How Much Does Shopify Cost Per Month? Full Breakdown

So, how much does Shopify actually cost each month? The conversation starts with the three main subscription plans: Basic at $29/month, Shopify at $79/month, and Advanced at $299/month, assuming you pay annually.

Think of these prices as the starting point. They're the foundation of your monthly costs, but your total investment will flex depending on a few other key factors we'll get into.

Unpacking Your Initial Shopify Investment

Figuring out your Shopify costs is a bit like choosing a new car. You see the base sticker price, but the final number on the dotted line depends on the trim level and the features you add. Shopify works in a very similar way, with different tiers built for businesses at every stage of their journey.

Your first big decision is which of the three core subscription plans to pick. Each one comes with a different set of features, transaction fees, and support levels, designed to fit everyone from a side-hustler just starting out to a fast-growing brand.

Core Subscription Tiers

Shopify lays out a clear path with its monthly plans, each tailored to different business needs.

• Basic Shopify: Priced at $39 per month (or $29/month billed annually), this plan has all the essential tools you need to get an online store off the ground.
• Shopify: At $105 per month (or $79/month billed annually), this is the go-to for established businesses that are ready to grow.
• Advanced Shopify: For $399 per month (or $299/month billed annually), this plan is built for scaling businesses that need sophisticated features and reporting.
• Shopify Plus: This is the enterprise-level solution starting at $2,300 per month for high-volume merchants.

If you're looking for a deeper dive into the nitty-gritty of each plan, the team at Analyzify has a great breakdown.

To make this even clearer, here’s a quick overview of Shopify’s main plans.

Shopify Core Monthly Subscription Plans at a Glance

This table breaks down the standard monthly pricing for each of Shopify's main plans and highlights the type of business each one is best suited for.

As you can see, the right plan really depends on where your business is today—and where you plan to take it.

The infographic below really drives home that no matter which plan you pick, you get the absolute essentials, like a beautiful online storefront and access to 24/7 support.

Ultimately, your monthly subscription is like paying the rent for your digital storefront. It's the most predictable piece of your Shopify budget and the very first number you'll need to account for.

Choosing a plan isn't just about your current sales volume; it's about anticipating your needs for the next 6-12 months. Picking a plan with room to grow can save you from the hassle of migrating or upgrading too soon.

Decoding Each Shopify Subscription Plan

Alright, let's look under the hood of each Shopify plan. Picking a subscription is a lot like choosing the right vehicle for a road trip. You wouldn't take a compact car on a cross-country hauling job, right? You need to match the engine and the features to the journey ahead, not just the starting line.

The monthly price is just one part of the story. The real value is buried in the specific tools, fee structures, and capabilities each tier unlocks. These things will directly impact your efficiency, profitability, and how smoothly you can scale up.

The Basic Plan: Your Reliable Sedan

Think of the Basic Shopify plan as the perfect starter car. It’s dependable, gets great mileage for the price, and has everything you absolutely need to get from A to B. It’s built for new businesses, side hustles, or anyone just dipping their toes in the water with a new product idea.

With this plan, you get all the essentials to get your store off the ground.

• Two Staff Accounts: This lets you and a business partner or your first employee manage the store, handle orders, and update products without sharing a password.
• Basic Reports: You get a dashboard with the fundamental numbers: where your customers are coming from, what’s selling, and your overall performance. It’s the core data you need to make early decisions.
• Up to 1,000 Inventory Locations: You can track your stock across multiple places, whether that’s a small warehouse, a retail shop, or the corner of your garage.
• 24/7 Support: Having access to Shopify's support team day or night is a lifeline, especially when you’re figuring things out for the first time.

The Basic plan is the way to go if your main goal is to get a professional-looking store online and start making your first sales. For a more detailed breakdown, our complete guide to Shopify pricing puts all the features side-by-side.

The Shopify Plan: The Versatile SUV

Once your business starts picking up steam, you’ll outgrow that sedan pretty quickly. The Shopify plan is your upgrade to a versatile SUV. It’s got more power, more room for your team, and better performance features to handle the growing traffic and sales volume.

This is Shopify’s most popular plan for a reason—it hits that perfect sweet spot for a growing business.

For many store owners, this is the tier where the investment really starts to pay for itself. The lower transaction fees and professional reports alone can often justify the price jump as your sales volume climbs.

