Topics: Website design & costs, Costs & pricing
Want this done for your business? Get a fixed quote or book a free 30-minute call.
Quick answer: A Shopify store in Australia has three separate costs: the plan (Basic is A$56 a month, or A$42 a month billed yearly, rising to A$575 a month on Advanced), a one-off build, and fees that grow with every order. GRWW quotes a properly built agency store at A$15,000–A$25,000 or more before GST; a theme-based setup with a small catalogue costs less.
Shopify's pricing page shows one tidy monthly number. A trading store pays three bills: Shopify's subscription, the setup and build, and a stream of per-order and per-app charges that rise as sales do. Owners who budget for only the first are the ones surprised at the end of the quarter.
Prices in this guide come from Shopify's Australian pricing page as we checked it in November 2026. Shopify changes plans and rates from time to time, so confirm them before you sign anything.
What does a Shopify store cost to set up in Australia?
Setup ranges from your own time on a free theme to a custom build priced like software; most growing retailers land in the agency band.
| Setup route | Typical cost (before GST) | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| DIY on a free or paid theme | Your time, plus any theme licence | A working store if you're comfortable configuring it yourself |
| Theme-based setup by a developer | Quoted per scope, below a full custom build | Theme configured, products loaded, payments and shipping set up |
| Agency-built store with custom design | A$15,000–A$25,000+ | Custom design, catalogue structure, integrations, testing |
| Custom Shopify app or integration | A$10k–30k | Logic no existing app provides, such as trade pricing or ERP sync |
| Headless storefront on Shopify | A$25k–80k | A custom front end with Shopify running checkout and orders |
For how a store compares with other kinds of sites, see our guide to website costs in Australia.
What will you pay Shopify each month in AUD?
Plan prices run from A$42 to A$575 a month, and the plan also sets your card rate and any surcharge for outside gateways. As listed on Shopify's Australian pricing page in November 2026:
| Plan | Billed monthly | Billed yearly (per month) | Shopify Payments online card rate | Fee if you use a third-party gateway |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | A$56 | A$42 | 1.7% + 30¢ | 2% |
| Grow | A$149 | A$114 | 1.55% + 30¢ | 1% |
| Advanced | A$575 | A$431 | 1.35% + 30¢ | 0.6% |
| Plus | From A$3,700 | Not listed | 1.15% + 30¢ | 0.2% |
The third-party fee is Shopify's charge on top of whatever your outside gateway charges. Using Shopify Payments avoids it, which is why most small Australian stores start there. Shopify also runs introductory offers on the first months, so your first invoices can look lower than your ongoing ones.
How much do apps, themes and payment fees add?
Payment fees scale with sales, apps scale with ambition, and themes are mostly a one-off.
Themes. Free themes from Shopify's theme store are a sound starting point. A paid theme is a one-off licence for a single store, with updates included.
Apps. This is where budgets leak. Typical Australian stores add apps for product reviews, Australia Post or Sendle shipping rates, Xero or MYOB sync, search and filtering, email marketing and buy now, pay later messaging. Each is a modest monthly fee; together they can rival the plan itself. Audit app spend every quarter:
- Export the list of installed apps and their monthly charges.
- Mark each one: earns money, saves time, or "not sure".
- Uninstall the "not sure" ones for a month and watch whether anyone notices.
- Check that removed apps haven't left code in your theme.
Payment fees. An illustrative example, not a client figure: a store on Basic taking A$20,000 a month across 200 online orders through Shopify Payments pays 1.7% (A$340) plus 30¢ per order (A$60), so about A$400 a month. Route the same sales through an outside gateway and Shopify's 2% adds another A$400 before that gateway's own fees.
Buy now, pay later. Afterpay and Zip charge the merchant a fee on each order paid through them. Shoppers like the option, but treat it as another payment cost line, not a free extra.
Freelancer, agency or DIY: how do build quotes compare?
