Real 2026 prices for a Shopify store, a custom store and a store with hundreds of products, AI-powered and classic, plus platform choice, monthly running costs and timelines.
How much does an ecommerce website cost in 2026? At Synapse Team a Shopify store on a ready theme starts at $1,500, a custom store with up to 50 products at $3,000, a store with hundreds of products at $8,000, and moving an existing store to a new platform at $3,500. Those are AI-powered prices. A classic build costs more: a store with up to 50 products from $5,000, with hundreds of products from $15,000.
Below we break down what an ecommerce website costs, which platform to choose, what a store costs to run every month and how to get an exact quote. The figures come from our current price list and update together with it.
These are starting prices for a typical store with ready content. The team gives you the exact figure after a short brief, within one business day.
| Project | With AI | Classic |
|---|---|---|
| Shopify store on a ready theme | $1,500 3–5 days | $2,500 1–2 weeks |
| Store with up to 50 products | $3,000 3–4 weeks | $5,000 4–6 weeks |
| Store with hundreds of products | $8,000 6–8 weeks | $15,000 10–14 weeks |
| Moving a store to a new platform | $3,500 4–5 weeks | $7,500 8–10 weeks |
More on every format on our ecommerce development page.
A Shopify store has two costs: the platform and the build. Shopify plans start at $29 per month billed yearly, prebuilt themes cost $0 to $500, and card payments through Shopify Payments run roughly 2.4% to 3.5% per transaction depending on the plan and region (Shopify, September 2026). Our build of a Shopify store on a ready theme starts at $1,500 with AI and launches in 3–5 days.
There are three ways to launch an online store. They differ in starting cost, monthly costs and how far you can grow.
You pay a monthly subscription that includes hosting, security and updates. It is the fastest start, but the design and the logic are limited to what the platform allows, and you pay platform fees as you grow.
A WordPress store with WooCommerce gives more freedom in design and integrations. You pay for hosting, updates and security separately, and a developer makes improvements.
When the catalog, pricing logic or integrations outgrow a builder, the store is built around your processes. We build these stores on Vendure and headless technology: a fast storefront, B2B pricing, an ERP integration. It costs more at the start, but you pay no platform fees and hit no platform limits.
A catalog of a thousand products needs filters, search, product import from a spreadsheet or an ERP, and fast category pages.
A ready theme is cheaper and faster; a custom design carries your brand and helps you sell. Product, cart and checkout pages affect sales the most, so design pays off there first.
Each integration is estimated separately: payments (Stripe, PayPal), shipping and fulfillment, accounting or ERP, CRM and email marketing. Integrations push a store budget up more than anything else.
Selling in several countries means several languages, currencies, payment methods and shipping options. Each market adds work on translation, pricing and taxes.
Wholesale pricing, company accounts, payment terms and ordering from a file turn a store into a more complex system. We estimate these projects after a brief.
A typical US store connects several services, and each one is a separate line in the quote:
The more data moves between the systems, the more complex the integration. That is why we price each one after the brief, not upfront.
To compare options fairly, count the whole first year, including the build. For a Shopify store that means:
A custom store replaces the subscription with hosting and costs more to build, from $3,000 with AI. In return, you pay no platform fee on top of each app and can change the store without limits.
The build is a one-time payment, but a store has running costs:
With AI, a Shopify store on a ready theme launches in 3–5 days, a store with up to 50 products in 3–4 weeks, a store with hundreds of products in 6–8 weeks, and a store migration takes 4–5 weeks. A classic build takes 1–2 weeks, 4–6 weeks, 10–14 weeks and 8–10 weeks respectively. More on stages and timelines in how long it takes to build a website.
According to Charle (October 2026), a store on a hosted builder costs $500 to $5,000, a freelancer-built store $500 to $5,000, and an agency store $5,000 to $150,000 and up. A freelancer works for a simple store if you are ready to run the project and check the result yourself. An agency costs more because the price covers the whole turnkey result: design, catalog, payments, shipping, SEO foundation, analytics and support after launch. With AI, our store with up to 50 products starts at $3,000 and launches in 3–4 weeks.
AI speeds up development, engineers guarantee quality: the team does the routine part of the work with AI, while a senior engineer owns the architecture, the integrations and the final review. That is why a store with up to 50 products starts at $3,000 with AI instead of $5,000, and a store with hundreds of products at $8,000 instead of $15,000.
With AI, a Shopify store on a ready theme starts at $1,500, a custom store with up to 50 products at $3,000, and a store with hundreds of products at $8,000. A classic build costs more: from $5,000 and $15,000 respectively.
The platform starts at around $29 per month and themes cost $0 to $500 (Shopify, September 2026). Our build of a Shopify store on a ready theme starts at $1,500 with AI and launches in 3–5 days.
A hosted builder on a free or cheap theme, set up by yourself. It is the lowest starting cost, but you spend your own time and the store is limited to what the platform allows. A Shopify store set up by our team starts at $1,500.
A builder is cheaper at the start. A custom store pays off when platform fees, app subscriptions and limits on design or integrations start to cost more than owning the code.
The platform subscription or hosting, payment processing fees on every order, the domain, and maintenance. Our basic care plan is $250/mo.
Replatforming starts at $3,500 with AI and $7,500 with a classic build, including products, customers, orders and redirects from the old URLs.
A product and a supplier, a business entity that can accept payments, a domain, a store on a platform or a custom build, payment and shipping integrations, and product photos and descriptions. We handle the store, integrations and content: copy is written by our SEO specialist, and photos come from you or are generated with AI.
Each integration (payments, shipping, accounting, CRM) is estimated separately, because it depends on the service and how much data moves between the systems. The exact price comes within one business day after the brief.
Author
Roman Barbotkin
Founder & CEO
Roman founded Synapse Team and leads delivery for clients in the US, EU and Ukraine. He writes about how projects actually run: scope, budgets, timelines, and where AI genuinely helps.
Real 2026 prices for a landing page, a corporate website and an online store, each in two options, AI-powered and classic, with timelines. Plus monthly running costs and what a quote should include.
8 min readReal 2026 timelines for a landing page, a corporate website and an online store, AI-powered and classic, plus every stage of the build: what we do, what we need from you and how long it takes.
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