When someone asks "how much does an online store cost?", they're usually thinking only about the price to get the store live. But that's just one piece of the bill. The real cost of e-commerce is the total cost of ownership: what you pay to launch, plus what you pay every month to operate, plus the fees taken out of every sale.
That's where a lot of people get caught off guard. A store that's "cheap to open" can be expensive to run — and a store with a higher upfront investment can cost far less over 2 or 3 years. In this article, we'll break down the entire bill: rented platform vs. your own store, payment gateway, maintenance, and the point at which each model pays off.
The two paths: rented platform or your own store
Practically every e-commerce decision starts here.
Rented platform (SaaS): you pay a monthly fee to use a third party's infrastructure (Nuvemshop, Shopify, Tray and similar). It's fast to get started, but you pay forever, accept the platform's limitations and, on many plans, still hand over a percentage of every sale.
Your own store (custom-built or on an open platform): you invest once in development and the store is yours — code, design, data and total freedom. The upfront cost is higher, but recurring costs drop dramatically and there's no "rent" charged on your revenue.
Neither one is right or wrong in every case. What decides it is the stage of your business and your sales volume — and that's exactly what we're going to calculate.
How much a store on a rented platform costs
The advertised monthly fee is just the beginning. The full bill usually includes:
- Plan subscription: in the Brazilian market, it usually ranges from R$ 100 to R$ 700 per month for plans that support a serious operation (entry-level plans almost always have limitations that force a quick upgrade);
- Fee per sale: some plans charge a percentage on every order, generally between 1% and 3% — on top of payment processing fees;
- Theme/template: professional themes usually cost R$ 300 to R$ 1,500 (one-time payment), and extra customizations are billed separately;
- Apps and plugins: reviews, advanced shipping, cart recovery, automations... each app has its own monthly fee. It's common for the total to exceed R$ 200 to R$ 500 per month in active stores;
- Initial setup: even on a rented platform, getting the store looking professional (branding, product registration, shipping, emails) usually costs R$ 1,500 to R$ 8,000 when done by specialists.
Adding it all up, a mid-sized operation on a rented platform easily spends R$ 400 to R$ 1,200 per month, not counting the percentage fees on sales. Over 3 years, that means somewhere between R$ 15,000 and R$ 45,000 — without the store ever being yours.
How much your own online store costs
In the ownership model, the investment is concentrated upfront. In the Brazilian market, professional store development usually breaks down like this:
- Lean, well-structured store (organized catalog, checkout, shipping, payments): from R$ 5,000 to R$ 15,000;
- Mid-level store (exclusive design, structured SEO, ERP or marketplace integrations): from R$ 15,000 to R$ 40,000;
- Complex operations (multi-store, B2B, advanced pricing rules, high volume): above R$ 40,000.
After launch, recurring costs are much lower than renting:
- Hosting: R$ 50 to R$ 400 per month, depending on traffic;
- Domain and SSL certificate: low annual cost (SSL is often already included with hosting);
- Maintenance: market plans usually range from R$ 200 to R$ 800 per month, covering updates, backups and small improvements.
The structural difference: here there's no platform percentage on your sales and no mandatory monthly fee that grows along with your plan. The more you sell, the more the math tips in your favor. It's exactly the kind of project we deliver through our online store development service.
Payment gateway: the cost nobody escapes
Regardless of the model, every store pays to process payments. It's worth knowing this bill from day one, because it bites into the margin of every order:
- Credit card: market rates usually range from 3% to 5% per transaction, depending on the gateway, the plan and the payout schedule;
- Pix: much cheaper — generally 0% to 1.5% per transaction;
- Boleto: normally a fixed fee per paid slip, around R$ 2 to R$ 4;
- Receivables advance: if you want to receive installment sales upfront, there's a significant additional cost.
Practical tip: negotiate rates as your volume grows and offer Pix with a small discount — it improves your margin and the customer still comes out ahead. And watch out on rented platforms: on some plans, using an external gateway instead of the platform's native payment solution triggers an extra fee. It's one more form of lock-in that needs to go into your math.
Maintenance: the cost that prevents losses
An online store isn't a launch-and-forget project. A healthy operation needs:
- Security updates — e-commerce handles payment data and is a constant target;
- Regular backups — losing your catalog and order history is an avoidable disaster;
- Performance monitoring — a slow store silently kills conversion;
- Small improvements — banners, seasonal campaigns, shipping and checkout tweaks.
Whatever model you choose, set aside a monthly budget for this. Maintenance isn't an expense: it's insurance for the channel that earns money for you.
When each model pays off
A simple, honest yardstick:
The rented platform pays off when:
- You're just starting out and still need to validate whether the product sells online;
- Monthly revenue is still low and the subscription fee represents little;
- You need to go live in days, not weeks;
- There's nobody to handle anything technical, not even outsourced.
Your own store pays off when:
- The operation already sells consistently and the monthly fees + per-sale fees are starting to hurt;
- You need features the platform doesn't offer (specific shipping rules, B2B, integrations with your ERP);
- SEO is strategic — with your own store, you control structure, speed and content end to end;
- You want your sales channel to be a business asset, not a rented service that can change its pricing and rules at any moment.
An exercise we recommend to every client: add up everything you would pay over 24 months on the rented model (subscription + apps + estimated percentage fees based on your revenue) and compare it with the investment in your own store plus its recurring costs. For operations that are already selling, it's very common for an owned store to pay for itself within that period — and custom e-commerce projects also deliver what no platform plan does: a store designed around your sales process, not the other way around.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a simple online store cost?
On a rented platform, you can operate starting at R$ 100 to R$ 300 per month, plus fees and apps. A lean, professionally developed store of your own usually ranges from R$ 5,000 to R$ 15,000 in the Brazilian market, with much lower monthly costs after launch.
My own store or Nuvemshop/Shopify: which one should I choose?
If you're validating your business, a rented platform is a good starting point. If you already sell consistently, want to grow with SEO and integrations, or are fed up with subscriptions and fees, your own store tends to cost less in the medium term and becomes a company asset on top of it.
What are the monthly costs of an online store?
On the rented model: plan subscription, apps, possible per-sale fees and payment processing fees. On the ownership model: hosting, maintenance and payment processing fees. In both, also budget for marketing — a store without traffic doesn't sell, no matter how good it is.
Can I migrate from a rented platform to my own store later?
Yes, and it's a common path: validate on the rented platform and migrate once the operation matures. Migration involves exporting products and customers, redirecting URLs so you don't lose your Google rankings, and reconfiguring payments and shipping. Done with proper planning, the store doesn't lose sales in the process.
Want to know exactly how much your online store would cost, with the full breakdown of investment and monthly costs? Request a free quote — Agência COD analyzes your operation and sends a detailed proposal within 24 business hours.
