Separate setup from running costs

Agency setup is a one-off cost. Hosting, the platform, extensions and support run for five years. Both “New store” and “Migration / relaunch” use the same initial base budget. A further relaunch within these five years is not included.

“Migration / relaunch” means rebuilding an existing store, with or without a change of platform. We assume a substantial rebuild. Additional work for data migration, existing integrations and SEO redirects is assessed individually and is not automatically included in the base budget. For migrations, products are transferred within the agreed scope; a design-only relaunch does not automatically include an import.

The base budget includes a design template, setup, payment methods, shipping and basic legal functionality. For new stores, the client creates the products. CSV imports and ERP integration are agreed separately. The precise scope is defined in the proposal; this does not include individual legal advice. Example budgets are not binding sjmedia quotes. Costs depend on project scope. The same revenue does not imply the same work or price. A design relaunch, a major version migration and a complete platform change are distinct projects.

SaaS and open source

Shopify includes hosting in its platform plan. For PrestaShop, we allow 40.00 € per month for hosting, including server maintenance by the hosting provider. Additional agency work is agreed separately according to the work required. For self-hosted Shopware, 40.00 € per month is an unconfirmed budget assumption, on top of the subscription. SaaS and PaaS require a separate calculation.

Hosting is not increased simply because revenue is higher. The catalogue, traffic, peak demand, images and integrations determine the actual load.

Large product catalogues

Up to 50,000 products, PrestaShop and Shopware start with the same hosting assumption of 40.00 € per month. For 50,001 to 500,000 individual products without variants, both use 139.00 € per month and 139.00 € for one-off server setup. This tier is a sjmedia planning assumption, not a technical product limit. The starting point is a Hetzner MA130; suitability must be tested with realistic data and load.

Search, images, data imports, synchronisation and concurrent visitors determine the actual requirements. For large catalogues, these additional services remain unpriced in all three systems, so the displayed base amount does not represent a complete cost ranking. Above 500,000 products, we retain this hosting tier as a lower budget baseline to provide a rough starting-price comparison. This is not a promise that the infrastructure will support the entire catalogue; additional server capacity and storage may increase the price. A custom hosting budget replaces the default, including server setup.

Shopify includes hosting in its plan. Product count alone does not trigger a move to Plus. Limits on search, filtering and new product imports still need checking; additional apps or integrations are not automatically included in the platform plan.

Apps, modules and maintenance

Extension costs are example budgets, not compulsory packages or verified averages. The PrestaShop model already includes the initial licence and Business Care in year one. Subsequent years are calculated separately. Payment-module licences already covered by the extension budget are not counted again.

Technical maintenance covers updates to the core system, modules and plugins, plus fixes for errors caused by those updates. New features and custom changes are agreed separately. It is an adjustable annual agency budget for maintaining existing functionality, not a verified market price or a guaranteed allocation of hours or updates. New features, marketing and major version migrations are excluded. An explicitly configured monthly contract replaces included annual maintenance or redesign work to avoid counting the same service twice.

Basic B2B functionality

“Businesses” and “Both” include net prices, simple customer-group discounts, company and VAT ID details on invoices, and EU VAT ID validation with conditional tax exemption. Displaying net prices alone does not imply tax exemption. All three systems include an additional one-off €350 for basic B2B integration on top of the setup estimate. Custom setup budgets are treated as including B2B integration and receive no further surcharge. Custom approval workflows, ERP processes and automatic invoice delivery are agreed separately.

In each system, the B2B package replaces one standard module allowance: the base budget minus one fifth for Standard or one eighth for Extended / Custom, plus the B2B package. Custom extension budgets are treated as including B2B and are not increased again. B2C, hosting and maintenance remain unchanged.

PrestaShop: a VAT ID / VIES validator at €69.99 in year one, including the licence and Business Care, then €20 per subsequent year. This is sjmedia’s specified module allowance; a specific supplier link has not yet been added. The five-year allowance for this module is €149.99.

Shopware: ACRIS B2B VAT / VAT ID validation, regularly €399 per year. Net prices, customer-group discounts and invoice templates use standard functionality. Evolve is not automatically selected for these requirements.

Shopify: BSS Advanced for customer-group prices, net-price display and EU VAT ID validation, at USD 529.20 with annual billing. At the fixed planning assumption of USD 1 = EUR 0.90, this is €476.28 per year; it is not a current exchange rate or a guaranteed euro price. This is combined with Shopify Order Printer with no licence fee for customised print / PDF invoices. Shopify Tax is not required for this package and is not included as an additional cost; using it may incur separate fees.

Prices checked on 9 October 2026. Temporary discounts and trials are excluded. Selection is based on documented features, not a completed integration test. Version, theme, invoice data and tax scenarios should be tested together before use. We do not claim these are the cheapest offers on the entire market.

How many modules and apps are included?

Our base assumption is five paid extensions per system in the small profile and eight in the medium or large profile. This is an implementation budget assumption, not an observed average or a legally required minimum. The number and assumed unit price appear under “Modules / apps” in the comparison. A custom total budget does not imply a specific number of extensions.

Included and free features do not count as additional licence costs. Shopify provides built-in privacy settings and a cookie banner; Shopware provides a built-in cookie notice and support for legal store pages. PrestaShop provides an official GDPR module. Additional requirements depend on features, connected services and the individual store. A particular number of modules does not guarantee legal compliance. Sources checked on 6 October 2026.

Updates: who is responsible?

With Shopify, platform updates are part of the subscription. A standard theme can often be updated through the admin interface. Custom code, app compatibility and preview checks may still require specialist work. The calculator does not impose a mandatory Shopify update fee; it shows an adjustable agency budget.

