Shopify Pricing: Plans, Fees, and Hidden Costs

Shopify is one of the best ecommerce platforms on the market, but it can get expensive very quickly.

Standard pricing plans start at $5 per month, going up to $2,300 per month, with three other price points in between, and a custom plan for very large businesses. Shopify also has a solution for selling in-store called Retail, or POS Pro if purchased as an add-on to an online store, which costs $89 per month, per location.

You can get cheaper pricing with competitors, however, Shopify is worth the money for ambitious online retailers or omnichannel sellers. It’s one of the most powerful sales platforms on the market and can accommodate near-endless growth.

In this price guide, we’ll break down the pricing plans Shopify currently offers to online merchants. We’ll look at what you get at each price plan, as well as explain billing cycles and additional fees.

Shopify offers a free trial of three days so you can test out a price plan to see whether it’s the right fit, although this is a much less generous amount of time than its competitor, Wix, which gives you 14 days.

If you want a more in-depth breakdown of Shopify’s features (including its point of sale offering), check out our dedicated Shopify review.

Shopify Starter Pricing Plan

Price: $5 per month

The Shopify Starter plan costs just $5 per month, which is very cheap as ecommerce platforms go.  It’s a good value for the money option for online sellers who want to send “shoppable” product links in instant messages over WhatsApp, Instagram, TikTok, SMS and email. This means your customers click a URL link and buy your product directly or add to a cart and buy some more.

You’ll get access to a basic online store with product pages, a contact page, and Shopify checkout, but customization is very limited. There isn’t  a lot of space for product specs, product videos, lengthy descriptions or customer reviews, so it’s mainly aimed at mobile users coming to you from social media and looking for a quick checkout experience.

You’ll also get a mobile point of sale app, POS Lite, which allows you to take in-person payments with just a smartphone (no card machine needed), and access to Linkpop, Shopify’s free landing page app for creating shoppable links to put in social media bios.

Shopify Starter Features

• One user
• Unlimited product pages
• Customer support inbox
• Shopping cart
• Order management
• Analytics

Shopify Starter Transaction Fees

• Transaction fees: 5.0% (if using Shopify Payments)
• Online credit card rates: 5% + 25¢ (if using Shopify Payments)

Who do we recommend Shopify Starter for?

We recommend Shopify Starter for those wanting to test a product or business idea or sell a one-off item without the commitment or investment of setting up a whole online storefront. Because it’s largely based on social media, it’s best for selling informal, relatively cheap merchandise, such as t-shirts, handmade pieces, or accessories.

We wouldn’t recommend Shopify Starter for selling high-value or regulated products such as precious jewelry or medical supplies, as it’s unlikely that customers will trust your website with those purchases.

Once you have established a customer base, you might want to explore growing your storefront with the next tier, Shopify Basic, although be warned, it’s a steep jump from the $5 per month Shopify Starter plan to the $29 per month Shopify Basic plan.

Shopify Basic Pricing Plan

Shopify Basic Features

• One user
• Online ecommerce website and blog
• Up to 10 inventory locations
• Unlimited products
• Order management
• Language translation and currency conversion
• Up to 77% shipping discount

You create your own online shop using the Shopify drag-and-drop website builder and set up payment options in the dashboard view. This means you can display your products, take payments and manage inventory all from one account.

The Basic plan’s analytics features are also now just as in-depth as the Shopify plan’s ones. It’s also retained the standard ecommerce features present in all Shopify plans, including discounts code and gift cards, and abandoned cart recovery, as well as access to Shopify’s in-person POS solution, POS Lite.

What you don’t get with Shopify Basic compared to more expensive plans:

• Additional staff accounts
• Third-party calculated shipping rates displayed at checkout
• Certain shipping discounts
• Shipping insurance

Transaction fees are also higher on the Basic plan than on the more expensive plans, for both Shopify Payments and third party payment providers. The more expensive your plan is, the lower these rates are.

