How Much Does an Online Shop Cost in the UK? (2026)

There is no single price, because an online shop has three separate costs: getting it set up, a monthly fee to the platform it runs on, and a fee taken from every sale. There is also a fourth cost that rarely appears in any quote: your own time. This guide breaks down each one using the platforms’ own published prices, shows what payment fees actually add up to at three different sales levels, and covers the UK costs and rules most guides leave out.

All prices below were checked on the providers’ own websites in October 2026. They change from time to time, so check the current figures before you decide.

What are the costs of running an online shop?

Every online shop, whatever it runs on, has the same four kinds of cost:

The cheapest shop to set up is not always the cheapest to run. Fees on each sale grow with your sales, so a platform that looks cheap at the start can cost more once you are busy, and the other way round.

How much does it cost to set up an online shop?

It depends mostly on who does the setting up. There are three common routes.

Doing it yourself on a hosted platform. Shopify, Squarespace and Wix let you build a shop in your browser with a ready-made design. The direct cost is low: a monthly plan, plus a paid theme if you want one. Shopify’s theme store has free themes, and paid ones listed at between $150 and $430. The real cost is your time, learning the tool and setting everything up.

WooCommerce on a WordPress website. WooCommerce is the shop software that runs on WordPress. The software itself is free, with free and paid add-ons. You need a WordPress website and hosting to run it on, so it suits businesses that already have a WordPress site or want more control.

Hiring a designer or developer. You pay a one-off fee for someone to design and build the shop, set up payments and delivery, and usually add your products. Quotes vary widely, so compare what each one includes. The things that move the price most are:

• How many products, and whether they have options such as sizes and colours.
• Who adds the products. Uploading hundreds of products with photos and descriptions is a big job.
• How custom the design is, compared with an adapted ready-made theme.
• Extras: subscriptions, bookings, trade accounts, stock syncing with a till or marketplace.
• Delivery and tax rules, especially if you sell abroad.

An honest point: you may not need a designer to start. If you sell a handful of products and want to test whether people will buy, a DIY shop on a hosted platform is a sensible first step. A professionally built shop makes more sense once selling online matters to your business, or when you need something a template cannot do.

How much does Shopify cost in the UK?

Shopify is an all-in-one hosted platform: hosting, security and updates are included in the monthly plan. According to Shopify’s UK pricing page in October 2026:

Things to know:

• International and Amex cards cost more. On Basic, Shopify lists 3.1% + 25p for those.
• Using a different payment provider adds Shopify’s own fee on top of that provider’s charges, which is why most small Shopify shops use Shopify Payments.
• Apps cost extra. Many shops add paid apps for reviews, subscriptions, delivery options and so on, and they add up.
• There is a trial. In October 2026, Shopify’s offer was 3 days free, then £1 a month for 3 months.

How much does WooCommerce cost in the UK?

WooCommerce software is free. What you pay for is everything around it:

• Hosting for the WordPress website. Prices vary a lot with the quality of the host, and a shop needs better hosting than a simple brochure site, because slow checkouts lose sales.
• A domain name, a small yearly fee.
• Paid extensions for anything beyond the basics, such as subscriptions or advanced delivery options.
• Maintenance. WordPress, WooCommerce and every extension need regular updates, backups and security checks. You do this yourself, or pay someone to.
• Payment fees, which depend on the payment provider you choose.

The main payment options, from their own UK pricing pages in October 2026:

Many shops offer both a card option and PayPal, because some customers prefer to pay with PayPal.

What do payment fees actually add up to?

Here is what the published rates add up to each month at three sales levels. These are worked out from the rates above, assuming UK standard cards and Shopify’s monthly billing, before VAT, hosting, apps or extensions.

What this shows:

• At small volumes, the differences are small. The gap between platforms is a few pounds a month, so pick the one you find easiest to run.
• Fees grow with your sales. At £15,000 a month, the difference between the cheapest and most expensive option in the table is about £240 a month.
• Shopify’s Grow plan pays for itself at around £13,300 a month in UK card sales, compared with Basic, because its lower fee on each sale outweighs the higher monthly price.
• WooCommerce’s fees are lower, but they are not the whole cost. Add hosting, extensions and maintenance before comparing it with Shopify, which includes those.
• Your real figures will differ. Premium cards, international customers and refunds all change the numbers, so check the fees your payment provider actually charges once you are trading.

What other costs should I plan for?

These are the costs and rules most guides leave out.

• VAT. You must register once your taxable turnover goes over £90,000 in a 12-month period. Until then, some providers, such as WooPayments, add VAT to their fees.
• The ICO data protection fee. An online shop handles customers’ personal details, and the ICO says organisations that use personal information, including sole traders, must pay a yearly fee unless they are exempt. Micro businesses pay £52, or £47 by direct debit.
• What your shop must show. UK rules on selling online require your business name, contact details and address, full prices including taxes, delivery costs and times, and how customers can cancel. Customers can cancel up to 14 days after delivery without giving a reason.
• Refunds and returns. You must refund within 14 days of getting the item back, including the standard delivery cost the customer paid. Budget for returned stock and postage.
• Delivery and packaging. Boxes, labels, postage and courier collections are often the biggest ongoing cost for a small shop.
• Product photos and descriptions. Good photos sell. Either your time, or a photographer.
• A privacy notice and cookie consent. Most shops use cookies for analytics or advertising, which needs visitors’ consent.
• Maintenance and security. Every shop needs updates, backups and someone watching for problems, whether that is included in the platform, done by you or paid for.

Shopify or WooCommerce: which is cheaper for a small UK shop?

It depends on your situation, not on which platform is better. As a rough guide:

Shopify tends to suit you if:

• you want everything in one place, with hosting, security and updates handled,
• you are starting small and want to be selling quickly,
• you would rather pay a bit more in fees than look after software.

WooCommerce tends to suit you if:

• you already have a WordPress website and want the shop on the same site,
• your sales are growing and the fee on each sale is starting to matter,
• you want full control and ownership of your shop and its data,
• you have someone, yourself or a provider, to keep it updated and secure.

Squarespace and Wix also offer shops on their plans, and can suit very small catalogues. Check their UK pricing pages for current plan prices and any fee they take on each sale.

Whichever you choose, make sure the shop is fast on a phone. Slow checkouts cost sales, which we cover in our guide to whether a slow website loses customers.

How we can help

We build WooCommerce shops on Elementor for small businesses: fast, easy for customers to buy from, and easy for you to run. We have spent over ten years building and fixing Elementor and WordPress websites, across more than 500 sites, and we will tell you honestly if a simpler setup would suit you better.

Our online stores page explains what is included and shows current pricing. If you are planning a website without a shop, our guide to how much a small business website costs covers that, and our guide to how long a website takes to build explains the timeline. Not sure what you need? Start with a free website audit.