Short answer: A new Shopify store built on a customised premium theme typically costs $2,500–$10,000, while a fully custom build with bespoke design and functionality runs $15,000–$50,000+. Migrating an existing store generally costs $5,000–$25,000 depending on catalogue size and how much history moves across. Shopify’s own subscription is separate, from $39/month on Basic up to $2,300+/month for Plus.
The Three Costs People Confuse
Almost every confusing Shopify quote comes from mixing up three separate things:
- Platform subscription — paid to Shopify monthly, regardless of who builds your store
- Build or migration cost — paid once to your development partner
- Ongoing running costs — apps, transaction fees, and maintenance, which continue indefinitely
A quote that looks cheap often excludes the second or third of these. Get all three on the table before comparing anything.
Shopify Platform Costs (Paid to Shopify)
These are fixed by Shopify and identical no matter who develops your store. Note that the plan formerly called simply “Shopify” is now named Grow, so older guides may use different names for the same tier.
| Plan | Monthly cost | Card rate (online) |
|---|---|---|
| Starter | $5 | Checkout links only, not a full store |
| Basic | $39 ($29 billed yearly) | 2.9% + 30¢ |
| Grow | $105 ($79 billed yearly) | 2.7% + 30¢ |
| Advanced | $399 ($299 billed yearly) | 2.5% + 30¢ |
| Plus | From $2,300 on a 3-year term | Negotiated rates |
Annual billing reduces Basic, Grow and Advanced by roughly 25%. Using a third-party payment gateway instead of Shopify Payments adds a surcharge on top of your gateway’s own fees, which is a common and avoidable cost for new merchants.
Cost to Build a New Shopify Store
Build cost depends far more on how much of the design and functionality is bespoke than on how many products you sell.
| Build type | Typical cost |
|---|---|
| Premium theme, lightly configured | $1,000–$2,500 |
| Customised premium theme, branded design | $2,500–$10,000 |
| Custom theme development (from scratch) | From $2,500, commonly $8,000–$20,000 |
| Custom build with bespoke functionality or integrations | $15,000–$50,000+ |
| Headless build (Hydrogen or similar) | $40,000–$150,000+ |
What pushes a build toward the top of its range
- Custom design rather than adapting an existing theme
- Bespoke functionality that no app provides, requiring custom Liquid or a private app
- Integrations with an ERP, PIM, subscription system or accounting platform
- Complex product configurations, such as many variants or made-to-order options
- B2B pricing, wholesale tiers or customer-specific catalogues
- Multi-currency, multi-language or multi-region storefronts
What keeps a build at the lower end
- Starting from a well-matched premium theme, typically $150–$400 one-off
- Using established apps rather than commissioning custom features
- A catalogue you can supply cleanly, with images and copy ready
- Locking the scope before development begins rather than adding requirements mid-build
Cost to Migrate an Existing Store to Shopify
Migration costs more than most people expect, because the work is rarely just moving products. Roughly, expect $5,000–$25,000, with large or heavily customised stores exceeding that.
| Migrating from | Typical cost | Main complication |
|---|---|---|
| Wix, Squarespace or a small WooCommerce store | $3,000–$8,000 | Usually small catalogues and few integrations |
| Mid-size WooCommerce store | $6,000–$15,000 | Plugin functionality has no direct Shopify equivalent |
| Magento | $15,000–$50,000+ | Complex data models and heavy customisation |
| BigCommerce | $6,000–$18,000 | Broadly similar structures, so mostly data and URL work |
| Shopify to Shopify Plus | $8,000–$30,000 | Rebuilding for B2B, checkout extensibility or Functions |
What you are actually paying for in a migration
- Product and variant data, including options that map awkwardly onto Shopify’s structure
- Customer accounts, which cannot carry passwords across and need an invite flow
- Order history, if you need it retained rather than archived
- URL mapping and redirects, the single most important item for protecting rankings
- Replacing plugin functionality with Shopify apps or custom code
- Rebuilding the theme, since front-end code never transfers between platforms
- Testing checkout, tax and shipping against real scenarios before launch
The redirect work deserves particular attention. A migration that changes URL structures without a complete redirect map can lose a large share of organic traffic, and recovering it costs far more than doing the mapping properly in the first place.
Ongoing Costs After Launch
| Item | Typical cost |
|---|---|
| Shopify subscription | $39–$399/month, or $2,300+ for Plus |
| Apps | $50–$500/month depending on stack |
| Payment processing | 2.5%–2.9% + 30¢ per transaction |
| Premium theme | $150–$400 one-off |
| Ongoing development support | From $3,999/month for a dedicated developer |
App costs are the item most often underestimated. Each app looks inexpensive alone, but a typical store runs several, and subscriptions compound. Auditing the app stack periodically is worth doing.
How to Budget Realistically
- Decide first whether your requirements genuinely need custom work, or whether a customised premium theme covers them. This single decision moves the figure more than anything else.
- For migrations, count integrations rather than products. Ten thousand simple products is easier than two hundred products tied to an ERP.
- Budget separately for the first three months post-launch, when real traffic surfaces issues no amount of testing catches.
- Ask what is excluded from the quote, particularly content entry, redirect mapping and app configuration.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to build a Shopify store?
A customised premium theme build typically costs $2,500 to $10,000. Custom theme development starts from $2,500 and commonly lands between $8,000 and $20,000, while fully custom builds with bespoke functionality or integrations run $15,000 to $50,000 or more. Shopify’s own subscription is separate, starting at $39 per month.
How much does it cost to migrate to Shopify from WooCommerce?
A small WooCommerce store usually costs $3,000 to $8,000 to migrate, and a mid-size store $6,000 to $15,000. The main cost driver is not product count but replacing plugin functionality that has no direct Shopify equivalent, along with mapping old URLs to new ones so search rankings are preserved.
What is the cheapest way to launch a Shopify store?
Start on the Basic plan at $39 per month, use a premium theme costing $150 to $400 rather than commissioning custom design, and keep the app stack minimal. This suits a straightforward catalogue, though it limits how distinctive the storefront can look and how much custom functionality you can add later without rework.
Does migrating to Shopify hurt SEO?
It can, but only if redirects are handled poorly. Search rankings are usually preserved when every old URL is mapped to its new equivalent with permanent redirects before launch. Migrations that change URL structures without a complete redirect map are the most common cause of traffic loss, and recovery costs far more than doing the mapping correctly at the outset.
How long does a Shopify build or migration take?
A customised theme build typically takes 3 to 6 weeks. Custom builds usually run 8 to 16 weeks, and migrations 6 to 12 weeks depending on catalogue size, how much order history moves across, and how many integrations need rebuilding.
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