redirects out of the box.
WordPress has the most SEO control through plugins such as Rank Math or Yoast. Speed and security, however, depend on your hosting and on how many plugins you add.
With Shopify and Wix, SSL, backups of the platform and server security are included. With self-hosted WordPress, you must set up backups and keep core, theme and plugins updated yourself.
Who should NOT use each platform
- Skip Shopify if you mainly publish articles and sell only one or two items. The monthly fee and app costs are hard to justify.
- Skip Wix if you plan a large catalog, complex variants or many sales channels. Moving off Wix later is harder than moving off WordPress.
- Skip WordPress if you do not want to handle updates, backups and plugin conflicts, and you have no developer to call.
Quick decision checklist
- Is selling the main purpose of the site? If yes, start with Shopify.
- Is the site mostly pages, bookings or a portfolio? Wix is the faster build.
- Will you publish a blog post every week and want full ownership? WordPress fits.
- Do you need a third-party payment gateway? Factor in Shopify’s extra fee.
- Do you have a developer? WordPress gets much easier with one.
Still deciding between hosted builders? Read our Shopify vs Squarespace vs Wix comparison and our full Shopify review.
FAQ about Shopify vs Wix vs WordPress
Is Shopify better than WordPress for ecommerce?
For most new stores, yes. Shopify includes hosting, security and checkout in one bill, while WordPress with WooCommerce needs hosting, updates and often paid extensions. WordPress is the better pick if content is your main traffic source and you want full control.
Is Wix cheaper than Shopify?
Not by much for selling. Wix Core and Shopify Basic both cost $29/month on yearly billing in the US, and card fees are similar. Wix only looks cheaper because its Light plan is $17/month, but that plan cannot accept payments.
Can I move from Wix to Shopify or WordPress later?
Yes, but it takes work. Products and customers can be exported as CSV files, while page designs must be rebuilt. Plan redirects from old URLs so you keep your search rankings.
Which is best for SEO: Shopify, Wix or WordPress?
WordPress gives the most SEO control, but all three can rank well. Content quality, site speed and links matter far more than the platform. Shopify and Wix handle technical basics like sitemaps and SSL automatically.
Do I need to know how to code?
No for Shopify and Wix, which both use visual editors. WordPress also works without code, but you will need more technical skill to fix plugin conflicts, speed issues or hosting problems.
Conclusion
There is no single winner in Shopify vs Wix vs WordPress. Shopify is the safest choice for a product business, Wix is the quickest way to a polished small-business site, and WordPress is best when content drives your traffic.
Price the full stack (plan, card fees, apps and your time) before you commit. If a store is your goal, Shopify’s $1/month for 3 months offer is a cheap way to test it. See our Shopify store setup guide to get started.
