Shopify Subscription Plans

Choosing a Shopify plan comes down to your current revenue, team size, and whether you need advanced reporting or international selling features. All paid plans include an online store, unlimited products, and Shopify Payments. The differences are transaction fees, staff account limits, and reporting tools.

Shopify Plans at a Glance: Full Comparison Table

Revenue Breakeven: When Each Plan Upgrade Pays for Itself

Every Shopify plan upgrade costs more per month, but saves on transaction fees. This table shows the exact monthly revenue at which each upgrade breaks even based on transaction fee savings alone. At these thresholds, the fee savings cover the cost difference between plans.

At $22,000/month revenue, the Shopify plan's lower transaction fees save exactly $66 per month, covering the upgrade cost. At $147,000/month, Advanced pays for itself. If you're below these thresholds, the upgrade doesn't pay back purely on fees, though additional features (staff accounts, report builder) may justify it earlier.

What Are the Current Shopify Subscription Plans and Prices?

Shopify offers 5 plans in 2026: Starter at $5/month, Basic at $39/month ($29/month annually), Shopify at $105/month ($79/month annually), Advanced at $399/month ($299/month annually), and Shopify Plus starting at $2,300/month. All prices are in USD and billed in your store's currency.

Shopify Starter Plan: $5/month

• Best for: Creators and individuals selling via social media, messaging apps, or an existing website. No online store is included.
• Transaction fees: 5% per transaction (online); Shopify Payments not available.
• Key feature: Buy Button and shareable product links you embed anywhere.

Shopify Basic Plan: $39/month ($29/month annually)

• Best for: New stores with under $5,000/month in revenue just establishing an online presence.
• Transaction fees: 2.9% + 30¢ online; 2.7% in-person. Third-party payment fee: 2%.
• Key features: Full online store, unlimited products, 2 staff accounts, basic reports, abandoned cart recovery.

Shopify Plan: $105/month ($79/month annually)

• Best for: Growing stores with $5,000-$20,000/month in revenue needing better reporting and lower fees.
• Transaction fees: 2.6% + 30¢ online; 2.5% in-person. Third-party payment fee: 1%.
• Key features: 5 staff accounts, professional reports, gift cards, USPS Priority Mail Cubic pricing.

Shopify Advanced Plan: $399/month ($299/month annually)

• Best for: High-volume stores over $20,000/month where the 0.2% lower transaction fee and advanced reports provide clear ROI.
• Transaction fees: 2.4% + 30¢ online; 2.4% in-person. Third-party payment fee: 0.5%.
• Key features: 15 staff accounts, advanced report builder, third-party calculated shipping rates, eCommerce automations.

Shopify Plus: From $2,300/month

• Best for: Enterprise retailers with over $1M/year in revenue needing dedicated support, custom checkouts, and B2B selling.
• Transaction fees: 0.2% (with Shopify Payments). Custom rates negotiated directly.
• Key features: Unlimited staff accounts, Shopify Flow, custom checkout with Shopify Functions, dedicated launch manager.

Shopify's Current Trial and Introductory Offer

Shopify offers a 3-day free trial with no credit card required. You can build your store, add products, and configure settings before paying anything. After the 3-day trial, Shopify frequently runs a $1/month for the first 3 months promotional offer on Basic, Shopify, and Advanced plans. This promotion is available to new accounts in most markets and appears on the sign-up page.

After the promotional period ends, you're charged at the full monthly rate for the plan you chose. The $1/month promotion is not available for Shopify Plus. If you need to evaluate the platform before committing, the 3-day trial followed by the $1/month offer gives you about 3.5 months to build and test your store for under $4 total.

Which Shopify Plan Should You Choose?

Choose Basic if you're just starting out or earning under $5,000/month, it covers all core eCommerce needs. Upgrade to the Shopify plan once monthly revenue consistently exceeds $5,000, since the lower transaction fees (2.6% vs 2.9%) will save more than the $66/month plan difference.

Advanced is worth the cost when you're doing over $20,000/month in sales or need the advanced report builder for decision-making. Shopify Plus makes sense at $1M+ annual revenue when you need dedicated account management, B2B pricing, or a fully customized checkout experience.

