For most UK small businesses in 2026, the honest answer is this: choose Shopify if you want a shop that runs itself and you would rather pay a monthly fee than manage software; choose WooCommerce on WordPress if you already have a WordPress site, want to own everything and have someone technical on call; and choose Squarespace Commerce if design matters most and you sell a modest range of products or services. The Shopify vs WooCommerce question dominates the debate, but Squarespace quietly suits a lot of smaller catalogues.
Marketplaces like Etsy and eBay are a different decision entirely. They are not platforms you control; they are places you rent a stall. Use them to reach buyers, not to be your only shopfront. This guide covers the real total cost of each, VAT and invoicing, UK payments and couriers, EU selling, data ownership, and how painful migration actually is, so you can pick once and get on with trading.
The five options at a glance
Prices below are approximate, in pounds, and subject to change. Card processing fees are separate from your subscription unless stated. Always check the current figure on the provider’s own pricing page before you commit.
| Option | Approx monthly cost | Fees on sales | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shopify | From around £25 (Basic), roughly £65 mid-tier | Card fees from about 1.7% plus 25p; extra platform fee unless you use Shopify Payments | Product sellers who want a complete, low-maintenance shop |
| WooCommerce | Free plugin, but £15 to £60+ once you add hosting, security and plugins | Only your payment provider’s card fees; no platform cut | WordPress owners who want full control and lower long-term fees |
| Squarespace Commerce | From around £20 to £35 for commerce plans | Card fees via Stripe or PayPal; no transaction fee on higher commerce plans | Design-led brands with a smaller catalogue or services |
| Etsy (marketplace) | No monthly fee on the basic plan | Around 20p listing plus roughly 6.5% transaction plus payment fees | Handmade, vintage and craft sellers testing demand |
| eBay (marketplace) | Optional shop subscriptions from a few pounds | Final value fees vary by category, often around 10% plus a fixed charge | Clearing stock and reaching high-intent buyers fast |
Total cost of ownership, honestly
The subscription is the number everyone quotes and the number that matters least. What decides your annual bill is the mix of card fees, apps or plugins, theme costs and the time someone spends keeping the thing running.
Subscription and card fees
Shopify’s Basic plan sits at roughly £25 a month at the time of writing, with a mid-tier plan around £65 that lowers your card rates. If you use its built-in payments, card fees start near 1.7% plus 25p for UK cards. Use a different payment provider and Shopify adds a platform fee, typically 0.5% to 2% depending on plan, which is easy to overlook.
WooCommerce charges nothing to install and takes no cut of your sales. You pay only your payment provider’s card fees. That is its real advantage: on high volumes, the absence of any platform percentage compounds. Squarespace sits in between, with commerce plans from around £20 to £35 and card fees handled by Stripe or PayPal.
Themes, apps and plugins
A polished Shopify theme is often free, though premium themes run to a one-off charge of roughly £150 to £300. The cost creep comes from apps: subscription reviews, subscriptions billing, advanced shipping rules and email tools can each add £5 to £30 a month. Three or four apps quietly double your subscription.
WooCommerce is the same story with a different label. The core is free, but you will buy plugins for bookings, subscriptions, advanced shipping and better security, many sold as annual licences of £50 to £200 each. Squarespace bundles more into the base plan, which is why it feels cheaper to run but harder to extend.
The developer time WooCommerce quietly needs
This is the honest part. WooCommerce is software you host and maintain yourself. WordPress, its plugins and PHP all need updating, and updates occasionally clash and break something. When they do, you need someone who can read an error log, not just refresh the page.
Budget for that person. Either you learn it, or you pay a freelancer a retainer of perhaps £30 to £80 a month, or a larger sum when something breaks on a Friday afternoon. Shopify and Squarespace absorb all of this into their fee; that convenience is exactly what you are paying for. Before you decide, it is worth reading our take on the numbers that tell you a tool is earning its keep, because a lower subscription that eats your evenings is not actually cheaper.
