What Does It Cost to Have a Shopify Store Built? 2026 Prices

You want an online shop on Shopify, but before you start you want to know where you stand financially. Understandable, because "what does it cost to have a Shopify store built?" is a question with wildly different answers floating around online, from a few hundred euros to well over €100,000. In this article we set out honestly what you really pay: the fixed costs of Shopify itself, what the build costs, which factors determine the price and which costs are easy to overlook.

What does a Shopify store cost? The short answer

A Shopify store comes with two types of cost: the ongoing costs of the platform and the one-off cost of having it built.

The ongoing costs start with the Shopify subscription at around €25 to €40 a month. Having an SME online shop built by a professional agency costs between €4,000 and €15,000 on average. A simple start can be done for €3,000 to €5,000, while fully custom work runs towards €20,000 or more.

That spread seems large, but it makes sense once you know which factors come into play. Below we explain each component.

The monthly costs of Shopify itself

Shopify is a subscription service. You rent the platform and pay every month. There are several tiers: an entry-level plan, a mid-tier plan and an advanced plan for higher volumes.

The entry-level plan (Basic) costs around €25 to €40 a month. The exact price depends on your region and whether you pay monthly or annually. Paying annually typically gets you a discount of around a quarter. The advanced plan goes up to roughly €289 a month. Shopify adjusts its rates periodically, so always check Shopify's official pricing page for the exact amount.

On top of the subscription there are transaction fees. If you use an external payment provider, Shopify charges an extra fee of around 2 percent on the entry-level plan, and less on higher plans. If you use Shopify Payments, that extra fee disappears and you only pay the standard card processing rate. For most Dutch online shops, Shopify Payments is therefore the cheaper option, especially if you have a high turnover.

The cost of having your store built

The subscription gives you an empty platform. The real investment lies in building an online shop that fits your brand, your products and your customers. This is where the big price spread comes from. Broadly speaking, there are three levels.

An off-the-shelf theme

If you choose an existing Shopify theme and fill it with your own products and copy, the build costs stay low. You pay a one-off fee for a theme and mainly invest your own time. This suits anyone just starting out who wants to test the shop before committing serious budget. The downside: your shop looks like thousands of others and you soon run into the limits of the theme.

A professional store on a customised theme

This is where most SMEs end up. An agency takes a strong base theme and adapts it to your brand identity, navigation, product presentation and conversion points. You get integrations with your payment methods, shipping providers and accounting software, and the shop is set up for search visibility and speed. Expect to pay roughly €4,000 to €15,000 for this. A solid starter shop is often around €3,000 to €5,000, while a more extensive shop built for growth runs towards €12,000 to €20,000.

Fully custom

With fully custom work, the theme is built from the ground up, often with specific functionality that doesn't exist as standard. Think of complex product configurators, integrations with an ERP system or a unique checkout flow. The cost of a custom theme starts at around €5,000 and, for large projects, runs to over €20,000. This only pays off when standard functionality is genuinely holding you back.

Which factors determine the price?

Two online shops on the same subscription can differ in build cost by a factor of ten. That comes down to these factors:

• Number of products and variants. Setting up ten products is very different from a catalogue of thousands of items with sizes, colours and stock rules.
• Design and brand identity. A customised standard theme is ready sooner than a completely unique design.
• Integrations. Every integration with accounting, inventory management, an ERP system or an external shipping provider takes development time.
• Custom functionality. Subscriptions, bundles, a quote module or a configurator require extra work.
• Migration. If you're moving from an existing online shop, products, customers, orders and URL structure all need to come across cleanly. A poor migration will cost you your search visibility.
• Multiple languages. A shop in several languages or for several countries is more complex than a Dutch-only shop.

A good agency maps out these points upfront and translates them into a well-founded quote, instead of plucking a price out of thin air.

Hidden costs to watch out for

The subscription and build costs are only part of the picture. Factor in these items as well:

• Apps. You add a lot of functionality through apps from the Shopify App Store. Some are free, others cost €10 to €100 a month. Three or four paid apps soon add up.
• Premium theme. A good paid theme typically costs a one-off €150 to €400.
• Domain name. Your own domain costs a few dozen euros a year.
• Content. Product photos, copy and category pages don't create themselves. Don't underestimate the time and cost involved.
• Maintenance and further development. An online shop isn't a one-off project. Updates, new campaigns and optimisations need ongoing attention.