Compare who carries the work and the risk, not just the number at the bottom.
| DIY | Freelancer | Agency | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Upfront cost | Lowest | Low to medium | Highest |
| Who does design, setup and testing | You | One person | A team |
| Speed to launch | Depends on your spare hours | Depends on their availability | Set by a schedule in the contract |
| Main risk | Your time, and mistakes in tax or shipping settings | Single point of failure | Paying for process you may not need |
| Fits | Small catalogue, simple shipping | A defined theme setup | Custom design, integrations, migration from another platform |
Whichever you choose, ask for a fixed price against a written scope, not an open hourly meter. Our guide to the questions to ask an Australian web design agency helps you test a shortlist, and our quote comparison checklist helps you line up the replies.
When does a custom Shopify theme pay off?
When your store already sells and the theme is the thing holding conversion back. Shopify's current themes use flexible sections, so a well-configured premium theme takes most stores a long way.
A custom theme tends to earn its cost when:
- You have months of sales data showing where shoppers drop off
- Your brand is the product, and a stock theme makes you look like every competitor
- A large catalogue needs collection layouts and filters the theme can't handle
- You're stacking apps to fake features a custom section would do natively
- Mobile speed suffers under theme and app code you can't trim
It rarely pays off for a brand-new store with no sales history. Launch on a strong theme, learn what sells, then invest. If you outgrow Shopify altogether, read about when to move off Shopify before committing to a rebuild.
What ongoing costs should you budget after launch?
Plan for the plan, the apps, payment fees and maintenance, plus a few Australia-specific setup jobs that are easy to get wrong.
- Maintenance. We use 10–20% of the build a year as a rule of thumb for brochure sites; stores need more, so plan on 15–25%.
- Domain. A .com.au domain needs an Australian presence such as an ABN, and renews yearly.
- Email and marketing. Business email per user, plus ad spend and any agency fees.
Australian setup that belongs in the build, not as an afterthought:
- GST-inclusive prices. Per the ACCC, prices shown to consumers must include the total price, GST included.
- Tax invoices. Per the ATO, tax invoices need your business details and ABN; configure order invoices to show them.
- Shipping rates. Live Australia Post or Sendle rates, with sensible rules for regional and remote postcodes.
- Accounting sync. Orders, fees and refunds flowing into Xero or MYOB so your BAS isn't a reconciliation weekend.
How do you keep ownership of your store and data?
Keep every account that holds money, customers or your name in your business's name, and give developers their own access.
- Store owner account. Registered with a business email you control, never a developer's address.
- Developer access. Staff accounts or collaborator access with only the permissions they need, removed when the work ends.
- Domain. Registered to your ABN at a registrar you can log into.
- Payments. Shopify Payments, Afterpay and PayPal set up in your business name, paying out to your bank account.
- Theme and custom code. A contract assigning custom theme and app code to you on full payment, with copies handed over.
- Data. Know how to export products, customers and orders as CSV files, and do it once so you know it works.
Our team works with stores on Shopify store design and build on these terms, and you can read more about GRWW in Australia.
Frequently asked questions
Is Shopify cheaper than WooCommerce in Australia?
Shopify usually costs more each month but less in upkeep, because hosting, security and core updates are included. WooCommerce has no plan fee but needs hosting, extensions and someone to maintain it. Compare twelve months of total cost at your expected order volume.
Do Shopify plan prices include GST?
Shopify's Australian pricing page doesn't say either way, and how GST appears on your bill depends on the registration details in your account. Check your first invoice in the Shopify admin and ask your accountant or BAS agent how to treat it.
How much does a Shopify developer charge per hour in Australia?
Rates vary widely with experience, location and whether you hire onshore, offshore or through an agency. Hourly comparisons mislead because faster developers cost more per hour and less per job. Ask for a fixed price against a written scope instead.
Can I move my Shopify store to another platform later?
Yes. Products, customers and orders can be exported as CSV files and imported elsewhere, though themes and apps don't transfer. Plan redirects from old URLs so you keep search traffic during the move.
Does Shopify work with Afterpay?
Yes. Per Afterpay's merchant help centre, Afterpay is available to Shopify stores with an Australian or New Zealand address, enabled from the payments settings once you have an Afterpay merchant account. Afterpay charges you a fee on each order paid through it.
Get every Shopify cost on one page
Send us your catalogue size, apps you already use and the systems the store must connect to. After a free call you'll get a fixed Shopify quote in AUD for the build, with the running costs listed beside it, typically inside one business day.