Hosted vs. Self-Hosted — Two Ways to Set Up an Online Store
When choosing a platform for your online store, you face a fundamental decision: Do you want a hosted solution where everything is included and maintained for you? Or do you want to handle hosting, updates, security, and technical operations yourself?
Shoporama is a Danish hosted e-commerce platform. This means that hosting, security, updates, and support are included in the subscription. You log in, build your store, and can focus on selling.
WooCommerce is an open-source plugin for WordPress. It’s free to download, but you’re responsible for hosting, security, updates, and the plugins that make your store functional. WooCommerce has a large market share—typically around 60% in Denmark—and this is due in no small part to the fact that many people already have a WordPress website and want to add a store to it.
Both platforms can be used to run a successful online store. However, they place very different demands on you as a store owner. This guide outlines the key differences so you can make an informed choice.
Comparison: Shoporama vs. WooCommerce
| Shoporama PRO | WooCommerce (typically) | |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly price | 1,400 DKK/month (excl. tax) | 0 DKK (free plugin), but hosting + plugins typically 500–2,500 DKK/month |
| Transaction fee | 0% | 0% (but the payment gateway charges a fee) |
| Hosting | Included | Self-hosted (typically 50–500 DKK/month) |
| Security updates | Automatic | Manual (WordPress + plugins) |
| Backup | Automatic | Self-hosted or plugin |
| Speed | 250 ms on the fastest pages | Depends on hosting and optimization |
| Uptime | 99.9% | Depends on hosting |
| Payment | MobilePay, Stripe, QuickPay, ePay, PayPal, Klarna, ViaBill | Via plugins |
| Shipping | PostNord, GLS, DAO, Bring, Shipmondo | Via plugins |
| Accounting | e-conomic, Dinero, Billy | Via plugins |
| Newsletter | Add-on (1 DKK/100 emails) | Plugin (Mailchimp, Brevo, etc.) |
| Cookie consent | Included | Plugin (typically paid for GDPR compliance) |
| POS / Cash register | Included | Plugin (typically paid) |
| AI assistant | Included | Plugin (usually paid) |
| Server-side tracking | Add-on (89 DKK/month) | Plugin or custom setup |
| Loyalty program | Included | Plugin (typically paid) |
| Page builder | Included | Elementor or similar (usually paid) |
| Support | Danish support included | Community-based |
| Technical knowledge required | Minimal | Moderate to high |
| Migration | Migration from WooCommerce (we’ll help) | — |
Total Cost of Ownership — What Does It Really Cost?
WooCommerce is free to download. But “free” can be expensive when you add up all the costs. Let’s look at a realistic cost estimate for a typical Danish online store:
Shoporama PRO — fixed monthly price
| Item | Price per month |
|---|---|
| Shoporama PRO subscription | 1,400 DKK |
| Hosting, SSL, security, backup | 0 DKK (included) |
| POS, cookie consent, AI, etc. | 0 DKK (included) |
| Newsletter + server-side tracking | ~100 DKK/month (add-on) |
| All integrations | 0 DKK (included) |
| Total | 1,400 DKK/month |
WooCommerce — typical monthly cost
| Post | Typical price per month |
|---|---|
| WooCommerce (plugin) | 0 kr |
| Hosting (managed WordPress) | 150–500 kr |
| Payment plugin (Danish gateway) | 0–100 DKK |
| Shipping plugin | 50–200 DKK |
| Cookie consent plugin (GDPR) | 50–150 DKK |
| Newsletter plugin | 0–500 DKK |
| Security plugin | 50–200 DKK |
| Backup plugin | 0–100 DKK |
| SEO plugin (Yoast Premium) | 80–150 DKK |
| Page builder (Elementor Pro) | 50–150 DKK |
| Various additional plugins | 100–500 DKK |
| Total | 530–2,550 DKK/month |
On top of that, there’s the time you spend maintaining the system. If you pay a developer to keep your WooCommerce store running, it can typically cost an additional 500–2,000 kr per month.
Bottom line: WooCommerce can cost the same as—or more than—Shoporama when all expenses are factored in. The difference is that with Shoporama, you know the exact price from day one.
Technical Maintenance—Time Spent on Operations vs. Sales
This is where the biggest difference between the two platforms lies, and it’s where many WooCommerce users underestimate the effort involved.
With WooCommerce, you’re responsible for:
- WordPress updates — WordPress releases updates regularly, and they must be installed promptly, especially security updates.
- Plugin updates — A typical WooCommerce store uses 15–30 plugins. Each plugin must be updated, and an update may conflict with other plugins or your theme.
- Theme updates — The theme must be kept up to date and compatible with the latest version of WordPress and WooCommerce.
- PHP updates — Your hosting runs on PHP, and new versions may require changes to plugins.
- Troubleshooting — When something goes wrong after an update, you’ll have to find the error yourself.
- Performance optimization — Caching, image compression, database cleanup.
