How Much Does a Shopify Domain Cost? Average Pricing Guide

When you set up a Shopify store, you get a free subdomain—something like “yourstore.myshopify.com.” This works fine while you’re building and testing, but you’ll eventually want to secure a custom domain as you scale. 

A custom domain is one of the simplest ways to make your store look and feel like an established business. But to choose the right domain, you need to consider trademarks, domain extensions, availability, and how it’ll hold up as your brand grows.

This guide breaks down Shopify domain cost, renewal fees, and how buying through Shopify compares to third-party registrars.

Domain options on Shopify

Shopify offers a few different paths for getting a domain connected to your ecommerce store:

• Free Shopify subdomain. Every store gets one automatically. It’ll look like yourstore.myshopify.com. You can use a subdomain to launch and run your store, but most store owners add a custom domain from the start or as their business grows.

• Buy a domain through Shopify. You can purchase a custom domain directly through your Shopify admin.

• Connect a third-party domain. Already own a domain from a third-party registrar like GoDaddy or Namecheap? Point it to your Shopify store by connecting it as a third-party domain.

• Transfer a domain to Shopify. If you want to move an existing domain fully under Shopify’s management, transferring gives you the same benefits—auto-renewal, WHOIS privacy, and centralized management. Shopify also provides documentation on transferring a third-party domain. 

Buying a domain directly through Shopify is typically the simplest option for minimal technical setup. Connecting or transferring makes more sense if you already own a domain you’d like to keep.

How much does a Shopify domain cost?

On Shopify, domain pricing for relatively unique store names typically run from $10 to $30 per year. The cost for a standard “.com” domain can be around $16 per year, with other domain extensions varying by demand. A “.store” domain, for example, may be cheaper than a “.co” domain. 

Pricing also depends on the domain name itself, so you’ll need to verify the cost in your Shopify admin at the time of purchase. Premium domains—highly desirable domain names that are typically short, memorable, and marketable—can be much more expensive. 

When you buy a Shopify domain, the price includes a free SSL certificate to encrypt customer data, free WHOIS privacy protection to keep your personal info out of public domain registration records, automatic renewal, and a pre-configured domain name system (DNS), so your domain automatically connects to your store without manual setup.

Shopify domains also include free, unlimited email forwarding, so emails sent to info@yourstore.com can redirect to your personal inbox. (Note that email forwarding doesn’t include full email hosting; to send emails from your custom domain, you’ll need a third-party service.) 

Shopify domain renewal costs

Shopify’s renewal costs generally stay in line with what you paid upfront. A “.com” that costs $16 in year one will cost roughly the same when it renews. Unlike many third-party registrars that offer steep introductory discounts and raise prices at renewal, domain registration through Shopify ensures that renewal pricing stays consistent. 

Domains purchased through Shopify are sold in one-year terms and set to auto-renew by default. You can turn that off in your admin, but leaving it on is usually the safest option. Losing a domain because you forgot to renew can be difficult and expensive to fix. If your domain expires, someone else might register it and list it for resale (these individuals are sometimes known as domain squatters). To avoid surprises, keep an eye on your domain settings under Settings > Domains in your Shopify admin, where you’ll find renewal dates and pricing.

Shopify vs. third-party domain registrars

Here’s how Shopify stacks up against some of the most popular domain options. The pricing below reflects average costs. Like Shopify, domain costs at other registrars may vary based on the specific name and demand. Check pricing for your specific domain for the most accurate numbers. 

How to choose a good domain name

1. Check domain and trademark availability
2. Choose the right extension
3. Keep it short and easy to say out loud
4. Play the long game

Buying a domain and getting it set up is relatively straightforward. But choosing the name that will represent your online store and extend to your social handles, product packaging, and potentially even a brick-and-mortar location is trickier. A domain may cost around $16 a year, but rebranding later can cost significantly more. Here’s how to choose the best domain name for your website.

