This is the question I get asked more than any other. Both platforms are excellent — but they're built for different things, and choosing the wrong one will cost you time and money.
Choose Shopify if...
Your primary goal is selling products online. Shopify is purpose-built for e-commerce. Payments, inventory, shipping, taxes — it handles all of it out of the box. The tradeoff is less flexibility and a monthly fee that scales with your plan.
Choose WordPress if...
You need a content-heavy site, a blog, a service business site, or complex custom functionality. WordPress is endlessly flexible, but that flexibility comes with more maintenance responsibility.
The hybrid approach
Many businesses use WordPress for their main site and Shopify for their store, connecting them with a Buy Button. This gives you the best of both worlds at the cost of managing two platforms.
My recommendation
If you're selling more than 20 products and e-commerce is your core business: Shopify. Everything else: WordPress.
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