Overview of Shopify Plans
Shopify offers five plan tiers in total: Starter ($5/month), Basic ($39/month), Shopify ($105/month), Advanced ($399/month), and Shopify Plus (starting at $2,300/month for enterprise). This guide focuses on the three core plans — Basic, Shopify, and Advanced — which are the most relevant for the majority of ecommerce merchants. These three plans share the same core platform but differ in pricing, transaction fees, reporting depth, staff accounts, shipping features, and international selling tools.
All three plans include unlimited products, unlimited bandwidth, an online store with blog, abandoned cart recovery, Shopify POS Lite, manual order creation, discount codes, SSL certificate, fraud analysis, and 24/7 customer support via chat, email, and phone. The differences become important as your store grows and higher transaction volumes make lower fees meaningful, or when you need advanced reporting, more team members, or international selling features.
Understanding which plan fits your business right now — and when it makes financial sense to upgrade — can save you hundreds or thousands of dollars annually. This guide walks through every difference in detail with practical advice on choosing the right plan for your store size and needs.
It is worth noting that Shopify regularly updates plan features. The information in this guide reflects Shopify's 2026 plan structure. Always check Shopify's official pricing page for the most current details before making a decision.
Pricing Breakdown
Shopify Basic costs $39 per month on monthly billing or approximately $29 per month on annual billing (25% discount). This is the entry-level plan recommended for new stores, side projects, and businesses doing under $5,000 per month in revenue. Despite being the cheapest plan, Basic includes everything you need to run a fully functional online store.
The Shopify plan (often called the "standard" or "middle" plan) costs $105 per month on monthly billing or approximately $79 per month on annual billing. This plan is designed for growing businesses that need professional reports, more staff accounts, and lower transaction fees. The reduced credit card rate (2.6% versus 2.9%) starts saving money once your monthly revenue exceeds roughly $5,000.
Shopify Advanced costs $399 per month on monthly billing or approximately $299 per month on annual billing. This plan is for established businesses doing significant volume, typically $10,000 or more per month. The lowest credit card rate (2.4%), custom report builder, 15 staff accounts, third-party calculated shipping rates, and duties/import tax calculation make this plan worthwhile for high-volume stores, especially those selling internationally.
When comparing plans, do not just look at the monthly subscription cost in isolation. Factor in the transaction fee savings, which can be substantial for higher-volume stores. A store doing $50,000 per month saves $250 monthly on credit card fees alone by using Advanced instead of Basic (0.5% difference), which more than covers the $360 plan price difference.
Full Feature Comparison Table
| Feature | Basic ($39) | Shopify ($105) | Advanced ($399) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Online credit card rate | 2.9% + 30¢ | 2.6% + 30¢ | 2.4% + 30¢ |
| Third-party transaction fee | 2.0% | 1.0% | 0.6% |
| Staff accounts | 2 | 5 | 15 |
| Reports | Basic reports | Professional reports | Custom report builder |
| Shipping discount | Up to 77% | Up to 88% | Up to 88% |
| USPS Priority Mail Cubic | No | Yes | Yes |
| Third-party calculated shipping | No | No | Yes |
| Duties and import taxes | No | No | Yes |
| Inventory locations | Up to 10 | Up to 10 | Up to 10 |
| Unlimited products | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Abandoned cart recovery | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 24/7 support | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Transaction Fees Explained
Transaction fees are one of the most important factors when choosing a Shopify plan, and they come in two types. First, there are credit card processing fees charged when customers pay with a credit or debit card through Shopify Payments. These are 2.9% plus 30 cents per transaction on Basic, 2.6% plus 30 cents on Shopify, and 2.4% plus 30 cents on Advanced.
Second, if you use a third-party payment gateway instead of Shopify Payments (for example, PayPal, Stripe, or Authorize.net), Shopify charges an additional transaction fee on top of whatever the gateway charges. This fee is 2.0% on Basic, 1.0% on Shopify, and 0.6% on Advanced. Using Shopify Payments eliminates this extra fee entirely.
To illustrate the financial impact: a store processing $10,000 per month through Shopify Payments pays $290 plus transaction count multiplied by 30 cents in credit card fees on Basic, versus $240 plus 30 cents per transaction on Advanced. The 0.5% difference equals $50 saved per month. At $50,000 per month, the savings jump to $250 per month — more than covering the $360 plan price difference between Basic and Advanced.
The breakeven point for upgrading from Basic to Shopify is roughly $22,000 per month in credit card volume. The breakeven for upgrading from Shopify to Advanced is approximately $73,000 per month. Below these thresholds, the lower plan is more cost-effective; above them, the higher plan saves you money net of the subscription cost increase.
Reporting and Analytics
All Shopify plans include basic analytics covering total sales, online store sessions, returning customer rate, online store conversion rate, average order value, and top products by units sold. These core metrics are sufficient for new and small stores to understand their performance.