Add all this up, and the fixed monthly costs of subscription, apps and support come to between €85 and €850 a month for many online shops, depending on how extensive your shop is.

One-off or ongoing: calculate the total cost

The mistake many business owners make is looking only at the build price. An online shop that costs €5,000 to build but is never optimised afterwards delivers less than one that cost €10,000 and is then actively improved.

So calculate the total cost over, say, two years: build costs, plus subscription, plus apps, plus maintenance and further development. Only then do you see what an online shop really costs you, and can you weigh it fairly against what it brings in. A slow or poorly performing shop also costs you money indirectly, because visitors drop off. We wrote previously about how a slow online shop loses customers and what you can do about it.

Shopify or another platform?

Shopify is popular because it's stable, loads quickly and needs little technical maintenance. You don't have to worry about servers, security updates or hosting, because that's all included in the subscription. The flip side of that peace of mind is the ongoing subscription and transaction fees.

An alternative such as WooCommerce has no fixed subscription, but you do pay for hosting, maintenance and security yourself. Which choice works out cheaper depends on your situation. We compare the two in our article WooCommerce vs Shopify. If you want to look more broadly at what an online shop or website costs in general, also read what it costs to have a website built in 2026.

What to look for when choosing an agency

Price doesn't tell the whole story. A cheap shop that doesn't convert is expensive; an expensive shop that does sell is an investment. When choosing a provider, look for:

• A well-founded quote. A serious agency explains how the price is built up and asks questions before naming a figure.
• Ownership. You must own your Shopify account, your domain and your content. Ask about this explicitly.
• Search visibility and speed. A beautiful shop that can't be found or loads slowly isn't doing its job.
• Aftercare. What happens after launch? Is there support, and what does further development cost?
• Proven experience. Ask about previous Shopify projects and, where possible, their results.

At TRON Group, we build Shopify stores for Dutch SMEs based on exactly those principles. We first map out your goals, products and integrations, and then give you an honest, well-founded price, with no surprises afterwards. See how we work on our page about having a Shopify store built.

Frequently asked questions about the cost of a Shopify store

What does a Shopify store cost per month?

The monthly costs consist of the subscription (around €25 to €40 for the entry-level plan) plus any paid apps and support. In practice, many online shops come to between €85 and €850 a month, depending on how extensive the shop is.

How much does it cost to have a Shopify store built?

For a professional SME online shop, the build price averages between €4,000 and €15,000. A simple start can be done for €3,000 to €5,000, while fully custom work runs towards €20,000 or more.

Can I build a Shopify store myself to save money?

You can. With an off-the-shelf theme and your own time, you keep the build costs low. You save money but invest time, and your shop will soon look like many others. For an online shop you want to generate serious revenue with, professional help usually pays for itself.

Are there any costs besides the subscription and the build?

Yes. Expect transaction fees, paid apps, a premium theme, a domain name, content such as product photos and copy, and ongoing maintenance. Together, these items determine the real cost of your online shop.

What determines whether my online shop is at the expensive or cheap end?

Mainly the number of products, the degree of customisation in design and functionality, the number of integrations with other systems, and whether a migration is needed. The more of these, the higher the investment.

Conclusion

What a Shopify store costs depends mainly on what you want to do with it. The ongoing costs of Shopify itself are manageable, starting at around €25 to €40 a month. The real investment lies in the build: an average of €4,000 to €15,000 for a professional SME online shop, with higher outliers for fully custom work. Always look at the total cost over several years, including apps and maintenance, and weigh that against what the shop brings in.

Want an honest, well-founded price for your online shop, with no surprises afterwards? Call TRON Group on +31 85 303 5869 or take a look at our approach to having a Shopify store built. We're happy to help you work out what suits your goals and budget. Already have an online shop that's slow or doesn't convert? Then we'll help you make that shop faster and better, or build the custom integrations you need through our software development team.