How much an online store costs in 2026: the breakdown nobody gives you

It’s the first question on almost every call, and the honest answer is an uncomfortable one: it depends. But “it depends” without explanation helps nobody, so let’s break down exactly what it depends on — so you can estimate your own case and, more importantly, read the quotes you receive.

The seven factors that move the price

1. Number of products

Loading forty products isn’t the same as four thousand. And it isn’t just volume: large catalogues bring filters, internal search, automated imports from your back office and performance decisions a small store never has to think about.

2. How complex each product is

A product with size and colour has variants. A configurable one, with options that change the price, is another world entirely. And if you sell by weight, by the metre or with quantity discounts, the commercial logic gets far more involved than it looks from outside.

3. Whether it integrates with your back office

This is the factor people underestimate most. Connecting the store to your ERP or POS so stock is a single number can cost as much as the store itself, depending on how open your system is. It’s also what saves you the most pain afterwards.

4. Design

Adapting an existing theme to your brand is one thing. Designing a store from scratch with its own visual system is another. Both are legitimate: the first is faster and cheaper, the second differentiates more. What isn’t legitimate is charging for the second and delivering the first.

5. Content

Somebody has to write the descriptions, take the photographs and draft the information pages. If you do it, you save. If we do it, it’s quoted separately, usually per product.

6. The SEO you start with

A store can launch with URL structure, headings and structured data properly planned, or it can launch without any of it and be fixed later, which costs more. This work never shows in the demo, but it is the difference between appearing in Google and not.

7. New build or migration

Migrating means inventorying current URLs, mapping them to new ones and building the redirects. It’s extra work, but skipping it is the fastest way to lose the traffic you spent years building.

The recurring costs that show up later

The development quote is only part of it. Be clear from the start about what you’ll pay every month:

• Hosting, if the platform doesn’t include it. A store with real traffic doesn’t fit on three-euro shared hosting.
• The platform fee, if you choose a paid one like Shopify.
• Paid apps or modules, which stack up faster than you expect.
• The payment gateway’s commission on each sale.
• Maintenance: updates, backups and the incidents that always arise.

How to compare two quotes that look nothing alike

If you have two offers at very different prices, it’s rarely that one is expensive — it’s that they’re quoting different things. These four questions usually expose the gap.

• What happens if I need one more page than planned? Included or billed separately?
• Is the integration with my back office included, or is it a second phase?
• Who owns the domain, the hosting and the accounts? (The correct answer is: you.)
• What exactly does the monthly maintenance cover, and what doesn’t it?

A rule that nearly always holds

If one quote is far cheaper than the rest, look for what’s missing. Usually it’s the integration, the technical SEO or the ongoing support. And if one is far more expensive, ask for the line-by-line breakdown: a serious supplier has no problem giving it to you.

We work on this

• Web development · WooCommerceWe build online stores on WooCommerce: no per-sale commission, your catalogue integrated, and built to rank.
• Web development · ShopifyWe build Shopify stores and migrate from PrestaShop or WooCommerce without losing rankings.
• Web developmentWebsite and online store design and development for businesses in Spain.