WooCommerce is free. That is true, and it is the reason a lot of people choose it.
It is also only true about the plugin itself. The shop around it is not free, and the part people underestimate is not money at all. It is time.
Here is an honest look at both.
What WooCommerce Actually Is
WooCommerce is a free add-on for WordPress. WordPress is free too. But neither of them is a shop on its own.
To have a working store you need:
A domain name. Your web address, paid yearly.
Web hosting. A company that keeps your site online, paid monthly. A shop needs better hosting than a simple blog, because a slow shop loses sales.
An SSL certificate. So customers see the padlock and trust your checkout. Often included with hosting, sometimes not.
Extra plugins. For delivery rules, better checkout, backups, speed and security. Some are free, many of the good ones are paid.
Someone to look after it. Updates, backups, broken plugins, security. This is either your time or someone you pay.
What It Costs in Cedis
The plugin is GHS 0. The rest is not.
| Item | Rough monthly cost |
|---|---|
| Hosting good enough for a shop | GHS 60 to GHS 175 |
| Domain name | about GHS 12 |
| Paid plugins, if you need them | varies |
| Your time, or a developer | the real cost |
So a basic WooCommerce shop usually lands somewhere around GHS 70 to GHS 190 a month before you have paid for a single plugin or an hour of anyone's help.
Strawlo Business is GHS 60 a month, with hosting, security, updates and the shop itself all included. Business+ is GHS 150.
The free option is often the more expensive one once you add it all up.
The Cost That Is Not Money
This is the honest part, and it matters more than the hosting bill.
With WooCommerce, you are the one responsible when something breaks. If a plugin update takes your checkout down on a Saturday, that is your problem to fix. If your site gets slow, you work out why. If it gets hacked, you clean it up and restore the backup you hopefully made.
None of that is impossible. Plenty of people manage it. But it is work, and it happens at the worst moments.
With Strawlo, that work is not yours. You add products and handle orders. Updates, security and uptime are handled for you.
Ask yourself honestly how you want to spend your hours. Fixing a plugin conflict, or finding customers.
Where WooCommerce Is Genuinely Better
This is a real strength and it should be said clearly.
You own everything. Your site, your data, your files. Nobody can change the rules on you.
You can build anything. With the right skills or the right developer, WooCommerce can be shaped into almost any kind of shop. No limits set by someone else's plan.
Mobile money is possible. Paystack has a plugin for WooCommerce, so a Ghanaian shop can take MoMo and card payments. This is a real advantage over platforms where local payments are simply not available.
No product limits. List as many items as you like.
One-off costs instead of monthly ones, if you buy a plugin outright rather than renting a plan.
If you already run WordPress, or you have a developer, or you enjoy this kind of work, WooCommerce is a solid choice.
Where Strawlo Is Better for Most Sellers
It works on day one. No hosting to choose, no plugins to compare, no setup weekend.
Nothing to maintain. No updates, no backups, no security worries.
It runs from your phone. The full shop, not a cut-down app. Most Ghanaian sellers run their business from a phone, and WooCommerce is difficult to manage that way.
Mobile money and payment on delivery work immediately. No plugin to install and configure.
WhatsApp broadcast is built in. Message everyone who has ever bought from you, from your own number. See our WhatsApp broadcast post.
One predictable bill. GHS 60, in cedis, covering everything.
Someone to ask. When something goes wrong, there is support who knows Ghana, rather than a forum thread from 2019.
About the Payment Fee
Strawlo takes 0% of your sales on every plan. You pay the monthly fee and nothing else.
Paystack is the payment processor. It is the company that moves the money from your customer's mobile money wallet or card into your bank account. Its 1.95% is what that service costs. It is not a Strawlo commission.
If you use WooCommerce with Paystack, you pay that same processing fee. The difference is everything around it.
Which Should You Choose?
Choose WooCommerce if you already know WordPress, you have a developer, you need something unusual that no platform offers, or owning every part of your setup matters to you more than convenience.
Choose Strawlo if you want to sell rather than manage a website, you run your business from your phone, and you would rather have one predictable bill than five different ones plus a maintenance job.
Most sellers in Ghana are in the second group. WooCommerce is powerful, and power you do not use is just work you did not need to do.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is WooCommerce really free?
The plugin is free. A working shop is not. You still pay for hosting, a domain and often plugins, and you either spend your own time maintaining it or pay somebody to.
Can I take mobile money on WooCommerce in Ghana?
Yes. Paystack has a plugin for WooCommerce, so MoMo and card payments are possible. You install and configure it yourself.
Which is cheaper?
Once hosting and a domain are counted, WooCommerce usually costs more per month than Strawlo Business at GHS 60, and that is before your time is valued at anything.
What happens if my WooCommerce site breaks?
You fix it, or you pay someone. There is no support line. This is the main trade-off for the flexibility you get.
Can I move from WooCommerce to Strawlo?
Yes. Most sellers export their product list and add it over a weekend. Business+ also includes Shopify import if you are coming from there instead.
Do I need technical skills for Strawlo?
No. If you can use WhatsApp and take photos with your phone, you can run a Strawlo shop.
Count the Whole Bill
Add up hosting, your domain, any plugins, and a fair value for the hours you would spend keeping it working.
Compare that with GHS 60 a month.
If the numbers are close and you do not enjoy the maintenance, the choice is easier than it looks. Try Strawlo free for 7 days.
Hosting costs vary widely by provider and plan, so the figures above are rough ranges rather than fixed prices. Converted at about GHS 11.56 to the US dollar, September 2026.
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