A Shopify agency for startups designs and builds your online store on Shopify, from the theme and product pages to the cart and the apps behind it. One of the six below publishes a price: Liquid Lemon, at $9,500 for a brand launching its first store.
You have a product, a launch date and a Shopify trial. The default theme looks like everyone else's. Then the quotes arrive, and most of them don't contain a number. You're not alone.
We design Shopify storefronts too, so this list isn't ranked. Studios are in alphabetical order, us included, and nobody paid to be on it.
How we picked
A studio made the list if:
- its own site offers Shopify design and development
- it says it works with new, launching or growing brands, not only enterprise
- it builds the store as well as designing it
- it's a studio or agency, not a solo freelancer
We left out freelancers, app-only shops and agencies whose own sites speak only to established or enterprise brands. Prices, ratings and clients come from each studio's own site or Clutch profile.
The six studios at a glance
One of the six publishes a price: Liquid Lemon, at $9,500 for a brand launching its first store and $12,500 for an established one. Realm sets a $25,000+ minimum on Clutch and offers budgets from $10,000 on its enquiry form. Charle, Eastside Co, Swanky and Hexcode publish none.
| Studio | Based | Best for | Price signal (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Charle | London, UK (offices in Manchester and New York) | Fast-growing brands, with retainers | Not published |
| Eastside Co | London, UK (offices listed in New York and Dubai) | Large in-house team, Shopify Platinum partner | Not published |
| Hexcode (us) | Indore, India | Store design from a team that also builds sites | Not published |
| Liquid Lemon | Not stated on its site | Fixed price, 30-day custom builds | $9,500 for a launching brand, $12,500 for an established one |
| Realm | Duluth, MN (per its Clutch profile) | One team for theme, apps, SEO and marketing | Clutch minimum $25,000+, enquiry form budgets from $10,000 |
| Swanky | UK, Australia and France | Launching a brand, then growing it | Not published |
The numbers behind it
| Studio | Clutch | Named clients |
|---|---|---|
| Charle | Not checked | Cambridge Satchel, 111SKIN, Beauty Bay, Muc-Off |
| Eastside Co | Not checked | Gold Collagen, Tatti Lashes, F1 Authentics, Spectrum Collections |
| Hexcode (us) | Profile, no reviews yet | Mishmash |
| Liquid Lemon | Not checked | Olipop, Alphalete, Hero Cosmetics, Bite, Away |
| Realm | 4.9 (30 reviews) | Byers' Choice |
| Swanky | Not checked | DockATot, Loop Earplugs, Symprove, bond-eye swim |
Figures from each studio's own site or Clutch profile, checked . "Clutch minimum" is the minimum project size a studio sets on Clutch, not a quote. Where the Clutch column says "Not checked", we haven't looked at the studio's Clutch profile. Named clients are ones the studio names on its own site.
Notes on each studio
Charle
A London agency with offices in Manchester and New York. It says it has Shopify Plus accreditation and works with fast growing ecommerce brands. It sells retainers and lists services from store builds to migrations and conversion work. It publishes no price.
Good fit if: you want one London-based team to build the store and keep working on it after launch.
Eastside Co
A London agency that calls itself a Shopify Platinum Partner and says it was one of the first three UK agencies accredited as a Shopify Plus Partner. It says it has over 50 people in-house and over 500 Shopify builds, and its homepage speaks to people launching an ecommerce business. It publishes no price.
Good fit if: you want a bigger in-house team and a partner with Plus accreditation.
Not a fit if: you want a stated price or a package written for startups, because it lists neither.
Hexcode (us)
A 15-person studio in Indore, founded in 2020, with US overlap until 1pm PT. We redesigned the homepage, collection pages and product pages for Mishmash, a kids' cosmetics brand, and launched in 8 weeks. Our case study reports a 20% increase in sales conversion rate. We're not a Shopify partner, we have no Clutch reviews yet and we don't publish a price. Read the Mishmash case study
Good fit if: you have one brand and one store to redesign and want a design-led team that can also build your marketing site.
Not a fit if: you need a Shopify Plus partner, app development, a platform migration or ongoing store management. Any of the other five is the better call.
