Canadian online stores have more platform choice than ever in 2026, but the pricing is genuinely confusing. Shopify quotes a base subscription, then the app marketplace quietly doubles or triples your monthly cost. WooCommerce looks free until you add hosting, themes, plugins, and a developer. ‘Custom build' quotes range from $5,000 to $250,000.
I build ecommerce sites for Canadian merchants every month. Here's what each platform actually costs to build, run, and grow in 2026, including the fees that get buried at the bottom of the proposal.
Shopify pricing for Canadian merchants in 2026
Shopify is still the default for Canadian ecommerce in 2026, and for good reason. The all-in-one model is frictionless and the ecosystem is huge. The fact that it's headquartered in Ottawa also matters in practical ways: CAD billing, GST/HST handled correctly, and a Canada Post integration that actually works.
| Plan | Monthly (CAD, billed annually) | Online card rate | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shopify Starter | $7 | 5% per transaction | Social selling only (no real storefront) |
| Basic Shopify | $45 | 2.9% + $0.30 | New stores, <$200K/year |
| Shopify | $115 | 2.7% + $0.30 | $200K–$1M/year stores |
| Advanced Shopify | $485 | 2.5% + $0.30 | $1M–$5M/year stores |
| Shopify Plus | $2,300+ | Negotiated | $5M+/year, multi-store, B2B |
What Shopify actually costs once you add the apps you need
Almost no real Shopify store runs on the base subscription alone. The Canadian merchants I work with typically end up with $150–$500/month in apps stacked on top of the Shopify plan. The biggest categories are email marketing (Klaviyo, $30–$300+), reviews (Judge.me $15, Yotpo $30+, Loox $10–$300), bundles and upsells (Rebuy $50+, Bold $30+), shipping (ShipStation $10–$160), subscriptions (Recharge $99+), and loyalty (Smile.io $50+).
Add a premium theme ($300–$500 one-time, e.g., Impact, Symmetry, Empire, Prestige), a Klaviyo migration if you're coming from Mailchimp ($500–$2,000), plus Canadian-specific apps like Sezzle or Affirm for buy-now-pay-later. A healthy Shopify store typically runs $300–$1,000/month all-in once you're past launch.
WooCommerce real cost in Canada (it's not free)
WooCommerce itself is free, which leads a lot of Canadian merchants to assume they can skip the Shopify subscription. In practice, WooCommerce costs are unbundled rather than absent, and often higher once you total everything up.
- WordPress hosting suitable for ecommerce: $30–$300/mo (Cloudways, WP Engine, SiteGround, Kinsta)
- Premium WooCommerce theme: $60–$200 one-time (Astra Pro, Flatsome, Blocksy)
- Payment gateway: 2.9% + $0.30 via Stripe, Square, or Moneris (no platform fee on top)
- Required plugins: WooCommerce Subscriptions $239/yr, Bookings $279/yr, Shipping plugins $79–$239/yr each
- Email and reviews: Klaviyo $30+/mo, reviews plugin $79–$249/yr
- Performance and security: WP Rocket $59/yr, Wordfence Premium $119/yr, regular backups
- Developer time: ongoing. Woo updates break things more often than Shopify does
- Realistic total cost of ownership for a Canadian SMB: $1,500–$5,000 build + $80–$400/month for hosting and plugins + ongoing developer fees. ‘Free' is not an honest description of the platform.
Custom and headless ecommerce builds in 2026
Headless commerce, meaning Shopify, BigCommerce, or Commerce Layer as a backend with a custom frontend on Next.js or Nuxt, has matured a lot in 2026. It's no longer experimental. For Canadian merchants doing $1M+/year who want full design control, fast page loads, and integrations with bespoke fulfillment or B2B systems, it's now a credible option.
Real cost in Canada: $25,000–$150,000 build + $1,000–$5,000/month for the underlying Shopify/BigCommerce subscription, hosting (Vercel, Netlify, Cloudflare), CMS (Sanity, Contentful, Hygraph), search (Algolia), and ongoing dev. Worth it for the right business. Massive overkill for almost anyone under $1M/year in revenue.
Canadian-specific costs you'll forget until checkout
GST/HST configuration and provincial tax rules. Every Shopify and Woo store needs proper Canadian tax setup. I typically charge $200–$500 to configure this correctly, especially for stores selling across provinces with mixed tax rates. PST in Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and BC plus QST in Quebec all behave differently.
Canada Post integration vs ShipStation: Canada Post's Shopify app is free and works, but ShipStation ($10–$160/mo) does the job much better and handles Canada Post, Purolator, UPS, FedEx, and Loomis from one screen. Worth it once you ship 50+ orders a month.
Bilingual French/English store: this doubles your content work, requires Langify ($25/mo) or Weglot ($15–$200/mo), and is essentially mandatory if you sell to Quebec consumers under Law 25 and French language requirements.
Building a Canadian ecommerce store and want a real quote? We've launched dozens of Shopify stores for Canadian merchants, from $1,500 starter setups to fully custom builds.
Get a Free Homepage DesignFor most Canadian small merchants under $500K/year, Shopify on the Basic or standard plan with Klaviyo, Judge.me, and a clean premium theme is the right answer. Total cost lands around $200–$500/month all-in. WooCommerce wins when you have unusual catalogue or content needs and a developer in the loop. Headless and fully custom builds should wait until you're past $1M/year and the math actually works.
Need help launching or relaunching your ecommerce store?
Jacob
Founder of Elevate Web Design. Building fast, conversion-focused websites for small businesses across Canada and the US since 2018.