How Much Does Shopify Cost? DIY vs Hiring a Developer [Cost Breakdown]

If you build a DIY Shopify store, it typically costs around a few hundred dollars. This estimate is for launch and the first few months. If you hire a developer, this estimate typically increases to a few thousand dollars, depending on the complexity of the website.

When founders ask how much does Shopify cost, what they really mean is: should I build it myself or hire someone so I do not waste money.

Every way has its pros and cons. But the important thing is that when you select a method, it should save you money.

In my experience, DIY is usually cheaper when your goal is a straightforward launch: standard theme, basic pages, and around 5 to 20 products. 

It’s the right move when you just need a functional store to validate demand, test offers, and get early customers without overbuilding.

Hiring a developer becomes cheaper when complexity shows up. If you need custom sections that match your brand, fixes to stop the site from feeling slow, app setups, or conversion-focused changes that reduce drop-offs, a good developer can save you weeks. 

You pay once, and you get a store that looks sharper, loads faster, and sells better over the next 12 months.

How Much Does Shopify Cost? DIY Stores vs Hiring Developers

How Much Does Shopify Cost? [The Basic Investment]

Most people ask, “What’s the cost of a Shopify website?” and only count the Shopify plan. That’s why they get surprised later. 

A Shopify store is a bundle of small costs that stack up month after month. 

I will break it into five buckets:

1) Shopify plan fee

Shopify offers multiple plans, and the monthly price depends on your region and billing cycle. Your plan is your base cost, and most other expenses come from theme, apps, and how much help you hire.

2) Theme (free or paid)

Themes feel like a one-time decision, but it affects how much work you do later. Free themes like Dawn can launch a store just fine. Paid themes usually cost a one-time fee, typically around $180 to $350.

If you choose a solid paid theme upfront, you often buy fewer apps and need fewer custom edits later. That saves real money over 12 months.

3) Shopify Apps 

Apps will solve your problems fast, but they definitely will cost you. New stores usually add apps for reviews, bundles, upsells, delivery date, subscriptions, email, and SEO. 

This is also where stores overspend, because people install tools to fix their limitations.

4) Payments and transaction fees

This bucket has two parts, and the founders mix them up.

• Card processing fees apply to every order. Shopify shares examples of payment processing rates by plan.
  
• Extra transaction fees can apply if you use a third-party payment provider instead of Shopify Payments. The guide to Shopify pricing explains these fees in detail. 

5) Build time + fixes 

This is the bucket most people ignore, and it can become the most expensive one. 

If you build your Shopify store by yourself, the cost is time spent on setup, theme customizations, mobile optimization, speed issues, and issues with apps. 

If you hire help, the cost increases, but you will go live faster and avoid any errors. Both methods have their pros and cons. 

Pros of Building a Shopify DIY Website

• You launch faster. You don’t need to wait for a developer to go back and forth regarding small changes. You can publish your store as soon as possible and start selling.
  
• You spend less upfront cash. For a simple store with basic pages, and a small product catalog, DIY is a great option. You can save cash and spend it on managing different parts of your business, like shipping and apps.
  
• You learn how your store actually works. When you set up products, collections, shipping, taxes, and payments yourself, you get a clear understanding of your business.
  
• You can make quick edits anytime. DIY makes updates like prices, banners, homepage sections, product copy, FAQs, and policies instant, which helps you scale faster.

Cons of building a Shopify DIY website

• You pay with time instead of money. DIY looks cheaper on paper, but even small design changes take forever. That delay will cost you.
  
• New entrepreneurs often focus on colors and fonts, and miss the parts that actually drive sales, like cart customization. This reduces your conversion rate.
  
• Depending on too many apps will increase your monthly costs.
  
• Store setup time increases. This is because you are not well-versed in building a website. So you will spend more time building the store that fits your needs.

If you hire a developer to build your store, it also comes with its own set of pros and cons.

What is the cost of hiring a Shopify developer?

When you hire a developer, you’re paying for speed, clean execution, fewer errors, and a store that doesn’t fall apart the moment you get traffic. 

Freelancing cost

As a baseline, Shopify developer rates typically land around $15–$29 per hour, with a median of $20 per hour. That’s a helpful starting point when you’re comparing freelancers.

Shopify agencies

Agencies usually cost more because you’re paying for a team and quality control. Pricing benchmark for e-commerce development companies commonly is $30–$49 per hour.

Note: These prices can fluctuate based on different factors

Need a Shopify Agency That Can Build It Right Without Wasting Your Time?

If you want a Shopify agency that can build a clean, fast store without dragging the timeline, Shopify experts like Identixweb should be your choice.

Identixweb helps with store setup services, theme customization, speed improvements, and app integrations based on what your store actually needs.

So in the end, DIY or hiring a developer, what’s better?

Building your Shopify store yourself is usually the cheapest option upfront. If your store is simple, your product list is small, and launching the store by yourself is definitely cheaper.

Hiring a developer is a much better option if you have a complex store with a large catalog.

Here how you decide?

Choose a DIY Shopify store if you want less cost, but it will take time and is prone to errors.

Choose hiring a Shopify developer to publish it faster with fewer errors, but it will cost you more.

FAQs for How Much Does Shopify Cost

1. How much does a Shopify store cost?

At a minimum, you pay for your Shopify plan, plus payment processing fees on each order. Many stores also add a paid theme and apps. If you open a basic store, it will cost around few hundred dollars for a few months. 

2. How much does it cost to hire a Shopify expert?

A common benchmark is $15–$29/hour for Shopify developers with a median of around $20/hour. Agencies often price higher, with a common dev agency cost around $30–$49/hour. These prices will fluctuate based on different factors

3. How much does Shopify Plus cost?

Shopify Plus starts at $2,300 USD/month on a 3-year term for standard setups, or $2,500 USD/month on a 1-year term. 

4. How much does it cost to sell on Shopify?

You’ll pay your plan fee, then payment processing on each order, and extra fees if you use a third-party payment provider. Shopify states third-party transaction fees can be 2% (Basic), 1% (Grow), and 0.6% (Advanced) when you don’t use Shopify Payments.

5. How much do Shopify themes cost?

Shopify has free themes, and paid themes are a one-time purchase that commonly lands in the $100–$380+ range, with many popular options around a few hundred dollars.

About the author

Vineet Nair

Vineet is an experienced content strategist with expertise in the ecommerce domain and a keen interest in Shopify. He aims to help Shopify merchants thrive in this competitive environment with technical solutions and thoughtfully structured content.