How Much Does a Shopify Store Cost in Lebanon? (2026 Guide)

Asking how much a Shopify store costs in Lebanon gets you two very different answers. Shopify’s own pricing page shows a monthly plan. A developer’s quote shows a build cost. Neither one tells you what you will actually spend in the first year, because the real number includes apps, the theme, the payment surcharge that applies to every Lebanese store, and the work of making the store fit our market.

This guide puts all of it in one place, with ranges from stores I build for businesses in Lebanon and the GCC, so you can budget properly before you start.

Shopify store cost in Lebanon: the short answer

For a professionally built Shopify store in Lebanon in 2026, expect:

• One-time build: $700 to $1,200 for most small and medium stores
• Shopify subscription: $29 to $39 per month on the Basic plan
• Theme: free, or roughly $100 to $400 one-time for a premium theme
• Apps: typically $20 to $100 per month once the store is running
• Payment surcharge: an extra 2% on every order on Basic, because Shopify Payments is not available in Lebanon
• Domain: about $15 per year

A realistic first-year total for a small Lebanese store is around $1,500 to $3,000, including the build. The sections below explain where each number comes from and how to keep it at the lower end.

One-time cost: building the store

This is the largest single expense and the one that varies most. Here are the two tiers I quote.

Custom-designed store: $700 to $1,200

Custom homepage and product page design, professional structure for categories and collections, local payment methods integrated and tested, WhatsApp and Instagram integration, technical SEO setup, and training so you can manage it yourself. This is where most established Lebanese businesses land.

Advanced store: $1,200 to $2,500

Everything above plus Arabic and English, custom features such as product configurators or wholesale pricing, integrations with accounting or delivery systems, and larger catalogues. Stores selling to the GCC with multi-currency and regional payments usually sit here.

These are the same tiers I quote on my Shopify developer in Lebanon page; my ecommerce website development cost guide covers WooCommerce and custom builds too.

Monthly cost: the Shopify subscription

Shopify’s core plans in 2026 are Basic at $39 per month or $29 on annual billing, Grow at $105 or $79 annually, and Advanced at $399 or $299 annually. Check the current figures on Shopify’s pricing page before you commit.

For almost every Lebanese store, Basic is the right plan. Grow only pays for itself when your order volume is high enough that its lower third-party surcharge saves more than the extra subscription cost, which usually means tens of thousands of dollars in monthly sales.

Pay annually if you can. It saves about a quarter of the subscription cost.

Theme cost

Shopify offers free themes that are perfectly usable for a small store, and paid themes from its theme store that typically cost a one-time fee in the low hundreds of dollars. A paid theme is worth it when it saves custom development, for example a theme with strong product filtering built in.

Custom theme development, where the design is built from scratch, is a different category and belongs in the advanced build tier above.

App costs: the expense people forget

Shopify’s app store is where monthly costs quietly grow. A typical Lebanese store ends up with some combination of:

• A reviews app
• A WhatsApp chat or order-notification app
• A translation app for Arabic
• A bundle or upsell app
• An advanced shipping or delivery-date app
• An email or SMS marketing app

Many have free tiers, but the useful features are usually paid. Budget $20 to $100 per month, and review your apps every few months, because unused apps keep charging.

The Lebanon-specific cost: the payment surcharge

This is the item most cost guides written abroad leave out.

When you use a third-party payment gateway instead of Shopify Payments, Shopify adds an extra fee of 2% on Basic, 1% on Grow, and 0.6% on Advanced. Shopify Payments is not available in Lebanon, so every Lebanese Shopify store pays this on every online order, on top of what the gateway itself charges.

On $5,000 of monthly online sales, that is $100 a month. On $10,000, it is $200. Cash-on-delivery orders are not charged this surcharge, which is one reason COD stays attractive here.

For a full comparison of how this changes the picture versus WooCommerce, read Shopify vs WooCommerce in Lebanon.

