How Much Does It Cost to Build a Shopify Store? A Line-by-Line Breakdown

You have a launch date and a rough budget, but every quote and guide you find gives you a different number. Most of that confusion comes from mixing two separate bills: what you pay once to build the store, and what you pay every month to run it. This breakdown separates the two, so you can work out how much it costs to build a Shopify store for your own situation.

Short answer: Building a Shopify store costs a one-time build amount (theme, setup labor, product entry) plus monthly running costs (Shopify's Basic plan at $25 a month billed monthly, apps, payment fees). A DIY build on a free theme costs little up front; hired builds cost more as scope grows.

Disclosure: this post contains affiliate links for Shopify and Namecheap. If you sign up through them, Meghbalika Tech may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

Key takeaways

• Shopify store costs split into one-time build costs, such as a theme and setup work, and monthly running costs, such as the Shopify plan and app subscriptions.
• Shopify's pricing page listed the Basic plan at $25 USD a month billed monthly, or $19 a month billed yearly, in October 2026.
• Paid themes from the Shopify Theme Store are licensed only to the store that bought them, and Shopify's own free themes cost nothing.
• Shopify charges an extra third-party transaction fee on orders processed by a third-party payment provider, at a rate that depends on the plan, and none on orders paid through Shopify Payments.
• The biggest drivers of a hired Shopify build's price are custom design work, catalog size, data migration and third-party integrations.

What are the two kinds of Shopify store costs?

Every Shopify budget has a one-time column and a monthly column. One-time costs get the store live; monthly costs keep it running for as long as it's open.

• One-time costs: a paid theme, setup and design labor, product and collection entry, moving data from an old platform, and any custom features.
• Monthly costs: the Shopify plan, app subscriptions and payment processing, plus yearly items like your domain.

Quotes that mix the two are hard to compare. Take a hypothetical pair: a $1,500 build that needs $300 a month in apps costs $8,700 over two years, while a $2,500 build that needs $50 a month costs $3,700. The cheaper quote turned out to be the expensive store.

What does the Shopify plan cost each month?

The Shopify plan is the one fixed monthly cost every store pays: $25 to $399 a month billed monthly from Basic to Advanced, and from $2,300 on Plus. These are the USD prices listed on Shopify's pricing page on October 13, 2026:

Plan	Billed monthly	Billed yearly (per month)	Extra fee with a third-party payment provider
Basic	$25	$19	2%
Grow	$65	$49	1%
Advanced	$399	$299	0.6%
Plus	Starts at $2,300	Not listed	0.2%

Plan prices change and can differ by region, so check current pricing before you set a budget. Yearly billing lowers the effective monthly rate, which Shopify's pricing overview also notes.

The third-party fee is the one people miss. Shopify doesn't charge it on orders paid through Shopify Payments, Shop Pay or manual payment methods, but it does apply when a third-party provider processes the payment (Shopify exempts PayPal when Shopify Payments is your main provider). On stores created on or after May 12, 2025, it also applies to the part of an order paid with store credit or gift cards.

Card processing rates are a separate per-order cost that varies by plan, so budget them as a percentage of sales rather than a fixed line.

How much does it cost to build a Shopify store, line by line?

The build cost is the sum of a handful of line items, and you can do some of them yourself for free. The table compares doing each one yourself with hiring it out, using Meghbalika Tech's starting prices as the hired example. Meghbalika Tech is a Shopify service partner that builds, migrates and redesigns stores.

Line item	Do it yourself	Hire it out (example starting prices)
Theme	Free Shopify theme: $0. Paid Theme Store theme: a one-time price	Same theme cost; customization is extra
Store build (settings, shipping, taxes, payments, navigation, pages)	Your time	Store build starting at $800
Theme customization	Your time in the theme editor	Theme customization starting at $500
Product and collection setup	Your time; Shopify's CSV import is free	Product and collection setup starting at $100
Migration from another platform	Shopify's Store Migration app is free	Store migration starting at $800
Apps added during the build	Free plans or monthly subscriptions	Same subscriptions, plus setup time
Domain	Yearly registration fee	Same fee

The hired prices are floors, not totals. They come from Meghbalika's listing on Shopify's Partner Directory, and final quotes depend on scope.

The theme figures come from Shopify itself. Shopify says free themes are developed by Shopify and a paid theme is licensed only to the store you bought it for. The first page of paid Theme Store listings we viewed in October 2026 (24 of more than 1,000 paid themes) ranged from $150 to $450, and one premium listing describes its price as a one-time payment with a lifetime license for your store. Updates to Theme Store themes are free to add.

Moving from another platform? Migration has its own hidden costs, from replacement apps to customer account invites. Our Shopify migration cost breakdown covers each one, and the WooCommerce to Shopify migration checklist shows the work involved for one common move.

What makes a Shopify build cost more?

A build costs more when it needs custom work, more data, or more systems connected to each other. Check these drivers before you ask for quotes, because each one changes the scope.

