Shopify Pricing Plans and Fees (2024 Update!)

How much does Shopify cost? Starter vs Basic vs Shopify vs Advanced - Which Plan Is Best for You?

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Shopify pricing starts at $5 per month for the Starter plan, and can go as high as $2,000+ per month depending on the plan you choose.

Having reviewed dozens of ecommerce platforms, we can confidently say that Shopify is the best ecommerce platform available today.

Shopify also entered the credit space in July 2023, launching a credit card processing solution for merchants.

Shopify Pricing Breakdown

If you’re thinking of starting an ecommerce store, we highly recommend using Shopify, simply because it gives you everything you need to get started, from a website builder to payment solutions.

In this article, we are going to go through each of Shopify’s pricing plans, including what you get with each tier, and any additional fees you might have to pay.

Shopify Pricing Plans – A Quick Summary

We’ve created this pricing table to reflect Shopify’s current pricing in 2024, comparing their Starter, Basic, Shopify, and Advanced plans.

Each of these plans are designed to cater to the needs of businesses at different growth stages.

Shopify StarterBasic ShopifyShopifyAdvanced ShopifyShopify Plus
Monthly cost$5$39$105$399Starting at $2,300
Yearly cost$5$29$79$299Starting at $2,300
Yearly Savings$0$120$312$1,200$0
Online credit card rate (with Shopify Payments)5% + 30¢2.9% + 30¢2.6% + 30¢2.4% + 30¢2.15% + 30¢
In-person credit card rate (with Shopify Payments)2.7% + 0¢2.5% + 0¢2.4% + 0¢
3rd-party transaction fee5%2%1%0.50%0.15% – 0.30%
Shopify Shipping discountUp to 77%Up to 88%Up to 88%
Best suited ifIf you have an existing website, or want to sell a few products on social media platformsIf you're a begginer and want to start your first ecommerce storeIf you're store is growing consistentlyIf you're a large scale merchant and sell internationallyIf you need dedicated resources to run multiple ecommerce stores
When to avoidIf you want a complete ecommerce storeIf you have a big team, or need advanced reportingIf you sell internationally and need to calculate import dutiesIf you need dedicated customer support
When to upgrade to next planWhen you want to save on credit card fees, or need a fully functional ecommerce storeWhen you need more than 2 staff accounts, robust report features, or exceed around $20,000 in monthly revenueWhen you need more features, or exceed around $150,000 in monthly revenueWhen you need enterprise level features, or exeed around $650,000 in monthly revenue

Pro tip: Shopify currently offers a three-day free trial plus the first month for just $1, giving you full access to all of its features. You can set up your online store and start exploring all of its features. To learn more about the platform, check out our detailed Shopify review.

💡 Note: Shopify raised its prices by roughly 25% across all plans on April 23, 2023. However, they did give users the option to lock in an annual plan before the new pricing took effect.

While the features and functionality for each plan remained the same, Shopify did justify the price increase by stating that they are working on offering a wider range of in-built tools, such as Shopify Magic, which lets you write product descriptions using AI.

2024 Updates to Shopify Pricing Plans

Shopify, like many ecommerce platform vendors, regularly updates its pricing structure and plans, so it’s important to stay up to date with how the packages evolve.

On January 24th, 2024, Shopify added new features to the Starter, Retail (POS), Basic, Shopify, and Advanced plans.

Notably, the changes only affect new merchants. If you’re already signed up for Shopify, your plan won’t change unless you change your subscription. Some of the key changes to know include:

  • The $1 trial plan will now last 30 days (instead of 90). If you’re starting your Shopify store, you can still take advantage of the free plan, but soon the trial will only last 30 days, instead of the three months you could access before.
  • All plans now have access to 60+ reports, including marketing, sales, and profit reports. Previously, the Starter and Basic plans didn’t offer certain reports, but now you can access insights for optimization on all account levels.
  • The Starter and Basic plans now include no extra staff accounts. Previously, however, you could add 2 additional staff members to your store. Now you’ll need a Shopify plan to access 5 accounts, or an Advanced plan for 15.
  • The number of custom markets has been reduced to 3 for regional customization. If you need to access more region add-ons, you’ll need the Advanced plan, plus you’ll have to pay an extra $59 per month for each region.
  • The Advanced plan now comes with enhanced (prioritized) chat support with front of queue routing for quicker responses to your questions.

Shopify Pricing Plans – Detailed Overview

shopify pricing 2023

In this section, we’ll break down the fees and costs associated with each of Shopify’s pricing plans and dive into the finer details for each tier.

Shopify fee calculator

Billing
A drawing of our mascot, cat Shopify plans
A colorful piggy bank illustration Most popular😎! Basic Shopify Shopify Advanced Shopify Shopify Plus
Total Price
Plan Fee 10% discount for annual plans $39 $105 $399 $2000
Credit card rate 2.9% + 30¢ 2.6% + 30¢ 2.4% + 30¢ 2.15% + 30¢
Transaction fee None None None None
Features Included
Staff accounts 2 5 15 Unlimited
Numbers of products Unlimited Unlimited Unlimited Unlimited
File Storage Unlimited Unlimited Unlimited Unlimited
Shopify Shipping discount up to 64% up to 72% up to 74% Outstanding
Print shipping labels Included Included Included Included
Discount Codes Included Included Included Included
Fraud analysis If you use Shopify Payments the fraud analysis tools are included. If you choose an external payment gateway, you need to upgrade to Shopify or Advanced Shopify for fraud analysis tools. Included Included Included Included
24/7 support Included Included Included Included
Website and blog Included Included Included Included
Free SSL certificate Included Included Included Included
Abandoned cart recovery Included Included Included Included
Gift cards Not included Included Included Included
Professional reports Not included Included Included Included
Advanced report builder Not included Not included Included Included
Third-party calculated shipping rates Not included Not included Included Included

We assumes average order value to be $50

Shopify Plus requires a minimum 12-month commitment.

Shopify Starter Plan – $5/month

The most affordable offering is the Starter plan, starting at $5 per month. This is the new replacement for Shopify Lite.

This plan is a perfect fit for those who’re just beginning their journey in online sales, focusing on leveraging social media platforms and messaging apps instead of creating their own store.

