A Shopify store costs whatever its scope costs, and there is no honest single figure. The price depends mainly on how many products you have, how much is designed or coded for you rather than set up, and what you need to connect to. This guide breaks the cost into its parts, so you can work out what you need and judge any quote.
For our own starting prices, see the pricing page.
The short answer
Think of the cost in two halves:
- Building the store. A one-off cost, paid to a developer or agency, or paid in your own time if you do it yourself.
- Running the store. Ongoing costs: Shopify’s plan fee, paid apps, payment fees, and any support or improvements you pay for.
Most people only budget for the first half. The second half is what you pay every month for as long as the store trades.
What you pay Shopify and others
These costs sit outside any build quote:
- Shopify plan. A monthly fee that depends on the plan. Shopify’s plans are Basic, Grow, Advanced and Plus. Features such as checkout customisation and the number of trade catalogues depend on the plan, so check Shopify’s pricing page for the current prices.
- Payment processing fees. A charge on each sale. Using a payment provider other than Shopify Payments usually adds a Shopify transaction fee on top of that provider’s charges.
- Apps. Many have a monthly fee. Some are worth it. Several doing the same job are not.
- Theme. Some themes are free and some are paid. Paid themes are usually a one-off purchase, licensed for one store.
- Domain name, email and photography. Small compared with the build, but easy to forget.
What a build includes
A build quote should say what it covers. Ask whether each of these is in or out:
- Structure planning. How products, collections and navigation fit together, before anything is built.
- Theme set-up and styling. Fitting a theme to your brand.
- Product and content loading. Entering or importing products, and writing or placing the copy.
- Selling settings. Shipping, tax, payments and order emails, tested with real orders.
- Search basics. Page titles, headings, web addresses and a sitemap.
- Training and handover, so your team can run the store.
Our Shopify development page describes how we run a build.
What pushes the price up or down
Catalogue size and variety. Fifty simple products are quick. Thousands of products with many options each take far longer to structure and check.
Theme or custom design. A good theme, set up well, usually costs less and is the right answer for most shops. Custom design makes sense when your products or brand need something a theme cannot do. A lot of custom work also makes the store harder to update.
Apps or custom code. An app is quicker to add and usually has a monthly fee. Custom code costs more at the start and can be faster and tidier, with no ongoing fee. Neither is always cheaper over time, so ask for both options to be priced.
Selling in more than one country or currency. Pounds and euros, different taxes and different shipping rules all add set-up and testing. Shopify Markets handles prices in several currencies, with rounding, and you can set your own prices per market. Taxes, duties and payment methods still need setting up and testing for each country.
Connections to other systems. Stock, accounts, a warehouse or an ERP. These are often the least predictable part of a project, so ask for them to be scoped separately.
Moving from another platform. Bringing over products, customers, orders and web addresses is extra work. See what a Shopify migration costs for that side of it.
Design and brand work. If you do not have a logo, colours and a clear way of writing, the store will need them. Our brand guidelines service covers that, and doing it first usually makes the build quicker.
Why a cheaper quote is not always cheaper
A low price can be fair. It can also leave things out. Before you compare two quotes, put them side by side and check:
- Is the price fixed, or an estimate that can grow?
- Who loads the products, and who writes the copy?
- Are checkout, shipping and tax settings tested with real orders?
- Are search basics included, or left until later?
- What happens after launch, and who do you call?
- Which apps does the quote assume, and what will they cost each month?
A quote that answers all of these in writing is easier to trust than a short one that does not.
Ways to keep the cost sensible
- Start with what you need to sell. Add extras once the store is earning.
- Plan the structure first. Mistakes found on a wireframe cost less than mistakes found in a finished store. See wireframing and prototyping.
- Keep the app list short. Each app adds a cost and, often, some weight to every page.
- Have your product information ready. Delays and rework are often caused by missing images, descriptions or prices.
- Plan for search from the start. Fixing page titles and web addresses after launch costs more than doing them at build time. Our SEO for ecommerce service builds on that foundation.
From experience
Built from the concept up. A store that is secure, works properly and is set up to convert will outpace competitors where it matters.
Go deeper
- Theme, app or custom code: how to choose
- What a B2B website needs to turn visits into enquiries
- Website essentials for a professional services firm
Where to get help
If you would like a fixed quote based on your actual catalogue and needs, our Shopify development service starts with a short conversation about what you sell and what the store needs to do. Our pricing page shows what we charge from.
Related services that often go with it:
- Wireframing and prototyping, to agree the structure before the build.
- Brand guidelines, so the design has clear rules to follow.
- SEO for ecommerce, to help the store be found once it is live.
