"How much does Shopify cost in India?" sounds like it should have a one-number answer. When founders ask us, we usually end up drawing a small spreadsheet instead, because the monthly plan is only one line in it. The real cost of a Shopify store is the plan, plus a theme, plus apps, plus payment gateway fees, plus shipping and COD costs, plus whatever it takes to design and build the store. That's before you spend a rupee on ads.
Below we go through each cost so you can build a realistic budget before you start. Shopify's plan prices below were checked on Shopify's India pricing page on 18 October 2026. They change, so confirm them before you sign up. Everything after that is what founders tend to miss.
If you'd rather have someone plan and build it with you, that's what our Shopify development service does.
The short answer
A Shopify store in India costs:
- A Shopify subscription, billed in INR (from ₹1,499 a month on the Basic plan, paid yearly)
- A theme, free or paid (paid themes are usually a one-time purchase)
- Apps, most of them monthly subscriptions
- Payment gateway fees on every order, and a Shopify transaction fee on some plans if you use a third-party gateway
- A domain and business email
- Shipping, COD handling and returns (RTO), which add up faster than most people expect
- Design and development, whether that's your own time, a freelancer or an agency
The first three are easy to look up. The last three are where budgets break.
1. The Shopify subscription
Shopify has four plans in India. Here's what its India pricing page showed when we checked on 18 October 2026:
| Plan | Paid yearly (per month) | Paid monthly | Fee if you use a third-party payment gateway | Staff accounts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | ₹1,499 | ₹1,994 | 2% | — |
| Grow | ₹5,599 | ₹7,447 | 1% | Up to 5 |
| Advanced | ₹22,680 | ₹30,164 | 0.6% | Up to 15 |
| Plus | From ₹1,75,000 | — | 0.2% | Unlimited |
Source: Shopify India pricing, checked 2026-10-18. Prices are shown in INR. Confirm on the page before you sign up.
A few things to know about Shopify pricing in India:
- There's no setup fee on any plan, according to Shopify's pricing FAQ.
- The current intro offer is a 3-day free trial, then ₹20 a month for the first 3 months on most plans, before standard pricing starts. Offers like this change often.
- Yearly billing is cheaper. Basic works out to ₹1,499 a month paid yearly against ₹1,994 paid monthly. Commit only once you're sure you're staying on Shopify.
- Check how GST appears on your invoice. Shopify's pricing page doesn't say how GST applies to the plan price, so check your billing page or first invoice. If you're GST-registered, ask your CA whether you can claim input credit.
- Most new D2C brands start on Basic. Move up when order volume makes the lower third-party fee, or the extra staff accounts, worth it.
2. The theme
Shopify has free themes that are perfectly usable for a launch. Paid themes cost more but usually give you more layout options, better product page sections and stronger support.
The theme price is rarely the expensive part. The expensive part is bending a theme to do something it wasn't built for. Pick a theme that already suits your category. A skincare brand needs room for ingredients, routines and before-you-buy answers. A fashion brand needs size guides and lookbooks. That way you customise less.
3. Apps: the cost that creeps
Apps are how Shopify stores add reviews, subscriptions, upsells, WhatsApp notifications, shipping integrations, loyalty and more. Most are billed monthly, and many are priced in US dollars and charged to an international card.
App costs creep in three ways:
- Small monthly fees stack up. Six or seven apps at a "small" monthly fee become a real line in your P&L.
- Usage-based pricing grows with you. Some apps charge more as your orders, contacts or messages grow.
- Overlapping apps. Two apps doing half the same job each is common, and it also slows your store down.
Before installing an app, ask: does the theme already do this? Can one app replace two? Will you still need it in three months? Review your installed apps every quarter and remove what you don't use.
4. Payment gateways and transaction fees
Every online payment goes through a payment gateway, and the gateway charges a fee on each transaction. Indian payment gateways support UPI, cards, net banking and wallets, and their rates vary by payment method and by what you negotiate.
On top of that, Shopify charges its own fee when you use a third-party gateway. At the time of writing it's 2% on Basic, 1% on Grow, 0.6% on Advanced and 0.2% on Plus. Check the current rate on the pricing page, because it's one of the main reasons brands move up a plan.
When you compare costs, look at the total fee per order: gateway fee plus any Shopify fee plus GST on those fees. That total is what comes out of your margin, so it belongs in your ROAS and break-even maths.
5. Domain and email
You'll need a domain (yourbrand.com or yourbrand.in) and ideally a business email on that domain. Both are annual costs. They're small, but don't forget them, and keep the domain in the founder's or company's name, not a freelancer's.
6. Shipping, COD and RTO
This is where Indian D2C economics differ most from what you read in global Shopify guides.
- Shipping: most brands use a shipping aggregator or a courier integration. You pay per shipment, usually by weight and zone.
- COD: cash on delivery is still a big part of Indian e-commerce. COD orders often carry an extra handling charge from the courier, and the cash takes longer to reach your account.
