How Much Does A Shopify Expert Cost In 2024?

Are you having trouble quantifying the Shopify expert cost? Yes, every Shopify store owner who needs professional help faces this challenge. 

Even if you search Google for “Cost of hiring a Shopify expert” with thousands of results, you’ll find the most common thing: the cost will depend on your specific needs. The cost of hiring a Shopify expert can range from $15 to $100+ per hour or $200 to $25,000+ per project, depending on various factors.

In this situation, sellers often have to spend time finding a professional that fits their budget. But you don’t need to worry anymore, because you are not reading an ordinary document.

In this article, we’ll explain each important aspect to clarify the Shopify expert cost and help you make a decision within your budget. Let’s explore to answer all your questions.

The Role of a Shopify Expert

Shopify is an easy-to-use eCommerce platform, but to fully leverage its advanced features, you might need a Shopify expert. These specialists can help with:

• Shopify store development
• Custom app creation
• Bug fixing and troubleshooting
• Performance optimization
• Third-party app integration
• Theme design and development
• SEO and content management

Therefore, hiring a Shopify expert can be a wise decision for your business. They have the skills to address complicated tasks with ease. Additionally, when you hire a Shopify developer, you gain many other benefits as well.

Let’s delve into what they can do for your Shopify store. Here are the roles they typically accomplish:

• Front-end specialization:

– Developing custom themes

– Integrating third-party APIs

– Enhancing store visibility on search engines

– Implementing responsive design for mobile optimization

– Frontend maintenance and troubleshooting

• Back-end specialization:

– Store setup and configuration

– Store performance optimization

– Creating custom plugins

– Backend maintenance and troubleshooting

• Full-stack specialization:

– All tasks that front-end and back-end developers can do, plus:

  – Migrating to Shopify

  – Shopify Plus Scripts

  – Conducting Shopify website audits

  – Developing headless and PWA stores

  – Comprehensive store maintenance and troubleshooting

As we’ve seen, Shopify experts can handle everything from setting up your store to ensuring it operates smoothly. 

Read more: How to Get Sales on Shopify: Expert Tips for Driving Revenue

How Much Does A Shopify Expert Cost In 2024?

Here, we will analyze the different factors that can affect the Shopify expert cost.

A common question among Shopify store owners is: Is expert work affordable or red-handed?

Answer: Costs differ based on a number of factors. But don’t worry, we will provide a detailed explanation.

Let’s explore these factors specifically:

1. Experience and Expertise of a Shopify Developer

Like any other field, more experienced Shopify developers typically charge more. Experience is not only measured in years of work, but also includes the number of completed projects, a deep understanding of the Shopify platform, the ability to solve complex problems and handle them quickly in a timely manner. .

For example, here are the average hourly salaries of Shopify developers on Upwork, a popular automation platform:

 – Beginners: 15 USD/hour

 – Intermediate: 33 USD/hour

 – Expert: 95 USD/hour

As you can see, the Shopify expert cost vary depending on the developer’s expertise. Now, let’s move on to another factor.

2. Project Complexity and Duration

Expected costs can range from a few to several dollar boxes, depending on the complexity and time required for the project, from small tweaks to complex customizations.

To help you understand better, here are some examples of project types along with average costs:

Minor edits	$200 – $800
Theme customization	$1,000 – $5,000
Custom store build	$5,000 – $20,000+

Hope this provides a clear insight into how complex project photos can be for recruitment. Now, let’s move on to discuss another factor.

3. Geographical Location

Developer expert prices can vary significantly by region due to differences in market demand and cost of living in each location.

For example, if an American company hires a Shopify expert from an Asian country, the costs will be lower due to the lower cost of living. In contrast, renting from regions such as North America and Western Europe can be more expensive.

Below is a reference table to understand the differences in rental costs between regions:

Area average hourly rate:

Regions	Average hourly rate
North America	$50 – $100+
South America	$20 – $40
Australia	$40 – $85
Western Europe	$40 – $90
Eastern Europe	$20 – $50
Asia	$15 – $40
Africa	$15 – $30

Many Shopify store owners often think hiring experts from different regions to save costs. This is also a useful suggestion for you to rent within your budget.

