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Comparing Shopify pricing plans requires looking past the headline monthly subscription price. Your real store bill combines four separate parts: your monthly or annual plan fee, credit card processing rates, extra fees on outside payment gateways, and retail POS add-ons.
Most new online shops only need the entry-level Basic tier. Still, picking the wrong payment setup or adding retail POS Pro locations too early can double your monthly overhead before your catalog gains traction.
How do the core Shopify pricing plans compare?
On the official Shopify pricing page and the Shopify plan features guide, three standard plans serve almost all standalone online stores: Basic, Grow (formerly called the Shopify plan), and Advanced.
Each core plan gives you an online storefront, no-cap product listings, variant SKU tracking, discount codes, abandoned cart recovery, and 24/7 support. Choosing yearly billing instead of monthly billing cuts the base plan rate by roughly 25 percent across all three tiers.
| Plan tier. | Billing discount rule. | Third-party checkout fee. | Primary reason to pick this tier. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic. | Save about 25% on yearly billing vs monthly billing. | 2% extra per order when not using Shopify Payments. | Best starting plan for solo founders and new online catalogs. |
| Grow (Shopify). | Save about 25% on yearly billing vs monthly billing. | 1% extra per order when not using Shopify Payments. | Lower card rates and extra staff account logins. |
| Advanced. | Save about 25% on yearly billing vs monthly billing. | 0.6% extra per order when not using Shopify Payments. | Custom report builder, third-party calculated shipping rates, and lower card fees. |
Start on monthly billing during your first two or three months. That way, you can validate product demand without locking up cash for a full year. Once your store generates steady weekly orders, switching to yearly billing is an easy way to trim about 25 percent off your fixed platform cost.
Do not upgrade from Basic to Grow or Advanced just for prestige. Stay on Basic until your monthly credit card sales volume is high enough that the lower card rate on Grow saves more money than the jump in monthly plan cost.
If you want to test the store editor and checkout flow first, you can Start a Shopify trial and build your first product catalog before committing to a long billing cycle.
How do Shopify Payments rates and third-party checkout fees work?
Shopify divides checkout fees into two buckets: credit card rates and third-party checkout fees. Understanding the difference between these two charges protects your profit margin on each order.
When your business works in a supported country and sells eligible goods, activating Shopify Payments waives all extra third-party checkout fees. You only pay the standard online or in-person credit card percentage plus a small fixed cent fee per checkout. Also, that card rate drops slightly as you move from Basic to Grow and Advanced.
If you turn off Shopify Payments and process cards through an outside provider, Shopify charges an extra third-party checkout fee on each order. That penalty equals 2 percent on the Basic plan, 1 percent on the Grow plan, and 0.6 percent on the Advanced plan. You pay that percentage to Shopify on top of whatever rate your outside payment card tool charges you.
When do you need Shopify Starter, Shopify Plus, or POS Pro?
Beyond the three standard store plans, Shopify sells two focused tiers at opposite ends of the market, plus two point-of-sale options for brick-and-mortar retail.
| Option name. | Published price tier. | What it has and who needs it. |
|---|---|---|
| Shopify Starter. | $5 per month. | Product links and buy buttons for social media, DMs, or an existing blog without a full theme storefront. |
| Shopify Plus. | Starts around $2,300 per month on multi-year terms. | High-volume large-team checkout custom edits, wholesale B2B tools, and uncapped staff accounts. |
| POS Lite. | $0 extra (built in on all core plans). | Accept in-person card payments at pop-up booths, markets, and casual events using the mobile POS app. |
| POS Pro. | $89 per month per location ($79 per month billed yearly). | Full brick-and-mortar retail register features, staff PIN access rules, smart stock counts, and exchanges. |
Shopify Starter at $5 per month is strictly for creators who sell a few items through Instagram links, WhatsApp messages, or embeddable Buy Buttons on an existing site. It does not give you a full custom online store with collection pages or a blog.
For physical retail, each Basic, Grow, and Advanced plan has POS Lite at no extra monthly charge. POS Lite is plenty for weekend craft fairs or pop-up tents. Only add the $89 per month per location POS Pro plan if you run a permanent retail shop that needs cashiers with split PIN codes, printed barcode labels, and in-store buy-online-pickup-in-store workflows.
You can Compare Shopify plans to check live regional pricing and card rates for your country.
How do you choose the right Shopify plan in 6 steps?
Follow these six steps to calculate your true monthly cost. Do this before you select a billing plan.
- Check Shopify Payments access rules first. Check Shopify’s supported countries and restricted business list to confirm you can avoid the 2% third-party checkout fee.
- Start on the Basic plan with monthly billing. Avoid yearly commitments and higher tiers until your store proves consistent monthly revenue.
- Use a free official Online Store 2.0 theme. Launch with Dawn or another free native theme instead of spending $300 on a third-party template on day one.
- Audit each paid app before installing it. Keep your first setup to zero or one paid app so recurring $20 to $50 plugin charges do not inflate your bill.
- Use POS Lite for temporary in-person events. Do not enable the $89 per month POS Pro add-on unless you work a permanent physical store location.
- Calculate the card-fee break-even point before upgrading. Only move from Basic to Grow when your monthly card volume saves more in card fees than the extra plan cost.
Revisit this math once a quarter. Switching between monthly and yearly billing or stepping up a tier takes only a few clicks in your billing settings.
Before you launch your storefront, you can also check Domain.com to buy your custom brand domain in a split account.
Often asked questions.
What is the difference between the Shopify Basic plan and the Grow plan?
Both plans include no-cap products, free themes, discount codes, and the full online checkout. The Grow plan charges a higher monthly plan in exchange for lower credit card rates, a 1% third-party checkout fee instead of 2%, and extra staff logins.
How do I avoid Shopify’s 2% extra checkout fee?
Enable Shopify Payments as your primary credit card tool in Settings > Payments. When Shopify Payments is active, Shopify waives the extra 2%, 1%, or 0.6% third-party pay tool fee on your orders.
Is Shopify POS free with a standard Shopify plan?
POS Lite is built in at no extra monthly fee with Basic, Grow, and Advanced plans. Still, you pay per-checkout card rates and buy card reader hardware if needed. POS Pro costs an extra $89 per month per physical store location on monthly billing.
Can I switch from monthly billing to yearly billing later?
Yes. You can start on a monthly billing cycle while testing your store and switch to yearly billing inside your Shopify admin at any time to capture the roughly 25% yearly discount.
Final verdict on Shopify pricing plans.
When you evaluate Shopify pricing plans, the Basic tier on monthly billing is the right starting point for almost each new store. Pair it with Shopify Payments, a free native theme, and zero extra paid apps to keep your launch costs predictable.
Save the Grow and Advanced tiers for the stage when your monthly credit card volume justifies the higher base fee. Only add POS Pro if you run a full-time physical retail counter.
Related guides on ToolTester24.
- Best Ecommerce Platforms and Domain Registrars for Small Business.
- Shopify Review for a First Online Store.
- How to Set Up Your First Shopify Store.
- Domain.com vs EuroDNS vs Network Solutions: Renewal and Transfer Checklist.
- Domain.com Review: Domain Signup, WHOIS Privacy and Renewal Pricing.
Sources checked against official Shopify pricing and plan features help docs.
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