How much does it cost to build an ecommerce site?

For a typical European store on a customised theme, setup lands between roughly €5,000 and €40,000 depending on platform, design ambition and whether an ERP has to be connected. The calculator on this page gives you a number for your specific scenario instead of a range.

Is Shopify cheaper than Magento?

Almost always at the start, because there is no infrastructure to build and the monthly plan is small. It stops being cheaper once transaction fees, app subscriptions and multi-market plans stack up. The crossover month in Chart A is exactly the point where that flips for your revenue.

Why is Magento cheaper at high revenue?

Magento Open Source charges nothing per transaction. Its costs are mostly fixed: hosting, maintenance and developer time. Shopify's costs scale with what you sell, so the two lines eventually cross.

Where do these prices come from?

Every line item in the breakdown links to the public price page or benchmark it came from, with the date it was last checked. Nothing is estimated by feel — see the methodology page for the full list.

Ecommerce TCO calculator

How much does an ecommerce site actually cost?

Setup, monthly run cost, and the 36-month total for Shopify, WooCommerce and Magento. Every number comes from a sourced and dated price list — last checked 2026-08-10.

Your scenario

Monthly revenue (GMV)

What the store turns over in a month.Average order value

Catalogue sizeDesign approachERP / back-office integrationMarkets and languagesWho builds itCountryOnly changes the hourly rate applied to build work.Adobe Commerce licence (paid Magento, instead of Open Source)

Shopify

Setup: €10,790
Run: €1,899/mo
TCO 12m: €33,581
TCO 24m: €56,372
TCO 36m: €79,163

range at 36m: €57.2k – €117k

WooCommerce

cheapest at m36

Setup: €14,935
Run: €1,615/mo
TCO 12m: €34,318
TCO 24m: €53,701
TCO 36m: €73,084

range at 36m: €49.2k – €126k

Magento

Setup: €35,850
Run: €2,205/mo
TCO 12m: €62,313
TCO 24m: €88,776
TCO 36m: €115,239

range at 36m: €73.2k – €204k

The verdict

At €50,000/month GMV, Shopify costs less for the first 15 months. Beyond that, WooCommerce pays for itself, and by month 36 the difference is €6,079 against Shopify.

Month 15: WooCommerce overtakes Shopify on cumulative cost.

Chart A — cumulative cost, 36 months

Shopify
WooCommerce
Magento

Chart B — 36-month TCO vs monthly GMV

Shopify
WooCommerce
Magento

Where the money goes

What real merchants report

The model above is built from public price lists. This part is built from you. Medians appear only once a platform has at least 10 verified submissions, so nothing here is a single loud anecdote.

Shopify0/10 reports — median hidden
WooCommerce0/10 reports — median hidden
Magento0/10 reports — median hidden

Add your numbers

Questions merchants actually ask

How much does it cost to build an ecommerce site?: For a typical European store on a customised theme, setup lands between roughly €5,000 and €40,000 depending on platform, design ambition and whether an ERP has to be connected. The calculator on this page gives you a number for your specific scenario instead of a range.
Is Shopify cheaper than Magento?: Almost always at the start, because there is no infrastructure to build and the monthly plan is small. It stops being cheaper once transaction fees, app subscriptions and multi-market plans stack up. The crossover month in Chart A is exactly the point where that flips for your revenue.
Why is Magento cheaper at high revenue?: Magento Open Source charges nothing per transaction. Its costs are mostly fixed: hosting, maintenance and developer time. Shopify's costs scale with what you sell, so the two lines eventually cross.
Where do these prices come from?: Every line item in the breakdown links to the public price page or benchmark it came from, with the date it was last checked. Nothing is estimated by feel — see the methodology page for the full list.