Ecommerce Website Cost in Australia: Custom vs Shopify

Almost every online-store enquiry I get in Adelaide opens the same way: "We'll just throw it on Shopify, yeah?" It's the default, and for some businesses it's the right one. But I've rebuilt enough stores for owners who were quietly handing over $300 or $400 a month — platform fee, a stack of apps, transaction surcharges — to know the default isn't always the cheapest way to sell online. So here's the honest version of what an ecommerce website costs in Australia: custom build versus Shopify, with real numbers on both sides and no barracking for one answer.

There are really only two ways to pay for an online store

You either rent or you own. Renting is the platform model — Shopify, BigCommerce, Wix ecommerce — where you pay a monthly fee for as long as the store exists. Owning is a custom-coded store: you pay once to have it built, then a small hosting fee to keep it online, and the store itself is yours. Both can sell the same $80 candle to the same customer in Glenelg. The difference is what you're still paying in year three, and who owns the thing when you want to change direction.

Neither is automatically right. The honest question isn't "which is better" — it's "which is cheaper and less painful for a business your size." Let me put numbers on both.

What you actually pay a platform like Shopify

The headline plan is only the start. Shopify's plans currently span roughly $55 a month at the bottom to around $430 a month at the top (plans and prices change, so check before you commit). That's the platform fee on its own, before you've added a single feature your store actually needs.

Then come the apps. A decent reviews widget, proper shipping rules, tax-invoice handling, a wishlist — each is its own monthly subscription, and they stack quickly. By the time most stores have assembled what they really need, they're at $200 to $400 a month, every month, indefinitely. On top of that, if you don't use the platform's own payments product you can pay an extra transaction fee of around half a per cent to two per cent on every sale. For a store doing $50,000 a month, that surcharge alone can be hundreds of dollars leaving your account each month.

None of this is a rip-off. If you're a high-turnover store and the convenience is worth the operating cost, it's money well spent. The trap is that the monthly numbers feel small, so almost nobody does the multiplication — and the same business model that bills cheap websites by the month is at work here too, which I unpack in the hidden costs of a cheap website.

What a custom store costs to build and own

Here's our pricing, so you've got a real number to compare against. A starter store is $799 — up to 25 products, a payment gateway and order management, which suits a lot of cafes, makers and single-range businesses. A growth store is $1,999 — unlimited products, multiple payment options, customer accounts and proper order management. Both are one-off prices that exclude GST. Hosting is $30 a month and includes SSL, security, backups and payment-gateway maintenance, on a month-to-month basis with no lock-in.

Every build comes with the same core kit: a custom storefront, Stripe, PayPal, Afterpay and Zip at checkout, GST-aware tax handling, Australia Post integration for live shipping rates, customer accounts, discount codes, a mobile-first checkout with Apple Pay and Google Pay, and a plain admin panel you can run yourself. A starter store usually takes two to three weeks once you've sent products, photos and branding; a growth store with custom features is four to eight weeks.

Run the three-year maths and the picture flips. A growth store is $1,999 once plus about $1,080 in hosting over three years — roughly $3,079 all up, and you own it. A modest Shopify setup at, say, $55 for the plan plus around $150 in apps is about $205 a month, which is roughly $7,380 over the same three years, with nothing owned at the end. The figures move with your app list, but the shape rarely does. It's the same own-versus-rent logic behind Wix versus a custom website, just with a checkout attached.

When a custom store is the right call

You're a strong fit for a custom build if a few of these ring true:

• You have a defined product range. Under a couple of hundred products with a fairly stable catalogue. You want a clean storefront, not bulk-upload tooling you'll never use.
• You're tired of paying SaaS rent. If you're already watching $300 a month leave for a platform plus apps, a custom build typically pays itself back in six to eighteen months, and after that it's straight savings.
• You want a brand that doesn't look like everyone else's. Shopify themes are recognisable. If the look and feel matters to how you sell, a custom store stands out from the template-and-app sameness.
• You need specific functionality. Subscription billing, B2B pricing tiers, member-only products, unusual shipping logic — the things that need real code rather than another bolt-on app.
• You care about speed. Heavy themes load slowly on a phone, and most checkouts now happen on mobile. A lean custom store loads faster, which helps both conversion and ranking — there's more on why in Core Web Vitals for small business sites.

