Using Shopify to build and set up your online store offers an intuitive and beginner-friendly website builder and maximum flexibility in design. But how much will it cost you?
Pricing is an integral factor to consider for many entrepreneurs who want to sell online because it will determine your profit margin. And without profit, you cannot ensure your success with the online business.
So, this guide will explore Shopify’s pricing plans for 2024 to help you decide the best pricing plans for your business needs.
I’ve spent many years helping other online entrepreneurs set up a successful online store on eBay or Shopify. This guide focuses mainly on the financial aspect of starting a Shopify store and the costs involved.
If you want more tips on starting and running a successful ecommerce business, you can read more about it in my previous guides.
Meanwhile, you can use this detailed guide on the Shopify pricing plans for 2024 to get started on your online store. Let’s get started!
Key Takeaways
- Shopify offers various pricing plans suited for small businesses and enterprise-level businesses.
- The higher your pricing plans on Shopify, the more extensive the features you can access for your Shopify store.
- Aside from the monthly fee for the pricing plans, consider additional Shopify costs like themes, domain names, and apps
Article Overview:
Overview of Shopify Pricing Plans
Which of the Shopify Plans is Best For You?
Additional Shopify Costs
Summary: Shopify Fees and Costs
FAQs on Shopify Fees & Costs
Overview of Shopify Pricing Plans
The reason why the Shopify e-commerce platform is popular is its flexibility. The Shopify pricing suits all kinds of businesses, whether you are a starting business or an established brand online.
The ecommerce platform is highly scalable, so even if you start with the Shopify Basic plan, you can gradually upgrade to the higher plan as your needs change.
Check out this detailed guide on the Shopify pricing plans for 2024.
Free Trial
Shopify is an excellent platform for an ecommerce business, but before you can commit to a certain plan, Shopify offers a free trial. Use this free trial offer to test the waters and see if you want to pursue Shopify plans.
The best thing about the free trial is that you won’t be required to provide your credit card information, so you are not obliged to select a paid Shopify plan once the trial period ends.
But as of 2024, there are some updates to Shopify’s pricing plans, which include the free trial offer. You can sign up for a free trial, which is available for three days.
After the 3-day period, you can upgrade to any of the Shopify pricing plans or pay $1 for the first month. Before the 2024 update, the $1 per month offer is valid for three months (or 90 days).
Now, it is only available for one month or 30 days.
After 30 days, you must upgrade to one of the tiered Shopify pricing plans.
Shopify Starter
The Shopify Starter plan was introduced into the ecommerce platform in August 2022. This plan is available for anyone who wants to start selling using various sales channels, such as social media.
You do not need to set up an online store with the starter plan, which makes it a good side hustle at a low investment.
The Shopify starter plan is available at $5 per month. When you sign up for this plan, you can use your account to create product pages, such as adding product photos and descriptions with the Starter theme.
Once the product page is set up, you will get a shareable link that will direct potential buyers back to your product page. You can share that link via email, social media, messaging apps, and more.
When a customer buys via the shareable link, Shopify will handle the checkout process, such as adding the product to their cart and paying for their orders. As the seller, you can access a Shopify admin page to see and manage orders or view sales analytics.
In addition to the $5 per month fee on the Shopify starter plan, you will pay 5% transaction fee to the platform for every transaction using the Shopify Payments.
Features of Shopify Starter
Signing up to the Shopify Starter plan offers the following features and tools:
- Unlimited product pages
- Secure checkout process
- Contact page
- 24/7 support
- Order management and fulfillment
- Sales analytics
- Shopify inbox
- Linkpop (for social media selling)
Who is the Shopify Starter Plan For?
The Shopify starter plan is ideal for anyone wanting to sell online. It is the most affordable plan (aside from the $1 offer) and makes starting a business with Shopify risk-free.
This plan is ideal for anyone who wants to build a side hustle with Shopify, as you can run your online business from your phone.
