Shopify pricing below is accurate as of June 2026 (USD). Always check the current rates on shopify.com.
Shopify and WooCommerce are excellent, powerful platforms — they run a huge share of the world's online stores. This isn't about whether they're "good." It's about whether they're the right fit for an Egyptian business selling online — often cash-on-delivery. Here's the honest picture.
The friction nobody mentions until you've signed up
Shopify
- You're billed in US dollars. Basic is $39/month (~$29 on annual) — a moving target in pounds, and it climbs if the pound weakens.
- Shopify Payments isn't available in Egypt. You must connect a third-party gateway (Paymob, Fawry, etc.) — and on Basic, Shopify still charges a 2% transaction fee on top of whatever your gateway charges.
- Cash on delivery and Arabic/RTL work, but typically need apps and theme tweaks to feel right. COD confirmation, governorate-based shipping, and local couriers aren't native — you assemble them.
WooCommerce
- The plugin is free, but a real store isn't: budget hosting (EGP 600–3,000/yr), a domain (EGP 200–500/yr), an SSL cert, and — realistically — a developer ($1,000–20,000 depending on scope) plus ongoing maintenance (EGP 500–3,000/month) for updates and security.
- You own and control everything — which also means you're responsible for everything: hosting uptime, updates, backups, security, and every integration.
Side by side
| sellX | Shopify | WooCommerce | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Billing currency | EGP (fixed) | USD | EGP (your hosting), but tooling often USD |
| Entry cost | Free, then 299 EGP | $39/mo (~$29 annual) | "free" plugin + hosting + dev |
| Payments in Egypt | Paymob + InstaPay/wallet/bank, built in | No Shopify Payments → 3rd-party + 2% fee | per-gateway plugin you configure |
| Cash on delivery | Native + COD confirm + OTP | via apps | via plugins |
| Shipping | Bosta + per-governorate fees, built in | apps | plugins |
| Arabic / RTL | Native | theme/app work | theme work |
| Setup | Minutes, no code | hours–days | days–weeks (+ dev) |
| Who maintains it | sellX | Shopify | You |
| Best for | Egyptian businesses selling online | global brands, big catalogs | full custom builds with a dev team |
Where Shopify / WooCommerce genuinely win
Said plainly: - Massive ecosystems. Thousands of apps, themes, and integrations — if you need something niche, it probably exists. - Unlimited customization (especially WooCommerce — you own the code). - Global selling — multi-currency, multi-country, international logistics at scale.
If you're a large brand selling worldwide with a development team, those are real advantages worth paying for.
Where sellX wins for an Egyptian seller
- No dollars, no surprises. Fixed EGP pricing — you always know the bill.
- No 2% platform tax on payments, and the money settles straight to you (Paymob → you, Bosta COD → you).
- COD is first-class — confirmation + OTP to cut fake orders, per-governorate fees, Bosta built in.
- Live in minutes, no developer, in Arabic, with WhatsApp alerts and abandoned-cart/restock recovery already on.
The bottom line
Shopify and WooCommerce are built to sell anything, anywhere — and you pay for that breadth in dollars, setup, and (for Woo) a developer. If you're selling online to Egyptian customers, cash-on-delivery included, you don't need a global platform bent into shape — you need one built for exactly that. That's sellX, in fixed pounds, in minutes.
Read next: Accept card & wallet payments with Paymob · The full platform comparison
