Short answer: a professional e-commerce store in India costs ₹1,00,000–₹3,00,000 on Shopify, ₹1,50,000–₹4,00,000 on WooCommerce, and ₹4,00,000–₹15,00,000+ for a custom build. Add monthly running costs of ₹10,000–₹60,000 (platform fees, hosting, payment gateway charges, maintenance). Choose the platform by your growth plan, not the launch price — replatforming at scale costs more than building right once.
Platform cost comparison
- Shopify: ₹1,00,000–₹3,00,000 setup + ₹2,500–₹25,000/month platform fees + 1–2% transaction fees. Fastest launch, excellent reliability, limited deep customisation.
- WooCommerce (WordPress): ₹1,50,000–₹4,00,000 setup + hosting ₹2,000–₹15,000/month. Full ownership and flexibility; needs proper maintenance discipline.
- Custom build (Next.js/headless): ₹4,00,000–₹15,00,000+. Unlimited customisation, best performance and SEO, no platform fees — justified once revenue or complexity outgrows hosted platforms. Read our web development company guide before choosing a builder.
Feature pricing that adds up
- UPI + card payment integration: ₹25,000–₹75,000 (plus gateway charges: ~2% cards, UPI often free or low)
- Shipping integration (Shiprocket/Delhivery): ₹20,000–₹60,000
- GST-compliant invoicing: ₹15,000–₹50,000
- Inventory sync with Tally/ERP: ₹50,000–₹2,00,000
- Multi-language storefront: ₹40,000–₹1,50,000
- WhatsApp commerce integration: ₹30,000–₹1,00,000
The running costs owners forget
Payment gateways take 1.5–2.5% of card revenue. Hosting scales with traffic (₹2,000–₹50,000/month). Maintenance — security patches, plugin updates, backup checks — runs ₹20,000–₹80,000/year. Product photography and content refreshes are ongoing. A store doing ₹50L/year typically spends ₹3–8L/year keeping the machine running — budget it from day one.
Which platform for which business
- Testing the market (<100 SKUs): Shopify. Launch in weeks, validate, learn.
- Content + commerce (blogs drive sales): WooCommerce or headless with a CMS.
- High volume, custom logic, B2B pricing tiers: custom build — the platform fees you save often fund the difference.
- Selling on marketplaces too: whichever platform, insist on inventory sync so Amazon/Flipkart and your store never oversell.
The bottom line
Launch on the platform that fits the next 24 months, wire payments and shipping properly, and budget running costs alongside the build. ITSolvez builds Shopify, WooCommerce and custom e-commerce under ISO 9001-certified delivery — fixed quotes after a short discovery, no surprises. Explore our web development services or get a free consultation.