Shopify Website Cost in 2026: What the Plan, the Fees, the Apps and the Build Really Add Up To

Key takeaways

• Shopify is rented, so the plan is a monthly bill. On Shopify's pricing page, Basic is $19 a month on yearly billing and $25 monthly, Grow is $49 or $65, and Advanced is $299 or $399. Plus starts at $2,300 a month.
• Guides disagree with the pricing page. OuterBox and Primora Commerce list Basic at $29 on yearly billing and Grow at $79, and Shopify's own blog does the same. The page we read shows $19 and $49, and it can differ again by country.
• The plan decides your per-sale fee. If you use an outside payment provider, Shopify adds 2% on Basic, 1% on Grow, 0.6% on Advanced and 0.2% on Plus.
• The build is where the spread comes from. Published ranges run from a $299 setup package to $100,000 or more for a large Shopify Plus project.
• A first year can cost $238 or $20,000 and more. The table of budgets below shows the arithmetic by route.
• Themes are a one-off cost, apps are a monthly one. Paid themes on the Theme Store were $100 to $430 on the first page of results we read, and paid apps charge by subscription.

Four bills, not one

When people ask what a Shopify website costs, they usually mean four different bills:

1. The plan, which is what you pay Shopify each month for the platform, hosting and checkout.
2. The per-sale fees, which depend on the plan and on how customers pay.
3. The extras, which are the domain, a theme, apps and email.
4. The build, which is whoever designs and sets up the store, if it is not you.

Most guides give one range for all four. They are separate because only the first is fixed by Shopify, and the last can be zero or six figures.

What the guides say about the build

We read the pages that rank for this search in October 2026. They describe different projects, so the ranges do not line up.

Three things stand out. Shopify's own blog paints two different pictures: one post says custom-built sites run $2,000 to $20,000 or more, and another says a basic agency build starts at $5,000 to $10,000 and a mid-tier custom build costs $15,000 to $35,000, citing Storetasker's 2025 rate guide. OuterBox warns that a whole store for $500 to $2,000 usually buys a simple configuration, not a site ready to grow. And almost every row is the seller describing the projects it takes on. Our guide to website redesign cost shows the same pattern across platforms.

The plan: prices differ between guides

Here is the part most guides get wrong, or at least out of date. We read Shopify's pricing page on 16 October 2026 and again on 19 October 2026, with US pricing, and compared it with the guides.

Primora also lists monthly billing at $39, $105 and $399. The pricing page we read lists monthly billing at $25, $65 and $399. We cannot say whether the guides are out of date or reflect another view of the page, and Shopify's help centre says that in some regions it adjusts subscription prices to the local cost of living. It also says your subscription is billed in euros, pounds, US dollars or Indian rupees depending on where you are. The practical rule: open the pricing page from the country where your store will be based, and treat any guide's plan table as a guess until you have.

The plan prices we read

These are US dollars, per month, from the page we read in the US version.

The two per-year columns are monthly price times 12, worked out by us. Shopify's own blog says Plus is $2,300 a month on a three-year term, while the pricing page says "from". Shopify also advertises 3 days free, then $1 a month for 3 months, so check whether that offer applies to you before you plan the first quarter. POS Pro, for physical shops, is an add-on at $89 a month per location.

Per-sale fees: when a bigger plan pays off

Every sale costs something. Shopify's help centre says that when you use Shopify Payments you pay only the credit card rate, with no third-party transaction fee. Shopify's blog puts card rates at roughly 2.4% to 3.5% depending on the plan, the payment method and the region. If you use an outside payment provider instead, Shopify adds its own fee on top of that provider's charges: 2% on Basic, 1% on Grow, 0.6% on Advanced and 0.2% on Plus.

That makes the next plan up a sum you can work out. Using the monthly prices above, and only for sales through an outside provider:

• Basic to Grow costs $40 more a month ($65 minus $25) and saves 1%, so it pays for itself at $4,000 of outside-provider sales a month. On yearly billing the gap is $30 a month, so the break-even is $3,000.
• Grow to Advanced costs $334 more a month ($399 minus $65) and saves 0.4%, so it breaks even at $83,500 a month. On yearly billing the gap is $250, so the break-even is $62,500.

If you take payment through Shopify Payments, none of this applies, and the card rate is what moves with your plan. Our comparison of Shopify and WooCommerce works through the same fees on $100,000 of yearly sales.

