Websites and development
How much does a Shopify store cost? Plans, themes, apps and fees in 2026
A Shopify store costs $29–$399 a month for the plan, card fees of 2.5–2.9% + 30¢, $0 to $500 for a theme and $50–$250 a month in apps, according to Shopify’s price list and agency guides. A professional setup adds roughly $2,000–$6,000 once. VITON13 sets up a Shopify store from $73.
How much does a Shopify store cost to build and run?
Four bills sit behind the question: the Shopify plan, card processing, the one-off build and the apps. Published guides mix them, which is why totals range from a few hundred dollars to six figures. The table splits the first year by route. The figures come from agencies that sell these builds, so read them as quotes, not audited averages.
| Route | One-off cost | Monthly cost | Year-one total | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DIY on a free theme | $0 | $39–$89 | $468–$1,068 | FactoryJet, updated 28 Sep 2026 |
| Basic setup by a developer | $500–$2,000 | $89–$200 | $1,568–$4,400 | FactoryJet |
| Standard agency build | $2,000–$6,000 | $150–$400 | $3,800–$10,800 | FactoryJet |
| Advanced custom build | $6,000–$20,000 | $300–$600 | $9,600–$27,200 | FactoryJet |
| Custom theme with an agency retainer | $20,000–$130,000 | Plan $105–$399, apps $60–$200 | About $100,000 for a mid-range build | Roboto Studio, updated 31 Aug 2026 |
| Shopify Plus build | $40,000–$120,000 | $2,600–$4,000 | $71,200–$168,000 | FactoryJet |
| VITON13 Shopify store | From $73 AI-assisted or $93 human-led | Your own plan and apps | Plan and apps on top | VITON13 service page |
Most of the gap between a $468 launch and a $4,400 one is labour and content, not Shopify. FactoryJet says photos, copy and brand files ready at kickoff cut setup time by 30–50%, a vendor’s estimate.
What does each Shopify plan cost today?
Shopify’s US price list, read on 4 October 2026, offers Basic, Grow, Advanced and Plus. A new store gets 3 days free, then $1 a month for 3 months. Older guides still list a $5 Starter plan; it was not on the page when we read it.
| Plan | Annual billing | Monthly billing | Per year, annual billing | Card rate with Shopify Payments | Fee with another gateway |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | $29 | $39 | $348 | 2.9% + 30¢ | 2% |
| Grow | $79 | $105 | $948 | 2.7% + 30¢ | 1% |
| Advanced | $299 | $399 | $3,588 | 2.5% + 30¢ | 0.6% |
| Plus | From $2,300 | From $2,300 | From $27,600 | 2.25% + 30¢ | 0.2% |
No plan carries a setup fee. Basic, Grow and Advanced include hosting, an SSL certificate and a connected custom domain, so there is no separate hosting bill.
Does a Shopify store cost the same in every country?
No. Shopify prices each country in its own currency, and the fees follow. The table sets the three standard plans side by side from Shopify’s own regional pages, read on the same day.
| Country | Basic | Grow | Advanced | Standard online card rate on Basic |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | $29 | $79 | $299 | 2.9% + 30¢ |
| United Kingdom | £19 | £49 | £259 | 2% + 25p |
| India | ₹1,499 | ₹5,599 | ₹22,680 | No Shopify Payments; 2% on other gateways |
Shopify Payments exists only in some countries. Its help centre lists Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Japan, Mexico, Singapore, the UAE, the UK and the US, plus many EU countries including France and Spain. India and Russia are not on the list, so stores there need a third-party gateway and pay Shopify’s fee on top of the gateway’s own.
How much do card and transaction fees add?
The plan is the visible bill; the fee on every order is the one that grows. Take a store on Basic with annual billing that takes $5,000 a month in 100 orders of $50. Card fees are 2.9% of $5,000 plus 100 × 30¢, which is $175. With the $29 plan that is $204 a month, about 4% of sales and roughly $2,450 a year before apps. The arithmetic uses Shopify’s published rates.
When does a higher plan pay for itself? Divide the extra plan cost by the fee points it saves. On annual billing:
- Basic to Grow costs $50 more a month. With Shopify Payments the rate falls 0.2 points, so the break-even is $25,000 a month in card sales; with another gateway the fee falls 1 point, so it is $5,000.