VAT, UK invoicing and selling to the EU
If your taxable turnover crosses the VAT registration threshold, you must register with HMRC and charge VAT correctly. All three platforms let you set tax rates, but they handle the detail differently, and getting this wrong is expensive.
VAT inside the UK
Shopify and Squarespace apply a VAT rate you configure and show tax-inclusive pricing, which UK consumers expect. WooCommerce gives you the most granular control through tax classes, useful if you sell a mix of standard-rated, zero-rated and exempt goods, for example some foods or children’s clothing. Whichever you choose, your store must issue a compliant VAT invoice showing your VAT number, the rate and the amount.
Your ecommerce platform is not your accounting system. Sales still need to reach your bookkeeping software so returns are correct, especially with the next phase of Making Tax Digital landing. Read our guide to Making Tax Digital in 2026 and connect your store to your accounts early. Automating that link, as covered in our piece on invoice automation for UK firms, removes a recurring monthly chore.
Selling to the EU
Since Brexit, selling physical goods to EU consumers means dealing with import VAT and customs at the border. For low-value consignments you can register for the EU’s Import One-Stop Shop (IOSS) to collect VAT at checkout and speed parcels through. Shopify has the strongest built-in tooling for this, Squarespace is workable, and WooCommerce can do it with the right plugins and a courier that supports IOSS.
Check the current rules directly on the gov.uk guidance for goods sent abroad before you promise EU delivery, because thresholds and paperwork change. Do not guess. A parcel held in customs with unpaid VAT becomes an angry customer and a refund.
Payments and couriers in the UK
Payment providers
All three platforms support the providers UK shoppers recognise. Stripe, PayPal, Worldpay and Apple Pay or Google Pay are widely available. Shopify pushes its own Shopify Payments (powered by Stripe) and charges you a platform fee if you use anything else, so factor that in. WooCommerce and Squarespace let you use Stripe or PayPal without penalty.
Whatever you pick, offering the payment method a customer already trusts reduces abandoned baskets more than any clever discount. For most UK stores that means Stripe or PayPal plus a mobile wallet at checkout.
Shipping and courier integrations
Shopify has the deepest courier ecosystem, with apps and native links for Royal Mail, Evri, DPD and click-and-collect, plus printed labels from the admin screen. WooCommerce matches it through plugins and shipping platforms such as those that connect to multiple carriers, though you assemble the pieces yourself. Squarespace covers the essentials and integrates with major carriers but offers fewer advanced rules.
If shipping logic is complex, multiple weights, zones, or free delivery over a threshold, test it properly before launch. Getting postage wrong on heavy items silently loses money on every order.
Who owns your data, and the maintenance burden
With WooCommerce you host the site, so you own and control the customer data outright and you carry full responsibility for securing it. That means SSL, backups, strong passwords, plugin updates and a hosting provider that patches its servers. It is more freedom and more duty.
With Shopify and Squarespace, the vendor hosts everything and handles platform security, PCI compliance and uptime. You still control your customer data and remain the data controller under UK GDPR, so your privacy notice and lawful basis for marketing are your job regardless of platform. The ICO’s guidance for organisations sets out what a compliant privacy notice and consent flow look like.
Security is a live risk for any online shop. WooCommerce sites are targeted precisely because so many run outdated plugins. If you go that route, treat basic hygiene as non-negotiable and consider Cyber Essentials certification to structure your defences. Whichever platform you choose, a well-organised site also converts better, which is why our piece on your website’s hidden structure is worth reading before you build categories and menus.
Marketplaces: Etsy and eBay in brief
Etsy and eBay are sales channels, not shop platforms. You do not control the design, you rent visibility, and the marketplace owns the customer relationship. That is the trade: instant access to buyers who are already there, in exchange for fees and a lack of ownership.
Etsy suits handmade, craft and vintage sellers who want to test whether a product sells before investing in a full store. Fees stack up: a small listing charge, a transaction fee around 6.5%, and payment processing on top. eBay works for clearing stock and reaching buyers with high purchase intent, with final value fees that often land near 10% depending on category.