Shopify Plan Feature Overview: What Each Upgrade Actually Adds

The fee difference between plans gets most of the attention, but the feature unlocks are often the real reason to upgrade:

• Basic to Shopify: You gain professional reports (detailed sales by product, customer, and traffic source), 5 staff accounts instead of 2, and USPS Priority Mail Cubic pricing (meaningful savings on small, heavy packages). The lower transaction fee alone justifies the upgrade once you hit $5,000/month in sales.
• Shopify to Advanced: The key addition is the advanced report builder, a custom report editor that lets you filter, group, and sort data in ways the standard reports don't support. You also get third-party calculated shipping rates at checkout (e.g., real-time FedEx, UPS rates based on cart weight and destination) and eCommerce automations (basic workflow triggers). 15 staff accounts vs 5 is significant for teams with dedicated roles.
• Advanced to Plus: Plus is not just a larger plan, it's a different product. You get access to Shopify Functions (custom checkout logic written in code), Shopify Flow for complex multi-step automations, a dedicated B2B portal, unlimited staff accounts, and a launch manager who helps you through setup and migrations. The 0.2% transaction fee is available with Shopify Payments; third-party processor fees are negotiated separately.

Shopify Plans vs. Other Platforms

If you're deciding between Shopify and a competitor, here's how the subscription costs and core features compare at each tier:

The key takeaway: Shopify's entry prices match BigCommerce at the same tier, but Shopify charges a platform transaction fee if you don't use Shopify Payments, while BigCommerce does not. For stores that can't or don't want to use Shopify Payments (e.g., certain high-risk categories), BigCommerce may cost less at high volumes. Wix is cheaper but lacks the inventory management and multi-channel features that growing stores need. WooCommerce has no platform fee but requires self-hosted WordPress, which adds technical overhead most eCommerce merchants don't have time to manage.

Shopify Plan Change Checklist

Before upgrading or downgrading, use this checklist to avoid surprises:

• Calculate your monthly revenue to confirm the upgrade pays back on transaction fees (see breakeven table above).
• Check how many staff accounts you currently use under Settings > Users and Permissions.
• Review which reports you're currently using; verify the new plan includes them.
• If on annual billing, note that downgrades won't refund the unused months.
• If you use a third-party payment processor (not Shopify Payments), calculate your current third-party fees. Advanced drops this to 0.5%, which may justify the upgrade for high-volume stores using Stripe or PayPal.
• Upgrades take effect immediately; downgrades apply at the next billing cycle start.

What Are the Hidden Costs of Shopify Plans?

Beyond the monthly plan fee, budget for Shopify apps ($0-$500+/month depending on your stack), premium subscription apps, a custom domain ($14/year via Shopify), and transaction fees if you use a payment processor other than Shopify Payments. Third-party payment fees range from 0.5% (Advanced) to 2% (Basic).

Using Shopify Payments eliminates third-party transaction fees entirely. It's available in the US, UK, Canada, Australia, and most EU countries. Custom domains start at $14/year and remove the ".myshopify.com" suffix, which is important for brand credibility.

What Happens When You Cancel or Pause a Shopify Plan?

If you cancel your Shopify plan, your store goes offline: customers can no longer view products or place orders. Your data (products, customers, orders) is retained for 2 years after cancellation so you can reactivate if needed. Your custom domain is not deleted but will stop pointing to your Shopify store; you'd need to update DNS settings if you point it elsewhere.

If you want to stop paying full plan fees without fully closing your store, Shopify offers a Pause and Build plan at $9/month. Your storefront is hidden from customers, but you retain admin access to edit products, themes, and settings. This is useful for seasonal stores or merchants taking a break from active selling.

Downgrading from Advanced to Shopify or Basic takes effect at the start of the next billing cycle. Annual billing savings are not refunded if you downgrade mid-year. If you believe you are owed a refund for a billing error or accidental renewal, see our guide on how to request a Shopify subscription refund.

Can You Switch Between Shopify Plans at Any Time?

You can upgrade or downgrade your Shopify plan at any time from your Shopify admin under Settings > Plan. Upgrades take effect immediately; downgrades apply at the start of the next billing cycle. Annual plan savings (up to 25%) are forfeited if you downgrade before the year ends.

Once you've chosen the right plan, the next step is putting it to work. Our guide on increasing Shopify store revenue covers the conversion and retention strategies that compound over time.