So far, we have concerned about the factors that decide the cost of hiring a Shopify expert. However, this cost depends on different pricing models, as professionals will charge based on their expertise, scope of work, and level of customization required.

Continue learning about how pricing models affect hiring costs.

4. Hourly Rates

Most Shopify experts typically have flat hourly rates, where the client is charged based on the number of hours worked on the task or project. This is very effective for projects where the scope may expand over time and sometimes require expert help.

Here are the average hourly rates when hiring freelancers and agencies:

Average hourly rate of recruitment model:

• Agency: $25 – $45
• Freelancer: $10 – $25

You can see a huge cost difference when hiring an agency versus a freelance Shopify developer. Now, learn how to determine hiring costs when your project has fixed costs.

5. Fixed Rates

This pricing model is well-worked for projects with a clearly defined scope and are not expected to change throughout performance. Usually, hiring a Shopify developer for a balanced rate ranges from $200 to $10,000, depending on the complexity of the project and the developer’s expertise.

To understand better, below is an example table of common types of Shopify projects with average fixed costs:

Project type	Average fixed costs (approximately)
Developing/Setting up an eCommerce store	$5,000 – $25,000
Fix errors	$200 – $1,000
Performance Optimization	$500 – $5,000
Moving stores	$500 – $5,000

Now let’s move on to the other pricing model we’re looking at.

6. Package-based Pricing

You can find a variety of Shopify service plans, including basic store setup, store maintenance, bug fixes, and more. These are the optimal choices made by experts when your project requirements are clearly defined.

These plans may include different levels of service (e.g. Basic, Advanced, Professional) with fixed prices for each plan. Price depends on the number of services provided in each package. This flexibility allows you to choose the plan that best suits your needs.

Here’s an example from Fiverr, a freelance platform that offers a debugging service package:

So we have concluded our discussion about the cost of hiring a Shopify expert. As seen, there are many factors that influence the cost of hiring a professional. Hopefully this has given you a clearer view of how much money you need to spend when choosing to hire a professional for your job.

Models for Shopify Experts: In-house Team, Freelancers, Agencies

There are many ways for you to hire professionals, and each of these hiring models has advantages tailored to your specific requirements. That helps us choose the most suitable model for our project.

The list of hiring models includes in-house teams, freelancers, and agencies. Let’s break down their comparison in a handy table to help you understand which option is best for you.

Recruitment model	Internal group	Freelancer	Shopify Agency
When to rent	Ongoing technical needs and internal project management	Short-term projects, requiring 1-2 developers	Complex projects needing diverse and extensive expertise
Cost effectiveness	Might be higher due to infrastructure	Effective for short-term projects	May vary depending on the agency
Reliability	High as they are your employees	Relatively unreliable	High as it’s a managed team of experts
Project duration	Can handle all technical requirements	Typically starts with short-term, scalable projects	Often hired for long-term project needs
Availability	Available during your business hours	Availability varies based on workload	Available during fixed business hours
Onboarding	Takes 15-30 days to find and train candidates	Very quick, possibly within an hour	Takes 2-5 days to commence

This comparison table provides insight into which type of Shopify expert might be ideal for your business. So, take a look and evaluate which one best suits your business requirements.

Now, as mentioned earlier, every store owner has budget concerns, so they need to find professionals that fit their budget. So let’s continue to explore some tips for hiring within your budget.

Tips for Hiring Shopify Developers in Your Budget

Here are tips for hiring a Shopify developer within your budget. Consider these tips to make smart decisions about hiring a Shopify expert that fits your budget or your onboarding process. Here is a list of tips:

Hire Developers from Asian Countries

The cost of renting developers from Asian countries is often lower than in other regions due to the significantly lower cost of living here. This makes hiring Shopify experts from countries like India, Singapore, Philippines, and Vietnam a reasonable option to save costs. With the rapid development of the information technology and telecommunications industry in these countries, Asian developers not only have high levels of expertise but can also provide services at competitive prices, helping Your business optimizes its budget and achieves high economic efficiency when implementing Shopify projects.

