Asking what an ecommerce website costs in India is like asking what a car costs. The answer ranges across two orders of magnitude, and the honest answer depends on what you are actually buying. This breakdown covers the major platforms, the realistic build cost, and the running costs that almost every quote leaves out of the upfront conversation.
Shopify · ₹50,000 to ₹4 Lakh Build
Shopify is the default choice for small to mid-size product brands in India. Build cost depends on theme customisation and the number of integrations. The platform itself runs ₹2,500 to ₹17,000 per month depending on tier. Hidden cost most founders miss · Shopify takes a transaction fee on top of the payment gateway fee unless you use Shopify Payments, which is not fully available in India. That gap quietly costs Indian merchants two to three percent of every transaction.
WooCommerce · ₹40,000 to ₹3 Lakh Build
WordPress with WooCommerce remains the lowest-floor option for founders who want full ownership. The build is cheaper, but the running cost has more variables · hosting, security, backup, performance optimisation, and plugin licences add up. Expect ₹3,000 to ₹15,000 per month in ongoing platform costs, plus the cost of someone who actually maintains the site.
Custom Build · ₹3 Lakh to ₹15 Lakh
A custom ecommerce site is the right choice when your product catalogue, checkout flow, or backend integration genuinely does not fit a platform. It is the wrong choice when the founder simply wants something custom for its own sake. Build cost reflects engineering hours, not platform fees. Running cost depends on hosting and ongoing development support.
Marketplace First · ₹15,000 to ₹50,000 Setup
For some categories, the right first ecommerce surface is not a standalone site at all · it is a presence on Amazon, Flipkart, or a vertical marketplace, with a brand site that exists primarily to capture organic search and direct traffic. Setup is cheap. Ongoing cost is the marketplace commission and the cost of the brand site running alongside.
The Running Costs No One Quotes
- Payment gateway fees · 1.5 to 3 percent per transaction, plus GST.
- Shipping integration · ₹500 to ₹5,000 per month depending on volume.
- Email and SMS · transactional and marketing combined run ₹2,000 to ₹20,000 per month.
- SSL, backups, security · often bundled in hosting but rarely free.
- Updates and maintenance · realistically ₹5,000 to ₹50,000 per month depending on traffic.
Picking the Right Tier
The honest rule is this: pick the cheapest platform that can handle your real growth case for the next twelve months. Anything cheaper will force a rebuild before you have learned what you actually need. Anything more expensive is paying for features you will never use. Ecommerce is a long game · the platform you start on is rarely the platform you finish on, and that is fine. Just do not overpay for either end.