Shopify Basic Transaction Fees

• Third party transaction fees: 2.0% (on top of payment provider’s fees)
• Currency conversion fee: 1.5%

Transaction fees with Shopify Payments:

• Online credit/debit card rates: 2.9% + 30¢
• In-person credit/debit card rates: 2.6% + 10¢
• Amex credit card rates (online): 3.5% + 30¢
• Online International credit card rates: 3.9% + 30¢

Who do we recommend Shopify Basic for?

We recommend Shopify Basic for smaller businesses looking to set up their first storefront. The online ecommerce platform means you can successfully process payments and ship orders.

Despite this plan being intended for smaller businesses, the unlimited product capacity means the sky’s the limit for your store. However, this plan has higher credit card rates, fewer shipping discounts, and more basic reporting features than the more expensive plans. Consider upgrading as your store grows to enjoy these benefits.

The Shopify Basic plan is also more expensive than the low-tier ecommerce plans offered by many competitors, such as Squarespace. However, Squarepace’s ecommerce features aren’t quite as advanced as Shopify’s, so this is a case of “you get what you pay for.”

Just don’t pay for what you don’t need. If you’re a small business that doesn’t plan on massively growing, or doesn’t require the most advanced ecommerce features, Squarespace is probably better value for money than Shopify. Read our Squarespace Pricing Review for more details.

Shopify Plan Pricing

Shopify Plan Features

So what does the Shopify plan have that the Basic plan doesn’t? It’s got:

• 5 staff accounts,
• Up to 88% shipping discount
• Shipping insurance
• Increased customisation when using Shopify API
• Lower transaction fees.

Other than that, you’ll get access to the same quality analytics as you would on the Basic plan, the same international selling support and the same number of inventory locations.

What you don’t get with the Shopify plan compared to more expensive plans:

• A even bigger number of staff accounts
• Enhanced live chat support
• Custom analytics
• Increased checkout capacity (for busy sales times)
• The ability to add markets to localized selling
• Import tax estimates at checkout

And of course, transaction fees are lower the more expensive your Shopify plan gets. This is designed to accommodate businesses with a high sales volume, and is standard practice across the payment processing industry.

Read more about credit card processing fees in our in-depth guide.

Shopify Plan Transaction Fees

• Third party transaction fees: 1.0% (on top of payment provider’s fees)
• Currency conversion fee: 1.5%

Transaction fees with Shopify Payments:

• Online credit/debit card rates: 2.7% + 30¢
• In-person credit/debit card rates: 2.5% + 10¢
• Amex credit card rates (online): 3.3% + 30¢
• Online International credit card rates: 3.7% + 30¢

Who do we recommend the Shopify plan for?

We recommend the Shopify plan for small businesses whose sales are growing quickly.

There’s no question that Shopify’s mid-tier plan has more advanced features than its competitor’s equivalents, but it’s also almost double the price of some. For example, Wix’s Business plan only costs $36, compared to the Shopify plan’s $79.

But, if you plan on growing your business and expanding internationally, the extra cost of using Shopify is worth it, especially since it gives you unlimited products (something Wix doesn’t), and access to comprehensive translation and multicurrency tools.

However, given that Shopify’s Basic Plan has a very similar offering, except with slightly higher transaction fees, you might be better off skipping the Shopify plan and waiting until you’re ready for the Shopify Advanced plan.

If you’re a medium-sized business that isn’t planning on expanding internationally (or to only a few markets), you could give Wix a go. Its ecommerce features aren’t quite as advanced as Shopify’s, but they’re up there, and it costs less. Read our Wix Pricing Review for more details.

Shopify Advanced Plan Pricing

The Shopify Advanced plan costs $299 per month when paying on an annual basis, and $399 per month when payment month-to-month.

This is a massive leap in price from the standard Shopify plan, but it’s one that I think could be worth it for some businesses, thanks to the extra features it gives you access to.

