How much does a Shopify website cost in the UK? (2026 guide)
Share
As of August 2026, Shopify itself costs a UK small business from £19 a month (the Basic plan billed annually; £25 billed monthly), plus card fees from 2% + 25p per online sale. The bigger variable is the build. Doing it yourself costs nothing but your time; a professional fixed-price build typically runs £1,750–£4,500; agencies commonly quote £5,000–£20,000+. Most new UK stores spend £250–£1,000 on the platform in year one — the build is the decision that matters.
This guide breaks down every cost line, with real numbers checked this month. Mind the Shop is a UK web and growth studio founded by Andrea — you can see every price we charge at mindtheshop.co.uk, because we publish every price.
How much does Shopify cost per month in the UK?
Shopify has three main plans for UK merchants, and the price depends on whether you pay monthly or commit to a year:
| Plan | Billed annually | Billed monthly | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | £19/month | £25/month | Most new and small stores |
| Grow | £49/month | £65/month | Established stores with a small team |
| Advanced | £259/month | £344/month | High-volume retailers |
Two more sit either side of those. Shopify Starter (£5/month) lets you sell through social media and links but doesn't give you a proper storefront, and Shopify Plus (from roughly £1,800–£2,000/month) is the enterprise tier — neither is the right starting point for a typical UK small business. Shopify usually runs a short free trial plus a heavily discounted introductory period for new stores (recently £1/month for the first three months) — check the current offer on Shopify's pricing page, as promotions change.
For almost every business we build for, Basic at £19/month is the right answer on day one. You can upgrade later; there's no penalty for starting small.
What card fees does Shopify charge UK stores?
Using Shopify Payments (the built-in processor), UK online card fees are roughly:
| Plan | Online card fee |
|---|---|
| Basic | 2.0% + 25p per transaction |
| Grow | 1.7% + 25p per transaction |
| Advanced | 1.5% + 25p per transaction |
On a £40 order, that's about £1.05 on Basic. There's no separate Shopify transaction fee if you use Shopify Payments; if you insist on a third-party gateway (say PayPal only), Shopify adds an extra platform fee on top — for most small stores it's simpler and cheaper to switch Shopify Payments on and take cards, Apple Pay and Google Pay in one go.
What does it cost to have a Shopify store built for you?
This is where quotes vary wildly, so here's an honest map of the UK market in 2026:
DIY: £0 in fees, but a real cost in time. Shopify's free themes (Dawn, Horizon) are genuinely good. Budget 40–80 hours to do it properly — products, photography, pages, delivery and returns policies, payments, email, tracking. If your evenings are free and cash is tight, this is a legitimate route.
Freelancer: typically £1,000–£5,000. A competent freelancer sets up the theme, products, core pages, checkout and basic email. The risk isn't price, it's scope: hourly billing with vague deliverables is how £1,500 becomes £4,000. Ask for a fixed price and a written list of what's included.
Agency: £5,000–£20,000+. Worth it for complex builds — large catalogues, subscriptions, custom functionality, migrations. Overkill for a 10–30 product store. Custom theme development at the top end runs well into five figures.
Our own fixed prices sit in the freelancer band, with agency-style scope in writing: the E-commerce Starter build is £1,750 (theme set up on-brand, up to 10 products, core pages, checkout tested, basic email — live in 4–5 weeks), and the Growth build is £3,250 (up to 30 products, custom design, Klaviyo email flows, reviews, GA4 tracking — live in 6–8 weeks). Those prices are fixed before work starts, and every build ends with a handover doc so you can run the shop yourself.
What hidden costs should you budget for?
Beyond the plan and the build, four line items catch new store owners out:
Domain: £10–£30 a year for a .co.uk or .com. Buy it yourself, in your own account — never let a builder own your domain.
Theme: £0 if you use a free theme (fine for most stores); premium themes are roughly £150–£350 as a one-off. You rarely need one on day one.
Apps: the quiet budget-killer. Each app is £5–£50/month and they stack. A sensible small store needs very few — a reviews app and an email platform (Klaviyo has a free tier to start). Be suspicious of any build that ships with ten apps installed.
Email and extras: a professional email address (Google Workspace or similar) is £5–£12/month. Photography, copywriting and ads are separate decisions — none is compulsory at launch.
Realistic year-one platform total for a small UK store on Basic with a free theme, a domain and one or two apps: roughly £300–£900, before any build cost or marketing.
Is Shopify worth it compared with the alternatives?
For a business whose main job is selling products online, usually yes: checkout, payments, hosting, security and updates are handled for you, which is precisely the boring infrastructure that goes wrong on cheaper DIY stacks. If you're a service business that just needs enquiries rather than a checkout, you may not need Shopify at all — we've compared the options honestly in Shopify or Squarespace? The honest answer for UK small businesses, and we build on both, so we've no reason to push you to the dearer one.
How do you keep the cost down without hobbling the store?
Four rules we apply on every build at Mind the Shop:
First, start on Basic billed monthly until the store is proven, then switch to annual billing and save about 25%. Second, use a free theme well rather than a paid theme badly — layout, photography and copy move sales more than a theme purchase. Third, add apps only when a specific problem demands one. Fourth, get the measurement in early: if you can't see where visitors drop off, you'll spend money guessing. If you already have a store and suspect it's leaking sales, a conversion audit (£450, delivered within a week) is a cheaper first step than a rebuild.
What does Mind the Shop charge, exactly?
Mind the Shop is a one-person UK studio, founded by Andrea, who has run marketing and paid ads in-house for established brands — including a mature, high-volume UK Shopify coffee business — rather than only ever freelancing. Store builds are fixed-price: £1,750 for Starter, £3,250 for Growth, from £4,500 for Premium, each with the scope published in full on the site and a calendar timeline you can hold us to. If you're weighing up a Shopify build and want a straight answer on which tier (if any) fits, start with the Starter build at £1,750 or book the free 20-minute call on the site — no obligation, and if DIY is the right call for you, we'll say so.
Frequently asked questions
How much does Shopify cost per month in the UK?
As of August 2026: Basic is £19/month billed annually or £25/month billed monthly; Grow is £49/£65; Advanced is £259/£344. Most new UK stores should start on Basic.
Do I pay transaction fees on Shopify?
If you use Shopify Payments, there's no extra Shopify transaction fee — just card processing from 2% + 25p per online sale on Basic. Third-party payment gateways attract an additional platform fee.
How much does it cost to have someone build a Shopify store in the UK?
UK freelancers typically charge £1,000–£5,000 and agencies £5,000–£20,000+. Mind the Shop charges a fixed £1,750 (Starter, up to 10 products) or £3,250 (Growth, up to 30 products with email flows and tracking).
Can I build a Shopify store myself for free?
The platform fee still applies, but yes — Shopify's free themes are good enough for most small stores, and a careful owner can DIY in 40–80 hours. The trade-off is time and the risk of invisible mistakes in tracking, email and checkout settings.
What's the total first-year cost of a small Shopify store?
Platform, domain and a couple of apps: roughly £300–£900. Add £1,750–£4,500 if you have it professionally built at fixed price, or more with an agency.
Prices checked August 2026 against Shopify's current UK plans and published industry guides. Shopify changes pricing and promotions from time to time — always confirm on shopify.com/uk/pricing before committing.