Key Features

  • Single user
  • Unlimited product listings
  • Product URLs
  • Inventory management

For new merchants who don't require a comprehensive e-commerce site yet, the Starter plan is the way to go.

Users can create product links to share on their social media posts or messages, which is ideal if your strategy involves targeting platforms like Instagram and Facebook. It’s great if you want to sell via WhatsApp or email too.

This integration is greatly enhanced by the inclusion of the Linkpop tool, which allows users to consolidate all your product listings in one place. Given that platforms like Instagram typically restrict users to a single bio link, this tool is invaluable.

We also find the sales analytics and reports quite handy. Shopify offers users basic insights into business performance, including product analytics and sales reports.

This can help you understand which products are popular and which ones aren't resonating with your audience, guiding future product selections and marketing strategies.

If you’re concerned about fulfillment, you can always tap into the Shopify Fulfilment Network. We did a comparison between the Shopify Fulfillment Network and Shipbob, and it’s worth checking out if you’re concerned about order fulfillment.

But, we are mindful of the 5% transaction fee (+30¢ USD) charged on sales. While this is a competitive rate, it's worth noting that it doesn't come with the credit card fee discounts offered in other Shopify plans.

Fees:

  • Transaction fee: 5.0% (Shopify Payments)
  • Online credit card transactions: 5% + 30¢

The Starter Plan, while feature-rich, does have its limitations. It lacks advanced features like order automation, multi-channel selling, and advanced reporting. Also, it doesn't offer an abandoned cart recovery feature, which is something you might miss dearly as your business grows.

Our Recommendation

The Shopify Starter plan is ideal if you just want to sell products through URLs and a very basic landing page. If you’re primarily selling through social media, this is a great choice.

It costs $5 a month (down from $9), and was previously known as the Shopify Lite plan. We recommend this if you’re focused on mobile-first selling, with a generally low-priced inventory.

However, if you want an online storefront and really need to capitalize on all the features that Shopify has to offer, we’d recommend checking out the Basic Shopify plan.

Basic Shopify Plan – $39/month

The Basic Shopify Plan is a step up from the Starter Plan, offering a more robust set of features suitable for small businesses that are beginning to grow their online presence.

It’s great if you want to set up your own online store, and need more advanced ecommerce features.

Key Features:

  • Two staff accounts
  • Abandoned cart recovery workflows
  • Shipping discounts
  • Free SSL certificate
  • Fraud analysis tools
  • Up to 1,000 inventory locations
  • Shipping discount up to 45%

In fact, most would consider this to be the first Shopify tier, as the Basic plan gives you the functionality that Shopify is known for: access to a website builder, a store builder, and even a blog.

Plus, you can create an unlimited number of product listings. Whether you’re migrating to Shopify from another ecommerce platform or setting your store up for the first time, it’s very easy to set up product listings.

This, coupled with the ability to create multiple staff accounts, has the potential to significantly improve operational efficiency and team collaboration.

The plan also includes sales channels integration, allowing you to sell on various platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and Amazon. This multi-channel selling capability is essential for reaching a broader audience.

And, like all other Shopify plans, you also get full inventory management, letting you track stock levels, orders, and sales, making it easier to manage our inventory and avoid issues like overstocking or stockouts.

You can print out shipping labels, track packages, and even bundle your shipping costs with your monthly bill.

The Basic Shopify plan also gives you 24/7 customer support, so in case something goes wrong with your store, you can always reach out to Shopify’s customer success team.

In terms of payment processing, the Basic Shopify Plan offers competitive credit card rates and no transaction fees if we use Shopify Payments. This is a cost-effective solution for processing payments and managing transactions.

Fees:

  • Transaction fees: 2.0%
  • Online credit card transactions: 2.9% + 30¢
  • In-person credit card transactions: 2.7%
  • Online American Express/International credit card transactions: 3.9% + 30¢

💡 Note: A currency conversion fee of 1.5% will also be charged by Shopify for all transactions in a foreign currency.

The Shopify Basic plan also includes features for creating discount codes and gift cards, which are powerful tools for marketing promotions and enhancing customer loyalty.

Our Recommendation

The Shopify Basic plan is a great choice for small businesses or individuals who are looking for more functionality and support than the Starter plan offers, but at an affordable price point.

While we acknowledge the price increase, we still think it’s great value, since you can easily set up a digital storefront and start marketing to your audience.

And, even though the Shopify Basic is intended for smaller stores, you can always scale it up since there’s no limit to the product listings you can add.

However, we’d recommend upgrading to the next tier as your ecommerce store goes to reduce your Shopify costs, as these ones offer greater discounts on shipping and even lower rates on credit card transactions.

Shopify Plan – $105/month

Bridging the gap between the Basic and the Advanced plan is the standard Shopify plan, which costs $105/month, up from $79.

This plan hits the sweet spot, offering growing businesses access to advanced features and capabilities without breaking the bank.

It strikes a decent balance between affordability and functionality, making it the most popular choice amongst all the other Shopify pricing plans. It gives you everything from the Basic plan, and more.

Key Features:

  • Up to 5 user accounts
  • Professional reporting tools
  • Ecommerce store automations
  • Discount coupons and gift cards
  • Up to 1,000 inventory locations
  • Shipping discount up to 50%

An important upgrade in the Shopify plan is the inclusion of professional reporting tools. These tools provide deeper insights into customer behavior, sales trends, and other critical aspects of business performance.

Such detailed analytics are invaluable for informed decision-making and strategic planning, something that’s critical for growing ecommerce stores.

And, one reason why this plan is so popular is because it gives you access to a range of ecommerce automations, from abandoned cart recovery to sales and discount automations and even product recommendations.

With Shopify’s vast array of integrations, you can set up automations to send post-purchase emails, promotional emails depending upon customer interactions, discount triggers, holiday sales, and a lot more.

This plan does a neat job of offering some of the features that you’d normally expect to pay more, such as detailed business insights, from sales trends (to gauge seasonality) to customer demographics. And, it’s just one of many reasons why we recommend Shopify to our readers.

Plus, you also get reduced rates on shipping. For instance, when shipping goods that are less than 20 pounds and have a volume lower than 0.5 cubic feet, you’ll be paying reduced rates.