The Shopify plan adds professional reports including detailed sales reports, profit reports, customer reports broken down by demographics and behavior, acquisition reports showing traffic sources, and inventory reports. These reports provide deeper insights for growing businesses that need to understand their margins, customer segments, and marketing effectiveness in greater detail.
Shopify Advanced includes everything in the professional reports plus a custom report builder. The custom report builder lets you create bespoke reports by combining different data dimensions and metrics, applying filters, and saving report templates. This is particularly valuable for stores with complex operations, multiple product lines, or detailed financial reporting requirements.
For most stores under $10,000 per month in revenue, Basic's reports combined with Google Analytics provide sufficient data for decision-making. The professional reports become valuable when you need deeper customer insights and profit analysis. The custom report builder is essential for stores with complex reporting needs or those that rely on data-driven decision-making across multiple team members.
Staff Accounts and Permissions
Shopify Basic includes 2 staff accounts, the Shopify plan includes 5, and Advanced includes 15. Staff accounts allow team members to access your Shopify admin with customizable permissions. You can control what each staff member can see and do — for example, allowing a fulfillment team member to manage orders and inventory without accessing financial reports or store settings.
For solo entrepreneurs and very small teams, 2 staff accounts on Basic is usually sufficient. As your team grows to include dedicated roles for marketing, fulfillment, customer service, and finance, the 5 accounts on the Shopify plan become necessary. Larger operations with multiple departments, retail locations, or virtual assistants benefit from Advanced's 15 accounts.
It is important to note that collaborator accounts — which allow Shopify Partners, developers, and agencies to access your store — do not count against your staff account limit on any plan. This means you can have developers and app support teams access your store without using up your staff seats.
Shipping Features
All plans include Shopify Shipping, which provides discounted shipping rates with major carriers including USPS, UPS, DHL Express, and Canada Post. Basic offers up to 77% shipping discounts, while Shopify and Advanced plans offer up to 88% discounts. These savings can be substantial for stores that ship frequently.
The Shopify plan adds USPS Priority Mail Cubic pricing, which offers significant savings on small, heavy packages. If your products are dense or compact, this pricing method can dramatically reduce per-package shipping costs compared to weight-based rates.
Shopify Advanced is the only plan that includes third-party calculated shipping rates at checkout. This feature pulls real-time shipping rates from carriers or third-party services, showing customers exact shipping costs based on the contents of their cart, their location, and the selected shipping speed. Without this feature, you must use flat rates, free shipping, or Shopify's own calculated rates.
For stores that offer free shipping as a conversion strategy, the EA Free Shipping Bar app works on all Shopify plans to display a dynamic progress bar showing customers how much more they need to spend to qualify for free shipping. This visual motivator increases average order value by 15-25% on average.
International Selling
Shopify Markets is available on all plans and provides tools for international selling including market-specific pricing, currency conversion, and localized domains. However, Advanced includes additional international features that are particularly valuable for cross-border commerce.
The most notable Advanced-only international feature is estimated duties and import tax calculation at checkout. This allows customers in other countries to see the full landed cost of their order including duties and taxes before they complete their purchase. This reduces cart abandonment from unexpected fees and customs charges, which is one of the top reasons international orders get abandoned or returned.
For stores primarily selling domestically, Basic or Shopify provides everything needed. For stores with significant international sales, the duties and import tax feature on Advanced can meaningfully reduce abandoned carts and customer complaints about unexpected charges.
To add multilingual support to any Shopify plan, the EA Auto Language Translate app provides free automatic translation, making your store accessible to international visitors regardless of which Shopify plan you are on.
Point of Sale (POS)
All Shopify plans include Shopify POS Lite, which provides basic in-person selling capabilities through the Shopify POS app on iOS and Android. POS Lite allows you to sell products in person, accept payments via tap, chip, or swipe using Shopify's card reader, and sync inventory between online and retail channels.
Shopify POS Pro, which costs $89 per month per location, is available as an add-on to any plan. POS Pro adds features like staff permissions, unlimited registers, smart inventory management, omnichannel selling (buy online pick up in store), local delivery, and detailed retail reports. The in-person credit card rates are lower on higher plans: 2.7% on Basic, 2.5% on Shopify, and 2.4% on Advanced.
For merchants with both online and physical retail presence, the lower POS credit card rates on Shopify and Advanced plans can add up to significant savings, especially for stores with high in-person transaction volumes. Combine POS with apps like EA Announcement Bar and EA Countdown Timer to drive online traffic to in-store events and promotions.
