Shopify's plan prices look simple until you calculate transaction fees and app subscriptions. The subscription fee is only the entry ticket — transaction fee math determines whether upgrading tiers saves money.
2026 Shopify Core Tiers
| Plan | Monthly (Billed Monthly) | Annual Rate | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | $5/mo | — | Social media buy buttons, no storefront |
| Basic | $39/mo | ~$29/mo | Solo operators, launching stores |
| Grow | $105/mo | ~$79/mo | Growing teams (includes 5 staff accounts) |
| Advanced | $399/mo | ~$299/mo | High-volume stores ($10k+/mo revenue) |
| Plus | $2,300+/mo | — | Enterprise, custom checkout, B2B |
Note: Basic plan includes 0 extra staff accounts beyond the store owner, forcing merchants needing team logins to upgrade to Grow.
Transaction Fee & Gateway Math
Using Shopify Payments eliminates third-party platform surcharges. If you use a third-party gateway (like external Stripe or PayPal), Shopify adds a transaction fee surcharge: - Basic: +2.0% surcharge - Grow: +1.0% surcharge - Advanced: +0.6% surcharge - Plus: +0.2% surcharge
Shopify Payments Credit Card Rates - Basic: 2.9% + 30¢ online (2.6% + 10¢ in-person) - Grow: 2.7% + 30¢ online (2.5% + 10¢ in-person) - Advanced: 2.5% + 30¢ online (2.4% + 10¢ in-person)
When Upgrading Pays for Itself
On a store doing 1,000 orders/month at an $80 average order value ($80,000 monthly volume): - Card fee savings between Basic (2.9%) and Advanced (2.5%) equals ~$320/month. - The plan upgrade price difference ($399 vs $39) is $360/month. - Takeaway: Upgrade to Advanced when processing volume savings surpass the plan price difference (typically around $10k+/mo revenue).
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FAQs
What is the cheapest Shopify plan with a full storefront? Shopify Basic ($39/mo) is the entry plan for a real online store. The $5 Starter plan does not include a website.
Does using an external payment gateway cost extra on Shopify? Yes. Using third-party payment gateways incurs a 0.5% to 2.0% platform surcharge on top of standard gateway processing fees.
Does Shopify Basic allow extra staff logins? No. Shopify Basic includes 0 staff logins beyond the store owner. Adding staff accounts requires upgrading to Grow.