WooCommerce pricing in 2024: How much does a WooCommerce store cost

If you’re considering starting an online business on WordPress, WooCommerce can help. While the popular free plugin is known for its powerful eCommerce features and versatility, it’s important to consider how much WooCommerce costs.

Contrary to popular belief, setting up a WooCommerce store isn’t exactly free. You need essential web services to create the right environment for the plugin to operate effectively.

Keep reading as we break down the cost factors of building and running a successful WooCommerce store. We’ll cover cost estimates for different store sizes to help you decide whether WooCommerce is right for you, along with helpful tips on reducing these costs.

Cost factors of WooCommerce

If this is your first time hearing about the tool, we recommend reading through our WooCommerce guide to understand how it works.

In short, WooCommerce is a popular free plugin for adding eCommerce functionality to an existing WordPress site, essentially turning it into an online store.

While both WooCommerce and WordPress are free to download and use, building an eCommerce store on both platforms involves some costs. Here are the essential web services you’ll need to purchase to run a WooCommerce website.

Hosting service

Web hosting is a service that stores your website’s files and makes them accessible online. It provides essential resources like storage and bandwidth to keep your WooCommerce store running smoothly and efficiently.

Web hosting costs vary depending on the provider, type, and features offered.

Shared hosting is the most cost-effective option for small to medium websites, typically costing between $1 and $15/month.

Cloud hosting provides high uptime and excellent scalability for $10 to $200/month.

If you’re new to building websites, recommended by WordPress.org, Hostinger’s WooCommerce hosting can make setting up your store much more accessible.

For ₹249.00–₹999.00/month, we offer the following features to help kick-start your online business:

• One-click WooCommerce setup. Our AI onboarding flow can help you set up a new online store in seconds.
• Free Secure Sockets Layer (SSL). This service is essential for encrypting data and ensuring your online store complies with PCI DSS standards for processing credit card payments.
• Free email. Build customer trust, communicate with customers directly, and expand your audience base with email marketing. 
• Free content delivery network (CDN). Our in-house solution improves store performance and reduces hosting costs without needing third-party integration.
• Smart WordPress auto-updates. We ensure your website runs on the latest WooCommerce and WordPress versions for optimal performance and security.
• Daily and on-demand backup. Secure your data and simplify website restoration during technical problems.
• Enhanced security measures. These include DDoS protection, a firewall, a malware scanner, and a secure access manager.
• 24/7 support. Our Customer Success Team is available around the clock to assist and answer any questions through live chat and email.

Purchasing any WooCommerce hosting plan for a 48-month term gives you three extra months, saving you roughly 70%. All plans include a 30-day money-back guarantee, allowing you to test all the features risk-free.

Domain name

In addition to web hosting, a domain name is another crucial web service you need to create an online store with WordPress.

A domain name is your website’s address on the internet, something like yourstore.com. It allows customers to discover and access your WooCommerce store. A good website name can also enhance your brand credibility and make your business more memorable.

You can register a domain name through a domain registrar or a hosting provider for $10 to $20/year. Combining your domain and hosting plan can reduce costs and streamline setup and management, with one company taking care of everything.

Hostinger offers a free domain name valued at $9.99 with each annual purchase of WooCommerce hosting plans. After claiming an available domain, connect it to your WooCommerce site to start receiving traffic.

To further enhance brand visibility, consider buying a domain bundle to secure multiple domains for your business. Owning multiple domains with different top-level domains (TLDs) can protect your brand from competitors, improve SEO, and prevent losing traffic from people typing the wrong domain.

Here’s how Hostinger’s domain bundle can help reduce WooCommerce pricing. Buying cherisedgowns.com alone costs $4.99 for the first year. The bundle adds two more popular TLDs, totaling $26.97 for all three domains.

If you claim a free domain with your hosting plan, you’ll get your website name with three different TLDs, giving you four domains in total.

Use Hostinger’s domain finder to check name availability and explore potential savings with a bundled package. Our AI domain generator can also suggest alternative names to help you lower costs even further.

Keep in mind that domain ownership isn’t permanent. Make sure to renew your domain before it expires to prevent downtime for related services like your online store and business email, or worse, potentially losing the domain to someone else.

Premium themes

A theme is a set of templates and styles that shape your WooCommerce store’s appearance and navigation. Giving your site a unique look can leave a strong impression on visitors and improve the user experience, potentially boosting sales and conversion rates.

There are many free and paid themes to choose from, but opting for a paid WooCommerce theme offers several benefits.

