Shopify vs a Custom Store: The Real Cost (2026)
Shopify is genuinely great at running an online store — inventory, payments, shipping, and a huge app ecosystem, all handled. But that convenience has a price with two parts most people miss: a monthly plan ($51/month CAD for Basic, up to $549 for Advanced) and a cut of every single sale unless you use Shopify Payments. For a store doing real volume, the fees can dwarf the plan. Here is the honest comparison against a custom-built store, and a clear answer on which fits your business.
What Shopify actually costs in 2026
Shopify’s plans in Canadian dollars run roughly $51/month for Basic and $549/month for Advanced, billed. On top of the plan, Shopify charges transaction fees: 2.9% + 30¢ per online sale on Basic (dropping on higher tiers), and an extra 0.5%–2% on top if you use any payment gateway other than Shopify Payments.
Then come the add-ons most stores need: premium themes ($180–$350 once), and apps for reviews, email, upsells, and subscriptions ($10–$50/month each). A real store often runs $80–$200/month all-in once apps are counted — before the per-sale fees.
- Basic plan: ~$51/month CAD ($3,060 over five years)
- Transaction fees: 2.9% + 30¢ per sale (more with a non-Shopify gateway)
- Premium theme: $180–$350 one-time
- Apps (reviews, email, upsells): $10–$50/month each
What a custom store costs
Our Store tier is $999 CAD, one-time — a custom storefront for up to 50 products, with hosting free on modern infrastructure. You connect your own Stripe account and pay only Stripe’s standard processing (2.9% + 30¢), with no platform surcharge on top and no monthly plan.
Over five years, that is $999 plus payment processing you would pay anywhere — versus $3,060+ in Shopify plan fees alone, before Shopify’s app and per-sale surcharges. You also own the code and the customer data outright.
Where Shopify genuinely wins
Shopify is the right call for stores that need its depth: large or fast-changing catalogs (hundreds or thousands of SKUs), complex inventory across locations, built-in POS for a physical shop, or a team that will manage products daily without touching code. The ecosystem handles shipping labels, tax, and fulfillment integrations out of the box.
If e-commerce is your core business and it is operationally heavy, Shopify’s monthly cost buys real infrastructure. That is a fair trade for the right store.
Where a custom store wins
For a focused catalog — a maker, a boutique, a service business selling a handful of products — a custom store is leaner and cheaper:
- No platform cut → you pay only Stripe’s standard rate, not Shopify’s plan plus surcharges.
- No monthly plan → the $999 is one-time; hosting is free.
- Speed → a custom storefront hits top Core Web Vitals, which helps both ranking and conversion.
- Ownership → your code, your customer data, your Stripe account — nothing rented back to you.
How to decide
Rule of thumb: if you have a large or operationally complex catalog and a team managing it daily, Shopify earns its fees. If you sell a focused set of products and want to keep more of each sale, a custom store is the better long-run value. Run your exact numbers — plan plus fees vs a one-time build — on codexweblabs.com/calculator.
Frequently asked questions
Compare store costs
Compare a one-time custom store against Shopify plan-plus-fees over five years on the live calculator. No email, no signup.
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