What Shopify Costs: The Plans
Shopify sells four plans. Three are self-serve and priced publicly; the fourth is enterprise and quoted.
| Plan | Billed monthly | Billed annually | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | $39/mo | $29/mo | Launching, or under roughly $5,000/mo revenue |
| Grow | $105/mo | $79/mo | $5,000–$10,000/mo, small team |
| Advanced | $399/mo | $299/mo | $10,000+/mo, custom reporting |
| Plus | From $2,300/mo | Enterprise volume, custom checkout | |
A naming change worth knowing about: the middle plan used to be called simply "Shopify", which made "Basic, Shopify, Advanced" a confusing thing to say out loud. Shopify renamed it Grow. If you are reading older comparison articles that talk about "the Shopify plan", they mean Grow. The plan itself is the same tier.
There is also Starter at $5/month, which is not a full online store. It gives you checkout links you can drop into social posts, chat and a simple one-page storefront. It is a payment-link product, not a store, and most people asking what Shopify costs are not asking about it.
Prices checked against Shopify's pricing page on 6 September 2026. Shopify bills in your local currency and adjusts prices by region, so the figure you see at signup may differ from the US dollar list price below. Always confirm on Shopify's own pricing page before you budget.
Annual Billing Takes 25% Off
Paying for a year up front takes 25% off every self-serve plan. That is the single largest discount Shopify offers, and it is available to anyone — there is no negotiation and no minimum size.
| Plan | Monthly billing (per year) | Annual billing (per year) | You save |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | $468 | $348 | $120 |
| Grow | $1,260 | $948 | $312 |
| Advanced | $4,788 | $3,588 | $1,200 |
When not to take it. The discount is only a discount if the store survives the year. If you are testing an idea, pay monthly for the first three months, find out whether anything sells, and switch to annual once you have revenue. Paying $348 up front to discover in week six that the product does not sell is not a saving.
You can move from monthly to annual at any point, and the switch is prorated. There is no advantage to committing on day one.
The Credits Offer: 1% of Sales Back
Alongside the $1/month introductory pricing, Shopify currently runs a subscription credits promotion: you earn 1% of your sales back as credit against your Shopify bill. It is easy to dismiss as marketing, and for a store doing $500 a month it more or less is. For a store that scales quickly in its first half-year, it is real money.
| Plan | Maximum credit | Sales needed to reach it |
|---|---|---|
| Basic | $5,000 | $500,000 |
| Grow | $7,500 | $750,000 |
| Advanced | $10,000 | $1,000,000 |
| Plus | Not included | |
The details that decide whether it is worth anything to you:
- It is credit, not cash. It offsets your subscription bill. You cannot withdraw it, and it does not pay for apps.
- It accrues over your first six months, or until you hit your plan's cap.
- It requires Shopify Payments. If you process through an external gateway you are already paying the third-party transaction fee, and now you are forgoing the credits as well — see transaction fees explained.
- There is a minimum. You need to reach roughly $1,000 in sales before credits become usable.
- Amounts are shown in your local currency. The figures above are US dollars; Canadian merchants, for instance, see a CA$13,000 headline figure.
What it is actually worth. A store doing $10,000 a month reaches $60,000 in sales over six months and earns about $600 in credit — which covers roughly seven months of the Grow plan. A store doing $2,000 a month earns about $120, or a bit over three months of Basic. Neither is life-changing, but both exceed what you pay Shopify during the promotional period, which makes the honest summary this: for the first six months, your plan can genuinely cost close to nothing.
Shopify has run this promotion in several forms and the terms change, so confirm the current version at signup rather than relying on any article, including this one.
Payment Processing: The Cost That Actually Scales
The subscription is the part people quote. The part that actually scales with your business is the payment processing, and it is charged on every single order.
Card processing through Shopify Payments
| Plan | Online cards | In person (POS) |
|---|---|---|
| Basic | 2.9% + 30¢ | 2.6% + 10¢ |
| Grow | 2.7% + 30¢ | 2.5% + 10¢ |
| Advanced | 2.5% + 30¢ | 2.4% + 10¢ |
| Plus | Negotiated; the most competitive rates Shopify offers | |
These are US rates. Card rates are set per country — Canadian, UK, European and Australian merchants all see different numbers — so check the rate for your own market rather than assuming the US figure applies.
