Convert from Shopify to WordPress

Thinking about making the switch to convert from Shopify to WordPress? You’re not alone. More store owners are walking away from rising platform fees, transaction fees, and Shopify’s locked-down platform in favor of the flexibility, ownership, and long-term SEO value WordPress delivers.

This guide breaks down why WordPress is the better long-term home for your store, what the Shopify to WordPress migration actually looks like, and how to make the move without losing your products, your customers, or your search rankings.

Why WordPress is the ideal Shopify alternative

Shopify is a closed platform built to keep you inside its ecosystem. Every theme, every Shopify app, every checkout flow tweak runs through Shopify’s rules and Shopify’s pricing. The longer your store grows, the more those constraints start to bite.

WordPress flips the model. As an open-source platform backed by a full WordPress development ecosystem, it gives you full ownership of your site, your data, and your roadmap. Pair WordPress with the WooCommerce plugin, and you get a WooCommerce store that rivals Shopify on every commerce feature, without the monthly Shopify subscription, the per-transaction fees, or the artificial limits on custom code and custom development.

A few things WordPress does better than Shopify, every time:

• Customization without ceilings – Thousands of free and paid themes, plus the freedom to build a fully custom WordPress theme from scratch
• Real SEO control – Editable WordPress URLs, meta descriptions, schema, and structured data that go far beyond what Shopify’s SEO settings allow
• No platform fees on top of payment processing – Keep more of every sale, especially as your revenue scales
• Native blogging and content marketing – Built into the WordPress dashboard from day one, no awkward workarounds
• Full data ownership – Your product data, customer records, orders, and Shopify data all live on infrastructure you control after migration

If you’re scaling past the basics of an online store and starting to feel boxed in, that’s the signal it’s time to leave Shopify.

WordPress vs. Shopify comparison

Here’s how the two platforms stack up at a glance, especially when you’re weighing whether to keep Shopify or move to a WooCommerce site:

Ready to make the switch? Talk to our migration team about your Shopify store, and we’ll map out exactly what your move to WordPress would look like.

How do you convert your website from Shopify to WordPress?

As your store grows, you start to feel where Shopify limits you. The good news: the path to convert from Shopify to WordPress is well-trodden, and the migration process has matured significantly in the last few years.

At a high level, a Shopify to WordPress migration follows these steps:

1. Audit your Shopify store – Inventory your products, customer accounts, orders, blog content, CMS pages, landing pages, discount codes, shipping methods, and any Shopify apps you depend on
2. Set up the new WordPress environment – Install WordPress, choose a new WordPress theme, install the WooCommerce plugin, and configure payment gateways, shipping methods, and inventory management
3. Export data from Shopify – Pull CSV files for product data, customers, and orders, plus access the Shopify API or Shopify API key for anything Shopify’s export tools don’t cover natively
4. Import data into WooCommerce – Use automated migration tools, the WooCommerce import wizard, or a professional migration service to bring everything over cleanly
5. Build a redirect map – Map every Shopify URL to its new WordPress equivalent so you preserve search rankings and don’t break inbound links
6. Test the checkout flow – Validate the full customer journey, from product page to checkout to confirmation email
7. Launch and monitor – Submit your new sitemap to Google Search Console, monitor for crawl errors, and watch traffic and conversion data closely in the first 30 days

The right approach depends on the size of your store, the complexity of your Shopify data, and how much custom code you’ve layered into your Shopify theme over the years.

Shopify to WordPress migration process

There are plenty of how-to guides online for the Shopify to WordPress migration process, and the basics aren’t impossible to DIY. Moving from Shopify to WooCommerce can be done with manual import/export plugins, the free version of automated tools like Cart2Cart, or a more complete professional migration handled by a WordPress development team.

What most guides skip: importing your Shopify products is the easy part. The hard part is everything around the data migration.

A complete Shopify to WordPress migration covers:

• Product data – Titles, descriptions, variants, product images, SKUs, inventory levels
• Customer records – Customer accounts, addresses, order history, login credentials
• Orders – Past order data, fulfillment status, refunds, order notes
• Blog content – Posts, categories, tags, authors, featured image assignments
• CMS pages and landing pages – About, contact, policy pages, and custom landing pages built in Shopify
• Discount codes – Active promotions and historical discount data
• SEO assets – Meta descriptions, schema markup, redirect map for every Shopify URL to its new WordPress equivalent
• Design – Rebuilding the Shopify design in a new WordPress theme, since themes don’t transfer directly

If your store is established with years of order history, hundreds of products, and real SEO equity, a DIY automated migration is rarely the right answer. The risk of broken URLs, lost product images, or missing customer accounts is too high.

You’ve completed your migration, what’s next?

Migration is the starting line. Once your Shopify store is fully imported into your new WooCommerce site, the real work begins:

• Verify everything imported correctly – Spot-check product pages, customer accounts, orders, and blog content
• Test the checkout flow end-to-end – Place real test orders to confirm payment gateways, shipping methods, and confirmation emails all fire correctly
• Confirm your redirect map is live – Every old Shopify URL should redirect cleanly to its new WordPress equivalent
• Submit your new sitemap to Google Search Console – Help search engines re-crawl your site under the new structure
• Watch your search rankings – Expect short-term volatility, but a well-executed migration with strong redirects preserves your SEO value
• Refresh the design – A new WordPress theme paired with WordPress design services gives you the chance to upgrade the experience, not just replicate the old Shopify site

This is also the moment to lock in managed hosting, security hardening, and ongoing WordPress maintenance so your new site stays fast, secure, and supported long-term.