Here are the key upgrades you get:

• Five Staff Accounts: As your team grows to include a marketer, a customer service rep, or a fulfillment specialist, you can give everyone their own secure login.
• Professional Reports: This is a huge step up. You unlock more detailed sales reports, customer analytics, and marketing insights that help you make much smarter, data-driven decisions.
• Lower Transaction Fees: The credit card rates are lower than on the Basic plan, which means you keep more money from every single sale. Over hundreds of orders, this adds up fast.

If your sales are becoming consistent and you’re ready for tools that give you a clearer picture of your business, this is the logical next move.

The Advanced Plan: The High-Performance Truck

For businesses that are scaling fast and dealing with serious order volumes, the Advanced Shopify plan is the heavy-duty truck of the lineup. It’s engineered to haul a heavy payload with maximum efficiency, offering the best rates, the most powerful analytics, and the highest level of control.

This tier is for established businesses that need sophisticated tools to manage complex operations.

• Fifteen Staff Accounts: This accommodates a much larger team with distinct roles, giving everyone the specific permissions they need to do their jobs without tripping over each other.
• Custom Report Builder: This is the game-changer. You can build your own reports from scratch, slicing and dicing your data to get the exact insights you need for high-level strategic planning.
• Lowest Transaction Fees: This plan gets you the absolute best credit card rates and third-party transaction fees Shopify offers. For high-volume sellers, the savings can be substantial.
• Third-Party Calculated Shipping Rates: This feature automatically pulls real-time shipping rates from carriers like USPS or Canada Post right at checkout. It builds trust with customers and protects your margins.

Jumping to this plan is a strategic move to slash operational costs and gain granular control over your data as you continue to scale.

The True Cost Beyond Your Monthly Subscription

Think of your monthly Shopify subscription as the rent for your storefront. It’s the fixed, predictable fee that gets you in the door and gives you the space to do business. But just like a physical shop, paying the rent is only the beginning.

To get the full picture, you also need to account for the "utilities"—the other essential costs that keep the lights on and the sales flowing. These are the variable expenses, like transaction fees, that pop up once you start making money.

The Critical Role of Transaction Fees

This is one of the most important hidden costs to wrap your head around, as it directly impacts your profit on every single sale. Shopify gives you two main ways to process payments, and your choice matters. A lot.

The first, and most straightforward path, is using Shopify Payments, the platform's own built-in payment processor. When you use it, Shopify doesn't charge you its own transaction fee. You simply pay the standard credit card processing rate, which actually gets a little cheaper as you upgrade your plan.

The second path involves using a third-party payment gateway like PayPal or Authorize.net. If you go this route, Shopify adds its own transaction fee on top of whatever your chosen gateway charges. This extra fee is 2.0% on the Basic plan, 1.0% on the Shopify plan, and 0.5% on the Advanced plan. It’s a crucial detail that can significantly change your total monthly bill.

For most merchants, sticking with Shopify Payments is a no-brainer. That extra fee for using a third-party gateway is Shopify’s way of covering the costs of integrating external systems, making their native option the clear winner for saving money.

This fee structure is a massive part of Shopify's business model. To put it in perspective, in the last quarter of 2023, Shopify brought in $525 million from subscriptions. But it made a staggering $1.6 billion from "merchant solutions," which includes these payment processing fees. It really shows how much these variable costs add up.

Shopify Transaction Fee Comparison

To make this crystal clear, let's break down the fees side-by-side. The table below shows you exactly what you'll pay in credit card rates with Shopify Payments versus the penalty fee you'll incur for using an external gateway.

As you can see, the incentive to use Shopify Payments is strong. Not only are the base credit card rates more competitive on higher-tier plans, but the penalty for not using it drops, too.

The Cost of Your Storefront: Themes

Your theme is your store's digital curb appeal and interior design all in one. It dictates the look, feel, and flow of your entire site, making it a powerful tool for defining your brand.

Shopify offers plenty of fantastic free themes that are professionally designed, fully mobile-responsive, and supported by Shopify's own team. For a new business, a free theme is often all you need to get a beautiful, functional store up and running without spending a dime on design.