Furthermore, this is the first plan that gives you shipping insurance (still in beta). Shipping insurance gives you coverage of up to $200 with each eligible Shopify shipping label.

Fees:

  • Transaction processing fees: 1.0%
  • Online credit card processing rates: 2.6% + 30¢
  • In-person credit/debit card processing: 2.5%
  • Online American Express/International credit card transactions: 3.4% + 30¢

It’s worth noting that the pricing is considerably better than what you’d pay through another payment gateway like Stripe, making this plan more suitable for early-stage ecommerce businesses that are looking to reduce overheads and focus on growth.

Our Recommendation

We would recommend the Shopify plan for small to medium-sized businesses looking to grow. This plan is ideal if you have a steady online presence and also engage in in-person sales.

It's particularly beneficial if your business is generating around $4,000 or more in monthly revenue, as that helps offset the overhead and variable costs.

The plan offers advanced features like professional reporting, better credit card processing rates, and support for more staff accounts. However, if you’re going multinational and looking to sell in different countries, the Advanced plan might be better suited to your needs.

Shopify Advanced Plan – $399/month

The Shopify Advanced plan, which used to cost $299, is now priced at $399 per month. It's also worth noting that Shopify offers a 25% discount on annual subscriptions across all its plans, which can mitigate some of the impact of the price increase.

Key Features:

  • Up to 15 user accounts
  • Duty and import tax calculations
  • Customer segmentation and reporting
  • Shipping calculations with third-party carriers
  • Customized reporting
  • Priority support
  • Shipping discounts up to 53%

The Shopify Advanced plan is a significant step up from the Basic and Starter plans in terms of features and scalability, making it suitable for larger businesses or those looking to expand significantly.

Primarily designed for SMBs, Shopify’s Advanced plan unlocks more features, allowing you to sell to an international audience.

You’ll pay 1.5% custom duties and import tax rates at 0.85% (as long as you’re using Shopify Payments). More importantly, you can also set up international pricing depending on the country you want to target.

Unlike the Basic plan, Shopify Advanced offers an advanced report builder. This feature allows for more customized and detailed reporting, providing deeper insights into business operations, customer behavior, and sales trends.

The advanced report builder in Shopify Advanced allows for more granular analysis of customer data.

You can create custom reports to understand customer behaviors and preferences, which can guide your marketing and sales strategies.

Plus, you also get access to an enhanced suite of customer segmentation tools. Users can categorize customers based on their purchase history, frequency, and spending habits.

As you can tell, the biggest additions in this plan are all in the post-sales section, where you can really tweak your customer targeting and make sure that you’re focusing on the right audience.

And, you may have noticed a bit of a trend by now; transaction processing rates continue to drop as you opt for their bigger plans. Here’s what you’ll have to pay for transaction processing:

Fees:

  • Transaction processing fees: 0.5%
  • Online credit card processing rates: 2.4% + 30¢
  • In-person credit/debit card processing rates: 2.4%
  • Import taxes and duties: 0.85 (Shopify Payments) and 1.5% external
  • Online American Express/International credit card transactions: 3.3% + 30¢

Note: Shopify also charges a 1.5% currency conversion fee on all foreign currency transactions.

Our Recommendation:

We recommend the Shopify Advanced plan for users who already have an online presence, and are looking to branch out into different regions, or businesses that want to streamline operations with multiple locations.

Shopify Advanced gives you everything that’s included in the lower-tier plans, but expands on key offerings, such as the ability to create up to 15 staff accounts, lower transaction processing fees, and perhaps most importantly, you get discounts on shipping, imports, and custom tax calculations.

This means you can provide accurate estimates to your customers when shipping goods internationally.

And, as we already mentioned, the advanced report builder really helps you understand your target audience better, which can ultimately drive your marketing strategy and maximize conversions.

Shopify Plus Plan – $2,300/month

The most expensive Shopify pricing plan is the Plus, which starts from $2,300/month. As you can tell, this is an enterprise-level tier designed for large-scale businesses and offers advanced features tailored for high-volume merchants.

This enterprise-level plan includes extensive customization and automation capabilities, enhanced security, and dedicated support.

It's best suited for businesses with significant online sales, requiring a robust and scalable ecommerce solution.

Shopify Plus is used by some of the largest brands in the world, including names like Heinz, Allbirds, Crate & Barrel, and more.

As you can probably tell, this plan is suitable for large businesses, whether they’re DTC, B2B, or retail, that need omnichannel ecommerce management.

I wouldn’t bundle this as a “standard” Shopify pricing plan, because it’s mostly designed for companies that are looking to use resources more efficiently instead of relying on generic ecommerce software.

You get access to a full range of modular commerce components, from payments to checkout and even storefront capabilities.

This makes it easy for business owners to plug in whatever components they need, making it a very customizable interface.

One thing we have to mention though is access to the integrations and APIs. The Plus package gives you access to Shopify’s API layer, giving you an additional layer of flexibility.

It enables enhanced customization and integration capabilities, allowing businesses to tailor their Shopify experience to meet specific needs and workflows.

With API access, companies can seamlessly connect and synchronize with existing systems such as an ERP, CRM, and accounting software, ensuring a cohesive and efficient operation.

The API layer also supports the development of custom apps and features, or you can always tap into Shopify’s vast ecosystem of apps and choose which ones you want for your store.

Our Recommendation

You can already tell that this plan is different from others, and that’s because it targets already-established businesses that are looking to optimize their current ecommerce tech stack.

We are talking about an enterprise-grade solution, and you’d likely want to get in touch with Shopify’s sales department first to determine if this Shopify pricing plan is best suited to your needs.

Unique Features of Each Shopify Plan

Unique Features of the Starter Plan

The Starter plan on Shopify is the most basic plan, but it does include one unique feature: the “Linkpop” option. This is a solution for featuring links on your bio in social media. Plus, you still get all the reports you’d access on more advanced plans, as of 2024.

Unique Features of the Basic Plan

The Shopify Basic Plan comes with a custom domain name option (Rather than using myshopify.com).

You also get:

  • 10,000 emails per month for free on the Shopify email app.
  • Customer segmentation, and access to 3 custom markets.
  • Shipping discounts of up to 77% from DHL, UPS, and USPS
  • Shipping label creation.
  • Shopify POS Lite.

