WooCommerce vs Shopify: which fits a store in Latvia in 2026?

WooCommerce vs Shopify: what is the real difference?

Shopify is a hosted service: you pay a subscription, and Shopify runs the platform and the hosting. WooCommerce is a free, open-source plugin for a WordPress site. The store runs on hosting you choose and the code and data are yours, but you or your developer keep the software updated and the server healthy.

Put simply, with Shopify you rent a ready-made shop; with WooCommerce you own one. Both work in Latvia.

How much do Shopify and WooCommerce cost?

Shopify's Basic plan costs €27 a month billed yearly, or €36 billed monthly. Card fees come on top, and so does a Shopify transaction fee whenever an order is paid through another provider. WooCommerce itself is free: what you pay for is hosting, any paid extensions and your payment provider's fees.

These were the euro prices on Shopify's pricing page on 20 October 2026:

What the Shopify transaction fee means

Shopify adds its own fee to every order paid through a third-party provider, even with Shopify Payments switched on, and that includes bank links from MakeCommerce or Montonio. Say a Basic store takes €5,000 a month through bank links: Shopify keeps another €100 before the payment provider's own commission. On Grow, it would be €50.

What WooCommerce costs

The WooCommerce plugin is free and takes 0% of revenue. WooCommerce's pricing page puts hosting at $25–$350 a month for most stores, depending on traffic and performance, and paid extensions at $29–$299 a year each.

Payment providers such as MakeCommerce and Montonio charge a commission under your contract. For cards, Stripe's official WooCommerce plugin is another route: Stripe's published rate for a Latvian business is 1.5% + €0.25 for standard EEA cards, with no monthly fee.

How do you take Swedbank, SEB and card payments?

On both platforms, Latvian bank-link payments come from MakeCommerce (Maksekeskus) or Montonio: as plugins on WooCommerce and as apps on Shopify. Shopify takes cards through Shopify Payments, which now lists Latvia. On WooCommerce, cards go through those plugins, Stripe or WooPayments.

The MakeCommerce plugin for WooCommerce covers Swedbank, SEB, Citadele and Luminor bank links, Visa and Mastercard, Apple Pay, Google Pay and buy now, pay later. On Shopify, MakeCommerce offers a separate app per bank: Swedbank, SEB, Luminor, Citadele, Revolut, N26 and others. There's no monthly fee; the commission is set by contract.

Montonio covers the major Latvian banks on both platforms, and its WooCommerce plugin adds cards, pay later and hire purchase.

How do you add Omniva and DPD parcel lockers?

Parcel-locker choice at checkout comes from the same MakeCommerce or Montonio on both platforms. The MakeCommerce WooCommerce plugin offers Omniva, DPD, Venipak, SmartPosti and Unisend lockers and prints shipping labels inside the WooCommerce admin. On Shopify, the same job is done by MakeCommerce's Piegāde+ app.

Piegāde+ adds couriers and in-store pickup, from €1.99 per parcel with no monthly fee, and its Pro version lets you keep your own carrier contract.

Montonio ships with Omniva, DPD and Latvijas Pasts, among others. One practical difference: on Shopify each MakeCommerce payment method and delivery module is a separate app, while on WooCommerce one plugin covers both.

Can the checkout be in Latvian, with VAT and invoices sorted?

Yes on both, but check it before launch. WooCommerce's community translation into Latvian was 39% complete on 20 October 2026, so some text needs translating. Shopify's checkout has default translations for only some languages, and for the rest the merchant adds them.

Latvian language

WooCommerce text that isn't translated yet shows in English. A developer can translate the missing strings. On Shopify, once you publish a language, the checkout and emails show in the buyer's language. Where Shopify has no translation, you add one with the Translate & Adapt app or a CSV file; otherwise buyers see your default language. On either platform, place a full test order before launch.

VAT

Shopify can manage tax rates automatically, but it says plainly that it doesn't file or pay your taxes. WooCommerce uses a tax-rate table: you choose whether prices include VAT and which address the tax is based on, and automated rates need the WooCommerce Tax extension. Either way, the VAT return is filed by you or your accountant.

Invoices

Shopify makes invoices with its free Order Printer app, whose templates you edit in HTML, CSS and Liquid. On WooCommerce, the PDF Invoices & Packing Slips plugin attaches a PDF or XML invoice to the order email and numbers invoices in sequence. Agree with your accountant what each invoice must show.

Who owns the store, and how hard is it to leave?

A WooCommerce store is yours. It's open-source software you can move, with all its data, to another host or developer. A Shopify store runs only on Shopify: you can export products to a CSV file, but the images aren't included, and the theme and apps don't move to another platform.

On WooCommerce, you or your developer update WordPress, WooCommerce and the plugins, and look after hosting, backups and security to reduce the risk. Shopify does that work itself, and in return you depend on its prices and terms.

Who should pick WooCommerce, and who Shopify?

Pick Shopify if you want to start fast, your catalogue is small, most buyers pay by card and nobody looks after a server for you. Pick WooCommerce if many buyers pay by bank link, you want to own the code and data, or the store has to talk to your accounting, warehouse or another system.

Shopify makes sense if:

• card payments through Shopify Payments suit you;
• you'd rather not think about hosting and updates.

WooCommerce makes sense if:

• a large share of buyers pay with Swedbank, SEB or another bank link;
• you want the code and data to be yours;
• you need integrations or unusual features.