As of September 20, 2026, an ecommerce website typically costs $400 to $250,000 or more, depending on the platform, design, catalogue size, integrations and level of custom development.

Typical first-year costs are:

  • $400 to $2,500 for a DIY store using a hosted platform and template
  • $3,000 to $15,000 upfront for a professionally configured small business store
  • $15,000 to $75,000 or more for a custom store with integrations
  • $75,000 to $250,000 or more for complex ecommerce operations, such as B2B pricing, ERP integration, subscriptions, international selling or custom checkout functionality

Ongoing platform and software costs usually range from $30 to $500 or more per month for a small or mid-sized store. Enterprise systems can cost more. These figures exclude advertising, inventory, shipping and fulfilment.

Ecommerce website type Typical initial cost Ongoing platform and software cost
DIY template store $400 to $2,500 in year one $30 to $200 or more per month
Freelancer-built store $3,000 to $15,000 $50 to $500 or more per month
Custom agency store $15,000 to $75,000 or more $200 to $2,000 or more per month
Enterprise ecommerce website $75,000 to $250,000 or more $1,500 to $10,000 or more per month

These are planning ranges, not fixed industry prices. A store with 20 products and standard checkout costs far less to build than one with 20,000 products, custom pricing and several business-system integrations.

What Is the Cheapest Way to Build an Ecommerce Website?

The cheapest practical option is a hosted ecommerce platform with a free or low-cost theme. The platform provides hosting, security, checkout and order management, so you do not have to build those systems from scratch.

Current examples include:

  • Shopify Basic: $29 per month when billed annually, or $39 per month when billed monthly
  • BigCommerce Core: $29 per month when billed annually
  • Wix ecommerce plans: approximately $29 to $159 per month when billed annually
  • WooCommerce: free ecommerce software, with separate costs for hosting, extensions, development and maintenance

WooCommerce estimates that hosting for most stores costs $25 to $350 per month. Extensions commonly cost $29 to $299 per year each.

A realistic first-year budget for a simple DIY store looks like this:

Cost Typical budget
Ecommerce platform $350 to $1,900
Domain name $10 to $30
Theme or template $0 to $500
Apps and extensions $0 to $1,000
Product images and copy $0 to $1,000
Basic professional setup help $0 to $2,000
Estimated first-year total $400 to $2,500 or more

This budget excludes inventory, packaging, paid advertising, shipping and fulfilment.

How Much Do Ecommerce Platforms Cost?

Ecommerce platform costs range from free software with separate hosting to enterprise plans costing thousands of dollars per month. The main options differ in their pricing model, technical requirements and built-in tools.

Shopify

Shopify's main online store plans are:

  • Basic: $29 per month when billed annually
  • Grow: $79 per month when billed annually
  • Advanced: $299 per month when billed annually
  • Shopify Plus: from $2,300 per month for enterprise businesses

Shopify includes hosting, SSL, checkout, themes, product management and order management. Higher plans provide more staff accounts, reporting tools, international selling features and lower card processing rates.

Shopify lists online card rates from:

  • 2.9% plus 30 cents on Basic
  • 2.7% plus 30 cents on Grow
  • 2.5% plus 30 cents on Advanced

Rates depend on location and payment configuration.

Best suited to: businesses that want a fast launch and minimal technical maintenance.

BigCommerce

BigCommerce currently lists:

  • Core: $29 per month when billed annually
  • Growth: $79 per month when billed annually
  • Scale: $299 per month when billed annually
  • Performance: custom pricing starting at $1,499 per month when billed annually

BigCommerce bases some plan changes on trailing twelve-month online sales. Its pricing page also advertises zero additional fees when merchants use eligible embedded payment providers.

Best suited to: growing stores that need catalogue, promotional and multichannel tools without relying heavily on paid plugins.

Wix

Wix ecommerce plans range from approximately $29 to $159 per month when billed annually in the United States.

Wix includes hosting, a domain for the first year on eligible plans, templates, payment tools and business management features.

Best suited to: smaller brands that prioritise visual design and ease of use over complex ecommerce operations.

WooCommerce

WooCommerce is free, open-source ecommerce software for WordPress. It has no monthly platform subscription or revenue share, but you pay separately for hosting, premium extensions, design, security and technical maintenance.

WooCommerce estimates:

  • Hosting: $25 to $350 per month for most stores
  • Extensions: $29 to $299 per year per extension
  • Payment processing: charged by the selected payment provider
  • Development and maintenance: based on the site's complexity

Best suited to: businesses that want control over the website and have access to WordPress development or technical support.

How Much Does a Professionally Built Ecommerce Website Cost?

A professionally built ecommerce store usually costs more because the price covers planning, design, configuration, content entry, testing and launch support.

Template Customisation: $1,000 to $5,000

This option uses Shopify, BigCommerce, Wix or WooCommerce with an existing theme. A developer may customise:

  • Logo, colours and typography
  • Homepage layout
  • Navigation and product filters
  • Product page templates
  • Checkout settings
  • Shipping and tax rules
  • Basic analytics and search engine optimisation

Template customisation is usually suitable for a small business with a straightforward catalogue.

Custom Small Business Store: $5,000 to $20,000

A custom small business store may include original page designs, product migration, advanced filtering, custom landing pages, email marketing integrations and tailored checkout functionality.

Shopify's ecommerce cost guide places custom-built development at approximately $2,000 to $20,000 or more, depending on the required functionality. Wix estimates that professionally created ecommerce websites can cost approximately $1,000 to over $10,000.

