Shopify Pricing in 2026: What Each Plan Really Costs

Shopify's published plan prices, card rates, and third-party payment fees — plus the cost lines that do not appear on the pricing page and decide what you actually pay.

Shopify’s plan price is the smallest number in your Shopify bill. The lines that decide what you actually pay are the card rate, the third-party payment fee, and the apps you add to reach a baseline.

Here is the published pricing, and then the arithmetic that matters.

Key Takeaways

• Plans run $39 to $399 a month, or $29 to $299 billed annually, with Plus starting around $2,300 (Shopify, retrieved 2026-06-11).
• Card rates fall as plans rise: 2.9% + 30¢ on Basic down to 2.5% + 30¢ on Advanced.
• Using a payment provider other than Shopify Payments adds a fee of 2% on Basic, 1% on Grow, 0.6% on Advanced, and 0.2% on Plus.
• The app bill is the surprise. It is not on the pricing page and it is often larger than the plan.

What Are Shopify’s Plans and Prices?

As published on Shopify’s pricing page:

There is also a Starter plan at $5 a month, which is not a full storefront. It gives you product pages and checkout links for selling through social, messaging, and in person, with a 5% transaction fee when using Shopify Payments (Shopify, retrieved 2026-06-11).

Shopify may also advertise introductory promotions. Treat temporary promotional pricing as an offer rather than your run rate, and verify the current terms on Shopify’s pricing page.

What Are the Card Processing Rates?

This is where most of your money actually goes, because it scales with revenue while the plan fee does not.

The pattern is deliberate: higher plans buy you a lower rate. That creates a crossover point where upgrading pays for itself.

Work it out for your own volume. Moving from Basic to Grow costs $66 more per month at monthly billing and saves 0.2% on every card sale. That is worth it somewhere above roughly $33,000 in monthly card volume, and not worth it below.

The Fee Most People Miss

If you use a payment provider other than Shopify Payments, Shopify charges an additional fee on top of whatever your provider charges:

That 2% on Basic is substantial. On a store doing $20,000 a month it is $400, which is ten times the plan fee. It exists to keep you on Shopify Payments, and for most merchants staying on Shopify Payments is the cheaper answer.

If your business requires a specific processor — for a regional method, a negotiated rate, or a category Shopify Payments does not support — price that requirement in before choosing a plan.

The Costs That Are Not on the Pricing Page

Three lines determine your real bill and none of them appear in the table.

Apps. Shopify’s baseline is deliberately lean, so most stores add paid apps for reviews, email, subscriptions, bundles, or advanced reporting. This is routinely the largest line after processing, and it is entirely invisible when you are comparing plan prices. Count the apps you will need to reach your baseline, then add their monthly cost to every plan you are comparing.

Themes and development. A premium theme is a one-off. Customisation beyond a theme’s settings is not.

Returns. With 19.3% of online sales returned in 2025 (National Retail Federation, retrieved 2026-06-11), your effective cost per retained order is higher than your cost per order. Whatever platform you pick, model this.

Our breakdown of hidden e-commerce costs walks the full stack.

How to Choose a Plan

Work from volume, not features.

• Under roughly $10,000 a month: Basic. The card-rate saving on higher plans will not cover the plan increase.
• Growing steadily: run the crossover arithmetic each quarter. The moment the rate saving exceeds the plan difference, upgrade.
• Selling mostly through social or in person: the $5 Starter plan may be enough, though the 5% transaction fee is steep at volume.
• Enterprise volume: Plus, where the third-party payment fee drops to 0.2% and rates are negotiated.

And check what you are paying for beyond the storefront. If a meaningful share of your app bill is buying automation — inventory rules, catalogue updates, description writing, analytics — compare that against platforms where those are included rather than purchased.

See our comparisons of Shopify alternatives, Runner AI versus Shopify, and e-commerce platforms for small businesses.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does Shopify cost per month?

Plans run from $39 to $399 a month at monthly billing, or $29 to $299 billed annually, with Plus starting around $2,300. A $5 Starter plan exists for selling through social and in person without a full storefront.

Does Shopify take a percentage of sales?

Through Shopify Payments you pay a card processing rate rather than a commission — 2.9% + 30¢ on Basic, falling to 2.5% + 30¢ on Advanced. If you use a different payment provider, Shopify adds 2% on Basic down to 0.2% on Plus.

Is the annual plan worth it?

It is a straight discount — $29 versus $39 on Basic, for example — in exchange for committing for a year. Worth it once you are certain of the platform, not while you are still evaluating.

Why is my Shopify bill higher than the plan price?

Almost always apps and payment processing. Neither appears in the plan comparison, and together they usually exceed the subscription.

Is Shopify cheaper than Etsy?

Different models. Etsy’s reported take rate was 24.9% of gross merchandise sales in Q3 2025 (Etsy, retrieved 2026-06-11), but that buys you traffic. Shopify charges a subscription and a card rate, and traffic is your job. See Shopify vs Etsy.

Sources

• Shopify — plan prices, card processing rates, third-party payment provider fees. Retrieved 2026-06-11.
• Shopify — Starter plan $5/month, 5% transaction fee. Retrieved 2026-06-11.
• National Retail Federation with Happy Returns, 2025 Retail Returns Landscape — 19.3% online return rate. Retrieved 2026-06-11.
• Etsy, Inc. Q3 2025 Results — take rate 24.9%. Retrieved 2026-06-11.