PrestaShop recommends backups, compatibility checks and testing in a staging environment. For self-hosted Shopware, backups and extension checks are also part of the update process. Both systems provide update tools, which do not replace every specialist check. Our Shopware calculation covers self-hosting, not SaaS with automatic platform updates.

A monthly review and maintenance appointment is a useful organisational recommendation, not evidence that twelve equally sized updates are required. Installation depends on available versions, compatibility and urgency; critical security updates should not wait until the next scheduled appointment. The Shopware Release Policy distinguishes monthly minor releases from patches issued as needed. Major version changes are priced separately.

Putting project budgets in context

Publicly available store setup and relaunch prices vary with scope. Examples for Shopify include €4,000–15,000 for smaller relaunch projects and €15,000–30,000 for more extensive strategic relaunches. These are published examples, not representative market prices.

Published Shopware examples include design relaunches from €15,000 and version 5 to 6 migrations from €35,000. A new store, a design relaunch and a complete platform migration require different amounts of work.

The starting budgets are sjmedia planning assumptions for a new store or initial relaunch, not market averages or binding quotes. Standard means a design template and basic setup; Extended adds design work and adjustments to standard features; Custom allows for a more extensive build. Integrations, special features and additional data work are agreed separately. In both calculator views, the selected project scope determines the budget tier for setup, extensions and technical maintenance, rather than revenue. Product count describes the project and does not trigger a blanket surcharge. Business-only and mixed sales include the basic B2B package. The assumed differences between systems are not universal surcharges or discounts. Compare quotes with the same scope and replace these budgets with your actual project costs. Research date: 6 October 2026.

Project scope, Shopify plans and Shopware GMV

Our adjustable example plans are Basic for Standard, Grow for Extended and Advanced for Custom. These are not revenue thresholds, minimum requirements or recommendations for the cheapest plan. In the detailed calculator, the Shopify plan can be selected independently of scope. Revenue is used for payment fees, the cost-to-revenue ratio and, where relevant, Shopware GMV.

Our default assumes use of a Shopware Account / Store and applies a commercial starting price from 1,000,000 € of relevant GMV. In this model, Rise starts at 600.00 € per month and Evolve at 2,400.00 € per month; actual prices depend on the offer. This does not revoke the Community Edition’s open-source licence.

Treating revenue as online GMV is a simplification. Under section 2.15 of Shopware’s terms, GMV includes shipping and returns, accounts for discounts and excludes taxes. Use the separate GMV field if your figures differ. The GMV documentation says “on reaching” the threshold, whereas older Fair Usage Policy notices say “above”; confirm the contractual boundary case individually.

Payment processing

The initial assumption is 100% domestic standard cards, a €100 net basket, 19% VAT and €0 shipping. This is an illustrative scenario, not a verified average payment mix. You can also compare store costs without payment fees.

For PrestaShop card payments, we use Stripe Germany: 1.5% + €0.25 for standard EEA cards, without a monthly Stripe base fee. The official PrestaShop integration supports this provider. Premium and international cards are not covered by this example rate. PrestaShop itself receives no additional revenue-based surcharge. A different payment provider or custom contract rates may change the result.

For Shopify Payments, we use the selected plan: Grow at 1.8% + €0.30 and Advanced at 1.6% + €0.30 per standard card payment. Store subscriptions are listed separately in the cost table (annual billing: Grow at €79 and Advanced at €289 as monthly equivalents). PayPal Express is calculated separately using PayPal rates.

Shopware Payments processes payments through PayPal but publishes its own card rates: regularly 1.65% + €0.27 for CE and 1.45% + €0.25 for Rise. These do not apply to the PayPal wallet. For that, Shopware only states “less than 2.99% + €0.39”; without an exact contract rate, the PayPal portion remains unpriced. Shopware’s twelve-month promotional rates are not extrapolated over five years. Temporary promotions are excluded for all providers.

PayPal payments in PrestaShop and Shopify separately use the standard PayPal Checkout rate for Germany (2.99% + €0.39, table dated 7 September 2026). Stripe card fees are never applied to PayPal or Klarna. Where exact contract rates are not published, those costs remain unpriced. Your own contract rates in the detailed comparison take precedence.

Orders = net product revenue / net basket value. Fee base = product value plus paid shipping, including the selected VAT. Payment-service fees = the relevant share of gross volume × percentage rate + the relevant share of orders × fixed fee + additional contracts. Volume and order shares can be entered separately.

With Shopify Payments as the primary provider, internal card / Klarna payments and PayPal Express incur no external Shopify transaction fee. Without Shopify Payments, external provider fees are combined with the plan-specific Shopify fee on the relevant payments. Manual payments are exempt. Parallel operation with an external primary card provider, currency conversion, international cards / Amex, chargebacks, refunds, vouchers / credit and manual processing are excluded. Check availability, approval and individual contract terms.

Products and variants are different

Parent products, sellable SKUs and variants per product are different measures. 1,000 parent products with 20 variants each produce 20,000 sellable SKUs. Each simple product counts as one SKU.

Shopify’s native limits are 2,048 variants and 3 option dimensions per product. Above 100 variants, we check compatibility with themes, apps and integrations. Throttling from 500,000 total variants affects new imports (10,000 per day), not the maximum catalogue size.

We do not invent product limits for PrestaShop or Shopware CE. Our hosting review thresholds are sjmedia assumptions, not a guarantee of unlimited performance. Special requirements need a specific feature assessment and, where appropriate, an additional quote.