Ask three agencies what a Shopify build costs and you will get three numbers, potentially an order of magnitude apart. All three can be honest, because "Shopify development" covers everything from a two-hour theme tweak to a headless replatform with ERP integration. Those are not variations of the same project; they are different projects that share a platform name.
This guide gives you real 2026 numbers by project type, the questions that determine which project you actually need, and the ongoing costs that most quotes leave out entirely.
The first question is not price
Before comparing quotes, answer this: can what you need be done without custom code?
This is the most-skipped question in Shopify budgeting and the one that saves the most money. Many merchants pay for custom builds that an app, a Shopify Function, or a metafield-driven configuration would have delivered for a tenth of the cost.
Work through it in this order:
- Is it a native Shopify feature you have not configured? Metafields, metaobjects, Markets, B2B, Functions. Shopify shipped a lot in the last three years and many "we need custom development" requests are now settings.
- Is there a well-reviewed app that does it? $29 a month beats $8,000 of custom code, and someone else maintains it.
- Can it be done in theme code within your existing theme? A custom section is hours, not weeks.
- Does it genuinely need a custom build? Only after the first three are no.
An agency that does not walk you through this before quoting is selling you the most expensive option that fits your description.
Theme work
| Project | Cost | Timeline |
|---|---|---|
| Small theme fixes (layout bug, colour, single element) | $150-$700 | 1-3 days |
| Theme customization (custom sections, branded styling, PDP overhaul) | $600-$3,500 | 1-3 weeks |
| Premium theme + selective customization (full store) | $2,500-$5,000 | 2-4 weeks |
| Theme migration (legacy theme to Online Store 2.0) | $2,000-$8,000 | 2-5 weeks |
| Custom theme from scratch | $8,000-$50,000 | 6-10 weeks |
When a custom theme is actually justified
- Your merchandising model genuinely does not fit any existing theme (complex configurators, unusual product relationships, non-standard purchase flows)
- Brand differentiation is a material competitive advantage in your category and your competitors all use the same three themes
- You have in-house or retained development capacity to maintain it, because a custom theme does not receive theme updates
If none of those apply, the money is better spent on conversion work, content, or acquisition.
Custom features and functionality
| Project | Cost |
|---|---|
| Small feature (Liquid section, simple API call, metafield-driven display) | $500-$3,000 |
| Substantial feature (Shopify Functions, complex logic, private app) | $3,000-$15,000 |
| Simple two-system integration | $3,000-$5,000 |
| Custom admin dashboard with business logic | $15,000+ |
| Custom public App Store app | $15,000-$75,000 |
| Enterprise integration (ERP, PIM, OMS) | $50,000-$500,000+ |
The spread inside each band is mostly about specification quality. A well-specified feature with defined edge cases lands at the low end. A vague brief that gets discovered during build lands at the high end, and then some.
Shopify Plus builds
| Project | Cost | Timeline |
|---|---|---|
| Standard Plus store build | $15,000-$25,000 | 8-12 weeks |
| Plus with custom theme and CRO-focused templates | $25,000-$80,000 | 10-16 weeks |
| Plus with Checkout Extensibility work | +$5,000-$20,000 | +2-4 weeks |
| Plus with B2B wholesale storefront | +$8,000-$30,000 | +3-6 weeks |
| Plus with multi-store international setup | +$10,000-$40,000 | +4-8 weeks |
| Plus with ERP integration (SAP, NetSuite) | +$25,000-$150,000 | +6-16 weeks |
The platform fee sits on top: Shopify Plus starts around $2,300-$2,500 per month depending on contract term, with high-volume merchants moving to a variable GMV-based fee.
One thing to check before budgeting a Plus build: Shopify B2B is no longer Plus-exclusive. As of 2026, Basic, Grow, and Advanced include core B2B features including companies, company locations, catalogs, payment terms, quantity rules, and quick ordering. If wholesale was your only reason for considering Plus, run that assumption again before committing to the platform fee.
Headless and Hydrogen
| Project | Cost | Timeline |
|---|---|---|
| Minimal Hydrogen build, solo developer | From ~$10,000 | 6-10 weeks |
| Standard headless storefront (agency) | $30,000-$100,000 | 10-20 weeks |
| Enterprise headless with CMS and global CDN strategy | $100,000-$250,000+ | 16-30 weeks |
| Full composable commerce project | $250,000-$300,000+ | 6+ months |
Hosting is often less of a problem than expected: Oxygen is included on every paid Shopify plan except Starter. The budget balloons elsewhere, in three places most quotes omit:
- Headless CMS licence. Contentful, Sanity, or Storyblok. $300-$3,000+ monthly depending on tier and seats.
