Building an online shop can cost €500 or €50,000. That enormous range makes it hard to get a clear picture. This article breaks down the real costs of the three most-used options: Shopify, WooCommerce and custom development — including the costs that providers would rather not put front and centre.
Shopify: low barrier, high long-term cost
Shopify is popular for getting started quickly. But the monthly costs add up: Basic plan €29/month + 2% transaction fees on external payment providers, Standard plan €79/month + 1%, Advanced €299/month + 0.5%, plus a premium theme (€100-350 one-off) and apps (€10-50 per month each). For a shop with €5,000 monthly revenue on the Basic plan, you're already paying €1,500-€2,000 per year in platform costs alone.
WooCommerce: cheap to start, work to maintain
WooCommerce is free as a plugin, but not costless: hosting €10-50/month, premium theme €50-200 one-off, required plugins €100-400/year, payment gateway fees 0.25-0.35% per transaction. Advantage: you own your data and pay no platform subscription. Disadvantage: requires technical knowledge or outsourced maintenance.
Custom build: higher upfront, better ROI long-term
A custom-built shop costs more to start (€449-€1,499 at CanarySites), but: no monthly platform fees, no transaction fees on top of Stripe/Mollie, built precisely for your situation, and IGIC correctly configured for the Canary Islands market. Over two to three years, a custom WooCommerce shop is often cheaper than Shopify.
Which is right for you?
- Shopify: Fast start, no technical knowledge needed, willing to pay ongoing platform costs
- WooCommerce: Limited budget, someone to handle technical maintenance, smaller product range
- Custom build: Long-term growth, savings on monthly costs, specific requirements for the Spanish or Canarian market
At CanarySites we build WooCommerce shops that work for both Dutch and Spanish customers, including IGIC, multilingual payment methods and the correct tax settings. Request a quote.