Unique Features of the Shopify Plan

The Shopify plan is very similar to the basic plan, with the exception of getting 5 extra staff accounts.

However, you can access:

  • Shipping discounts of up to 88%
  • More advanced reporting tools
  • Analytics page, and live view reports
  • More competitive transaction fees

Unique Features of the Shopify Advanced Plan

The Advanced plan offers the most competitive transaction fees and 15 staff accounts. It also includes:

  • Custom reports and active predicted values for certain reports
  • Options for add-on localized markets ($59 per month)
  • Enhanced 24/7 chat support with priority routing
  • Carrier-calculated shipping
  • Bonus Shopify POS features

Unique Features of Shopify Plus

As Shopify’s Enterprise plan, Shopify Plus has the most unique features, including:

  • Organization settings to manage all the stores in your organization from one location
  • B2B, wholesale channels, and launch pad options
  • Bulk account inviter and ShopifyQL notebooks
  • Custom Level 2 PII apps
  • Checkout.liquid file access
  • REST API support
  • Unlimited staff accounts
  • Additional permission settings for accounts
  • 20 POS locations
  • 100 themes for each store
  • Tax services with Alvara AvaTax
  • Up to 200 store locations
  • Up to 50 markets (international selling)
  • Nine expansion stores for internationalization
  • Shopify Plus academy access

Unique Features of Shopify Lite and Retail

The Shopify Lite plan is intended for anyone who wants to sell products without maintaining an online store.

Unlike the Starter plan, it comes with Shopify’s standard features for point of sales channels. Plus, it uses the same transaction fees as the Basic Shopify plan.

The Shopify Retail plan gives you unlimited Shopify POS accounts, professional reports, unlimited registers, inventory management, and customer relationship tools.

You also get flexible shopping options, such as in-store pick-up, and the Spotlight theme included with your account. However, other themes and customization options aren’t available

Pricing for Third Party Apps

One point to keep in mind when budgeting for your Shopify store, is there may be additional fees to pay for the apps and add-ons you want to use.

While some Shopify apps are free to use, or have “free plans” available for beginners, many will charge a monthly or one-time fee.

You should be able to find the pricing for each app you want to install on the dedicated “app page” for the solution on the App marketplace.

Scroll past the app’s description, and you’ll see straight away whether it offers a free trial, or a free plan.

Notably, some apps will give you the opportunity to save additional money if you choose to pay annually for your subscription, rather than on a monthly basis.

This is similar to the discount you get from Shopify if you pay for an annual subscription.

You can also see on the Shopify app marketplace home page whether a free plan or free trial is available for each plan, listed alongside the app’s star rating.

Keep in mind, many of the Shopify apps designed specifically for Shopify Plus will also have higher prices than the alternatives.

This is because these solutions are generally designed for enterprise-level companies with a need for more advanced features or admin accounts.

Quick Comparison of Shopify Plans

Here’s a quick comparison of the features included in each of the different Shopify plans:

StarterBasic ShopifyShopifyAdvanced ShopifyShopify Plus
Financial reportsYesYesYesYesYes
Acquisition reportsNoYesYesYesYes
Inventory reportsNoLimitedYesYesYes
Behavior reportsNoLimitedYesYesYes
Marketing reportsNoVery limitedYesYesYes
Sales reportsNoNoYesYesYes
Profit reportsNoNoYesYesYes
Customers reportsNoNoLimitedYesYes
Custom report builderNoNoNoYesYes

Why You Can Trust Our Shopify Pricing Analysis

At Ecommerce-Platforms, we have more than 15 years of experience in helping businesses grow in the ecommerce space. Obviously, the number one thing on our list is the value for money you get.

Looking to grow your business? We offer a full suite of ecommerce services, from online store setup to growth consultancy and can even migrate your store to Shopify.

Contact us today to set up a consultation!

But, other factors that we take into account include:

  • Plan features
  • Customer support
  • Pricing structure
  • Transaction costs
  • Suitability for business sizes and types
  • User reviews and feedback

Starting off with the features included in each plan, we compared them with the needs of businesses of appropriate sizes, and whether Shopify was giving them enough for the money.

It’s one of the reasons why we have included business sizes and revenue thresholds for each plan too.

Customer support is obviously critical when selecting any ecommerce platform. While there’s a difference in support levels between Basic and Advanced (obviously!), we wanted to make sure that Basic users wouldn’t be completely frozen out.

We did practical tests of response times, availability, and asked a series of questions to determine whether the support being provided is suitable or not.

We interacted with Shopify's support team through various channels, including live chat, email, and phone, to assess their efficiency and expertise in resolving issues.

We also compared the pricing for each plan and the reduction in transaction costs to ensure businesses can maintain profitability.

We calculated the potential impact of these costs on different types of businesses, considering both high and low volume sales scenarios.

And, this goes without saying, but we carefully analyzed user reviews and feedback to gauge customer satisfaction and to bake in real-world experiences of users for each Shopify plan to ensure that you, the reader, knows exactly what each plan offers.

Shopify Pricing: Monthly vs Annual Plans

There’s a slight discount on all Shopify plans if you choose to pay for an annual plan. Your annual plan will get a 25% discount on all prices per month when paid up front.

Does Shopify Offer Free Plans?

Shopify does not offer a free plan. However, before you commit to any of Shopify’s pricing plans, you can opt for a 3 free trial, which starts as soon as you sign up. You can extend this trial for 30 days with just $1.

The Shopify free trial period is three days, and you can sign up for a trial for their Starter, Basic, Shopify, and Advanced Shopify plans.

Keep in mind that if you add any apps to your store, those charges will be included on your invoice.

For the duration of the trial, your store would have a password on it or the checkout will be unavailable. Once you choose a paid plan, you can remove the password and enable the checkout, without losing any progress on your store.

Hidden Fees and Billing Cycles – What About Additional Shopify Costs?

As we mentioned above, there are some features that are included in all Shopify plans (apart from the Starter one). For instance, you get:

  • A fully hosted ecommerce platform
  • Business analytics and insights into store performance
  • Store building and customization
  • Unlimited product pages
  • Free SSL certificate
  • Inventory locations
  • Manual order creation

But, in order to fully get your store up and running, you’ll be incurring some additional Shopify costs as well.

