A Shopify website can cost as little as $360 in its first year, or more than $50,000. The difference comes mainly from how the store is built and who builds it. If you set it up yourself, you mostly pay for the monthly plan, a domain and maybe a theme. If you hire a freelancer or an agency, the build fee becomes the biggest part of your Shopify website cost.
This guide breaks down the main costs in plain numbers: monthly plans, payment fees, themes, domains, apps and developer rates. Prices for plans, fees, themes and domains come from Shopify’s own pages. Developer rates are not published by Shopify, so they’re shown as market estimates.
How much does a Shopify website cost in 2026?
A Shopify website costs roughly $360 to $800 in the first year if you build it yourself, $3,000 to $11,500 with a freelancer, and $11,600 to $53,600 or more with an agency. These totals combine Shopify’s published plan prices with market estimates for development costs, since Shopify does not publish standard developer rates.
Here’s how the costs break down by line:
| Cost line | Typical range | How often |
|---|---|---|
| Shopify plans | $29–$299/month on annual billing; Plus: $2,300/month (3-year) or $2,500/month (1-year) | Monthly |
| Card processing | 2.5%–2.9% + 30¢ per online sale (Basic to Advanced) | Per order |
| Theme | Free or paid theme ($0–$500+) | One time |
| Domain | From about $9/year | Yearly |
| Apps | Free to paid; many charge monthly or based on usage | Monthly / usage-based |
| Developer | $2,000–$10,000 (freelancer), $8,000–$50,000+ (agency) | One time |
Key takeaway: Shopify’s core fees are the predictable part of your budget. Development and apps are where your total cost can vary widely.
How much does Shopify cost per month?
Shopify’s plans cost $29 (Basic), $79 (Grow) and $299 (Advanced) per month on annual billing, or $39, $105 and $399 when paid monthly. Shopify Plus starts at $2,300 per month on a three-year term.
These are US dollar prices from Shopify’s pricing page. Annual billing saves about 25%, and prices and payment options differ by country.
| Plan | Monthly | Annual (/mo.) | Online CC Rate | 3rd-Party Fee |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | $39 | $29 | 2.9% + 30¢ | 2.0% |
| Grow | $105 | $79 | 2.7% + 30¢ | 1.0% |
| Advanced | $399 | $299 | 2.5% + 30¢ | 0.6% |
| Plus | $2,500 (1-year) / $2,300 (3-year) | — | Depends on country | 0.20% |
All Shopify plans include unlimited products, hosting and a free SSL certificate, so you don’t need to pay for separate hosting.
When does a higher plan pay for itself?
A higher plan pays for itself when the lower card rate saves more than the extra monthly fee. Each step up cuts your rate by 0.2 percentage points, and the 30¢ per order stays the same.
Here’s the math on annual billing, assuming all sales run through Shopify Payments:
| Upgrade | Extra plan cost | Rate saving | Break-even monthly sales |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic to Grow | $50 | 0.2 points | $25,000 |
| Grow to Advanced | $220 | 0.2 points | $110,000 |
| Basic to Advanced | $270 | 0.4 points | $67,500 |
Below those volumes, the lower card rate alone doesn’t justify the higher plan cost. Staff accounts and reporting can justify an earlier upgrade. Rate savings usually can’t.
How much are Shopify transaction fees?
On Shopify Payments, online card sales cost 2.9% + 30¢ on Basic, 2.7% + 30¢ on Grow, 2.5% + 30¢ on Advanced, while Plus rates depend on the country. When you use a third-party payment provider, Shopify also charges a third-party transaction fee of 2% on Basic, 1% on Grow, 0.6% on Advanced and 0.2% on Plus.
At higher sales volumes, these fees can outweigh the plan price. A Basic store selling $20,000 a month pays $580 in percentage fees alone, before the 30¢ per-transaction charge. Premium cards cost more (3.5% + 30¢ on Basic), and international cards add 1%.
The third-party fee catches people out. A Basic store that uses an outside gateway pays that gateway’s own rate, plus Shopify’s 2% fee on transactions processed through that provider. On $10,000 in monthly sales, that’s an extra $200.
How much do Shopify themes, domains and apps cost?
Themes, domains and apps can add to your overall Shopify website cost.
How much does a Shopify theme cost?
Shopify’s Theme Store lists more than 1,300 free and paid themes. Paid themes typically start at around $100, with some costing $500 or more. A free theme works for a first launch, while a paid theme typically offers more layout options and built-in features.