When Shopify is honestly the better choice

I'd rather lose the job than sell you a build you'll regret, so here's where a platform genuinely wins. If you add ten or more new products a week, Shopify's bulk import and variant tools are mature and hard to beat by hand. If you want Amazon, eBay or Facebook Shop integrations live with near-zero setup, the app store has them ready. And if you'd simply rather pay a monthly fee and never think about the technology again, that convenience is real and worth something. A platform also makes sense for a large, high-revenue store where the operating cost is a rounding error against turnover. None of that is a knock on custom — it's just matching the tool to the business.

The Australian-specific bits that trip people up

Selling online here comes with a few local details a generic template handles poorly. GST should display the Australian way — prices shown tax-inclusive, with the tax broken out at checkout, an ABN field for business buyers, and tax invoices emailed automatically on every order. Buy-now-pay-later isn't optional anymore; plenty of Australian shoppers expect Afterpay or Zip and will bounce if it's missing. Shipping should pull live Australia Post rates rather than guessing, so you're not eating postage or overcharging. And Stripe is usually the cleanest payment choice for an Australian business on fees and admin. Get those right and the store feels local instead of bolted together.

What to check before you commit to either

Whatever you choose, ask these before you sign anything:

• Do I own the store, the files and the domain? If the domain isn't in your name, that's a red flag.
• Is hosting month-to-month, or a lock-in contract? A build should be a one-off; the ongoing fee should be cancellable.
• Can I add products and change prices myself, for free? You shouldn't be paying someone every time a price moves.
• What's the all-in cost, including transaction fees? Make them add up every monthly line, not just the headline.
• What happens to my store if I stop paying? With a custom store it's yours; on a platform it usually goes read-only or closes.

Frequently asked questions

How much does an ecommerce website cost in Australia?

At WebCraft Studio a starter online store is $799 (up to 25 products) and a growth store with unlimited products and customer accounts is $1,999. Both are one-off prices that exclude GST, plus $30/month hosting you can cancel anytime. Compare that to a platform like Shopify, where plans currently run from roughly $55 to $430 a month before apps and transaction fees — a cost that never stops. Over three years a custom store you own usually works out cheaper for a business turning over under about $50,000 a month.

Is a custom online store cheaper than Shopify?

It depends on your size. If you have a fairly stable catalogue under a couple of hundred products and you turn over under roughly $50,000 a month, a one-off custom build plus cheap month-to-month hosting normally beats Shopify over three years, because you stop paying platform and app subscriptions. If you add many new products every week, want zero-setup marketplace integrations, or simply want a hands-off platform you never think about, Shopify can be the better value despite the monthly fee.

What payment methods can an Australian online store accept?

A custom store from WebCraft Studio supports Stripe (cards plus Apple Pay and Google Pay), PayPal, Afterpay, Zip and direct bank transfer, and we can integrate any provider with a public API. Stripe is the default we recommend for most Australian businesses because of its low fees and clean dashboard, and buy-now-pay-later options like Afterpay and Zip matter because a lot of Australian shoppers now expect them at checkout.

How is GST handled on an Australian ecommerce site?

We build to the Australian convention: prices display GST-inclusive by default, with the tax broken out at checkout. There's an ABN field for B2B customers, configurable rates if you sell into other jurisdictions, and tax invoices are generated and emailed automatically when an order is completed. That keeps the store tidy for your bookkeeping and clear for your customers.

Can I add products and update prices myself?

Yes. Every store comes with a simple admin panel for adding products, changing prices, managing stock and processing orders, with no technical knowledge needed. We hand over a 30-minute training video and a written quick-start guide on launch, so you can run the day-to-day yourself instead of paying someone every time a price changes.

The bottom line

Shopify isn't the enemy and custom isn't a religion. If you're high-volume or want a platform you never have to think about, rent it and get on with selling. But if you've got a defined range, you're sick of watching subscriptions stack up, and you'd like to actually own your shopfront, a custom store from $799 plus $30 a month is usually the cheaper, calmer choice over the life of the business. You can see exactly what's included on our ecommerce website design page and our pricing page, and there's a wider breakdown of build costs in how much a small business website costs. When you're ready, tell me about your products through the project request form and I'll come back with honest, all-in numbers.