Shopify vs WooCommerce: Cost in India (2027)

Quick answer: On list price, Shopify's India plans run from Rs 1,499 a month (Basic, billed yearly) to Rs 22,680 (Advanced), while WooCommerce itself is free and you pay for hosting, extensions and developer time (per the vendors' pricing pages, checked October 2026). The catch for India: neither Shopify Payments nor WooPayments lists India as supported, so you pay a gateway such as Razorpay either way, and Shopify adds a 2% to 0.2% fee on top.

How we researched this: We read Shopify's India pricing page and its help-centre pages on Shopify Payments countries, third-party transaction fees and manual (COD) payments, WooCommerce's pricing page, cost calculator, WooPayments country list and Cash on Delivery guide, Hostinger India's WooCommerce hosting page, and Razorpay's pricing and plugin documentation. All figures are as read in October 2026.

Shopify vs WooCommerce cost in India: what Shopify charges

Shopify's India pricing page lists four plans. The yearly column is the per-month price when you pay for a year at a time.

Other points from the page: every plan shows 10 inventory locations except Plus (200); Basic includes up to 3 B2B catalogues; Advanced adds live third-party shipping rates and up to 9 expansion stores; Plus adds a fully customisable checkout and priority 24/7 phone support. The trial is "free for 3 days, then pay Rs 20/month for 3 months", after which most plans move to standard pricing. An optional POS Pro add-on is Rs 7,000 a month per location on the three lower plans.

Yearly totals for a year-long commitment, simple arithmetic on the figures above: Basic Rs 17,988 (against Rs 23,928 if paid monthly), Grow Rs 67,188, Advanced Rs 2,72,160. The page does not say whether the rupee prices include GST, so read the first invoice before you budget; our note on claiming GST input credit on SaaS explains what to look for. Budget one more line too: Shopify's India GST help page says it "doesn't create a GST-compliant bill" and recommends a local third-party invoicing service or an app from the Shopify App Store, so a GST invoice app is an add-on cost, priced on the App Store.

The shopify e-commerce platform India plans are therefore cheap to enter and expensive to scale if you are paying the third-party fee. That fee gets its own section below.

WooCommerce: free software, paid everything around it

As a WooCommerce online shop WordPress plugin, it is what most Indian web freelancers reach for: you install it on a WordPress site, so you also own the WordPress layer underneath it (hosting, updates, backups). Its pricing page says the platform is "free, with no monthly subscription", with no revenue share. Costs sit elsewhere:

• Hosting. WooCommerce's page says typical hosting is "$25 to $350 per month" for most stores, rising with traffic. That is a global dollar range. Hostinger's India page lists two WooCommerce plans, both with a 48-month term paid upfront.
• Extensions. The page puts optional add-ons at "$29 to $299 per extension per year", priced in dollars.
• Payments. WooCommerce charges no fee for any processor; you pay the processor.
• Developer time. WooCommerce's own cost calculator asks for revenue in USD, monthly orders, visits, product type and how much development you need, then estimates four buckets: platform and hosting, transactions, development and extensions.

The page says plans are paid upfront, with a 30-day money-back guarantee, and that "unlimited" features are subject to a fair-usage policy. It also contradicts itself on storage in one FAQ answer, so rely on the plan list, not the FAQ. The takeaway: the Rs 199 headline is a four-year prepayment of Rs 9,552, and the renewal rate after the term is more than three times higher. Budget the renewal, not the promo.

For a bigger picture of Indian hosts, see our web hosting price comparison and website builders and hosting guide.

The India payment-gateway problem both platforms share

This is the part most "Shopify vs WooCommerce" posts skip. Shopify's help page on Shopify Payments supported countries lists 41 countries and India is not among them; for unlisted countries the page says to use a third-party provider. WooCommerce's WooPayments country page also lists 38 places without India, and invites merchants to vote for their country. A Shopify India payments page does exist and promotes Shopify Payments, so check which provider your own admin offers before you plan your costs, but assume a gateway is required.

Gateway costs are the same on both platforms. Razorpay's pricing page lists a 2% platform fee on domestic cards, UPI, netbanking and wallets, up to 3% on international cards, Rs 0 setup and Rs 0 annual maintenance, with 18% GST applied on the fee. The page also says UPI is MDR-free, so the 2% is a platform fee, not MDR. Compare gateways in our payment gateway charges guide and Razorpay vs Cashfree fees.

Where the platforms differ is an additional layer. Shopify's help centre says "third-party transaction fees apply to all transactions processed through third-party and alternate payment gateways". The rates are the 2%, 1%, 0.6% and 0.2% in the plan table. The same help centre says "You aren't charged third-party transaction fees for manual payments", and names cash on delivery as a manual payment type. So on Shopify a COD order escapes the 2% fee; a UPI order through Razorpay pays the gateway and Shopify. WooCommerce adds nothing.

