I’m sure you know Shopify is one of the world’s most popular e‑commerce platforms, but that’s not what we’re covering today.
My goal is to help you decide whether Shopify fits your brand, budget, and ambitions. Whether you’re new to e‑commerce and need a simple solution you can set up in an afternoon without developers for a modest monthly fee, or you’re an enterprise or startup looking to migrate from another platform, this guide will help you decide.
I’ve worked with Shopify for nearly ten years and now manage two D2C brands on the platform. I migrated both brands from other platforms and consolidated their global‑expansion stores into a lean, cost‑efficient Shopify Markets setup.
In the rest of this guide I’ll outline what switching to Shopify entails, with a clear, honest breakdown of cost, functionality, practicality, and the pitfalls of migrating to a new platform.
When you create a Shopify account you can choose from four plans: Basic, Grow, Advanced, and Plus. All four share core features such as themes, templates, product and catalog limits, Shopify’s first‑in‑class checkout, inventory management, and more.
If you are starting from scratch, a Basic or Grow plan can take you far. If you have many inventory locations (e.g., physical retail stores) or a sizable team (10–20 staff members) that requires individual accounts, you’ll need to consider the Advanced or Plus plan.
More on this in the two cases below. If you want to dive into the real costs of using Shopify, you can find my detailed breakdown here.
### Case #1 – Starting a brand‑new store
Suppose you’re creating your first e‑commerce store with no existing shop on another platform, just a product or service and the goal of making your first sale.
In my opinion, Shopify is the obvious and easiest choice. I’ve worked on other platforms, and Shopify is the most innovative and fastest‑moving. Basic tasks such as adding products, setting up shipping and payment profiles, etc., are similar across platforms, but as your business grows, Shopify remains more agile and easier to scale.
A huge upside is the abundance of content and guidance available online; you’ll rarely encounter an issue that hasn’t already been solved on YouTube, and you can hire Shopify experts directly through Shopify if needed.
If you are thinking about launching your first Shopify store, here’s a quick checklist of the minimum requirements before you can process your first order.
What you need first
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A domain and hosting (via a third‑party service or directly through Shopify)
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A credit card for payments
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At least one product and one collection for that product
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A home page in your storefront
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A product page in your storefront
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At least one payment solution and one shipping profile for a market
Next steps
Once the items above are in place, you can start selling. Depending on product complexity, setting up a product page usually takes a few days, especially if you’re new to the platform. Assuming you already have a shipping solution and payment provider, you can have your Shopify store up and running in 3–5 days.
### Case #2 – Migrating an existing shop
If you already have an established shop on another platform and are considering a migration, keep these points in mind:
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Time commitment: Migration always takes longer than you think. Shopify makes it sound easy, and there are apps and services that can smooth the transition, but it can easily take a couple of months. Weigh the benefits against the time you’ll spend.
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Core work remains the same: Whether you choose Shopify, WooCommerce, or another platform. You’ll still need to:
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Create products
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Migrate content
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Set up shipping profiles
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Configure payment profiles
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Theme customization: Depending on how customized your current storefront is, you may need to build a custom theme from scratch rather than using a standard Shopify theme.
I’ve done both: one shop migrated into a custom‑built theme and another into a standard Shopify theme. While a default theme can save a lot of time, it comes with compromises.
If you’d like to know more about the considerations, what went well, and what didn’t, you can read more about both cases in this article right here.
What is the actual cost of using Shopify?
Case #1 – Brand‑new store on the Basic plan
Let’s assume that you’re able to generate 100 monthly orders with an average order value of DKK 500, giving you a total monthly revenue of DKK 50 000.
On the Basic plan your card-processing fee is 1.9% and your order fee is DKK 1,80.
Here’s your monthly cost breakdown:
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Plan fee: DKK 189 / month
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Card‑processing fee: 1.9 % of DKK 50 000 = DKK 950
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Order fee: 100 × DKK 1.80 = DKK 180
Total monthly cost: DKK 1 319. In my two shops, apps and other tools add roughly 15 % to the platform fees, bringing the total to about DKK 1 500.
Case #2 – Established shop on the Advanced plan
On the Advanced plan your card-processing fee in slightly lower at 1.6%, and your order fee remains DKK 1,80. Let’s assume that a store of this size has 1 000 monthly orders at the same DKK 500 average order value, resulting in a total monthly revenue of DKK 500 000.
Here’s your monthly cost breakdown:
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Plan fee: DKK 2 150 / month
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Card‑processing fee: 1.6 % of DKK 500 000 = DKK 8 000
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Order fee: 1 000 × DKK 1.80 = DKK 1 800
Total monthly cost: just under DKK 12 000. Adding the typical 15 % extra for apps raises the total to about DKK 13 750.
These figures are illustrative; use them to align expectations with Shopify’s pricing. I’ve also created a spreadsheet where you can input your own numbers and see how they affect the pricing for each of the four Shopify plans.
Shopify vs. WooCommerce
I get asked a lot about Shopify vs. WooCommerce. I haven’t run a store on WooCommerce, so I won’t pretend to compare them from hands‑on experience. Instead, I’ll outline the factual differences in pricing, structure, and the types of businesses each platform suits. The setup work, products, shipping, and payment profiles are largely similar regardless of the platform you choose.
Shopify uses a flat subscription model: a fixed monthly fee that includes hosting, security, and updates. There’s no separate hosting bill and no server to maintain.
WooCommerce is an open‑source plugin for WordPress and is technically free, but “free” only covers the software itself. A production‑ready WooCommerce store can cost between $1,800 and $15,000 or more per year when you factor in hosting, premium plugins, themes, and payment processing. WooCommerce has lower ongoing platform costs, no monthly subscription fee, and no per‑transaction cut from the platform, but it requires more upfront development to achieve a polished, custom store. In other words, the platform is free, but your time (or your developer’s time) isn’t.
So which one is right for you?
Shopify: the most broadly applicable option. It spans from no‑code to headless solutions and can serve anything from a solo entrepreneur to large enterprise teams.
WooCommerce: can be built with no‑code tools, but maintenance, updates, security, and hosting are your responsibility. It’s ideal if you already run a WordPress website, though it requires technical skills or a developer team to run smoothly.
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