You ask three Pakistani web agencies how much an ecommerce website costs and you get three wildly different answers — PKR 25,000, PKR 150,000, PKR 600,000. The reason: they are quoting different things, and most of them are not telling you the recurring costs that actually matter.
Here is the honest cost picture for 2026 — what each option actually costs over its first year — so you can choose without buyer's remorse.
Option 1: WordPress + WooCommerce (DIY)
WordPress is free as software, but a real WooCommerce store has six recurring costs:
- Hosting: PKR 1,500–8,000/month for shared or VPS hosting that can handle a real store.
- Premium theme: PKR 14,000–40,000 one-time, often more for ecommerce-specific themes.
- JazzCash plugin: PKR 4,000–15,000/year via PayFast or third-party.
- Easypaisa plugin: PKR 4,000–15,000/year similar.
- WooCommerce extensions: shipping zones, tax, dynamic discounts, customer accounts — PKR 14,000–55,000/year combined.
- Maintenance: either your own time (5–10 hours/month) or a developer retainer at PKR 5,000–20,000/month.
Realistic first-year total: PKR 200,000–500,000 if you price honestly. The "free WordPress" myth holds only if you ignore everything except the software license.
When WordPress is the right choice: if you have an in-house developer, need very specific functionality only a custom plugin can deliver, or want full code ownership.
Option 2: Custom-built site (Pakistani agency)
Custom development quotes from Pakistani agencies range widely:
- Brochure / landing page: PKR 30,000–80,000 upfront.
- Real estate listing site: PKR 80,000–200,000 upfront.
- Ecommerce store with payments and admin: PKR 150,000–500,000 upfront.
- Plus monthly hosting, SSL, security patches: PKR 3,000–10,000/month ongoing.
- Plus dev retainer for changes: PKR 5,000–25,000/month if you want any ongoing tweaks.
Realistic first-year total: PKR 250,000–700,000.
Hidden risk: agency-built sites are notoriously hard to maintain when the agency relationship ends. Many Pakistani SMEs end up rebuilding within 2–3 years because the original developer is unreachable.
When a custom build is the right choice: if your business has very unusual workflow that no off-the-shelf platform can model, and you have budget for ongoing dev support.
Option 3: Hosted ecommerce (Shopify Pakistan)
- Shopify Basic: ~$29/month (PKR 8,000) — but JazzCash, Easypaisa, COD all require paid third-party apps.
- Stack of paid apps: typically PKR 3,000–8,000/month combined.
- Premium theme: $180–380 one-time (PKR 50,000+).
- Transaction fees: 2.0% on Shopify Basic in non-Shopify-Payments regions (Pakistan included), plus card processor fees.
Realistic first-year total: PKR 150,000–250,000 plus 2% of every transaction.
For a deeper side-by-side, see our WoBooks vs Shopify comparison.
Option 4: Hosted Pakistan-native (WoBooks)
WoBooks is built specifically for Pakistani SMEs:
- Brochure / portfolio site (Website Basic): $1.50/month (PKR 417) — PKR 5,000/year.
- Brochure with custom domain (Website Growth): $3/month (PKR 850) — PKR 10,200/year.
- Ecommerce store with full POS + accounting (Commerce Growth): $10/month (PKR 2,780) — PKR 33,400/year, free 14-day trial.
- Transaction fees: 0% — you only pay the gateway (JazzCash / Easypaisa / Safepay) their own merchant rate.
- Included: hosting, SSL, JazzCash, Easypaisa, COD, FBR-formatted receipts, accounting, POS, themes, blog, SEO. No paid add-ons.
Realistic first-year total: PKR 5,000–55,000 depending on the plan and whether you bill monthly or annually.
Side-by-side first-year cost
| Option | Year-1 cost | Hidden costs |
|---|---|---|
| WordPress + WooCommerce | PKR 200,000–500,000 | Plugin licences, time spent on maintenance, broken-after-update incidents |
| Custom Pakistani agency build | PKR 250,000–700,000 | Lock-in to the agency, security patches, hard handover |
| Shopify (PK setup) | PKR 150,000–250,000 + 2% | JazzCash / Easypaisa / COD app subscriptions, transaction fees, USD billing |
| WoBooks Commerce Growth | PKR 33,400 (PKR 27,800 if paid yearly) | None — JazzCash / Easypaisa / COD / accounting / SSL all included |
Which one is right for you?
Three honest rules:
- If you are starting out and have under PKR 50,000 in startup capital, do not spend it on the website. Use a hosted Pakistan-native option, save the rest for inventory and ads.
- If you have a developer or agency on retainer for other work and they are good, custom-build can pay off long-term — but only if you trust them for at least 3 years.
- WordPress is the right choice when you need a specific plugin, not when "WordPress is free" is the reason. The plugin and maintenance ecosystem makes it the most expensive option for most Pakistani SMEs.
Our WoBooks vs WordPress comparison goes deeper on the WordPress story, and our pricing page shows the full WoBooks plan ladder.