The extras: domain, theme, apps and email

Shopify's blog groups the monthly total by stage: $30 to $100 for a solo seller, $100 to $500 for a growing business and $500 to $2,500 or more for an established merchant. Those totals include the plan, so they are a sanity check rather than a quote. The bill that grows quietest is apps: each paid app is a subscription, and each adds speed and maintenance questions as well as a charge. Before you pay for one, check whether a free Shopify-made app covers the job.

The build: first-year budgets by route

Each row adds the sourced figures above. The totals are our sums and examples, not quotes, and they leave out apps and card fees.

Setting up a theme and commissioning a custom design are different jobs. The first puts your products and brand into a layout that already exists. The second draws the collection, product and cart pages around how your own customers buy.

What moves the price

• Catalogue shape. OuterBox contrasts 20 straightforward products with 5,000 that carry variants, bundles and stock held in several places. The second needs navigation, filters and data planned before design starts.
• Templates, not pages. One product template across the catalogue costs less than separate ones for bundles, subscriptions and sale pages.
• Connections to other systems. An ERP, CRM or warehouse link each adds build and testing time. For a worked example, see our event services website guide.
• Moving platforms. Product data and redirects are extra work, and our redesign SEO checklist lists them.
• Words and photos. Copy and pictures you supply cost less than ones someone has to produce.
• Apps. Each one carries a charge and a setup, and a cheap build that leans on many apps can cost more later.

The running costs

Once the store is live, the plan, the domain and the apps keep billing, and someone has to watch the app list. Our guide to website maintenance cost sets six studios' published care plans beside the plan prices of Shopify, Webflow and WordPress.com. If you are still choosing a platform, our WordPress website cost and Webflow website cost guides price those two the same way.

How we price a Shopify project

Our Shopify work starts from a design you have approved. We build it as Online Store 2.0 sections, so your team can change every headline, image and product block without a developer, and we quote from the scope rather than the clock. Our service pages put a theme build at three to seven weeks from the approved design and a full store build at five to ten. Payment runs in three steps, 40% at the start, 30% at design approval and 30% before launch. After the last payment the design, copy and code we write are yours, and the store, domain and analytics accounts stay in your name. See our Shopify development and ecommerce development pages, and our guide to choosing a web design agency.

Frequently asked questions

How much does a Shopify website cost?

The plan is $19 to $299 a month on yearly billing for Basic to Advanced on the page we read, plus a domain at $10 to $30 a year. A do-it-yourself first year is about $238 to $258 with a free theme. Hiring a studio or agency adds $500 to $2,000 for a simple setup and $5,000 to $20,000 or more for custom design, according to OuterBox.

Is Shopify $1 a month?

For the first three months on most plans, if the offer applies to you. Shopify's pricing page says to try it for 3 days free, then pay $1 a month for 3 months. After that you pay the plan's normal price, so budget for it.

How much does Shopify cost per month?

On the page we read, Basic is $19 a month on yearly billing and $25 monthly, Grow is $49 or $65, and Advanced is $299 or $399. Plus starts at $2,300. Prices can differ by country, and several guides list higher yearly figures, so check the page from where your store is based.

How much does Shopify take from a $100 sale?

It depends on how the customer pays. With Shopify Payments, you pay only the card rate, which Shopify's blog puts at roughly 2.4% to 3.5% depending on plan, method and region, so about $2.40 to $3.50 before any flat per-order amount. With an outside provider, Shopify adds 2% on Basic, which is $2 on $100, on top of that provider's own charges.

Is a custom Shopify store worth the cost?

It can be when a theme no longer matches how your team sells: bundles, subscriptions, technical product detail or unusual merchandising. OuterBox says a $2,000 theme setup can be smart while you validate demand, and costly if it forces a second rebuild soon after.

How long does it take to build a Shopify store?

For our own builds, theme work typically takes three to seven weeks from an approved design and a full store build five to ten weeks. Catalogue size, custom product logic, integrations and migration drive the time.

Is Shopify cheaper than WooCommerce or WordPress?

Not automatically. A Shopify plan bundles hosting and checkout, while WooCommerce is free software that needs hosting and care around it. Our Shopify vs WooCommerce guide has a cost sheet to fill in with your own numbers.