Shopify, WooCommerce, PrestaShop, Magento or headless? Answer 7 questions about your business - catalog size, budget, technical skills, target markets - and we'll show you which platform best fits your needs.
Choosing an e-commerce platform is one of the most important technical decisions when opening or developing an online store. A bad decision means migration in 2-3 years - expensive, risky and absorbing. A good decision is a platform that grows with your business for 5-10 years.
In Switzerland you have a choice of SaaS platforms (such as Shopify), open-source platforms (WooCommerce, PrestaShop) and headless commerce solutions for demanding projects. Each has its strengths - and limitations, which providers rarely talk about directly. In Switzerland, check support for TWINT, Swiss Post shipping and CHF pricing with Swiss VAT.
Platform | Pricing model | Market fit | Max scalability | Technical requirements | Best for |
Shoper | Monthly subscription | Poland only | Average | Zero | Stores selling only in Poland |
IdoSell | Sales commission | Mainly Poland | High | Zero | Polish stores with high traffic and a large catalog |
WooCommerce | Free + hosting | Any market, via plugins | Average | Medium | Bloggers, small stores with WordPress |
Shopify | From CHF 39/month | Built for cross-border selling | High | Zero | Sales to foreign markets |
PrestaShop | Free + hosting | Any market, via modules | Average | High | Stores in need of customization |
Magento (Adobe Commerce) | From $22k/year | Any market, via extensions | Top | Very high | Large retail chains, enterprise |
Headless commerce | Individual pricing | Any market - integrations built to order | Unlimited | High (team dev) | Unique UX, omnichannel, B2B+B2C |
-How many products? Up to 500 products - any SaaS platform will do. 500-5,000 - look for efficient filtering and attributes. 5,000+ - check API limits and indexing performance.
-What is the starting budget? A small budget - a SaaS platform or WooCommerce. A mid-size budget - PrestaShop or WooCommerce with customization. A large budget - headless commerce or Magento. For reference, our calculator starts a WooCommerce store at CHF 7,500 and a headless store at CHF 37,500.
-Do you sell on marketplaces? Check for native integrations with the marketplaces you use; otherwise you need a multichannel connector.
-Which payment methods do your customers expect? In Switzerland, TWINT is expected alongside cards. Check that your platform's payment provider supports it.
-Are you planning to sell overseas? Shopify has the best support for multistore and currencies. Open-source platforms can do it via plugins, with more setup.
Shoper is a Polish SaaS e-commerce platform. Its native integrations with Polish payment methods, carriers and the Allegro marketplace make it relevant only if you sell into Poland. For Switzerland, look for a platform with native support for TWINT, Swiss Post and CHF.
IdoSell (formerly IAI-Shop) is a Polish SaaS platform positioned higher than Shoper in terms of scalability. It works well for stores with 10,000+ SKUs, high traffic and the need for advanced pricing rules, loyalty programs and B2B integration. Like Shoper, it is built around the Polish market - it makes sense if Poland is where you sell.
If you already have a site on WordPress and sell up to a few hundred products, WooCommerce is a natural extension. Keep in mind hosting costs (VPS minimum), regular plugin updates and potential performance issues with a large catalog.
Shopify works especially well for cross-border sales. If you sell across several countries, the Shopify ecosystem (Shopify Payments, integrations with Meta/Google Ads, Shopify Markets) gives you an advantage. If you sell in a single market with strong local habits, compare it with platforms that have native local integrations.
Your store requires a unique shopping experience that goes beyond the capabilities of off-the-shelf platforms. Headless commerce - e.g. Next.js + Payload CMS or Next.js + Medusa.js - gives you full design freedom, maximum performance and the ability to handle B2B and B2C from a single backend. In our calculator, a headless store starts from CHF 37,500.
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For Switzerland, the platform must handle TWINT, Swiss Post shipping and CHF pricing with Swiss VAT - natively or through a proven integration. Shopify fits cross-border sales or when an ecosystem of English-language integrations is a priority. Compare native local integrations before you compare prices.
In our calculator, a store on a SaaS platform starts from CHF 2,500, on WooCommerce from CHF 7,500, on Shopify from CHF 9,000 and a headless store from CHF 37,500 - before design, integrations and content are added. Monthly platform and maintenance costs come on top.
WooCommerce is simpler to use and has a huge ecosystem of plugins. PrestaShop gives you more control over store logic and works well with more complex product configurations. Both require their own hosting and active technical maintenance, which is their main disadvantage compared to SaaS.
Yes - most platforms connect to Amazon, eBay and regional marketplaces, natively or through plugins. If you sell on several channels at once, a multichannel integration hub syncs offers, stock and orders for any platform.
Use a payment provider that supports TWINT alongside cards - Stripe does, as do Swiss payment service providers. On SaaS platforms you connect the provider in the settings; in WooCommerce you install its plugin.
Migration is justified when: the platform does not support your catalog without performance issues, key integrations (marketplaces, B2B) are missing, subscription + commission costs exceed cost-effectiveness, or you plan to expand overseas. Store migration is a 2-6 month project - include the cost of URL redirection, data migration and SEO testing.
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