Shopify pricing: All you need to know about how much Shopify costs

Shopify is an amazing ecommerce platform that lets you build an attractive online store without technical skills. But when it comes to Shopify, pricing can be tricky to navigate.

Shopify offers six pricing plans at drastically different price points. The cheapest plan, Starter, costs $5 a month, while the most expensive plan, Plus, costs over $2,000 a month.

And to complicate things even more, Shopify even has a bunch of different fees like transaction fees and credit card rates which vary based on the Shopify pricing plan.

If you’ve struggled to make sense of Shopify’s pricing plans, don’t worry, I’ve got you covered.

In this article, I’ll walk you through the different Shopify pricing plans and help you understand the fees, discounts, and additional costs to consider when choosing a plan. I’ll also share tips to optimize expenses and save money with Shopify. 

Let’s start with the basics.

What is Shopify?

Shopify is a fully-managed ecommerce software that provides a suite of ecommerce tools like product, customer, and order management. It’s offered as a subscription and allows you to host, build, and run an online store at an affordable price without any technical skills.

How much does Shopify cost per month?

Shopify costs between $5 and $399 per month, depending on the plan you choose. Shopify also offers two enterprise plans — Shopify Plus and Commerce Components — starting at $2,000 per month.

Besides the subscription, Shopify charges you credit card and transaction fees ranging from 0.5% to 2.9% + $0.30, based on the plan, payment processor, and payment method.

I’ll explain the details about Shopify fees in a bit. First, let’s look at the six Shopify plans to understand which one is right for you.

Shopify Pricing plans: Which Shopify plan is best for you

Shopify offers six pricing plans as follows:

1. Starter: $5 per month.
2. Basic: $39 per month.
3. Shopify: $105 per month.
4. Advanced: $399 per month.
5. Shopify Plus: Starts from $2,000 per month.
6. Commerce Components: Pricing on request.

Let’s look at each of those plans in more detail to understand what they offer and if they’re right for your ecommerce business.

Shopify Starter — $5 per month

Shopify Starter is the entry-level Shopify pricing plan that lets you set up a small online store in minutes. It’s ideal for selling products on social media, and anywhere you can share a link, like SMS, WhatsApp, and email.

Shopify Starter costs $5 per month and gives you a basic storefront with fast and secure checkout, a contact page, access to Shopify apps, and supports unlimited products. The plan also comes with Linkpop, a link in bio tool built specifically for online sellers.

The Starter plan is a lightweight way to test the waters with a new product or business idea. All you need is a good product, a few good images, and some social media skills to help you start selling.

The only downside of the Starter plan is the 5% transaction fee. It’s the highest transaction fee of all Shopify plans but worth it for its convenience.

If you’re looking to dip your toes in the ecommerce world or want to test the market for a new product, this is the plan you should choose. Once you test demand, you can upgrade to a higher plan with more features without losing your sales, orders, or customer data.

Basic Shopify — $39 per month

The Basic Shopify plan is a step up from the Starter plan and gives you access to an online store.

True to its name, the Basic Shopify plan gives you ecommerce essentials like a customizable online store, a built-in blog, two staff accounts, and the ability to sell internationally.

The Basic plan costs $39 per month, which might feel like a big jump from the Starter plan, but it’s worth the investment for the features on offer. You get a complete online store with a preconfigured SSL certificate and the ability to connect your own domain.

Another benefit of the Basic plan is the lower transaction fees. Instead of paying 5% per sale, you now pay a credit card rate of 2.9% +30c per transaction with Shopify Payments or 2% if you’re using a third-party provider.

That may not seem like much if you sell a handful of products each month, but it adds up when you sell a few hundred.

Shopify Basic is the perfect plan for social media influencers and Etsy sellers who want to take the next step in their ecommerce journey. If you’re a solopreneur or a dropshipper without any staff, I recommend signing up for the Basic plan since it offers the best value for money.

Shopify — $105 per month

The Shopify plan is the go-to plan for established ecommerce businesses. It gives you all the features in the Basic plan, plus professional reporting, five staff accounts, ecommerce automation tools, and 30 free order fulfillment units on the Shopify Fulfillment Network.

You also pay a lower credit card fee on the Shopify plan. Instead of 2.9%, you pay 2.6% +30c per sale with Shopify Payments and 1% for third-party payment gateways.

The Shopify plan is excellent for when you’re beginning to see some traction with your online store. That’s when you’ll need to onboard new employees, set up automation, and save some money with the discounted fees.

