Shopify or WooCommerce for a Pakistani store

Every feature comparison of Shopify and WooCommerce misses the things that actually decide it for a Pakistani store. Here are the ones that do.

Payments

This is the first question, not the last. Shopify Payments is not available in Pakistan, so you are integrating a local gateway or a third party processor either way. Check that your chosen gateway has a maintained integration for the platform you pick, and check when it was last updated, not just that it exists.

WooCommerce generally has broader local gateway support because anyone can write a plugin for it. That flexibility is real, and so is the risk of depending on a plugin one person maintains in their spare time.

Cash on delivery

If a large share of your orders are COD, and for many Pakistani stores they are, you need order verification, courier integration and return handling built around that reality. Both platforms can do it. WooCommerce tends to have more local courier plugins. Shopify usually needs an app, which means another monthly fee.

Who maintains it at 11pm

Shopify is hosted. If the platform breaks, it is their problem and their engineers are already on it. You cannot break it with a bad plugin update.

WooCommerce is yours. Hosting, updates, security patches, plugin conflicts, backups. That is genuine freedom and genuine responsibility. If nobody on your side owns it, budget for a maintenance retainer or expect the site to be down at the worst moment.

The real cost comparison

• Shopify: predictable monthly subscription, transaction fees, plus app subscriptions that quietly accumulate. Little surprise cost, higher floor.
• WooCommerce: free software, but real hosting, plugin licences, security and maintenance. Lower floor, more variance, and the cost shows up as your time if you do not pay someone else for it.

At small scale WooCommerce is usually cheaper. As order volume rises, the hosting and maintenance needed to keep it fast starts closing the gap.

Speed

Shopify is fast by default because the platform enforces it. WooCommerce can be extremely fast or extremely slow depending entirely on hosting, theme and how many plugins someone installed. Most slow WooCommerce stores are slow for reasons that were avoidable.

The short version

Choose Shopify if you want to sell rather than manage software, your catalogue is straightforward, and a predictable monthly cost suits you.

Choose WooCommerce if you need unusual functionality, you already run WordPress, your margins make transaction fees painful, or you have someone who will own maintenance.

Migrating later is possible and it is never free. Decide with the next two years in mind, not the next two months.