“Should I build on Magento or WooCommerce?” We get asked this a lot, and the honest answer is the one nobody wants: it depends. But it depends on specific, knowable things — so here’s how we actually think it through, having built more than fifty online stores across both.
When Magento earns its keep
Magento is a serious platform for serious catalogues. If you’re carrying thousands of products, running complex pricing or multiple stores from one installation, selling B2B as well as B2C, or turning over enough that a fraction of a percent in conversion matters in real money — Magento’s depth pays off. It’s also more demanding to run and host, which is precisely why so many agencies quietly steer everyone toward something simpler. That’s a them problem, not a you problem.
When WooCommerce is the right call
For most businesses selling online, WooCommerce is the sensible choice. It’s flexible, well-supported, and it integrates with practically everything — payment providers, POS systems, accounting, marketing tools. You own it outright, it sits inside WordPress so your team can manage content easily, and it scales comfortably for the majority of stores. When we build on WooCommerce we bring the same security discipline we’ve learned from running Magento, so “simpler” doesn’t mean “less careful”.
What about Shopify?
We’ll happily advise on Shopify, and it works well for some businesses. But you’re renting, not owning — locked into their ecosystem, their fees and their constraints. For most of our clients, WooCommerce or Magento gives more control and better long-term value.
The questions that actually decide it
- How large and complex is your catalogue, now and in three years?
- What’s your online turnover, and what is a 1% conversion improvement worth to you?
- Do you need B2B features, multiple storefronts, or unusual pricing rules?
- What has to integrate — POS, ERP, accounting, fulfilment?
- Who maintains the store day to day, and how technical are they?
The best platform isn’t the most powerful one. It’s the one that fits your catalogue, your turnover and your team.
Weighing it up for your own store? Tell us about it — we build on both, so the advice you get isn’t a sales pitch for whichever one we happen to prefer.