Additional Website Development Costs

  • You may have to pay for a domain name separately if you buy from another domain registrar.
  • If you aren’t tech-savvy, there will be costs associated with developing an online storefront (if you hire an agency).
  • You can choose from over 100 free ecommerce themes when you set up your store. But, if you want additional features, you may have to pay more, with prices starting from $150 USD going all the way to $400 USD.
  • Third-party apps will cost extra.

Additional Marketing Costs

  • There will be costs associated with marketing your Shopify store. You’ll have to budget for advertising, social media marketing, and search engine optimization to drive traffic to your store.
  • You’ll also have to spend on email marketing. The first 10,000 emails in a month are free, and then Shopify will charge you $1 per 1,000 emails. Most users also prefer a separate service, like Mailchimp, which costs extra.

Additional Payments for Tax Calculation

  • Shopify will calculate the tax on all sales via the platform (even through email or social media channels) for you through its Shopify Tax service for the first $100,000 in sales every calendar year. After that, you’ll have to pay an additional:
    • 0.35% on every order on Basic, Shopify, and Advanced plans
    • 0.25% on each order on the Plus plan.

Shopify Payments Costs

Shopify Payments is the company’s own payment gateway that relies on Stripe to process payments. The transaction costs associated with Shopify Payments vary depending on the plan you choose, as higher tiers cost less.

Here’s a quick summary:

  • Basic Shopify: 2.9% + $0.30 per online transaction
  • Shopify: 2.6% + $0.30 per online transaction
  • Advanced Shopify: 2.4% + $0.30 per online transaction

These fees are for online credit card transactions. The rates for in-person transactions are slightly lower for each plan.

Additionally, for international transactions and those involving currency conversion, additional fees apply.

If you want to integrate point-of-sale hardware and software, you’ll need the Shopify POS Go. This enables you to process payments at physical locations. The costs for the Shopify Go + Case bundle are $428 + tax.

Note: These rates are subject to change. We regularly update Shopify pricing based on the latest details.

Shopify Pricing vs. The Competition

Selecting the right ecommerce platform is a big decision, and we understand that pricing plays a key role. That’s why we want to give you a clear comparison of what you get with the best ecommerce platforms.

In this section, we’ll compare Shopify’s pricing with:

  • Wix
  • BigCommerce

Wix vs. Shopify – Pricing Comparison

Wix has a free pricing tier, which is mostly for creating hobby sites. For the basic features, you’ll want to start with their Light tier, which costs $16 per month (if you pay annually).

Here’s a quick pricing comparison:

ShopifyWix
Free TrialYesYes
Free PlanNoYes
Paid Plans (Monthly)$5 – $399$16 – $159
Free DomainNoWith Annual Plans
Transaction Fees0 – 2%0

More importantly, you don’t pay any additional transaction fees on processing payments. However, as noted in our detailed Wix vs. Shopify comparison, Shopify is a clear winner when it comes to scalability and overall features.

BigCommerce vs Shopify – Pricing Comparison

Like Wix, BigCommerce doesn’t charge any additional transaction fee. While both are on par in terms of pricing (take a look at the table below), BigCommerce does lose out as you scale up:

ShopifyBigCommerce
Free TrialYesYes
Free PlanNoNo
Paid Plans (Monthly)$5 – $399$39 – $399
Free DomainNoNo
Transaction Fees0 – 2%0

If sales go higher than $125,000, BigCommerce will basically force you to subscribe to their Enterprise offering, which can go as high as $1,500/month or more. Personally, I don’t like being forced to choose, and given the sheer plethora of third-party apps that are available on Shopify, I’d definitely give it the win.

For a more detailed analysis, check out our BigCommerce vs. Shopify comparison.

Our Verdict

Here’s the bottom line: Shopify isn’t the cheapest ecommerce platform out there, but it is definitely the best. We gave it a solid 5 star rating in our review, mainly because of its ease of use and the value that you get.

If you need a solution that can scale up with your business, Shopify is the one. If you sell via messaging apps, go with their Starter plan. As your business grows, you can switch to the Basic plan. For rapid growth and scalability, we recommend the Shopify plan.

This allows you to offer sales and promotions, such as those around BFCM, to further boost your business. And, once you reach high-volume sales ($100,000+) in a month, you can always switch to the Advanced plan.

We also recommend that you use its own Shopify Payments gateway, as you’ll save on transaction fees. Over time, you’ll notice a substantial difference in savings as your store grows.

If you’re serious about your ecommerce journey and are looking for a platform that scales with you, I can wholeheartedly recommend Shopify.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does it cost to be a seller on Shopify?

The cost per month for the Basic Shopify plan is $29. For online credit card transactions, you’ll have to pay $2.9% + $0.3 per transaction. This reduces to $2.6% + $0.30 per transaction for the Shopify plan, which costs $79/month.

Does Shopify pay you instantly?

Shopify Payments doesn’t release payments instantaneously. It takes at least seven business days to process your first payout. After that, you can set up daily payouts, or select either weekly or monthly payouts.

Does Shopify take 30%?

Shopify doesn’t take 30% of your sales. However, Shopify charges a percentage fee per transaction based on the plan you choose. The transaction fee for the basic plan is 2.9% + $0.3 per transaction. This fee decreases if you choose a higher-tier plan.

Does Shopify offer international pricing and shipping?

International pricing and shipping is only available on the Advanced Shopify plan. This lets you automatically calculate international shipping depending on the recipient’s country and address.

Shopify also has partnerships with logistics companies like UPS and DHL to help support ecommerce businesses shipping internationally. You can print out shipping labels via Shopify to ship internationally.

Is it cheaper to sell on Etsy or Shopify?

Etsy charges a much higher fee for each transaction (6.5% on sales or up to 4% if you use Etsy Payments). Conversely, if you use Shopify Payments, you don’t have to pay any transaction fee. But, depending on the plan you choose, you will pay a small percentage, starting from $2.9% + $0.30 for the Basic plan.

Is Shopify free to use?

No, but you can get started with Shopify on their 3-day free trial. During the trial, you can build your store and make it available to the public.

