Quick answer: ShopWired is cheaper to start and has no transaction fees, but its plans are capped by annual turnover (£75k, £200k, £500k) and its app ecosystem is a fraction of Shopify's. Shopify costs from £25/month with no turnover cap, has the better checkout and the far larger ecosystem. Pick ShopWired if you are small, UK-only and want a phone number to ring. Pick Shopify if you plan to grow, sell internationally or need integrations.
The short version
ShopWired is a UK-built hosted platform pitched at small and medium British retailers. It competes on price, UK support and features that Shopify charges apps for — bulk invoice printing, trade pricing, quotes. Shopify is the global default: bigger ecosystem, better checkout, more developers, and pricing that scales with plan rather than turnover.
The honest summary is that ShopWired is a good platform for the stores it is designed for, and the question is whether yours will still be one of those stores in three years.
Pricing
| ShopWired | Shopify | |
|---|---|---|
| Entry plan | Pro — £34.95/month, 750 products, £75k/year turnover cap | Basic — £25/month, unlimited products, no cap |
| Mid plan | Advanced — £69.95/month, unlimited products, £200k cap | Shopify — £65/month |
| Top plan | Premium — £129.95/month, £500k cap | Advanced — £344/month |
| Transaction fees | None | None with Shopify Payments; 2% / 1% / 0.5% with a third-party gateway |
| Annual discount | 20% (1 year), 30% (2 years) | Around 25% paying yearly |
ShopWired's prices are from shopwired.co.uk and Shopify's from shopify.com/uk at the time of writing; check both before deciding. Two things to notice. First, ShopWired's turnover cap means you change plan as you grow, and a store passing £500k a year is on the top plan or off the platform. Second, Shopify's "transaction fee" only applies if you use a gateway other than Shopify Payments, which most UK stores do not — so for a typical store the two platforms cost roughly the same per month at the same stage, and Shopify gets relatively cheaper the bigger you get.
Where ShopWired is stronger
UK support with a phone number. ShopWired's support is UK-based and reachable by phone during business hours. Shopify's is 24/7 but it is chat and email first, and you are not talking to someone in Manchester.
Built-in features Shopify charges apps for. Bulk invoice printing, trade and wholesale pricing, quote requests, and click-and-collect are included on ShopWired. On Shopify most of those are apps, each with its own monthly fee.
No transaction fees, ever. If you have a strong reason to use a specific payment gateway, ShopWired does not penalise you for it.
Simpler. Fewer moving parts, fewer decisions. For an owner running the store alone, that is not a small thing.
Where Shopify is stronger
Checkout. Shop Pay is the highest-converting checkout in mainstream e-commerce, and Shopify's checkout is where most of the platform's engineering goes. It is the single biggest revenue lever between the two.
Ecosystem. Over 8,000 apps and a very deep pool of developers, agencies and freelancers. Whatever you need to connect — a 3PL, a marketplace, an ERP, Klaviyo — someone has already built it. ShopWired's app directory is small and integrations are often custom work or unavailable.
International selling. Shopify Markets handles currencies, duties, translated storefronts and market-specific pricing natively. ShopWired is built for selling in the UK.
No turnover cap. Your plan is a choice, not a consequence of your revenue.
Theme flexibility. Online Store 2.0 sections, Liquid, and a large theme market. ShopWired themes are editable but the ceiling is lower.
Comparison
| ShopWired | Shopify | |
|---|---|---|
| Entry price | £34.95/month | £25/month |
| Turnover cap | Yes (£75k / £200k / £500k) | No |
| Transaction fees | None | None with Shopify Payments |
| Product limit on entry plan | 750 | Unlimited |
| Checkout | Standard hosted checkout | Shop Pay, express wallets, one-page |
| App ecosystem | Small | 8,000+ |
| Trade / wholesale pricing | Built in | App, or Shopify Plus B2B |
| Bulk invoice printing | Built in | App |
| Multi-currency | Limited | Shopify Markets |
| Marketplace integrations | Limited | Amazon, eBay, Zalando via apps and connectors |
| Theme customisation | Editor, limited code | Full Liquid access |
| Support | UK phone and email, business hours | 24/7 chat and email |
| Developer availability | Low | Very high |
| Hosting and security | Included | Included |
| Best for | Small UK-only retailers wanting simplicity | Stores planning to grow, integrate or sell abroad |
Who should stay on ShopWired
You are comfortably under the turnover cap, you sell only in the UK, you use the built-in trade or invoicing features daily, and the support relationship matters to you. If that is you, ShopWired is doing its job and the migration cost is not worth it.
Who should move to Shopify
You are approaching a turnover cap. You want to sell into Europe or further. You need an integration ShopWired does not offer — a 3PL, a marketplace connector, an ERP. You are losing checkout conversion and cannot fix it. Or you want a platform where finding a developer is never the hard part.
How we handle migration
We migrate ShopWired stores the same way we migrate EKM and OpenCart stores: send us your store URL, we build the Shopify store — products, images, collections, pages, redirects, theme visually matched — and send you a link to review. Fixed £4,999, no deposit, pay when you have seen it. What the price includes.
Last updated: September 2026
Related: Shopify vs EKM · E-commerce platform comparison · Shopify migration cost · Migration services