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CostChoices home →Know what launching your site or store could really cost
Built for small businesses and creators who want clarity — not jargon. Compare Shopify, Squarespace, and WordPress hosting with honest ranges, clear tradeoffs, and assumptions you can trust.
Assumptions last reviewed: . Not financial advice — always verify live pricing before you buy.
How it works
Three simple steps — most people finish in under two minutes.
- 1
Answer a few questions
Business type, project shape, features, comfort level, and budget — no account required.
- 2
See ranges, not fake precision
Costs and scores come from documented assumptions — see Methodology for how ranges are built.
- 3
Compare and verify
Open comparison tables and provider pages, then confirm live pricing on each platform.
Three common paths
Labels depend on your answers — here is how we generally think about these platforms.
Cheapest (often)
WordPress on budget hosting can win on fixed monthly cost if you accept DIY maintenance.
See: Hostinger vs Bluehost
Easiest
Squarespace is the usual pick when you want a polished site quickly with less technical overhead.
Best for store growth
Shopify tends to fit when inventory, checkout depth, and long-term commerce scaling matter most.
Built for transparency
- ✓Assumptions are transparent — provider ranges and notes are documented so you can compare our thinking to real checkout pages.
- ✓No live price scraping — we do not call external pricing APIs; you should always verify checkout pages yourself.
- ✓Ranges, not false precision — every estimate shows conservative, base, and upside scenarios because real costs vary.
Platforms we compare
- Shopify
Hosted commerce platform with strong checkout, apps, and scaling path for growing product catalogs.
View details → - Squarespace
All-in-one site builder with polished templates and straightforward editing for small businesses.
View details → - WP + Bluehost
Self-hosted WordPress on a mainstream shared host — flexible, extensible, more DIY.
View details → - WP + Hostinger
Budget-friendly managed-style WordPress hosting with a strong entry price point and DIY vibe.
View details →
Affiliate transparency: Some outbound links may be affiliate links. Estimates here are independent assumptions — we may earn a commission if you purchase through a partner link. See our affiliate disclosure.