The Hyva licence costs €1,000. That's the number you'll find on hyva.io, and it's accurate. But if you're budgeting a Hyva project, that number tells you almost nothing about what you'll actually spend.
The licence is the smallest line item. Development is where the cost lives — and it varies enormously depending on what's already on your Magento store. This guide breaks down every cost component in a UK Hyva project, what drives the price up, and how to work out whether the investment makes commercial sense for your store.
The Hyva Licence Cost
The Hyva theme licence is a one-time fee of €1,000 per store. There's no ongoing subscription on the base licence — you pay once and it's yours.
At current EUR/GBP rates, the base licence is approximately £850. The point stands: licence cost is not what determines whether a Hyva project is affordable. Development is.
For a full overview of Hyva vs the Luma theme — including whether migration makes sense for your store — see our Hyva vs Luma comparison.
Development Cost: New Build vs Migration
This is the main variable. Two stores with identical Hyva licence costs can have very different development costs depending on what's already in place.
New Magento 2 Build on Hyva
If you're starting fresh — a new Magento 2 store built on Hyva from the start — the development scope is more predictable. You're not migrating legacy frontend components; you're building clean.
Migration from Luma to Hyva
Migrating an existing Luma store to Hyva is a frontend replacement — you're keeping your Magento backend, data, and configuration, but replacing the entire visual layer. The scope is driven by how much custom frontend work your current Luma store has.
Hyva.io publishes data showing agencies save 20–50% of development time on Hyva versus Luma for new builds. If an agency is quoting you a Hyva project, they should be passing that saving on. Ask them directly.
UK agency rates for certified Magento 2 specialists: £80–£120 per hour. Day rates typically £600–£900. Any quote significantly outside this range warrants scrutiny in both directions — unrealistically cheap often means offshore inexperience; premium positioning without clear specialisation is just margin.
What Drives the Cost Up
These are the variables that push a Hyva project into the higher end of the range:
ROI: Is Hyva Worth the Cost?
The honest answer to "is Hyva worth it" is: it depends on your traffic volumes and what you're paying for clicks. Here's how to think about the ROI.
The performance improvement is real and significant
The Google Ads connection that most Magento guides miss
Core Web Vitals scores affect your Google Ads Quality Score. Quality Score determines your cost per click — a higher Quality Score means lower CPC for the same ad position. A Magento store with an LCP of 6 seconds is paying a CPC premium every single day because Google is penalising it for a poor landing page experience.
The implication for SMBs: if you're spending £1,000/month or more on Google Ads and your Magento store is slow, Hyva may partly pay for itself via reduced ad costs within 12–18 months. The improvement in organic rankings (Core Web Vitals are a confirmed Google ranking factor) adds to that return.
The 12–18 month payback test
Quick ROI sanity check
If any of the following apply, Hyva is very likely to pay for itself within 18 months:
- You're spending more than £500/month on Google Ads and your mobile PageSpeed score is below 50
- Your mobile conversion rate is significantly lower than desktop (1% mobile vs 3%+ desktop is a common pattern on slow Luma stores)
- Your organic rankings have been flat or declining despite decent content — Core Web Vitals may be the blocker
- You're losing customers mid-browse to a frustratingly slow mobile experience
When NOT to Do Hyva
Most Hyva agency content skips this section. We won't. There are clear situations where Hyva is the wrong investment:
- Budget under £5,000 — the development cost alone makes it non-viable at this level
- Planning to migrate to Shopify within 12 months — invest in the destination platform, not the one you're leaving
- 30+ heavily customised Luma extensions — migration risk and scope becomes too high; better to assess whether some extensions can be replaced or removed before budgeting a Hyva project
- Low traffic, no paid ads — if you have fewer than 5,000 monthly sessions and no significant ad spend, the performance uplift doesn't translate to meaningful commercial return yet
- Other priorities offer faster ROI — sometimes better product photography, stronger copy, or a restructured Google Ads account will move the needle faster and cheaper than a frontend migration
We will tell you if Hyva isn't the right call for your store. That's not a difficult conversation — it's the foundation of a useful one.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does the Hyva theme licence cost?
The Hyva base licence is €1,000 one-time per store — approximately £850 at current exchange rates. The optional Hyva Checkout add-on is a further €1,000. The licence is a perpetual purchase with no ongoing fee. The bigger cost variable in any Hyva project is development, not the licence itself.
How much does a Hyva theme migration cost in the UK?
Typically £5,000–£15,000 for a Luma to Hyva migration, depending on your store's complexity. A clean Luma store with standard extensions sits at the lower end. A heavily customised store with bespoke frontend work and multiple custom extensions is at the upper end. UK Magento 2 specialist day rates run £600–£900, so get a fixed scope before committing.
Is Hyva theme worth it for a small Magento store?
It depends on your traffic and ad spend. If you're getting fewer than 5,000 monthly sessions and running minimal paid ads, the commercial return may not justify a £5,000–£8,000 migration cost in the short term. If you have meaningful traffic, you're running Google Ads, and your Luma store scores below 50 on mobile PageSpeed — Hyva is very likely to pay for itself within 12–18 months through improved conversion rates, better organic rankings, and lower ad CPCs.
Can I use Hyva theme with Linnworks?
Yes. Magento 2 integrates with Linnworks regardless of which frontend theme you use — the integration operates at the backend/API level, not the frontend. However, if you have any Linnworks-connected functionality that appears in the storefront (stock display, delivery messaging, custom availability logic), that frontend work may need updating for Hyva compatibility. A proper scoping session will identify this.
How long does a Hyva migration take?
Typically 4–8 weeks for a clean Luma store with standard extensions. 8–14 weeks for stores with significant custom frontend work or multiple bespoke extensions. The timeline is driven by extension compatibility scope — not the Hyva theme itself, which is well-documented and has strong community support.
Want a straight quote for your Magento store? We'll scope your Hyva project properly — what it'll cost, how long it'll take, and whether it's genuinely worth it for your situation.
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