However, in order to receive sales, and after your trial is done, you will have to choose one of the paid plans:

Basic Shopify ($39 / mo),
Shopify ($105 / mo)
Advanced Shopify ($399 / mo).

Shopify doesn’t offer a free plan at this point.

Do I need a credit card to start a Shopify trial?

No. Shopify has a 3-day free trial with no strings attached. You can test the system, see how you like it, even build your store and make it visible to the public. You get to do all this without entering your credit card details. It’s at the end of your trial when you decide if you want to convert to a paid plan, and enter your credit card then.

Naj Ahmed

Naj Ahmed is an experienced content marketer and copywriter with a focus on SaaS offerings, startups, digital agencies, and ecommerce businesses. He’s worked closely with founders and digital marketers over the past eight years to produce articles, eBooks, newsletters, and guides. His interests include gaming, traveling, and reading.

Comments 85 Responses

  1. Brittany says:

    If I already have a domain/e-commerce site via Shopify, but I use square up in my retail shop is there an easy way to integrate the two without us having to entirely rebrand our site into square up or vis versa having to completely abandon our current POS system?

    1. Bogdan Rancea says:

      Hey Brittany, you will be able to integrate Square Payments and POS with Shopify, but you will have to pay some extra fees. So, you might consider migrating to Shopify Payments and Shopify POS.

  2. sahar says:

    Hi is there any way that I can Enable third-party calculated rates at checkout in my Shopify Lite plan?

  3. J says:

    they quoted us 2.25% transaction fee on plus and we process half a million to a million a month

  4. Bob says:

    Thank you for the calculator! I have been using Shopify for a few years now and was curious about the different plans and what the threshold is for when the Basic plan starts to cost more. I had a hunch that I crossed that threshold and the calculator has confirmed it.

    The only thing I would like to have seen is dual payment gateways. Paypal makes up about 70% of my transactions. It wasn’t hard for me to figure it out. Overall though, a dual payment gateway calculator doesn’t really add to the point of this article but it is something that people need to consider if they do accept paypal.

  5. Azinoosh Rafiei says:

    On Shopify basic plan can I have more than one product categories? for example, health & beauty category & accessories category. Can have sub categories as well to separate men accessories & women accessories?

    1. Bogdan Rancea says:

      Yes, you can have as many categories as you like!

  6. Cathy says:

    Will Shopify handle my customer service or am I responsible for supporting my own customers?

    1. Bogdan Rancea says:

      Hello Cathy,

      You will have to offer support for you customers.

  7. Adam Fitzgibbon says:

    Great article AND comments. Thanks.

    We have two business offices – One in Vietnam and one in Portugal.
    Our current Shopify Basic store is set up in Euro and sells only to the EU.
    Should I set up a new site in $USD to sell to other regions of the world? Or try to integrate all regions into the current site?
    Thanks

    1. Bogdan Rancea says:

      Hello Adam, you can try using a currency converter. There are plenty available in the Shopify App Store.

  8. Jason R. says:

    So I’ve been looking for a platform that’s low price as I’m a newbie to this ecommerce thing.
    My question is the 29.00 plan is it really 29.00 a month or do I have to pay the full year in advance first?
    I tried to sign up with another and the ad said something like 142.97 a yr( monthly 11.91 for 12 months) when I went to pay they tried to take the 142.97 which to me as being very skeptical about all this ecommerce stuff drove me right away from there platform and I will never even consider that company again. When a business pulls a stunt like that I know there’s more lil tricks up their sleeves in the future and they’re obviously not upfront with they’re customers. Can you please tell me what I would need to pay upfront if I did this right now and opened my store what would I need to have as far as all costs is it just the 29.00 for the basic to open and sell on my store no other apps added or whatever else can be added I just want to open and sell can I do this for 29.00 and that is the final cost ???? And will the payment come out today or at the end of the month ex:30days from now?

    1. Bogdan Rancea says:

      Hello Jason,

      The Basic Shopify plan is $29. If you pay for an annual plan you will get a 10% discount. So the price forf the entire year will be $313 instead of $348.

  9. Richard says:

    As a Shopify Plus user, I’ve learned the hard way that even the highest tiers of Shopify just don’t have what you need to run a full fledged store. You’re not going to run a Nordstrom or a Vitacost.com site on Shopify, ever.

    You can’t do a BOGO50 or BOGO30 natively, or any of the other sales strategies most normal stores use everyday. You can’t stack promotions, which drives users INSANE. User “accounts” are meaningless. People can’t even change their own email address, nor can you do it for them. Even at $2k+ per month, it’s ridiculously underpowered. Hundreds or even thousands of dollars of apps don’t improve the condition much, since many are too “hacky” in nature.

    Shopify is a good exercise in minimalism that can help you get a nice looking site up fast and prove a concept. It’s a truly wonderful way to build your dream TODAY, and get it tested. To prove your concept. But when your concept is proven, and you’re going to run it for many years, it’s much easier to run that site on a piece of software or a service that has more features integrated. BigCommerce, Magento, WooCommerce, etc.

    Personally, I’m going to try BigCommerce next, but with a different checkout solution (their so-called “one page” checkout is inferior to Shopify’s). It can save credit card numbers, it can do Amazon like promotions and all types of things Shopify cannot — all before you even add apps.

    That said, I don’t have any answers to what the ultimate cart is. I don’t think there is one, but at least I better understand what Shopify is really good for. It’s useful, but you gotta remember, Tesla and other major brands left Shopify Plus for a reason. Shopify is a nice proving ground, but it’s kind of a headache for shops that are dug in and here to stay. The things Shopify left out are really kind of shocking. Things you’d never think anybody could possibly leave out. It’s truly odd.

  10. ENIOLA SODIQ OLADIPUPO says:

    Can you please explain the meaning of the 2.5% and 30¢ per transaction in Basic Shopify and Shopify plans?
    Thanks .

    1. Bogdan Rancea says:

      Hello Eniola,

      That is the credit card rate you will pay for each transaction.

  11. Kenn says:

    With the Shopify Baic plan do I get to add a custom domain?

