What each one wins and loses. We build all three, so we have no reason to push you anywhere.
There is no right answer for everyone. There is a right answer for your size, your turnover and your plans. Below we put them side by side, along with the points nobody usually mentions.
| Criterion | Shopify | WooCommerce | Custom (Laravel) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starting cost | Low | Medium | High |
| Cost over 5 years | High, subscription | Medium | Low |
| Time to open | Days | Weeks | Weeks, more of them |
| Page speed | Good | Depends on the add ons | Excellent |
| Who owns the data | The platform | You | You |
| Limits on what it can do | Yes, clear ones | Few | None |
| Who maintains it | The platform | You or us | Us |
Swipe the table to see every column.
When we recommend it. You want to open quickly, you have few products, you do not want to touch anything technical and you are testing whether the idea sells. It is the least demanding option and it works.
What you should know. You pay a subscription forever, and almost every missing feature arrives as a paid add on with its own monthly fee. Three or four add ons and the running cost doubles. The shop is also not yours: if you leave you take your products and customers, but not the site.
When we recommend it. You already run WordPress, you want control of your data without a monthly subscription, and the shop is normal rather than unusual. It is the most common and the most flexible middle option.
What you should know. The freedom comes with responsibility. It needs updates, backups and attention to security. The biggest problem in practice is add ons: each one adds code, and a shop with twenty of them becomes slow and fragile.
When we recommend it. When your business does something the ready made platforms do not do well. Different prices per customer, a link to your accounting or stock system, orders with your own rules, many products with complex variants, or simply turnover large enough that the subscription has become a weight.
| Platform | Start | Per year | Over 5 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shopify | €1.500 | €1.400 | €8.500 |
| WooCommerce | €3.200 | €600 | €6.200 |
| Custom (Laravel) | €6.000 | €450 | €8.250 |
Indicative numbers for a mid sized shop. Notice that over five years Shopify and custom end up close, but with custom you own something that does not stop when you stop paying, while WooCommerce is the cheapest overall when it suits you.