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It's a split decision.
Choose PrestaShop if you want a hosted option or a free source-code install; its hosted plan is €24/month billed annually, excluding VAT, or €29/month monthly. Choose WooCommerce if you want a free WordPress commerce core and control over hosting, checkout, and payments. WooCommerce lists hosting at $25–$350/month for most stores, plus extensions at $29–$299/year each. Neither publishes seat limits. PrestaShop offers a hosted option; WooCommerce suits stores where hosting choice matters more.
01Side by side
| PrestaShop | WooCommerce | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | Free Classic; Hosted €24/month annually, excluding VAT | Free core; hosting $25–$350/month for most stores |
| Free plan | Classic source-code download is free | Open-source core platform is free |
| Best for | Stores wanting hosted service or installable source code | WordPress stores prioritizing hosting and checkout control |
| Core strength | Hosted option, modules, themes, payments, and marketing tools | Open-source control over hosting, checkout, payments, and customization |
| Learning curve | Not published on the vendor's site | Not published on the vendor's site |
| Integrations/data | Marketplace modules; Google, Meta, and Klaviyo marketing tools | Extensions and themes; channel-sync example in case study |
| Team/seat costs | Seat limits not published | Seat limits not published |
| Support | Support plans, experts, migration help, and learning resources | Support details not specified on the vendor's site |
PrestaShop Choose PrestaShop if
- Choose PrestaShop if you want a hosted store option.
- Choose PrestaShop if you want a free source-code download.
- Choose PrestaShop if you want listed support and migration services.
WooCommerce Choose WooCommerce if
- Choose WooCommerce if you want a free WordPress commerce core.
- Choose WooCommerce if you want to choose your host.
- Choose WooCommerce if checkout and store customization matter.
02Pricing compared
PrestaShop Classic is free to download and install, but the pricing page does not publish seat or usage limits. PrestaShop Hosted costs €29/month, or €24/month billed annually, excluding VAT. It includes 50 GB of storage and a 14-day free trial. Enterprise pricing is custom. Marketplace modules and themes can be free or paid, with prices varying.
WooCommerce’s core platform is free, with unlimited products, orders and APIs, and no platform fees or revenue share. WooCommerce lists hosting at $25–$350/month for most stores and extensions at $29–$299/year each. WooPayments processing is approximately 2.50%–2.90% plus $0.30 per transaction. These costs use different currencies and billing periods, so compare your expected hosting, extensions and payment costs—not just the free core. Neither publishes seat limits.
03Features and depth
Both platforms let you customize a store, but they start from different places. PrestaShop offers a free source-code download for a store you install yourself, or a hosted option that handles technical aspects. Its Marketplace lists themes and modules, and its homepage names payment options including PrestaShop Checkout, Stripe, Alma and Klarna. It also promotes Google channel marketing, Facebook and Instagram catalog syncing, and Klaviyo automation.
WooCommerce is an open-source commerce platform for WordPress. Its free core includes unlimited products, orders, APIs and product variants, with 0% revenue share and no platform fees. Store owners choose their host and payment options, and can adapt the store with extensions and themes. WooCommerce also supports checkout customization and online or offline sales. A Dan-O’s case study describes syncing sales across its site, TikTok, marketplaces and retailers; that example shows a possible use case, not a guarantee of built-in channel syncing. PrestaShop’s homepage also lists migration and support services.
04Ease of use and learning curve
PrestaShop Hosted is the more managed starting point: the pricing page lists pre-installed core modules, and the product page says technical aspects are handled for you. PrestaShop Classic is free, but requires installing the source code from scratch. That gives you a choice between a hosted setup and more direct setup work.
WooCommerce gives you control over hosting, but you need to choose a host and may add extensions to shape the store. Neither product’s published pricing information publishes seat limits. The review scores rate ease of use at 5 for PrestaShop and 5.5 for WooCommerce, so neither is presented as especially effortless. If minimizing setup decisions matters, PrestaShop Hosted may fit; if choosing your own hosting matters more, WooCommerce may suit better.
Questions people ask
Which is cheaper, PrestaShop or WooCommerce?
Both have a free option: PrestaShop Classic is free to download, and WooCommerce’s core platform has no monthly subscription. PrestaShop Hosted costs €24/month with annual billing or €29/month monthly, excluding VAT. WooCommerce lists hosting at $25–$350/month for most stores, plus paid extensions and transaction processing.
Does PrestaShop include hosting?
PrestaShop offers a hosted plan for €29/month, or €24/month billed annually, excluding VAT. It includes 50 GB of storage, pre-installed core modules and a 14-day free trial. The separate Classic option is a free source-code download to install from scratch; the published pricing details do not list hosting as included with Classic.
Can I use WooCommerce without paid extensions?
Yes. WooCommerce’s core platform is free and lists unlimited products, orders, APIs and product variants, with no platform fees or revenue share. Extensions are optional, but the pricing information lists them at $29–$299 per year each. Hosting is a separate cost, listed at $25–$350 per month for most stores.
Which platform gives you more control over hosting?
WooCommerce lets you choose the host that fits your needs. PrestaShop offers a free source-code install as well as a hosted option, where technical aspects are handled for you. Choose WooCommerce if selecting your host is central; choose PrestaShop Hosted if you prefer a managed option.