Ecommerce website cost in the US: what a small store pays
By Darshana Patel9 min read
Short answer: At the time of writing, a do-it-yourself online store on Shopify or Square Online costs roughly $400 to $1,500 in the first year for the plan, domain, theme, and a few apps, plus payment fees of about 2.9% + 30 cents per online order. Paying someone to set up a small store typically runs $2,000 to $10,000, and custom builds go well past $15,000. We build business websites, not online stores, so this guide has no store to sell you.
"How much does an ecommerce website cost?" gets a wide range of answers because "ecommerce website" covers everything from a Square link on a bakery's site to a warehouse operation. This post is written for a US small business owner who is either opening a small store for the first time or being quoted for one and wants to know whether the number is fair. It covers the three platforms most small stores use, the plan prices and fees at the time of writing, what a hired build costs, and the question most owners should ask first: whether they need a store at all.
First: do you need a store, or a website?
A store and a business website are different things, and the store is the more expensive one to run. Ask yourself:
- Do you sell physical products that people buy without talking to you?
- Do you have more than a dozen items, or items with sizes and colors?
- Do you ship regularly, or need inventory counts?
If yes to two or more, you need a store, and the rest of this post is for you. If not, a business website with a contact form, a tappable phone number, and a simple payment link (Square, PayPal, or Stripe payment links all work) is cheaper to build, cheaper to run, and easier to keep updated. Most service businesses, restaurants without delivery, and shops that sell in person fall into this second group. We build that kind of site, and it is described in our business websites page.
The three platforms most US small stores use
There are many store platforms. For a small US business, three cover almost every case, with typical prices at the time of writing.
| Platform | Plan price | Online payment fee (typical) | Ease for a non-technical owner | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shopify | Basic about $29 a month billed yearly, $39 monthly; Grow about $79; Advanced about $299 | About 2.9% + 30 cents with Shopify Payments; extra 2% on Basic if you use another processor | Easy; the most complete out of the box | Stores with dozens to thousands of products that ship |
| WooCommerce (on WordPress) | Plugin is free; hosting typically $10 to $50 a month; theme $0 to $100; extensions $100 to $500 a year | About 2.9% + 30 cents with WooPayments or Stripe | Medium; you or someone you pay must keep it updated | Owners who want to own everything and are fine with maintenance |
| Square Online | Free plan; Plus about $49 a month per location; Premium about $149 | About 3.3% + 30 cents on the free plan, 2.9% + 30 cents on Plus, at the time of writing | Easy; simplest of the three | Restaurants and shops that already use Square at the counter |
Shopify is the default choice for a reason. Payments, shipping labels, sales tax, and abandoned-cart emails are built in, and there is an app for almost everything. The trade-off is that apps add up, and the theme and design stay with Shopify if you leave; products and customers export.
WooCommerce is what a developer will suggest if you already have a WordPress site. You own every file and there are no platform fees, but hosting, backups, updates, and security are your job or your developer's. It is the cheapest platform on paper and often the most expensive in time.
Square Online is underrated for local businesses. If you already take payments on Square, your products, inventory, and gift cards sync automatically, and the free plan is genuinely free apart from processing. The designs are plainer than Shopify's, and larger stores outgrow it.
What a store really costs per year
Here is a realistic yearly budget for three situations, at the time of writing. Every line is a typical range, not a quote.
| Cost line | DIY small store (20 to 50 products) | Hired setup on Shopify or Square | Custom store build |
|---|---|---|---|
| Platform plan | $0 to $470 | $350 to $950 | $950 to $3,600 |
| Domain | $12 to $20 | $12 to $20 | $12 to $20 |
| Theme or design | $0 to $350 one-time | $0 to $500 | $3,000 to $20,000+ |
| Setup labor | Your time | $1,500 to $8,000 one-time | $10,000 to $50,000+ one-time |
| Apps or extensions | $0 to $600 | $300 to $1,200 | $1,000 to $5,000 |
| Payment processing | About 2.9% + 30 cents per order | Same | Same, sometimes lower on higher plans |
| Product photos | Your phone | $300 to $1,500 | $1,500 to $5,000 |
| Email tool | $0 to $300 | $0 to $600 | $600 to $2,400 |
| First-year total, roughly | $400 to $1,500 | $2,500 to $12,000 | $17,000 to $85,000+ |
Two things stand out. First, in our experience the apps and processing fees end up costing more over a year than the plan itself. A store doing $5,000 a month in sales pays roughly $150 to $175 a month in processing alone. Second, the labor line is where quotes vary most, so that is where to ask questions.
What drives the price up
- Product count and variants. Fifty products with sizes and colors is several days of data entry. Ask whether listing products is included in the setup price.
- Shipping rules. Flat rate is simple. Live carrier rates, local delivery zones, and free shipping over a threshold each take setup.
- Sales tax. Shopify and Square calculate it. Where you must collect it depends on state rules and how much you sell; check the current rules with your accountant.
- Connecting to a point of sale or inventory system. Square handles its own. Anything else is an app or custom work.
- Custom design. A theme with your logo and colors is cheap. A layout nobody else has is the biggest single cost.
- Subscriptions, memberships, bookings, wholesale pricing. Each is an app on Shopify and an extension on WooCommerce, usually $10 to $50 a month.
