Shop Simply vs WooCommerce: hosted simplicity vs self-hosted control
WooCommerce gives you full control of a self-hosted WordPress store. Shop Simply gives South African small businesses a live shop without the technical overhead.
At a glance
A feature-for-feature comparison focused on what matters most to South African businesses.
| Feature | Shop Simply | WooCommerce |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing & billing | Flat R99/month, billed in South African Rand — hosting and everything else included. | The plugin itself is free, but you pay separately for hosting, an SSL certificate, a theme, and often premium extensions for payments and shipping. |
| Local payment gateway | Payfast is built in from the start — no plugins to find or configure. | Payfast and other local gateways are available as plugins that you install and configure yourself. |
| Setup & maintenance | Fully hosted — no server, software updates or security patches to manage. | Runs on WordPress, so you (or a developer) are responsible for hosting, updates, backups and security. |
| Target business size | Built for South African small businesses that want a shop without managing infrastructure. | Suits businesses with in-house or contracted WordPress/developer expertise who want full control over the stack. |
| Support | Local email support from a South African team, included in your subscription. | Community forums and documentation by default; paid support depends on your host or developer. |
Why South African businesses choose Shop Simply
No developer required to get started.
ZAR pricing, all included
One flat price, R99/month, billed in Rand — hosting, updates and support all bundled in.
Payfast built in
The payment gateway South African shoppers already trust, ready from day one — no plugin to install.
Nothing to host or patch
No server, no WordPress updates, no security plugins. We manage the infrastructure so you don't have to.
Local support
Reach a support team in South Africa — no forum posts or waiting on a developer's availability.
Built and supported locally
Shop Simply is built and operated by Tech Mage (Pty) Ltd, based in South Africa — so when you need help, you're talking to a team that understands the local market, not a distant call centre.
Skip the setup, start selling
No hosting, no plugins, no developer needed — priced in Rand, from R99/month.