Shopify Pricing: Find the Right Plan for Your Business

Shopify pricing is a key factor when you start building an online store. The platform offers a variety of flexible plans, making it easy to choose one that suits your needs and budget. Each Shopify pricing plan comes with essential features to deliver a complete, convenient, and scalable solution as your store grows. In the article below, Nextsky will help you choose the most suitable plan to launch your online store quickly and efficiently.

Overview of Shopify pricing plans

1. Shopify Starter Plan - $5/month

At just $5/month, Shopify Starter Plan is the most affordable way to sell products online. However, this is not a full-featured online store. With this plan, you get the following features:

• Fundamental product catalogue display on a storefront.
• Unlimited product sales on an existing website.
• In-person sales via POS and card readers.
• Sell on Facebook, Instagram, eBay, Amazon, and other social channels.
• Sell directly through messaging apps like WhatsApp and Messenger.

Hidden costs: The Starter plan charges a 5% transaction fee, even when using Shopify Payments. If you use a third-party payment gateway, you’ll pay additional transaction fees + credit card/monthly fees from that provider. Higher-tier Shopify plans have zero transaction fees when using Shopify Payments.

Who should choose Shopify Starter?

• Influencers who want to sell products directly on social media.
• Sellers offering single products or testing the online market at the lowest cost.

2. Shopify Basic – $25/month or $19/month (billed annually)

The Shopify basic plan is the most economical option for merchants seeking a fully functional, independent online store. Compared to Starter, Basic offers many outstanding benefits:

• Fully customizable online store built on professional themes.
• Diverse theme library: 24 free themes and 876 paid themes, helping you easily create a store that matches your brand.
• Built-in blog to drive traffic and support effective content marketing strategies.
• E-commerce automation tools and integration with many apps for easier store management.
• Up to 77% shipping discounts with Shopify-approved carriers.
• Multi-currency sales and multi-language store support to serve global customers.

Transaction & credit card fees

• Using Shopify Payments → No transaction fees.
• Using external payment gateways → Shopify charges 2% per transaction.
• U.S. credit card rates: 2.9% + 30¢ (online), 2.6% + 10¢ (in-person POS).

Key difference from Starter: Unlike Starter, which only offers a simple storefront, Basic allows you to build a full-featured online store with a blog and complete POS features, enabling sales at physical locations or pop-up shops.

Who should choose Basic?

• Merchants with limited budgets but need a flexible, fully functional online store.
• Those who want to use a blog to attract customers and increase traffic.
• Businesses that need multi-currency and multi-language support to expand internationally.

Potential hidden cost: Basic includes only one staff account. Additional staff accounts will increase costs.

3. Shopify Grow – $65/month or $49/month (billed annually)

The Shopify grow plan is a comprehensive upgrade from the standard Shopify plans. It is designed to add superior features compared to Basic, optimizing growth potential for your business.

• 5 staff accounts (vs. 1 in Basic).
• Up to 88% shipping discounts with Shopify-approved carriers.
• $5,000 shipping insurance (U.S. users only).
• Access to USPS Priority Mail Cubic pricing (U.S.).
• Lower credit card and transaction fees — significant savings at high sales volume.

Transaction fees

• Shopify Payments: 2.7% + 30¢ (online), 2.5% + 10¢ (POS) in the U.S. → No transaction fees.
• External gateways: 1% transaction fee.

Main advantages over Basic

• More staff accounts.
• Better shipping discounts and insurance — the most significant value comes from multi-user access.

Who should choose Grow

• Businesses need multiple staff accounts.
• High or growing online sales volume.
• Want deeper shipping discounts and cargo insurance.
• Need volume-based pricing or advanced shipping features.

4. Shopify Advanced – $399/month or $299/month (billed annually)

With the Shopify advanced plan at around $399/month, you get superior features compared to lower tiers:

• Up to 15 staff accounts.
• Advanced and custom reporting.
• Real-time carrier-calculated shipping rates from multiple carriers.
• Complex international selling, including duties and import taxes.
• Higher API call limits.

Transaction fees: Using Shopify Payments → U.S. rates 2.5% + 30¢ (online), 2.4% + 10¢ (POS). Using external gateways adds a 0.6% transaction fee.

Highlights compared to Grow

• Create multiple international markets with custom pricing ($59/month per additional market).
• Deep custom reporting and maximum e-commerce data analysis.
• Real-time shipping rates from any carrier.

