WooCommerce Pricing

WooCommerce is a free plugin that you can download from the WordPress repository or install directly from your WordPress dashboard.

However, this does not mean that running a WooCommerce store is completely free. You still need to pay for the following expenses:

● Hosting: This is where your website files are stored on the internet. Bluehost, one of the recommended hosting providers for WordPress sites, offers plans starting from $2.95 per month for shared hosting.

● Domain name: This is the address of your website on the internet. GoDaddy, one of the popular domain name registrars, offers domains starting from $0.99 per year for some extensions.

● SSL certificate: This is a security feature that encrypts the data between your website and your visitors’ browsers. Let’s Encrypt, one of the free SSL certificate providers, offers certificates for free for 90 days.

● Theme: This is the design and layout of your website. ThemeForest, one of the largest theme marketplaces, offers themes starting from $13 for some categories.

● Plugins: These are the extensions that add more functionality and features to your website. WooCommerce.com, the official marketplace for WooCommerce extensions, offers plugins starting from $0 for some categories.

● Transaction fees: These are the fees that you pay to the payment gateway or processor for processing your customers’ payments. PayPal, one of the most popular payment gateways, charges 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction for US merchants.

A rough estimate of the minimum cost of running a WooCommerce store for one year is:

● Hosting: $35.40 ($2.95 x 12 months)

● Domain name: $0.99

● SSL certificate: $0

● Theme: $13

● Plugins: $0

● Transaction fees: $29 (assuming 100 sales at $10 each)

Total: $78.39

Shopify Pricing

The monthly fee is not the only cost of running a Shopify store. You also need to pay for the following expenses:

● Domain name: Shopify offers you the option to buy a domain name directly from them for $14 per year.

● SSL certificate: Shopify also offers you a free SSL certificate for your store that is automatically activated when you add a domain name to your store.

● Theme: Shopify also offers you over 70 free themes that you can use for your store.

● Apps: These are the same as plugins for WooCommerce. Shopify also offers you over 6,000 free and paid apps that you can install from their app store.

● Transaction fees: Shopify also charges you additional transaction fees for using payment gateways other than Shopify Payments (which is not available in all countries). These fees range from 0.5% to 2% depending on your plan.

A rough estimate of the minimum cost of running a Shopify store for one year is:

● Plan: $348 ($29 x 12 months)

● Domain name: $14

● SSL certificate: $0

● Theme: $0

● Apps: $0