Shopify Cost: how much does it cost to launch and run it on monthly basis

Shopify Plans and Pricing for Ecommerce Explained. Choose the Best Shopify pricing for your Ecommerce store. 

Whether you’re starting a new eCommerce store from scratch or thinking about migrating to Shopify from another platform, it’s important to know Shopify’s pricing so you can budget appropriately. Stores of all sizes would do well to understand the initial cost of using Shopify as a platform, as well as the ongoing costs of using one of the biggest eCommerce platforms on the market.

So, how much does Shopify eCommerce cost? What's the real cost of this online business? 

The answer depends on how many features you need and the size of your store. From the very basic plan to a custom enterprise one, the costs vary. Explore the different Shopify plans and learn which one is right for you. 

And if you read to the end, you will learn how to make your Shopify eCommerce even more flexible with a headless storefront.

Who Will Benefit the Most from Shopify? Read this for your online store. Use Shopify in the best way. 

If you’re looking to get your store up and running relatively quickly, Shopify is a great option. Starting from scratch takes less time than migrating existing content, and according to actual Shopify users on community boards, it took most of them anywhere from 1 day to several weeks to launch their store. Of course, this time largely depends on how many products you’re selling, how much customization you want, how many apps you want to install, etc.

The best advice we can give you is to get the basics done and improve your store as you go along. It will only get better.

Established store owners can also benefit from the myriad of options Shopify e-commerce platform offers. That’s the wonderful thing about this powerful platform – it can work just as well for small merchants selling just one or two products for larger, established brands. Just ask Hasbro, Heinz, or Kylie Cosmetics.

Shopify Costs - Cost of Launching. Build an online store with Shopify and start selling.

There is a price to the start of any new venture, including a Shopify store. Don’t forget to include initial Shopify costs and other expenses such as product photography, paying developers and graphic designers, and domain hosting. Despite paying monthly costs, one of the great things about Shopify is that none of its plans have setup fees.

Let’s get into the nitty-gritty of the cost of Shopify e-commerce business with a Shopify plan comparison.

How much is Shopify a month, you might ask yourself? 

Depends on what features you want! Shopify has three regular plans (and two additional plans), each with a different monthly recurring cost and available features. 

Basic Shopify: $29 USD per month

The ‘beginner’ Shopify plan gives you two staff accounts and allows you to add unlimited products and up to 4 inventory locations. These are just a few of the features available; we won’t list them all as it would just take up too much space, but rest assured, you get “All the basics for starting a new business.”

Shopify: $79 USD per month

This is the staple Shopify plan that many businesses choose. In addition to all the perks of Basic Shopify, you also get professional reports and international domains which allows you to set country-specific domains to optimize international SEO.

Advanced Shopify: $299 USD per month

As your store grows, you may need more features, and Advanced Shopify is a great option. Not only do you get 15 staff accounts, advanced report builders, and third-party calculated shipping rates, but you’re also able to sell in up to 5 multiple languages. Great for businesses that are going global and need to appeal to people from other countries.

It should be noted that Shopify also offers two other plans, each on the end of the price spectrum. 

Shopify Lite costs USD $9 per month and allows you to add products to any website or blog and accept credit card payments. It allows you to turn an existing website into an online store by adding ‘Buy’ buttons and creating wholesale, phone, or custom orders.

On the opposite end, we have Shopify Plus – an “Enterprise-grade solution for high volume merchants and large businesses.” More on how much it costs later because it deserves its own section!

Additional Costs and Expenses of Shopify ecommerce. Pros and cons of Shopify. 

Themes

There are over 1,200 Shopify themes, some free and some paid. You can pay as little as $99 USD for a theme or $5K USD for a Shopify Expert to customize an existing template. Remember that once you modify a custom theme, you lose the ability to receive developer updates. Read more about Shopify theme limitations and how to solve them here.

Product Photography

Your smartphone camera may be a pretty powerful tool, but it’s no match for the capability of a professional product photographer. Consumers expect to see your product in the best light, for color variants to look the same, and to see the product from several angles.

Hiring a professional photographer can range anywhere from $25-$250 per hour, and don’t forget to factor in post-production editing costs.

Content Production Costs

Content is an umbrella term that covers creative services such as graphic design, copywriting, and video. While it may not be within your budget to pay for these services when you’re just starting, as your store grows, you should strongly consider professional content creation.

Graphic designer hourly rates range from $15 USD (offshore) to $45 USD per hour. Copywriters and video editors have similar hourly rates, varying by location and years of experience.

Shopify Experts

One of the best things about the Shopify website is access to a verified talent pool of Shopify-verified developers called Shopify Experts, kind of Shopify support. They are agencies and freelancers that offer services like marketing, initial store setup, and development. Prices for these services vary and can be project-based or hourly.