If you want to stand out, premium themes are the next step up. They usually come with a one-time fee of $200 to $400 and unlock more advanced features, deeper customization, and more unique design aesthetics that can help separate your brand from the pack.

Budgeting for Essential Shopify Apps

One of Shopify's biggest superpowers is its App Store. It’s like having an entire team of specialized employees on call, ready to be "hired" whenever you need them. Need to add customer reviews, launch an email campaign, or streamline your shipping? There’s an app for that.

While many great apps are free, the most powerful ones often come with a monthly subscription, with costs ranging from $10 to over $100 per month for a single app. It’s incredibly easy for these costs to sneak up on you, so you need to be strategic.

Treat every app like an investment, not just another tool. Before you click install, ask yourself: Does this solve a real problem? Will it generate a clear return? Growing on Shopify also means investing in marketing, and exploring effective Shopify influencer marketing strategies is another key "cost" that drives growth beyond the platform itself. By carefully choosing your apps, you ensure you're only paying for tools that genuinely help your bottom line.

When to Consider Shopify Plus for Your Business

If the standard Shopify plans are reliable work trucks built for everyday business, then Shopify Plus is the custom-built freight train. It’s an entirely different class of ecommerce, engineered for high-volume, enterprise-level brands that have simply outgrown what the other plans can offer. This isn't just another tier; it’s a strategic leap into serious scalability and control.

Naturally, the conversation around Shopify Plus quickly turns to its price tag. With costs kicking off at $2,300 per month, it’s a significant jump from the Advanced plan. But for the right business, this investment unlocks a powerhouse of tools and dedicated support that are non-negotiable for large-scale operations.

This plan is for merchants who have moved past the initial growth phase and are now managing complex, high-stakes ecommerce ecosystems. It’s the logical next step when your brand demands more power, more customization, and more personalized support than any standard plan could ever provide.

Who Needs the Power of Shopify Plus?

Shopify Plus is specifically built for businesses hitting critical milestones or facing specific operational bottlenecks. It’s less about your industry and more about your scale and complexity.

You should be seriously looking at Shopify Plus if your business:

• Processes a massive volume of orders: We’re talking about handling thousands of transactions per minute during peak events like Black Friday. Plus is designed to absorb huge traffic spikes without even breaking a sweat.
• Manages multiple international storefronts: Plus lets you run up to nine expansion stores from a single backend. This massively simplifies global operations, localization, and handling different currencies.
• Requires deep checkout customization: Standard plans lock down the checkout process. Plus, however, gives you access to the checkout.liquid file, allowing for a fully branded and optimized checkout experience that can seriously lift conversion rates.
• Needs a dedicated support system: Every Plus merchant gets a dedicated Merchant Success Manager. Think of this person as your strategic partner inside Shopify, helping you navigate challenges and squeeze every last drop of value out of the platform.

Shopify Plus is for brands where downtime isn't an option and where small operational efficiencies translate directly into millions in revenue. It's the infrastructure for businesses playing in the big leagues.

Beyond these core advantages, Plus also offers unlimited staff accounts, access to specialized apps, and lower transaction fees that become incredibly cost-effective once you hit a certain sales volume. For a complete breakdown of the fee structures and to see the numbers for yourself, our guide on Shopify Plus pricing plans and its calculator offers a detailed analysis. When your brand’s ambition outpaces standard features, Shopify Plus provides the robust framework you need to compete at an elite level.

How to Choose the Right Shopify Plan for You

Feeling stuck between Shopify's plans? I get it. The key is to stop thinking about which plan is "best" and start asking which one is best for you—right now. Let's skip the dry feature lists and get into the practical questions that will point you to the smartest choice for your business.

Think of it like choosing a backpack for a hike. You don't haul a massive expedition pack for a short day trip, and a tiny daypack won't cut it for a week-long trek through the mountains. Your Shopify plan needs to match your journey.

Starting Your Journey: The Basic Plan

Just launching your first product? Turning that side hustle into a real business? The Basic Shopify plan is your perfect starting point, hands down. It gives you absolutely everything you need to get a professional store online without burying you in features you won't touch for months.

This plan is the go-to if you are:

• A new entrepreneur just testing out a business idea.
• Mainly selling in-person but want a simple, clean online presence.
• Running the whole show by yourself or with a single partner.