For example, this is the cheapest Shopify price plan at which you can collect estimated duties and import taxes at the checkout, to avoid stinging your customers with unexpected charges on delivery. This type of cost transparency is likely to increase customer satisfaction.

Shopify Advanced Features

• Up to 15 staff accounts
• Enhanced live chat support
• Custom analytics and reporting
• x10 checkout capacity
• Third-party calculated shipping rates
• Add over 3 markets to localized selling for + $59/mo
• Estimate and collect duties and import tax at checkout

At this tier, you’ll also benefit from 1.5% duties and import tax rates (0.85% if you use Shopify’s payment gateway), and you’ll get lower transaction fees than on cheaper plans. The currency conversion fee remains the same as the other price plans, at 1.5%.

Shopify Advanced Payment Processing Fees

• Third party transaction fees: 0.6%
• Currency conversion fee: 1.5%
• Duties and import taxes: 1.5%

Transaction fees with Shopify Payments:

• Online credit/debit card rates: 2.5% + 30¢
• In-person credit/debit card rates: 2.4% + 10¢
• Amex credit card rates (online): 3.1% + 30¢
• Online International credit card rates: 3.5% + 30¢
• Duties and import taxes: 0.85%

Shopify Payments’s online card processing fees on the Advanced plan have increased by around 0.1%, and an extra 10¢ has been added to in-person rates since November.

Who do we recommend Shopify Advanced for?

We recommend Shopify Advanced for established small or medium-sized businesses that are expanding and looking to sell internationally. You’ll benefit from cheaper transaction fees on this plan, which can make a huge difference to your profit if sales are high.

The increased checkout capacity of the Advanced plans also means it’s less likely your customers will end up in a queue, which can make or break a sale. The Advanced plan also comes with lower transaction fees, better shipping discounts, and more support with international selling than the Basic and Shopify plans, giving your customers complete transparency, and helping you save money on fees.

The $299 per month price tag all this comes with might seem like a lot, but we think the Shopify Advanced plan is worth the money, and reasonably priced. BigCommerce, one of Shopify’s competitors, has a similar offering for exactly the same price point.

The main difference is that BigCommerce doesn’t charge transaction fees for third-party payment providers, whereas with Shopify, you’re getting a sore deal if you’re not using Shopify Payments. If you’re looking to switch ecommerce platforms and already have a payment provider that you want to keep, it might be cheaper to go for an option like BigCommerce.

Shopify Fees and Costs: Billing Cycles, Ongoing Costs and Hidden Fees

Here’s a breakdown of all of Shopify’s costs and fees:

Shopify Billing Cycles

• You can pay for your Shopify subscription month to month, or in advance for one year, which is 25% cheaper
• You can cancel your Shopify subscription at any time, but you won’t be refunded that month’s or year’s bill
• You can downgrade or upgrade your Shopify plan at any time (except Shopify Starter, as this is the cheapest plan)

Additional Shopify Website Costs

• Domain names: $9-$20 a month to get a domain name that isn’t myshopify.com (if you already have a domain, you can connect it to your Shopify store)
• Template designs: one-off fee from $100 to $500 for a range of templates (or choose from 13 free ones)
• Apps: Variable prices ($9-$100 per month on average) to use apps, either made by Shopify or third-parties, for additional website features
• Emails: First 10,000 per month are free then $1 per 1,000 emails sent, $0.65 per 1,000 after 300,000 emails sent, $0.55 per 1,000 after 750,000 emails sent

Additional Shopify Sales Costs

• Third-party transaction fees: 0.2%-2% depending on your plan (on top of fees you pay to your payments provider)
• Shopify Payments credit and debit card fees: 2.5% + 30¢ to 3.5% + 10¢, depending your plan, the type card, and the type of transaction (fees are competitive on the Shopify Plus plan)
• Duties and import taxes: 0.85%-1.5% (only applicable to Advanced Shopify and Shopify Plus plans)
• Currency conversion fees: 1.5%

Shopify Payments Fees

You can avoid additional fees for using third-party payment providers by using Shopify Payments, the company’s proprietary payment gateway (powered by Stripe).