- RTO (return to origin): when a COD order is refused or undeliverable, you pay to ship it out and often to bring it back. A high RTO rate can quietly wipe out the margin on a whole campaign.
None of these appear on Shopify's pricing page, but they belong in your store budget. Many brands use prepaid discounts, address verification and COD confirmation messages to keep RTO down.
7. Design and development
This line has the widest range, so it's worth understanding what drives it.
DIY: you can launch on a free theme yourself. The cost is your time and the conversions you might lose to a store that looks unfinished. Whichever route you take, settle your brand identity first, so the store, ads and packaging look like one brand.
Freelancer: good for a clear, small scope such as setting up a theme, adding products and connecting a gateway.
Agency: better when you need design, development, product content, tracking and launch support handled together.
Whoever builds it, these are the things that move the quote up or down:
- Number of unique templates: home, collection, product, about, landing pages
- Custom sections the theme doesn't have out of the box
- Migration from another platform, including products, customers, orders and redirects
- Integrations with shipping, ERP or inventory, WhatsApp, email and accounting tools
- Content: product photos, videos, copy and size or ingredient details. A store is only as good as its product pages, so plan your product photography and video alongside the build. Our product video shoot checklist helps you plan what each product page needs.
- Tracking: Meta Pixel and Conversions API, Google Analytics and Google Ads conversion tags, set up properly from day one
At GrooveNexus Studios we quote per project after the brief, based on exactly these factors. If you're in Delhi NCR, we're happy to meet in person. See our Delhi page for how we work with local brands.
8. Your Shopify budget worksheet
Copy this table into Google Sheets and fill in the last column with today's numbers:
| Item | One-time or monthly | Where the number comes from | Your figure |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shopify plan (from ₹1,499/month on Basic, paid yearly) | Monthly or yearly | Shopify India pricing page | |
| Theme | One-time (paid) or free | Shopify Theme Store | |
| Apps | Monthly (often USD) | Each app's listing | |
| Payment gateway fee | Per order | Your gateway's rate card | |
| Shopify transaction fee (third-party gateway) | Per order | Shopify pricing page, your plan | |
| Domain | Yearly | Your domain registrar | |
| Business email | Monthly or yearly | Your email provider | |
| Shipping | Per order | Your courier or aggregator | |
| COD handling | Per COD order | Your courier or aggregator | |
| RTO cost | Per returned order | Courier rates × your RTO rate | |
| Packaging | Per order | Your packaging supplier | |
| Design and development | One-time | Quote after brief | |
| Product photos and video | One-time or per shoot | Quote after brief | |
| Ongoing maintenance | Monthly or as needed | Your developer or agency |
The per-order lines matter most. Add them up to get your true cost per order, then compare it against your average order value.
9. Shopify vs WooCommerce on cost
The short version: Shopify bundles hosting, security and updates into the subscription, and you pay for apps. WooCommerce is free software, but you pay for hosting, some premium plugins and more ongoing maintenance. WooCommerce gives you more control. Shopify gives you less to manage.
Neither is "cheaper" in every case. It depends on your team, your catalogue and how much you want to customise. If you're weighing it up, read our full Shopify vs WooCommerce comparison for Indian D2C brands, and our WooCommerce development page explains when we recommend it.
10. How to keep Shopify costs down
- Start on the plan you need now, not the one you might need in a year.
- Choose the theme for your category so you customise less.
- Install apps slowly and audit them every quarter.
- Push prepaid orders with a small prepaid benefit to reduce COD charges and RTO.
- Get the product pages right before scaling ads. Better photos, clear answers and reviews make every ad rupee work harder. Our performance marketing team always checks the store before raising budgets.
- Set up tracking at launch so you're never guessing which channel pays.
FAQs
Is Shopify available in India?
Yes. Indian brands can sign up, bill in INR, use Indian payment gateways and sell to customers in India and abroad.
How much is Shopify per month in India?
When we checked on 18 October 2026, Basic was ₹1,499 a month paid yearly (₹1,994 paid monthly), Grow was ₹5,599 (₹7,447), Advanced was ₹22,680 (₹30,164), and Plus started at ₹1,75,000 a month. Check Shopify's India pricing page for today's prices.
Is GST charged on Shopify plans in India?
Shopify's pricing page doesn't spell it out, so check your billing page or first invoice to see how tax is shown. If you're GST-registered, ask your CA whether you can claim input credit.
Can I pay for Shopify in INR?
Shopify plans for Indian stores are billed in INR. Many third-party apps are still priced in US dollars, so keep a card that works for international payments.
Do I need a developer to build a Shopify store?
Not always. You can launch on a free theme yourself. You'll want a developer or agency for custom design, migrations, integrations, speed work and proper tracking.
How long does it take to build a Shopify store?
It depends on scope: the number of templates, custom sections, products, integrations and content. We share a timeline with the proposal after we've seen your brief.
Plan your store with us
If you want a Shopify store that's built for Indian buyers, with UPI, COD, fast product pages and tracking set up properly, have a look at our Shopify development service or send us your brief. We'll reply within 1 business day.
