Most ecommerce app development cost lands between $40,000 and $400,000 in 2026 for work done by a US agency. A Shopify headless MVP sits near the bottom of that range. A custom build with ERP integration and native apps sits near the top.

These figures assume typical blended agency rates of $120 to $200 an hour. They are planning ranges, not quotes. Your catalog, integrations and platforms will move the number more than anything else.

Shopify headless vs custom build: what you are actually buying

Headless Shopify keeps Shopify as the backend for products, inventory, orders and checkout. You build your own storefront or mobile app on top using the Shopify Storefront API, often with Hydrogen, Shopify's React framework. A custom build means you also own the backend: database, order logic, admin screens and payments.

Shopify headless

  • Build cost: typically 30 to 50 percent lower than custom for the same front end.
  • Running cost: Shopify plan fees. Shopify Plus starts at roughly $2,300 a month if you need deeper checkout customisation, so check current pricing before you plan.
  • Limits: checkout runs on Shopify, and you customise it within Shopify's rules. Complex catalogs can end up relying on metafield workarounds.
  • Best for: DTC brands with a standard catalog who want a faster, branded storefront or app.

Custom build

  • Build cost: the highest option. You pay for admin tools, order management and accounts that Shopify gives you for free.
  • Running cost: hosting typically runs $200 to $2,000 a month, plus payment fees and heavier maintenance.
  • Limits: few technical limits. You own uptime, security and payment compliance.
  • Best for: product configurators, marketplaces, unusual subscription rules, or brands whose operations already run on an ERP.

Our position: start headless unless you can name a specific rule Shopify cannot handle. "We want more control" is not a rule. "Price is calculated live from 40 configuration options and a supplier cost feed" is.

If you want a number built on your own catalog and stack, you can get a free estimate in 48 hours.

Ecommerce app development cost by tier

Each tier below assumes a competent US agency, a clear scope and a working QA process. Timelines assume one product team working in parallel on design and build.

MVP: $40,000 to $90,000

This tier takes 10 to 16 weeks. It is usually a Shopify headless storefront, or a cross-platform app in React Native or Flutter on top of Shopify. It covers the core path to revenue.

  • Product listing, product detail and basic search
  • Cart and Shopify-hosted checkout
  • Customer accounts and order history
  • Push notifications and analytics events

It skips custom checkout, loyalty programmes, deep personalisation and ERP sync. That is fine for a first release.

Standard: $90,000 to $200,000

This tier takes four to seven months. It usually means web plus iOS and Android, either headless or on a light custom backend. Most growing DTC brands land here.

  • A custom design system instead of a themed template
  • Subscriptions, loyalty, reviews and wishlists
  • Hosted search such as Algolia
  • Email and SMS integration with a tool like Klaviyo
  • One or two operational integrations, such as a 3PL or an ERP

Scale-ready: $200,000 to $400,000+

This tier takes six to twelve months. It suits brands doing serious volume or running several storefronts. Costs go past $400,000 for multi-brand setups or marketplaces.

  • A custom or composable backend, such as commercetools or Medusa
  • Multi-currency, multi-region tax and shipping rules
  • Order management and ERP sync in both directions
  • Personalised recommendations and merchandising tools
  • Load testing for peak sales, CI/CD pipelines and monitoring

Where the money goes, phase by phase

The split below is a rough share of the build budget. Ranges overlap because every project leans differently. First-year maintenance is listed separately because it comes on top of the build.

  • Discovery: 5 to 10 percent. Requirements, integration audit, architecture and a scoped backlog.
  • Design: 10 to 15 percent. User flows, wireframes, the design system and high-fidelity screens.
  • Development: 40 to 50 percent. Front end, mobile apps, APIs and integrations.
  • QA: 15 to 20 percent. Manual and automated testing across devices, payment paths and edge cases.
  • Launch: around 5 percent. App store submission, production setup, data migration and monitoring.
  • First-year maintenance: 15 to 20 percent of the build, per year. OS updates, dependency upgrades, bug fixes and small changes.

On a $150,000 build, that means roughly $67,500 for development and about $25,000 for QA. Plan another $22,500 to $30,000 a year to keep the app healthy.

Launch is cheap but can stall. Apple's App Store Review Guidelines reject apps that are little more than a repackaged website, under guideline 4.2. A thin web wrapper around your store can cost weeks of resubmissions.

The five factors that move the price most

1. Platforms

A responsive web storefront is the baseline. Adding a cross-platform mobile app typically adds $30,000 to $80,000. Two separate native apps in Swift and Kotlin typically add $60,000 to $150,000.

2. Integrations

Each ERP, order management or 3PL integration typically costs $15,000 to $60,000. Modern systems with clean APIs sit at the low end. Older systems that only export CSV files over FTP sit at the high end, because you build and monitor the sync yourself.

3. Catalog and pricing rules

A simple catalog of sizes and colours adds almost nothing. Bundles, wholesale price lists, product configurators or made-to-order items typically add $10,000 to $80,000. This is also where Shopify headless starts to strain and custom starts to make sense.

4. Checkout and payments

Keeping Shopify's checkout adds close to nothing. A custom checkout with Stripe typically adds $20,000 to $50,000 once you include tax, discounts, wallets and failure handling. Using Stripe's hosted fields keeps card data off your servers, which usually keeps your PCI DSS self-assessment simple, as Stripe's security documentation explains.

5. Search and personalisation

Basic keyword search comes with Shopify. Hosted search, merchandising rules and recommendations typically add $15,000 to $50,000 in build work. SaaS fees then run from a few hundred to several thousand dollars a month, depending on traffic.

Three ways to cut cost without hurting the product

  1. Buy what is not your edge. Subscriptions, reviews, email and loyalty all have mature SaaS tools. Integrating one typically costs a fraction of building it, and you trade a build bill for a monthly fee.
  2. Use one codebase for iOS and Android. React Native or Flutter typically costs 30 to 40 percent less than two native apps. For a shopping app, users rarely notice the difference.
  3. Launch the revenue path first. Ship browse, cart, checkout and account in phase one. Add wishlists, loyalty and personalisation in phase two, once you have real usage data to guide them.

Do not cut discovery or QA to save money. They are the cheap phases that prevent the expensive ones. A checkout bug on launch weekend costs more than the QA budget you saved.

When a lower quote is a warning sign

A low quote is not always bad. It is a warning sign when the gap comes from missing work rather than smaller scope.

  • Custom web, iOS and Android for under $30,000. That price usually means a reskinned template.
  • A fixed price with no discovery phase. Nobody can price integrations they have not looked at.
  • QA at under 10 percent of the budget, or no QA line at all.
  • No mention of app store review, analytics, data migration or maintenance.
  • No named team, or no clear answer on who owns the code and the accounts.

Ask every vendor for a written list of what is excluded. Then compare quotes line by line. The cheapest quote often becomes the most expensive once the exclusions come back as change orders.

FAQ

How much does it cost to build a mobile app for a Shopify store?

A cross-platform app on top of Shopify typically costs $40,000 to $90,000 for a solid first version. Templated app builders cost much less up front but charge monthly fees and limit design. Custom features such as loyalty or subscriptions push the price toward $100,000 or more.

Is headless Shopify worth the extra cost over a theme?

Headless makes sense when site speed, a fully custom design or a shared backend for web and mobile matter to revenue. If a well-built theme converts well and loads fast, headless adds cost without a clear return. Most brands under a few million in annual revenue are better served by a theme.

How long does it take to build an ecommerce app?

An MVP typically takes 10 to 16 weeks. A standard build with web and mobile apps takes four to seven months. Scale-ready builds with ERP integration and multi-region support take six to twelve months.