Shopify Plans: Pricing, Features & Which to Choose

Shopify plans overview 2026

Shopify offers five pricing plans in 2026, ranging from $5 to over $2,300 per month. Each plan targets a different stage of business growth, from social sellers to enterprise operations. All plans include unlimited bandwidth, a free SSL certificate, and access to Shopify Payments, according to the official Shopify pricing page.

The plan you choose affects more than your monthly bill. It determines your transaction fee rates, the number of staff accounts, reporting depth, and shipping discount levels. For a complete breakdown of all Shopify Costs, start with the subscription and work outward.

In early 2026, Shopify renamed its mid-tier plan from the "Shopify" plan to "Grow". Pricing and features stayed the same. If you see references to the "Shopify plan" at $105/mo elsewhere, that is now the Grow plan.

For a deeper look at how these prices break down month by month, including taxes and add-ons, see our Shopify Monthly Costs Breakdown. The subscription is only the starting point.

All Shopify plans in detail

Each Shopify plan is built for a specific type of seller. The differences go beyond price. Here is what you actually get at each tier, based on the Shopify Help Center documentation and our own testing.

Starter plan ($5/mo)

The Starter plan is not a traditional online store. It gives you a simple storefront and the ability to sell through social media, messaging apps, and link-in-bio pages. You get a basic product catalog, manual order creation, and Shopify Payments at 5% + $0.30 per transaction.

There is no full website builder, no custom domain, and no checkout customization. For sellers testing a product on Instagram or TikTok before committing to a full store, it works. For anything beyond that, it does not. Read more in our Shopify Starter Plan guide.

Basic plan ($39/mo)

Basic is where most new store owners start. You get a full online store with a custom domain, discount codes, abandoned cart recovery, and up to 2 staff accounts. Credit card processing runs at 2.9% + $0.30 through Shopify Payments, with an additional 2.0% surcharge if you use a third-party gateway.

Reporting is limited to basic dashboards. Shipping discounts of up to 77% through DHL Express, UPS, and USPS are included, along with Shopify POS Lite for in-person selling. The $39 monthly price drops to $29 when you pay annually, saving $120 per year. For a solo founder processing under $10,000/mo in orders, Basic covers the essentials without overpaying.

Grow plan ($105/mo)

Grow is the mid-tier option for teams scaling beyond a single operator. You get 5 staff accounts, professional reports, and lower transaction fees: 2.7% + $0.30 on Shopify Payments, plus only 1.0% for third-party gateways. The annual price is $79/mo.

The real upgrade is in reporting. Sales reports, customer reports, and marketing attribution that Basic does not offer. If your store processes $10,000-$50,000 monthly and you need your team to access the backend, Grow is the natural step up.

At higher volumes, the lower third-party gateway surcharge becomes a significant factor. On Basic, a store processing $30,000/mo through PayPal or Stripe pays a 2.0% surcharge of $600/mo. On Grow, the same volume costs 1.0%, or $300/mo. The $66 monthly price difference between plans is more than offset by $300 in surcharge savings.

Advanced plan ($399/mo)

Advanced targets high-volume stores selling internationally. Credit card rates drop to 2.5% + $0.30, and third-party gateway surcharges fall to 0.6%. You get 15 staff accounts, a custom report builder, third-party calculated shipping rates, and localized storefronts by market. The annual price is $299/mo.

At $50,000+ in monthly revenue, the lower transaction fees alone can offset the higher subscription cost. If you sell across multiple countries, the market-specific storefronts and duty/import tax calculations justify the step up from Grow. For stores with physical retail locations, Advanced also includes better POS analytics.

Plus plan (from $2,300/mo)

Shopify Plus is the enterprise tier. Pricing starts at $2,300/mo on a 1-3 year contract, but varies based on your gross merchandise volume and customization needs. You get unlimited staff accounts, 200 inventory locations, fully customizable checkout through Shopify Functions, B2B/wholesale features, and priority 24/7 phone support.

For Shopify POS Pricing, Plus includes up to 200 POS Pro locations. The real value is in Shopify Flow automations and the ability to handle flash sales without throttling. At $1M+ annual revenue with complex operations, Plus starts making financial sense.

Comparing Shopify plans: which one is right for you?