    1. Bogdan Rancea says:

      Hey Kenn, the answer is yes 🙂

  12. Joy says:

    Thanks so much for this write up. Please,can the Shopify lite plan be applied on Facebook page for sales?

  13. Moses Agbete says:

    can I install my own plugins, extensions and theme on Shopify to get the desired functionality?

    if I get the basic or any of the higher plan, do they have an API that I can copy and integrate into my own WordPress website?

    1. Bogdan Rancea says:

      Hello Moses, the only way to integrate Shopify with WordPress is by adding the buy button using the Shopify Lite plan. You can install extensions for your Shopify store but only from their App Store.

  14. Judit says:

    Hi, I have two questions. How many domains / stores can you have with the basic plan? And, can you directly advertise on Facebook from your store?
    Thank you
    Judit

    1. Bogdan Rancea says:

      Hello Judith,

      You can have one store with a single domain name. But, you can redirect as many domain names as you want to this primary domain.

      Bogdan – Editor at ecommerce-platforms.com

  15. Graeme H Biddle says:

    Is there anyone out there that can set up a shopify web/account for me? I am not technical at all.

    1. Bogdan Rancea says:

      Hello Graeme,

      Here’s a list of Shopify Setup experts that can help launch your store and assist with basic tasks.

      Hope this helps,


      Bogdan – Editor at ecommerce-platforms.com

  16. Todd says:

    Shopify Plus credit card rates are 2.1% + $0.30, not 1.6%
    The account fee is 0.25% gross merchant sales volume, minimum $2,000 (eg. $800,000/month).
    And there’s a 0.15% transaction fee for non-shopify payment methods.

    1. Bogdan Rancea says:

      Thanks Todd!

  17. Yassine says:

    Thank you for your great article. I have a shop on PrestaShop and would like to migrate to Shopify or Woocommerce. People around me do not advise me to go with woocommerce because I would have more fees to pay for the updates. is it the same with Shopify (if I add extensions)? is there any other fees that I have to consider (design, programming,..)

    1. Bogdan Rancea says:

      Hello Yassine,

      PLease check out our Shopify vs WooCommerce comparison for more info.


      Bogdan – Editor at ecommerce-platforms.com

  18. Monika says:

    Hi…If I were to add the Lite plan to my existing site, is there a catalog page that shows up such as in the 14 day trial? For instance, it shows image selected, Plus either other views of item (artwork in my case) or similar artworks.
    Also can I set up options as in trial. I need various sizes, with various substrate options all at different prices. I also looking at Art Store Fronts as a solution. Thanks

    1. Bogdan Rancea says:

      Hello Monika,

      Please check out our Shopify Lite review for more info.


      Bogdan – Editor at ecommerce-platforms.com

  19. Ernest says:

    I like the article though I have a question. Are there Shopify online stores in Kenya and if so, can I customize to Kenya only?

    1. Bogdan Rancea says:

      Hello Ernest,

      Shopify is available in Kenya. Here you can find a list with payment gateways available in your country.


      Bogdan – Editor at ecommerce-platforms.com

  20. Lorena Silva says:

    Hi!
    I have been using The Basic Plan for the last 2 years with sales of $5000-$6500 a month, which it seems to be the best plan for me since my sales are not that high.
    BUT, I was wondering how much would I be saving on Shipping fees if I move to the next plan? Is there any place to compare the Shipping discounts between plans?
    Thanks in advance for the time you use to help me.

  21. Malou says:

    Hello there,
    You are such a great help!thank you!
    I want to know if the $79 plan includes a website.
    Thanks

    1. Bogdan Rancea says:

      Hello Malou,

      Of course. The same applies for all three plans.

      Cheers!

      Bogdan – Editor at ecommerce-platforms.com

  22. Candra says:

    Hi,
    I live in Indonesia, which shopify payment doesn’t support in my country, and I only market my product just for indonesian customer. So I want to ask you, will I get charge of transaction fees?

    *sorry for my bad english

    1. Bogdan Rancea says:

      Hello Candra,

      When using external payment gateways you will pay a transaction fee, from 0.5% for the Advanced Shopify plan, up to 2% for the Basic Shopify plan.


      Bogdan – Editor at ecommerce-platforms.com

  23. Heather says:

    Is there a revenue limit on the Shopify Advanced Plan?

    1. Bogdan Rancea says:

      Hello, no, there is no limit.

      Cheers!

  24. GG says:

    Thanks for the info. Does shopify have any thanksgiving or cyber monday deals on their pricing?

    1. Bogdan Rancea says:

      I don’t remeber them offering discounts for their Shopify plans but some of the apps from the App Store might be discounted.

      Bogdan – Editor at ecommerce-platforms.com

  25. Suat says:

    Great article.

    1. Bogdan Rancea says:

      Thanks Suat, glad you liked it!

  26. Michael says:

    Hello, great article, I’ve got a question though, what if my website were to use a pay on delivery service, would that be violating any shopify terms and conditions?

    1. Bogdan Rancea says:

      Hello,

      Not at all, manual payment methods (cash on delivery (COD), money orders, and bank transfers) are available to all Shopify plans.

      1. Husam says:

        Bogdan,
        Can you accept COD payments on the lite plan? tried to find info on the shopify website but found nothing.

        1. Bogdan Rancea says:

          Hello Husam,

          Here’s a list of online international payment gateway providers that integrate with Shopify.

          Best.

  27. andrew holcomb says:

    How does the $79 plan’s cart abandonment compare to downloadable apps such as Kit Carts, MailChimp or the likes?

    1. Bogdan Rancea says:

      Using Mailchimp would definitely be an improvement. For more info, check out our Mailchimp review.

  28. Noura Ahmadi says:

    Hi
    I am looking for a solution to have a bilingual page (English and Arabic ) , is there any feature for this?

    Regards

    1. Bogdan Rancea says:

      Hello,

      Using Langify you can provide multilingual storefronts on Shopify.

  29. Jean says:

    Hello, do I need to buy the basic package if i bought $9 lite?

    1. Bogdan Rancea says:

      Not necessarily Jean. You can use only the Shopify Lite plan if you want to sell your products via Messenger or add a buy button on your existing website.

      Cheers!

