Shopify vs WordPress.com
Pricing
Shopify: Basic $29/mo billed yearly ($39 monthly); 3-day trial, then $1/mo for 3 months
WordPress.com: Free tier, paid from $4/mo
Description
Shopify: E-commerce platform for building an online store and selling online, in person and in AI chat apps, with payments built in
WordPress.com: Hosted version of WordPress with managed hosting, themes, and built-in blogging
Pros
- Shopify Payments is built in, with online card rates from 2.9% + 30c on Basic
- Sell on your own store, in person, and in AI channels such as ChatGPT and Perplexity
- Try it for 3 days without a credit card, then pay $1 a month for the first 3 months on most plans
- Lowest entry price among major website builders at $4/mo
- Massive plugin and theme ecosystem on Business plan and above
- Excellent built-in blogging and content management
Cons
- Using a payment provider other than Shopify Payments adds a 2% fee on Basic
- Shopify Payments is only available in some countries
- Advanced point-of-sale tools for physical shops (POS Pro) cost $89 a month per location
- Plugins and custom themes locked behind the $25/mo Business plan
- Free and lower-tier plans show WordPress.com branding
Details
Shopify gives you a hosted online store with checkout and payments, a built-in AI assistant, and tools to sell in person and through AI chat apps. Shopify pitches its Basic plan at solo entrepreneurs.
It suits founders selling products, from a single item to a full catalogue. A free Agentic plan also lets you list products in Shopify’s Catalog and sell them in AI channels, paying only when you make a sale.
Basic costs $29 a month billed yearly or $39 monthly, and card fees come on top. The next plan, Grow, is $79 a month billed yearly and lowers the online card rate to 2.7% + 30c.
WordPress.com is the hosted, managed version of the open-source WordPress platform. It bundles hosting, security, and backups into a single subscription starting at $4/mo for a personal site. The Business plan at $25/mo unlocks custom plugins and advanced SEO, making it comparable to self-hosted WordPress without the server management overhead.
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