PrestaShop

The PrestaShop open-source software is free to download and use. Because it is self-hosted, you pay for your own web hosting separately, typically around ~£8/mo (managed) depending on your traffic and server requirements, plus any paid modules you add. There is no software subscription.

No. PrestaShop itself charges no transaction fees. Your costs come from the payment gateway you install: it connects to Stripe, PayPal, and 100+ other providers, each with their own processing rates.

Developer-level familiarity. You install and configure it on your own server, manage updates and security patches, and customise the store through themes and modules. It is not recommended for merchants without technical resources or access to a developer.

PrestaShop suits budget-conscious UK businesses and developers who want full control of a self-hosted store without an enterprise licence fee. Its community is strongest in Europe, so in the UK you tend to rely more on your own developer than on a large local agency network.

Not natively in the core software. AI capability comes via paid or free modules from its marketplace, covering areas such as product descriptions and support. There is a community MCP connection available through third parties, which is the standard that lets AI assistants and agents work with a store, but you assemble AI features from add-ons rather than getting them out of the box.

Both are free, self-hosted, open-source platforms. WooCommerce runs on WordPress and benefits from a larger plugin ecosystem and more UK agency support. PrestaShop is a purpose-built e-commerce system independent of WordPress, with its strongest community in Europe. WooCommerce has broader name recognition in the UK market.