How much does it cost to open a café in Australia?

Ask ten café owners what it cost to open and you'll get ten different numbers, from $60,000 to well over $1 million. They're all telling the truth. The cost of opening a café depends mostly on three things: the state of the shop when you get the keys, how much cooking you plan to do, and whether you buy new.

This guide gives you real Australian ranges for every part of opening, with sources, so you can see where your own plan sits. The café startup cost calculator turns them into a budget you can edit line by line.

#The short answer: what it costs to open a café

Here are published totals for the common formats, next to the calculator's starting points. The calculator's figures are excluding GST and include three months of running costs as working capital. Published totals don't always include working capital, which is one reason estimates differ so much.

Typical totals are from Hosposure's 2026 cost guide and Square's June 2026 guide, which puts most cafés at $100,000 to $500,000. The calculator columns use the ranges in the rest of this guide.

To see where the money goes, here is the calculator's 40-seat café with a new fit-out, all excluding GST.

On top of that, about $31,000 of GST is payable on the quotes that carry it. You get it back through your BAS once you're registered, but you have to pay it first.

#Premises and lease costs

Before you get the keys, the landlord usually wants a security bond and rent in advance.

The bond or bank guarantee. There's no legal cap on how much a landlord can ask. The Victorian Small Business Commission says a security deposit can equal one or more months' rent and the amount isn't regulated, so it's negotiated. Several months' rent is common, and a bank guarantee ties up the same cash at your bank. It's refundable at the end, after any make-good.

Rent. Square's 2026 guide puts small to medium metro and suburban café rents at about $800 to $2,000 a week. A better test than the rent itself is rent as a share of sales. The ATO's benchmarks for coffee shops put rent at 10% to 17% of turnover for businesses turning over $65,000 to $250,000, 8% to 14% from $250,001 to $600,000, and 6% to 10% above that. At $1,300 a week, or $67,600 a year, staying near 12% means turning over roughly $560,000 a year before GST.

Rent during the fit-out. A fit-out often takes 6 to 12 weeks once approvals are in, and approvals add more. Ask for a rent-free fit-out period as part of the deal. If you don't get one, budget for it.

A few lease points that change what opening costs you:

• Who pays to prepare the lease. In NSW and Victoria the landlord pays the cost of preparing a retail lease. Your own lawyer's review is yours, and worth every dollar.
• The disclosure statement. In Victoria the landlord must give you a disclosure statement and the proposed lease at least 14 days before you sign. It lists the outgoings you'll pay on top of rent, such as council rates, cleaning and security.
• The make-good clause. You may have to restore the shop to how you found it when you leave. On a café fit-out that can be expensive, so read it before you sign, not after.
• The personal guarantee. Where the tenant is a company, landlords commonly ask the directors to guarantee the lease personally. If the café fails, you can still owe the rent.

#Fit-out and building works

This is where budgets are won and lost. Published Australian rates, per square metre:

Sources: Square (refresh), Hospitality Hub's 2026 guide (light refit), Hosposure (new fit-outs). Other Australian shopfitters quote from about $1,000 to $3,000 per m² before GST for a typical café, so the sources overlap and don't all count the same things. Some include equipment and some don't. Use them to sense-check a quote, not to replace one.

What moves your number within those ranges:

• The state of the shop. A bare shell with no food services is the most expensive start. A site that was already a café may have the plumbing, drainage, power and exhaust you need.
• How much you cook. Coffee and cabinet food is far cheaper than a hot kitchen. If you cook on site, your water authority will usually require a grease arrestor, and a cooking line needs an exhaust canopy. Access Projects puts venting and grease traps at $20,000 or more.
• Power. Café equipment draws a lot. Switchboard or three-phase upgrades are a common surprise, from about $1,500 to more than $10,000.
• Size. Small sites often cost more per square metre, because the grease arrestor, exhaust and switchboard cost about the same whatever the floor area.
• Location and building. Sydney generally runs higher than Melbourne, and inner-city jobs cost more than suburban ones. Heritage rules and asbestos add time and money.
• Design. A straightforward café design is often $8,000 to $15,000. Full architect-led design can be $20,000 to $100,000.

Contingency. Fit-out specialists commonly suggest 10% to 15% for a new fit-out in a vacant shop, and 15% to 20% or more for an older building or a refurbishment. Something always turns up once the walls are open.

#Equipment: new or second-hand

Equipment is the part of the budget you have the most control over. Typical Australian prices, new:

Sources: Hosposure and Square's cost guides, and Australian dealer list prices for Sanremo and La Marzocco machines and commercial dishwashers. All up, Hosposure puts café equipment at $40,000 to $100,000 new, and says used equipment can roughly halve that.

Buying second-hand. Good used coffee and refrigeration gear is easy to find, because cafés close and upgrade. Before you pay:

• Search the PPSR. A search on the Personal Property Securities Register costs about $2 and shows whether the equipment still has finance owing on it. If it does, the lender can take it back, even from you.
• Get it serviced. Ask a technician to look at a used espresso machine before you buy. The boiler, pumps and seals are the expensive parts.
• Check for parts and repairers. business.gov.au suggests checking that repairers and spare parts are available locally. An obscure brand with no local technician is a false economy.

New gear takes time. Hospitality Hub says imported coffee machines and fridges can have 8 to 16 week lead times. Order early, or you may be paying rent on a café you can't open.

Machines on loan from a roaster. Some roasters will put an espresso machine in your café in return for buying a set volume of their beans, with the machine's cost built into the price per kilo. It saves cash up front but ties you to that roaster, and many have scaled the offer back as their costs rose. Read the minimum volume, the term, and what happens if you want to leave.