The Shopify Advanced Shopify — $399 per month

The Advanced plan is the highest plan for the standard Shopify platform. It includes all the features in the Basic and Shopify plans, plus advanced reporting, checkout duty and tax calculations, 15 staff accounts, and 50 free orders on the Shopify Fulfillment Network.

The transaction fees with the Advanced plan are lower as well. You pay approximately 2.4% +30c per sale as credit card fees on Shopify payments and 0.5% for third-party payment processors.

The Advanced plan also gives you access to carrier-calculated shipping rates. This is the only regular Shopify plan that lets you connect with a third-party carrier and display live rates during checkout.

The Advanced plan is a good option when you’re processing over 1,000 online orders each month. That’s where you’ll make the most of everything it offers, like the lower fees, automation, and live checkout calculation features.

Shopify Plus — $2000+ per month

Shopify Plus is an enterprise-grade ecommerce service built on top of Shopify that’s perfect for high-traffic stores. It offers everything you get in the Advanced plan, plus access to more advanced features and tools like Shopify Audiences, Shopify Flow, and B2B on Shopify.

Shopify Plus pricing starts from $2,000 per month and is calculated based on your monthly sales. You pay $2,000 per month for sales of up to $800,000 a month and a 0.25% fee, called a variable fee, on all sales above that amount.

Shopify Plus offers so many unique features that it feels like a different platform altogether. And considering that you pay a premium for it, Shopify also gives you 24/7 Priority support via email, phone, or chat.

Read my Shopify Plus pricing article to learn more about Shopify Plus. I break down its features and pricing and help you decide if it’s the right choice.

I’ve found that Shopify Plus is a great investment when you’re making more than $200,000 per month from your online store. Once you cross that threshold and maintain your growth, I recommend upgrading to Shopify Plus.

Commerce Components — Pricing on request

Like Shopify Plus, Commerce Components by Shopify is a separate service, unlike other Shopify pricing plans. It was launched recently for brands making seven figures a month looking to adopt a composable commerce approach for their online stores.

Shopify currently offers six primary component categories:

1. Storefront.
2. Cart and checkout.
3. Core commerce.
4. Data and compliance.
5. Shipping and logistics.
6. Omnichannel.

Each category houses multiple components catering to a specific function of an online store. 

Pricing for Commerce Components by Shopify is only available on request. The service, catered towards enterprises with modular ecommerce architectures, is designed to solve complicated challenges for eight-figure businesses.

So it shouldn’t be surprising that Shopify offers dedicated account management, technical support, and even access to Shopify Professional Services for Commerce Components merchants. No other Shopify plans have access to those services.

Shopify pricing plans compared

Which plan is best for you?

Still confused about choosing a Shopify plan? Don’t worry. Let’s figure this out one plan at a time.

Shopify Starter

At $5 per month, the Starter plan is an excellent option if you sell on social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok. You won’t need to worry about managing an entire online store and can sell easily by sharing a link to your products.

Shopify Starter is also good for testing dropshipping products before setting up an online store. You can create a few videos, promote the product on social media, and sell quickly to build capital for a proper store and ads.

Basic

The Basic plan gets you started with a proper online store. You get a fully hosted website with the ability to sell unlimited products, two staff accounts, and blogging functionality.

The Basic Shopify plan is a good choice for upgrading your social media store to an online store. It’s the perfect plan for Etsy and Facebook Marketplace sellers looking to build a brand on their own.

Shopify

The Shopify plan gives you access to more advanced online selling tools like international domains to offer more personalized shopping experiences. It’s an excellent choice for sellers that outgrow the Basic plan and need more features.

The Shopify plan is perfect for online stores fulfilling 10–20 orders every day. It lets you set up automation to free up your time and gives you access to lower credit card rates which make up for the higher subscription costs.

Advanced

With features like third-party calculated shipping rates and next-level report building, the Advanced plan is perfect for businesses with high-volume sales. That’s usually more than a thousand orders a month minimum.

At that volume, you can use all the Advanced plan features effectively to manage your daily tasks and get the best return on your investment. The higher staff account threshold will also allow you to provide more employees with their own accounts and permissions.

Shopify Plus

Shopify Plus is best for large-scale enterprises with high-volume sales, complex requirements, and a need for advanced integrations and customization. It offers all the features of the Advanced plan, plus access to a dedicated customer success manager* and checkout customization.

Shopify Plus is a massive step up from the Advanced plan. At $2,000+ a month, you should only choose it if you’re making more than $200,000 from your online store. In my experience, that’s where you start to get the best returns on your investment.

Commerce Components

Commerce Components by Shopify is the best solution for large enterprises selling at least $1–$2 million per month. It can support up to 40,000 checkouts per minute with 275 network edge points globally.

