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Migration app, DIY or hire someone? Which way to move a small WooCommerce store to Shopify

By Glen Gallarde · Last updated 6 November 2026

Short answer

A migration app is the cheapest way to copy your data, and it's a good fit if you're comfortable setting up a theme, redirects, payments and testing yourself. Doing it by hand with CSV files works for a very small catalog but is slow and easy to get wrong. Hiring someone costs more but covers the parts apps don't: design, redirects, apps, tracking and a tested launch. Pick based on your time and how much a broken launch would cost you.

I'm a migration specialist, so I'll be upfront: hiring someone isn't always the right answer. Here's what each option actually involves.

Option 1: a migration app

Apps such as Shopify's own Store Migration app, Cart2Cart and LitExtension connect to both stores and copy products, customers and orders across. Shopify's help center lists migration apps as an option for products, customers, historical orders, gift cards, blogs and pages. The migration tools comparison goes through each app in detail.

What's still on you: choosing and setting up a theme, rebuilding your design, mapping every old URL to a redirect, replacing each plugin with an app, setting up payments, shipping and taxes, reconnecting Google, Facebook and email tools, testing orders, and switching the domain without breaking email.

Good fit if: you're hands-on, your store is simple, and you have a few spare weekends.

Option 2: do it yourself with CSV files

You export products and customers from WooCommerce and import them into Shopify with its CSV templates. Shopify recommends importing products first, then customers, then historical orders. Past orders can't be imported by CSV, so a pure DIY move usually leaves order history behind.

Good fit if: you have a small catalog with few variants, you don't need old orders on Shopify, and you enjoy spreadsheets.

Option 3: hire a specialist

A specialist handles the data move and everything around it: theme and design, redirects, plugin replacements, payments, tracking, test orders and the domain switch, while your old store keeps selling. Freelancers and specialists usually charge a fixed price; agencies charge more and often start with a sales call. What a WooCommerce to Shopify migration costs in 2026 compares the price ranges.

Good fit if: the store is your income, you don't have weeks to spare, or losing Google rankings or sales during the switch would hurt.

Side by side

  • Your time: app, several days to weeks. DIY, weeks. Hire, a few hours of answering questions and reviewing.
  • Order history: app, yes. DIY with CSV, no. Hire, yes.
  • Design and redirects: app and DIY, you do them. Hire, included.
  • Risk on launch day: highest when doing it yourself the first time, lowest with someone who has done it many times.

What I'd tell a small store

If you have under 100 products and you're handy, an app plus the migration checklist and the free redirect generator can get you there. If the store pays your bills, or "WordPress is too complicated" is why you're leaving, hiring someone saves you from trading one tech headache for another. My Full migration is a fixed price from $1,495, and the free audit tells you exactly what's involved before you decide.

Questions

Can I migrate WooCommerce to Shopify myself?

Yes. Small stores can use a migration app or CSV files. Plan time for the theme, redirects, payments, apps and testing, which apps don't do for you.

Do migration apps move my design?

No. Apps copy data such as products, customers and orders. Your design is rebuilt in a Shopify theme.

Can I import past orders with a CSV file?

No. Shopify lists migration apps and its APIs for historical orders, not CSV files.

How much does it cost to hire someone?

It varies by store size and who you hire. My Full migration is a fixed price from $1,495 for up to about 1,000 products; the cost guide compares the wider market.

Sources