Shopify Pricing Explained: Which Plan Is Right for Your Store? | Marko Design

Shopify's monthly subscription is only part of the picture. Plans differ by features, staff accounts, reporting, and payment rates — and themes, apps, and agency work add on top. Here is how to read the pricing page and pick a plan that matches your stage.

What you pay Shopify every month

Shopify sells subscription plans (often billed monthly or annually with a discount). Exact prices vary by country and change over time — always check shopify.com/pricing for current numbers. In broad terms:

Basic — solo founders and new stores with a lean catalog
Grow (formerly Shopify) — growing brands needing better reports and more staff accounts
Advanced — higher volume, advanced reporting, lower card rates
Plus — enterprise: custom checkout, B2B, high GMV, dedicated support

Most merchants start on Basic or Grow during trial and upgrade when reporting, staff seats, or transaction economics justify it.

Transaction and payment fees

Beyond subscription, watch payment processing:

Shopify Payments — card rates depend on plan and country; using it avoids extra Shopify transaction fees on third-party gateways
Third-party gateways — PayPal, Stripe, etc. may incur an additional Shopify fee on lower plans if Shopify Payments is not your primary processor
International cards and currency conversion — factor into margin on cross-border sales

At higher GMV, the rate difference between Basic and Advanced can alone justify an upgrade — run the math on your average monthly sales.

Not sure which plan fits?

We help new merchants choose during free store setup — registration guidance plus 20 support hours.

Apply for free setup Launch guide

Plan features that actually matter

Basic

Enough to launch: online store, unlimited products, discount codes, manual order creation, basic reports. Good for validating product-market fit before paying for advanced analytics.

Grow

Adds professional reports, more staff accounts, and better shipping discounts in many regions. Typical upgrade point when you have employees touching the admin daily.

Advanced

Custom reports, lower payment rates, and tools for international pricing workflows. Consider when revenue is steady and you make decisions from data weekly.

Plus

Starts around enterprise GMV thresholds. Custom checkout extensibility, Shopify Functions at scale, wholesale/B2B features, and launch engineering. Not a day-one choice for most indie brands.

Hidden costs beyond the plan

Themes — $0 to $400 one-time; free vs paid guide
Apps — $0–$300+/month depending on stack (email, reviews, subscriptions)
Domain — ~$10–20/year if not bundled
Development and support — theme tweaks, migrations, monthly retainers
Marketing — ads, email platform, photography (often larger than Shopify itself)

Budget for total cost of ownership, not just the subscription line item.

Annual vs monthly billing

Paying annually upfront usually saves roughly 10–25% versus monthly — worthwhile if you are committed to the platform for a year. During trial, stay monthly until you are confident.

Which plan should you pick?

Pre-revenue / testing — Basic on trial
Consistent sales, small team — Grow
High volume, data-driven ops — Advanced
Enterprise, B2B, custom checkout — talk to Shopify Plus sales

You can change plans without rebuilding the store — upgrade when metrics say so, not on day one.