WooCommerce Subscription Migration to Shopify

Last updated August 2026

A technical guide to handling subscription migration when migrating from WooCommerce to Shopify. This covers what transfers, what does not, the specific risks for WooCommerce stores, and the recommended approach.

WooCommerce-specific considerations

When migrating subscription migration from WooCommerce, the following platform-specific aspects must be considered:

Data model implications

WooCommerce's data model stores this information differently than Shopify. In WooCommerce: Custom table (wc_orders) with line items, tax, shipping, payment metadata.

Can Shopify's Store Migration app handle subscription migration?

What transfers

• Subscription product configuration can be recreated
• Billing interval and pricing structure
• Subscription box contents

What does NOT transfer

• Active subscriptions with their billing schedules
• Payment tokens for recurring charges
• Subscription history (past renewals)
• Failed payment and dunning history
• Subscription-related emails and notifications

Specific risks for WooCommerce stores

• Double-charging customers if old subscriptions are not canceled
• Payment tokens are platform-specific and cannot be transferred
• Customers must re-enter payment information for new subscriptions
• Subscription modifications (pauses, skips, upgrades) lost
• Billing date alignment issues
• Multi-currency subscription handling

Recommended approach

1) Export all active subscriptions from the old platform. 2) Choose a Shopify subscription app (Recharge, Bold, Appstle, Seal). 3) Configure subscription products in Shopify. 4) Contact active subscribers to migrate their subscriptions to Shopify. 5) Run both platforms in parallel for 1-2 billing cycles. 6) Cancel old subscriptions after confirming successful Shopify renewal.

Exporting subscription migration data from WooCommerce

• WooCommerce built-in export (CSV)
• WP All Export
• WooCommerce REST API
• WP-CLI export
• Database dump (MySQL)

Technical notes

• WooCommerce Subscriptions stores data in posts and post_meta tables
• Payment tokens in WooCommerce are stored by the gateway (Stripe, Braintree)
• Shopify subscription APIs are app-specific, not native
• Recharge API allows subscription import via CSV or API
• Each subscription app has different data models and API capabilities
• Consider running WooCommerce solely for subscriptions while migrating everything else

Other WooCommerce migration issues

References

• WooCommerce Subscriptions Documentation — WooCommerce