That’s why billion-dollar companies like Mattel, Staples, Spanx, and Steve Madden use Commerce Components to power their online stores.

Shopify fees: Extra Shopify costs explained

We’ve already discussed the subscription fees for Shopify plans. But that isn’t the only fee you pay to use Shopify. You also pay credit card fees, transaction fees, and other less obvious fees.

Let’s break down the exact costs for each of those to help you understand how they contribute to the overall cost of owning a Shopify store.

Credit card rates

Credit card rates are the fee Shopify charges you to accept payments from credit card providers like Visa and Mastercard. The fees vary depending on your Shopify pricing plan as follows:

1. Starter: 5% per transaction.
2. Basic: 2.9% +0.30c per transaction.
3. Shopify: 2.6% +0.30c per transaction.
4. Advanced: 2.4% +0.30c per transaction.
5. Shopify Plus: 2.15% +0.30c per transaction.

Credit card rates only apply if you accept payments via Shopify Payments. If you don’t use Shopify Payments or are based in a country where Shopify Payments isn’t supported, then you’ll need to pay a separate fee, called a transaction fee, to Shopify.

It’s also worth noting that Shopify doesn’t refund credit card transaction fees when you issue a refund. So if you refund an online payment, especially a full refund, you will lose the credit card fees from your profit each time.

Transaction fees

Shopify charges transaction fees between 2–0.15% when you accept payments via a third-party payment gateway. Shopify charges these fees to cover the costs of integrating with third-party payment providers.

The price varies based on your Shopify plan as follows:

1. Starter: 5% per transaction.
2. Basic: 2% per transaction.
3. Shopify: 1% per transaction.
4. Advanced: 0.5% per transaction.
5. Shopify Plus: 0.15–0.3% per transaction.

Transaction fees only apply to payments accepted using a third-party payment provider. They do not apply to payment methods such as cash on delivery or bank transfers.

Additional fees

Besides subscription, credit card, and transaction fees, you also pay other fees to own a Shopify store, such as app, email, and POS fees. Let’s break it down to understand how it affects your Shopify pricing.

First up, there are app and theme fees.

Although there are tons of free apps and about 11 free themes on the Shopify marketplace, you’ll likely install a paid Shopify theme and a few apps. On average, you might spend anywhere from $15 to over $100 per month on those.

Next, there’s email hosting. Shopify provides 10,000 free marketing emails per month for all Shopify plans. Beyond that number, Shopify charges you $0.001 per email, which works out to $1 for every 1,000 emails.

Finally, there are Shopify POS fees. You don’t need to worry about them if you sell online. Shopify POS fees only factor in when you’re selling offline from a brick-and-mortar store or a pop-up shop.

Shopify provides you with the free POS Lite mobile app with all plans. But if you want a fully functional POS terminal, you’ll need to pay $89 per month per location on all Shopify plans except Plus. Shopify Plus users get up to 20 free locations of Shopify POS Pro by default.

Tips for saving money on Shopify: 6 easy ways to reduce Shopify fees

At this point, you might be concerned about all the different Shopify fees. Don’t worry. Here are some ways to reduce Shopify fees:

1. Choose the right pricing plan: Choose a plan that best suits your business needs and budget. If you’re starting out, consider starting with a lower-priced plan and upgrading as your business grows.
2. Opt for an annual plan: Shopify offers generous discounts on yearly payments. So you can pay for a year in advance to save on your Shopify pricing plan.
3. Use Shopify Payments: If you use Shopify Payments to process payments, you won’t be charged any transaction fees. This can save you a lot of money, especially if you have a high sales volume.
4. Choose third-party apps carefully: Be selective about the apps you use and try to stick to free Shopify apps when you really need one.
5. Avoid refunds, chargebacks, and disputes: Chargebacks and disputes lead to penalties that eat into your profit margin. Similarly, try to keep refunds to a minimum as you don’t get back your credit card fees on refunds.
6. Negotiate with your payment provider: If you use a third-party payment provider, try negotiating with them to lower your transaction fees. Some providers may be willing to offer you a better deal if you have a high sales volume.

Shopify pricing discounts and promotions: 4 easy ways to save on Shopify costs

Looking to save money on your Shopify plan? Here are some ways you can save money on Shopify’s pricing plans.

1. Start with a free trial

Shopify offers a 3-day free trial period to test the platform. During the free trial, you can explore Shopify’s features, create your online store, and even start making sales without having to pay anything. This can help you save money upfront by allowing you to try before you buy.

