What Shopify actually costs — and when moving up pays.
Shopify publishes four prices. What it doesn't publish is the point where each upgrade stops costing you money and starts saving it. That number is simple arithmetic, so here it is, along with what Plus unlocks and how the alternatives really compare.
What Shopify costs
Platform fee and card rate are the two numbers that matter. Everything else — apps, themes, development — sits on top and varies by store.
| Plan | Monthly | Annual billing | Online card rate | 3rd-party gateway | Staff |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | $39/mo | $29/mo | 2.9% + 30¢ | 2% | — |
| Grow | $105/mo | $79/mo | 2.7% + 30¢ | 1% | 5 |
| Advanced | $399/mo | $299/mo | 2.5% + 30¢ | 0.6% | 15 |
| Plus | from $2,300/mo | $2,500 on 1-yr term | 2.25% + 30¢ | 0.2% | Unlimited |
If you use Shopify Payments you pay only the card rate. Use a different gateway and Shopify adds a surcharge on top of your processor's own fees — 2% on Basic, falling to 0.2% on Plus. On a store doing $200,000 a month, the difference between Basic's 2% and Advanced's 0.6% is $2,800 a month, which dwarfs the $360 difference in plan fees. If you are tied to an external processor, that surcharge, not the sticker price, should drive your plan choice.
Plus is quoted at $2,500 a month on a one-year term or $2,300 on a three-year term, for one brand per contract. Above a certain volume Shopify switches you to a variable platform fee based on revenue and business model. Shopify does not publish that threshold or the percentage — figures you see quoted elsewhere are estimates, and the real number comes out of your sales conversation.
When each upgrade pays for itself
Every plan up costs more per month but charges less per card. Below is the monthly revenue where the lower rate cancels out the higher fee — arithmetic from the published figures above, using monthly billing.
These are breakeven points on card processing, not recommendations. Most brands move up well before the arithmetic says to, because they need a capability — more staff accounts, better reporting, a checkout change — and that is a perfectly good reason. The numbers are here so you know what the upgrade costs you when it is not paying for itself yet. On annual billing the thresholds shift to roughly $25,000, $110,000 and $800,000.
The platform tier is rarely what's holding a store back. It's worth knowing the number anyway, so the upgrade is a decision rather than a reflex.
What Plus unlocks that Advanced can't
If one of these is blocking you, Plus is worth it at almost any volume. If none of them is, Advanced does the same job for $399.
Checkout you can change
Shopify Functions and checkout extensibility let you alter discount logic, validation, shipping rules and what appears at checkout. On every plan below Plus, checkout is fixed. This is the single most common reason brands upgrade.
B2B without a second platform
Company accounts, customer-specific catalogues and price lists, payment terms and quantity rules — running alongside DTC on one admin and one inventory pool. Below Plus you are stitching this together with apps.
Nine expansion stores
Regional or brand storefronts included in the base fee, each with its own currency, language and catalogue. Beyond nine, $300 a month each or a revenue share.
Headroom
Unlimited staff accounts, higher API limits, and Shopify Flow for automation. The constraints that make a growing team work around the platform instead of with it.
Shopify vs the other platforms
An honest comparison has to start with a caveat: Shopify is the only one of these that publishes a price you can act on.
| Platform | Pricing | What you take on | Best when |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shopify Plus | Published: from $2,300/mo | Platform fee, apps, build. Hosting, security and PCI are Shopify's problem. | You want enterprise capability without running infrastructure. |
| BigCommerce | Contractual at the enterprise tier; entry pricing published | Similar hosted model, smaller app ecosystem. | Complex catalogues and native B2B without Plus-level fees. |
| Adobe Commerce | Quote only, not published. Third-party estimates start around $22,000/yr and climb well past $100,000. | Licence, hosting, security patching and a development team. | Deep customisation and you already have engineers to maintain it. |
| WooCommerce | Free plugin | Everything: hosting, performance, security, updates, developer time. | Low volume, existing WordPress, in-house technical help. |
Sticker price is the least useful number. Add the platform fee, the payment surcharge if you are not using the native processor, apps, hosting where it applies, and the engineering hours to keep it patched. Adobe and BigCommerce enterprise pricing is negotiated, so public figures — including the ranges above — are estimates. Get written quotes against your own GMV, catalogue size and integrations before comparing anything.
What a migration involves
8–20 weeks
A redesign on an existing Shopify store runs 8 to 12 weeks. A full replatform from Magento, BigCommerce or a custom stack runs 14 to 20, depending on catalogue size and integrations.
