There are several differences between a WordPress ecommerce website and a separate ecommerce website. When comparing Shopify and a WordPress website with the WooCommerce plugin, the platforms have the following differences:
- WooCommerce is a free plugin, while Shopify is only free for 14 days before it becomes a paid subscription.
- WooCommerce and WordPress are open source and the code can be modified, whereas with Shopify user access to modify the code is limited.
- Shopify is a user-friendly platform for users who have no coding experience, but a WordPress website with a WooCommerce plugin is not quite as friendly. For the WooCommerce plugin, it may be helpful to have some coding experience.
- Shopify includes hosting and an SSL certificate while a WordPress site with the WooCommerce plugin does not.
- Shopify is PCI-DSS compliant which is very important for selling products online. With a WordPress website with WooCommerce, the user is responsible for getting a PCI-DSS certificate for the website.