E-commerce

Shopify, WooCommerce or a custom store: choosing an e-commerce platform in India

How Shopify, WooCommerce and a custom-built store compare for Indian sellers on running costs, payment fees, control and upkeep, and which suits whom.

By Himanshu Mishra, founder of BuildHarbor. Published 26 October 2026.

The platform you build on decides your monthly running costs, how much each order costs you in fees, and how far the store can grow before it needs rebuilding. There's no single best choice. There is usually a right one for your catalogue, budget and plans.

The three options at a glance

Compared on	Shopify	WooCommerce	Custom build
What it is	Hosted store platform, monthly subscription	Free plugin that turns WordPress into a store	Store built for you on a modern framework
You pay for	Plan, apps, and a fee on each order (see below)	Hosting, paid plugins and upkeep	Higher build cost, then hosting and upkeep
Maintenance	Platform handles hosting and security	You keep WordPress and plugins updated	Your developer or a maintenance plan
Flexibility	High for standard stores, limited by apps beyond that	High, with many plugins of varying quality	Complete: built around your workflow

The fee Indian Shopify stores should know about

Shopify Payments, Shopify's own payment processor, isn't available in India, so Indian stores use a third-party gateway such as Razorpay, Cashfree or PhonePe. Shopify's help centre confirms that it charges a transaction fee when you use a third-party provider, and that the fee varies by plan.

According to Razorpay's September 2026 comparison, that fee is 2% on Shopify's Basic plan, 1% on Grow and 0.6% on Advanced. It comes on top of the gateway's own charge, for example Razorpay's standard 2% platform fee plus 18% GST on that fee. Check Shopify's pricing page for the current figures before you decide, because plans change.

At small volumes this barely matters. At ₹5 lakh of monthly sales, a 2% platform fee is ₹10,000 a month, which is often enough to change the decision.

When each option fits

Shopify

You want to launch quickly with a standard catalogue
You don't want to think about hosting or security updates
Your monthly sales are modest, or you can justify a higher plan

WooCommerce

You already run a WordPress site and want to add a shop to it
You want to avoid per-order platform fees
Someone on your side, or a maintenance plan, will keep it updated

A custom build

You sell B2B with tiered pricing, minimum order quantities or quote requests
Your catalogue or ordering process doesn't fit standard templates
Store speed and search performance are central to your growth plan
You'd rather pay more once than pay fees on every order

Costs to compare over three years, not one

The cheapest option in month one is often not the cheapest in year three. Add up:

The build cost
Platform subscription and paid apps or plugins, for 36 months
Platform transaction fees at your expected sales volume
Payment gateway fees, which apply on every option
Hosting and maintenance

Our website cost guide has typical ranges for hosting, domains and maintenance in India.

Questions to settle before you choose

How many products and variants will you have in a year?
Do you sell to consumers, businesses, or both?
Do you need cash on delivery, and for which pincodes?
Which courier and accounting tools must the store connect to?
Who will update products and handle orders day to day?

If you're still unsure, describe your catalogue and sales plans in our enquiry form. We'll recommend a platform in writing, with the running costs set out, before any build starts.