There is no best eCommerce platform, only the best fit for your catalogue, team, budget and growth plans. This guide compares the four options we are asked about most.
At a glance
| Shopify | WooCommerce | Adobe Commerce / Magento | Custom build | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Model | Hosted SaaS | Free plugin for self-hosted WordPress | Magento Open Source (free, self-hosted) or licensed Adobe Commerce (cloud or on-premise) | Your own code, on your infrastructure, or a headless engine |
| Hosting & security updates | Handled by Shopify | Your responsibility (or your host's) | Your responsibility, or Adobe on its cloud offering | Your responsibility |
| Main recurring costs | Monthly plan, apps, payment fees (extra transaction fee if you use a third-party gateway instead of Shopify Payments) | Hosting, paid extensions, maintenance | Hosting and developers; Adobe Commerce licence priced by Adobe based on revenue | Hosting, maintenance and ongoing development |
| Flexibility | High within platform rules; checkout customised through Checkout Extensibility | Very high (full code access) | Very high, complex | Unlimited |
| Time to launch | Fastest | Fast | Slow | Slowest |
| Typical fit | Most D2C brands, small to large | Content-led stores, WordPress users, budget-conscious shops | Large catalogues, complex B2B, multi-store | Unique business models or requirements no platform covers |
Prices change regularly, so always check the vendors' current pricing pages before deciding.
Shopify
Shopify is a fully hosted platform: Shopify runs the servers, security patches, checkout and PCI DSS compliance for the checkout it hosts. You pick a theme, add apps from the Shopify App Store and manage everything in the admin.
- Strengths: quick launch, reliable hosting and checkout, large app and theme ecosystem, Shop Pay and other wallets, solid multi-market features; Shopify Plus adds enterprise and B2B features.
- Watch out for: monthly app costs adding up, limits on deep checkout changes (customisation goes through Checkout Extensibility rather than editing checkout templates), additional transaction fees when not using Shopify Payments, and URL structures you cannot fully control (for example
/products/and/collections/prefixes).
WooCommerce
WooCommerce is an open-source plugin that turns a WordPress site into a store. The plugin is free; you pay for hosting, premium extensions and maintenance.
- Strengths: full ownership and code access, WordPress's content tools, huge extension library, low entry cost.
- Watch out for: you are responsible for hosting, backups, updates and security; quality of third-party extensions varies; performance needs good hosting and caching as the catalogue and traffic grow.
Adobe Commerce and Magento Open Source
Magento Open Source is the free, self-hosted edition. Adobe Commerce is the licensed edition with extra B2B, merchandising and cloud-hosting features, sold through Adobe.
- Strengths: very flexible data model, multi-store and multi-language from one installation, strong B2B features in Adobe Commerce, mature APIs including GraphQL.
- Watch out for: the highest technical complexity and hosting requirements of the four; you need experienced developers, and upgrades are projects in their own right.
Custom or headless build
A custom build can mean writing the whole store on a framework, or (more commonly today) building a custom front end on top of a headless commerce engine. See headless commerce explained.
- Strengths: the store does exactly what your business needs; no licence or revenue-based platform fees for self-hosted engines; full control over performance and UX.
- Watch out for: the highest upfront cost, and you own every feature, bug and security update. You need a long-term development partner or team.
How to choose
- List must-have requirements: catalogue size and structure, B2B pricing, markets and languages, integrations, subscriptions, configurators.
- Check them against each platform natively or via a well-maintained app or extension.
- Be honest about your team: who will update, secure and improve the store after launch?
- Compare total cost over 3–5 years, not just the launch budget. Use our cost calculator.
- Plan the exit: how easily can you export products, customers and orders if you switch later?
Already on one of these platforms and considering a move? Read the replatforming checklist first.