      Bogdan – Editor at ecommerce-platforms.com

  30. Angelica Cory says:

    Great article…thankfully I found the answer to my question in the comments. I was looking to see if the awesome Facebook messenger app was included with the more expensive plans (basic, shopify, & advanced). I just bought some soap from a local artisan who uses shopify and it was the BEST customer service experience I’ve ever had with an online shop! It sold me on making the switch to Shopify, which I’ve been wanting to do for a few years now but couldn’t justify the cost when I could design my own wix site for less than half of what Shopify costs. Wix is great, but it’s just not robust enough to keep up. Thanks!

    1. Bogdan Rancea says:

      Happy to hear that Angelica 🙂

  31. GENDY says:

    Hello
    We have a shopify store which we love on the ‘Shopify Plan’ but need to now create a solution for wholesaling. We can not justify the $299 for the next level. Would you sugest running a shadow store using ‘Shopify Basic’?
    Please advise.
    Thank you
    Hickory Hill

  32. Alex says:

    Thanks for the article. So if I wanted to use my current payment gateway (Stripe), I would still have to pay Shopify a fee? I get a much better percentage than even the Advanced plan but would really only need the $79 plan. This is stearing me away from moving to Shopify. We currently do about $20 to $30k per month if that helps. I am currently on Prestashop and utilize shopping cart abandonment, mailchimp for mail after purchase emails, etc etc. I would only be moving to Shopify because I love the front end features, especially the checkout process.

    1. Bogdan Rancea says:

      Hello, Shopify Payment is powered by Stripe so you will actually be able to use Stripe and do not pay any extra transaction fees.

  33. Debbie Foote says:

    I have the Shopify plan (the middle plan) and pay the added $20 fee. I am trying to add another shipping option, DHL, but am having trouble integrating it. Is it possible to add 3rd party shipping options to this plan?

      1. Debbie Foote says:

        Hi Bogdan,
        that’s what i’m trying to get onto my site. I have downloaded it but the rates aren’t showing up…this was why i wanted to check whether this version accepts 3rd party live shipping rates. Any ideas? I’ve checked whether any of my current apps are conflicting with it but that doesn’t seem to be the case.

  34. Jaya says:

    With the shopify plan how much (ballpark?) would I need to be prepared to spend up front in order to have a functional site that can conduct transactions, without adding much (paid) customization other than shipping calculator, and using the month to month option?

    1. Bogdan Rancea says:

      Hey Jaya, it all depends. If you have some minimal web design/development skills you’ll have no trouble setting up your store. Otherwise you might have to hire an expert to help you with the initial setup.

  35. Dionysis says:

    Hi! I am going to launch a site selling services. I want to upload daily pages including some information but i want those pages to be visible only to those who have bought my services. Is this possible with shopify and ecommerce platforms in general or i should just start looking elsewhere?

    Thanks in advance.

    1. Bogdan Rancea says:

      hey Dionysis,

      selling digital products or a service is easy on Shopify, check out thisk link for more info: https://www.shopify.com/sell/services


      Bogdan – Editor at ecommerce-platforms.com

  36. Nancy O'Connell says:

    I have 3 questions:
    1. If you use the Shopify Lite, do you get the same functionality for shipping as with the basic? 2. Also, with the Buy Button, can customers buy more than one item? 3. And Last, is Pay Pal the only option with Shopify Lite or is it set up to use all credit cards?

    1. Bogdan Rancea says:

      Hi Nancy,

      With the Shopify Lite plan you can sell as many items you want (on your website, on Facebook and in person). There are more than 70 payment gateways accepted.

  37. Laura says:

    Originally my goal was to conserve money, but having read the perks of some of the higher price plans, it became clear that marketing and future growth are worth an extra $50, or so, per month. Excellent information in a concise, easily digested article. Thank you.

    1. Bogdan Rancea says:

      You’re welcome Laura.

  38. Lew says:

    Can you enter the cost of your product with any of the plans?

    1. Bogdan Rancea says:

      O course, you can set the price for your products no matter what plan you choose.


      Bogdan – Editor at ecommerce-platforms.com

  39. Joyce says:

    I’m comparing Shopify to Big Commerce. BC’s $79.95 plan allows up to $150 online sales per year; $249.95 plan allows up to $1M online sales per year. Do you know if Shopify has a dollar limit of online sales?

    I’m trying to determine if Quickbooks Online is a good fit with Shopify. I read some reviews & most of them were terrible. The reviews for BC integrated with QB Online were pretty good. Any feedback on that?

    Basically, I’m trying to determine which ecommerce platform (online sales), POS (offsite sales) & accting software integrate the best. I have a client who sells her clothing at festivals & also on her Big Cartel website. She wants to change from BIg Cartel to another ecommerce platform.

    Thank you

  40. Carolina says:

    Hi,

    I wanted to start with the basic plan for my new e-commerce website, but I wanted to build and integrate to the system a Facebook Shop (that should be the lite plan). I’m not sure if the basic plan includes the Facebook Shop or do I need to pay + $9 for this service? Also just wanted to make sure that the 2 shops (fb and website) are integrated?
    Thanks

    1. Bogdan Rancea says:

      Hi Carolina,

      The Basic Shopify plan includes all the features from the Lite plan, including the Facebook shop feature.

      Best,

      Bogdan – Editor at ecommerce-platforms.com

  41. Sara says:

    Hi, is there a limitation on the number of products that can be listed for sale with the Lite package?
    Thank you!

    1. Bogdan Rancea says:

      The Lite plan will allow you to sell an unlimited number of products.


      Bogdan – Editor at ecommerce-platforms.com

  42. Barbara Chiles says:

    I still am not sold on which is best for me. It’s either the 1st, 2nd or 3rd. I have a facebook page but don’t sell on it. I have the square which I have been working on my website with that. But, the shipping is a problem. I use USPS XPS but the square web page doesn’t really have options, but it’s free. I had the free trial with Shopify, but didn’t use it not even one day. Other things happened. The $29.00 one, does it calculate shipping costs?

    1. Kanon says:

      Barbara, when going with the Basic Shopify Plan or the Shopify Plan you would have to pay the full-year fee in order to get Calculated Shipping added for free. If you pay month to month, it would be an added $20 fee.

      1. Rotimi says:

        Is then $20 fee per each shipping rate calculation?

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