How Much Does It Cost to Set Up a Shopify Store? (2025 Breakdown)

Shopify's pricing page shows $39/month and stops there. The real cost of running a Shopify store is more complex. Here's the honest breakdown so you don't get surprised.

Shopify plan costs

Basic — $39/month (or $29/month billed annually). Up to 2 staff accounts. 2% transaction fee if you don't use Shopify Payments.

Shopify — $105/month (or $79/month annually). 5 staff accounts. 1% transaction fee.

Advanced — $399/month (or $299/month annually). 15 staff accounts. 0.6% transaction fee. Custom reports.

Shopify Plus — From $2,300/month (enterprise pricing, often negotiable at $500K+ ARR).

For most new stores: start on Basic. The plan upgrade makes sense when the lower transaction fee on higher plans saves you more than the plan cost difference — calculate based on your actual volume.

Domain

$14/year for a .com through Shopify, or $10–12/year through Namecheap. If you're buying a domain from a third party, budget another $10–15/year for email forwarding or a Google Workspace account ($6/month for professional email at your domain).

Theme

Free themes: Dawn, Craft, Sense, Debut — all free, all functional. Dawn is genuinely good and used by serious brands. Don't skip free themes because they're free.

Paid Shopify themes: $100–$400 one-time purchase. Worth it if you need specific features (complex mega-menus, specific layout options) that free themes don't offer.

Third-party themes (ThemeForest): $50–$200. Variable quality. Read reviews carefully and check how recently it was updated.

Custom theme: $5,000–$20,000+ depending on scope and agency. Makes sense when your brand has a specific visual identity that templates can't express, or when you need complex product page logic.

Apps

This is where costs escalate quickly. A typical growing Shopify store's app stack:

• →Klaviyo email: $20–$150/month (scales with contact list size)
• →Judge.me reviews: $15/month
• →Smile.io loyalty: $49–$199/month
• →Recharge subscriptions: $99/month + 1.25% per subscription transaction
• →Rebuy personalization: $99–$499/month
• →Gorgias customer service: $10–$60/month
• →Shopify Search & Discovery: Free

A mature stack runs $300–$500/month in app costs before considering premium tiers. Budget for this from the start.

Payment processing

Shopify Payments: 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction (Basic), 2.6% + $0.30 (Shopify), 2.4% + $0.30 (Advanced).

No additional transaction fees when using Shopify Payments. Using a third-party processor adds 0.5–2% on top.

Development / agency work

Basic setup (products, theme config, payments): $500–$2,500. Many competent freelancers do this well.

Custom design + development: $5,000–$20,000 for a custom theme. $2,000–$8,000 for theme customization of a purchased theme.

Platform migration (WooCommerce → Shopify): $2,000–$6,000 depending on catalog and complexity.

Ongoing development (retainer): $500–$3,000/month for monthly development support.

Total cost scenarios

Bootstrapped launch ($300–$800 first year): Shopify Basic ($39/month), free Dawn theme, free apps where possible, DIY setup. Realistic for a brand with a small catalog and time to do the work themselves.

Mid-market store ($1,500–$3,000/month ongoing): Shopify plan, custom or premium theme ($400 one-time), Klaviyo + Judge.me + Smile.io, professional setup. This is the typical cost for a brand doing $200K–$1M ARR.

Growth-stage brand ($5,000–$10,000+ setup, $3,000–$6,000/month ongoing): Custom theme, full app stack, retainer agency. For brands above $1M ARR taking conversion rate and retention seriously.

The honest take: Shopify is not expensive relative to what it delivers. The costs scale with ambition — and that's appropriate. Start with what you need, add as you grow.