How to choose between WordPress, Shopify and TiendaNube for your business
Three different e-commerce platforms, three different use cases. An honest guide to choosing without marrying a brand.
We get this question every week. The short answer is: it depends. But "it depends" isn't useful, so we put together an honest guide to decide without esoterics.
One principle before we start
The platform is an operational decision, not a marketing one. You pick the one that best fits how your team will work every day. Design, speed, SEO — all of that can be fixed with a good developer on any platform. What isn't easy to fix is fighting the underlying workflow.
TiendaNube — if you're in Argentina, start here
When to pick it:
- You sell in Argentina or Latam countries where it already operates
- It's your first store or you're validating product
- You don't have a go-to developer
- You want MercadoPago, Andreani and OCA with zero configuration
- Your catalog is small-to-medium (up to ~500 SKUs)
Where it hurts:
- Themes are limited. Strong visual customization = hard.
- Checkout can't be heavily modified.
- Beyond ~1,000 orders/month you start fighting performance.
Price: from ~USD 30/month. No sales commission (important).
Shopify — if you sell abroad or want to scale
When to pick it:
- Your main market is outside Argentina
- You sell in multiple currencies
- You need unusual integrations (subscriptions, digital goods, bundles)
- You have (or will have) a marketing team running Meta Ads / Google Ads with serious tracking
- You want a massive app ecosystem
Where it hurts:
- You pay the Shopify tax: app + app + app = USD 300/month easily.
- MercadoPago has an integration but it's less fluid than on TiendaNube.
- Custom checkout only on Shopify Plus (USD 2,000+/month).
Price: from USD 29/month + apps + Shopify Payments fees (or alternative).
WordPress + WooCommerce — ceilingless flexibility
When to pick it:
- You want total control. Every detail of the checkout, cart, emails.
- Your business has odd rules (wholesale orders, customer-specific prices, configurable products, downloads)
- You already have a WordPress site and want to add a store without switching platforms
- You need to integrate with a legacy system that has its own API
- You'd rather pay once (hosting + development) and skip monthly commission
Where it hurts:
- It's not plug-and-play. You need decent hosting and someone to maintain it.
- It's yours — for better and worse. If it breaks, it's your problem.
- Without care, it slows down fast. With care, it flies.
Price: hosting + initial development. Monthly maintenance from USD 80.
The option almost no one mentions: headless
If your case is "I want WooCommerce's admin but a modern frontend", there's a fourth path: headless WooCommerce with Next.js. The team uploads products as always (in WordPress), but visitors see a site 5-10× faster, with better SEO and better mobile UX.
That's what we did for Italmarket. It takes a bit longer to set up, but if your store has volume, it pays itself back in SEO and conversion.
The short table
| Case | Pick |
|---|---|
| First Argentine store, few products | TiendaNube |
| Selling in Latam, growing fast | TiendaNube or Shopify |
| Selling to US/Europe | Shopify |
| You need absolute control | WooCommerce |
| You already have WP and want to add a store | WooCommerce |
| High volume, need speed | Headless WooCommerce |
| Digital products / subscriptions | Shopify |
| Very large catalog (>2,000 SKUs) | WooCommerce |
The most important thing
The platform isn't going to make you sell. You'll still have to work hard. The difference is made by who's with you the first 6 months: who helps you configure it well, integrate it with your accounting, optimize it when it breaks.
If you don't know which one to pick for your case, book a 30-minute chat with us. You'll leave with a concrete recommendation, free.