The right Shopify plan depends on three factors: your monthly revenue, your team size, and whether you sell internationally. A solo founder processing $3,000/mo in orders needs different tools than a 15-person team managing multiple warehouses across borders.

The most common mistake is choosing based on features you think you will need rather than features you use today. Start with Basic. When your reporting needs outgrow the basic dashboard, or when adding a third team member, that is the signal to upgrade to Grow. The transition takes minutes in your Shopify admin.

One exception: if you already process over $20,000/mo and use a third-party payment gateway, the math on Grow often works from day one. The 1.0% surcharge on Grow versus 2.0% on Basic saves $200 on every $20,000 in revenue. At $30,000/mo, that is $300 in monthly savings against a $66 price increase. The higher subscription pays for itself.

Hidden costs beyond your Shopify plan

Your Shopify subscription is not your total cost. Transaction fees, apps, themes, and add-on services can double or triple your monthly spend. The average Shopify merchant spends around $58/mo on apps alone. For mid-market stores running 8-12 paid apps, that number climbs to $240-$360/mo.

The biggest variable is your payment processing setup. For a complete breakdown, see our guide on Shopify Fees. Using Shopify Payments eliminates the third-party surcharge entirely, as detailed in our Shopify Transaction Fees analysis. On a Basic plan processing $30,000/mo through a third-party gateway, that 2.0% surcharge costs $600/mo, more than the subscription itself.

Apps represent the second-largest hidden cost. Email marketing, reviews, upselling, SEO, and analytics tools add up quickly. Before upgrading your Shopify plan, audit your app stack. Consolidating from 10 apps to 5 often saves more than the price difference between Basic and Grow. For the full cost picture, see How Much Does Shopify Cost.

How to save money on Shopify plans

Reducing your Shopify costs does not always mean downgrading your plan. Often, the biggest savings come from how you configure payments, manage apps, and automate operations. I have worked with store owners who cut their monthly Shopify costs by 40% without changing their plan tier.

1. Pay annually. Save 25% on Basic, Grow, and Advanced. On Advanced, that is $1,200/year.
2. Use Shopify Payments. Eliminate the third-party gateway surcharge (0.6%-2.0%) entirely.
3. Audit your app stack quarterly. Remove apps you no longer use. Look for multi-feature replacements that consolidate 2-3 single-purpose tools.
4. Start with a free theme. Premium themes improve aesthetics, but free themes like Dawn are fast, mobile-optimized, and more than sufficient for launch.
5. Take advantage of the $1/mo intro. Shopify offers $1/mo for 3 months on Basic and Grow. Use this period to validate your store economics before committing. Shopify Free Trial [URL PENDING]
6. Automate customer service. Support staffing is one of the largest operational costs for growing stores. An AI Customer Service solution can reduce support costs by up to 80%.

Online retailer Signed faced exactly this challenge. As their Instagram and TikTok sales grew, customer inquiries scaled faster than their team could handle. By deploying Qualimero's AI employee Alex as a product advisor, Signed automated 70% of customer support inquiries and achieved an 18x return on investment. Upselling increased by 30%. Not just lower costs, but higher revenue per customer.

Shopify vs alternatives: price comparison

Shopify is not the only option. Depending on your technical skill, budget, and business model, alternatives like WooCommerce, Shopware, BigCommerce, or Wix may cost less or offer more flexibility. Shopify holds roughly 29% of the US e-commerce platform market as of 2026, making it the most popular choice. But popularity does not always equal best value.

Shopify wins on time-to-launch and ecosystem breadth. WooCommerce wins on flexibility and long-term cost control. Shopware is the strongest option for B2B sellers and the DACH region. BigCommerce includes more features natively, reducing app dependency. For broader market data, Statista E-Commerce Platforms tracks adoption trends across all major platforms.

The platform choice matters less than what you do with it. The difference between a store that converts at 1% and one that converts at 3% is not the platform. It is the customer experience, product presentation, and the quality of real-time advice you offer to visitors.

Worth noting: switching platforms is expensive and disruptive. Migration costs, retraining staff, rebuilding integrations, and potential SEO impact all factor in. If your current platform works, the smarter investment is usually in conversion optimization rather than platform hopping.

Frequently asked questions about Shopify plans