The name of the game here is validation. You need to prove your concept and get those first sales rolling in. Basic gives you the essential tools to do just that without a big upfront cost, letting you focus on what really matters: getting started.

Gaining Momentum: The Shopify Plan

Is your team starting to grow? Finding yourself wishing you could dig deeper into your sales reports and customer behavior? These are the classic signs that you're ready for the Shopify plan. There's a reason it's the most popular option—it’s built for businesses that are starting to hit their stride.

Upgrading to this plan makes total sense when:

• Your monthly sales are becoming consistent and are on a clear upward trend.
• You've brought on your first few employees and need more than two staff accounts.
• You do the math and realize the lower transaction fees will actually save you more than the monthly price jump.

This upgrade is one of the few that genuinely pays for itself. The savings from the lower credit card fees combined with the insights from professional reports can directly boost your bottom line, easily justifying the step up.

Scaling to New Heights: The Advanced Plan

Are you juggling a complex international operation with a growing team? Need pinpoint control over shipping logistics and the power to build custom reports from scratch? This is exactly what the Advanced Shopify plan was designed for. It’s for businesses that are scaling fast and need serious tools to manage that complexity without missing a beat.

It's time to consider the Advanced plan if you:

• Have a high sales volume where the extra 0.5% cut in transaction fees translates into significant monthly savings.
• Run a larger team of 5-15 people who all need specific permissions in the backend.
• Need to integrate third-party calculated shipping rates to give your customers accurate, real-time pricing at checkout.

This plan isn't just another subscription; it's a strategic investment in optimizing your operations at scale. It ensures your monthly Shopify cost is delivering the heavy-duty features a large business needs to thrive.

Common Questions About Shopify Costs

Let's clear up some of the most common questions that pop up when you're trying to nail down your Shopify budget. Getting these final details sorted will help you finalize your numbers and move forward with confidence, knowing exactly what to expect.

Can I Use Shopify for Free?

Not for a live, selling store, but they do have a great system for getting started. Shopify offers a free trial, which is usually 3 days, that gives you full backstage access. You can build your store, upload products, and really kick the tires on all the features before you have to commit a single dollar.

After that trial, they almost always roll out an introductory offer, something like getting your first few months for just $1/month. This gives you an incredibly cheap runway to actually launch your business and start making sales before the standard monthly billing kicks in.

How Can I Reduce My Monthly Shopify Costs?

The most straightforward way to lower your monthly bill is to pay annually. If you pay for your plan upfront for the year, Shopify typically gives you a discount of up to 25% compared to paying month-to-month. That’s a pretty significant saving right off the bat.

Beyond the subscription itself, there are a couple of smart moves you can make:

• Use Shopify Payments: This is a big one. Using Shopify’s own payment processor means you completely avoid the extra transaction fees they charge for using third-party gateways. Those fees range from 0.5% to 2.0% on every sale, so this adds up fast.
• Be Smart with Apps and Themes: It's easy to get carried away here. Start with a high-quality free theme—many are excellent—and only add paid apps that you know will provide a clear, measurable return on your investment.

What Happens If I Need to Upgrade or Downgrade?

Shopify is built to be flexible because they know businesses grow and change. You can switch your subscription plan anytime you want, right from your store's admin dashboard. The whole process is seamless and designed to adapt to your needs without causing any disruption.

When you upgrade, you'll pay a prorated fee for the difference in cost and immediately get access to the new features. If you decide to downgrade, your new, lower rate will kick in on your next billing cycle, and your features will adjust to match the new plan.

This flexibility is honestly one of the best parts of the platform. You’re never locked into a plan that doesn’t fit anymore, which means your costs can always stay aligned with where your business is at right now.

Are Domain and Email Costs Included?

Nope, these are separate. While Shopify gives you a free .myshopify.com address to get started, you'll absolutely want a professional domain name (yourstore.com) to build a credible brand. These usually run about $15-$20 per year from any domain registrar.

Likewise, Shopify doesn't include email hosting. If you want a professional email address like info@yourstore.com, you'll need to use a third-party service. Most people go with something like Google Workspace or Zoho Mail.

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At ECORN, we specialize in turning your Shopify store into a high-performance sales machine. Whether you need expert development, conversion rate optimization, or strategic guidance, our team is ready to help you scale. Explore our flexible Shopify solutions and start your project today.