You’ve done your research. Shopify says you can get started for $39/month, and that sounds reasonable. But then you talk to someone who’s been running a store for a year, and they mention they’re paying $300+ a month. Say what? So how much does a Shopify store cost?
The gap between Shopify’s advertised price and what merchants actually pay is real. It catches a lot of new store owners off guard. This post breaks down every cost you’ll encounter so you can plan a real budget from day one.
The Shopify Plan — Your Starting Point
Shopify offers four main plans for most merchants:
| Plan | Monthly (USD) | Annual (USD/mo) | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | $39 | ~$29 | New stores, solo operators |
| Grow | $105 | ~$79 | Growing teams, better reporting |
| Advanced | $399 | ~$299 | High-volume sellers |
| Shopify Plus | $2,300+ | — | Enterprise |
Takeaway: Most small businesses start on Basic and stay there until monthly sales volume makes the lower transaction fees on Grow pay for themselves.
The Costs Shopify Doesn’t Put in the Headline
1. Transaction Fees
This is where a lot of new merchants get hit unexpectedly.
If you use Shopify Payments (Shopify’s built-in payment processor), you pay the standard credit card processing rate and no extra Shopify fee:
- Basic: 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction
- Grow: 2.6% + $0.30
- Advanced: 2.4% + $0.30
But if you use a third-party processor like PayPal or Stripe in addition to or instead of Shopify Payments, Shopify charges you an additional fee on top of that:
- Basic: extra 2.0% per sale
- Grow: extra 1.0%
- Advanced: extra 0.5%
On a $200 order, that extra 2% costs you $4. It doesn’t sound like much until you’re doing 200 orders a month — that’s $800/year just in avoidable fees.
Simple rule: Use Shopify Payments unless you have a specific reason not to.
2. Your Theme
Shopify’s free themes (especially the newer Horizon collection) are genuinely good. Many stores launch and scale successfully on them.
If you want more customization, premium themes run $150–$400 USD as a one-time purchase. This is not a recurring cost, which makes it more digestible.
Custom theme design from a developer is a different story. That starts around $2,000–$5,000+ depending on complexity.
3. Apps — The Biggest Variable in Your Budget
Shopify’s App Store is one of its greatest strengths. It’s also where most stores quietly bleed money.
Here’s what a realistic app stack looks like for a lean small business store:
| App Category | Example | Monthly Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Email marketing | Klaviyo, Shopify Email | Free–$60+ |
| Product reviews | Loox, Judge.me | $15–$30 |
| SEO | Plug In SEO, TinyIMG | $0–$20 |
| Live chat | Tidio | Free–$19 |
| Upsells / cross-sells | ReConvert | $10–$25 |
| Inventory / ops | varies | $20–$50 |
| Price scheduling | Metra Price Automation | $8 |
A lean store spends roughly $50–$100/month on apps. An established store with a fuller toolkit can hit $200–$400/month without much effort. There’s been cases and anecdotes from store owners that they’ve spent over $1000/month on app fees alone.
The most common mistake: installing apps “just in case” and forgetting to cancel them. Audit your apps every 90 days.
4. Your Domain Name
A custom domain costs around $10–$20/year for a .com. Shopify includes your first year free on annual plans, then the renewal typically runs $14–$25/year.
One thing to watch: if you buy your domain through Shopify, the renewal price is sometimes higher than registrars like Namecheap or Google Domains. Check the renewal price, not just the first-year price.
5. Marketing — The Cost Everyone Forgets to Budget
Building the store is only half the battle. Getting people to it costs money too.
This isn’t a Shopify fee, but it’s a real operational cost:
- Content marketing / blogging: $0 if you do it yourself (time investment)
- Paid ads (Google, Meta): typically $200–$1,500+/month for a small store
- Email marketing tools (once you scale): $20–$100/month
A good starting benchmark: budget 20–30% of your projected monthly revenue for marketing.
What Does It All Add Up To?
Here’s how the three most common launch scenarios shake out:
The DIY Launch
- Plan: Basic ($39)
- Theme: Free
- Apps: Lean stack ($50)
- Domain: $1.50/month equivalent
- ~$90–$100/month to run
The Professional Launch (Freelancer Help)
- Plan: Basic or Grow ($39–$105)
- Theme: Premium ($350 one-time)
- Apps: Standard stack ($100–$150)
- Setup: $1,500–$3,000 one-time to a developer
- ~$150–$260/month to run + upfront setup
The Full Custom Build
- Plan: Advanced ($399)
- Theme: Custom design ($5,000–$15,000 one-time)
- Apps: Full stack ($200–$400)
- Ongoing dev support: $500–$2,000/month
- $600–$2,800+/month to run
The Bottom Line
Shopify’s advertised price starts at $39/month. Most small business stores end up paying $100–$300/month once you account for apps, payment processing, and a domain, which is how much a Shopify store cost. Here is where the difference comes from.
The places where costs surprise people most:
- Transaction fees when using third-party payment processors
- App subscriptions that quietly stack up
- Marketing spend, which is separate from platform costs entirely
If you’re evaluating whether Shopify is the right fit for your business or whether a custom store might serve you better, we’re happy to chat through the options. No pressure, just honest advice.
Need help setting up or optimizing your Shopify store? Get in touch with Eryn Tech! We work with merchants across Canada and the US.