However, this plan won’t allow you to build an online store. You must consider upgrading to a higher Shopify pricing plan to sell online via a website.
Shopify Lite
Do you have an existing website or business? Shopify Lite is the right plan for you!
This Shopify pricing plan is recommended if you don’t want to create an online store or website but have an existing website where you want to add product pages. It also integrates a checkout functionality into that business website.
In addition to your website, you may add product pages for social selling and Shopify POS selling.
The Shopify Lite plan is made for existing merchants.
So, how does Shopify Lite work?
You will use Shopify Lite to integrate buy buttons into an existing website, which can be customized or built with another website builder. When you activate the Buy Button functionality from the Shopify admin on your Lite account, you will be given a code to insert into the existing website.
Customers clicking this Buy button will be directed to Shopify’s checkout process. Since the Shopify Lite account does not enable you to build a website, you won’t be able to use your existing custom domain to process the checkout – it will be done on Shopify’s domain.
Also, all transactions will be made through Shopify Payments.
You can use your Shopify Lite account if you are selling on social platforms, such as Facebook or Messenger. First, you must have a business Facebook account and link it to your Shopify account.
If you prefer offline selling, or in person through Shopify POS, you may also do so using your Shopify Lite account. You can activate the Shopify virtual POS system, which allows merchants to accept payments by swiping their cards.
It is a great option for sellers who attend expos and trade events.
Another scenario where Shopify Lite might be useful is when you sell online but require direct customer payment. Using Shopify Lite, you can create invoices for your customer orders. The invoice sent will direct customers to a payment gateway.
Cost of Shopify Lite
The cost of Shopify Lite is $9 per month. However, you will pay 2% transaction fee for every sale, but only if you use a third party payment provider.
There is no need to pay the transaction fee when using Shopify Payments as the processor.
Features of Shopify Lite
- Unlimited product pages
- Admin dashboard with reporting and analytics
- One staff account
- Shopify apps access
- Free Shopify POS app
- Shopping discounts and codes
- Manual invoicing
- Email and chat support
With the features and capabilities of Shopify Lite, this plan is suited for sellers with an existing website. It is also recommended for merchants who sell in person or over the phone.
It is a flexible solution for entrepreneurs using the Shopify plan.
Shopify Basic Plan
The Shopify Basic Plan is another one of Shopify’s pricing plans you can choose from upon signing up. It is one of Shopify’s most popular pricing plans and is best suited for anyone looking to start an ecommerce business due to its affordability.
And yet, the Basic plan provides access to the technical features that include a default domain name, website hosting, and security.
The monthly cost of the Shopify Basic Plan is $32 or $29 per month if you pick the annual subscription. Obviously, it offers a more extensive feature list than Shopify Lite.
This plan has a 2% transaction fee on all transactions made through a third party payment provider.
As mentioned above, this plan provides you with a default domain name. However, you will incur an additional expense when you want a custom domain name, which is recommended if you want more flexibility and customization with branding.
Other things that might incur additional expenses when using the Basic Plan are email hosting and app integration.
The Basic Plan is higher-tier than the Starter and Shopify Lite plans. Therefore, you can expect more features with this store subscription. You can access an online store builder with pre-defined and modifiable themes, checkout options, and navigation elements.
Features of the Shopify Basic Plan
This list provides a comprehensive overview of the features in the Basic plan:
- Unlimited product pages
- Website hosting
- Up to 20 free themes in the website editor
- Blogging functionality
- 1,000 inventory locations
- Standard reporting
- 3 custom markets
- Abandoned cart recovery
- Customer segmentation
- 10,000 free emails per hosting
- Shopify POS lite
- Shopify apps access
- Manual order creation and invoicing
- Shipping discounts
- Shipping labels
- Email and chat support
- Shopping discounts and codes
Who is the Shopify Basic Plan For?