The smart pattern for many small firms is both: a marketplace for discovery and a Shopify or WooCommerce store for repeat customers, better margins and an email list you actually own. Just do not let a marketplace become your only presence, because a policy change or account suspension can end your business overnight.
Migration: how painful is it really?
Moving platforms is doable but never trivial, and honesty here saves regret. The three things that move are products, customers and orders, plus the invisible fourth thing: your search rankings.
Products and customers export as CSV files from any of these platforms and import into the next, and tools exist to move data from WooCommerce to Shopify and back. Order history is harder and often does not transfer cleanly, so keep the old system read-only for a while. The real risk is URLs: if your product and category web addresses change, you lose the Google rankings you built. Set up proper redirects from every old address to its new one, or traffic drops for months.
Budget a realistic amount of time and, for a larger catalogue, a freelancer who has done it before. Migration is a project, not an afternoon. The upside is that you rarely need to do it if you choose sensibly the first time, which is the entire point of this guide.
Mistakes people actually make
- Choosing on subscription price alone. The £25 headline hides card fees, apps and, for WooCommerce, maintenance time. Compare the total annual cost at your expected sales volume.
- Underestimating WooCommerce upkeep. Owners pick it for control, then discover they have bought a second job. Only choose it if you or someone you pay will keep it patched.
- Ignoring VAT until turnover spikes. Set tax up correctly from day one, even if you are not yet registered, so nothing needs unpicking later.
- Building on a marketplace only. An Etsy or eBay account is borrowed ground. Own your own shopfront and email list in parallel.
- Forgetting redirects when migrating. Changed URLs without redirects wipe out hard-won Google rankings. Map every old address to a new one.
- Over-installing apps. Every app is a monthly cost and a potential security or speed problem. Add them only when a real need appears.
Frequently asked questions
Is Shopify or WooCommerce cheaper overall?
At low volume, Shopify is usually cheaper once you count the hosting, security and developer time WooCommerce needs. At high volume, WooCommerce can win because it takes no percentage of your sales. The crossover depends on your turnover and how much technical work you do yourself, so model both at your expected sales.
Do I need to register for VAT before I open an online shop?
No. You must register with HMRC only once your taxable turnover crosses the registration threshold, or voluntarily if it suits you. You can trade below it without charging VAT, but set your platform up so switching it on later is a single change rather than a rebuild.
Can I sell to the EU from a UK store?
Yes, but you must handle import VAT and customs. Registering for the EU’s Import One-Stop Shop lets you collect VAT at checkout for lower-value orders and speeds delivery. Confirm the current thresholds on gov.uk and pick a courier that supports the scheme before promising EU shipping.
Which platform is best for a service business rather than products?
Squarespace handles bookings, memberships and digital products neatly and looks polished with little effort, which suits consultants, studios and small service brands. Shopify works too, particularly with booking apps. WooCommerce is more flexible but only worth the upkeep if you need that flexibility.
How much technical skill do I actually need?
Almost none for Shopify or Squarespace; both are designed for owners with no coding background. WooCommerce needs a comfortable working knowledge of WordPress, or a reliable person to call. If nobody in the business enjoys fixing software, a hosted platform will pay for itself in saved stress.
What to do next
- Write down your real numbers. Product count, expected monthly orders, average order value and whether you will sell to the EU. These decide which platform actually fits, not the marketing pages.
- Model total cost, not subscription. For your top two choices, add subscription, card fees at your volume, likely apps and any developer time. Compare the annual figures side by side using the approach in our guide to measuring whether a tool pays off.
- Start a free trial and build one real product. Set up VAT, one payment method and one courier, and run a test order end to end. You will learn more in an hour of building than a week of reading.
- Connect your shop to your accounts and marketing. Link it to your bookkeeping for Making Tax Digital, and plan how orders feed your email list. A repeatable rhythm like our four hours a week marketing system turns a new store into steady sales rather than a launch that goes quiet.
