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The real question: who carries what
Comparing platforms by feature list rarely settles anything - they all sell products. What changes is the cost structure, how much control you have, who keeps the store running, and how easily you meet the Colombian basics: charging in COP and invoicing through DIAN.
Shopify: hosted platform, monthly fee
Shopify is a hosted service: no servers or updates to think about, and you pay a monthly subscription. On its public pricing page, when we checked, plans were listed in dollars: Basic from USD 19 a month billed yearly (USD 25 month to month), Grow from USD 49 (USD 65), Advanced from USD 299 (USD 399) and Plus from USD 2,300 a month. Shopify may show different prices by country, so check from your own account.
If you take payments through a third-party provider instead of Shopify Payments, the same page lists an extra Shopify fee per transaction: 2% on Basic, 1% on Grow, 0.6% on Advanced and 0.2% on Plus. That sits on top of whatever your gateway charges.
For Wompi, Bold and DIAN invoicing, check the Shopify App Store for which integration exists, who publishes it and what it costs a month. Each app adds a cost and another provider.
WooCommerce: free, but not costless
WooCommerce is a free, open-source plugin for WordPress. The core costs nothing; paid extensions exist for things like subscriptions or bookings.
Free does not mean costless: you need WordPress hosting, and someone has to keep WordPress, the theme and the plugins updated and compatible with each other. For payments, Wompi publishes its own WooCommerce plugin in the WordPress directory. DIAN invoicing needs another plugin or integration.
The upside is full control and a huge ecosystem. The cost is maintenance: every plugin is one more piece that can break on an update.
A licensed engine: ours
The third route is a store on an engine an agency builds and maintains. In our case, the MyPixel commerce engine: it is ours and licensed to you, not sold, and we say that plainly.
- Payments through Stripe, Wompi and Bold, with refunds from the admin on Stripe and Wompi.
- DIAN e-invoicing through Alegra on every paid order.
- Variants with their own price and stock, coupons, timed discounts, subscriptions and back-in-stock alerts.
- Inventory with suppliers, purchase orders and in-person sales sharing the same stock.
- Welcome, abandoned-cart and win-back emails, reviews with photos, and a Google Merchant Center feed.
- Your own admin in English or Spanish, with team roles.
The three, side by side
A structural comparison, based on what each provider publishes. Gateway fees are left out, since they depend on your own contract with the gateway.
| Shopify | WooCommerce | MyPixel engine | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base cost | Monthly subscription per plan | Free plugin, plus hosting and extensions | Project from COP 7,900,000 plus monthly care from COP 90,000 |
| Wompi and Bold | Depends on available apps | Official Wompi plugin; Bold depends on plugin | Built into the engine |
| DIAN invoicing | Through a third-party app | Through a plugin or integration | Built in, via Alegra |
| Maintenance | Shopify does it; apps, each provider | Yours, or whoever you hire | Ours, as part of care |
| Control | Within what the platform allows | Full, with open-source code | High; the engine is ours and licensed |
| If you leave | Export your data; the design stays on Shopify | Take everything to another host | Keep the installed version free, or migration in 10 business days for COP 600,000 + VAT where applicable |
What to check with any option
- That you can charge in pesos with the gateway you use or want to use.
- That every paid order produces its DIAN e-invoice without manual work.
- What the platform, apps or plugins and maintenance add up to each month.
- Who answers when a payment fails on a Saturday night.
- Whether you can export your products, customers and orders.
When each one makes sense
If your case fits Shopify or WooCommerce better, we will tell you. We would rather do that than sell you something that does not fit.
- Shopify: you want to start fast on your own, would rather not depend on an agency, and the monthly and app costs work for you.
- WooCommerce: you already run WordPress, have someone you trust to maintain it, and need full control of the code.
- A licensed engine like ours: you want Wompi or Bold and DIAN handled from the start, one team responsible, and no plugins or apps to juggle.
All guides
Questions
Does Shopify charge a fee if I use Wompi or Bold?
Its pricing page lists a per-transaction fee when you use a third-party payment provider instead of Shopify Payments: from 2% on Basic down to 0.2% on Plus, when we checked. It comes on top of your gateway's own fees.
Is WooCommerce free?
The plugin is, and it is open source. But you need WordPress hosting, some extensions are paid, and someone has to keep everything updated.
Does your engine handle DIAN invoicing?
Yes. DIAN e-invoicing is built in through Alegra and runs on every paid order.
Do I own the engine's code?
No. The engine is ours and licensed to you. The domain is yours from day one, and once the project is paid the design, content and configuration are yours too. Your payment accounts always are.
Can I also sell outside Colombia?
Yes. On Stripe, Stripe Tax works out sales tax or VAT from where the buyer is, using the registrations you set in your own Stripe account. In Colombia, IVA goes through DIAN invoicing.
Sources
- Shopify - Pricing
- WooCommerce - home
- WordPress.org - WooCommerce plugin
- WordPress.org - plugin search: Wompi
Third-party prices and terms as shown on their official pages on 22 September 2026. They may change or vary by country; confirm them before deciding.
