Why Shoptet?
Shoptet powers over 40,000 e-shops in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. For most local entrepreneurs, it's the logical choice – Czech support, native integration with local carriers and payment gateways, Heureka feed out of the box. No need to deal with hosting, security patches, or technical infrastructure.
But "simple" doesn't mean "effortless." Let's walk through what you're really in for.
This guide covers Shoptet. If you're starting from zero — trade licence, VAT, legal requirements and platform choice — start with the general process in how to start an e-shop.
Quick answer: what Shoptet costs and what to expect
The plan: most new e-shops are fine on Basic at 440 CZK/month (up to 100 products) or Business at 1,490 CZK/month (up to 1,000 products). You can try everything for 30 days free with Enterprise-level features, and annual billing gives a 10% discount.
Launching: a template e-shop with basic setup lands around 25,000 CZK. An e-shop that looks professional and actually sells runs 60,000–120,000 CZK — the difference comes from design, photos and product copy, not from the setup itself. A complete Shoptet e-shop with custom design starts at 80,000 CZK with me.
Timeline: the technical setup takes days. What really sets the launch date is filling the store with content — for two hundred products that takes more hours than the entire configuration.
Step 1: Shoptet Pricing and Choosing a Plan (current 2026 prices)
Shoptet offers six plans based on product count and features. Current pricing (July 2026, excl. VAT):
| Plan | Price/month | Max products | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | 0 CZK | 10 | trying it out, micro catalogue |
| Basic | 440 CZK | 100 | a starting e-shop |
| Business | 1,490 CZK | 1,000 | the most common choice for active selling |
| Profi | 2,490 CZK | 5,000 | bigger catalogue, unlimited admins |
| Enterprise | 4,690 CZK | 50,000 | large e-shops, priority support |
| Premium | from 12,000 CZK | up to 100,000 | custom solution, private API |
For most new e-shops the Basic (440 CZK/month) or Business (1,490 CZK/month) plan is sufficient – so expect roughly 440 to 2,490 CZK per month. Annual billing gets a 10% discount, there is no activation fee and Shoptet takes no commission on sales. Everything can be tried in a 30-day free trial with Enterprise-level features.
Watch out for:
- Cheaper plans limit the number of products and administrators
- Some features (B2B module, multilingual support) are only in higher plans
- You can upgrade anytime, so don't overpay at the start
You can try everything in the 30-day trial with Enterprise-level features – before you pay a single crown. Annual billing then gets you a 10% discount. There is no activation fee and Shoptet takes no commission on sales, so the monthly plan remains your only recurring cost.
Step 2: Design – Template or Custom?
This is the first big decision. Shoptet offers dozens of free templates that look solid and work well. If you're just starting and want to go live ASAP, a template is perfectly fine. More on this decision in my article Shoptet template vs. custom design.
If you want your e-shop to stand out from the 500 other stores using the same layout, consider custom design. This means complete template recoding – custom colors, typography, page layouts, product cards, and checkout flow.
Real costs:
| Option | Price | Timeline |
|---|---|---|
| Ready-made template | 0–8,000 CZK | 1–3 days |
| Template modifications (CSS/HTML) | 5,000–20,000 CZK | 1–2 weeks |
| Custom design from scratch | 40,000–90,000 CZK | 3–6 weeks |
The table above covers design only. For the full budget across platforms — Shoptet, Shopify and custom builds including content, photos and integrations — see the dedicated article on how much an e-shop costs.
Step 3: Uploading Products
This is the part most people underestimate. If you have 50 products, you can do it manually in a day or two. If you have 500, you need bulk import via XML/CSV.
What you need for each product:
- Product name (with a keyword, not an internal code)
- Unique description – not copy-pasted from the supplier, Google penalizes that
- Quality photos (at least 3 per product, ideally on white background)
- Price, availability, variants (size, color)
- Categorization and tags
Tip: Supplier descriptions may appear on many other websites. Original copy helps customers make a decision and gives the page more distinctive information. I use search data to prioritise this work within SEO for e-shops. More context is in 5 common SEO mistakes on e-shops.
Step 4: Shipping and Payments
Shoptet handles this elegantly – it has direct integration with most Czech carriers and payment gateways.
