Every online store project starts with the same argument, and it is usually settled by whoever shouts loudest rather than by what the business actually needs. Here is the comparison without a vendor's thumb on the scale.

WooCommerce (WordPress)

Best for: sellers who want full control, content-heavy stores, and businesses already running WordPress.

You own everything and pay no commission. Indian payment gateways integrate cleanly, and the plugin ecosystem covers almost any requirement. The trade-off is responsibility: you handle hosting, updates, security and speed, and a neglected WooCommerce store degrades fast. Budget for maintenance rather than pretending it is free.

Shopify

Best for: straightforward product catalogues, fast launches, and teams without technical support.

Hosting, security and updates are handled. It is genuinely the quickest route to a working store. The costs are ongoing: monthly subscription, paid apps that accumulate, and less freedom over URL structure and page templates than serious SEO sometimes needs. For a catalogue under a few hundred products with standard requirements, it is often the sensible answer.

Custom development

Best for: unusual business logic, B2B pricing, ERP integration, marketplaces and heavy traffic.

If your business rules do not fit a shopping cart — tiered dealer pricing, made-to-order configuration, complex GST or logistics integration — a custom build stops you fighting the platform forever. It costs more upfront and needs a development partner long-term, so it is the right choice only when the requirements genuinely demand it.

The Indian specifics that decide it

  • Payments: all three handle UPI and Indian gateways, but check settlement terms and per-transaction fees, which vary more than the platform cost.
  • GST invoicing: straightforward on WooCommerce and custom builds, an app dependency on Shopify.
  • COD and partial prepayment: easiest to customise outside Shopify.
  • Shipping aggregators: all support the major Indian providers; confirm before committing.
  • ONDC: possible on all three, simplest where you control the catalogue data directly.

A simple rule

Under 300 products and no unusual rules — Shopify or WooCommerce, whichever your team can maintain. Content and SEO central to your growth — WooCommerce. Business logic a cart cannot express — custom. Anyone who recommends the same platform for every client is selling, not advising.

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