The Basic Plan is ideal if you’re new to ecommerce and must create your first online store. However, this plan is not exclusive to newbies. It can be a great option for those with an existing business and want to expand online.
Shopify Standard Plan
The next tier on the Shopify pricing plan is the Shopify Standard. This plan is suited for businesses that are looking to grow and scale. As such, it has more powerful features than what is available on the previously discussed Shopify pricing plans.
You can also enjoy the added perks of lower transaction fees.
The Shopify Standard plan costs $105 per month or $79 per month with an annual subscription. The Shopify fees under the Standard plan are greatly reduced, which is 2.6% per transaction plus 30 cents for every sale.
There is a transaction fee of 2.5% for in-person purchases with no added surcharge.
Features of the Shopify Standard Plan
Choosing the Standard plan on Shopify offers the following features:
- Unlimited products
- Website hosting with free SSL certificate
- Up to 20 free customizable themes
- Blogging functionality
- Up to five staff accounts
- 1,000 inventory locations
- Standard reporting
- 3 custom markets
- Customer segmentation
- Abandoned cart recovery feature
- Shopify apps
- Shipping discounts
- Discount codes
- Shipping labels
- Localized features
- Email and chat support
If you previously subscribed to a Basic plan and choose to upgrade to the Standard plan, you can migrate your existing data from the Basic plan into the higher tier plan.
Who is the Shopify Standard Plan For?
The Shopify Standard plan is recommended for businesses that want a comprehensive solution, especially on the analytics and marketing side. You can adjust your campaigns using the reporting insights to improve your sales and enhance customer experience.
One advantage of the Standard plan is you can track all transactions and business activity in one place. Managing an online business and offline sales channels can be difficult since you cannot consolidate the data.
But with the Shopify Standard plan, it is easier to address fragmented data issues.
Many Shopify experts believe that the Standard plan is the ideal solution for businesses with a monthly revenue of at least $5,000.
Shopify Advanced Plan
The Shopify Advanced Plan is next on the tiered plan available for online businesses using the ecommerce platform. It offers the best solutions for large-scale businesses or established enterprises.
This plan provides tools and capabilities for businesses that handle several transactions and require marketing automation.
The Advanced Shopify plan costs $399 per month (or $299 per month when paid annually). As mentioned, this plan offers advanced ecommerce solutions for businesses with lots of transactions and in-person sales.
Shopify Advanced has a transaction fee of 2.4% plus 30 cents for every transaction. Meanwhile, the in-person transaction fees are 2.4% with no surcharge.
Features of the Shopify Advanced Plan
The following features are available with the Advanced Shopify plan:
- Unlimited products
- Website hosting with free SSL certificate
- Blogging functionality
- Up to 20 free customizable themes
- 1,000 inventory locations
- Up to 15 staff accounts
- Abandoned cart recovery feature
- Standard and custom reporting
- Automation tools
- Shopify apps integration (for an extra cost)
- Shopify POS lite
- 10,000 free emails
- Manual invoicing
- Third-party shipping
- Localized selling features (such as currency conversion and regional domains)
- Custom pricing
- Email and chat support
- Duties and taxes
Who is the Shopify Advanced Plan For?
Large businesses and enterprises would benefit from the Shopify Advanced Plan due to its advanced features. You can utilize the features and tools available in this plan to customize your online store and deliver localized and international solutions to suit the various markets you serve.
In addition, you can access advanced reporting and analytics to track your sales performance and optimize profit margins.
Choosing the Advanced Shopify plan provides lower transaction costs due to the higher sales volume under this plan.
Shopify Plus
The Shopify Plus subscription plan is the highest-tiered plan available with Shopify. Currently, 1.6 million stores are based on Shopify, and about 17,000 use the Shopify Plus plan.
This pricing plan provides enterprise-level solutions to businesses. And unlike the rest of Shopify’s pricing plans, this one does not have a fixed monthly cost.