Typically, a WooCommerce store owner spends 2–5 hours a month on technical maintenance. With Shoporama, you spend zero hours. The platform updates automatically, and all features are tested and compatible. You can use the time you save on marketing, product development, and customer service.
Security and GDPR
WordPress is the world’s most popular CMS—and therefore also the most frequently targeted. According to several security reports, WordPress sites account for the majority of all hacked websites online. This isn’t because WordPress itself is insecure, but because the combination of widespread use, third-party plugins, and users who don’t update in a timely manner creates a large attack surface.
With WooCommerce, you are responsible for:
- Security updates —for WordPress core, plugins, and themes.
- Firewall and malware scanning —typically via a paid plugin.
- Backups — you must ensure regular backups yourself.
- GDPR compliance —cookie consent, data processing agreements with all plugin providers, privacy policy, and ensuring that personal data is handled correctly across all plugins.
The GDPR aspect is particularly challenging with WooCommerce. Every time you install a plugin that processes personal data, you must ensure that it complies with GDPR requirements. This typically means a data processing agreement with each individual plugin provider.
With Shoporama, security and GDPR compliance are built into the platform: hosting with automatic backups and security updates, built-in cookie consent, and all integrations are first-party integrations.
Speed and Performance
Page speed affects both the user experience and your ranking on Google. Shoporama delivers a load time as low as 250 ms on our fastest pages and 99.9% uptime . Our status page shows an average response time of 173 ms as measured by Pingdom. This is possible because the platform is optimized as a single, unified system without a layer of plugins.
WooCommerce’s speed depends on many factors: hosting provider, number of plugins, theme quality, and caching configuration. A well-optimized WooCommerce store can certainly be fast, but it requires technical expertise and ongoing attention. Typically, you’ll see load times of 1–3 seconds for WooCommerce stores that aren’t actively optimized.
All-in-One vs. Plugin Jungle
One of WooCommerce’s strengths is its flexibility. There are plugins for almost everything. But that flexibility comes at a price: complexity.
A typical WooCommerce setup for a Danish online store requires plugins for:
- Danish payment gateway (QuickPay, Stripe, ePay)
- Shipping calculation and labels (Shipmondo, PostNord)
- Cookie consent (Cookiebot, Complianz)
- Newsletter (Mailchimp, Brevo)
- SEO (Yoast, Rank Math)
- Security (Wordfence, Sucuri)
- Backup (UpdraftPlus, BlogVault)
- Performance (WP Rocket, LiteSpeed Cache)
- Page builder (Elementor, WPBakery)
- Accounting integration (e-conomic, Dinero)
Typically, you’ll need 10–15 plugins just for basic functionality. Each plugin is created by a different developer, with its own update schedule, support channel, and pricing. With Shoporama, all these features are built into the platform and work together right out of the box.
Who is each option best suited for?
WooCommerce might be the right choice if you:
- Already have a WordPress site with a lot of content and want to add a store
- Have technical experience or access to a dedicated developer
- Need highly specialized functionality that requires custom development
- Enjoy building and customizing technical systems
Shoporama is typically the better choice if you:
- Want to spend your time selling—not maintaining the technical side of things
- Don’t have technical experience and don’t want to hire a full-time developer
- Want a predictable monthly price with no hidden costs
- Want Danish support from people who know your platform
- Value security and GDPR compliance without having to manage it yourself
Migration from WooCommerce to Shoporama
If you already have a WooCommerce store and are considering switching, you can migrate to Shoporama. We’ll guide you through the process and offer an onboarding package where we handle the entire migration for you.
Conclusion
WooCommerce and Shoporama are both well-established platforms. The choice depends on your priorities.
If you have technical expertise and enjoy building your store from scratch, WooCommerce gives you maximum flexibility. But that flexibility comes at the cost of time and requires ongoing maintenance.
If you’d rather focus on your products, your customers, and your marketing, Shoporama is built for exactly that. All the technical aspects are handled, the price is predictable, and you can spend your time where it creates the most value.
Check out Shoporama’s pricing or explore all its features. You can also compare Shoporama with Shopify.
See also our comparison with DanDomain or find an affordable online store. Read the comprehensive platform comparison.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is WooCommerce free?
The WooCommerce plugin is free, but a complete WooCommerce online store typically costs 500–2,500 DKK/month for hosting, plugins, security, and maintenance. Shoporama PRO costs 1,400 DKK/month with everything included.
Which is easier—WooCommerce or Shoporama?
Shoporama is significantly easier. You create an account and can start selling right away. WooCommerce requires you to install WordPress yourself, set up hosting, configure plugins, and keep everything up to date.
Is WooCommerce secure enough for an online store?
WooCommerce can be secure, but it requires you to keep WordPress, themes, and all plugins updated yourself. WordPress is the most frequently targeted CMS. With Shoporama, security and updates are handled automatically.
Can I switch from WooCommerce to Shoporama?
Yes, you can switch from WooCommerce to Shoporama. We’ll guide you through the process and offer an onboarding package where we handle the entire migration for you.
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