The short answer: an online store in Romania costs, in 2026, anywhere from a few hundred lei a month (a subscription platform you set up yourself) to 1,500-15,000 EUR excluding VAT built by an agency, depending on integrations. But the launch price is the small part. What decides whether a store makes money is the monthly cost (platform, card fees, couriers, marketing) and how easy it is to buy from it. Below: the three ways to build one, a 3-year cost example, the legal requirements most price guides skip, and the Romania-specific details that matter if you are selling here from abroad.
The market in two numbers
Romanian B2C e-commerce reached 12.9 billion EUR in 2025, up 10% year on year, according to the European E-Commerce Report 2026. At the same time, only 60% of Romanian internet users bought online in 2024, one of the lowest shares in the EU, up from 17% in 2014. New buyers are still entering the market every year.
The local detail that changes how you build: payment. In a Cargus-commissioned survey from September 2025 (1,002 respondents), 68% most often pay by card on the merchant's site, and 18.7% choose cash on delivery. You need both.
Three ways to build it
1. Subscription platform (Shopify and similar)
You pay the platform monthly, pick a theme and install apps for what is missing. Shopify's pricing page, as shown for Romania in October 2026:
| Shopify plan | Billed monthly | Billed yearly (per month) | Online card rate shown |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | 139 lei | 99 lei | 1.9% + 1.25 lei |
| Grow | 369 lei | 279 lei | 1.7% + 1.25 lei |
| Advanced | 1,940 lei | 1,460 lei | 1.5% + 1.25 lei |
Good: live in days, hosting and security are not your problem. Less good: Romanian invoicing, local courier labels and cash on delivery come through separate apps, each with its own subscription, for as long as the store exists.
2. WooCommerce (WordPress)
The software is free; you pay for hosting, a theme, premium plugins and someone to connect and update them. It is the most common route among small Romanian agencies, with plugins for most local couriers and invoicing tools. The catch: every plugin is a yearly licence and a security risk, and an un-updated store breaks or gets hacked.
3. Custom-built store
An agency builds the store on its own or a modern stack and fits it to your exact flow. 2026 price guides from Romanian agencies:
| Project | Published range (excl. VAT) | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Basic store, freelancer | 800-3,000 EUR | Pronet Design |
| Turnkey store, starter | 1,500-3,000 EUR | a Bucharest web agency |
| Turnkey store, business | 3,000-6,000 EUR | Biroul de IT |
| Custom store, from | 3,400 EUR | Pronet Design |
| Custom with many integrations | 6,000-15,000+ EUR | Biroul de IT |
Good: no platform subscription, you pay once and own the code (if the contract says so). Less good: higher upfront cost, and someone still has to maintain it.
A 3-year cost example
Example: 100 orders a month at an average basket of 250 lei, so 25,000 lei in monthly sales. Approximate, excluding VAT, marketing and shipping (you pay those either way).
| 3-year cost | Shopify Grow (yearly) | Custom build at 4,000 EUR |
|---|---|---|
| Build or setup | your time or an agency | about 20,000 lei (4,000 EUR) |
| Platform | 279 lei x 36 months = 10,044 lei | 0 lei |
| Apps (invoicing, courier labels, reviews) | variable monthly subscriptions | included in the build if quoted |
| Hosting | included | a few to a few dozen EUR a month |
| Card fees (example: Stripe 1.5% + 1 leu) | depends on plan and processor | about 475 lei a month, 17,100 lei over 3 years |
Card fees apply whatever you choose; only the percentage changes. As a public benchmark, Stripe lists for Romania 1.5% + 1 leu for standard EEA cards, 2.5% + 1 leu for UK cards and 3.15% + 1 leu for international cards. At low volume the subscription platform is cheaper; as you grow, the gap between subscription plus apps and a store of your own closes. Run the numbers with your own figures.
Legal must-haves for selling in Romania
Not legal advice, but the checklist to go through with a lawyer or accountant:
- Terms and a returns policy. Consumers can withdraw from distance purchases within 14 days.
- GDPR and cookies. A privacy policy and cookie consent that match the tools the store actually uses.
- ANPC pictogram. Romanian consumer authority Order 449/2022 requires online shops to display the alternative dispute resolution (SAL) pictogram. It was amended in 2026 after the EU ODR platform closed, so take the current version from anpc.ro.
- Accessibility. The European Accessibility Act applies from 28 June 2025 and covers e-commerce. Microenterprises providing services are exempt; everyone else needs an accessible store.
- Invoicing. Invoices are issued automatically per order through invoicing software. The RO e-Factura rules for sales to consumers changed several times since 2024, so confirm the current rules with your accountant.
- Company details visible on the site.
Mistakes that raise the cost without raising sales
- Paying now for "later" features: loyalty points, wishlists, a mobile app.
- No cash on delivery and no parcel lockers.
- A long checkout: forced accounts, too many fields, shipping cost revealed at the end.
- Weak product photos.
- No budget for traffic. Pronet Design estimates 500-2,000 EUR a month for marketing in the first 6-12 months.
- Late migration: start cheap, outgrow it, rebuild, and lose rankings if redirects are not done right.
For the cost of a site that does not sell online, see website cost in Romania.
How we work
Promptify builds turnkey online stores with payments, invoicing and courier integrations, and runs web products with paid subscriptions of its own (for example autostudio.one). We do not publish a fixed price: a 20-product store and a 5,000-product store with an ERP have little in common. Use the AI estimator on our home page for a range, then ask for a detailed quote, free.
Frequently asked questions
How much does an online store cost in Romania?
On a subscription platform such as Shopify you can start for a few hundred lei a month plus your own setup time. A store built by a Romanian agency starts, according to published price guides, at about 1,500-3,400 EUR excluding VAT and goes to 6,000-15,000 EUR for projects with many integrations.
Do I need cash on delivery for Romanian customers?
For most stores, yes. In a Cargus survey from September 2025, 68% of respondents most often pay online orders by card on the merchant's site, but 18.7% still prefer cash on delivery.
What card processing fees should I expect?
It depends on your processor and contract. As a public benchmark, Stripe lists 1.5% plus 1 leu per transaction for standard EEA cards in Romania, 2.5% plus 1 leu for UK cards and 3.15% plus 1 leu for international cards.
Does the European Accessibility Act apply to my store?
The Act applies from 28 June 2025 and covers e-commerce services. Microenterprises providing services (fewer than 10 staff and no more than 2 million EUR annual turnover or balance sheet) are exempt. Everyone else needs an accessible store.
Want to know what your project would cost?
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