“Which platform should we use?” is usually the first question a client asks and the one they’re least equipped to answer. It matters more than it looks: the platform decides what the site costs to run, who can edit it, how fast it is, and how painful it will be to change in three years.
I build on all of these, so I have no reason to push one. Here is how I’d explain the choice across a table.
The short answer
- Mostly selling products online? Shopify, or WooCommerce if you want to own the platform.
- A business or service site that your team will update regularly? WordPress, built with very few plugins.
- A workflow no off-the-shelf product fits — quotations, portals, bookings with odd rules, internal tools? Custom PHP and MySQL.
- A site that changes a few times a year and must be as fast and secure as possible? Static HTML.
Side by side
| WordPress | Shopify | Custom PHP | Static HTML | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Build cost | Low–medium | Low–medium | Medium–high | Low |
| Running cost | Hosting + any paid plugins | Monthly plan + app and transaction fees | Hosting only | Cheapest hosting works |
| Editing by your team | Easy | Easy | Only what the admin panel was built for | Needs a developer |
| Flexibility | High, via plugins | Within Shopify’s rules | Anything | Anything visual, no logic |
| Upkeep | Regular core and plugin updates | Handled by Shopify | Occasional PHP version updates | Almost none |
| Speed | Good if lean, slow if bloated | Good | Very good | Excellent |
| You own the platform | Yes | No — you rent it | Yes | Yes |
When WordPress is the right call
WordPress is the sensible default for a business or service website with a blog, news or regularly changing pages. Staff can learn it in an afternoon, it handles SEO well, and almost any developer can pick it up later.
Its weakness is what people pile on top of it. A site with forty plugins and a heavyweight page builder is slow, breaks on updates and becomes a security liability. Built lean — a light theme, a handful of well-maintained plugins, regular updates — it is excellent. That is how I approach WordPress website design.
When Shopify is the right call
If the website’s main job is selling products, Shopify removes a lot of work: hosting, security, checkout, payments and updates are all somebody else’s problem. It is quick to launch and easy for a shop team to run day to day.
The costs are ongoing rather than up front — a monthly plan, usually some paid apps, and transaction fees depending on your payment setup — and you are renting the platform, so you work within its rules. For many shops that is a good trade. For a catalogue-and-enquiry business (trade suppliers who quote rather than sell at a fixed price) it is often the wrong tool. See e-commerce solutions for the options in between, including WooCommerce.
When custom PHP and MySQL make sense
Custom development earns its cost when the website is the process: a trade supplier whose buyers build an enquiry list across thousands of items, a clinic with booking rules no plugin handles, a portal where customers log in to see their own documents, an admin panel that replaces a spreadsheet.
You get exactly the features you need and nothing else, which makes it fast and hard to attack. The trade-off is a higher build cost and dependence on a developer for new features — so the code should be clean and documented enough that another developer could take over. More on that under custom PHP & MySQL development.
And plain static HTML?
Static sites have made a quiet comeback, and this one is built that way. There is no database to hack and nothing to update, pages load almost instantly and hosting is cheap. It suits brochure and portfolio sites whose content changes a few times a year. It does not suit a team that wants to publish news every week without calling a developer.
Five questions that decide it
- Is the main goal selling products at fixed prices online?
- Who will update the site, and how often?
- Does it need to fit a process no off-the-shelf product handles?
- What can you comfortably spend each month to keep it running, not just to build it?
- If you change developer in three years, how easily can someone else take over?
Answer those honestly and the platform usually chooses itself. If two options still look equal, pick the simpler one — it will be cheaper to run and easier to hand over.
Frequently asked questions
Is WordPress or Shopify better for a small business?
For a service business that mainly needs enquiries, WordPress is usually the better fit. If the main job of the site is selling products online, Shopify is quicker to launch and easier to run.
Is custom PHP development worth the extra cost?
When your process doesn’t fit an off-the-shelf product — quotations, portals, complex bookings — yes. For a standard business website, usually not.
Is a static HTML website good for SEO?
Yes. Static pages are very fast and easy for search engines to crawl. The limit is editing: content changes need a developer.
