Shopify Pricing Plans: Which One is Right For Your Business?

Whether you’re a beginner at online selling or a pro, you can never go wrong with hosting your own online store. And Shopify is the most popular option for this. (It’s also supported by Crosslist, which is a bonus!)

But, how much does Shopify cost? And which of the 7 pricing plans is right for you? Let’s explore. 

Shopify costs: Overview

Shopify has 4 core plans and 3 alternative plans for different types of businesses. However, only 4 of them are relevant for small- to mid-sized e-commerce businesses, so we will focus on those. The other 3 plans are geared towards selling in-person or for very large enterprises. 

Plans	Costs (monthly)	Costs (annually)	Online transaction fees
Starter	$5	$60	5% + 30 cents
Basic	$39	$29	2.9% + 30 cents
Grow (previously just Shopify)	$105	$79	2.7% + 30 cents
Advanced	$399	$299	2.5% + 30 cents

Shopify also offers a free 3-day trial, no credit card required, so make full use of this before you commit to a plan. You can also enjoy 3 months of Shopify for just $1/ month.  

Shopify Starter plan

The Starter plan is a no-frills, budget-friendly option for solopreneurs who are just starting out and need a simple online store to get things rolling. With this plan, you can set up an online store with product pages, a contact page, and a checkout page in just minutes. 

Features:

• A simple online store
• Ability to share your products on social media platforms, emails, forums, live streams, or SMS
• Linkpop, a link-in-bio tool
• A mobile point-of-sale (POS) to sell in person and accept payments via your smartphone
• Inventory management
• Analytics
• Access to Shopify apps

Best for: Hobbyists or solopreneurs who are looking for a hassle-free way to test the viability of online selling without investing a lot of time and money upfront. It’s also a great option for those who primarily sell through social media. 

Shopify Basic plan

If you’re an up-and-coming online seller who’s looking for a dedicated online e-commerce store with customizable themes, the Basic plan is an excellent choice! It makes for a great starting point as you figure everything out. 

Features:

• A customizable online store to sell your products
• An in-built blog if you want to publish articles and use it as a link-building tactic
• A free SSL certificate with HTTPS encryption that keeps your customers’ info secure and builds trust
• Access to international sales tools, such as currency conversions, language translations, and the ability to price your products according to the countries you’re selling on, letting you sell your products globally
• Analytics to track your business performance
• 24/ 7 customer support
• Customer segmentation that lets you reach the groups you want to target
• Shopify email to create campaigns, including automated abandoned cart recovery emails
• Shopify forms to get new leads
• Ability to offer gift cards and discount codes to customers to drive more sales
• Ability to accept returns and refunds
• E-commerce automations to automate your manual tasks
• 3rd party app integrations

Best for: Beginner online sellers who are still finding their footing and want a branded online store before they decide to commit to e-commerce full time. It’s also great for sellers who are just dipping their toes into international selling.

Shopify Grow plan

The Grow plan is geared towards small- and mid-sized businesses who need a full-fledged online store. If you’re at a point where the Basic plan isn’t enough, but the Advanced plan might be overkill, the Grow plan would be perfect for you! 

Features:

• Everything included in the Basic plan
• 5 staff accounts to help your staff run your store
• Lower transaction fees
• Advanced analytics and tracking features that help you understand customer behavior better
• A shipping discount of up to 88%
• Shipping insurance
• USPS Priority Mail cubic pricing

Best for: Small- to medium-sized e-commerce sellers who are starting to scale up their business and need a more robust online store with some added features. This plan will be ideal for you if online selling makes for a significant part of your income and you need some detailed sales and profit/ loss data to make decisions. 

Shopify Advanced plan

The Advanced plan is perfect for online sellers who manage a large volume of sales and need a comprehensive and fully customizable store that reflects their brand. You can either use Shopify’s in-built features or work with a custom marketplace development partner like Syndicode to make your Shopify store truly yours!

Features:

• Everything included in the Grow plan
• 15 staff accounts, making it perfect for sellers who manage a mid-sized team
• Lower transaction fees
• The most comprehensive reports, including the feature to create custom reports that track the data you want
• A robust set of international sales tools, including the feature to estimate and collect import duties and taxes right at checkout
• Carrier-calculated shipping that shows your customers the exact amount they’ll have to pay in shipping fees if you use third-party shipping services
• 10x checkout capacity
• Unlimited storage, product listings, and photo/ video uploads

Best for: Sellers who handle tens of thousands of sales every month and get the majority of their income from e-commerce. This plan is ideal for you if you already have an established online presence and want to save on overhead costs. The detailed analytics also help you figure out future strategies to grow. 

Other Shopify costs

In addition to paying for your Shopify subscription plan, you’ll also incur a few other costs. 

• Transaction fees: If you use any payment method other than Shopify Payments, you’ll be charged a transaction fee for each purchase. This varies based on the Shopify plan you choose. The more expensive your plan, the lower your transaction fee. 
• Custom domain fee: While you get a free myshopify.com domain with each subscription plan, a custom domain will cost you. This could range from $10 to $100 per year. Alternatively, if you already have a custom domain, you can link it to your Shopify store — all for free! 
• Themes: Shopify has both free and paid themes. However, the free themes are very few in number, so if you want a premium theme, it’s going to cost you between $150 and $350.
• Shopify apps: Want to add more functions to your store by integrating Shopify apps? Some of them are going to cost you!
• Shipping label fees: If you buy shipping labels through Shopify Shipping, you’ll have to pay a fee depending on the shipping carrier and subscription plan you’re using. 
• Shopify email: On all plans except the Starter plan, you get 10,000 emails free, after which you’ll be charged $1 per 1,000 emails. 

Before you pick a Shopify plan, calculate the total overhead costs and make sure the plan you choose justifies it by giving you a better return-on-investment. You could always start out with an affordable plan and upgrade later on as your business grows!

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