Shopify offers four main plans, and picking the wrong one either costs you money in unnecessary fees or limits features you actually need. The right plan depends on your monthly revenue, team size, and which features matter for your store.
This guide breaks down each plan, compares the real costs (not just the monthly price), and gives you a framework to decide. We will also cover when it makes sense to upgrade and what changes between plans.
In this post
- The four Shopify plans at a glance
- Shopify Basic
- Shopify (standard plan)
- Shopify Advanced
- Shopify Plus
- Transaction fees and credit card rates
- When to upgrade your plan
- Decision framework
- Apps work the same on every plan
- Frequently asked questions
- Related reading
The four Shopify plans at a glance
Shopify has four plans for online stores: Basic ($39/month), Shopify ($105/month), Advanced ($399/month), and Plus (starting at $2,300/month). All prices are based on annual billing. Monthly billing is more expensive.
Every plan includes unlimited products, an online store, SSL certificate, abandoned cart recovery, Shopify Payments, and access to the full app store. The differences are in staff accounts, reporting, shipping discounts, transaction fees, and advanced features like custom reports and checkout customization.
Use the CraftShift Plan Comparison tool for a side-by-side view of all features. For an exact cost estimate based on your sales volume, try the Fee Calculator.
Shopify Basic – $39/month
Basic is the right starting point for most new stores. You get everything needed to sell online: product pages, checkout, discount codes, manual order creation, and basic analytics.
What you get:
- Unlimited products and product variants (up to 2,000 per product)
- 2 staff accounts
- Basic reports (sales, acquisition, behavior)
- Up to 77% shipping discount (USPS, UPS, DHL)
- Shopify Payments with 2.9% + 30 cents per online transaction
- 2% transaction fee if using a third-party payment gateway
What you do not get: Professional reports, custom report builder, third-party calculated shipping rates, and advanced discount features (like combining automatic discounts). You also get fewer inventory locations (up to 10).
Basic works well for stores doing under $10,000/month in revenue. At this volume, the higher credit card rates on Basic cost less than the price difference to the next plan.
Shopify (standard plan) – $105/month
The standard Shopify plan is where most growing stores land. It reduces credit card fees, adds professional reports, and gives you 5 staff accounts.
Key differences from Basic:
- 5 staff accounts (vs 2)
- Professional reports with more detail
- 2.6% + 30 cents per online transaction (vs 2.9%)
- 1% third-party transaction fee (vs 2%)
- Up to 88% shipping discounts
The credit card rate drops from 2.9% to 2.6%. That 0.3% difference saves you $30 for every $10,000 in sales. The plan costs $66 more per month than Basic ($105 vs $39). So you break even on the upgrade at around $22,000/month in credit card sales.
If you are consistently doing over $20,000/month, the standard Shopify plan pays for itself through lower transaction fees. Use the Fee Calculator with your actual numbers to see the exact crossover point.
Shopify Advanced – $399/month
Advanced is for established stores that need custom reporting, third-party calculated shipping, and the lowest standard credit card rates.
Key differences from Shopify:
- 15 staff accounts (vs 5)
- Custom report builder
- Third-party calculated shipping rates at checkout
- 2.4% + 30 cents per online transaction (vs 2.6%)
- 0.6% third-party transaction fee (vs 1%)
- 10 expansion stores (for international selling)
The upgrade from Shopify to Advanced costs $294/month more. The credit card rate improvement is 0.2% (from 2.6% to 2.4%). You would need around $147,000/month in credit card sales for the fee savings to offset the price difference.
Most stores upgrade to Advanced for the features, not the fee savings. If you need custom reports for investor reporting, calculated shipping rates for heavy or oversized items, or expansion stores for multi-country selling, Advanced is the right choice.
Shopify Plus – starting at $2,300/month
Plus is the enterprise tier. Pricing starts at $2,300/month or 0.25% of monthly revenue (whichever is higher), negotiated with Shopify directly.
What Plus adds:
- Checkout extensibility (custom checkout UI and logic)
- Shopify Functions for custom discounts, shipping, and payment logic
- Unlimited staff accounts
- Shopify Flow (automation tool) with advanced triggers
- B2B selling features (wholesale pricing, company accounts)
- Dedicated launch support and a merchant success manager
- 9 expansion stores included
Plus makes sense when you need checkout customization, B2B features, or are processing millions in annual revenue. Below $500K-$1M in annual sales, it is hard to justify the cost. Many features that used to be Plus-only (like Shopify Flow) are now available on lower plans.
