Most agencies answer this question with "it depends" and leave you none the wiser. Here is an honest breakdown of what a Shopify website actually costs: platform fees, agency fees, and everything in between.
The Shopify platform cost
This is what you pay Shopify directly, every month, regardless of who builds your store.
- Basic: €21/month. Best for businesses just starting out. Covers up to two staff accounts, basic reporting and standard checkout.
- Shopify: €59/month. The most popular plan for growing brands. Adds professional reporting, up to five staff accounts and lower transaction fees.
- Advanced: €289/month. For high-volume stores that need advanced reporting, custom pricing rules and the lowest transaction fees.
- Shopify Plus: from €2,000/month. The enterprise tier, for brands with complex international operations, B2B needs or very high order volumes. Most independent brands do not need it.
For most small to medium businesses launching their first store or scaling an existing one, the standard Shopify plan is the right starting point.
The agency or design cost
This is what you pay someone to design and build your store. It is separate from the platform fee and varies considerably based on what you actually need.
- Template setup: €800 to €1,500. Someone installs a pre-built theme, adds your products and connects payments. Quick and affordable, but the result looks like every other store using that theme.
- Theme customisation: €2,500 to €6,000. A designer modifies an existing theme, adjusting colours, fonts and layout and adding custom sections. Good for brands that need to move fast on a limited budget.
- Custom design and development: €6,000 to €15,000+. A fully bespoke store built from scratch, with conversion-optimised product pages, full SEO setup, integrations and post-launch support.
- Shopify Plus builds: €15,000+. Enterprise projects with complex integrations, headless architecture and international storefronts.
What affects the price
Within each tier, a few factors move the cost up or down significantly.
- Number of pages. A five-page launch store costs less than a twenty-page store with collection pages, a lookbook, a size guide and a blog.
- Integrations. Connecting Klaviyo, Recharge, a loyalty programme or an ERP adds time, and therefore cost.
- Photography and content. Having your product photos, copy and brand assets ready before the project starts keeps things moving and costs down.
- Migration. Moving from WooCommerce, Magento or a custom platform adds complexity; migrating products, orders and SEO redirects correctly takes time.
- Ongoing support. Some agencies charge a monthly retainer, others include a fixed post-launch period. Make sure you know which you are getting.
The total cost in practice
To give you a realistic picture:
- A small independent fashion brand launching their first store with custom design and payment setup would typically invest €2,500 to €6,000 in agency fees.
- A growing D2C brand redesigning an existing store with new product-page architecture, full SEO and a migration from WooCommerce would typically invest €6,000 to €15,000.
- A scaling brand going international with Shopify Markets, multi-currency and multiple integrations would typically invest €15,000+.
Shopify itself is affordable. The agency cost is where the range is widest, and where the difference between a €2,000 job and a €10,000 job shows up in your conversion rate six months later.
What to watch out for
- Unusually low quotes. A €1,000 custom store either uses a template with your logo dropped in, cuts corners on SEO and mobile, or both. You will pay to fix it later.
- Vague scope. If an agency gives a price without a clear list of what is included, get clarity before you sign. Scope creep is where costs balloon.
- No mention of SEO. A store that is not SEO-configured at launch is invisible to Google from day one. Make sure SEO setup is explicitly included.
- Disappearing after launch. Find out what post-launch support is included; the first weeks after going live are when issues surface.
The bottom line
The right investment depends on your stage, your product and your growth ambitions. If you are not sure what your project actually needs, a free discovery call is the most efficient way to find out.
