How to Migrate Shopify to WordPress: A Practical Step-by-Step Guide

We have had this exact conversation with at least a dozen store owners: they are paying $79 a month for a Shopify plan, they cannot customize their checkout without upgrading again, and every plugin they need costs extra. The question that follows is always the same, “Can we just move the whole thing to WordPress?” Yes. You can. And when it is done right, you end up with a faster, more flexible store that you actually own. This guide walks through everything you need to know to migrate Shopify to WordPress without losing products, customers, or your Google rankings.

Why Businesses Switch From Shopify to WordPress

Shopify is a solid platform. We will say that plainly. But it is built for a specific kind of seller, and when your business grows past that mold, the walls close in fast.

Here is what we hear most often from store owners who decide to make the move:

Monthly costs keep climbing. Shopify’s transaction fees eat into margins unless you pay for Shopify Payments. Advanced features, abandoned cart recovery, professional reports, custom checkout fields, sit behind higher-tier plans. On WordPress with WooCommerce, most of those features are either built in or available as one-time-purchase plugins.

Design flexibility hits a ceiling. Shopify themes are clean, but modifying them requires Liquid, Shopify’s proprietary templating language. On WordPress, you can use any page builder, any theme framework, or go fully custom with PHP and CSS. The control is in your hands.

Content and SEO need room to grow. Shopify’s blog is functional, but it is not built for serious content marketing. WordPress is, first and foremost, a content management system. If SEO and long-form content are part of your growth plan, WordPress gives you a structural advantage that Shopify simply cannot match.

You want to own your platform. This is the one that resonates most. Shopify owns the infrastructure. WordPress is open source. That distinction matters when you want to move fast, pivot strategy, or hand off to a developer without being locked into proprietary systems.

For a deeper look at how these platforms compare from a commerce perspective, Shopify’s own ecommerce blog is worth a read, even if the conclusion we reach is often different from theirs. If you are weighing the reverse direction too, we have a companion piece on what it looks like to switch from WooCommerce to Shopify for context.

What to Do Before You Start the Migration

Skipping the prep work is how migrations go sideways. Before you touch any tools or export a single CSV, do these two things.

Back Up Your Shopify Store Data

Shopify lets you export most of your store data directly from the admin panel. Go to Products > Export to download your product catalog as a CSV. Do the same for customers (Customers > Export) and orders (Orders > Export). For blog posts, you will need to copy them manually or use an app like Matrixify (formerly Excelify) to get a structured export.

Save everything in a dedicated folder with today’s date in the name. This is your safety net. If something breaks mid-migration, you go back to this folder, not back to square one.

For themes and custom assets, screenshot your current storefront and download any custom images, banners, and logo files from Shopify’s file manager. You cannot import a Shopify theme into WordPress, but you need those visual assets for the rebuild.

Map Your Content, Products, and URLs

This step saves your SEO. Shopify and WooCommerce use different URL structures. A product that lived at yourstore.myshopify.com/products/blue-widget will not automatically exist at yoursite.com/shop/blue-widget after the move. If you do not plan for that, every inbound link and indexed page becomes a 404.

Build a simple spreadsheet with three columns: Old Shopify URL | New WordPress URL | Redirect Needed (Y/N). Do this for every product, collection page, and blog post. It sounds tedious, but a store with 200 products can knock this out in an afternoon, and it will prevent weeks of SEO cleanup later.

Also note which pages drive the most traffic. Pull that data from Google Analytics or Google Search Console before the migration. Those pages get priority treatment on the WordPress side.

We also recommend reviewing our breakdown of WordPress migration and staging tools, specifically Duplicator and All-in-One WP Migration, so you understand what tooling is available on the WordPress side before you start importing data.

How to Move Your Store From Shopify to WooCommerce

With your backups done and your URL map in hand, here is the actual migration process. We break this into four clear phases.

Phase 1: Set up WordPress and WooCommerce. Install WordPress on your hosting environment. We recommend staging this on a temporary domain or subdomain so your Shopify store stays live while you build. Once WordPress is installed, add the WooCommerce plugin and run through the setup wizard. Configure your payment gateways, shipping zones, and tax settings to match what you had on Shopify.

Phase 2: Import your products. WooCommerce has a built-in CSV importer under Products > Import. Use the product CSV you exported from Shopify, but check the column headers first, Shopify’s export format does not map one-to-one with WooCommerce’s expected fields. You will likely need to rename a few columns (“Variant Price” becomes “Regular Price”, for example). For stores with complex variable products, this is where working with a WordPress ecommerce developer saves real time.

Phase 3: Migrate customers and orders. This part is trickier. WooCommerce can import customers via CSV, but order history requires a plugin. Cart2Cart and LitExtension are the two most-used tools for this, both support Shopify-to-WooCommerce migrations and handle orders, customer accounts, and reviews. Expect to pay a one-time fee in the $100–$300 range depending on store size. For community-sourced scripts and custom import solutions, GitHub has several open-source migration tools worth reviewing if you have developer support.