1. Custom design. Layouts or sections your theme doesn't include need code, not just theme settings.
2. Catalog size and structure. Thirty products and three thousand are different jobs. Shopify allows up to 2,048 variants and three options per product, so very large option sets need planning.
3. Data migration. Products, customers, historical orders, blog posts and gift cards each move differently.
4. Integrations. Inventory systems, email marketing, reviews and custom apps all need setup and testing.
5. Content. Product photography, descriptions and translated languages take real hours.
6. Store features. Bundles, size charts, pre-orders and product tabs each add a little.

Driver	Why it adds cost	Keep it lean by
Custom design	Layouts the theme doesn't include need code	Choosing a theme close to your layout
Catalog size and structure	More products, variants and options to enter and check	Planning options before entry (max 2,048 variants, 3 options)
Data migration	Products, customers, orders, blogs and gift cards move differently	Moving only the data you'll use
Integrations	Inventory, email, reviews and custom apps need setup and testing	Listing must-haves vs later
Content	Photos, descriptions and translations take hours	Supplying final content up front
Store features	Bundles, size charts, pre-orders and tabs each add a little	Launching core features first

What does a first year cost? A hypothetical example

Adding up both columns for 12 months gives you the number to budget. Here's a hypothetical store to show how it works.

Say you sell 40 products, choose the Basic plan billed monthly, buy a $320 paid theme, run two apps at $10 a month each, and pay $20 a year for a domain. Your first year looks like this:

• Theme: $320, paid once
• Plan: $300 (12 × $25)
• Apps: $240 (2 × $10 × 12)
• Domain: $20
• Total: $880, plus your time

Switching to yearly billing would cut the plan line from $300 to $228 (12 × $19). If you hire the build, the running costs stay the same and the labor goes on top. Hiring replaces your time in the one-time column; it doesn't remove the monthly column.

When is hiring help not worth it?

Hiring help is not worth it when your store fits a free theme as it comes and your catalog is small enough to enter by hand. Shopify's own tools cover that work well, and many first stores start this way.

You can usually handle these yourself:

• Picking a free theme and changing colors, fonts and sections in the theme editor.
• Adding a few dozen products by hand or with Shopify's product CSV import.
• Moving products, and on some platforms customers, with Shopify's free Store Migration app, which imports from platforms including WooCommerce, Wix and Etsy.
• Adding filters with the free Search & Discovery app and sign-up forms with Shopify Forms.
• Following Shopify's migration guide for shipping, taxes, payments and test orders.

DIY has trade-offs too. Your time has a cost, and mistakes in shipping rates, tax settings or payment setup show up as lost orders or support emails after launch. Hiring has its own risk: a low quote can hide a narrow scope, so ask what's excluded before you compare prices. If you're unsure who to hire, our guide to choosing a Shopify expert, freelancer or agency compares the options by job type.

How do I get an accurate build quote?

You get an accurate quote by giving every provider the same written scope. A short brief makes quotes comparable and cuts the back-and-forth.

1. List the pages you need: home, collection, product, about, contact, policies and any landing pages.
2. Count your products and variants, and say whether you'll supply photos and descriptions.
3. Name the theme, or say you need help choosing one.
4. List the apps and integrations you already use or want.
5. Say what moves from an old platform: products, customers, orders, blog posts, reviews.
6. Share two or three stores you like and what you like about them.
7. Give your deadline and how much support you want after launch.

Then compare quotes line by line: what's included, how many revisions, and what happens after launch.

Building it yourself? Open the account in your own name from Shopify's free trial page, build on one of Shopify's free themes, and add paid apps only when a free one can't do the job. That keeps the one-time column small while you learn what the store needs. For the domain line, you can buy a domain inside Shopify or from a registrar such as Namecheap and connect it later.

FAQ

Can I build a Shopify store for free?

You can't sell on Shopify for free, because a live store needs a paid plan. You can keep build costs close to zero by using a free Shopify theme, entering products yourself and starting with free apps. In October 2026, Shopify's pricing page listed a trial of 3 days free, then $1 a month for 3 months, before regular plan pricing applies.

Is a paid Shopify theme a monthly cost?

No. A paid theme from the Shopify Theme Store is bought once and licensed only to the store that bought it, and later updates from the Theme Store are free to add. The first page of paid listings we viewed in October 2026 ranged from $150 to $450. Shopify's own free themes cost nothing, so a paid theme is optional.

How much should I budget for Shopify apps each month?

Start by listing the jobs you need done, then check whether Shopify's free apps cover them before adding paid ones. Shopify publishes free apps such as Search & Discovery for filters and Shopify Forms for sign-up forms. Paid apps usually bill monthly, and Shopify notes that app billing cycles can differ from your plan's billing date.

Get a quote for your build

If you'd rather hand off the build, Meghbalika Tech's Complete Store Setup service is the place to start. Store builds start at $800 on Shopify's Partner Directory, where Meghbalika is rated 4.9 from 351 reviews (October 2026), and final quotes depend on scope. Tell us about your store and get a quote.