A theme is a starting point, though. Changing its layouts, product pages or navigation is developer work, and it’s billed separately.
How much does a domain cost?
Every store comes with a free myshopify.com address. A custom domain bought through Shopify starts at about $9 per year, including WHOIS privacy. Prices vary by extension, and premium names cost more.
How much do Shopify apps cost?
Apps are the cost most owners underestimate. Shopify includes checkout, hosting and basic marketing tools, but reviews, subscriptions, upsells and advanced email come from apps, and most charge monthly.
Many bill by usage, so costs rise as you grow. Klaviyo, a popular email app, offers a free tier for smaller contact lists. Paid plans increase as your contact list and usage grow.
Key takeaway: Audit your apps every quarter. Each one can add a recurring cost and some page weight.How much does it cost to hire a Shopify developer?
Freelancers commonly quote $2,000 to $10,000 for a Shopify build, while agencies quote $8,000 to $50,000 or more. Hourly rates for experienced Shopify developers can range from $50 to $150. These are market estimates from agency pricing guides, not official figures, so use them to compare quotes.
What pushes a Shopify build cost up?
Scope matters more than anything else. These factors move the price most:
- Custom theme design. A fully custom design costs far more than a customized template.
- Integrations. Connecting inventory, ERP or accounting systems is a separate line item, often a few thousand dollars or more.
- Catalog size. Hundreds of products with variants take longer to import, clean and organize.
- B2B features. Wholesale pricing, company accounts and net payment terms add setup.
- Content. Product photography, copywriting and policy pages take time even when they aren’t billed as development.
Is hiring a developer worth the cost?
For stores with real traffic, usually yes. A weak product page can cost more than a good developer.. Here’s a simple example: A store with 10,000 monthly visits and a $60 average order value generates $4,800 in monthly revenue at a 0.8% conversion rate. At 2%, it generates $12,000 in monthly revenue. That’s a $7,200 monthly gap from the same traffic.
A store with almost no traffic can wait. A free theme and a clean setup are enough until sales prove the model.
How much does Shopify Plus cost?
Shopify Plus costs $2,300 per month on a three-year term or $2,500 per month on a one-year term.
Plus adds a fully customizable checkout, unlimited staff accounts, unlimited B2B catalogs and up to 200 POS Pro locations. Basic, Grow and Advanced each allow up to three B2B catalogs.
Most stores shouldn’t start on Plus. Move up when you need to customize checkout, run many wholesale catalogs, or manage a team that has outgrown Advanced’s 15 staff accounts. Before that, the extra cost may pay for features you rarely use.
How much does it cost to migrate to Shopify?
Migration cost depends on what you’re moving. Product count, customer and order history, and the source platform (WooCommerce, Magento or BigCommerce) all change the effort. Ask for migration as its own line in any quote.
The part to watch is search rankings. Every old URL that has a corresponding new Shopify URL should have a 301 redirect, so existing rankings and traffic can be preserved. Good SEO planning before a migration protects that traffic, and redirect mapping is usually the cheapest insurance you can buy.
What will your first year cost? Three realistic budgets
These totals add Shopify’s published prices to the market estimates above. They exclude apps, product costs and marketing.
| Build route | Plan (annual billing) | Build and theme | First-year total |
|---|---|---|---|
| DIY | Basic: $348 | Free or paid theme ($0–$500+), domain (from $9) | About $360–$800 |
| Freelancer | Grow: $948 | $2,000–$10,000 build, theme, domain | About $3,000–$11,500 |
| Agency | Advanced: $3,588 | $8,000–$50,000+ build | About $11,600–$53,600+ |
These figures also leave out traffic. A new store may have little or no traffic, so ad spend is a separate budget line. Depending on the market and goals, advertising costs can exceed the initial build cost within a year.
What should you budget for a Shopify website?
Start with your sales volume, not your wish list. Basic covers most new stores, and the break-even table above shows when an upgrade makes sense. For the build itself, match the spend to your stage. A new store can launch on a customized template. An established store with proven traffic gets more from custom Shopify development, where conversion gains repay the investment.
Three habits keep your Shopify website cost under control:
- Get itemized quotes. Separate design, development, integrations and migration, so you can compare like with like.
- Keep the app stack lean. Remove any app you can’t tie to revenue.
- Check your payment setup. Using Shopify Payments avoids the third-party fee.
Shopify’s core plan fees are public. Development is the bigger variable, and it’s the one you control.