A Shopify website in Australia costs $56 a month on the Basic plan, or $42 a month if you pay for a year up front. On top of that comes 1.7% + 30c on each online sale made with an Australian card. Then there’s a theme (free, or a one-off fee), any apps you add, and the build if you don’t do it yourself.
Those are Shopify’s own prices, checked on its Australian pricing page on 29 October 2026. Here’s what each one covers, what a build costs, and the sum that tells you whether leaving Etsy pays.
Shopify plans in Australia
| Plan | Paid monthly | Paid yearly | Australian card rate | Fee if you don’t use Shopify Payments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | $56/month | $42/month | 1.7% + 30c | 2% |
| Grow | $149/month | $114/month | 1.55% + 30c | 1% |
| Advanced | $575/month | $431/month | 1.35% + 30c | 0.6% |
| Plus | from $3,700/month | 1.15% + 30c | 0.2% |
International cards cost more: 3.5% + 30c on Basic. Shopify currently offers 3 days free, then $1 a month for your first 3 months on most plans.
Most small makers start on Basic. Grow and Advanced lower the card rate, which only pays once your sales are large enough to cover the higher monthly fee.
What else you pay for
- A theme. Shopify’s theme store has free themes, and paid ones are a one-off purchase. A free theme is plenty for most first stores.
- Apps. Reviews, subscriptions or extra shipping options often come from apps, and many charge monthly. Add them when you need them, not on day one.
- Your domain. A .com.au costs about $15 to $30 a year.
- The build. Your time if you do it yourself, or a designer’s.
Etsy vs Shopify: when does your own store pay?
Take a $30 item, with free shipping, sold to someone in Australia.
On Etsy you pay a 6.5% transaction fee ($1.95), payment processing of 3% + 25c ($1.15), and a listing fee of US$0.20, about 30c. That’s about $3.40 a sale, or 11%. If the sale came through Etsy’s Offsite Ads, add another 15% ($4.50), so $7.90 a sale, or 26%. The Offsite Ads fee drops to 12% once a shop has sold US$10,000 in a year. These are the rates in Etsy’s fees policy and Etsy Payments policy, checked on 29 October 2026.
On Shopify Basic, the same sale costs 81c in card fees, plus the $56 a month for the plan.
So against a standard Etsy sale, each sale through your own store keeps about $2.59 more of the $30. The plan pays for itself at about 22 sales a month, or about 17 if you pay yearly. If many of your Etsy sales come through Offsite Ads, it’s about 8.
The catch is traffic. Etsy brings shoppers to you, and a new store doesn’t, at first. You have to send people there yourself, from Google, Instagram or your email list. Your own store makes the most sense once you already have regular sales and customers who’d buy from you directly. You don’t have to choose. You can keep your Etsy shop running while your own store finds its feet.
Shopify, WooCommerce or a custom site?
- Shopify is the easiest to run yourself. Hosting, security and payments are handled for you, and you pay for that every month.
- WooCommerce runs on WordPress. The plugin is free, but you pay for hosting, and you or your designer look after updates and security.
- A custom-built site loads the fastest and has the lowest monthly fees, but it takes the most time to build, so it costs the most up front.
What does a Shopify website build cost?
What’s The Damage puts an ecommerce build at $10,000 to $60,000 or more, and ITEC HELP puts a full agency or ecommerce build at $20,000 to $80,000 or more. A small store with a free theme and a handful of products sits well below that.
Our first online store is for Wild Woman Apothecary, a maker of handmade teas, milk baths and body balms that sells on Etsy and wants a store of its own.
Our online store builds start from $3,500, on Shopify, WooCommerce or a custom site. Every build includes product uploads, payments and shipping setup. The final price goes in a written scope before any work starts. You own the store, the domain and the products. We’re not registered for GST, so there’s no GST on top. See our ecommerce websites page for what’s included.
Is Shopify worth it for a small maker?
If you’re already selling regularly on Etsy, Amazon or eBay and want customers who come back to you rather than the marketplace, yes, for most people. If you’re still finding out what sells, stay on Etsy a while longer. Its fees are the price of the shoppers it brings.
Not sure which you need? Ask for the free audit and we’ll tell you whether a store is worth it yet.