“How much does it cost to start a Shopify store?” is one of the most searched — and most misleadingly answered — questions in ecommerce. The honest answer to Shopify store cost is that it ranges from under $50 in your first month to several thousand dollars, depending entirely on how much you do yourself versus have built. Here’s the real breakdown, with no inflated numbers.
The Shopify plan (unavoidable, monthly)
This is the one cost you can’t skip once you go live.
- Basic — ~$39/month. Fine for most new stores.
- Shopify — ~$105/month. Lower card fees and more staff accounts.
- Advanced — ~$399/month. For higher volume and advanced reporting.
Paying annually knocks roughly 25% off. Start on Basic. Upgrading later takes one click, and you should only pay more when your volume actually justifies the lower transaction fees.
Don’t forget transaction fees. Using Shopify Payments, you pay a card rate (around 2.9% + 30¢ on Basic, lower on higher plans). Use a third-party gateway instead and Shopify adds an extra fee on top — a real reason to use Shopify Payments where available.
Domain (small, yearly)
A custom domain runs about $10–$20/year. Buy it through Shopify for simplicity or connect one you already own. This is a rounding error in your budget and completely non-optional.
Theme (free or one-off)
- Free themes (Dawn and its family): $0, and genuinely good — fast, mobile-ready, and enough to launch a real brand.
- Paid themes: a one-off $150–$400. You’re buying design time and pre-built sections, not better performance.
Most stores do not need a paid theme. What they need is thoughtful customization, which is a separate cost discussed below.
Apps (monthly, sneaky)
Apps are where budgets quietly balloon. Typical essentials:
- Email/marketing: $0–$30/month
- Reviews: $0–$20/month
- SEO/analytics helpers: $0–$20/month
- AOV / bundling tools: $0–$30/month
Five apps at $15 each is $75/month — often more than your Shopify plan. Some are free (our own AOV app included), but treat every app as a recurring line item that must earn its cost. Audit the list every quarter and cut what isn’t pulling its weight.
Optional design & development (one-off)
This is the biggest variable, and where the “$29 store” myth falls apart. If you want a store that looks like a brand and converts, you’re either investing your own time or paying for expertise:
- Light customization (branding, homepage layout, a few custom sections): a few hundred to ~$1,500.
- Full custom build (bespoke design, performance work, custom checkout logic): $2,000–$8,000+ depending on scope.
- Migration from another platform: priced separately and depends on catalog size and redirect complexity.
None of this is mandatory to launch — but it’s usually what separates a store that earns from one that just exists.
Putting it together: realistic scenarios
Scrappy DIY launch. Basic plan ($39/mo) + domain ($15/yr) + free theme + one free app. Month one: ~$40. Ongoing: ~$39/month plus card fees. Entirely doable, and the right call for testing an idea.
Serious solo store. Basic plan + domain + a paid theme (one-off $300) + three apps ($50/mo). First month: ~$390, then ~$90/month. This is a common, sensible middle ground.
Professionally built store. Basic or Shopify plan + apps (~$50/mo) + a professional build (one-off $2,000–$5,000). Higher upfront, but every visitor lands on a store engineered to convert — which is the point of spending at all.
Where the money is actually well spent
The recurring costs (plan, domain, essential apps) are cheap and predictable. The decision that actually moves your revenue is the one-off design and development — and spending it badly is worse than not spending it. A slow, generic store on an expensive plan loses money on every visit; a fast, well-built store on the cheapest plan makes it back quickly.
If you’re planning your budget, the smartest first move is a clear-eyed setup plan. Our Shopify store setup service gives you a fixed scope and price so there are no surprises, and our step-by-step guide on how to set up a Shopify store shows exactly what each stage involves.
Not sure where your money should go? Get a free store & profit audit — we’ll review your setup (or your plan) and tell you honestly which costs are worth it and which to skip, before you spend a thing.