How much does an ecommerce website cost?

What does an online store cost on Shopify and on WooCommerce?

Shopify is a hosted platform: you pay it a monthly plan, and hosting comes with it. WooCommerce is a free plugin for WordPress: there’s no plan to pay, but you pay a host of your choice. Here are the two side by side, from each platform’s own pages, in US dollars, as we read them on 21 October 2026.

Shopify’s own cost guide (updated 3 September 2026) puts a solo seller’s store, with the plan, a free theme, a domain and essential apps, at $30 to $100 a month, and a growing business at $100 to $500 a month. WooCommerce’s pricing page has a tool to estimate your own costs.

On WooCommerce, keeping the site up to date is part of running it: WordPress.org says you should always update WordPress to the latest version, and most sites apply its minor and security updates by themselves (WordPress.org). Plugins and the theme have updates of their own.

How do the costs differ in the US, the UK and Canada?

Shopify prices its plans in each country’s currency, and both platforms’ payment services charge by country. Our build price doesn’t change: US$1,250 for a Shopify store or US$1,250 for a WooCommerce shop, in all three.

Tax differs by country as well: sales tax in the US, VAT in the UK, and GST/HST in Canada, with PST or QST in some provinces. Each of our Shopify cost guides sets out the official rules for its country. We set up a store’s tax settings with you to match what you’ve confirmed, but we don’t give tax advice.

What does it cost to have an online store built?

Shopify’s own cost guide puts custom-built website development at $2,000 to $20,000 or more, depending on complexity. We build at a fixed price instead, in US dollars, the same in every country, printed before you agree to anything.

What the US$1,250 Shopify store includes, and what it doesn’t:

And the US$1,250 WooCommerce shop:

Payment is in two stages: half to start, half at launch. See what a Shopify store includes and what a WooCommerce shop includes. If you sell on WooCommerce now and want to move, see WooCommerce to Shopify.

Which costs less to run, Shopify or WooCommerce?

It depends on your sales, your apps or extensions, and who looks after the site. Here is a first year in the US at the bottom of each platform’s own figures, before card fees:

• Shopify: Basic paid yearly is $228 ($19 × 12), plus a domain through Shopify from $9, so from $237, with hosting included.
• WooCommerce: the plugin is free, and hosting at the bottom of WooCommerce’s estimate is $300 ($25 × 12), plus a domain at your registrar’s price.

Paid apps or extensions come on top of both. Shopify adds its own fee if you use another payment provider; WooCommerce doesn’t. On WooCommerce, you choose the host, and you or your developer keep WordPress, WooCommerce and the plugins up to date; on Shopify, hosting is part of the plan.

• Shopify tends to suit you if you want one monthly bill with hosting included, and you’ll use Shopify Payments to avoid its extra fee.
• WooCommerce tends to suit you if you already run WordPress, want no platform fee, want to choose your own host and payment provider, and someone will keep it up to date.

We build on both, at the same price, so the choice can rest on what suits your business.

How do I work out what my online store will cost?

1. 01Choose a platform. On Shopify, pick a plan from the tables above, paid monthly or yearly, in your country’s currency.
2. 02On WooCommerce, add hosting: a plan that meets WordPress’s requirements and the traffic you expect, at your host’s price.
3. 03Add card fees: your expected sales times the rate in your country, plus the fixed fee on each order.
4. 04List the apps or extensions you need, with each one’s price from its own page.
5. 05Add the one-off costs: a paid theme if you want one, your domain each year, and the build if you’re hiring someone.

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