- Ongoing engineering. You now maintain two systems instead of one, and Shopify API version updates are your problem rather than a theme vendor's.
- Specialised hiring. Liquid developers are plentiful and reasonably priced. React and Hydrogen developers who understand commerce are neither.
Migrations
| Source platform | Cost | Complexity driver |
|---|---|---|
| WooCommerce | $3,000-$20,000 | Plugin dependencies, subscriptions, custom PHP |
| BigCommerce | $3,000-$15,000 | Relatively similar data model |
| Squarespace / Wix | $2,000-$8,000 | Usually simple catalogues |
| Magento / Adobe Commerce | $10,000-$75,000 | Fundamentally different database structure; custom modules rarely have direct equivalents |
| Custom / bespoke platform | $15,000-$100,000+ | Everything is bespoke by definition |
| Shopify to Shopify (store consolidation) | $3,000-$15,000 | Redirect mapping, data merge conflicts |
The line item to check in every migration quote: SEO preservation. 301 redirect mapping, canonical handling, and Search Console transfer are non-negotiable. Any agency that does not mention them in a migration quote is quoting a cheaper project than the one you need, and skipping that work destroys rankings you spent years building.
Hourly rates
| Provider | Hourly rate | Typical project range |
|---|---|---|
| Offshore freelancer | $25-$75 | $300-$8,000 |
| Experienced freelancer | $75-$200 | $500-$30,000 |
| Agency (standard) | $100-$200 | $3,000-$30,000 |
| Agency (senior / US-based) | $150-$300 | $10,000-$100,000+ |
| Enterprise specialist | $250-$350 | $50,000+ |
Geography matters more than most buyers expect. US-based agencies typically charge 30-60% more than equivalent certified Shopify Partners offshore for comparable work. Whether that premium is worth paying depends on how much timezone overlap, communication bandwidth, and legal recourse matter for your project.
The ongoing costs nobody quotes
Most first-year budget overruns come from here rather than from the build.
| Cost | Typical monthly |
|---|---|
| Shopify plan (Basic / Grow / Advanced) | $39 / $72 / $299-$399 |
| Shopify Plus | $2,300-$2,500 |
| Apps (small store) | $50-$200 |
| Apps (growing store) | $200-$800 |
| Apps (Plus with subscriptions, search, ERP connectors) | $500-$5,000 |
| Premium theme (one-time) | $200-$400 |
| Headless hosting and CMS | $320-$3,500 |
| Maintenance retainer | 10-20% of build cost annually |
App sprawl is the quiet margin killer. A store that adds an app a month for two years arrives at $600 monthly in subscriptions, a slower site, and no clear picture of which apps still earn their place. Audit the app stack quarterly.
What drives your quote up or down
| Variable | Effect |
|---|---|
| Custom theme vs premium theme | The single biggest driver. Often a 3-10x difference for the same store. |
| Number of unique templates | A store with 6 page types costs far less than one with 20. |
| Catalogue complexity | 500 simple products vs 500 products with metafields, bundles, and variant-level pricing rules |
| Integrations | Each ERP, 3PL, PIM, or accounting connection is its own project |
| Number of markets and languages | Roughly multiplies content and QA scope |
| Content readiness | The most common cause of timeline slip. Development waits on copy and imagery far more often than the reverse. |
| Design source | Figma designs ready to build vs design produced as part of the engagement |
| Decision-making structure | One decision-maker vs a committee. This changes cost more than most agencies will say out loud. |
What should be in scope at any price
Regardless of budget tier, these belong in the quote rather than appearing as change orders:
- Discovery and scoping before build starts, with a written specification you both sign off
- Responsive implementation tested on real devices, not just browser resizing
- Core Web Vitals baseline at launch, with LCP under 2.5s on mobile as a stated target
- SEO fundamentals: correct canonical handling, title and meta fields populated, structured data, and redirect mapping if migrating
- Conversion tracking setup or verification (GA4, Meta, Google Ads)
- QA across the full purchase path including every payment method and every shipping region
- Handover documentation and a walkthrough, so you are not dependent on the agency for routine edits
- A defined post-launch window for bug fixes, typically 14-30 days
If any of these are quoted separately, the headline price is understated.
