An e-commerce website in Ghana costs GHS 6,000 to 9,000 to build properly, from our published price list, plus a payment gateway fee on every sale of roughly 2% for Mobile Money and local cards. One widely quoted agency lists an online store at GHC 3,500, which is the same price as their NGO site. This post explains why that number cannot include the work that makes a store a store, and lists the running costs that no price list mentions.
What GHS 6,000 to 9,000 includes
Everything in the Business tier, plus the parts that make it a store. Written out, because a store price without an inclusions list is the first warning sign.
- Product catalogue with categories, variants and stock tracking.
- MTN MoMo and Telecel Cash alongside card payments.
- Cart and checkout with proper failure handling.
- Order alerts by email and WhatsApp, and WhatsApp ordering.
- Delivery zones and pricing.
- Product schema for Google.
- Admin training for your team.
The running costs no price list mentions
The build price is the smaller number. A store has costs on every sale and every month, and they are set by other companies, not by whoever builds the site. These are the ones that matter, with the published figures where a provider publishes them.
| Provider | Mobile Money | Local cards | International cards | Settlement |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paystack | 1.95% | 1.95% | Not listed on the Ghana row | Not stated on that page |
| Flutterwave | 2% | 2.6% | 4.8% | Next day for local payments |
| Hubtel | No public rate card | No public rate card | No public rate card | Pricing page asks for a phone number before showing fees |
What those percentages mean in cedis
On a GHS 300 order paid by MoMo, the gateway keeps roughly GHS 6. On GHS 50,000 of monthly sales, that is about GHS 1,000 a month going to the gateway before anything else. It is a normal cost of taking payments online, and it is larger than the care plan for the site itself, which is why it belongs in the decision before the build and not after.
Flutterwave's pricing page states that by default the customer bears the transaction charge and that prices exclude VAT. Whether you pass the fee on or absorb it is a business decision. The site has to be built to do whichever you choose, and switching later is a change, not a setting.
Merchant onboarding is a cost in time rather than money. Hubtel, for example, assigns an account manager within a working day and can ask for a business registration document, a business operating permit and a district assembly licence. Have those ready before the store is finished, because a finished store that cannot take money is a brochure.
Mobile Money specifically
MTN MoMo and Telecel Cash are not optional in Ghana. A store that only takes cards is a store that turns away most of its customers. Every gateway above supports them, and the integration is the same work regardless of provider: a payment is requested, the customer approves it on their phone, the gateway tells the site whether it succeeded, and the site has to handle all three outcomes, which are success, failure, and the one that catches people out, which is pending.
Pending is the case where the customer has approved but the network has not confirmed. A store that treats pending as failed loses the sale and the customer. A store that treats it as paid ships an unpaid order. Handling it correctly means the site waits, checks, and tells the customer honestly what is happening. That is inside our Online store tier and it is not inside a brochure price.
We have written a separate technical guide to accepting MTN MoMo and Telecel Cash on a website for anyone with a live project.
When a cheap store is the right call
If you sell a handful of items, take orders on WhatsApp and want a catalogue people can browse, you may not need a store at all. A Business site with a product catalogue and a WhatsApp order button is cheaper and it is honest about what it is. A store is worth its price when the volume is high enough that a human cannot take every order, or when the business is the store.
The full price list has both options with what each includes, and how much a website costs in Ghana covers the general case.
An e-commerce website in Ghana costs GHS 6,000 to 9,000 to build properly, plus roughly 2% of every sale to the payment gateway and a monthly care plan. A store priced at a brochure price is a brochure with a buy button, and the difference shows up as lost orders rather than as a line on an invoice. Get the gateway paperwork moving before the build finishes.
How much does an e-commerce website cost in Ghana?
GHS 6,000 to 9,000 for a properly built store with a catalogue, stock tracking, MTN MoMo and Telecel Cash alongside card payments, checkout failure handling, order alerts and delivery zones. Published market prices run from GHS 3,500 at the cheapest listed firm to GHS 7,000 to 12,000 in one published guide.
What are the payment gateway fees in Ghana?
Paystack publishes 1.95% for local cards, mobile money and bank transfer in Ghana. Flutterwave publishes 2% for mobile money, 2.6% for local cards and 4.8% for international cards, with next day settlement for local payments. Hubtel does not publish a rate card. Fees are set by the provider and change, so check the provider's own page before launch.
Can my online store accept MTN MoMo?
Yes, and it should. Every major gateway operating in Ghana supports MTN MoMo and Telecel Cash. The work is in handling the pending state correctly, where the customer has approved but the network has not confirmed, so that the store neither loses the sale nor ships an unpaid order.
Why is an online store the same price as a normal website at some agencies?
Because at that price it is a normal website with a product template and a payment button. The work that makes a store a store, which is payment failure handling, stock updates, order alerts and delivery logic, has not been priced because it will not be done.
Do I need an online store or just a catalogue?
If a person can take every order on WhatsApp, a catalogue with an order button is cheaper and honest. A store earns its price when orders outrun a human, or when the store is the business.
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