Retail and e-commerce20% sales lift for a kids' cosmetics brand
Liquid Lemon
Its homepage lists a 30-day custom Shopify build at a fixed scope: $9,500 for a brand launching its first store and $12,500 for an established brand rebuilding one. It says nothing starts from a theme, and it names Olipop, Alphalete, Hero Cosmetics, Bite and Away. It doesn't state a location, and Klaviyo email design is priced separately.
Good fit if: you want a quote and a launch date on the first call.
Not a fit if: you need work outside the listed scope, or a studio with a stated location and time zone.
Realm
A Shopify-only agency that says it has 14+ years of experience and works with start-ups and Fortune 500 companies alike. Its Clutch profile lists Duluth, Minnesota, a 4.9 rating from 30 reviews and a $25,000+ minimum project size, while its enquiry form offers budgets from $10,000 to $20,000. Confirm which applies to your project.
Good fit if: you want a US-based agency that covers theme, apps, SEO and marketing in one team.
Not a fit if: your budget is under $10,000, the lowest band on its form.
Swanky
A Shopify Platinum Partner with teams in the UK, Australia and France. Its site says it has years of experience launching brands on Shopify, and its brand consultants support new brand launches. It names clients including DockATot, Loop Earplugs and Symprove, and it publishes no price.
Good fit if: you want brand strategy, the build and conversion work from one agency.
Do you want a fixed price or a quote?
A fixed price if you know the scope and want to launch in a month. A quote if you need a migration, apps or custom logic. Liquid Lemon is the only one here with a published price and a 30-day build, and the other five sell wider scopes by quote.
| What you need | What fits | Watch for |
|---|---|---|
| A first store, fast | A fixed-scope build (Liquid Lemon lists 30 days, from $9,500 for a launching brand) | Work outside the list, such as Klaviyo email, priced separately |
| Moving from another platform | A migration team (Eastside Co, Swanky and Realm all list migrations) | Redirects, product data and order history carried over |
| Apps and custom logic | An agency that builds apps (Eastside Co and Realm list Shopify app development) | Who maintains the app after launch |
| Ongoing store changes | A retainer or support plan (Charle sells retainers, Eastside Co lists priority support, Realm lists support) | How many hours the plan includes |
Six questions to ask before you sign
- What does the price include: theme work, product pages, cart, apps and revisions?
- Is the store custom-coded or built on a theme, and who owns the code after launch?
- Which apps will you install, and what will they cost each month?
- How do you move products, customers and order history from our current platform?
- Who edits the store after launch, and what can we change ourselves?
- What does support cost after launch, and how fast do you respond?
Questions
How much does a Shopify agency cost for a startup?
One of the six publishes a price: Liquid Lemon charges $9,500 for a brand launching its first store and $12,500 for an established one. Realm sets a $25,000+ minimum on Clutch, though its enquiry form offers budgets from $10,000. Charle, Eastside Co, Swanky and Hexcode publish none.
How long does a Shopify build take?
Liquid Lemon lists 30 days for its fixed-scope build, and we launched Mishmash's redesign in 8 weeks, which is our own figure. We didn't find a timeline on the sites of Charle, Eastside Co, Realm or Swanky, so ask for one in writing.
Do I need a Shopify Plus partner?
Only if your store needs Shopify Plus, which is Shopify's enterprise plan, so ask each agency why you would. Charle says it has Plus accreditation, Eastside Co and Swanky say they are Shopify Plus partners, and we are not a Shopify partner.
Should I hire a design studio or a Shopify agency?
A Shopify agency if you need migrations, apps or ongoing store changes, and a design studio if the main job is how the store looks and reads. Four of the six (Charle, Eastside Co, Realm and Swanky) list development services beyond the build, and we design and build storefronts but are not a Shopify partner.
Why isn't this list ranked?
Because we're on it. Ranking a list we compete in would tell you more about us than about the studios. So it's alphabetical, with the facts we could check.
Related
Spotted something wrong? Email shabbir@hexcode.design with a link and we'll fix it.
Is your store still running a default theme?
Thirty minutes, no deck. Tell us the product and the launch date, and we'll say whether it's us, even if the answer is Liquid Lemon or Realm.
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