How to compare two quotes properly
Sticker price is the least useful comparison. Ask for:
- Number of unique templates included, named. "Homepage, PDP, collection, cart, about, contact" is a scope. "A full store" is not.
- Theme approach: premium theme customised, or custom from scratch? This alone can explain a 5x price gap.
- What is excluded, and what it costs when needed.
- Who does the work, by name, and the senior-to-junior split.
- Change request process and rate. Scope always moves; the question is what it costs when it does.
- Post-launch support window and what happens after it.
- Live store URLs from previous work, not portfolio screenshots. Verify the work is actually on Shopify and actually theirs.
Working out what you should spend
A rough framework. Match the build investment to what the store needs to earn:
| Annual revenue | Sensible build budget | Approach |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-launch / under $100k | $1,500-$5,000 | Premium theme, selective customization, DIY content |
| $100k-$500k | $5,000-$15,000 | Premium theme, thorough customization, CRO-informed templates |
| $500k-$3M | $15,000-$40,000 | Heavy customization or custom theme, integrations, proper CRO |
| $3M-$10M | $40,000-$100,000 | Custom theme, Plus if the features justify it, real integrations |
| $10M+ | $100,000+ | Plus, custom, possibly headless if the case genuinely holds |
Two adjustments. If your current store has a specific known problem (mobile conversion, checkout friction, speed), a targeted $8,000 project often beats a $40,000 rebuild. And if your content is not ready, the build budget matters less than the timeline, because development will wait on copy and imagery regardless of what you spent.
Where money gets wasted
- Custom theme when a premium theme would do. The most expensive avoidable decision in Shopify budgeting.
- Headless below $2M revenue. Significantly over-engineered, with ongoing engineering cost most brands at that scale cannot absorb.
- Custom development for something an app or a Function already does. Ask the "can this be done without custom code" question first, every time.
- Plus for wholesale alone, now that core B2B is available on lower plans.
- Rebuilding instead of fixing. A rebuild resets your conversion baseline and your SEO. Sometimes necessary; often not.
- Migrating and redesigning simultaneously. When traffic or conversion moves after launch, you cannot tell which change caused it.
- Skipping the maintenance budget. APIs deprecate, apps update, themes drift. 10-20% of build cost annually is not optional.
Getting a real number
Ranges give you a starting point; scoping gives you a price. The variables that decide where you land are template count, theme approach, catalogue complexity, integrations, and how ready your content is.
If you already have a quote, use the comparison questions above to check whether the price and scope match. If you are still working out what you need, a paid discovery or audit engagement is usually the cheapest way to find out, and it tells you whether your problem needs a rebuild or a targeted fix.
See what our Shopify development and design services cover, how we scope projects by template count rather than by store size, and what a typical engagement timeline looks like.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to build a Shopify store in 2026?
A DIY build with a free theme costs the plan fee alone. A premium theme plus selective customization runs $2,500-$5,000 and covers most brands well. A custom theme built from scratch runs $8,000-$50,000. A Shopify Plus build starts around $15,000-$25,000 and reaches $80,000+ with checkout customization, B2B, or ERP integrations. Headless runs $30,000-$250,000+.
What do Shopify developers charge per hour?
Freelancers typically charge $75-$200 per hour depending on experience and location. Agencies charge $150-$300, with senior specialists and enterprise work reaching $350. US-based agencies generally charge 30-60% more than equivalent certified Shopify Partners offshore for comparable work.
How long does a Shopify build take?
A premium theme with customization takes 2-4 weeks. A custom theme build takes 6-10 weeks. A Shopify Plus enterprise project takes 8-16 weeks. Headless builds with Hydrogen or Next.js take 10-20 weeks. Timelines stretch most often because of content readiness on the client side, not development speed.
Do I need a custom Shopify theme?
Most stores do not. A modern Online Store 2.0 theme with thoughtful customization gets you roughly 90% of a custom theme's value at a fraction of the cost, and it is easier to maintain because it keeps receiving updates. Custom themes make sense when your merchandising model genuinely does not fit any existing theme, or when brand differentiation is a material competitive advantage.
What ongoing costs should I budget after a Shopify build?
Budget 10-20% of the build cost annually for enhancements, API version updates, and fixes. On top of that: the Shopify plan fee, apps (commonly $200-$800 monthly for a growing store, more with subscriptions or advanced search), and transaction fees. Most first-year budget overruns come from app costs and maintenance, not the build.
Want a real number for your store?
Send us the URL and the catalog size. We will come back with a fixed quote and the template list it covers, no call required unless you want one.
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