Search rankings
Ranking loss after a replatform nearly always traces to missing redirects, dropped metadata or a slower site. Map every URL, carry metadata across, submit the new sitemap, watch Search Console for a month.
Data and integrations
Products, variants, customers, orders and content move over. The expensive part is usually the integrations — ERP, 3PL, POS, subscriptions — not the storefront.
Not necessarily
Shopify assigns Plus merchants a launch manager and plenty of brands migrate themselves. An agency earns its fee on the parts that are expensive to get wrong.
Shopify and Shopify Plus, answered
How much does Shopify cost?
Four plans, billed monthly: Basic $39, Grow $105, Advanced $399, and Plus from $2,300. Annual billing drops the first three to $29, $79 and $299. Those are platform fees only — card processing, apps and any build work sit on top. Figures from Shopify's pricing page, checked October 2026.
What is Shopify Plus, and how is it different?
Plus is Shopify's enterprise tier. The storefront works the same way; what changes is control. You get checkout customisation through Shopify Functions and checkout extensibility, the main store plus nine expansion stores, the native B2B channel, unlimited staff accounts, higher API limits, and Shopify Flow automation.
How much is Shopify Plus exactly?
$2,500 a month on a one-year term, or $2,300 on a three-year term, for one brand per contract. Above a certain volume Shopify moves you to a variable platform fee based on revenue and business model — it does not publish the threshold or the percentage, so that number comes from your sales conversation. Treat any specific figure you read elsewhere as an estimate.
At what revenue should I upgrade?
On card rates alone: about $33,000 a month to justify Grow over Basic, about $147,000 for Advanced, and about $760,000 for Plus. Those are breakevens, not recommendations — most brands move up well before the fee math says to, because they need a capability rather than a saving.
Is Shopify Plus worth it below that threshold?
Often yes, but for capability, not cost. If checkout changes would lift conversion, or wholesale is running on spreadsheets, or you need regional storefronts, Plus pays for itself through what it unlocks. If none of those apply, Advanced does the same job for $399.
What does Shopify Plus include that Advanced doesn't?
Checkout customisation, the native B2B channel with company accounts and price lists, nine expansion stores in the base fee, unlimited staff accounts, Shopify Functions and Flow, higher API limits, and a 0.2% third-party gateway fee instead of 0.6%. Additional stores beyond the nine are $300 a month each or a revenue share.
How does Shopify compare to BigCommerce, Adobe Commerce or WooCommerce?
The honest headline is transparency. Shopify publishes its price; BigCommerce's enterprise tier is contractual and Adobe Commerce is quote-only, with third-party license estimates running from roughly $22,000 to well over $100,000 a year before implementation. WooCommerce is free as a plugin but you own hosting, security, updates and developer time. Get written quotes using your own GMV before comparing.
Do I pay extra transaction fees on Shopify?
Not if you use Shopify Payments — you pay only the card rate: 2.9% + 30¢ on Basic down to 2.25% + 30¢ on Plus. Use a different gateway and Shopify adds a surcharge: 2% on Basic, 1% on Grow, 0.6% on Advanced, 0.2% on Plus. At volume that surcharge usually matters more than the plan fee.
How long does moving to Shopify or Shopify Plus take?
A redesign on an existing Shopify store runs about 8 to 12 weeks. A full build or a replatform from Magento, BigCommerce or a custom stack runs about 14 to 20 weeks, depending on catalogue size and integrations.
Will migrating hurt my search rankings?
It does not have to. Ranking loss after a replatform almost always traces to missing redirects, dropped metadata or a slower site. Map every URL, carry metadata across, submit the new sitemap, and watch Search Console for the first month.
Can Shopify handle B2B and wholesale?
On Plus, natively — company accounts, customer-specific catalogues and price lists, payment terms and quantity rules, running alongside DTC on one admin and one inventory pool. Below Plus you are relying on apps, which is workable but rarely clean.
Do I need an agency to move to Shopify Plus?
No. Shopify assigns a launch manager and plenty of brands migrate themselves. An agency earns its fee on the parts that are expensive to get wrong: data migration, SEO preservation, integrations and checkout work.
Pricing verified against Shopify's own pricing pages in October 2026. Shopify changes these, so check shopify.com/pricing before making a decision on these figures.
Questions about your own store?
Send the store and a rough monthly revenue and we'll tell you which plan the numbers point to — including when the answer is "stay where you are". No deck, no follow-up sequence. We reply within one business day.
hello@nine15.comNINE15 — Shopify Plus Partner
Encinitas, California · working with brands across the US
858-775-0221
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