Shopify is a hosted store with a monthly plan billed in foreign currency, an easy setup and its own app store; WooCommerce is a free WordPress plugin you run on your own hosting, and Elementor Pro's WooCommerce Builder lets you design every store page. For a Pakistani store that mainly takes cash on delivery and wants to keep costs in rupees, WooCommerce with Elementor Pro is often cheaper to run; Shopify suits sellers who want zero maintenance and can pay its fees.
Cost and payment
- Shopify: a monthly plan by card, plus app subscriptions. Shopify's own payment service is not offered in every country, so check its availability for Pakistan; stores elsewhere may pay extra fees when using outside payment providers. See Shopify's pricing page.
- WooCommerce: free plugin, hosting from a local or foreign host, Elementor Pro at ₨799 a year via AI Web Tools, and any gateway plugins you choose.
Cash on delivery and local payments
Both support cash on delivery as a manual method. WooCommerce has gateway plugins from local payment providers; check each provider's current plugin before choosing. See running a COD store.
Design and control
Shopify themes are polished and limited by the theme's options. WooCommerce with Elementor Pro gives you the product, archive, cart and checkout templates to design freely. See Elementor Pro for WooCommerce. The trade-off is that you look after updates, backups and speed yourself.
Sources
Prices and features change. Check the source before you buy; we update this guide when they do.