Transaction fees and credit card rates
This is where the real cost difference between plans lives. Here is the breakdown:
Using Shopify Payments (credit card rates):
- Basic: 2.9% + 30 cents
- Shopify: 2.6% + 30 cents
- Advanced: 2.4% + 30 cents
- Plus: Negotiated (typically 2.15% + 30 cents)
Using a third-party payment gateway (additional fee on top of the gateway’s own fees):
- Basic: 2.0%
- Shopify: 1.0%
- Advanced: 0.6%
- Plus: 0.2%
If Shopify Payments is available in your country, use it. The third-party transaction fee on top of your gateway’s fees makes alternatives expensive. Use the Fee Calculator to see your total cost on each plan.
When to upgrade your plan
Do not upgrade based on optimism. Upgrade when the math works or when you need a feature that is only available on a higher plan.
Basic to Shopify: When you consistently do over $20,000/month in sales. The lower transaction fees offset the higher plan cost. Also upgrade if you need more than 2 staff accounts or professional reporting.
Shopify to Advanced: When you need custom reports, calculated shipping at checkout, or expansion stores for international selling. The fee savings alone rarely justify this upgrade unless you are processing over $100,000/month.
Advanced to Plus: When you need checkout customization, B2B features, or you are processing enough volume that negotiated rates save significant money. Most stores in the $1M-$5M/year range start evaluating Plus.
Decision framework
Answer these four questions:
1. What is your monthly revenue? Under $20K/month = Basic. $20K-$100K/month = Shopify. Over $100K/month = evaluate Advanced. Over $500K/month = evaluate Plus.
2. How many people need store access? 1-2 people = Basic. 3-5 = Shopify. 6-15 = Advanced. More = Plus.
3. Do you need custom reporting? Basic and Shopify reports cover most stores. If you need custom reports for investors, wholesale tracking, or advanced analytics, you need Advanced or Plus.
4. Do you sell B2B or need checkout customization? If yes, you likely need Plus. Shopify’s checkout extensibility is a Plus-only feature. If you just need a standard DTC checkout, any plan works.
Use the Plan Comparison tool to see all features side by side. Then run your revenue numbers through the Fee Calculator to find the plan with the lowest total cost for your volume.
Apps work the same on every plan
One thing that does not change between plans: app access and pricing. Every Shopify plan can install the same apps from the Shopify App Store, and app pricing is the same regardless of your plan.
Apps like Rubik Variant Images and Rubik Combined Listings charge flat monthly pricing regardless of whether you are on Basic or Plus. Your plan choice should not be influenced by app costs, because those stay the same.
What does change is how you set up your product catalog. If you are using separate products per color (which works well for SEO), you may want a combined listings app to connect them on the storefront. This strategy works on every plan. Read more about variant limits in 2026 and how they affect catalog structure.
For product images, you want each variant showing only its own photos in the gallery. This is handled by apps, not by your plan. Variant images and color swatches are must-haves regardless of which plan you choose.
Frequently asked questions
Which Shopify plan is best for beginners?
Basic at $39/month. It includes everything you need to launch and sell online. You can upgrade later as your revenue grows. Do not overpay for features you will not use yet.
Can I change my Shopify plan later?
Yes. You can upgrade or downgrade at any time from Settings > Plan. Upgrades take effect immediately. Downgrades take effect at the end of your current billing cycle. There is no penalty for changing plans.
Is Shopify Plus worth it?
It depends on your needs and revenue. Plus makes sense for stores processing over $500K-$1M annually that need checkout customization, B2B features, or significantly lower negotiated transaction rates. Below that revenue, the standard plans are more cost-effective.
Does my Shopify plan affect SEO?
No. All Shopify plans include the same SEO features: editable title tags, meta descriptions, alt text, auto-generated sitemaps, SSL, and canonical URLs. Your plan does not affect how Google indexes or ranks your store.
Do Shopify apps cost more on higher plans?
Almost never. App pricing is set by the app developer and is the same on every Shopify plan. Apps like Rubik Variant Images and Rubik Combined Listings charge a flat rate regardless of your plan tier.
What is the difference between Shopify Payments and third-party gateways?
Shopify Payments is Shopify’s built-in payment processor (powered by Stripe). Using it means you pay only the credit card rate for your plan. Third-party gateways like PayPal or Authorize.net charge their own fees plus Shopify adds an additional transaction fee (0.6%-2% depending on your plan).
Should I pay monthly or annually for Shopify?
Annual billing saves about 25% compared to monthly. If you are committed to running your store for at least a year, annual billing is the better deal. You can switch from monthly to annual billing at any time.