Tax. From 1 July 2026 the $20,000 instant asset write-off is permanent for businesses with turnover under $10 million: each eligible asset costing less than $20,000 can be deducted straight away. Dearer items, like many espresso machines and the fit-out itself, are depreciated over several years instead. Your accountant will know how it applies to you.

The café equipment guide covers choosing a machine and grinder in detail.

#Licences, permits, insurance and advice

These are small next to the fit-out, but they're the costs people forget, and some take weeks.

Outdoor seating, a liquor licence and footpath signs all need separate council or state approvals, and their fees vary widely. Our guide to café licences and permits goes through them state by state.

#Stock, branding and opening costs

Opening stock. Square's estimate for beans, milk, produce, pantry and cleaning supplies is $1,200 to $2,500. Hosposure puts it at $5,000 to $8,000 for a focused menu of 15 to 25 items and up to $15,000 for more. Add your first order of takeaway cups, lids and packaging, which Hosposure puts at $3,000 to $8,000 for a café.

Branding and signage. Square puts professional brand design at $1,000 to $5,000 and signage at a similar $1,000 to $5,000, plus any council sign permit. A simple website from a freelancer is roughly $300 to $1,000. A Google Business Profile is free, and it's where most locals will find you.

Launch marketing. From about $1,000 for a simple local launch to $10,000 or more for a full campaign. The cheapest opening marketing is a reason for the first customers to come back a second time.

Staff training before you open. Pay your team for a few training shifts before the doors open, at award rates plus super. Budget it like any other week's wages.

#Working capital: the cash you need after opening

Working capital is the money you keep in the bank rather than spend on the fit-out. It pays rent, wages and suppliers in the months before your sales cover them. It's the line people cut first when the build runs over, and it's the one that decides whether a slow start is a worry or the end.

How much. The usual advice is three to six months of running costs. Hosposure's example: at $25,000 a month of overheads, that's $75,000 to $150,000. As a bare minimum, Lightspeed suggests setting aside at least six months' rent. If you plan to take no wage at first, add your own living costs on top.

Three things that drain cash early:

• Super with every pay. Since 1 July 2026, super has to be paid with wages each pay run and generally reach the fund within 7 business days of payday, not quarterly as before.
• GST on your fit-out. You pay GST on top of most quotes, then claim it back through your BAS. A new business must register for GST if it expects turnover of $75,000 or more in its first year, which nearly every café does. Until the refund comes, that's your cash.
• Slow early trade. New cafés rarely cover their costs from the first week. Knowing how many customers a day you need tells you how long your reserve really lasts.

#Buying an existing café versus a new fit-out

There are three ways in, and they cost very different amounts.

An ex-café site is often the best value. Hosposure says a site with existing commercial kitchen services can save $50,000 to $150,000 on the fit-out, and that taking over an existing site can cut total opening costs by 30% to 50%. Check that the grease arrestor and exhaust still comply, that the equipment works, and why the last café left.

Buying a running business means paying for its equipment, fit-out and goodwill. Square's guide puts existing cafés at anything from about $20,000 for a small suburban one to $300,000 or more for larger, busy ones. You get customers and staff from day one, but you also inherit the lease, the reputation and whatever problem made the owner sell. Our guide to buying an existing café covers what to check, from verifying the sales to the lease assignment.

#How people fund a café

Most cafés are funded from a mix of the owner's savings and borrowing. Each option has a catch.

Your own money. business.gov.au is blunt: lenders and investors will expect some self-funding before they offer finance. Savings are also the only money that doesn't need paying back on a schedule while you find your feet.

Bank loans. Debt finance often needs collateral, and a brand-new café has no trading history to show. In practice that usually means security over property, often the family home, or a personal guarantee. Lenders will want a business plan and cash flow projections. Our guide to the café business plan covers what goes in it.

Equipment finance. A chattel mortgage or hire purchase uses the equipment itself as security, so it's easier to get. The catch: lenders generally fund only the physical equipment, not installation, design fees, council approvals or building work. Ask suppliers for a quote that separates equipment from labour. One Melbourne broker's indicative rates in September 2026 started at 13.5% a year for hospitality businesses under 12 months old, from specialist lenders only, against 7.95% to 10.5% for established businesses with two years of trading.

Leasing. Leasing equipment means lower up-front cost and often included maintenance. business.gov.au notes the downsides: you may pay more overall, you may have to keep paying for the full term even if you no longer need the equipment, and you can't sell it to recover some of the cost.

Non-bank lenders. More flexible, but business.gov.au warns they may charge higher interest and fees than banks. Get your accountant to read the terms.

Family and friends. business.gov.au suggests treating it as a proper debt arrangement, in writing, with repayments everyone has agreed to.

Grants. Governments generally don't fund start-ups or business purchases. Be wary of anyone who says otherwise, and treat any unsolicited offer of funding as a scam.

#How to keep the cost down without cutting corners

• Look for a site that was already a café. It's the single biggest saving available.
• Negotiate the lease, not just the rent. A rent-free fit-out period, a capped make-good clause and a smaller bond are all worth more than a few dollars off the weekly rent. Ask whether the landlord will contribute to the fit-out.
• Start with a small menu. Fewer dishes means less kitchen equipment, less stock and less waste. You can add to a menu once you know what sells.
• Buy the coffee gear well and the furniture cheaply. The machine and grinders make your product every day. Chairs can be upgraded later.
• Get three quotes for the fit-out, in writing, with the same scope, and ask what each one leaves out.
• Don't cut the contingency or the working capital to make the numbers work. If the plan only works without them, the plan doesn't work yet.