---
title: "Store Setup Guides: Shopify, WooCommerce and Hosting"
description: "Choose between Shopify and WooCommerce, see what a store really costs each month and pick hosting that stays fast, with real prices and speed data."
url: "https://carthacker.com/category/setup/"
image: "https://carthacker.com/wp-content/themes/carthacker-core/assets/og/setup.jpg?v=1791719545"
publisher: "CartHacker (carthacker.com)"
language: "en"
---

Foundation

# Store Setup & Platforms

Platform picks, migrations and launch checklists that put your store on solid ground - from Shopify and WooCommerce fundamentals to server architecture built to scale.

## [How Much Shopify Really Costs Each Month](https://carthacker.com/setup/shopify-fees/)

September 8, 2026, by [Adrian Wadowski](https://carthacker.com/author/adrian/)

[![The Shopify logo next to a worked example for a store with 10,000 dollars in monthly sales and 200 orders: Basic plan paid yearly 29 dollars, card fees 350 dollars, apps extra, total before apps 379 dollars or 3.79% of sales, and a note that Grow pays for itself above 25,000 dollars in monthly sales](https://carthacker.com/wp-content/uploads/shopify-fees-cover.jpg)](https://carthacker.com/setup/shopify-fees/)

The Shopify plan is the small part of the bill. Card fees, the extra fee for other payment providers, currency conversion and apps decide what a store really pays, and a bigger plan only pays for itself at a sales level most new stores never reach.

[Store Setup & Platforms](https://carthacker.com/category/setup/)

## [WooCommerce Hosting: What Makes a Store Fast, and What to Pay For](https://carthacker.com/setup/woocommerce-hosting/)

September 1, 2026, by [Adrian Wadowski](https://carthacker.com/author/adrian/)

[![Bar chart of the share of sites on each host that gave phones a good server response in August 2026: WordPress.com 51.7%, WordPress VIP 50.0%, Pantheon 48.6%, Cloudways 31.8%, WP Engine 31.2%, Hostinger 30.4%, DreamHost 25.6%, WordPress overall 23.5%, SiteGround 21.6%, Bluehost 21.6%, Kinsta 21.3%, WooCommerce overall 12.7%, Flywheel 9.7%](https://carthacker.com/wp-content/uploads/woocommerce-hosting-server-response.png)](https://carthacker.com/setup/woocommerce-hosting/)

Only 12.7% of WooCommerce sites answer phones fast enough, and paying more does not fix it. What to look for, the four kinds of hosting in plain words, speed data for 29 hosts, and the setup I recommend.

[Store Setup & Platforms](https://carthacker.com/category/setup/)

## [Shopify or WooCommerce? Real Costs and Real Speed Numbers](https://carthacker.com/setup/shopify-vs-woocommerce/)

August 20, 2026, by [Adrian Wadowski](https://carthacker.com/author/adrian/)

[![Shopify and WooCommerce logos side by side: stores whose server answers in time on phones, 81.9% for Shopify and 12.7% for WooCommerce; stores passing all three speed scores, 76.5% and 39.5%; the same US card fee of 2.9% plus 30 cents; and who keeps the store running, Shopify or you](https://carthacker.com/wp-content/uploads/shopify-vs-woocommerce-cover.jpg)](https://carthacker.com/setup/shopify-vs-woocommerce/)

Shopify runs the store for you; WooCommerce gives you the whole store and the work that comes with it. Speed data from about a million real stores, the costs line by line, languages, taxes and payments, and a straight answer on which one fits you.

[Store Setup & Platforms](https://carthacker.com/category/setup/)

---

Source: [Store Setup Guides: Shopify, WooCommerce and Hosting](https://carthacker.com/category/setup/), CartHacker.

## Free tools from CartHacker

- [Store Speed Test](https://carthacker.com/store-speed-test/): Check your store's Core Web Vitals for free.
- [Core Web Vitals Monitoring](https://carthacker.com/core-web-vitals-monitoring/): Monitor your store's Core Web Vitals every day, for free.
- [Trust Seals & Badges](https://carthacker.com/trust-badges/): Add trust badges under your Add to cart button.
- [QR Code Generator](https://carthacker.com/qr-code-generator/): Make a QR code you can still change after printing.
- [PDF Tools](https://carthacker.com/pdf-tools/): 39 free PDF tools that run in your browser: merge, split, convert to and from Word, Excel and JPG, sign, redact and protect. No file is ever uploaded.
- [CartHacker Premium](https://carthacker.com/premium/): one subscription, monthly or yearly, that upgrades every tool at once:
  - 50 trust badges in 30 languages, switched automatically
  - 180 days of Core Web Vitals, per page
  - All 39 PDF tools, unlimited and never uploaded
  - 200 QR codes, tracked and editable after printing
  - No ads on any guide or tool
  - Every new guide 2 weeks before the public
  - Product Feed Manager and new tools included
- Every quota and price, tool by tool: https://carthacker.com/llms.txt