Most common setup:
- Shipping: Zásilkovna, PPL, DPD, Czech Post, in-store pickup
- Payments: GoPay or Comgate (payment gateway), cash on delivery, bank transfer
Setup takes about 2–4 hours, but keep in mind that payment gateway registration can take 1–2 weeks (identity verification, contracts).
The admin setup itself takes a few hours, but gateway approval takes 1–2 weeks – identity verification and contracts can't be rushed. Leave the registration to the last minute and your entire launch slips by those weeks. Sort it out at the very start, in parallel with design and product work.
Step 5: SEO Basics
Most new e-shops skip this completely and then wonder why nobody finds them. On Shoptet you can set up:
- Title and meta description for every page and product
- URLs – short, readable, with keywords
- Alt texts for images
- Structured headings (H1, H2, H3)
- Heureka XML feed for price comparison sites
This is only the foundation. Competing in organic search requires ongoing work on indexation, useful content, internal links and website authority. In my first-party measurement of 20 active Czech e-shops, only 60% had exactly one H1 and 45% had complete Open Graph metadata. More practical steps are in my SEO guide for e-shops.
Step 6: Testing and Launch
Before you release your e-shop to the world:
- Go through the entire purchase process as a customer
- Test on mobile – the share of mobile visits varies by sector, but the purchase journey must work on a real phone
- Check email notifications (order confirmation, shipping)
- Verify the payment gateway works (test transaction)
- Set up Google Analytics 4 and Google Search Console
Total Costs – Realistic Estimate
| Item | Range |
|---|---|
| Shoptet plan (annual, Basic–Profi, with 10% discount) | 4,800–27,000 CZK |
| Design (template/custom) | 0–90,000 CZK |
| Product photos | 5,000–30,000 CZK |
| Product copywriting | 5,000–25,000 CZK |
| Payment gateway (setup) | 0–2,000 CZK |
| SEO setup | 5,000–15,000 CZK |
| Total | 19,800–189,000 CZK |
The range is huge because it depends on whether you do everything yourself or get help. You can have an e-shop for 25,000 CZK, but it'll be a template with basic setup. If you want a professional e-shop that actually sells, expect 60,000–120,000 CZK.
A template e-shop with basic setup costs around 25,000 CZK, but an e-shop that looks professional and actually sells runs 60,000–120,000 CZK. On top of the one-off investment, add the ongoing Shoptet plan at roughly 440–2,490 CZK per month. The price difference comes mostly from design, photos and product descriptions – exactly what your customer sees.
Frequently asked questions
How much does Shoptet cost per month?
By plan: Free 0 CZK (up to 10 products), Basic 440 CZK, Business 1,490 CZK, Profi 2,490 CZK, Enterprise 4,690 CZK and Premium from 12,000 CZK per month (excluding VAT, July 2026). Annual billing means a 10% discount, there is no activation fee and Shoptet takes no commission on sales — so the monthly plan is the platform's only recurring cost. Always verify current figures on shoptet.cz.
Can you launch a Shoptet e-shop without a developer?
Yes. A capable person inside the company can handle the technical setup: registration, picking a template, configuring shipping and payments. A developer or specialist pays off for custom design, for connecting stock or accounting systems, and for larger catalogues where imports and category structure matter.
How long does it take to launch on Shoptet?
The setup itself takes days. The real timeline is driven by content: photos, descriptions and categories for two hundred products take longer than configuring the platform. For projects with custom design, plan 2–4 weeks.
Template or custom design — which is worth it?
A template is the right call when you're validating demand and the budget is tight. Custom design makes sense once nothing distinguishes you from competitors and the store already has revenue — that is, when the investment returns through conversion rather than hope. I go into detail in Shoptet template vs. custom design.
Can I migrate away from Shoptet later?
Yes. Products, categories and customers can be exported and moved to another platform; URLs are handled with redirects so search positions are not lost. Difficulty grows with the number of products and connected systems — which is why it pays to choose on requirements rather than on the lowest price.
When to Get Help
If you do not have e-commerce experience, a specialist can save time when planning the catalogue, integrations, measurement and launch. The scope still needs to be specific; the word "agency" alone is not a quality guarantee. If you are considering other platforms, read my Shoptet vs. Shopify vs. custom e-shop comparison.
I build custom Shoptet e-shops from 80,000 CZK, covering information architecture, design, integrations, product upload and SEO. I start with an initial consultation to confirm the scope and whether Shoptet is genuinely the right platform for the project.