Shopify website cost: setup, apps and monthly fees

Key takeaways

A Shopify website for a UK small business typically costs £2,000 to £15,000 to set up with a designer, plus a monthly plan, payment fees and apps. Shopify's entry plans start at a few tens of pounds a month, with card fees on each sale and apps often adding £20 to £200 a month. Running costs grow with sales, so model them before choosing.

• Designer-built Shopify store: about £2,000 to £15,000.
• Monthly plan: from tens of pounds, rising by tier.
• Apps: often £20 to £200 a month in total.
• Card fees: a percentage plus a fixed fee per sale.

How much does a Shopify store cost to set up?

A Shopify store costs about £2,000 to £5,000 to set up with a freelancer using a paid theme, and £5,000 to £15,000 with an agency doing custom design, product loading, migration and integrations. These are typical UK ranges. Self-built stores cost less in cash but take significant owner time.

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What are Shopify's monthly costs?

Shopify's monthly costs are the plan fee, card processing fees on each sale and any paid apps. Plan prices and card rates are published on Shopify's UK pricing page and change from time to time, so check them before budgeting. Higher plans lower card rates and add features.

• Plan fee: tiered, billed monthly or yearly.
• Card fees: a percentage plus a fixed amount per transaction.
• Extra fee if you use a third-party payment provider.
• Apps for reviews, subscriptions, upsells or shipping.

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What does a worked monthly example look like?

A worked example: a small UK store selling £8,000 a month might pay a plan fee in the tens of pounds, card fees of roughly £160 to £200 depending on rate, and £60 in apps. Total platform cost is then around £250 to £300 a month, about 3% to 4% of sales.

Is Shopify cheaper than WooCommerce?

Shopify is usually cheaper and faster to set up than WooCommerce, with hosting, security and updates included. WooCommerce has no plan fee but needs hosting, care and often paid extensions. At higher sales, the comparison depends on card rates, apps and how much custom work you need.

• WooCommerce website cost compared with Shopify

When is Shopify the wrong choice?

Shopify is the wrong choice for very complex catalogues needing deep custom logic, businesses that sell only services, or stores that need full control of hosting and code. In those cases, WooCommerce or a custom build may suit, at a higher care cost.

What does this look like in practice?

At Global Bridge Labs (GBL), we reviewed a UK homeware store paying for nine Shopify apps at £240 a month. Three duplicated features already in the theme, and two were for campaigns that had ended. Removing them saved over £1,000 a year without losing any sales features.

• See client work
• Website Design & Development for UK businesses

Shopify cost checklist

• Check current plan prices on Shopify's UK page.
• Estimate card fees from expected sales.
• List every app and its monthly fee.
• Budget for a paid theme if needed.
• Price product loading and migration.
• Review apps every quarter.

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Next step

Take last year's online sales and model card fees and apps at that level. Platform cost as a share of sales is the figure to watch.