Payment gateway and currency costs

Your gateway, whether Whish Pay, areeba, or NetCommerce, has its own fees. I do not publish those because they change and depend on your volume; ask each provider for current rates. The Whish Pay app itself is free to install. My guide to accepting online payments in Lebanon explains how to combine them.

If you sell in more than one currency, Shopify also charges a currency conversion fee on those orders. For a store pricing in USD and selling to Lebanon and the diaspora, you can usually avoid this by keeping a single currency.

Domain, email, and small extras

• Domain: about $15 per year for a .com
• Business email: a few dollars per user per month if you want yourstore.com addresses
• Product photography: varies widely, but it affects sales more than any app
• Logo and branding: if you do not have one, budget for it separately

What a Shopify store costs over three years in Lebanon

Here is a realistic example for a small store on the Basic plan, paid annually, with a custom build, a premium theme, three paid apps, and $3,000 per month in online (non-COD) sales.

Cost	Year 1	Years 2 and 3 (each)
Store build	$900	$0
Shopify Basic (annual)	$348	$348
Premium theme	$250	$0
Apps ($50/month)	$600	$600
Third-party surcharge (2% of $36,000)	$720	$720
Domain	$15	$15
Total	$2,833	$1,683

The build is a one-time cost. The surcharge, apps, and subscription continue for as long as the store runs, and they scale with your sales. That is the real cost of Shopify in Lebanon: not the $29 headline, but roughly $1,700 a year in running costs for a modest store.

How to keep Shopify costs down in Lebanon

• Start on Basic, billed annually
• Use a free theme until your sales justify a paid one
• Install apps only when a specific problem needs solving, and audit them quarterly
• Keep cash on delivery as an option; it avoids the surcharge
• Price in one currency to avoid conversion fees
• Get local payments and delivery set up correctly the first time, so you are not paying twice

Is Shopify worth the cost in Lebanon?

For some businesses, yes. If you sell mainly abroad, want the simplest possible management, and have the budget for apps, Shopify’s reliability and ease of use are worth the running costs.

For most stores selling mainly inside Lebanon, WooCommerce ends up cheaper over three years because there is no subscription and no platform surcharge, and it handles Arabic and local payments with more flexibility. I build on both, so the recommendation depends on your business, not on the platform. If Shopify is the right fit, my Shopify developer in Lebanon page covers exactly what a build includes. If you are still deciding, my guide on how to start an ecommerce business in Lebanon walks through the decision.

Frequently asked questions

How much does Shopify cost per month in Lebanon?

The Basic plan is $39 per month, or $29 per month if you pay annually. Higher plans are $79 to $105 and $299 to $399. Apps and the third-party payment surcharge come on top.

Is Shopify Payments available in Lebanon?

No. Lebanese stores use a third-party gateway such as Whish Pay, areeba, or NetCommerce, and Shopify adds a surcharge on each order processed through it.

How much does it cost to have a Shopify store built in Lebanon?

$700 to $1,200 for a custom-designed store, and $1,200 to $2,500 for an advanced bilingual store with custom features.

Is WooCommerce cheaper than Shopify in Lebanon?

Usually, over time. WooCommerce has no subscription and no platform transaction fee, though you pay for hosting and maintenance. For a full breakdown, see my Shopify vs WooCommerce comparison.

Can I build a Shopify store myself to save money?

Yes, if you are comfortable with the platform. The parts that usually need a developer in Lebanon are local payment integration, delivery zones, Arabic content, and technical SEO, which is where most self-built stores fall short.

Final thoughts

A Shopify store in Lebanon costs more than the monthly plan suggests, but it is predictable once you know where the money goes: the build, the subscription, apps, and the payment surcharge. Budget around $1,500 to $3,000 for the first year of a small store, and about $1,700 a year after that.

I build Shopify and WooCommerce stores for businesses across Lebanon and the GCC, with fixed USD quotes and local payments set up before launch. If you want a quote for your store, contact me for a free consultation or WhatsApp me on +961 70 884 941. Examples of live stores are in my portfolio.

Last verified: September 2026. Shopify plan prices and fees change; I update this article when they do.