Phase 4: Rebuild your storefront design. Your Shopify theme does not transfer. Choose a WooCommerce-compatible theme, Astra, Kadence, and GeneratePress are all solid starting points, and rebuild your key pages. This is actually an opportunity. Most stores that migrate end up with a faster, better-looking site than what they had on Shopify, because they are no longer constrained by theme limitations.

For guidance on the broader scope of ecommerce development on WordPress, including plugin selection and performance considerations, we have a dedicated resource that goes deep on the topic. And if you want to understand how a WordPress ecommerce agency approaches these builds end-to-end, that piece is worth a read before you scope the project.

Protecting SEO During the Migration

This is where most DIY migrations fall apart. The product is moved, the site looks great, and then traffic drops 40% because nobody set up the redirects.

Here is how to protect your rankings:

Set up 301 redirects immediately. Use the URL map you built in the prep phase. On WordPress, the Redirection plugin handles this cleanly, you can bulk import your redirect rules from a CSV. Every old Shopify URL that has any inbound links or indexed traffic needs a 301 pointing to its new WordPress equivalent. Do not wait on this. Set it up before you flip the DNS.

Submit your new sitemap to Google Search Console. WooCommerce with Yoast SEO or Rank Math generates a sitemap automatically. Submit it the day you go live. This tells Google where your new URLs live and speeds up re-indexing.

Check your metadata. Product titles, meta descriptions, and alt text do not migrate automatically in most tools. After import, spot-check 10–15 products and make sure their SEO metadata came through correctly. If it did not, you will need to re-enter it manually or via a bulk edit.

Monitor for 404 errors. In Google Search Console, the Coverage report will flag any 404s Google encounters after your site goes live. Check it daily for the first two weeks. Fix any that show up fast, orphaned URLs bleed ranking equity quickly.

For a detailed walkthrough of the full migration process with specific tool recommendations, our guide on how to migrate from Shopify to WordPress covers each step with additional depth. The BigCommerce blog also has useful platform comparison content if you are still evaluating options before committing to the move.

One more thing: if you are unsure which WordPress migration plugins to use for moving data between environments during your build process, our comparison of Duplicator, WP Staging, and All-in-One WP Migration breaks down exactly when to use each one.

Conclusion

Migrating Shopify to WordPress is not a weekend project, but it is absolutely manageable when you approach it in the right order: prep first, build in staging, migrate data, protect SEO, then go live.

The stores that do this well end up with lower operating costs, more design control, and a content infrastructure that actually supports long-term growth. The ones that rush it end up chasing 404 errors and wondering where their traffic went.

If you want help scoping the migration or want a team to handle it end-to-end, we work with ecommerce businesses at every stage of this process. Book a free consult and we will tell you exactly what your specific migration involves before you commit to anything.

Frequently Asked Questions About Migrating Shopify to WordPress

How long does it take to migrate Shopify to WordPress?

A typical Shopify to WordPress migration takes one to three weeks when done properly. This includes backing up data, setting up WooCommerce in a staging environment, importing products and customers, rebuilding the storefront, and configuring 301 redirects. Rushing the process is the leading cause of SEO traffic loss post-migration.

Will migrating from Shopify to WordPress hurt my SEO rankings?

It can — but only if redirects aren’t handled correctly. To protect your rankings, build a URL mapping spreadsheet before migrating, set up 301 redirects using the Redirection plugin, submit your new sitemap to Google Search Console on launch day, and monitor the Coverage report for 404 errors daily during the first two weeks.

What is the best tool to migrate products from Shopify to WooCommerce?

WooCommerce’s built-in CSV importer works well for most product catalogs. For orders and customer history, Cart2Cart and LitExtension are the most widely used paid tools, typically costing $100–$300. For open-source alternatives, GitHub hosts several community-maintained migration scripts that are worth reviewing if you have developer support.

Do I need a developer to migrate Shopify to WordPress?

Not always, but complex stores benefit greatly from professional help. Variable products, custom checkout logic, and SEO preservation require careful handling. A WordPress ecommerce developer can save significant time during product import and storefront rebuilding, reducing the risk of costly mistakes.

Is WordPress cheaper than Shopify for running an online store?

Generally, yes. Shopify charges $79+/month plus transaction fees, and many advanced features require higher-tier plans. WordPress with WooCommerce involves hosting costs (typically $10–$30/month) and one-time plugin purchases, but eliminates recurring platform fees. Most store owners see meaningful cost savings within the first year after switching.

Which WooCommerce themes are best after migrating from Shopify?

Astra, Kadence, and GeneratePress are top-rated WooCommerce-compatible themes recommended for stores migrating from Shopify. They are lightweight, highly customizable, and compatible with all major page builders. Unlike Shopify themes, they don’t require learning a proprietary templating language, giving you full design control with standard PHP and CSS.