Shopify to WooCommerce migration
Shopify to WooCommerce migration: what it costs, what moves, and how long it takes.
For store owners on Shopify who want to own their store: the code, the data and the checkout. We move products, customers, orders and every old address with a redirect, onto a WooCommerce store on a server we run. Your Shopify store keeps selling until the day of the switch.
One fixed price, set after a free review. No hourly estimate made before anyone has looked.
When it is worth it, and when it isn't
A move costs money and attention, so it should solve a real problem. The good reasons we hear: a growing monthly bill for apps, a checkout that can't be changed the way the business needs, Shopify's fee for using another payment provider, or wanting to own the store outright.
The weaker reason is speed. Shopify itself is quick, and a WooCommerce store is only fast if it is set up and hosted properly. That part is our job. But if your store is small, uses a handful of apps and works for you, staying put is often the better choice. We'll say so in the review.
Our free Shopify vs WooCommerce cost calculator puts both running costs side by side for your sales and orders, with every vendor price linked and dated.
What moves, and what Shopify keeps
Moves to WooCommerce
- Products with variants, prices, stock, images, descriptions and SEO titles.
- Collections, as WooCommerce categories.
- Customers with names, addresses and order history.
- Past orders, as a record for customers and your reports.
- Pages and blog posts.
- Every old address, sent to its new page with a permanent (301) redirect.
Stays with Shopify
- Customer passwords. Shopify does not export them, so customers set a new one.
- The theme. It is rebuilt, or a WooCommerce theme is adapted.
- Apps and whatever only lives inside them. Each is replaced by a plugin or code, or dropped.
- Shopify Payments and Shop Pay. You connect a payment provider such as Stripe or PayPal.
- Shopify's own reports and analytics history.
How it works
Free store review
You add us as a staff account on Shopify. We go through the products, the apps, the theme and the addresses Google knows. Within 3 business days you get a written plan: what moves, what each app becomes, what can't move, a fixed price and the dates.
We build it next to Shopify
The WooCommerce store is built on our server while Shopify keeps selling. We import the catalog, customers and orders, set up payments and shipping, write the redirects and place test orders. You check it before anything changes for customers. Half when we start, half when it's done.
Switch, then Store Care
We copy the last orders and customers across, point the domain at the new store and watch Search Console for missed addresses. Then the store runs on Store Care: updates done by a person on a copy with a test order, monitoring, daily backups for 30 days and emergency recovery.
How long it takes depends mostly on the number of products, the apps to replace and the theme. The review takes 3 business days; the build has its dates in the quote, and the clock starts once we have the access we need.
How the move is kept safe
Tested on a copy first. Your Shopify store stays live until you approve the new one.
We build and test the WooCommerce store, test orders included, while Shopify keeps selling. The domain only moves after you have checked the new store and said yes, and Shopify stays as it is afterwards, so there is a way back.
What our servers do for speed
We haven't published a Shopify move as a case study yet. The closest we can show: Kozelj.net, a PrestaShop store (not WooCommerce) that we upgraded and now run on our server. The old and the new store are both online, and the full numbers are on Results. A migrated store gets the same setup and the same care.
Questions people ask
How much does a Shopify to WooCommerce migration cost?
It is quoted after the free store review, as one fixed price. What moves the price is the number of products and variants, how many Shopify apps have to be replaced, whether the theme is rebuilt or a ready-made WooCommerce theme is adapted, and any connections to stock, shipping or accounting systems. After the move the store runs on Store Care, from $395/month, month to month.
Will I lose my Google rankings?
Not if every old address is redirected. Shopify puts pages under /products/, /collections/, /pages/ and /blogs/, and WooCommerce uses its own addresses. We map every old address to its new page and set up permanent (301) redirects before the switch, then watch Google Search Console for addresses we missed in the weeks after.
Can my customers keep their passwords?
No. Shopify does not let anyone export passwords, so customer accounts move with names, addresses and order history, and customers set a new password the first time they sign in. We prepare the email that tells them, and you decide when it goes out.
Do my old orders move?
Yes, as a record: order number, date, customer, products, totals and status, so customers see their history and you keep your reports. Payments already taken stay with the payment provider that took them. Refunds on old orders are made there, not in WooCommerce.
What about subscriptions and saved cards?
They need a plan of their own. Saved cards live with the payment provider, not with Shopify's export, so whether they can move depends on the provider. The review says what is possible for your store before you commit, and if it is not possible, how to ask customers to sign up again.
Will the store go offline during the move?
No. We build the WooCommerce store next to your Shopify store, which keeps selling. Just before the switch we copy the last orders and customers across, then point the domain at the new store. Shopify stays as it is until you are happy, so there is a way back.
More reading: everything we do on WooCommerce, managed WooCommerce hosting, WooCommerce maintenance and all prices.
Thinking about leaving Shopify?
Get a free check by email in a few minutes, or book a call and we'll tell you honestly whether the move is worth it.
Get a free report on your store
Put in your store's address. In a few minutes we email you a short PDF: how fast the store opens on a phone, how old its software is, and anything that looks unsafe. Free, and no call needed.