What it costs to build
| Type of store | Typical cost |
|---|---|
| Shopify store on a standard theme | about 5,500–25,000 |
| WooCommerce store, standard | about 5,500–35,000 |
| Growth-stage store: custom UX, bilingual polish | about 35,000–120,000 |
| Custom build or marketplace | 100,000+ |
Market ranges from the published guides listed under Sources, not Brisk's prices.
Shopify or WooCommerce?
- Shopify is hosted for you and quick to launch, but charges a monthly subscription and, unless you use its own payments, a fee on each sale on top of your gateway's.
- WooCommerce runs on WordPress on hosting you pay for. It has no platform fee per sale, but needs more looking after: updates, security and backups.
- The break-even: published comparisons suggest that past roughly AED 1.5–2 million a year in sales, Shopify's extra transaction fees can exceed WooCommerce's whole running cost.
What it costs to run
| Item | Typical cost |
|---|---|
| Card payments | about 2.5–3.5% + AED 1–1.75 per transaction |
| Gateway monthly fee (some providers) | 0 to about 350 a month |
| Maintenance and updates | about 3,000+ a month if managed for you |
| VAT on services | 5%, where the provider is VAT-registered |
What UAE shops need that templates miss
- Cash on delivery alongside cards — many UAE shoppers still expect it.
- Dirham pricing and delivery rules by emirate.
- Arabic product pages and checkout, not just an Arabic homepage. See what an Arabic website costs.
- WhatsApp for order questions, because that is where customers ask them.
Where Brisk fits
Brisk builds online shops on WooCommerce that you run yourself — products, prices and offers without a developer — with card and cash on delivery and full Arabic. See how it works for online shops, read what a website costs in Dubai for the wider picture, or ask for a free homepage mockup.
Sources
Ranges are rounded from these published guides and price lists, and reviewed as of the date at the top of this page.