Building an online shop: ask ten different people what it costs and you will get ten different answers. Platforms advertise from five euros a month, agencies quote tens of thousands, and it is genuinely difficult to plan around that. The confusion is partly structural. Shopify earns on transaction fees and app subscriptions. Developers quote their own rates. The costs that actually matter, running costs, transaction fees and maintenance, rarely lead the conversation. This article puts all three main options side by side, including what you pay beyond the headline price.
Quick comparison
| Shopify | WooCommerce | Custom build (CanarySites) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Upfront cost | €0 | €0-200 | From €449 |
| Monthly costs | €29-299 | €10-50 | From €0 |
| Transaction fees | 0.5-2% | 0.25-0.35% | None |
| Technical maintenance | Included | You or a developer | Included |
| Own your data | No | Yes | Yes |
| IGIC configuration | Manual setup | Plugin required | Included as standard |
| Multilingual | App required | Plugin required | Built in |
Shopify: quick to launch, expensive over time
Shopify's main selling point is speed. You do not need technical knowledge to get a store live with products, payment processing and a checkout. For first-time shop owners who want to start selling without hiring a developer, that is a genuine advantage worth paying for.
The pricing structure, however, has layers that are not immediately obvious. The Basic plan is €29 per month. If you use an external payment provider such as Stripe or Mollie rather than Shopify Payments, Shopify charges an additional 2% on every transaction. On €5,000 monthly revenue, that is €100 extra per month, or €1,200 per year. Upgrading to the Standard plan (€79/month) reduces that fee to 1% but adds €600 to your annual subscription cost. A professional theme runs €150-350 as a one-off purchase. Apps for product reviews, upsells, advanced filters or loyalty programmes add €10-50 per month each on top of that.
Add it all up for a shop turning over €5,000 per month on the Basic plan: €348 in annual subscription, €1,200 in transaction fees, €300 for a theme and €480 in apps. That is close to €2,500 per year in platform costs alone. Shopify is not bad value if you understand what you are paying for. It becomes expensive if you assumed the €29 plan covered everything.
WooCommerce: free plugin, not free to run
WooCommerce is a free WordPress plugin. That is the headline. The actual cost is found in what surrounds it. You need hosting: a reliable server for an e-commerce site costs €10-50 per month depending on traffic and catalogue size. A free WordPress theme is rarely appropriate for a professional shop, so budget €50-200 for a premium one.
Core e-commerce functions, tax calculations, payment gateway integration, order notifications and product reviews all require separate plugins. Across several licence fees, annual costs add up to €100-400. Payment gateways (Stripe, Mollie) charge 0.25-0.35% per transaction plus a flat fee. And who keeps the WordPress installation, plugins and theme up to date? If that is not you, outsourced maintenance costs €50-150 per month. A neglected installation accumulates security vulnerabilities that can cost significantly more to fix than regular maintenance would have. Read more about why WordPress sites slow down when maintenance falls behind.
WooCommerce is the most cost-effective option if you have technical knowledge or someone who does. No platform subscription, full ownership of your data, complete flexibility. But calling it free would be inaccurate.
Custom build: higher upfront, lower long-term cost
A custom-built shop costs more at the start. At CanarySites, shops start from €449 one-off or €39.95 per month including hosting and maintenance. That is more than €0 for WooCommerce and more than €29 for Shopify Basic. But the calculation changes over two to three years: no platform subscription, no transaction fees on top of Stripe or Mollie and no app subscriptions for features that are already built in.
For businesses in the Canary Islands, there is an additional reason to consider a custom build: IGIC. The Impuesto General Indirecto Canario is the Canary Islands' own tax regime, which differs significantly from mainland Spanish VAT. Shopify has no native IGIC support. WooCommerce requires specific plugins that do not always calculate it correctly. A custom build includes IGIC configuration from day one, along with a multilingual checkout in Dutch, Spanish and English for shops serving international customers.
When you calculate total cost of ownership over three years, a custom shop is typically less expensive than Shopify Basic for businesses with €3,000 or more in monthly revenue. It is also built around your specific requirements rather than optimised for the average global shop.
The hidden costs per platform
Every provider leads with their entry price. Here are the costs that get less attention:
- Shopify: transaction fees with an external payment provider (2% on Basic), paid apps for standard features, theme purchase or customisation, and specialist developer rates for custom work (Shopify developers typically charge €75-150 per hour).
- WooCommerce: hosting (required), security plugins, SSL certificate, backup service, maintenance time or cost, payment gateway integration, and the potential recovery cost when a plugin update breaks something.
- Custom build: the higher upfront investment. That is the real cost. There are no surprises after that, but the barrier to getting started is higher than with the other options.
Which option is right for your business?
Starting out with a limited budget: begin with WooCommerce on solid managed hosting, or Shopify Starter (€5/month for selling via direct links, without a full storefront). Shopify Basic works well if you want to go live quickly and can absorb the monthly subscription and transaction fees.
Growing business on Gran Canaria: a custom build offers the best value over the medium term. IGIC support, multilingual checkout and no transaction fees are directly relevant to the Canarian market and worth more than the upfront price difference suggests.
Dutch shop operated from Spain: you need tax configuration per country, local payment methods and content in multiple languages. All three platforms can handle this, but Shopify and WooCommerce both require additional plugins and configuration that can fail. A custom build has this built in from the start.
Shop with more than 100 products: pay attention to scaling costs. The Shopify Advanced plan (€299/month) unlocks more features but triples the monthly fee. WooCommerce hosting requirements grow with catalogue size. With a custom build, scaling does not mean moving to a higher plan or paying more in platform fees.
Frequently asked questions
What does a basic online shop cost per month?
A basic WooCommerce shop costs €10-80 per month (hosting, gateway fees, core plugins). Shopify Basic is €29 per month, not including transaction fees or apps. A custom shop at CanarySites starts from €39.95 per month including hosting, maintenance and IGIC configuration.
Is Shopify cheaper than WooCommerce?
Not structurally. Shopify costs more over time but is simpler to manage from day one. WooCommerce has lower monthly costs but requires more technical work. Which is cheaper in practice depends on your revenue, transaction volume and whether you can handle technical maintenance yourself.
What are transaction fees and how do I avoid them?
Transaction fees are the percentage Shopify charges on every sale when you use an external payment provider instead of Shopify Payments. You can avoid them by using Shopify Payments, but it is not available in all countries. With WooCommerce or a custom build, you only pay the standard gateway rates from Stripe or Mollie, with no additional platform fee on top.
How much does a custom webshop cost in Gran Canaria?
At CanarySites, online shops start from €449 one-off or €39.95 per month with hosting and maintenance included. Shops with advanced features such as customer accounts, inventory integrations or complex catalogues cost more. We always provide a fixed quote before starting, with no surprises after.
What is the difference between upfront and monthly costs?
Upfront costs are the one-time build fee for design and development. Monthly costs cover the platform subscription, hosting and maintenance. Shopify has low upfront costs but ongoing monthly fees. A custom build has higher upfront costs but low or zero monthly overheads. Over three years, a custom shop typically works out cheaper for established businesses.
At CanarySites we build online shops for businesses in Gran Canaria and the Netherlands, including IGIC, multilingual checkout and the payment methods your customers expect. See our pricing page or request a no-obligation quote today.