Migrating to Shopify from WooCommerce: The Full Cost, Timeline, and What Actually Breaks

Last reviewed May 2026. A typical WooCommerce-to-Shopify migration costs $3,000–$15,000 with an agency, takes 4–8 weeks, and the three things that break most often are your URL structure (which tanks your SEO if you skip redirects), plugin-dependent functionality (subscriptions, bookings, custom fields), and any custom PHP logic you built into WooCommerce. This guide breaks down exactly what transfers, what does not, and what it costs at every store size.

I am not going to sugarcoat it. Migrations are stressful. But they are also one of the most predictable projects in ecommerce — the same things go wrong every time, which means you can plan for every single one of them. Let me walk you through it.

What Actually Transfers from WooCommerce to Shopify (and What Does Not)

The first question every merchant asks is: will I lose my data? The short answer is no — most of your core data transfers. But some things need rebuilding from scratch, and knowing which is which saves you from nasty surprises mid-project.

The Real Cost: Broken Down by Store Size

Migration cost depends on how complex your WooCommerce store is. A simple store with 200 products and a handful of plugins is a different job than a store with 5,000 SKUs, 15 plugins, and custom checkout logic. Here is what each level actually costs.

The 5 Things That Break Every Time

I have watched dozens of WooCommerce migrations, and these same five problems show up in nearly every single one. Plan for them and your migration goes smoothly. Ignore them and you will be firefighting for weeks after launch.

1. URL Redirects and SEO Rankings

Every URL changes when you move to Shopify. WordPress uses /product/blue-sneaker while Shopify uses /products/blue-sneaker. Your collections, blog posts, and pages all get new paths too. Without 301 redirects mapping every old URL to its new equivalent, Google sees your entire site as brand new. Expect a 20–40% organic traffic drop for 3–6 months if you skip this step.

2. Customer Passwords

WordPress hashes passwords differently than Shopify. There is no technical way to transfer them. Every customer will need to reset their password on first login. Plan a clear email campaign letting customers know before you switch, and set up Shopify's automatic password reset flow.

3. Plugin-Dependent Features

If your WooCommerce store relies on plugins for subscriptions, bookings, custom product fields, or advanced shipping rules, each one becomes a mini-project. You need to find a Shopify app that does the same thing, configure it, migrate any associated data, and test it. This is where most migration timelines expand.

4. Email Marketing Flows

Your Mailchimp or Klaviyo integration will need reconfiguring. Triggers, segments, and automation flows that reference WooCommerce data fields will break. Budget a full day to rebuild your email automations on the Shopify side.

5. Theme and Design

Your WooCommerce theme does not translate to Shopify. Period. You either pick a Shopify theme and customize it, or you build a custom theme from scratch. If you loved your current design, have your agency recreate it in Liquid — but do not expect a one-to-one copy. The platforms work differently.

DIY vs Hiring an Agency for WooCommerce Migration

Can you do this yourself? Honestly, it depends on your store. Here is the real comparison.

The verdict: DIY is viable for stores under 500 products with no custom functionality and no complex plugin dependencies. If you have integrations, custom features, or more than 500 products, at minimum get a consultation. The cost of a botched migration — lost SEO traffic, broken checkout, angry customers — is almost always higher than the agency fee.

Step-by-Step Migration Timeline

Here is what a well-run WooCommerce-to-Shopify migration looks like week by week. Adjust timelines based on your store complexity.

1. 1.Week 1 — Audit your WooCommerce store: catalog all products, active plugins, custom code, integrations, and your current SEO baseline (rankings, traffic, top pages).
2. 2.Week 2 — Set up Shopify: choose your plan, select a theme, install replacement apps for each WooCommerce plugin.
3. 3.Weeks 3–4 — Migrate data: products, customers, and order history via CSV or migration app. Configure apps and integrations.
4. 4.Weeks 5–6 — Rebuild custom functionality: recreate any custom features in Liquid or Shopify Functions. Set up all 301 redirects. Run full QA on every page type.
5. 5.Week 7 — Soft launch: password-protect the new store, test checkout end to end, test every integration, verify email flows.
6. 6.Week 8 — Go live: remove password, point your domain to Shopify, submit new sitemap to Google Search Console, monitor everything.

How to Protect Your SEO During Migration

SEO protection is not a nice-to-have. For most established WooCommerce stores, organic traffic is 30–50% of revenue. Losing it for months is losing real money. Here is the checklist.

1. 1.Export all WooCommerce URLs using Screaming Frog or your sitemap. Map every old URL to its Shopify equivalent.
2. 2.Set up 301 redirects for every URL — products, collections, blog posts, and pages. Use Shopify's built-in URL redirects or a bulk redirect app.
3. 3.Preserve title tags and meta descriptions by exporting them from WooCommerce and importing via CSV to Shopify.
4. 4.Submit your new XML sitemap to Google Search Console on launch day.
5. 5.Monitor organic traffic daily for 30 days. Check Search Console for crawl errors every 48 hours for the first two weeks.

Frequently Asked Questions

The Bottom Line

A WooCommerce-to-Shopify migration is not as scary as it sounds. The same things break every time, which means they are all preventable. Audit your plugins, map your redirects, plan for the password reset, and test your checkout thoroughly before going live.

If your store is small and simple, you can absolutely do this yourself with a migration app and a weekend of focused work. If you have custom features, integrations, or more than a few hundred products, bring in a specialist. The agency fee pays for itself in avoided headaches and protected SEO traffic.