Store costs
What a direct book store costs on Shopify
Shopify is a general store builder. For books it needs apps: one to send ebooks and audiobooks, one for bundles, one for reviews and one for print on demand, plus an email tool. Each app is its own monthly bill.
Three stores, three bills
The bill changes with how many books you have, which formats you sell and how much you sell. For each store we picked the cheapest Shopify plan for those sales.
| Store | Shopify plan | Shopify, a year | Lanternbee, a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starting out | Shopify Basic | $1,686 | $654 |
| A growing backlist | Shopify Basic | $2,628 | $1,812 |
| A busy store | Shopify Basic | $6,636 | $5,820 |
Lanternbee shows the cheaper of Free and Author for each store. Both include card processing.
Starting out
3 titles, selling ebooks. About $500 in sales a month from 50 orders.
| What you pay for | Price | Each month |
|---|---|---|
| Shopify BasicThe store itself | $39 a month | $39 |
| BookFunnel Mid ListSending ebooks and audiobooks to buyers | $20 + audiobook add-on | $20 |
| A bundles appSeries and format bundles | about $20 | $20 |
| An email toolNewsletter and automated emails | about $17 | $17 |
| A reviews appReader reviews on your book pages | $15 | $15 |
| Card processingShopify Payments, on 50 orders | 2.9% + 30¢ | $29.50 |
| Total each month | $140.50 | |
| Total for a year | $1,686 |
| The same store on Lanternbee | Each month | A year |
|---|---|---|
| Lanternbee Free5% fee on $500 + Stripe 2.9% + 30¢ | $54.50 | $654 |
| Lanternbee Author$45 a month + Stripe 2.9% + 30¢ | $74.50 | $894 |
A growing backlist
8 titles, selling ebooks and audiobooks. About $2,000 in sales a month from 160 orders.
| What you pay for | Price | Each month |
|---|---|---|
| Shopify BasicThe store itself | $39 a month | $39 |
| BookFunnel Mid ListSending ebooks and audiobooks to buyers | $20 + audiobook add-on | $20 |
| A bundles appSeries and format bundles | about $20 | $20 |
| An email toolNewsletter and automated emails | about $17 | $17 |
| A reviews appReader reviews on your book pages | $15 | $15 |
| BookFunnel audiobook add-onSending audiobooks to buyers | $2 a month + $0.04 per hour delivered | $2 |
| Card processingShopify Payments, on 160 orders | 2.9% + 30¢ | $106 |
| Total each month | $219 | |
| Total for a year | $2,628 |
| The same store on Lanternbee | Each month | A year |
|---|---|---|
| Lanternbee FreeFree covers up to 5 titles | Not available | Not available |
| Lanternbee Author$45 a month + Stripe 2.9% + 30¢ | $151 | $1,812 |
A busy store
20 titles, selling ebooks, audiobooks and print books. About $10,000 in sales a month from 500 orders.
| What you pay for | Price | Each month |
|---|---|---|
| Shopify BasicThe store itself | $39 a month | $39 |
| BookFunnel Mid ListSending ebooks and audiobooks to buyers | $20 + audiobook add-on | $20 |
| A bundles appSeries and format bundles | about $20 | $20 |
| An email toolNewsletter and automated emails | about $17 | $17 |
| A reviews appReader reviews on your book pages | $15 | $15 |
| A print-on-demand appPrinting and shipping paperbacks | $0 + print costs | $0 |
| BookFunnel audiobook add-onSending audiobooks to buyers | $2 a month + $0.04 per hour delivered | $2 |
| Card processingShopify Payments, on 500 orders | 2.9% + 30¢ | $440 |
| Total each month | $553 | |
| Total for a year | $6,636 |
| The same store on Lanternbee | Each month | A year |
|---|---|---|
| Lanternbee FreeFree covers up to 5 titles | Not available | Not available |
| Lanternbee Author$45 a month + Stripe 2.9% + 30¢ | $485 | $5,820 |
Try your own numbers
- Shopify
- Lanternbee Free
- Lanternbee Author
Same prices and apps as the tables above. Card processing at Shopify's rate, and Stripe's rate for Lanternbee.
What we counted
- US prices on monthly billing.
- An email tool for your newsletter, at about $17 a month, for every store, the same as on our pricing page. If the store's own email tools are enough for you, take that off.
- Card processing on every sale. Lanternbee uses your own Stripe account, at Stripe's standard US rate.
- Shopify Basic is $29 a month if you pay a year ahead. If you use a payment provider other than Shopify Payments, Shopify adds a 2% fee on every sale.
- BookFunnel's audiobook add-on also charges $0.04 for every hour of audio it delivers. We count only the $2 monthly part, so busy audiobook months cost a little more than shown.
What we left out
- Printing and shipping costs, which you pay the printer whichever store you use.
- Your domain name, a paid theme and any design work.
- Sales tax and VAT themselves. Tax tools may cost extra, including Stripe Tax on your own Stripe account where you are registered to collect tax.
- Extra card fees for cards from other countries and currency conversion.
App and email tool prices come from our pricing page, checked on November 3, 2026:
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