You need to discuss the custom e-commerce solutions you need with Shopify, depending on the scale of your business. Based on that information and your required solutions, Shopify will provide you with a customized quote for the store subscription.
To give you an idea, the Shopify Plus plan starts at $2,300 per month. Since it is a customized plan, you can enjoy advanced ecommerce solutions not available with the other Shopify plans.
Features of the Shopify Plus Plan
Here are the tools and features available with the Shopify Plus plan:
- Shopify admin for managing all your stores in one place
- 9 expansion stores
- 100 customizable themes
- Custom checkout page
- Unlimited staff accounts with permission settings
- Wholesale channel
- Shopify POS Pro
- App integrations
- Launch team assistance
- Automated workflows
- Merchant success programs
Who is the Shopify Plus For?
As mentioned, the Shopify Plus plan is suited for business owners with multiple stores or managing an enterprise-level business. With up to 10 stores available under one account, it simplifies organizing and tracking your performance with each store using one admin panel (instead of separate for each store).
The enhanced capabilities of this Shopify plan make it ideal for business owners with sub-brands or other businesses that target different markets or locations.
Which of the Shopify Plans is Best For You?
The Shopify pricing plans differ greatly in the monthly costs, the features, and the capabilities. Therefore, it is crucial to understand your budget, your estimated online transactions or order volume per month, your team’s size, and other selling and ecommerce needs to ensure you can align that with what the various plans offer. You can view our detailed guide on Shopify vs Shopify plus here
If you’re unsure about which plan to go with, you can always start low and upgrade to a higher-tiered plan later on when your business needs change.
Additional Shopify Costs
The Shopify pricing plans are not the only costs you must consider when setting up an online store with Shopify. Various Shopify costs are involved before you sell online using this ecommerce builder.
Domain Name
Buying a custom domain name is recommended to build a brand and an attractive online store. When you sign up to Shopify, you will be assigned a default domain name.
However, you want to purchase a custom domain to target keywords or make your business name or brand unique.
The cost of buying a domain name varies depending on where you purchase your domain from. Most domains start at $15 per year.
Premium Themes
Shopify prides itself on allowing users to create a customizable online store to fit your brand and aesthetics. Free Shopify themes are available on most Shopify plans, and most are quite good.
But if you want to create a custom design to fit your brand, you may purchase premium themes from the Shopify Theme Store. Premium themes range in cost from $75 to $300.
Apps and Plugins
Shopify apps integrations enhance the features and capabilities in your website. Therefore, you can add as few or as many third-party apps to your Shopify websites as you want.
Apps are available on a subscription basis, which means they are monthly recurring costs for your business. Most apps can cost $5 to $50 per month.
Summary: Shopify Fees and Costs
All businesses entail an investment of time and money. Building Shopify websites is no different. However, the great thing about Shopify is that you can choose from various Shopify plans to fit your business needs and budget.
Depending on where you are in your online selling journey, you can pick a plan and upgrade to a higher plan when you scale your business and grow your team.
That makes Shopify among the leading ecommerce platforms since you can choose a plan that provides what you need, whether you’re getting started as a small business or a growing one.
FAQs on Shopify Fees & Costs
How much does it cost to be a seller on Shopify?
There are several types of Shopify costs to consider before you start selling. The most basic one is the monthly fee, which depends on the specific pricing plans you’re subscribed to. The next Shopify cost is the fee per transaction and additional Shopify monthly costs, such as domain name registration, app integration, and more.
How much does Shopify take per sale?
The transaction fee that Shopify charges per sale depends on your chosen pricing plan and location. The standard Shopify charge is 2.9% plus 30 cents per transaction. But when you subscribe to the Advanced Shopify plan, it lowers to 2.4% plus 30 cents per transaction.
Is selling on Shopify profitable?
Most Shopify sellers see profits within two years of selling online. However, it varies depending on your products, the target audience, and marketing campaigns to boost sales.