Third-Party Apps

Did you know there are roughly 4,200 Shopify apps?! That’s a pretty impressive number. And while some of them are free to install and use, many are not. They can cost as little as a few bucks a month and up to several hundred.

Shopify Transaction Fee. Shopify Payments 

Shopify charges additional fees for merchants using payment providers other than Shopify Payments. These range from 0.5% to 2.0% per transaction. 

Local Business Fees

Don’t forget to pay the taxman! 

Any business, whether it’s a brick-and-mortar store or an eCommerce one that only exists in the digital space, must pay corporate income tax, both federal and state. These regulations vary state by state and depend on how much you sell online. Other fees include registering your business and incorporating it.

Recurring Costs

What are the ongoing costs of Shopify? While you may only need to pay once for the services of a copywriter, graphic designer or developer, there are monthly and yearly costs that add up.

1. Monthly Shopify Payment: $9 - $299 per month
2. Third-Party Apps: $5-$500+ per month.
3. Product Costs: The wholesale price you pay for your products, or the cost of materials and time that goes into making them.
4. Shipping – You pay for shipping or pass the cost onto your customers. 
5. Hosting – This is relatively inexpensive, anywhere from $10 to $30 per month.

Shopify Competitors Cost Analysis

Platforms like BigCommerce, Magento, and WooCommerce have their own pricing plans, though the open-source platforms (Magento and WooCommerce) are more difficult to price. 

Why? 

Because their software is free, you end up paying nothing if you have the developer skills to build your store independently. Otherwise, you’re on the hook for paying for developer costs which can quickly add up to thousands of dollars. Of course, recurring fees like hosting, product costs, and federal and state taxes apply no matter your platform. 

Look at BigCommerce, which has a comparable pricing system to Shopify.

How Much is Shopify Plus? Sell on Shopify Plus. 

Prices start at USD $2000 per month and onwards. Shopify Plus is geared towards established, large-scale businesses that have outgrown their Advanced Shopify accounts and features. It allows you to operate your main store and 9 expansion stores for your monthly platform fee, with an additional $250 USD per month for each extra store.

Shopify Plus is a white-glove service with Shopify enterprise pricing to match. Remember that the $2000 USD monthly is only a minimum monthly cost. The bigger your store and the more features you want, the pricier it will get. 

You should factor Shopify Plus partners into your budget. These are certified service and app partners (the enterprise equivalent of Shopify Experts) that are chosen for their technical expertise and functionality.

Enhancing eCommerce with Headless Shopify

If you’re not quite at the enterprise level yet, but feel your store requires more customization and is ready to scale, headless eCommerce may be the solution.

From designing your store without compromising functionality to seamlessly selling through multiple touchpoints, headless eCommerce allows you to separate back-end functionality and front-end looks. 

This gives you unprecedented freedom to make your store look exactly how you like without compromising on important features and losing functionality. It’s possible! With headless eCommerce, a designer can create any design without being restricted by back-end coding and limitations.

The Final Word on the Cost of Ownership of a Shopify Store

Put away your calculator because we’ve done the math for you! 

How much does Shopify cost? 

Let’s tally up the expenses of using the most popular eCommerce platform to run your online store. 

Monthly Shopify Fee: $29

Monthly Hosting Fee: $15

Business Registration: $300

Total: $344

That’s it! That’s the bare minimum budget you need to start an eCommerce store using Shopify. 

Of course, we didn’t factor in the cost of sourcing your product, as that’s impossible to predict. We also didn’t factor in the development, content creation, or third-party app costs. These are optional, but while you may not need them at launch, you will soon want customization and functionalities that Shopify doesn’t offer. 

That’s where headless eCommerce can propel your store into looking and functioning exactly how you want it to. We strongly recommend incorporating Headless eCommerce into your budget so that instead of spending money on complicated back-end development, you have complete control of your front end. It’s an investment that will pay for itself over time. If you’re ready to learn more, schedule a demo and see why so many are turning to headless eCommerce solutions.

With our free trial, you can build an online store utilizing Shopify's extensive features and functionalities. Discover how Shopify's centralized business operations can streamline your e-commerce business. Whether you want to sell products online or in physical stores, Shopify's point-of-sale system and payment gateway have you covered. Learn more about Shopify and use our starter plan to start a new business or transform your existing one. Join the ranks of the biggest brands and benefit from a drag-and-drop store creator, content marketing, email campaigns, and more. With Headless Shopify, your online selling experience will be unparalleled, and your customers will enjoy a seamless shopping experience. Explore higher plans to customize the look of your store and reach even more customers.