Shopify Starter Plan: Is It Right For Your First Online Store?

Shopify Starter Plan is an entry-level eCommerce plan designed to facilitate online product sales without complex tools or high pricing, even without your own website. We'll also discuss who should consider this plan, as it may not suit everyone.

What is Shopify Starter Plan?

The Shopify Starter Plan serves as the entry-level pricing tier offered by Shopify, designed primarily for content creators and influencers who possess an established audience on social media platforms.

Shopify Starter Plan offers essential features for creating an online store, and managing products, orders, and payments, along with basic marketing tools and analytics. It's an ideal choice for those looking to begin selling online with a tight budget.

Who is Shopify Starter plan suitable for?

Shopify Starter is ideal for:

• Individuals with existing websites who sell occasionally and in small quantities. They can link directly to checkout pages without setting up a full eCommerce store.
• Creators and influencers with a social media audience. They can monetize their bio links and allow customers to checkout directly from Linkpop.
• New businesses looking to test products and markets. They can use Shopify Starter to sell on social platforms, via direct messaging, and in-person sales.

Shopify Starter Plan Pricing

The Starter Shopify Plan costs $5 USD/month

You can use the 3-day Shopify Free Trial to experience this plan and test if the Basic Shopify Plan is suitable for your online store.

After your free trial, you can enjoy a Special Offer of just $1/month for the first month.

Transaction fees

For the Shopify starter plan, you don't pay a transaction fee with Shopify Payments. 

You only pay the credit card rate of 2.9%. There are no third-party transaction fees.

Additional costs

In addition to the free Shopify subscription, there are other additional costs to consider: domain, email hosting, themes, etc. For more information about this matter, check out our article Shopify pricing 2024: Which plans are for you?

Shopify Starter Plan features

In addition to the features available on all plans (except for staff), Starter offers the following features:

Create a mini store with Linkpop

Linkpop is a notable feature of the Shopify Starter Plan. Since Social media platforms only allow 1 link in the bio, you cannot put all your Product Links there. 

Instead, you can use Linkpop to create mobile-friendly link-in-bio pages. It consolidates social accounts, websites, and YouTube links, seamlessly connected with Shopify stores. It also offers shoppable links to boost sales.

• Linkpop for Shoppable Pages: Linkpop, a free Shopify tool, creates shoppable landing pages for social media. Share links to items, blogs, or forms and sell directly from these pages.
• Customization and Setup: Easily set up and customize Linkpop from your Shopify dashboard to match your brand.
• Enhanced Shopping: Customers can buy products directly from Linkpop, improving their shopping experience.

Limitations of the Shopify Starter Plan:

• Limited Customization: The Shopify Starter plan offers basic customization options compared to higher-tier plans, restricting your ability to create a unique brand experience.
• Transaction Fees: While Shopify Starter has competitive transaction fees, they can still eat into your profits, especially for high-volume sales.
• Restricted Reporting: Access to advanced analytics and reports is limited on the Starter plan, making it challenging to gather in-depth insights into your business performance.
• Lack of Advanced Features: Certain advanced features, such as abandoned cart recovery and gift cards, are not available on the Starter plan, potentially limiting your marketing and sales strategies.
• Store Management: Compared to higher-tier plans, Shopify Starter lacks many store management features, limiting customization capabilities and organization of products and categories.
• No Staff Accounts: Unlike higher-tier plans, the Starter plan doesn't include staff accounts, making it difficult to manage multiple users or delegate tasks effectively.
• High transaction fees: The Shopify Starter plan imposes limitations on direct checkout via product links, resulting in higher transaction fees.

In summary, Shopify Starter is a cost-effective option for new entrepreneurs, especially those looking to venture into the world of e-commerce on a small scale. However, this plan has limited features compared to more premium plans and may incur high transaction fees when using the product's direct payment feature.