The cost of an e-commerce website is not a single number; it is the sum of several line items. On a ready-made (rented) platform the cost is a subscription that recurs every year; with a custom-coded store it is mainly a one-off development investment. In this article we break down, item by item, where the difference comes from and in which situation each option works out cheaper.
Short answer: 2026 price bands
| Approach | Upfront cost | Recurring cost | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rented platform (SaaS) | Low or no setup fee | Monthly/annual subscription + commission | 0–300 products, sellers who want to launch fast |
| Ready-made theme + setup (WooCommerce/OpenCart) | Setup and theme customization | Annual maintenance + hosting + plugins | Limited budget, standard catalog |
| Custom-coded store | One-off development | Annual maintenance, hosting | Growing stores that need integrations |
| Enterprise / B2B custom software | Larger development project | Ongoing development | Customer accounts, multiple price lists, ERP-connected |
Our e-commerce website scope covers payment, shipping, e-invoice and marketplace integrations; pricing depends on scope, and we prepare a firm written quote after a short call — request it on the contact page.
The cost gap between these approaches is wide, but the reason is simple: what determines the cost is not the phrase "e-commerce website" itself, but the six decisions underneath it.
The 6 items that determine cost
| Item | Choice that lowers cost | Choice that raises cost |
|---|---|---|
| Design | Ready-made theme | Brand-specific interface and UX work |
| Platform | Rented SaaS | Custom software (Next.js + headless backend) |
| Catalog | 50–100 products, no variants | Thousands of products, many variants |
| Integrations | One payment + one shipping provider | ERP, accounting, marketplaces, WMS |
| Language / currency | One language, TL | Multiple languages and currencies, country-specific pricing |
| Maintenance | Basic annual maintenance | Continuous development and priority support |
1. Platform: rent or own?
A rented platform is cheap on day one. You can start selling quickly with a monthly subscription. But that figure does not stay put: as the number of products, users and add-on modules grows, the plan goes up. When you calculate the three-year total cost of ownership, the total grows considerably – and you do not own any code at the end.
With custom software the initial investment is higher, but the only recurring items are hosting and maintenance. The deciding question is this: will you need to do something non-standard in your sales flow within the next three years? If the answer is yes, the rental model gets stuck halfway, and migrating from scratch ends up costing more than building custom from the start.
2. How much does design change the price?
A ready-made theme is a clearly smaller item than custom design. The difference is not aesthetics but conversion. As an industry average, the cart abandonment rate on e-commerce sites is around 70% (Baymard Institute, 2024). On monthly revenue of 100,000 TL, improving the abandonment rate by 5 points makes a six-figure difference over a year – and that calculation determines how many months it takes for the design investment to pay back.
On the other hand, putting most of the budget into custom design for a store that gets 3 orders a day is the wrong order of priorities. At that stage the money should go into product photography and advertising.
3. Number of products and variants
The price is driven more by the variant structure than by the number of products. 500 single-variant products are simpler than a catalog in which 60 products come in 6 colors × 5 sizes. When stock, price and photos have to be managed per variant, both development and data-entry effort multiply.
Product data entry is usually left out of the budget, but it is a real cost: preparing photos, description and SEO copy for each product takes time and effort. For a 1,000-product catalog, data entry alone is a project item of its own. You will either do it in-house or outsource it; either way there is a cost.
4. Integrations
Each integration is a separate development item; the effort depends on the quality of the target system's API:
- Payments (iyzico, PayTR, virtual POS): A fairly standard item. Installment tables and 3D Secure included. iyzico and PayTR are widely used Turkish payment providers; a virtual POS is a bank's online card-payment gateway.
- Shipping (label + tracking): Whether it is one carrier or three matters.
- e-Archive invoice: e-Arşiv is Turkey's mandatory electronic invoice system for sales to consumers; the special integrator subscription is a separate annual fee.
- Accounting / bookkeeping (Logo, Mikro, Netsis): These are common Turkish accounting packages; this is the most variable item, and the age of the installation is decisive.
- Marketplaces (Trendyol, Hepsiburada): Stock, price and order sync. Trendyol and Hepsiburada are Turkey's largest online marketplaces. Details on our Trendyol integration page.
The mobile experience does not look like a separate line item, but it is not negotiable either: about 57% of global retail e-commerce sales come from mobile (Statista, 2024). On a site that is not developed mobile-first, half of the sales are at risk from the outset.
5. Hidden recurring costs
The initial setup fee is the visible tip of the iceberg. Items to add to the annual budget:
- Hosting and domain: Depends on traffic and number of products.
- SSL and security: Mandatory on every site that takes payments.
- Maintenance and updates: 10–20% of the project fee per year. Sites that skip security patches get attacked sooner or later.
- Payment commission: 1.5–3.5% of revenue. In most projects, this share of annual revenue is larger than the cost of the site.
- Digital marketing: For a new site, ad budgets below 10,000 TL a month in the first 6 months do not produce meaningful data.
These last two items are the ones most often overlooked. For example, on 2 million TL of annual revenue a 2.5% payment commission comes to 50,000 TL — in most projects more than the setup fee. The budget has to be built on total annual operating cost, not on the setup fee.
6. Maintenance level
There is a fivefold cost difference between basic maintenance (security patches, backups, bug fixes) and continuous development (new features, A/B tests, campaign modules). Basic maintenance is enough for stores that go through 2–3 campaign periods a year; it is not enough for those that keep opening new channels and campaigns.
Where do cheap quotes cut corners?
On the market, quotes for the same job can differ several times over. Low quotes usually leave the following items out of scope – ask about each one when you get a quote:
- Payment and shipping integration is split off as extra work to be done "later"
- The e-Archive invoice is never discussed (a legal requirement)
- Product data entry is left to the customer
- No speed optimization or mobile testing is done
- The source code is not handed over, so the site cannot be moved
- There is no maintenance contract, so the first bug is billed by the hour
Once these six items are added later, a low-looking quote often multiplies. When comparing quotes, what matters is not the number but whether they include the same scope.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why isn't the cost of an e-commerce website fixed?
A single-language store with 80 products and a multilingual store with thousands of products and ERP integration require completely different amounts of effort. Cost is directly proportional to scope; a fixed list price is only possible if the scope is fixed as well. That is how we quote: the scope is written down, and the price is set clearly for that scope.
Which item raises the cost the most?
Accounting/ERP integration and custom design. Third, in a place most people do not expect: product data entry.
How much are the monthly recurring costs?
Hosting, maintenance and SSL recur every month or year; payment commission and the advertising budget come on top. Ask for each of these items in writing when you get a quote.
Is it expensive to move from a ready-made platform to custom software?
The migration itself (data transfer, URL redirects, rebuilding integrations) is a separate extra cost. That is why, if your growth plan is clear, choosing the right platform from the start is more economical.
How many months until it pays for itself?
It can be calculated if the average order value and margin are known: orders needed to pay back = site investment ÷ (average order × net margin). For example, with an average order of 800 TL and a 25% net margin each order contributes 200 TL; divide the investment by this and compare it with your monthly order count.
How to pin down your budget
Write down your number of products, your variant structure, where you keep stock and the integrations you need; we will prepare a clear quote based on that scope. If you want to see the setup steps, our e-commerce website page walks through them.
Phone / WhatsApp: +90 536 628 0007
Email: info@enextware.com