Hiring help: what freelancers and agencies charge for a store
If you are searching "creating a Shopify store" or "build Shopify website" and want someone to do it, these are typical prices at the time of writing:
- Freelance Shopify or WooCommerce setup: $1,500 to $5,000 for a theme-based store with your products loaded, payments and shipping configured, and a walkthrough.
- Small agency or studio: $5,000 to $15,000 for the same plus design work, copywriting, and photography direction.
- Ecommerce agency: $15,000 to $50,000 and up for a custom design, integrations, and a launch plan, often followed by a monthly retainer of $1,000 to $5,000.
Before paying anyone: the Shopify or Square account, the domain, and the payment processor must be in your name. Ask for the price to be split into milestones, and ask who loads the products. Our freelance web designer vs agency post has a hiring checklist that applies to stores too.
Ecommerce SEO and "Shopify SEO services": what is realistic
Store owners get pitched "ecommerce SEO" and "Shopify SEO services" constantly. What actually moves the needle for a small store is unglamorous:
- Written product descriptions in your own words, not the supplier's text that a hundred other stores use.
- Collection pages with a paragraph of text that names what the collection is and who it is for.
- Fast pages. Resize images; most Shopify themes are quick if the images are.
- Reviews on product pages, collected honestly. The FTC has rules on reviews and endorsements: no fake or paid reviews, no hiding bad ones, and any incentive disclosed. Check the current rules before running a review program.
- A Google Business Profile if you have a storefront or offer local pickup.
Monthly ecommerce SEO retainers typically run $500 to $3,000 for a small store. Be wary of anyone promising rankings or sales; nobody controls Google. We offer SEO for business websites rather than store catalogs, and our SEO & GEO page explains what that covers.
Mistakes we see on new small stores
- Building a store for five products. A payment link on a business site would have done the job for a tenth of the cost.
- Using the supplier's photos and text. Google sees a copy, and so do customers.
- Free shipping with no math. Decide the threshold from your margins, not from what a big retailer does.
- No phone number or address. US shoppers look for both before trusting a small store.
- Ignoring the fees line. Processing plus apps can be 5 to 8 percent of sales on a small store. Price accordingly.
- Launching without a plan for the first hundred visitors. A store with no traffic makes no sales; budget for Google Ads, Meta ads, or a local push from day one.
What we charge
We do not build online stores, and we do not set up Shopify, WooCommerce, or Square Online. What we build is the business website around a store or instead of one: the pages that explain who you are, what you offer, where you are, and how to reach you. Full details are on our business websites page.
- Starter, $799 one-time: a one-page, phone-friendly site with call and email buttons and your Google Maps location, live in about 5 business days. Right for a shop that sells in person and wants to be found.
- Business, $2,999 one-time: up to 6 pages, we write all the text, a photo gallery and services list, a contact form and call button, and basic Google search setup, in about 10 business days. A "Shop" link to your Shopify or Square store fits in naturally.
- Growth, $4,999 one-time: up to 12 pages, a blog or news section, full SEO setup for every page, speed tuning, and 3 months of free small changes.
Our team is based in India and works with US businesses by email and video call. Prices are in US dollars, there are no long-term contracts, and everything stays in your name. See the pricing page for all packages side by side.
The short version
An ecommerce website for a US small business costs roughly $400 to $1,500 in the first year if you build it yourself on Shopify or Square Online, $2,500 to $12,000 with a freelancer or small studio doing the setup, and $17,000 and up for a custom build, at the time of writing. Every order also pays about 2.9% plus 30 cents in processing, and apps usually cost more over a year than the plan. Pick Shopify for a real product catalog, Square Online if you already use Square at the counter, and WooCommerce if you want to own everything and can handle maintenance. Before any of that, ask whether you need a store at all. A business website with a payment link serves many local businesses better, and that is what we build.
Common questions
How much does an ecommerce website cost for a small business?
At the time of writing, a do-it-yourself store on Shopify or Square Online typically costs $400 to $1,500 in the first year for the plan, domain, theme and a few apps, plus payment fees of about 2.9% and 30 cents on each online order. Paying a freelancer to set up a small store usually runs $2,000 to $10,000, and custom builds go well past $15,000.
Is Shopify or WooCommerce cheaper?
WooCommerce is cheaper on paper because the plugin is free, but you pay for hosting, a theme, extensions and someone to keep it updated, so a real small store usually lands at $500 to $2,000 a year plus payment fees. Shopify Basic is about $350 to $470 a year plus fees and apps. For a non-technical owner, Shopify usually costs less in time.
What are the hidden costs of an online store?
Payment processing on every order, apps or plugins billed monthly, product photography, an email tool, shipping supplies, and your own time listing products. In our experience apps and processing fees add more over a year than the plan itself, so budget for them from the start.
Do I need an online store at all?
Many local businesses do not. If you sell services, take custom orders, or offer only a handful of items, a business website with a contact form, a call button and a simple payment link is cheaper and easier to keep up. Build a full store when you have dozens of products, need inventory tracking, or ship regularly.
Does KarmaSoftech build Shopify stores?
No. We build business websites for service companies and local businesses, not online stores. If you need a store, this guide points you to Shopify, WooCommerce or Square Online and to what a fair setup price looks like. We can build the business side of your site, such as service, about and contact pages, that links to your store.