Angazé vs WooCommerce
WooCommerce is a powerful, open-source way to put a shop on WordPress. The catch is that you, or a developer you pay, own the hosting, the plug-ins, the patches, and the day a plug-in breaks. If you sell in Kenya on WhatsApp and M-Pesa, here is the honest difference, in plain English.
| Feature | Angazé | WooCommerce |
|---|---|---|
WhatsApp ordering, native In Kenya most orders happen on WhatsApp. Either the platform handles that, or you do it manually and miss orders. | ||
M-Pesa STK push at checkout Native Daraja integration. The phone buzzes; the customer types their PIN; the money lands in your Paybill. | Via plug-in Plug-in quality varies. You patch it. | |
Funds straight to your M-Pesa account If the platform holds your money before passing it on, you have a counterparty risk and a delay. | Depends on plug-in Configurable, varies. | |
Inventory + stock auto-hide When an item runs out, it disappears from the menu so you stop selling things you cannot ship. | ||
Delivery zones + rider hand-off Set zones, set fees, one tap to WhatsApp the rider the address. Critical for Nairobi commerce. | Via plug-in | |
Monthly cost (entry) What you actually pay each month before transactions. | Free to start Small flat monthly fee as you grow. No transaction fees. | Hosting cost Plus plug-ins, themes, developer. |
Transaction fee on the platform What gets taken out of each paid order on top of the rail's own fee. | 0% No platform fee. Rails (M-Pesa, Paystack, etc.) charge their own published rates direct to the merchant. | Plug-in fees Per-plug-in pricing. |
Built for Kenya / mobile-money-first markets The team that built it lives here and runs commerce here. Not a flag retrofitted onto a global product. | ||
We help you onboard, free During the closed beta, an actual human walks you through Daraja, your shop, your team, and your first order. | Community | |
Own your data + portable Export products, orders, customers any time. No lock-in. |
The three honest differences
1. Nothing to maintain
A WooCommerce shop is a stack of moving parts: WordPress core, a theme, an M-Pesa plug-in, a security plug-in, a backup plug-in. Each one updates on its own schedule, and any one of them can break checkout. Angazé is one system we host, patch, and back up. There is nothing for you to update.
2. M-Pesa and WhatsApp are built in
On WooCommerce, M-Pesa is a third-party plug-in and WhatsApp ordering is a bolt-on widget. With Angazé, the customer orders inside WhatsApp and pays with an M-Pesa STK push that settles to your own Paybill. We talk to Daraja directly. We never touch the money.
3. One predictable price
WooCommerce hides its real cost across hosting, plug-ins, a theme, and developer time. Angazé is free until your first sale, then one plan at KES 1,500 a month. About KES 50 a day to run your whole business online, and one M-Pesa sale usually covers the month.
When WooCommerce is the right answer
If two or more of those describe you, WooCommerce is a reasonable choice and we will not pretend otherwise. If you would rather sell on WhatsApp and M-Pesa without maintaining a thing, book a call and we will think it through with you.
Next step
The shop your customers expect, on the rails they already use. Free until your first sale, then KES 1,500 a month. About KES 50 a day, and one sale usually covers it.