- Grow to Advanced costs $220 more. The break-even is $110,000 a month with Shopify Payments and $55,000 with another gateway.
- Plus is bought for other reasons: Shopify’s plan table lists fully customisable checkout on Plus only and limited customisation on the other three.
What does a Shopify theme cost, and when is a custom theme worth it?
| Option | Price | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Free theme | $0; the Theme Store lists 24 | Shopify Theme Store, 4 Oct 2026 |
| Paid Theme Store theme | $100–$500 across paid listings; the most popular page runs $280–$500 | Shopify Theme Store, 4 Oct 2026 |
| Paid theme as other guides quote it | $150–$450 (Roboto Studio); up to $200 (FactoryJet) | Guides sample different themes |
| Developer installs and styles a theme | $500–$2,000 (FactoryJet); $1,000–$8,000 for deeper changes (CartCoders) | FactoryJet; CartCoders, 16 Jun 2026 |
| Custom theme built from scratch | $3,000–$15,000 (FactoryJet); $5,000–$25,000 (CartCoders); $20,000–$130,000 (Roboto Studio) | Scope, not quality, explains the spread |
The three custom-theme ranges disagree because “custom” covers anything from restyled sections to a bespoke build. Roboto Studio, which sells headless builds, calls a from-scratch theme usually a waste of money next to a theme that thousands of stores have already tested. That is one agency’s view; the cheaper habit is picking a theme that already fits your catalogue.
What do apps, a domain and email add each month?
Apps are the line that surprises owners, because each one is its own subscription.
| Add-on | Published price | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Product reviews (Judge.me) | Free plan; $15 a month is the most it charges | Judge.me pricing, 4 Oct 2026 |
| Email marketing (Klaviyo, Omnisend) | $20–$150 a month | FactoryJet |
| Basic stack: reviews, email, upsells | $50–$250 a month; a scaling store $500–$1,000 | FactoryJet |
| Average store | 5–10 paid apps at about $60 each a month | Roboto Studio |
| Custom domain | From $9 a year, WHOIS privacy included | Shopify Domains, 4 Oct 2026 |
What do Shopify developers, agencies and a migration cost?
| Who or what | Published range | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Freelancer in South or Southeast Asia | $15–$35 an hour | CartCoders, 16 Jun 2026 |
| Agency in India or Eastern Europe, mid to senior | $30–$55 an hour | CartCoders |
| Western Europe, UK, Australia | $60–$110 an hour | CartCoders |
| US or Canada, senior or Plus specialist | $120–$200 an hour | CartCoders |
| Migration to Shopify | $5,000–$20,000 or more; a small catalogue $5,000–$10,000 | CartCoders |
| Maintenance retainer | $200–$500 a month (FactoryJet); $2,000–$10,000 or more (CartCoders) | FactoryJet; CartCoders |
Fixed prices beat open hourly billing once the scope is clear, so ask for product count, collections, apps and test orders in writing. A move from another platform is mostly redirects and checks: every old product URL needs a new home, or its search traffic and links are lost.
What would a VITON13 Shopify launch cost?
The Shopify package is ticked. Add what your launch also needs; the totals sum VITON13’s live starting prices in both production modes. Your Shopify plan, paid themes and app subscriptions go to Shopify and the vendors.
Cost calculator
Plan your Shopify launch
Tick what your store needs; the totals update as you choose.
Your estimate
- AI-assisted
- from $73
- Human-led
- from $93
- Timeline
- 5–8 working days
stages can overlap; the written estimate fixes the dates
Get a written estimate in 1 working dayStarting prices of VITON13 packages; the written scope confirms counts and the price after the brief.
The store itself takes 5–8 working days after the brief is approved.
When is Shopify not the right store?
- Your country has no Shopify Payments. Add Shopify’s 2% third-party fee on Basic to the gateway’s own rate before comparing platforms.
- Your prices or options need rules a theme cannot hold: configurators, deposits, B2B price lists. Custom stores start where themes stop, and the guide on ecommerce website cost prices that route.
- You need a customised checkout, which means Plus from $2,300 a month.
- You have no photographed, described products yet: build quotes rarely include them.