The third-party gateway fee, which catches people out
If you use any payment provider other than Shopify Payments, Shopify charges an additional fee on top of whatever that provider charges you. This is the fee that surprises merchants, because it is levied on the whole order value and it is entirely avoidable.
| Plan | Third-party gateway fee | Cost on $10,000/mo of sales |
|---|---|---|
| Basic | 2.0% | $200/mo |
| Grow | 1.0% | $100/mo |
| Advanced | 0.6% | $60/mo |
| Plus | 0.2% | $20/mo |
Read that table again if you are on Basic. Using an external gateway on Basic costs $200 a month at $10,000 in sales — five times the plan fee — before the gateway's own charges. Shopify Payments is available in a limited set of countries; where it is available, using it is almost always the right call. Where it is not available, Shopify generally waives or reduces the fee, but confirm that for your country rather than assuming it.
Costs Beyond the Subscription
The plan and the processing are the two costs everyone has. These are the ones that vary, and they are where budgets quietly go wrong.
| Cost | Typical range | Can you avoid it? |
|---|---|---|
| Domain name | $10–$20/year | No, unless you accept a .myshopify.com address |
| Theme | $0, or $180–$400 once | Yes — the free themes are genuinely good |
| Apps | $0–$300+/month | Largely, if you are disciplined |
| Email marketing | $0–$100+/month | Free tiers cover early-stage lists |
| Shopify Tax | 0.35% of US orders over the free threshold | Only if you sell into US states with nexus |
| Paid advertising | Whatever you choose | Yes, but then you need another traffic source |
Apps are the line item that runs away. Every app is individually cheap and collectively is not. Five apps at $19 each is $95 a month, which is more than the Grow plan. Before installing anything, ask what it will earn or save; if you cannot answer, do not install it. We build ten Shopify apps and still think most stores install too many.
Our own apps are free to install, which is a deliberate choice: the tools that improve conversion should not be the reason a new store cannot afford to launch. You can see the full set on our Shopify Partner page.
What Real Stores Actually Spend Per Month
Three realistic monthly budgets. Every figure below is a real cost, not a floor.
Launching, no revenue yet
- Basic plan, monthly billing: $39
- Domain: $1.25 (about $15/year)
- Free theme, free apps: $0
- Total: about $40/month, plus 2.9% + 30¢ on anything you sell
This is the honest floor for a real store on a real domain. Anyone quoting less is either describing Starter, or leaving out the domain.
Doing $10,000/month
- Grow plan, annual billing: $79
- Card processing at 2.7% + 30¢ on roughly 200 orders: about $330
- Email platform, mid tier: $45
- Three or four paid apps: $60–$90
- Total: roughly $515–$545/month, or about 5% of revenue
Doing $100,000/month
- Advanced plan, annual billing: $299
- Card processing at 2.5% + 30¢ on roughly 1,600 orders: about $3,000
- Email, reviews, subscriptions, analytics: $300–$600
- Total: roughly $3,600–$3,900/month, or under 4% of revenue
Notice what happens across those three: the subscription becomes a rounding error and processing becomes almost the entire bill. At $100,000 a month, moving from a 2.9% rate to 2.5% is worth $400 a month — more than the plan upgrade that unlocks it. That, and not the feature list, is what actually drives the decision to upgrade.
The Cheapest Way to Run a Real Shopify Store
If cost is the binding constraint, this is the order to do things in.
- Take the introductory offer. Shopify currently runs a 3-day free trial followed by $1/month for three months. That is roughly $3 to find out whether your idea sells, against $117 at the standard Basic rate.
- Stay on monthly billing until you have revenue. Switch to annual once the store is real.
- Use a free theme. Shopify's free themes are fast, responsive and maintained by Shopify. A paid theme buys you a different look, not a better store.
- Use Shopify Payments if your country supports it. This is usually the largest saving available to a small store — see the third-party gateway table above.
- Install nothing you cannot justify. Start with free apps and add paid ones only when a specific number is not moving.
