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Pricing guide · November 2026 · 12 min read
Ecommerce website cost in India (2026): real price ranges, WooCommerce vs Shopify
What an online store actually costs to build and run in India in 2026, from a Jind-based agency that has launched stores for pharma, fashion, food and B2B sellers since 2017. Build cost, platform fees, payment and shipping charges, and the monthly bills nobody mentions.
Short answer: An ecommerce website in India costs ₹9,999 – ₹35,000 for a starter WooCommerce store with up to 20 products, ₹65,000 – ₹1,50,000 for a growing D2C brand store with custom design, and ₹1,50,000 – ₹4,00,000 once you add ERP, inventory or custom checkout integrations. Marketplaces with multiple sellers start around ₹4 lakh. On top of the build, budget ₹2,000 – ₹25,000 a month for hosting, platform fees, payment-gateway charges and shipping tools. The platform you pick (WooCommerce vs Shopify) changes the monthly bill more than the build price. Want your own number? Use the free website cost calculator.
In this article
Ecommerce website cost in India by store type (2026)
These are the ranges Indian businesses actually pay registered agencies in 2026 for a store that takes real orders, not a template demo. The build cost is one-time. The yearly running cost covers hosting or platform fees, payment-gateway charges at a typical sales volume, shipping software and basic maintenance.
| Store type | One-time build | Yearly running cost | Timeline |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starter store (up to 20 products, Razorpay/UPI/COD, GST invoices) | ₹9,999 – ₹35,000 | ₹15,000 – ₹40,000 | 2 – 3 weeks |
| Growing D2C brand store (50–500 products, custom design, abandoned-cart, reviews) | ₹65,000 – ₹1,50,000 | ₹40,000 – ₹1,20,000 | 3 – 6 weeks |
| Custom store with integrations (ERP/Tally, inventory sync, B2B pricing, subscriptions) | ₹1,50,000 – ₹4,00,000 | ₹1,00,000 – ₹3,00,000 | 6 – 12 weeks |
| Marketplace / multi-vendor (seller dashboards, commissions, payouts) | ₹4,00,000 – ₹15,00,000+ | ₹3,00,000+ | 3 – 6 months |
Running costs assume Razorpay-style gateway fees of about 2% on ₹2 – ₹50 lakh of annual sales, a shipping aggregator plan and a basic care plan. GST at 18% is extra on agency fees unless the quote says inclusive.
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What drives the price up or down
Two stores with the same number of products can differ by ₹1 lakh. Six things explain almost all of that gap.
- Product data readiness. If you hand over a clean sheet with names, prices, variants, HSN codes and photos, catalogue setup is cheap. If the agency has to shoot, crop, write and categorise 300 products, add ₹150 – ₹400 per product.
- Design level. A quality WooCommerce theme customised to your brand sits at the low end. A custom Figma design with bespoke product pages and landing pages adds ₹25,000 – ₹80,000.
- Checkout and payments. Razorpay, PhonePe or Cashfree with UPI, cards and COD is standard. Partial COD, EMI, wallets, multi-currency or custom checkout fields each add setup time.
- Shipping logic. Flat rate is simple. Pin-code serviceability, weight-based rates, Shiprocket or Delhivery integration and COD remittance tracking are where quotes climb.
- Integrations. Tally or Busy accounting sync, ERP, WhatsApp order alerts, Meta catalogue feeds, Google Merchant Center and marketing automation are the biggest multipliers.
- Who builds it. A freelancer may quote ₹15,000 for the same scope an agency quotes ₹60,000. The difference is usually testing, security, speed work and someone to call when checkout breaks on a Sunday.
WooCommerce vs Shopify: what each costs over three years
Most Indian sellers choose between these two. The build cost is similar; the running cost is not. Shopify charges a monthly subscription plus app fees, and on its India plans you also pay transaction fees unless you use Shopify Payments where available. WooCommerce is free software on hosting you own, so your fixed cost is hosting and a care plan, and there is no platform commission.
| Cost line | WooCommerce (self-hosted) | Shopify |
|---|---|---|
| Build (growing store) | ₹65,000 – ₹1,50,000 one-time | ₹50,000 – ₹1,25,000 one-time, plus a paid theme (₹15,000 – ₹30,000) |
| Platform / hosting | ₹6,000 – ₹60,000 a year (shared to managed hosting) | Subscription from roughly ₹2,000 a month on the Basic plan with annual billing; higher plans ₹7,000 – ₹30,000 a month |
| Apps / plugins | ₹0 – ₹25,000 a year (most essentials are free) | ₹15,000 – ₹80,000 a year (reviews, upsell, loyalty, forms are mostly paid apps) |
| Payment fees | Gateway only, about 2% per transaction | Gateway fees plus a Shopify transaction fee on third-party gateways where applicable |
| Ownership | You own the code, data and customers; can move hosts any time | Rented platform; export is possible but theme and apps do not move |
| 3-year cost, growing store | ₹1.2 L – ₹3.5 L | ₹2 L – ₹6 L |
Shopify plan prices change by region and billing cycle; check shopify.com/in/pricing before deciding. The three-year figures include build, platform, apps and a basic care plan but not ad spend or gateway fees on sales.
Our honest take: Shopify is a fine choice if you want zero technical involvement and are happy paying a subscription forever. For most Indian SMBs selling 20 to 2,000 products, WooCommerce costs less over three years, handles GST invoicing and COD natively with Indian plugins, and leaves you owning the store. If you are weighing both, our WooCommerce vs Shopify decision guide compares payments, COD, GST, Hindi pages, apps, SEO and ownership with a checklist; then read the Shopify development page and the WooCommerce store page and ask us for a quote on each.