Complex Ecommerce Website: $20,000 to $75,000 or More

Costs rise when the website requires:

  • ERP or accounting integration
  • Real-time inventory synchronisation
  • Subscription billing
  • Wholesale or B2B pricing
  • Customer-specific catalogues
  • Multiple warehouses
  • International currencies and tax rules
  • Custom product builders
  • Marketplace integrations
  • Advanced search and merchandising
  • Headless ecommerce architecture

Each requirement adds development, testing and maintenance work. Several integrations may also need ongoing monitoring when one of the connected systems changes.

Enterprise Ecommerce Website: $75,000 to $250,000 or More

Large ecommerce projects may require a design and development team, solution architect, project manager, security testing and ongoing technical support.

Enterprise platforms also have higher software costs. Shopify Plus starts at $2,300 per month, while BigCommerce lists its Performance plan from $1,499 per month when billed annually.

WooCommerce's own examples show initial development costs of $60,000 to $200,000 for businesses with complex operations and large transaction volumes.

What Costs Are Included in an Ecommerce Website?

The website build is only one part of the budget. You should price the following costs separately.

Platform and Hosting

Hosted platforms include hosting in the monthly subscription. WooCommerce and other self-hosted systems require separate hosting.

Domain Name

A domain usually costs approximately $10 to $30 per year, although premium domains can cost considerably more. Some ecommerce plans include a domain for the first year.

Design and Development

This covers theme customisation, original page design, coding, product imports, checkout configuration and testing.

Payment Processing

Payment providers usually charge a percentage of each transaction plus a fixed fee. Stripe's standard United States online card rate is currently 2.9% plus 30 cents per successful domestic card transaction. International cards, currency conversion and alternative payment methods may cost more.

For example, if a store processes $50,000 in domestic card sales across 1,000 orders, a 2.9% plus 30-cent fee would cost approximately:

  • Percentage fee: $1,450
  • Per-transaction fee: $300
  • Total payment processing cost: $1,750

This cost is separate from the ecommerce platform subscription.

Apps and Extensions

Common paid additions include:

  • Reviews
  • Email marketing
  • Product subscriptions
  • Advanced search
  • Loyalty programmes
  • Accounting
  • Shipping automation
  • Returns management
  • Tax calculation
  • Product feeds
  • Wholesale pricing

Several monthly app subscriptions can increase operating costs beyond the platform fee.

Product Content

Budget for:

  • Product photography
  • Product descriptions
  • Category copy
  • Size guides
  • Product videos
  • Customer reviews
  • Shipping and returns information

A working website still needs accurate product information. Poor product content can reduce sales even when the technical setup is correct.

SEO and Analytics

An ecommerce website should include:

  • Search-friendly category and product pages
  • XML sitemap
  • Analytics and conversion tracking
  • Search Console configuration
  • Canonical URLs
  • Product, offer and review data where appropriate
  • Google Merchant Center product feeds
  • Internal links between categories and products

Google states that product structured data can help it understand prices, availability, reviews, shipping information and returns. Google also recommends combining structured data with Merchant Center feeds where possible.

What Makes an Ecommerce Website More Expensive?

The main cost drivers are design, catalogue size, integrations, checkout requirements, international selling, B2B tools, performance requirements and migration work.

  1. Custom design An existing theme costs less than designing every page from scratch.

  2. Number of products Uploading 20 products is simpler than migrating 20,000 products with variants, categories and historical data.

  3. Integrations Connecting the store to an ERP, warehouse, CRM or accounting system requires technical work and maintenance.

  4. Checkout requirements Standard checkout is less expensive than custom pricing rules, subscriptions, deposits or customer-specific payment options.

  5. International selling Multiple languages, currencies, tax rules, shipping zones and local payment methods add work.

  6. B2B functionality Wholesale catalogues, customer-specific pricing, purchase orders and credit limits often require a higher-tier platform or custom development.

  7. Performance and traffic requirements Large catalogues and high traffic may require better hosting, caching, search infrastructure and monitoring.

  8. Migration requirements Moving products, customers, orders, redirects and SEO data from an existing platform can require preparation and testing before launch.

How Much Should a Small Business Budget?

A small business should usually plan for:

  • $1,000 to $3,000 for a DIY store with professional setup help
  • $5,000 to $15,000 for a polished freelancer-built store
  • $15,000 to $30,000 for a custom-designed store with several integrations

The first launch should cover the parts that affect whether customers can find, trust and use the store:

  • Mobile-friendly design
  • Fast product and category pages
  • Reliable checkout
  • Clear shipping and returns information
  • Secure payment processing
  • Product photography and descriptions
  • Analytics and conversion tracking
  • Search-friendly site structure

Avoid paying for custom features before confirming that customers want the products and can complete the checkout process. A simple Shopify, BigCommerce, Wix or WooCommerce store can test the business before you invest in custom software.

Which Ecommerce Platform Offers the Best Value?

For most new businesses, Shopify offers the clearest balance of launch speed, built-in tools and predictable maintenance costs. Its main advantage is that the core infrastructure is already managed for you.

Choose:

  • Shopify for the fastest, lowest-maintenance launch
  • BigCommerce for larger catalogues and stores that want fewer additional transaction fees with eligible payment providers
  • Wix for a design-led small business store
  • WooCommerce for maximum control and businesses comfortable managing WordPress, hosting and plugins
  • Shopify Plus or BigCommerce Performance for enterprise requirements

The platform subscription is rarely the largest cost. Design, product content, integrations, marketing and day-to-day operations usually determine the real budget.