[Which is Best?] A Comprehensive Comparison of Shopify vs. WordPress by Purpose

Introduction: The Best CMS Varies Depending on Your Website's Purpose

"Shopify" and "WordPress" are the two most widely used platforms globally.
Both are "tools that allow you to easily build a website," but they are not universal and have their strengths and weaknesses.
This article clearly organizes the criteria for deciding which one to choose.

Table of Contents

1. What is Shopify: A cloud-based site building tool optimized for sales
2. What is WordPress: A highly flexible open-source CMS
3. Key Differences Between Shopify and WordPress
4. Differences from an Operational and Cost Perspective
5. Summary: The Most Important Thing is to Choose Based on Your Website's "Purpose"

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1. What is Shopify: A cloud-based site building tool optimized for sales

Shopify is a cloud-based, all-in-one e-commerce platform used in over 175 countries worldwide.
As of 2025, it holds a 26.2% share of the overall e-commerce platform market, making it the most popular e-commerce platform on the internet.
Originally created as "the easiest tool to start an online store," it is now increasingly being used for corporate and brand websites.

*Woocommerce vs Shopify: Market Share Insights for 2025

Key Features of Shopify

• Create visually appealing sites by choosing themes and templates and combining blocks.
• Theme customization through coding is also possible.
• All necessary e-commerce functions, such as payment, inventory management, and shipping settings, are available from the start.
• Shopify manages server, security, and updates centrally.
• Operates on Shopify's managed cloud servers, allowing it to withstand high traffic.
• Supports multiple languages and currencies by default, making it strong for international expansion.
• Over 6,000 apps allow for easy addition of marketing and design features.
  All these apps have passed Shopify's review, ensuring quality and safety.

Examples of Sites Where Shopify Excels

• E-commerce sites / Official brand stores
• Product catalog corporate websites
• LP and campaign sites (with purchase funnel)
• Global sites, including cross-border e-commerce
  

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2. What is WordPress: A highly flexible open-source CMS

WordPress is the most widely used CMS (Content Management System) in the world, with over 43% of all websites globally built on WordPress.
WordPress, which boasts such an overwhelming market share, is attractive for its versatility, capable of supporting all genres such as blogs, media, and corporate websites.

Key Features of WordPress

• Design, structure, and functions can be meticulously customized through coding.
• Functions can be added through themes and plugins.
• Ideal for operating blogs, news sites, and owned media.
• Can be used as an e-commerce site by integrating WooCommerce, etc.

Examples of Sites Where WordPress Excels

• Corporate websites
• Recruitment sites / Brand sites
• Blogs / Owned media

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3. Key Differences Between Shopify and WordPress

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4. Differences from an Operational and Cost Perspective

So, how much does it actually cost to build and operate a website?
Below is an example of the approximate costs for store construction, monthly operation, and creating a sudden LP, with specific figures for each.

Costs for Store Construction (Initial Costs)

The cost of store construction varies depending on the website's construction policy.

1. When building with minimal cost using free templates

In this case, it is assumed that the site construction will be done in-house, so it is necessary to be aware of the technical hurdles.

Shopify: From ¥1,150
[Breakdown]
Free theme: ¥0
Free app: ¥0
First month's Basic plan fee: ¥150*
Domain usage fee: ¥1,000
*As of December 2025, the first three months can be used for ¥150.

Technical hurdles: Low
Shopify is intuitive and easy to operate compared to other CMS, and it can be built without code. Also, connecting with a contracted domain can be done according to the official documentation from the Shopify admin screen, and if you encounter any problems, you can contact support, so the technical hurdles are low.

WordPress: From ¥2,000

[Breakdown]
Free theme: ¥0
Free plugin: ¥0
Server usage fee: ¥1,000
Domain usage fee: ¥1,000

Technical hurdles: High
If WordPress is built without a production company, in addition to understanding how to operate the admin screen, you must understand how to contract and use a rental server.
Also, the server and domain need to be linked, and:

• Admin screen settings vary depending on the theme
• Intuitive operation of the admin screen is difficult
• No support available

For these reasons, the technical hurdles are high.

 

2. When hiring a production company to build the site

When requesting a production company to build a site, the construction costs for both Shopify and WordPress are expected to be around ¥300,000 to ¥3,000,000.
The breakdown of these costs may include:

• Requirements definition costs
• Design costs
• App or plugin integration costs
• Coding/feature development costs

However, if additional feature development or a large number of pages are required, the costs may increase beyond the amounts mentioned above.

For WordPress construction, you should also be aware of the following points:

• Security measures are essential.
• For large-scale sites, infrastructure design, operation, and maintenance are required.
• If there are no in-house engineers familiar with WordPress, post-construction maintenance becomes essential.
• Costs for data migration from other CMS can be higher than for Shopify.

These factors can sometimes lead to increased costs to overcome them.
However, these are not merely disadvantages; they also reflect the high degree of development freedom that WordPress offers.

Conversely, for Shopify:

• Security and server stability depend on Shopify's operations.
• There are pages and features, including the checkout page, where development is restricted to ensure Shopify's security.

From these points, some compromises may be necessary during construction.

 

Monthly Operating Costs

Here we will calculate the operating costs for an e-commerce site with monthly sales of ¥1,000,000. Outsourcing costs for maintenance are omitted because they vary greatly depending on the production company and the scope of service.*
*Note that when building an e-commerce site with WordPress, security measures, version upgrades, and measures against server access spikes are essential, which may lead to higher maintenance costs than Shopify.

For Shopify: ¥41,650
[Breakdown]
Basic plan usage fee: ¥3,650
App usage fee: ¥1,500 (estimated)*
Payment processing fee: ¥35,500 (3.55% of ¥1,000,000 in sales)
Domain usage fee: ¥1,000 (estimated)
*Shopify apps often cost between $5 and $15 per month, so we assume the use of one app at ¥1,500 for convenience.

For WordPress: ¥44,200
[Breakdown]
Plugin usage fee: ¥6,200 (estimated)*1
Payment processing fee: ¥36,000 (3.6% of ¥1,000,000 in sales)*2
Server usage fee: ¥1,000 (estimated)
Domain usage fee: ¥1,000 (estimated)
*1 We assume the introduction of four plugins at $10 each per month for security measures and to add e-commerce functions that are standard in Shopify.
*2 Calculated based on the fees of popular payment systems like Stripe and PayPal.

Cost for creating an LP

The cost of creating an LP also varies depending on the production method, but there is not a significant difference between Shopify and WordPress when:

• Creating with coding
• Creating by adding page builder apps or plugins

However, there is a significant difference when creating an LP with the standard editor.
With Shopify, you can create a decent-looking LP without code using the standard customization editor, even with a free theme.
On the other hand, creating a decent-looking LP with WordPress's standard Gutenberg editor requires some coding knowledge.

Therefore, the cost for in-house production is likely lower for Shopify.

 

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5. Summary: The Most Important Thing is to Choose Based on Your Website's "Purpose"

The optimal tool varies depending on your "website's purpose, operational structure, and resources."

• If your focus is on sales funnels or you want to start with minimal operational resources, choose Shopify.
• If you have ample operational resources, reliable external partners, and aim to disseminate information and enhance brand value, choose WordPress.

Defining your company's web strategy clearly and then deciding which one to make your "main axis" is the shortcut to success.

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