How VITON13 sets up a Shopify store
We start from your catalogue and the markets you sell to, not from a demo theme. You pick a free or paid theme with our advice; we plan the collections and menu, customise five templates, import your products from a spreadsheet, configure the apps and place test orders against a launch checklist for payments, shipping zones, the tax settings your accountant confirms and legal pages. In AI-assisted production AI drafts the setup and a developer checks every template and test order; in human-led production a developer builds and AI assists. VITON13 works remotely from Dubai in five languages.
Shopify development
- Price
- $73 AI-assisted or $93 human-led
- Timeline
- 5–8 working days
Ecommerce development
- Price
- $113 AI-assisted or $173 human-led
- Timeline
- 10–18 working days
Ecommerce SEO
- Price
- $53 AI-assisted or $73 human-led
- Timeline
- 3–5 working days
AI-assisted: AI drafts inside defined steps, a person directs and checks every result. Human-led: a specialist does the work and AI assists.
What is included
- Up to 10 collections and the main menu, planned around how buyers look for your products
- 5 customised theme templates: home, collection, product, cart and one content page
- Up to 50 products imported by CSV, with variants and images
- Up to 3 apps chosen and configured, for example reviews, email and delivery
- 1 launch checklist covering payments, shipping zones, tax settings, legal pages and test orders
- Delivery: 5–8 working days after the brief is approved
Not included
- The Shopify plan, paid themes and app subscriptions, which you pay to Shopify and the vendors
- A custom Shopify app or checkout extension
- Moving order and customer history from another platform
- Product photography and product descriptions
- Legal advice and advertising spend
Revisions: 2 revision rounds on the deliverables
Get an estimate in 1 working dayWritten estimate within 1 working day
Example
PILOTPilot in progress
No published Shopify store case yet
There is no published VITON13 Shopify case yet, so nothing on this page is a result we achieved. Plan prices come from Shopify’s own pages, project ranges from the agencies named in each table, and the break-even and monthly-fee figures are our arithmetic on those prices.
What this does not prove
- The $5,000-a-month example uses Shopify’s published rates; it says nothing about your orders, gateway or taxes.
- Agency price ranges show what vendors publish, not what any project will cost.
Questions and answers
Is Shopify free for the first month?
Not quite. On 4 October 2026 Shopify’s price page offered 3 days free with no card, then $1 a month for 3 months on most plans. After that the standard price applies, and the offer changes often, so read it when you sign up. No plan has a setup fee.
Does Shopify take a cut of every sale?
Shopify charges no commission as such. With Shopify Payments you pay the card rate, from 2.9% + 30¢ on Basic in the US. With another gateway you pay that gateway plus Shopify’s 2%, 1%, 0.6% or 0.2%, depending on plan. PayPal Wallet starts at 3.49% + 49¢ on every plan.
Do I need Shopify Plus?
Probably not at launch. Plus starts at $2,300 a month and is the only plan with fully customisable checkout, unlimited staff accounts and more than one headless storefront. FactoryJet suggests it pays off above about $1 million in yearly revenue, a vendor’s rule of thumb.
Can I run a Shopify store from a country without Shopify Payments?
Usually yes, with a third-party gateway. Shopify’s price page says it is available in nearly every country but that features vary, and Payments is limited to the countries on its help-centre list. Sanctions can restrict sign-up and billing in some places, so read Shopify’s current terms first.
Who should own the Shopify account and the domain?
You should, in your company’s name. Open the Shopify account yourself, register or connect the domain under your login and give the builder staff or collaborator access. Shopify’s plan table lists third-party collaborators on every plan, so nobody needs to hold the account for you.
How long does it take to launch a Shopify store?
VITON13 states 5–8 working days after the brief is approved. Agencies publish their own windows: FactoryJet quotes 7 days for a store of up to five pages on a proven theme and 3 to 5 weeks for a custom theme. Late product data and payment approval cause most delays.
Sources
- Shopify, Pricing (United States) —
- Shopify, Pricing (United Kingdom) —
- Shopify, Pricing (India) —
- Shopify Help Center, Supported countries for Shopify Payments —
- Shopify Theme Store, free and paid themes —
- Shopify, Domains —
- FactoryJet, Shopify Development Cost in 2026 —
- Roboto Studio, Headless Shopify: what it costs and when it’s worth it —
- CartCoders, How Much Does It Cost to Hire a Shopify Developer in 2026? —
- Judge.me, Pricing —