Paid WooCommerce themes usually have more features, customization options, and dedicated support, helping you create a unique shopping experience. They’re also updated regularly to stay compatible with the latest WooCommerce and WordPress versions and address security vulnerabilities.

Premium theme pricing ranges from $2 to $200/year, depending on the level of customization, built-in features, and the developer’s reputation. The cost for custom themes with features and styles tailored to your needs can be significantly higher.

Check out our best WooCommerce themes list to compare premium prices across different marketplaces.

Premium plugins

While a theme controls the appearance of your online store, a plugin influences its functionality.

Plugins are add-ons that enhance your WooCommerce store, allowing you to add features and optimize performance. They help with various tasks, such as managing inventory, processing payments, and improving SEO.

Like themes, WordPress and WooCommerce provide a library of free and paid plugins and extensions to scale your website. Free plugins offer basic functionality, while premium ones include extra tools, regular updates, and technical support.

Freemium and premium plugins usually cost $2 to $1,000/year. Pricing options vary from one-time fees to monthly or annual subscriptions. The total cost for plugins depends on how many you install, with many business websites using around five or up to 30 plugins.

See our picks for the best WooCommerce plugins to assess features for your online store and budget your expenses.

Payment gateway fees

If your WooCommerce store sells products or services online, you’ll need a payment gateway to handle these transactions.

Online stores accepting credit cards, debit cards, or digital wallet payments must cover transaction fees. This service cost helps process payments securely and ensures that money moves from the customer to your business.

Payment gateways usually charge 2% to 3% of each transaction plus a small fixed fee. Transaction fees can vary based on your chosen gateway and your sales volume. Some gateways offer discounted rates for businesses with high sales, while others have plans tailored to your needs.

Let’s look at two of the most popular WooCommerce payment gateways to give you an idea. PayPal charges 2.9% + $0.30 per local transaction for U.S.-issued cards. Meanwhile, Square uses a subscription system and reduces the fees to 2.6% + $0.30 per online transaction for users on its highest-tier plan.

Security

Although WordPress and WooCommerce include built-in security features, these may not be sufficient to protect against all online threats, such as hacking and data breaches.

Enhancing your store’s security ensures that sensitive information, like credit card details and personal data, remains safe. A secure store also helps prevent potential financial losses and damage to your brand’s reputation.

Consider investing in these critical areas for better store security.

SSL certificates

An SSL certificate verifies a website’s identity and encrypts communications with users. Depending on the type and validation method, SSL certificates cost between $8 and $1,000/year. Check out our guide for a complete breakdown of SSL certificate prices.

Fortunately, many hosting providers bundle SSL certificates with their hosting plans. With Hostinger, you automatically receive free lifetime SSL certificates for all your domains and subdomains when purchasing any Web or Cloud hosting plans.

WordPress security plugins

Security plugins add features such as firewall protection, login monitoring, and regular security scans to protect your online store from malware, brute force attacks, and unauthorized access.

Some plugins have additional security functions that affect pricing, such as maintenance mode, which restricts access during updates, automatic fixes for common issues, and scheduled scans.

Popular WordPress security plugins like Wordfence and Sucuri often offer free and premium versions, with premium plans costing $30 to $1,000/year.

Website backup feature

Website backups safeguard your WooCommerce store against data loss caused by hacking, server failures, or accidental deletions. Regular backups let you restore your site quickly, preventing traffic and sales loss from prolonged downtime.

Many hosting providers offer backup services as part of their hosting plans. For $50 to $400/year, you can invest in WordPress backup and migration plugins like UpdraftPlus and Solid Backups.

Hostinger provides free backups on all hosting plans, with backup frequency varying from weekly to daily and on-demand based on the plan.

Website development

Website development costs cover creating and customizing your WooCommerce store’s design, functionality, and user experience. You have two main options—using a page builder plugin or hiring a WordPress developer.

Using page builder plugins

One of the benefits of using open-source software like WordPress is that you can access and modify its source code to fit your needs. However, even if you’re not tech-savvy, page builder plugins and custom WooCommerce themes can help you design unique websites without coding.

Popular WordPress page builder plugins like SeedProd and WPBakery offer drag-and-drop functionality, templates, and widgets for customizing themes and creating pages without writing a single line of code. They allow users of all skill levels to modify their WooCommerce store’s look, making them ideal for a do-it-yourself approach.

Many page builder plugins have free versions, but premium features are available through paid plans ranging from $20 to $350/year. Some plugins also offer one-time purchase options.

Hiring a WordPress developer

Investing in a professional developer is crucial for building a complex website with specific needs. It’s also ideal for business owners who don’t have the time or skills to create their own sites.

