How Much Does It Cost to Build a Shopify Website? (2026)
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How much does it cost to build a Shopify website? Shopify’s own pages show most of the bill: a plan from $19 a month billed yearly (US page, October 2026), a theme, a domain and apps, plus a fee for third-party payment providers. Hired help has no published price. It is a quote from whoever you choose.
Quick verdict
Build it yourself if you can start from a free theme and free app plans. Shopify’s Theme Store lists 24 free themes, and the listings of three apps show a free plan. From: Basic at $19 a month billed yearly, $25 billed monthly (US page, October 2026).
Hire help if you need work beyond theme settings and apps. Shopify’s Partners directory lists store build or redesign, store migration, theme customization and headless commerce as services, with prices set by each partner.
Compare Shopify plan prices paid link
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Key takeaways
- Shopify’s US pricing page lists Basic at $25 a month, or $19 a month billed yearly. Grow is $65 or $49. Advanced is $399 or $299 (October 2026).
- Yearly billing on Basic costs $228 a year against $300 billed monthly. The saving is $72, or 24%.
- Themes are free or paid. Of the 49 paid themes read on the Theme Store, prices ran from $100 to $420. The theme page we opened says “One-time payment, lifetime license for your store.”
- Shopify’s domain page says domains typically start at $9 a year. Its Help Center shows no price and says it depends on the extension.
- In the worked example below, a store with one paid theme and two paid apps costs at least $857 in the first 12 months. Card fees, taxes and hired help are extra.
How we checked. We read Shopify’s pricing and domains pages, its Theme Store, three App Store listings and Help Center pages on domains and themes. We opened no account and bought nothing. Not checked: a card rate per plan for the US, a domain price for one named extension, taxes, and what any expert charges.
Pages checked 22 October 2026 (US pages, USD). Shopify shows different prices by country.
Should you build the store yourself or hire help?
Build it yourself when a theme and apps cover what you need. Hire help when the work goes past that, and budget for it separately, because hired help has no published price.
If you sell online and plan to build the store yourself, the plan price is the next thing to check.
See Shopify plan prices paid link
Four questions help you decide:
- How many products? A short catalog fits a theme’s own settings. A large catalog, or one you must move from another platform, is where Shopify’s directory lists migration and product setup services.
- Do you need custom design? A theme is a ready design. The directory lists “Theme customization” and “Store build or redesign” as separate services.
- How much of your own time can you give? If you have little time, compare a quote with the value of your own hours.
- Are you comfortable choosing a theme and apps? The Help Center says a paid theme is licensed to the store where you bought it.
Ask any expert for four things: a written scope, what the quote includes, what happens if the scope grows, and who holds the theme license.
On who to hire: Shopify’s Partners directory describes partners as working independently, so you set the project terms with them. It lets you filter by price, location and services, and lists no prices on its category page. Shopify’s directory calls them Shopify Experts. If you are still weighing platforms, see our list of other Shopify alternatives.
How much does a Shopify plan cost?
Basic costs $25 a month billed monthly, or $19 a month billed yearly, on Shopify’s US pricing page (checked 22 October 2026). Grow and Advanced cost more. Plus starts at $2,300 a month on the same page.
| Plan | Monthly billing | Billed yearly (per month) | Third-party gateway fee | Date checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | $25 | $19 | 2% | 22 Oct 2026 |
| Grow | $65 | $49 | 1% | 22 Oct 2026 |
| Advanced | $399 | $299 | 0.6% | 22 Oct 2026 |
The pricing page lists themes and templates as included on all four plans. The gateway fee applies when you use a payment provider other than Shopify’s own. For what each plan includes, read our Shopify plan prices explained.
How much does a Shopify theme cost?
A theme costs nothing or between $100 and $420 among the paid themes we read. The Theme Store lists 24 free themes and 1,321 paid ones (checked 22 October 2026).
We read two full pages of the paid list and one card of a third, 49 themes in all, not every listing. The lowest listed price was $100 (Drift, Razor and Sable). The highest was $420 (Serenity and Fern). Other pages may show lower or higher prices. The Veloza listing at $200 says “One-time payment, lifetime license for your store.” We read that wording on one theme page only, so check it on the theme you pick.
Shopify’s Help Center says you can preview up to 19 paid themes at the same time, and that theme purchases are considered final sale. Our Shopify themes to start from guide narrows the list.
How much does a domain cost?
Shopify’s domains page says domains “typically start at $9 USD/year, billed annually” (US page, checked 22 October 2026). The exact price depends on the extension and is shown in your admin before you buy.
