WooCommerce vs Shopify - Which is Best for Your eCommerce Website?
Both WooCommerce and Shopify are excellent eCommerce solutions and in many cases either will work just as well for you. But there are some differences.
I admit that I'm biased in favor of WooCommerce due to the many available plugins that extend its functions and how WooCommerce is designed to allow customization. So I'll balance my bias with some comparisons quoted from a few online sources.
Ease of use: "Shopify is generally considered more user-friendly than WooCommerce due to its clean and intuitive interface, making it easy for even non-technical users to set up and manage their stores."
Customizable: "WooCommerce wins this category because of its vast library of plugins and extensions, which offers users more flexibility and customization options. Shopify’s proprietary nature can limit the range of integrations and add-ons available to users."
Security: "WooCommerce is a clear winner in the security game. Why? Because you have a lot more control over the security of your store compared to Shopify."
Dropshipping: "Both WooCommerce and Shopify are great options for running a dropshipping business. However, WooCommerce has a slight edge due to its ease of use and a vast number of extensions, making it highly customizable."
Scalability: "Shopify is the preferred choice for scalability as it is a hosted platform that takes care of all the technical aspects of scaling your store."
Support: "Shopify offers better customer support than WooCommerce, with a dedicated support team that can provide expert advice on technical issues, marketing, and sales. WooCommerce, on the other hand, lacks a dedicated support team."
SEO: "WooCommerce is integrated into WordPress, which is a blogging platform. It also allows users to alter body content, URLs, meta descriptions, alt tags and other on-page elements with amazing SEO tools.
This means that WooCommerce is better for those looking to rank well on Google."
Designs and Themes: "If you’re looking for a more custom layout for your e-commerce site, going with WooCommerce is wise. We think it is important to stand out from the crowd, and having the ability to customize your designs and themes means WooCommerce is a better choice for design."
To me, it boils down customizability. If you need customizations outside of what's possible with Shopify then, obviously, WooCommerce is your choice. A couple of other links to check out:
https://www.websitebuilderexpert.com/ecommerce-website-builders/comparisons/woocommerce-vs-shopify/
https://miromind.com/blog/shopify-vs-woocommerce-pros-and-cons-for-seo