Hire Freshy to manage your WordPress migration

WordPress gives you the tools to convert your site, but adjusting to a completely new platform while keeping your store running is a different challenge. Freshy handles the full Shopify to WordPress migration for you, so you can stay focused on selling instead of debugging CSV files and tracking down missing product images.

We’ve supported over 2,400 clients since 2011, and our team handles everything from the technical WordPress migration work to the design refresh that comes with it. A typical engagement covers:

• Full Shopify to WooCommerce migration – Products, customers, orders, blog content, CMS pages, and discount codes
• Custom WordPress theme design or theme selection – Built around your brand, not a generic Shopify template clone
• Complete redirect map – Every Shopify URL pointed to its new WordPress equivalent to preserve search rankings
• SEO setup – Meta descriptions, schema, sitemap submission, search engine optimization, and Google Search Console configuration
• Payment gateway and shipping method setup – Stripe, Authorize.net, PayPal, ShipStation, and whatever else your store needs
• Mobile-first responsive build – Optimized for every device and screen size
• Managed hosting, SSL, and security – Ready for traffic from day one
• Training and documentation – So your team can manage the WordPress dashboard with confidence

If you’re ready to leave Shopify behind and build on something you actually own, get in touch with our team to scope your migration.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does a Shopify to WordPress migration take?

A typical Shopify to WordPress migration takes 4 to 8 weeks from kickoff to launch. Smaller stores with limited Shopify products and a basic Shopify design can move faster, while larger established stores with custom code, complex shipping methods, or thousands of orders to import can run 8 to 12 weeks.

Will I lose my SEO value when I migrate from Shopify to WordPress?

Not if the migration is done right. Building a complete redirect map from every Shopify URL to its new WordPress URL is the single most important step for protecting search rankings. Done properly, most stores see search rankings stabilize within 4 to 8 weeks and often improve thanks to WordPress’s stronger SEO controls.

Can I keep my Shopify store running during the migration?

Yes. Most professional migrations stage the new WordPress site in a separate environment, so your existing Shopify store keeps taking orders while the WooCommerce site is built and tested. The final cutover happens in a single planned window to minimize downtime.

What happens to my Shopify apps after migration?

Most Shopify apps have WooCommerce equivalents, either as native WooCommerce extensions or as third-party plugins. During the migration audit, we map every Shopify app you depend on to its WooCommerce equivalent so nothing critical breaks at launch. Subscription tools, for example, move cleanly to WooCommerce Subscriptions.

Can I import my Shopify products, customers, and orders into WooCommerce?

Yes. Product data, customer accounts, order history, blog content, and CMS pages can all be imported into your WooCommerce store. Some data comes across through CSV files exported from Shopify, while more complex data is pulled directly through the Shopify API using your Shopify API key.

Do I need to know how to code to manage my new WordPress site?

No. WordPress is designed so non-technical store owners can manage day-to-day operations from the WordPress dashboard. Adding products, editing pages, publishing blog content, and processing orders all happen through a clean interface. For bigger changes or custom features, our team handles the development side so you don’t have to.

Will my checkout flow work the same on WordPress?

The WooCommerce checkout flow is fully configurable and can mirror or improve on your existing Shopify checkout. You’ll have full control over payment gateways, shipping methods, tax settings, and the customer journey, plus the ability to customize the checkout in ways Shopify simply doesn’t allow.

How much does a Shopify to WordPress migration cost?

Migration cost depends on store size, the complexity of your Shopify data, design requirements, and integrations. A simple store with a few dozen products costs significantly less than a large established store with thousands of products, custom code, and complex inventory management. We’ll give you a fixed-scope, fixed-price quote after the discovery call.

Can I use automated migration tools instead of hiring an agency?

You can, especially for smaller stores. Automated tools like Cart2Cart, LitExtension, and the WooCommerce import wizard offer a free version and paid tiers that handle the basics. The trade-off: automated tools rarely handle redirect maps, SEO value preservation, design rebuilds, or the edge cases that show up in established stores. For most serious stores, professional migration pays for itself in protected revenue.

What if my Shopify store has custom features or custom code?

Custom features and custom code from your Shopify theme don’t transfer directly, but they can be rebuilt in WordPress. During the migration audit, our team documents every custom feature in your current Shopify site and rebuilds the WordPress equivalent, often with more flexibility and lower long-term maintenance costs.

Ready to convert from Shopify to WordPress?

Leaving Shopify behind is one of the biggest moves a growing store can make, and getting the migration right is the difference between protecting your revenue and losing months of momentum.

We’ve helped store owners across the country complete the Shopify to WordPress migration without losing search rankings, customer accounts, or sales. If you’re ready to own your site, cut platform fees and transaction fees, and build on a platform that scales with you, we’d love to help.