You’ll pay the following payment processing fees per transaction:

• US card (online): 2.5% + 30¢ to 2.9% + 30¢ depending on your plan
• US card (in-person): 2.4% + 10¢ to 2.6% + 10¢ depending on your plan
• Amex (online): 3.1% + 30¢ to 3.5% + 30¢ depending on your plan
• International card (online): + 1% (so 3.5% + 30¢ to 3.9% + 30¢ for an online purchase with a US card)
• Chargeback: around $15 per incident (may be refunded if appealed)

With Shopify Payments the duties and import taxes rates on Advanced Shopify decreases from 1.5% to 0.85%.

There are no charges for refunds, declined payments or rewards transactions. It’s worth noting that the international card fee with Shopify Payments is better than the standard Stripe fee of 4.4%+ 30¢.

However, Shopify charges an extra 1.5% for foreign currency conversions, whereas Stripe charges 1% as standard.

Shopify Tax Pricing

It’s ultimately your responsibility as a seller to pay the correct taxes on your revenue, but Shopify makes it a lot easier with its automated tax calculation.

Shopify Tax is available at no extra cost for the first $100,000 in sales per calendar year. This includes all sales connected to Shopify, including social media channels you’ve chosen to connect.

After the $100,000 a year in sales threshold, you’ll be charged the following:

• 0.35% per order (all Shopify plans excluding Plus)
• 0.25% per order (Shopify plus)

There are also two maximum fee caps per year, so you don’t have to stress about spiraling tax calculation costs:

• $0.99 per order cap
• $5,000 yearly cap

Free Services Included in All Shopify Plans

Despite these extra fees, a lot of services are still included for free in all Shopify pricing plans, such as the following:

• Website builder (excluding Shopify Starter)
• Web hosting (excluding Shopify Starter)
• SSL certificate
• Unlimited products
• Unlimited bandwidth
• Web shop analytics

Shopify Retail vs POS Lite vs POS Pro

Shopify also has two POS software solutions for selling in-person, POS Pro, and POS Lite.

The Starter, Basic, Shopify, and Advanced plans all include POS Lite at no extra cost. POS Pro is available as an add-on for $89 per month, per location, however it’s not available on the $5 Starter plan.

Here’s the main difference between the two:

• POS Lite: Allows for limited staff logins and is mainly used for processing payments and accepting returns only at the original purchase location.
• POS Pro: Allows for unlimited staff access, staff roles and permissions, returns and exchanges at any store, inventory management, retail reports, customer data insight, and more.

In short, POS Pro is a fully-fledged POS software tool, whereas POS Lite is more of an in-person payment processing tool.

Shopify’s Retail plan is essentially POS Pro when it’s purchased as a standalone software and not an add-on to one of Shopify’s website builder plans. This means that if you purchase Retail as a standalone product, you’ll only get access to a very limited online store, the kind offered on the $5 Starter plan.

Shopify POS hardware costs

To complement it’s POS software, Shopify sells hardware tools for taking payments in person. Here’s what they cost:

• Tap to pay on smartphone: free, available on all plans as part of POS Lite
• Card tap and chip reader: $49
• Countertop Kit: $459

Wix, Squarespace, GoDaddy, Hostinger, and Square are all cheaper on average than Shopify, when it comes to their subscriptions.

BigCommerce is more or less in the same range as Shopify, but your first year with Shopify would be cheaper, thanks to the current deal of your first month priced at $1.

BigCommerce, Square, and Wix, don’t charge additional transaction fees – unlike Shopify – for using a third party payment provider. That could mean you end up paying less with one of these over Shopify, depending on your payment provider’s fees and your business’ sales revenue.

How We Evaluated Shopify