The Help Center adds that a domain bought through Shopify is registered for one year and renewed annually. Renewals are charged separately from your plan, and purchases are non-refundable. The domains page says renewal pricing may differ from the first purchase. Every store is given a myshopify.com address by default, and the domains page offers a free Shopify-branded subdomain. If you connect a domain you already own, you keep paying and renewing it at your current provider. The Help Center page shows no price for connecting.
How much do Shopify apps cost?
In the three listings below, apps run from free to $20 a month (checked 22 October 2026). Each listing shows its own price, separate from your plan price. See Shopify apps worth a look for more.
| App (listing) | Free plan | Lowest paid plan as listed | Billing as listed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Judge.me (product reviews) | “Forever Free” | Awesome, $15 a month | Billed every 30 days, in USD |
| Klaviyo (email and SMS) | Up to 250 contacts | Email, $20 a month for 251 to 500 contacts | Monthly, every 30 days, in USD |
| Shopify Search & Discovery | Listed as Free | None listed | No billing terms on the listing |
Klaviyo’s listing says “External charges may be billed by Klaviyo separately from your Shopify invoice.” Read each listing for where the charge appears.
What payment fees will you pay?
Shopify’s US pricing page shows no card rate per plan. It shows only a third-party provider fee: 2% on Basic, 1% on Grow, 0.6% on Advanced (checked 22 October 2026).
The page’s FAQ says “Shopify charges a small fee to allow you to accept major credit cards” and that the fees “vary depending on the plan that you choose.” We give no card rate here for that reason. Read your own country’s pricing page, then our guide to Shopify fees per sale.
What does a Shopify website cost in total? Three examples
The total depends on how many of the extras you add. Example A, a plan with a free theme and no apps, comes to at least $237 in the first 12 months. Example B, with one paid theme and two paid apps, comes to at least $857.
Hypothetical stores. Each uses the Basic plan billed yearly (US), a domain at the “starts at” price of $9 a year, and 12 months. Example B adds the Veloza theme at $200 and two apps at their listed monthly prices times 12: Judge.me Awesome at $15 and Klaviyo Email at $20. Klaviyo Email at $20 applies to 251 to 500 contacts; its listing shows up to 250 contacts as free.
| Cost line | A: free theme, no apps | B: paid theme, two apps | C: B plus hired help |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic plan, billed yearly | 12 x $19 = $228 | $228 | $228 |
| Theme | $0 (free theme) | $200 (Veloza listing) | $200 |
| Domain, from | $9 | $9 | $9 |
| Judge.me Awesome | $0 | 12 x $15 = $180 | $180 |
| Klaviyo Email | $0 | 12 x $20 = $240 | $240 |
| Expert quote | $0 | $0 | Your number |
| First 12 months | $237 | $857 | $857 plus your quote |
Example A: $228 + $0 + $9 = $237. Example B: $228 + $200 + $9 + $180 + $240 = $857. Example C adds a quote from a hired expert. We show no figure for it because Shopify publishes none.
Billing monthly instead of yearly changes the plan line. Basic would cost 12 x $25 = $300, so yearly billing saves $300 – $228 = $72. As a share of the monthly price, that is ($25 – $19) / $25 = 24%.
How can you keep the cost down?
Pick the options with a listed price of zero first. Each tip below follows from a figure on this page.
- Bill the plan yearly. On Basic that saves $72 a year (24%) against monthly billing. The saving is the gap between $25 and $19, times 12.
- Start with a free theme. The Theme Store lists 24. Moving to a paid theme later adds a one-time cost, as listed on the theme page we read.
- Preview before you buy a theme. The Help Center says purchases are final sale, and you can preview up to 19 paid themes.
- Use free app plans while you are small. Judge.me and Klaviyo list free plans. Check the contact or order limits before you rely on them.
- Check the domain price in your admin. It is shown before you buy, and domain purchases are non-refundable.
Is a Shopify website worth the cost?
It is worth it when the total in your own version of the table above is lower than what you expect the store to earn after costs. Example B is at least $857 in the first year before card fees and taxes. Whether a store covers that depends on its sales, which no figure on this page predicts. Our is Shopify worth it review covers the trade-offs.
FAQs
Sources
- Shopify pricing page, shopify.com/pricing (US, USD, checked 22 October 2026)
- Shopify domains page, shopify.com/domains (US, checked 22 October 2026)
- Shopify Partners directory, shopify.com/partners/directory and shopify.com/partners/directory/services/store-setup (checked 22 October 2026)
- Shopify Theme Store: paid themes, free themes and the Veloza theme page (checked 22 October 2026)
- Shopify Help Center: buying domains, adding a domain and adding themes (checked 22 October 2026)
- Shopify App Store listings: Judge.me, Klaviyo and Shopify Search & Discovery (checked 22 October 2026)
