WordPress runs 40.2% of all websites, according to W3Techs in October 2026. Shopify is the default answer for an online shop. Both are good. They suit different kinds of business, and the wrong one costs you either money every month or time every week.
The fundamental difference
Shopify is a hosted service. You rent a complete shop: hosting, checkout, payments, security and updates are Shopify's problem. You customise it through themes and apps, within the limits Shopify sets.
WordPress is software you run. The software itself is free and open source; you pay for hosting, a theme and plugins, and selling online usually means adding an e-commerce plugin. You can change almost anything — and you are responsible for keeping all of it updated and secure.
Side by side
| Shopify | WordPress | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Hosted e-commerce platform | Open-source content management system |
| Monthly platform cost | From £25 (£19 billed yearly) | Hosting, from a few pounds upwards |
| Fees on sales | Card rates from 2% + 25p on Basic; an extra fee if you use another payment provider | Only your payment provider's fees |
| Hosting and security | Handled by Shopify | Your responsibility |
| Strongest at | Selling products | Publishing content |
| Flexibility | Within Shopify's rules | Almost unlimited |
| Running effort | Low | Regular updates to core, theme and plugins |
Choose Shopify if…
- products are the business, and you want to spend your time selling, not running servers;
- you want a checkout that is fast, trusted and maintained for you;
- you do not have someone to keep a website patched.
Choose WordPress if…
- content is how customers find you — guides, articles, a resource library — and the shop is part of it rather than all of it;
- you need control Shopify does not allow, or want to avoid platform fees on every sale;
- you have a developer or an agency keeping it updated.
The costs people miss
- Shopify: apps. Each one is a monthly subscription, and they add up quietly. Our guide to what a Shopify store costs in the UK covers them.
- WordPress: maintenance. An unpatched plugin is one of the most common ways a site is compromised. Budget for updates, backups and monitoring, every month.
Switching later
Moving between the two is possible but never free: products, customers, order history and, most importantly, every old URL redirected to its new one so search traffic is not lost. It is worth an hour now to choose well.
Sources
- Pricing — Shopify UK, checked 2 October 2026
- Usage statistics and market share of WordPress — W3Techs, 1 October 2026