Who should choose Advanced

• High or rapidly growing sales volume.
• Need advanced reporting.
• Want third-party real-time shipping integration.
• Need control over product pricing in international markets.

5. Shopify Plus – Starting at $2,300/month

This is the complete enterprise solution for large-scale businesses, including everything in Advanced, plus exclusive features:

• Enhanced security, automation, multi-currency, APIs, and checkout customization.
• Dedicated phone support and professional account management.
• Manage up to 10 stores from one account.
• 20 POS Pro locations included ($89/month value each).
• Headless commerce support and Hydrogen framework for maximum customization.
• Access to 50 international markets with localized currency pricing.

Who should choose Shopify Plus?

• Large enterprises with incredibly high sales volume.
• Managing multiple stores and POS locations.
• Need automation, security, automated multi-currency, and complex integrations.
• Large budget and requires comprehensive support.

Additional Shopify fees you should know

• Domain name: Buy directly on Shopify (~$14/year) for convenience, or cheaper elsewhere (Namecheap, GoDaddy: $8–12/year).
• Themes & design: Many free themes are available, but premium themes cost $100–$ 500 one-time, offering better customization, modern design, mobile optimization, and faster loading.
• Apps & integrations: Some are free, while many are paid ($5–$ 200/month). Choose carefully to avoid cost accumulation.
• Transaction fees:
  • Shopify Payments: 2.4–2.9% + $0.30 per transaction (depending on plan).
  • External gateways: Additional 0.5–2% per transaction.
• Shopify POS: Basic POS included. POS Pro (advanced inventory, staff permissions, custom receipts) → $89/month per location.
• Email marketing: Shopify Email is free for 10,000 emails/month, then $1 per 1,000 extra emails. For branded email or advanced features, consider Google Workspace ($6+/month), Klaviyo, or Mailchimp.
• Shopify shipping fees: Shopify integrates with a variety of shipping partners, including USPS, UPS, and FedEx. Shipping fees vary based on the carrier you choose and the weight and dimensions of your order. Shopify also offers automatic estimates and shipping charges based on this information.
• Tax fees: Shopify automatically calculates sales tax for US merchants, free for annual sales under $100,000. Additionally, Shopify charges a 0.35% fee on taxable transactions, capped at $0.99 per order and $5,000 per year. If you sell internationally, additional tax fees may apply depending on the country or region.
• Marketplace connect fees: When using Shopify Marketplace Connect to sell on platforms like Amazon or eBay, you get 50 synced orders per month for free. Orders exceeding the specified amount will incur a 1% fee, capped at $99 per month.
• Refunds: When you process a refund for a customer, Shopify will not refund the original transaction fee. This policy has been in effect since March 1, 2020.
• Late payment processing fees: If your Shopify account is past due, Shopify may apply a late payment processing fee. The specific fee depends on the amount you owe and the extent of the late payment.

How to reduce Shopify store costs?

There are many ways to optimize operating costs while maintaining efficiency:

• Start with Shopify’s free trial.
• Pay annually to save up to 25%.
• Use free themes (e.g., Dawn — one of the most popular).
• Connect Shopify Payments to avoid extra transaction fees.
• Only install essential, multi-functional apps.
• Upgrade plans as revenue grows to enjoy lower transaction rates.
• For seasonal businesses, consider pausing the store during low periods to reduce costs.

Shopify alternatives you shouldn’t ignore

Shopify retail (POS-focused)

• Price: Depends on hardware; POS Pro $89/month per location.
• Highlights: Smart inventory management, omnichannel sales, staff permissions, flexible payment options, and seamless hardware integration.
• Best for: Brick-and-mortar stores, retail chains, or boutiques with diverse catalogues.

Shopify Plus Enterprise

• Price: Starts at ~$2,000/month (custom).
• Highlights: High-traffic handling, workflow automation, custom checkout, headless commerce, multi-store/channel management, ERP/CRM/WMS integration, priority support, and advanced B2B solutions.
• Best suited for: Corporations, global brands, or fast-growing businesses that require flexible infrastructure and international expansion.

Is Shopify worth investing in?

Shopify is a robust, secure, and easy-to-use e-commerce platform with over 4.4 million websites worldwide. In just a few simple steps, you can create an online store, manage sales, payments, marketing, and inventory. Shopify is both intuitive and highly flexible, supporting omnichannel sales, dropshipping, and thousands of useful apps, delivering a smooth experience for beginners and professionals alike.