When to Upgrade Plans
When to upgrade from Basic to Shopify
Consider upgrading to the Shopify plan when your store consistently processes $5,000 or more per month in online credit card sales. At this volume, the 0.3% reduction in credit card fees begins to offset some of the $66 monthly plan price increase. Additional triggers for upgrading include needing more than 2 staff accounts, requiring professional-level reports for business analysis, or shipping enough packages to benefit from USPS Priority Mail Cubic pricing.
When to upgrade from Shopify to Advanced
Consider upgrading to Advanced when your store processes $10,000 or more per month and you need custom reports, more than 5 staff accounts, third-party calculated shipping at checkout, or duties and import tax calculation for international orders. At around $73,000 per month in credit card volume, the 0.2% fee reduction alone covers the entire $294 plan price increase.
When to consider Shopify Plus
Shopify Plus starts at $2,300 per month and is designed for enterprise merchants doing $1 million or more annually. It includes features like Shopify Flow for automation, Script Editor for custom checkout logic, expansion stores, dedicated account management, and the lowest possible transaction rates. If your store is hitting the limits of Advanced and your revenue justifies the cost, Shopify Plus is the next step.
Annual vs Monthly Billing
Shopify offers a 25% discount when you commit to annual billing. This reduces Basic from $39 to approximately $29 per month ($348 per year versus $468), Shopify from $105 to approximately $79 per month ($948 versus $1,260), and Advanced from $399 to approximately $299 per month ($3,588 versus $4,788). The annual savings are $120 on Basic, $312 on Shopify, and $1,200 on Advanced.
Annual billing makes sense if you are committed to your Shopify store and plan to operate it for at least a year. The savings are significant and can be reinvested into marketing, inventory, or apps. However, if you are testing the waters or uncertain about your business timeline, monthly billing preserves flexibility to downgrade or cancel without being locked in.
There is also a biennial (2-year) option on some plans that offers even deeper discounts. Check Shopify's current pricing page for the latest billing options and discount levels.
Apps That Work on All Plans
One of the great things about Shopify's app ecosystem is that most apps work on all plans, from Basic to Advanced. This means you can enhance your store's capabilities significantly without needing a higher plan. EasyApps Ecommerce offers a suite of 10 free Shopify apps that work on every plan:
- EA Email Popup & Spin Wheel — Gamified email and SMS collection with customizable spin-to-win popups
- EA Sticky Add to Cart — Persistent add-to-cart bar that follows shoppers as they scroll
- EA Upsell & Cross-Sell — Product recommendations to increase average order value
- EA Free Shipping Bar — Dynamic progress bar showing how much more to spend for free shipping
- EA Auto Free Gift & Rewards Bar — Automatic free gift offers based on cart value
- EA Announcement Bar — Customizable top-of-page banners for promotions and news
- EA Countdown Timer — Urgency-driving countdown timers for sales and launches
- EA Page Speed Booster — Performance optimization through lazy loading and resource deferral
- EA Accessibility — ADA compliance tools for inclusive shopping experiences
- EA Auto Language Translate — Automatic translation for international customers
These free apps add conversion optimization, performance, accessibility, and international selling capabilities to any Shopify plan without increasing your monthly costs.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which Shopify plan should I start with?
Most new merchants should start with Shopify Basic at $39 per month. It includes everything you need to launch: unlimited products, an online store, abandoned cart recovery, SSL, and 24/7 support. You can upgrade later as your business grows and you need features like professional reports or lower transaction fees.
What is the difference between Shopify Basic and the Shopify plan?
The main differences are: Shopify at $105 per month includes professional reports, 5 staff accounts versus 2 on Basic, lower credit card rates at 2.6% versus 2.9%, lower transaction fees for third-party gateways at 1.0% versus 2.0%, and USPS Priority Mail Cubic pricing. The Shopify plan is best for growing stores doing $5,000 or more per month in revenue.
When should I upgrade to Shopify Advanced?
Upgrade to Advanced at $399 per month when your store does $10,000 or more per month and the lower transaction fees at 2.4% plus 30 cents save you more than the plan price difference. Advanced also includes custom reports, 15 staff accounts, third-party calculated shipping rates, and duties/import tax calculation for international selling.
Do all Shopify plans include unlimited products?
Yes. All three main Shopify plans — Basic, Shopify, and Advanced — include unlimited products, unlimited bandwidth, and unlimited file storage. There are no caps on the number of products you can list regardless of which plan you choose.
Can I switch between Shopify plans at any time?
Yes. You can upgrade or downgrade your Shopify plan at any time from your admin settings. When upgrading, you are charged a prorated amount for the remainder of your billing cycle. When downgrading, you receive a credit applied to your next billing cycle. There are no penalties for changing plans.
Is the annual billing discount worth it?
Shopify offers a 25% discount when you pay annually instead of monthly. This means Basic drops from $39 to about $29 per month, Shopify from $105 to about $79 per month, and Advanced from $399 to about $299 per month. If you are committed to your store, the annual discount saves significant money over 12 months.