Migrating from Shopify to WooCommerce means no longer paying Shopify’s fee and commission, and hosting your store on your own hosting, with the code and data in your name. Products and customers can be exported from Shopify in a few hours. Redirects, apps, and payments are where most of the work lies.
In this guide, we explain what gets exported and what doesn’t, how to avoid losing Google rankings, the steps in order, and how much it costs compared to what you save.
Why people leave Shopify
- The bill grows with your sales. On top of the subscription fee, every card payment costs between 1.6% and 2.1% plus €0.30 depending on the plan, and an extra charge if you use another payment gateway.
- Apps. Many features are apps with their own fees. Ten apps at €10 each come to €100 a month.
- Limits. Some things Shopify doesn’t let you change: the URL structure, part of the checkout process, or how certain data is stored.
- Wanting to own your store, with the code and the server under your control.
What transfers and what doesn’t
| Data | Transfers? | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Products and variants | Yes | Options, images for each variant, SKU, and stock |
| Collections | Yes, as categories | Automated collections become fixed lists |
| Customers | Yes | Each customer’s marketing consent |
| Passwords | No | Shopify doesn’t export them: customers create a new one |
| Orders | Yes | Make sure they don’t send emails or deduct stock when imported |
| Pages and blog | Yes | Images in the text and internal links |
| SEO titles and descriptions | Yes, with the right tool | Make sure they end up in the fields of your SEO plugin |
| Gift cards and subscriptions | With care | Balances and recurring payments are migrated separately or closed beforehand |
| Theme and apps | No | They are replaced with a WordPress theme and plugins |
Shopify exports products, customers, and orders as CSV files from its admin. To avoid doing it by hand, there are paid plugins and services that read the Shopify store and write it into WooCommerce.
Shopify URLs and their redirects
Shopify always uses the same paths. In WooCommerce they change, and each one needs its own 301 redirect:
| In Shopify | In WooCommerce (default) |
|---|---|
/products/camiseta-azul |
/producto/camiseta-azul/ |
/collections/camisetas |
/categoria-producto/camisetas/ |
/collections/camisetas/products/camiseta-azul |
/producto/camiseta-azul/ |
/pages/quienes-somos |
/quienes-somos/ |
/blogs/news/mi-articulo |
/mi-articulo/ |
Since the paths follow a pattern, a good share of the redirects can be done with rules instead of one by one. Even so, check them all against the list of URLs Google knows for your store, which you can find in Search Console.
If you bought the domain through Shopify, you can transfer it to another registrar. Do it well in advance: Shopify requires that 60 days have passed since registration, and the transfer takes a few days.
Shopify apps and their equivalents
| In Shopify | In WooCommerce |
|---|---|
| Shopify Payments | Stripe, your bank’s card terminal (Redsys), PayPal, or Bizum through the payment gateway |
| Reviews app | WooCommerce reviews or a reviews plugin |
| Subscriptions app | A subscriptions plugin compatible with your payment gateway |
| Bundles or cross-selling app | A bundles or order bump plugin |
| Shopify Markets (countries and languages) | A translation plugin and tax settings by country |
| Shopify Email | Your newsletter tool connected to WooCommerce |
The migration in eight steps
- Inventory: products, variants, customers, orders, active apps, and store URLs.
- Hosting and new store at a test address, hidden from everyone.
- Import of products, collections, customers, orders, pages, and blog.
- Review of your best-selling products one by one, and of the rest by sampling.
- Payments, shipping, and taxes configured and tested with real purchases.
- Redirects for all Shopify URLs.
- Switchover day: final orders and customers, the domain points to the new hosting, redirects active.
- Close Shopify once everything has been verified, after downloading whatever you want to keep.
How much it costs and how much you save
| Store | Typical migration price |
|---|---|
| Small: up to 500 products, few apps | €800 – €2,500 |
| Medium: thousands of products, several markets | €2,500 – €6,000 |
| With subscriptions, B2B, or integrations | €6,000 or more |
Market ranges in Spain, VAT not included, not counting a new design.
What you save depends on what you sell. In the example from how much an online store costs, a store with €50,000 in annual sales pays about €390 less per year in platform and payment fees with WooCommerce and Stripe than with Shopify Basic, not counting apps. With higher sales or on the Grow plan, the difference grows. On the other side is maintenance: with WooCommerce, someone has to update and monitor the store.
Is it worth leaving Shopify?
Tell us your plan, your apps, and what you sell per year. We’ll run the numbers and, if they come out in your favor, give you a fixed price for the migration.
When it’s better to stay on Shopify
- You still sell little and the subscription fee is lower than what it would cost to maintain WooCommerce.
- You don’t want to deal with anything technical or pay anyone to do it.
- Your store depends on a Shopify app that has no clear equivalent in WordPress.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I move my products from Shopify to WooCommerce?
Yes. Shopify exports them as a CSV and WooCommerce imports them, or a migration plugin that connects the two stores does it for you. Check the variants and images for each product.
Will I lose my Google rankings?
No, as long as every Shopify URL redirects to the new one with a 301. There may be a small drop in the first few weeks.
Will my customers have to create a new password?
Yes. Shopify doesn’t export passwords. The usual approach is to email customers on the day of the switch with a link to create one.
How much does it cost to migrate from Shopify to WooCommerce?
Between €800 and €2,500 for a small store and between €2,500 and €6,000 for a mid-sized one. More if there are subscriptions or integrations.
Can I keep selling during the migration?
Yes. The new store is built separately and the switch happens in a single day, with a final import of any orders that came in.
Useful Links
- Migrating from PrestaShop to WooCommerce: the same path starting from PrestaShop.
- How Much an Online Store Costs: Shopify, WooCommerce, and PrestaShop pricing.
- WooCommerce Experts: what we do for stores that are already live.
- Exporting products in Shopify, in its official help center.