The salary range for web developers varies based on location, skill set, and experience. To give you a better idea, the average salary for a WordPress developer in the U.S. is $41/hour. Developers in countries with rapidly growing IT industries may charge higher rates.

Building a small to medium-sized WooCommerce store typically takes 60 to 120 hours. Based on this, hiring a WordPress developer could cost between $3,000 and $6,000, depending on their hourly rate and the project’s complexity.

Website maintenance

As WordPress is a self-hosted platform, you’re responsible for handling back end tasks to keep your WooCommerce website running smoothly.

These tasks include performing software updates, monitoring performance, conducting security checks, and optimizing content for search engines (SEO).

Like website development, there are two ways to do it: using the do-it-yourself approach or hiring a maintenance service.

Self-maintenance

Maintaining a WooCommerce store by yourself might require some technical knowledge, which can be intimidating for non-technical business owners. Fortunately, plugins and tools provided by web hosts can simplify and even automate many maintenance tasks.

For example, Hostinger provides Smart WordPress Automatic Updates, which automates updates, logs past updates, and allows you to revert to a specific update using a backup. This feature checks for updates to the WordPress core, plugins, and themes without accessing the WordPress dashboard.

Hostinger also equips WordPress users with the AI Troubleshooter, automatically detecting and fixing critical website errors. This tool leverages AI to help users without technical expertise troubleshoot and resolve issues quickly, saving valuable time and money.

To optimize your eCommerce store for search engines, use Hostinger’s AI Content Creator to create SEO-friendly content for landing pages. Accessible through the WordPress dashboard, this tool can also suggest images to accompany the content—perfect for product pages and blog posts.

Many WordPress SEO plugins like Yoast SEO and AIOSEO also offer features like keyword research and schema markup at varying prices. They vary in price, with premium all-in-one options ranging from $20 to $300/year.

Hiring a maintenance service

For custom-built websites, hiring professionals is often necessary because they have unique features and code that require expert knowledge for updates and troubleshooting. However, business owners can also choose this approach to free up time and get peace of mind.

WooCommerce maintenance costs often depend on your store’s size and complexity, as well as how often you need security checks and performance boosts.

Many website maintenance agencies sell complete maintenance services for $400 to $1,500/month. Alternatively, you can hire freelancers on an ad hoc basis for specific tasks, with rates ranging from $18 to $20/hour.

How much does it cost to build and maintain a WooCommerce store

To better understand WooCommerce pricing, we’ll explore the costs involved in building different website sizes. This should help you plan your budget more effectively and make informed decisions about the tools and services that align with your goals.

WooCommerce pricing for a small-scale store

Here’s the cost estimation for building a small-scale WooCommerce store with basic functionality. This type of store typically has around ten products, a small number of pages, and low traffic.

Cost factor	Description	Estimated cost
Hosting service	Shared hosting for basic WooCommerce stores	$1-$15/month
Domain name	Annual registration fees for one domain	$0-$20/first year
Premium themes	Free or basic premium themes	$0-$50/year
Premium plugins	Essential plugins for basic functionality	$0-$200/year
Payment gateway fees	In-person transactions with cash and local payment methods	0% to 3% per transaction
Security	Security plugins with core features and basic SSL	$0-$100/year
Website development	DIY using page builder plugins	$0-$350
Website maintenance	Self-maintenance	Free (excluding renewal fees for subscription-based tools and web services)
Total Estimated Cost	Excluding transaction and renewal fees	$75-$920/year

Cost-saving tips

Instead of choosing a basic shared hosting plan with limited resources and features, consider WooCommerce hosting. This type of hosting offers optimized performance, security, and support specifically designed for WooCommerce stores at a similar price.

For small businesses, Hostinger’s WooCommerce Business hosting plan offers excellent value for money.

In addition to free domain registration and email, this plan provides resources for up to 100 websites and 100,000 monthly visits for only ₹249.00/month, giving your eCommerce store plenty of room to grow.

Additionally, start with free themes and plugins to keep your initial costs low. While free options may have fewer features than paid ones, they still provide the essentials for launching your new store.

This approach helps save your budget for other important areas like security and marketing. As your business grows and your needs expand, you can gradually invest in premium or custom solutions.

WooCommerce pricing for a mid-sized store

The following table estimates the cost of setting up a mid-sized WooCommerce store. This type of store usually offers a larger product range, has more pages, and handles moderate traffic levels.