Once you’re ready to upgrade to a paid plan, you can switch to the $3 for 3-month promotion. That gives you access to your preferred Shopify plan for $1 per month for the first three months.

2. Make the most of discounts on annual plans

If you decide to go ahead with Shopify, you can save money by choosing an annual plan instead of a monthly plan. Shopify offers discounts of up to 25% for businesses that pay annually. This is a great way to save some cash if you want to use Shopify long-term.

3. Apply for discounts for non-profit organizations

Shopify offers discounted rates for non-profits. If you’re running a charity or non-profit organization, you might qualify for up to 25% off on your Shopify plan if you can prove your non-profit status.

4. Watch out for promotions

Shopify occasionally offers other promotions and discounts throughout the year, such as special offers during the holiday season or discounts on specific plans or features. Keep an eye out for them to save money on your Shopify pricing plans.

Shopify alternatives: 3 ecommerce platforms you can consider

Still not convinced Shopify is the best fit for your business? No worries, here are three free and paid alternatives you can use instead of Shopify.

1. Magento Open Source

Magento is a powerful ecommerce platform that offers a lot of functionality and control over your online store. It’s an open-source platform that gives you more functionality than Shopify’s $399 per month plan for free.

One of the best things about Magento is that it’s completely customizable with a modular codebase and packed with ecommerce-friendly features to help you sell online quickly. It’s also endlessly scalable and can support an unlimited number of products.

That said, Magento requires technical expertise to set up and maintain. I only recommend using Magento instead of Shopify if you have technical knowledge or need a platform that’s customizable, scalable, and capable of handling large catalogs.

Key Magento Open Source features:

• Powerful catalog management tools.
• Multi-store support.
• Multiple security features.
• Built-in upsell and cross-sell options.
• Flexible catalog and price rules.

Magento Open Source price: Magento Open Source is free to use. Fully managed hosting for Magento usually starts from $50 per month on average.

2. WooCommerce

WooCommerce is a plugin for WordPress that adds ecommerce functionality to WordPress websites. It’s user-friendly and fully customizable. More importantly, like Magento, WooCommerce is completely free to use.

WooCommerce offers many useful features, including a flexible checkout process, easy product management, and multiple payment gateways. And thanks to WordPress’ massive plugin ecosystem, there are thousands of plugins available to customize your store as you like.

WooCommerce is much cheaper to host than Shopify and Magento and is very beginner-friendly. I recommend using WooCommerce over Shopify if you like a hands-on approach to building an online store.

Key WooCommerce features:

• Shipping and logistics management.
• Analytics and reporting capabilities.
• Extensive documentation and community support.
• Tons of free themes on the official theme store.
• Access to the largest ecosystem of free plugins.

WooCommerce price: WooCommerce is free, but you need to host WordPress to use it. The official WooCommerce hosting service from Automattic starts at $39 per month.

3. BigCommerce 

BigCommerce is the best alternative to Shopify. It’s a code-free SaaS solution like Shopify that offers everything you need to build an online store at a competitive price.

BigCommerce combines the scalability of Magento and the ease of use of Shopify. It offers a code-free page builder and a streamlined checkout process that’s perfect for businesses of all sizes.

The best part is that, unlike Shopify, BigCommerce doesn’t charge you any extra fees to use third-party payment providers. It also supports 55+ shipping providers, allowing you to fulfill orders from your store dashboard easily.

I recommend using BigCommerce if you’re a small business that sells across multiple platforms or needs B2B features.

Key BigCommerce features:

• Unlimited products and staff accounts.
• Multi-store support for all plans.
• Built-in support for marketplaces like Amazon, eBay, and Walmart.
• Built-in Facebook and Instagram sales channels.
• Useful marketing tools.
• Multiple security measures with PCI compliance.

BigCommerce price: Standard plan starts from $39 per month for businesses with an annual turnover of up to $50,000.

Shopify pricing plans explained: Ready to take the next step?

There you have it. I’ve explained everything you need to know about Shopify pricing plans and shared tips to save money on the different Shopify fees.

Shopify is an excellent platform for anyone who wants to build an online store without technical skills. What I love about Shopify is that it gives you everything you need to run an online store and hosts your store on the global Shopify CDN at an incredibly low price.

I recommend signing up for a free 3-day Shopify trial to explore the platform and then signing up for the $3 for 3 months pricing promotion. That way, you can build and launch your Shopify store without spending too much money upfront.

Need help getting started? Feel free to leave a comment below, and I’ll be happy to help you figure out the best Shopify pricing plan for your new store.

Frequently asked questions about Shopify pricing