Done that way, a functioning store costs about $40 a month plus processing. That is the real number.
How Shopify Compares on Cost
Shopify is not the cheapest way to put products online, and it is not close. What you are paying for is that hosting, security, PCI compliance, checkout, updates and support are somebody else's problem.
| Platform | Entry cost | What you take on yourself |
|---|---|---|
| Shopify Basic | $39/mo | Almost nothing technical |
| WooCommerce | $10–$40/mo hosting | Hosting, security, updates, backups, compatibility |
| Etsy | $0 + 6.5% + listing fees | Nothing — but you do not own the customer |
| Squarespace Commerce | $28–$52/mo | Little, but fewer commerce features |
| BigCommerce | $39/mo | Little; no third-party gateway fee |
WooCommerce looks cheaper on the invoice and frequently is not once your time is priced in. Etsy looks free and charges roughly 9–11% all-in on every sale, which overtakes Shopify at a fairly low volume. We have written the detailed versions: Shopify vs WooCommerce, Shopify vs Etsy, and Shopify vs BigCommerce.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Shopify's 1% credits offer?
Shopify credits 1% of your sales back against your subscription bill during your first six months, up to $5,000 on Basic, $7,500 on Grow and $10,000 on Advanced. It is credit against the plan rather than cash, it does not apply to apps, and it requires Shopify Payments. Shopify Plus is not included.
How much are the Shopify credits actually worth?
A store doing $10,000 per month reaches $60,000 in sales over six months and earns about $600 in credit, which covers roughly seven months of the Grow plan. A store doing $2,000 per month earns about $120. Combined with the $1/month introductory pricing, that means the subscription can cost close to nothing over the first six months.
How much does Shopify cost per month?
Shopify Basic is $39 per month billed monthly, or $29 per month billed annually. Grow is $105 monthly or $79 annually, and Advanced is $399 monthly or $299 annually. Shopify Plus starts around $2,300 per month. On top of the plan you pay card processing on every order, starting at 2.9% + 30¢ on Basic. A realistic all-in budget for a new store is about $40 per month plus processing.
Is there a cheaper way to start than $39 a month?
Yes. Shopify runs a 3-day free trial followed by $1 per month for the first three months, which brings the cost of testing an idea to roughly $3 total. There is also a Starter plan at $5 per month, but it is a checkout-link product rather than a full online store, so it suits selling through social media and chat rather than running a storefront.
What is the difference between the Shopify plan and the Grow plan?
They are the same tier. Shopify renamed the middle plan from "Shopify" to "Grow" because "Basic, Shopify, Advanced" was confusing. Older articles referring to the $105 "Shopify plan" are describing what is now called Grow.
Does Shopify take a percentage of my sales?
Shopify charges card processing on every order, from 2.9% + 30¢ on Basic down to 2.5% + 30¢ on Advanced in the United States. It does not take a separate commission on top of that if you use Shopify Payments. If you use a different payment provider, Shopify adds a third-party gateway fee of 2% on Basic, 1% on Grow, 0.6% on Advanced and 0.2% on Plus, on top of what that provider charges.
Do I have to pay for a theme or apps?
No. Shopify's free themes are fast and fully supported, and many essential apps have free tiers. Paid themes cost $180 to $400 once, and apps typically run $10 to $50 each per month. Apps are the line item most likely to run away from you: five at $19 each costs more than the Grow plan.
Is the annual billing discount worth taking?
It saves 25%, which is $120 a year on Basic and $1,200 a year on Advanced. It is worth taking once you know the store works. If you are still testing whether anything sells, pay monthly for the first few months and switch later — the switch is prorated and there is no penalty.
What does Shopify cost in my country?
Shopify bills in local currency and sets both plan prices and card rates per country, so the US dollar figures here will not match what you see everywhere. The plan structure and the third-party gateway percentages are consistent worldwide. We cover local payment methods, taxes and logistics in over 130 country guides — start with Does Shopify work in my country?
💡 Ready to put this into practice? Shopify's free 3-day trial — then $1/month for 3 months, plus 1% of sales back in credits — is long enough to set it up and see the numbers. Start your free trial → (affiliate link)