Shopify WordPress Plugin vs WooCommerce: Full Demo

In a recent test, I tried the brand-new Shopify WordPress plugin, which many claim could compete with WooCommerce. As someone with over 13 years of WooCommerce experience, I felt both curious and cautious — could Shopify really challenge Woo on its own turf?

To find out, I signed up for Shopify’s trial, installed the plugin on WordPress, went through the setup, and even made a first purchase, so you don’t have to pay for the trial yourself.

This post recaps everything from that video — from installation to my final thoughts — and includes the full embedded demo below, in case you’d rather watch it in action.

Signing up for the Shopify trial

The first step was setting up a Shopify account. I had to start a trial (3 days free, then €1/month for 3 months) that requires a credit card or PayPal details. Once logged into Shopify, I could explore the dashboard and create a few test products before connecting WordPress. The process felt straightforward and modern, but it also reminded me that Shopify’s ecosystem is fully hosted — you’re working inside their platform, not your own WordPress database.

This immediately highlighted one big difference from WooCommerce: ownership. Woo stores your data and settings within WordPress, while Shopify keeps everything on its own servers. Still, the onboarding felt smooth and easy to follow.

Installing and connecting the plugin

On the WordPress side, the plugin is called Shopify for WordPress, not available directly from the plugin repository but downloadable from Shopify’s website without a login.

Installation took seconds, and after activation, I simply logged into my Shopify account to link the two systems.

The integration works via an embed: WordPress basically becomes a front-end shell for your Shopify store. Your products, checkout, and customer data remain on Shopify. Once connected, I could quickly display products inside any WordPress post or page using blocks (not sure if it works on “Classic” WordPress with shortcodes?).

It’s light, minimal, and fast — but it also means WordPress isn’t really handling your ecommerce logic. You don’t get a Woo-style orders menu, or native product editing. It’s more of a connector than a full store management tool.

Setting up and customizing the store

After connecting the two, I explored how customizable the setup was. This is where I started to see limits. The plugin doesn’t let you tweak checkout or cart slider; those are all managed by Shopify. You can adjust visuals and placement on WordPress, but you can’t change checkout fields or product pages — everything flows through Shopify’s ecosystem.

On the bright side, the simplicity might appeal to users who just want to embed a small catalog or sell a few products from an existing WordPress site. There’s no complex configuration, and it works reliably right out of the box.

For WooCommerce users, though, the lack of flexibility might feel restrictive. Woo gives full control over hooks, filters, templates, and checkout logic — something that Shopify’s embedded setup doesn’t replicate.

Testing the first purchase

Next, I wanted to see how the buying process worked. I added one of my test products to the cart, which redirected me to Shopify’s checkout. The experience was fast, polished, and secure, just like any Shopify store. Payments, taxes, and shipping are all handled from within Shopify’s admin, so there’s no WordPress management involved.

The order showed up in Shopify instantly, confirming that the plugin acts purely as a storefront layer. From a performance perspective, it was excellent — but again, all the ecommerce power lives on Shopify, not WordPress.

For users who prefer having everything in one place, WooCommerce still wins in terms of integration and control.

Overall impressions

After testing the plugin end to end, my takeaway is that this new Shopify integration is not meant to replace WooCommerce. Instead, it’s designed for Shopify users who love WordPress’s content capabilities and want to combine the two.

If you already use Shopify, this plugin is a nice way to display and sell products within your WordPress website. If you’re running a WooCommerce store, however, it doesn’t offer enough functionality to justify switching. It’s lightweight and reliable, but not a full-featured eCommerce platform inside WordPress.

The competition between WooCommerce and Shopify is great for users — it pushes both platforms to evolve. But right now, Shopify’s WordPress plugin feels more like an extra sales channel than a real alternative to Woo.

Conclusion

Testing Shopify’s new WordPress plugin was both fun and revealing. It’s a solid first step toward bridging the two worlds, but not a WooCommerce killer. The plugin works beautifully for embedding products and checkout on WordPress, yet serious store owners will likely still prefer the flexibility, data ownership, and deep integration WooCommerce offers.

If you’re curious to see how it all looks in action, watch the full demo video above — I paid for the trial so you don’t have to.