Cost factor	Description	Estimated cost
Hosting service	VPS or cloud hosting for advanced WooCommerce stores	$10-$200/month
Domain name	Annual registration fees for 3-10 domains	$10-$200/first year
Premium themes	Premium themes with advanced customization options	$50-$150/year
Premium plugins	Advanced plugins for additional functionality	$200-$500/year
Payment gateway fees	Local and international payment methods	2% to 3% per transaction
Security	Advanced security plugins and multi-domain SSL certificates	$100-$400/year
Website development	Page builder combined with developer assistance	$500-$2,000
Website maintenance	Professional maintenance services	$50-$150/month (excluding renewal fees for subscription-based tools and web services)
Total Estimated Cost	Excluding transaction and renewal fees	$1,420-$6,550/year

Cost-saving tips

Both VPS and cloud hosting services are popular among many mid-sized eCommerce sites. However, cloud hosting is a better option for non-technical business owners as the web host handles server and website maintenance.

Hostinger offers two cloud hosting plans optimized for WooCommerce stores: Startup (₹699.00/month) and Professional (₹999.00/month). Both plans can support up to 300 websites, but the Professional plan provides more resources to handle up to 300,000 monthly visits—100,000 more than the Startup plan.

Reduce your WooCommerce cost even more by purchasing Hostinger’s domain bundle to secure your website name with popular extensions. Our automatic domain renewal ensures you don’t lose ownership of your domains due to human error.

WooCommerce pricing for a large-scale store

Here’s the cost breakdown for building a large-scale WooCommerce store. Online stores of this size usually display a large number of products and pages and anticipate high traffic volumes.

They often include advanced features, custom integrations, and enhanced security measures to meet the demands of a growing business.

Cost factor	Description	Estimated cost
Hosting service	VPS or dedicated hosting for high-traffic WooCommerce stores	$20-$500/month
Domain name	Annual registration fees for 12-25 domains	$250-$1,500/first year
Premium themes	Custom-built themes	$200-$500
Premium plugins	Specialized plugins for advanced functionality	$500-$1,000/year
Payment gateway fees	International payment methods	2% to 3% + additional fees per transaction
Security	Comprehensive security solutions and multi-domain SSL certificates	$300-$1,100/year
Website development	Custom development by developers	$2,000-$10,000
Website maintenance	Full maintenance services	$400-$1,500/month (excluding renewal fees for subscription-based tools and web services)
Total Estimated Cost	Excluding transaction and renewal fees	$6,450-$30,700/year

Cost-saving tips

For large-scale WooCommerce stores that have outgrown cloud hosting, Hostinger offers VPS hosting with more server resources to handle high traffic. This hosting type provides an outstanding balance of cost, performance, and control compared to dedicated hosting.

Although our VPS hosting plans are self-managed, they include an AI Assistant to simplify maintenance and troubleshooting. Ranging from ₹439.00 to ₹1699.00/month, you also receive free automatic backups and snapshots for quick restoration, VPS templates for easy software installations, and advanced security measures.

With data centers strategically located worldwide, your online store can deliver content faster to visitors, ensuring an excellent customer experience.

Tips to control WooCommerce cost

By now, you know that creating a WooCommerce store isn’t exactly free. Follow our tips to reduce your WooCommerce costs and maximize your investment:

• Choose a hosting provider that offers a free domain with its plans. This saves you domain registration fees for the first year and makes managing both services easier.
• Use free WooCommerce extensions. Explore free trials before committing to paid plugins. Additionally, consider all-in-one solutions to avoid investing in numerous plugins, which can slow your website down.
• Look for alternative TLDs. If you can only maintain a limited number of domain names, experiment with various keyword and extension combinations to lower costs. Consider using less common TLDs, which often cost less.
• Plan your purchases around major shopping events. Many companies offer discounted web services during Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
• Regularly review subscriptions. Cancel subscriptions you no longer need or use to avoid paying for unused services.
• Start with free themes. As your business grows and its needs expand, you can invest in paid or custom-built themes.

Conclusion

WooCommerce is a powerful solution for building an online store. However, while it’s often promoted as free, using it requires some investment to set up a WordPress site as its base.

The answer to the big question, “How much does WooCommerce cost?” varies depending on the size and complexity of the store you wish to build. If you’re just starting out or on a tight budget, focus on obtaining essential web services like web hosting and a domain name and scale up as your business grows.

One of the benefits of using WooCommerce is that it’s self-hosted and open-source, allowing you to extend its functionality and appearance as needed. If you stick to your planned budget, WooCommerce can be a valuable investment for growing your business.

We hope this article helps you better understand WooCommerce costs and decide if it’s the right platform for your online business. If you still have questions, check out the FAQ section or leave a comment below.

WooCommerce pricing FAQ