If you have gotten a quote for an ecommerce website and wondered why prices vary so much, here’s why. Ecommerce sites have more cost layers than standard business websites. The platform, design, apps, payment processing, and hosting all stack on top of each other. Most guides only show you one of those layers at a time. Here is what the full picture actually looks like.
What Makes Ecommerce Sites More Expensive
An ecommerce site needs things a regular business site does not. That includes a product catalog, shopping cart, checkout, payment processing, Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) security, and often inventory management. Each of these items adds either upfront cost or recurring fees. That is why you cannot use the same pricing benchmarks for an online store as you would for a five-page service site.
Platform Costs: Where Most Businesses Start
Most small businesses start with a hosted ecommerce platform rather than a custom build. Here are the major options and their costs.
| Platform | Monthly Cost | Transaction Fee |
|---|---|---|
| Shopify Basic | $39/mo ($29/mo billed annually) | 2% if not using Shopify Payments |
| Shopify Grow | $105/mo ($79/mo billed annually) | 1% |
| Squarespace Core | $29/mo* | 0% on physical products (card processing 2.9% + $0.30; 5% fee applies only to digital content/memberships) |
| WooCommerce (plugin) | Free | None |
WooCommerce has a caveat attached to its “free plan”. The plugin is free, but it runs on WordPress. That means you still need hosting ($5 to $30/month), a domain ($10 to $20/year), and SSL (often bundled with hosting). Most stores also add a premium theme and several paid plugins. Most small WooCommerce stores end up spending $50 to $150 per month all in, even before paying for the core software.
Custom Ecommerce Development
A template platform does not always fit. Oftentimes, a complex project with a large catalog needs custom integration and a website built from scratch. Agency-built ecommerce sites typically run $15,000 to $50,000 or more for the build itself. Website maintenance adds $100 to $500 per month.
Three Approaches, Side by Side
| Approach | Upfront Cost | Ongoing Monthly Cost | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| DIY platform (Shopify, Squarespace) | $0–$350 | $100–$300+ (platform + apps + fees) | Simple stores, solopreneurs |
| Custom agency build | $15,000–$50,000+ | $100–$500 (maintenance) | Complex stores, established brands |
| Leased website | $0 | $475 flat | Small businesses wanting done-for-you |
A Simpler Alternative
Some businesses want a professional online presence without platform research, app stacking, and separate maintenance invoices. For those businesses, leasing is worth comparing. For a flat $475 per month, Lease A Website includes design, hosting, SSL, SEO setup, and ongoing content management. No upfront build costs and no surprise fees layered on top.
Frequently Asked Questions
What costs show up after the first year that people don’t budget for?
Most cost estimates focus on the launch. The renewal year often costs more. App and plugin subscriptions that start free or discounted typically renew at $200 to $1,000 or more per year combined, and promotional pricing on hosting, domains, and platform plans commonly jumps well above the introductory rate once the first term ends.
Do transaction fees change as my store grows?
Yes. Most platforms scale card processing and transaction fees down on higher-tier plans. Squarespace’s Core plan charges 0% on physical product sales, but its card processing rate itself drops from 2.9% on entry-level plans to 2.5% on its top plan, and Shopify’s per-order transaction fee falls from 2% on Basic to 1% on Grow. Moving up a plan for the lower rate only pays off once monthly sales volume is high enough to offset the higher subscription cost.
What does it cost to switch platforms later if I outgrow my starting one?
For a small store, migrating to a new platform typically runs anywhere from a few hundred dollars using an automated data-transfer app to $5,000 to $15,000 for an agency-led move with custom design and SEO preservation. Costs climb from there with catalog size and how much custom functionality has to be rebuilt. That is one reason a flat, all-in leasing model like Lease A Website avoids the platform lock-in that drives migration costs in the first place.