Monthly running cost of an online store in India
This is the budget line sellers forget. For a WooCommerce store doing ₹2 – ₹10 lakh a month in sales, expect:
Gateway fees scale with sales, so they are a cost of doing business rather than a website cost. The fixed part, hosting plus care, is usually ₹4,000 – ₹18,000 a month. Compare that with a marketplace taking 15 – 30% commission on every order and the maths behind owning a store becomes obvious. Our website maintenance cost guide explains why stores need more care than brochure sites.
Hidden costs first-time sellers miss
- Product photography and copy. The single biggest delay and surprise cost. Budget ₹300 – ₹800 per product for a proper shoot and description if you cannot do it in-house.
- GST registration and invoicing rules. You need a GSTIN to sell online across states. Your store must issue GST-compliant invoices with HSN codes; make sure the quote includes this.
- COD losses. Cash-on-delivery returns (RTO) run 15 – 30% for many categories. A store that can restrict COD by pin code or order value saves real money; ask for it.
- Policies and legal pages. Shipping, returns, refund and privacy pages are mandatory for Razorpay and PhonePe approval. Agencies often leave these to you.
- Marketing setup. Meta Pixel, Conversions API, Google Analytics 4 ecommerce events and a product feed for Google Shopping. Without them your ad spend is blind. Budget ₹5,000 – ₹15,000 if not included.
- Speed on cheap hosting. A ₹99-a-month shared plan will crawl once you have 200 products with images. Plan for managed hosting from day one or budget a migration later.
How to launch for less without regretting it
- Start with 20 to 50 best-sellers, not the whole catalogue. Add products after the store is proven. This alone moves most businesses into the starter tier.
- Use a proven WooCommerce theme customised to your brand instead of a from-scratch design. Customers care about product photos, prices and checkout speed, not bespoke layouts.
- Prepare product data in a sheet before the project starts: name, price, variants, HSN, weight, 3 photos each. It can cut catalogue setup cost in half.
- Pick one gateway and one shipping partner at launch. Add more once orders justify the integration cost.
- Skip paid apps you do not need yet. Reviews, wishlist and abandoned-cart email have free WooCommerce options that are good enough for the first year.
- Insist on a fixed written quote with a deliverables list, test orders and 30 days of post-launch support. Hourly quotes on ecommerce projects almost always run over.
How QTC prices WooCommerce stores (2026)
Every store we build is quoted fixed-price in writing, includes payment, shipping and GST invoicing configuration, and is handed over in your name with no platform commission. Our standard ranges:
QTC Infotech online store pricing (2026)
Starter WooCommerce store: from ₹9,999 for up to 20 products, Razorpay/UPI/COD, cart and checkout, GST-ready invoices, order emails and WhatsApp alerts (see what is included)
Growing D2C store: ₹65,000 – ₹1,50,000 with custom design, Shiprocket or Delhivery shipping, abandoned-cart recovery, reviews and wishlist
Custom store with integrations: ₹1,50,000 – ₹4,00,000 for ERP or Tally sync, B2B pricing, subscriptions and multi-warehouse inventory
Shopify builds: quoted separately; see Shopify website development
Store care plan: from ₹2,500 a month including staged updates and checkout tests after every release
Every quote includes design, development, payment and shipping setup, Meta Pixel and GA4 ecommerce tracking, test orders and 30-day support. Browse retail and D2C stores we have built. Get my free quote → Estimate it yourself →
FAQ
How much does an ecommerce website cost in India in 2026?
A starter WooCommerce store with up to 20 products costs ₹9,999 – ₹35,000. A growing D2C store with custom design and 50 – 500 products costs ₹65,000 – ₹1,50,000. Stores with ERP, inventory or B2B integrations run ₹1,50,000 – ₹4,00,000, and multi-vendor marketplaces start around ₹4 lakh. Add ₹2,000 – ₹25,000 a month to run it.
What is the cheapest way to start selling online in India?
A starter WooCommerce store from ₹9,999 with 20 best-selling products, one payment gateway and flat-rate shipping. It is cheaper over a year than a Shopify subscription and you keep 100% of each sale minus about 2% gateway fees, compared with 15 – 30% commission on marketplaces.
How much does it cost to run an online store per month?
For a WooCommerce store the fixed cost is ₹4,000 – ₹18,000 a month for hosting and a care plan. Payment-gateway fees add about 2% of sales and shipping is charged per order. A Shopify store adds a platform subscription from roughly ₹2,000 a month plus paid apps.
Is Shopify or WooCommerce cheaper in India?
Build cost is similar. Over three years WooCommerce is usually cheaper (₹1.2 – ₹3.5 lakh versus ₹2 – ₹6 lakh for a growing store) because there is no subscription, fewer paid apps and no platform transaction fee. Shopify wins only if you want to avoid all technical involvement.
How long does it take to build an ecommerce website?
A starter store goes live in 2 – 3 weeks once products and payment accounts are ready. A custom D2C store takes 3 – 6 weeks and an integrated store 6 – 12 weeks. The most common delay is waiting for product photos, GST details and gateway approval.
Do I need GST registration to sell online in India?
Yes for interstate sales and for most payment gateways and marketplaces. Your store should issue GST-compliant invoices with HSN codes; make sure invoicing is part of the build scope and not an extra.
