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Prices checked on October 12, 2026. This guide is based on the published plans and documentation, not on long-term use by us.
Quick answer
The simplest route: WordPress.com Commerce at $45 a month, billed yearly ($540 a year). Hosting, security, backups, store tools and a free first-year domain are all in one bill, with 0% WordPress.com transaction fees.
WooCommerce itself is free. That is the line every guide starts with, and it is why so many new shop owners are surprised by their first year of bills. Hosting, a domain, security, backups, payment fees and a few extensions all cost money, and they arrive from different companies on different dates.
This guide adds it all up. Below are three realistic budgets for 2026, so you can see the full cost before you sell your first product.
The costs every store has
| Cost | What it is | Can you avoid it? |
|---|---|---|
| Hosting | The server your shop runs on | No |
| Domain | yourshop.com, renewed every year | No, but it is free for the first year on WordPress.com yearly plans |
| Security and backups | Protects orders and customer data | Only by taking a serious risk |
| Payment fees | A small cut of each sale | No, every payment provider charges one |
| Extensions | Subscriptions, bundles, bookings and so on | Yes, buy only what you need |
Budget 1: the all-in-one route (about $540 a year)
WordPress.com Commerce is WooCommerce with the hosting and maintenance done for you. At $45 a month billed yearly, it includes:
- Hosting with 50 GB of storage and real-time backups
- A free domain for the first year and a free business email for one year
- Store tools, premium store themes, unlimited products and inventory management
- Selling in more than 60 countries
- 0% WordPress.com transaction fees on sales
- 24/7 priority support
Who it suits: first-time store owners who want one bill and no technical work. You can open a shop this week without hiring anyone.
The trade-off: $540 a year is more than basic hosting. You are paying for not having to look after the site yourself. Paying for two or three years at once lowers the monthly price to $36 or $31.50.
Start with WordPress.com Commerce →
Budget 2: managed hosting plus the extensions you choose (about $390 a year, plus domain)
If you want full control over plugins and code, run WooCommerce on managed WordPress hosting and buy extensions one by one.
| Item | Yearly cost |
|---|---|
| Pressable Signature 1 hosting, with Jetpack Security included | $250 |
| Product Bundles, to raise order value | $79 |
| Shipment Tracking, for physical products | $59 |
| Domain name | Bought separately |
| Total | $388 plus your domain |
Why this works well: Pressable includes Jetpack Security on every site, which covers real-time backups and malware scanning. Bought on its own, Jetpack Security renews at $239.40 a year, so you get it for nothing here. You also get a staging site to test changes before customers see them.
The trade-off: the entry plan includes 30,000 visits a month, and busy months cost extra. See our Pressable review for the details.
Budget 3: the bare minimum
The cheapest possible store runs WooCommerce on basic shared hosting with free plugins only. Shared hosting prices vary a lot, so this can cost much less than the options above in year one.
It is the right choice if you want to test an idea before spending money. Plan for the hidden costs: you handle updates, backups and security yourself, and the low first-year hosting price often rises at renewal. Once real orders come in, add proper backups. Our Jetpack review covers the simplest way to do that.
Payment fees
Every way of taking card payments charges a fee on each sale. WooPayments, the payment system built for WooCommerce, has no setup fee and no monthly fee for online payments; you pay per transaction, and the rate depends on your country, your customer’s country and the payment method. Check the current rates for your country before you launch.
On WordPress.com, the Business and Commerce plans charge 0% WordPress.com fees on WooCommerce payments, so you only pay the payment provider.
Which extensions are worth paying for in year one?
Most new shops need fewer extensions than they think. Start with nothing, then add one only when you can name the problem it solves:
- Customers buy one item and leave: Product Bundles, $79 a year.
- You sell personalised products: Product Add-Ons, $79 a year.
- You want monthly recurring income: WooCommerce Subscriptions, $279 a year.
- Carts are being abandoned: AutomateWoo, $159 a year.
Official extensions come with a 30-day money-back guarantee from WooCommerce.com, so you can test one properly before committing. Our guide to the best official WooCommerce extensions compares prices and ratings.
Our recommendation
If this is your first store, start with WordPress.com Commerce. One predictable bill, no maintenance, and you can spend your time on products and customers instead of servers. If you already know WordPress and want full control, choose Pressable and add extensions as you grow.
Start with WordPress.com Commerce →See Pressable plans →
Prices and plan features are set by each company and can change at any time. Always confirm the final price at checkout.
