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How Much Does It Cost to Start a Shopify Store? A Full Cost Breakdown
The short answer: you can open a working Shopify store for the price of the Basic plan and a domain name, which comes to roughly $45 to $55 in the first month at the time of writing. The honest answer is that the subscription is only one of six or seven costs, and the ones people forget (payment fees, apps, packaging, samples) are what decide whether your store makes money. This guide lists every cost, says which ones are optional, and ends with three sample budgets so you can see where you fit.
All figures are US prices from public pricing pages in October 2026. Shopify changes its prices and promotions from time to time, so treat these as a planning guide and check the pricing page before you sign up.
The costs at a glance
| Cost | Typical amount | Required? | How often |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shopify plan (Basic) | $39/month, or $29/month paid yearly | Yes | Monthly or yearly |
| Payment processing | 2.9% + 30¢ per online sale on Basic | Yes, per sale | Every order |
| Domain name | About $16/year for a .com | Strongly recommended | Yearly |
| Theme | $0 (free themes) or $100 to $500 (premium) | No | One-time |
| Apps | $0 to $50/month for most small stores | No | Monthly |
| Product samples | $20 to $100 | Depends on product | One-time |
| Packaging and shipping supplies | $30 to $100 to start | Physical products only | As you run out |
| Business registration and permits | $0 to $150 depending on your state | Depends on location | One-time or yearly |
| Product photos | $0 (phone) to $300+ (photographer) | No | One-time |
1. The Shopify plan
This is the fixed cost everyone pays. For a standalone online store the entry plan is Basic, listed at $39 a month if you pay monthly or $29 a month if you pay for a year up front ($348). Shopify usually offers a short free trial (three days at the time of writing) followed by a promotional first few months at $1 a month, so your real spend in the first quarter can be very low. Just remember the full price kicks in afterwards.
There is also a Starter plan at about $5 a month, but it is not a full online store. It gives you a checkout link you can share on social media and in messages. If you want a website with product pages, Basic is the starting point. We explain the differences between every plan in Shopify Pricing Plans Explained.
Should you pay yearly? Only once you know you will keep the store open. Paying monthly for the first two or three months and switching to yearly later costs you a little more but protects you if you change your mind.
2. Payment processing fees
Every online store pays a fee to the company that handles the card payment. On Shopify's Basic plan, using Shopify's own payment system, the online rate is 2.9% plus 30 cents per transaction. So on a $40 sale you pay about $1.46 and keep $38.54. If you use an outside payment provider instead, Shopify adds a 2% transaction fee on top of whatever that provider charges, which is why most small stores stick with the built-in option.
This fee only exists when you sell, so it is not a start-up cost in the strict sense. But it matters for pricing: a $10 product loses almost 6% of its price to processing, while a $50 product loses about 3.5%. Low-priced items feel the fixed 30 cents more.
3. A domain name
Your store comes with a free address that ends in .myshopify.com. It works, but it looks temporary and is hard to put on a business card. A .com domain bought through Shopify is listed at about $16 a year, and prices from outside registrars are similar. This is the one small extra almost every store should budget for.
4. Theme
Shopify includes a set of free themes (around two dozen at the time of writing) and they are good enough for most first stores. Premium themes cost roughly $100 to $500 as a one-time purchase and mostly add layout options and polish. A sensible rule: launch on a free theme, and only buy a premium one once your products and photos are ready to be shown off.
5. Apps
Apps add features your store does not have out of the box: reviews, email pop-ups, bundles, print-on-demand connections, digital downloads and so on. Many have a free tier. The trap is installing six apps at $10 to $30 each and quietly adding $100 a month to your costs before you have steady sales. Start with zero paid apps, add one when a real problem appears, and review your app bill every month.
6. Costs that have nothing to do with Shopify
These catch beginners out because they are not on any pricing page.
- Samples. If you sell print on demand or wholesale goods, order at least one sample so you know what the customer gets. Budget $20 to $100.
- Packaging. Boxes, mailers, tissue, tape and labels. A starter set for a small shop runs about $30 to $100. Shipping itself is usually paid by the customer or built into your price.
- Business registration. Many US sellers start as a sole proprietor with no filing, but a DBA ("doing business as") name, an LLC or a sales tax permit can cost from nothing to around $150 depending on your state. Check your state's small business page.
- Photos. A phone, daylight and a plain background are enough for a first launch. A photographer is a later upgrade.
- Your product itself. Materials or inventory are the biggest variable of all and depend entirely on what you sell. Digital products and print on demand keep this close to zero.
Three sample first-year budgets
These assume the Basic plan paid monthly, a .com domain, and a free theme. Product costs are left out because they vary so much.
| Lean start | Typical small shop | Polished launch | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shopify Basic (12 months) | $468 | $468 | $348 (paid yearly) |
| Domain | $16 | $16 | $16 |
| Theme | $0 | $0 | $300 |
| Apps | $0 | $180 (one $15 app) | $480 (two apps) |
| Samples and packaging | $0 (digital products) | $100 | $250 |
| Registration and permits | $0 | $50 | $150 |
| Year one, before payment fees | about $484 | about $814 | about $1,544 |
Payment processing comes on top and scales with sales: at 2.9% plus 30 cents, $5,000 of sales over the year costs roughly $175 in fees across 100 orders.
Check Shopify's current prices and free trial
Ways to keep the first months cheap
- Use the trial and the promotional months to build the whole store before the full price starts.
- Launch with a free theme and no paid apps. Add them when a problem is real, not imagined.
- Start with a small product range. Three good products photographed well beat twenty rushed ones.
- Choose digital products or print on demand if you want to avoid inventory costs entirely. See our guides to selling digital products and print on demand.
- Decide on yearly billing only after two or three months, once you know the store is staying open.
Frequently asked questions
Can I start a Shopify store for free?
You can build one for free during the trial, and the promotional months are close to free, but a store that stays open needs a paid plan. There is no permanently free tier for a full online store.
Is the $1-a-month offer real?
At the time of writing Shopify advertises $1 a month for the first three months for new stores, usually tied to choosing an annual plan. Offers change, so read the terms on the pricing page when you sign up.
Do I pay Shopify a cut of each sale?
If you use Shopify's built-in payments, you pay only the card processing rate (2.9% plus 30 cents on Basic). If you use an outside payment provider, Shopify adds a separate 2% transaction fee on Basic.
Is Shopify cheaper than Etsy?
It depends on your volume. Etsy has no monthly fee but takes a listing fee and a percentage of every sale, while Shopify charges a flat monthly fee and lower per-sale costs. Low-volume sellers often pay less on a marketplace; sellers with steady monthly sales often pay less on their own store. We work through this in Shopify vs Etsy for Beginners.
What's the single biggest hidden cost?
Apps. The subscription is predictable; an app bill creeps up one install at a time. Check it monthly.