Looking for reliable Shopify developers? Mageplaza offers a skilled team of professionals from diverse backgrounds, ready to deliver tailored solutions for your e-commerce needs. With over a decade of experience and a track record of success, Mageplaza ensures top-notch quality and cost-effectiveness in every project. Contact us today to explore how our Asian developers can elevate your Shopify store!

Explore Hiring Models

The cost of hiring a Shopify developer can vary significantly based on the hiring model you choose. Hiring Shopify freelancers is often more budget-friendly, while hiring agencies can be much more expensive. As we learned above, each recruitment model offers unique benefits that are compatible with the specific requirements of your project.

So, before deciding to hire a Shopify developer, carefully consider the most suitable hiring model to ensure your budget and project requirements are optimally met.

Using Well-known Freelancing Platforms

Freelancing platforms are the ideal destination to find highly specialized, knowledgeable and suitable freelancers or agencies. fits your budget. By using platforms like Upwork, Fiverr, PeoplePerHour, Guru, Toptal, Uplers, you can easily set up filters and get a list of developers that meet your criteria.

– Upwork: This is one of the world’s largest freelancer recruitment platforms, where you can find many options to suit every budget and project requirement.

– Fiverr: Fiverr is a popular platform for engineering and design services, with a wide variety of options from freelancers around the world.

– PeoplePerHour: This is a platform focused on projects and working hours, suitable for short-term projects or with specific time requirements.

– Guru: Guru offers a large community of professional freelancers, with diverse choices from web development to business and marketing.

– Toptal: Toptal is a specialized platform for freelancers and professional development teams, ensuring high quality and accurate selection.

– Uplers: Uplers is a full-service company providing solutions for design, web development and digital marketing, with a team of experts from various fields.

Using these platforms not only saves you time but also guarantees that you can find people with the skills and experience that best serve your project’s needs, within your budget. Explore and take advantage of these platforms offer to take your Shopify project to the next level.

Read more: Hire Freelance Developer: How To Do & Where To Find Them

Hire Developers with the Help of Referrals

One of the effective ways to hire Shopify developers is through referrals from your network. Instead of having to spend a lot of time and effort exploring different options, using referrers saves you time and money.

Referrals from a familiar network, including friends, family, colleagues or store owners whose websites you admire, give you the benefit of an existing relationship. Not only does this help build trust from the start, but it also helps ensure that you can hire people whose quality and capabilities match your project needs without having to expend too much effort in the process. the recruitment process.

One of the biggest benefits of hiring a developer through a referral is high reliability. You can easily verify the quality and performance of referrals from trusted sources you know. Furthermore, this often saves you money compared to hiring someone you don’t have a prior referral for.

FAQs

Question 1: Can I negotiate the Shopify expert cost?

Certainly, some Shopify experts may be willing to discuss prices, especially for larger projects or long-term collaborations. You should discuss your budget and specific project requirements to find a suitable price that both parties can agree on.

Question 2: How do I guarantee I get value from my investment?

Carefully review feasible Shopify experts by reviewing their project portfolios, reading customer reviews, and conducting interviews. This helps you consider their expertise and the value they can bring to your project.

Question 3: Are there any extra costs I should be aware of?

Always ask for a detailed quotation or proposal upfront, especially to be clear about the scope of work, timeline and additional costs that may occur, such as application subscription costs from a third party or changes outside the agreed scope.

Question 4: How long does it take to see return on investment (ROI) after hiring a Shopify expert?

The time to see ROI can vary depending on the specific project scope and improvements made to your Shopify store. However, all in all, improving user experience, increasing site speed, and adopting an effective SEO strategy can lead to increased sales and customer engagement in the short term.

Conclusion

Each Shopify expert has unique skills, working style, and fees. This depends on your experience, expertise, location and the type of service you need. Therefore, when choosing a Shopify expert, avoid getting lost in the confusion.

Spend the time to do thorough analysis and find experts who have the skills so you can optimize your Shopify store. It’s important to partner with someone who understands your business’s needs and is capable of helping you reach your goals. Wishing you success in finding the most suitable Shopify expert for your business.