1. Check domain and trademark availability

Your brand name and your domain name are ideally the same. A web address is visible enough that it’s worth factoring domain availability into your naming decision from the start. Your first choice may not be available, and you may need to explore several options. 

Sandro Roco, the founder of Sanzo sparkling water, ran into this early on. On an episode of the Shopify Masters podcast, he explains how he workshopped a dozen names before finding one that was both available as a domain and wasn’t already trademarked. 

Shopify offers a free domain name generator that can help spark ideas. Once you’ve generated a list of ideas, search Shopify’s domain page to see which ones are available, check social handles across platforms, and look up the names in the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) database. 

If your ideal domain is taken, you have a few options:

• Try to buy it. Use a WHOIS lookup to find the owner’s contact information or check if the domain is listed on a marketplace. You don’t have to do this on day one: The founders of Waterboy, for instance, waited six months until they’d validated their product and had enough funding to justify paying around $11,000 for waterboy.com. 

• Add a word. Prefixes like “get,” “shop,” or “try” are common workarounds if your desired domain is taken.

• Try a different extension. If the “.com” extension is taken, other extensions like “.shop” or “.co” might be available. 

2. Choose the right extension

The “.com” extension is the most recognizable and the default most shoppers will type, but it’s not your only option. Extensions like “.co,” “.store,” and “.shop” have become more common—there are over 5.5 million registered “.shop” domains. 

Country-specific extensions—known as country code top-level domains—like Canada’s “.ca” and the UK’s “.co.uk” can also work in your favor; if you’re targeting Canadian or European shoppers, a local extension can feel more familiar for shoppers. 

Some store owners buy multiple versions of their domain. This is called domain parking, and it’s a simple form of brand protection, preventing competitors or squatters from registering a version of your name and causing confusion—or demanding money to sell it back. You may consider the “.com,” “.co,” and country codes for your current or future markets. You can add up to 20 domains to a single Shopify store and redirect them to your primary domain. 

3. Keep it short and easy to say out loud

A domain name that’s hard to pronounce or remember can be hard for customers to find. Aim for something short and clear—a memorable name that works just as well aloud as on a screen. If someone hears your brand at a party but can’t remember it by the time they get home, that’s friction you don’t want.

Melanie Masarin, founder of Ghia, a non-alcoholic aperitif brand, built the name around how it sounds. On Shopify Masters, she describes testing the word in relevant contexts: “Can you say the word ‘Ghia’ in a lot of different languages? Is it a happy word?” Ghia launched during the pandemic, when alcohol consumption was rising, but Masarin carved out space in the non-alcoholic category by being intentional about every detail, starting with the name. 

4. Play the long game

It’s easy enough to pick a name that works for right now. But will it still make sense when you’re selling in retail, running ads, or licensing your brand? Before you commit, ask yourself:

• Does the name box me into one product category?

• Would it sound right on a retail shelf next to a national brand?

• Can I build a parent company or sub-brands under it later?

When Leah Marcus and Yasaman Bakhtiar launched their line of pickles, they purposely ignored advice to put “pickles” in the brand name, opting for Good Girl Snacks instead. “We were always intentional about naming it Good Girl Snacks because we didn’t want to close any doors for ourselves,” says Leah on Shopify Masters. “We didn’t want to just keep starting companies. We wanted to build a world with products within it.”

How to buy a domain through Shopify

Buying a domain through Shopify takes only a few minutes. Here’s how:

1. Log in to your Shopify admin.

2. Go to Settings > Domains.

3. Click “Buy new domain.”

4. Type in the domain name you want and click “Search.”

5. Review the available domains, extensions, and pricing.

6. Toggle “Auto-renew every year” on or off depending on your preference.

7. Click “Buy” and complete payment.

Your domain is registered for 12 months. SSL activates automatically, DNS connects to your Shopify store without manual setup, and WHOIS privacy protection is active from the start. It can take up to 48 hours for the domain to propagate, but it’s usually faster. Domain purchases are non-refundable, so double-check the spelling before completing checkout.