Ecommerce website cost in the UK
An online shop has two kinds of cost: what it takes to build, and what it costs every month and on every sale. The second one is easy to underestimate. Here are both, from published UK prices.
Running a shop yourself on Shopify costs £19 a month (Basic, yearly billing) plus card fees from 2% + 25p. Having it set up for you costs more: Morgan Digital suggests £800 to £1,000 for a professionally set up Shopify store, Design Box puts a starter shop at £3,000 to £8,000, and Whito puts ecommerce sites at £5,000 to £20,000 or more. Wix Core and Squarespace Core can also take payments, from about £16 and £17 a month on annual billing.
Prices checked 18 October 2026. Sources at the end of the page.
Shopify pricing in the UK
| Plan | Paid monthly | Paid yearly (per month) | Online card rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | £25 | £19 | from 2% + 25p |
| Grow | £65 | £49 | from 1.7% + 25p |
| Advanced | £344 | £259 | from 1.5% + 25p |
| Plus | from £1,800 | n/a | n/a |
If you use a payment provider other than Shopify Payments, Shopify adds its own fee of 2% on Basic, 1% on Grow and 0.6% on Advanced. On the day we checked, Shopify was offering 3 days free, then £1 a month for 3 months. Shopify Basic on yearly billing is £228 a year before any fees on sales.
Selling on Wix or Squarespace instead
- Wix: Light cannot take payments. Core, from about £16 a month on annual billing, adds basic ecommerce. Business adds standard ecommerce. See Wix pricing.
- Squarespace: Basic charges a 2% transaction fee on store sales. Core, at £17 a month on annual billing, removes it. Card rates start at 2.0% + 25p. See Squarespace pricing.
- WooCommerce on WordPress: the plugin is free to download and has no monthly platform fee, but you pay for hosting, extensions and someone to keep it updated. See what a WordPress website costs.
For a handful of products alongside a service business, a builder's shop is often enough. For a business where the shop is the business, Shopify is built for it.
What it costs to have a shop built
| Type of build | Published price | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Shopify, free theme, you do it | £0 plus your time | Morgan Digital |
| Shopify, customised by a freelancer | £800 to £1,500 | Morgan Digital |
| Shopify, bespoke design by an agency | £2,000 and up | Morgan Digital |
| Starter shop, up to about 200 products | £3,000 to £8,000 | Design Box |
| Growing shop, 200 to 2,000 products | £8,000 to £20,000 | Design Box |
| Ecommerce website, general | £5,000 to £20,000+ | Whito |
The spread comes from the number of products, how much is custom, and integrations with stock, accounting, delivery and email tools.
The costs that grow with your sales
- Card fees on every order, from 1.5% + 25p to 2% + 25p depending on plan and platform.
- Platform transaction fees if you use an outside payment provider on Shopify, or sell on Squarespace Basic.
- Apps and extensions for reviews, subscriptions, shipping labels or wholesale pricing, often billed monthly.
- Product photography and descriptions, which a shop needs for every item.
Do we build online shops?
Our published packages are built for businesses that want enquiries and bookings, not for full online shops. If you need a shop, we scope it on a call and tell you honestly whether you would be better off setting up Shopify yourself, paying the platform directly. For most small shops that is the cleaner arrangement.
If your site mainly needs to bring in enquiries, with perhaps a gift voucher or deposit link, our packages fit:
| Our tier | What it is | Setup | Monthly | First year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Launch | A five-page site plus the Google groundwork, so local customers can find you. | £449 | £39 | £917 |
| Grow | 10+ pages and the local SEO foundations, for a business that wants to rank, not just exist. | £949 | £59 | £1,657 |
| Scale | 20+ pages for a business with a team or more than one site, so every service and location can be found. | £1,950 | £129 | £3,498 |
Prices checked 18 October 2026. Sources: Shopify UK pricing; Startups.co.uk on Wix pricing; Squarespace pricing; WooCommerce; Morgan Digital on Shopify costs; Design Box website cost guide; Whito website cost research. Platforms change prices and run offers, so check before you buy. Some prices exclude VAT.
Questions people ask
How much does Shopify cost in the UK?
Basic is £25 a month, or £19 a month on yearly billing. Grow is £65 monthly or £49 yearly, and Advanced is £344 monthly or £259 yearly. Card fees are charged on top of every sale.
How much does a Shopify website cost to build?
Morgan Digital puts a customised setup by a freelancer at £800 to £1,500, and a bespoke agency design at £2,000 and up. Design Box puts a starter shop at £3,000 to £8,000.
How much does an ecommerce website cost?
From £19 a month if you build it yourself on Shopify, to £5,000 to £20,000 or more for a designer-built shop according to Whito. Add card fees and apps to the running costs.
Is Shopify cheaper than WooCommerce?
WooCommerce has no monthly platform fee, but you pay for hosting, extensions and maintenance, so the total is often similar. Shopify is simpler to run if you do not want to look after WordPress.
Keep reading
Want a fixed price instead of a range?
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