Subscriptions and split payments are where the platforms diverge. Razorpay's documentation says its WooCommerce subscription plugin is "available only in the paid versions of WooCommerce", and that you must install WooCommerce Subscriptions first; WooCommerce's pricing page adds that Subscriptions carries no subscription processing fee. On the Shopify side, Razorpay's documentation says the Shopify plugin supports the Payment Gateway product on Web Standard Checkout, and lists Route and Subscriptions as not supported. If you sell a monthly tea box or need to split payments between sellers, check this before choosing; our guide to UPI AutoPay vs e-NACH covers the recurring-payment side.

Setup differences are small. Razorpay's WooCommerce plugin documentation lists UPI, cards, netbanking and wallets, and needs WordPress 3.9.2 or higher, WooCommerce 4.0 or higher and PHP 7.0 or higher. Its Shopify integration needs owner-level access, a website review before integration, and the app now called "All-in-one Razorpay Payment Gateway".

What it costs in three Indian store sizes

These are worked examples built from the figures above. They assume Razorpay's standard 2% on every prepaid order and ignore themes, apps, photography and your time.

1. A Rs 1,00,000-a-month home-décor store in Jaipur, 70% COD. Prepaid sales are Rs 30,000. Shopify Basic (yearly): Rs 1,499 + 2% of Rs 30,000 (Rs 600) = Rs 2,099. WooCommerce on Hostinger Unlimited: Rs 199 promo or Rs 649 at renewal. Gateway fee on both: Rs 600 plus GST. Here the extra cost of Shopify is roughly Rs 1,450 to Rs 1,900 a month.

2. A Rs 5,00,000-a-month apparel brand in Surat, 60% prepaid (Rs 3,00,000). Basic yearly: Rs 1,499 + Rs 6,000 = Rs 7,499. Grow yearly: Rs 5,599 + Rs 3,000 = Rs 8,599. Basic stays cheaper. WooCommerce on Cloud Startup: Rs 599 promo or Rs 1,599 at renewal, plus the same Rs 6,000 gateway fee.

3. A Rs 25,00,000-a-month electronics store in Pune, 80% prepaid (Rs 20,00,000). Basic: Rs 1,499 + Rs 40,000 = Rs 41,499. Grow: Rs 5,599 + Rs 20,000 = Rs 25,599. Advanced: Rs 22,680 + Rs 12,000 = Rs 34,680. Grow wins.

The switching points are simple. Grow beats Basic once prepaid third-party sales pass about Rs 4,10,000 a month (the Rs 4,100 monthly price gap divided by the 1-point fee gap). Advanced beats Grow only above roughly Rs 42.7 lakh a month. Most small stores should therefore sit on Basic or Grow.

What the examples hide: on WooCommerce you also pay a developer or your own hours, extensions at the dollar prices above and any security or caching work, and no calculator can price that for you. Use WooCommerce's calculator with your own numbers.

Which one fits which Indian seller

Shopify fits a founder who wants the store live this week, has no WordPress person, and sells mostly COD or low-volume prepaid. Basic's 3-day free trial followed by Rs 20 a month for three months is a low-risk way to test demand before you commit to Rs 17,988 for a year. Higher plans add staff accounts and B2B catalogues; see Shopify Plus only past the volumes in scenario 3, and Shopify POS if you also run a shop counter.

WooCommerce fits a seller with a WordPress developer on call, a content-heavy site or a need for custom logic, and someone to patch and back up the site. Hostinger's plans list daily backups, but you remain responsible for updates and plugin conflicts.

Neither fits well if you sell mainly through marketplaces, if you need a store in 10 minutes from a WhatsApp catalogue, or if you want a local-first builder; read Dukaan vs Shopify, WhatsApp catalogue and shopping tools and the e-commerce platform category. Zoho Commerce and Wix eCommerce are listed there too. When you compare top e-commerce platforms compared India sellers often forget shipping: see Shiprocket vs Pickrr charges.

Rollout plan and what to check before you pay

1. List your last 90 days' split of COD, UPI and card orders. This single ratio decides the Shopify fee.
2. Take Shopify's trial and place five test orders, including one COD and one through your gateway.
3. Run the same inputs through WooCommerce's cost calculator and get one developer quote.
4. Ask your gateway for the written rate it will give you at your volume.
5. Compare year-one totals including renewal pricing, then pick.

Check before buying: GST treatment on the invoice, the renewal rate after any promotional hosting term, who handles backups, how COD is switched on (Shopify: Payments settings, then a manual method; WooCommerce: WooCommerce > Settings > Payments > Take offline payments, Enable, Manage). For more on budgeting rupee versus dollar billing, see SaaS priced in rupees.

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