Shopware vs Shopifycomes down to your rangeand your team

The basics

Shopware vs Shopify: how do the two platforms differ at heart?

Shopware vs Shopify pits a rented, fully managed system against open software you can run in three different ways. Shopify takes care of hosting, security and updates entirely. You look after your range, your design and your sales, and for anything extra you turn to the Shopify App Store or to developers who build apps and themes.

Shopware 6 is released under the MIT licence. Self-hosted, you manage server and application yourself. With Shopware PaaS Native, Shopware runs the infrastructure while you manage the application, and with Shopware SaaS both sit with Shopware. In the SaaS model, however, you can only customise the shop through apps, because plugins are not supported there.

That is the real trade-off. With Shopify you buy your way out of operational questions and accept the limits of the platform in return. With Shopware you get room to change things right down to the core, but depending on the model you choose, servers, updates and extensions become your responsibility.

Your range

Shopware or Shopify: which one suits your products and processes?

Whether Shopware or Shopify is the better fit becomes clear fastest when you write down your order process from product page to invoice. A manageable range with standard shipping, the usual payment providers and a warehouse that processes orders one after another is something Shopify handles well with its built-in tools and a few apps.

It looks different once your process has exceptions. Prices that depend on customer group, quantity and region at the same time. Products with lots of configuration options. An ERP that expects orders in a particular format. The more rules like these you have, the more often a SaaS platform leaves you asking whether an app can do it, or whether you will have to bend your process to fit the app.

Shopware can be adapted more deeply at exactly these points, and on a self-hosted shop that goes as far as checkout and the data model. That takes development and maintenance. We worked through how buying an extension compares with having one built in Shopware plugin: buy or build.

B2B

Shopware vs Shopify in B2B: which one serves business customers better?

On B2B, Shopware vs Shopify is a closer contest than it used to be: both platforms offer B2B features today, but the depth is very different. According to its pricing page, Shopify includes B2B catalogs on every plan: Basic, Grow and Advanced allow up to three, Plus allows an unlimited number. Company profiles, volume pricing and payment terms come on top. The three-catalog limit applies to the whole store, not per country or customer group. That covers simple dealer pricing, but not many separate price lists.

Shopware bundles its B2B features as B2B Components and includes them from the Evolve edition onwards; Rise does not have them. They cover employee management, quote handling, order approval, quick order and shopping lists, among other things.

If your business customers work with several buyers, budgets and approvals, that is a strong argument for Shopware. If you sell mostly to consumers and have a handful of dealers with their own prices, Shopify will do the job. More on this in Shopware B2B.

Costs

Shopware vs Shopify pricing: what do you pay once fees are included?

On cost, Shopware vs Shopify follow different logic, so the monthly price on its own tells you little. With Shopify you pay a plan plus fees per order: either the Shopify Payments card rates or, if you use another payment provider, an additional transaction fee to Shopify. With Shopware you pay either nothing for the software (Community Edition) or for an edition whose price, according to Shopware, depends on the revenue going through the shop. Hosting, development and maintenance come on top in both cases. With a self-hosted Shopware shop they are simply easier to see.

For Shopify's annual billing, the figures don't agree: on 5 October 2026 Shopify's pricing page shows 27 euros a month for Basic and 79 euros for Grow, while a comparison site dated April 2026 shows 25 and 66 euros. Both sources agree on the monthly billing prices, so those are the ones in the table. What counts is the pricing page on the day you sign up.

Since 24 March 2025 a fair usage policy applies to the free Community Edition: once a business turns over more than one million euros a year through the shop, it needs a paid edition to keep access to the Shopware Account and Store. You will find a closer look at Shopware's side in Shopware pricing and editions.

Data control

Shopware or Shopify: where does your data live, and who runs the shop?

With Shopware or Shopify, the data question splits clearly: with Shopify, operations and data sit on Shopify's platform. With a self-hosted Shopware shop they sit on a server you choose. For many merchants that is no big issue as long as the contract and data processing agreement are in order. For some it is, for example when a key account dictates where order data may be stored, or when your ERP runs in your own data centre and needs to talk to the shop directly.

Hosting it yourself also means that security updates, backups and traffic peaks are your job, or your service provider's. If you don't want that, you can have Shopware run as PaaS or SaaS by Shopware and give up some control in exchange. Shopify takes exactly this part off your hands completely, and for a small team that is a genuine advantage, not a compromise.

So ask yourself honestly who steps in at night when the shop goes down. If nobody comes to mind, that points to a hosted model, whether from Shopify or from Shopware.

Extensibility

Shopware vs Shopify customisation: how far can you go?

Customisation is where Shopware vs Shopify differ most. You extend Shopify with apps and design the storefront with themes written in Liquid, a template language Shopify created itself. The platform core stays out of reach. One limit that often surfaces too late in projects is checkout: according to Shopify's developer documentation, extensions for the information, shipping and payment steps are only available to stores on the Plus plan.

Shopware has plugins and apps. Plugins run inside the Shopware core and can change checkout, price calculation and the data model. Apps work from the outside through interfaces and also run in the Shopware Cloud. On a self-hosted shop the whole route is open to you; on SaaS you are limited to apps.

With either platform, think about the team. Before you decide, check whether you can find developers for the system who understand your sector and will still be around in two years. We build for Shopware ourselves, extensions for Shopware 6.6 and 6.7 as well as custom integrations; see Shopware development at Scalableloops. How to vet a service provider is covered in choosing a Shopware agency.

At a glance

This ecommerce platform comparison puts Shopware vs Shopify side by side

This ecommerce platform comparison sums up what the sections above have established. Read it as a list of questions to answer for your own shop, not as a scoreboard.

Alternative

When is Shopify the better Shopware alternative?

Shopify is the better Shopware alternative when your team is small, your process follows the standard and you want to launch quickly. You need no server, no updates and usually no developer to get started, and the store runs on built-in features, a theme and a few apps. For selling direct to consumers, that is often the more economical route.

Shopify also shines when you would rather spend your time on product and marketing than on technology. If your shop becomes more complex later, switching is possible, but it takes work. So plan from the start which data you would need to take with you.

To be candid: if you are happy on Shopify and none of the limits above bother you, you don't need Shopware. Moving only pays off when a specific requirement keeps working against the platform.

WooCommerce

Shopware vs WooCommerce: when does the third option make sense?

Shopware vs WooCommerce becomes the question if your company already runs on WordPress. WooCommerce is a free, open source extension for WordPress, so shop and content live in the same system, and as with self-hosted Shopware, servers and data stay with you.

The difference lies in focus. WooCommerce turns a website into a shop, whereas Shopware was built as an ecommerce platform from the ground up and brings B2B features in its paid editions. For content with a shop attached, WooCommerce is the obvious pick; for a shop whose processes keep growing, Shopware is usually the better one.

Your next step

How to prepare your Shopware or Shopify decision

1. 01Write down your processNote how an order runs from basket to invoice, and mark every point where a special rule applies.
2. 02Check against the limitsHold your special rules against the table: checkout, B2B, payment providers, data location. Any rule a platform only covers with Plus or a plan upgrade belongs in the calculation.
3. 03Calculate over several yearsPut plan, fees per order, hosting, development and maintenance side by side for three years, using your real revenue and your payment provider.
4. 04Get a second opinionTalk the result through with someone who knows both platforms, for example in a free Shopware consultation.