Shopify vs WooCommerce for a beginner — which should I pick?

If you're not technical, Shopify is the easier path: it's hosted, secure, and maintained for you — no servers, plugins, or updates to babysit — and payments/checkout work out of the box. You trade some flexibility and a monthly fee for not having to be your own sysadmin.

WooCommerce (on WordPress) is more flexible and has no platform fee, but you own all the hosting, security, updates, and the inevitable plugin conflicts — that's real time and risk for a non-technical owner. For most beginners who want to sell, not maintain software, Shopify wins. Choose Woo if you already live in WordPress and want maximum control.