Shopify plan calculator
Which Shopify plan is cheapest at your revenue?
Compare Shopify Basic, Grow, Advanced and Plus by the real monthly bill: subscription plus card fees at your revenue, with the crossover points worked out.
Key takeaways
- Higher Shopify plans cost more per month and charge less per sale. The cheapest plan depends on your revenue.
- On the calculator's US online rates, Grow beats Basic from about $33,000 a month with Shopify Payments, or about $25,000 on yearly billing.
- Another payment processor adds a Shopify fee that falls on higher plans, so the crossovers come sooner.
- Check Shopify's own pricing page before a close call. Rates change and differ by country.
The short answer
Shopify's plans trade a higher monthly price for a lower card rate. At low revenue the cheapest plan is Basic. Past a crossover point, the lower rate on Grow or Advanced saves more than the extra subscription costs, and at high volume Plus can undercut Advanced. The crossover is a number you can calculate from your monthly revenue, so you do not need to guess or switch because of a plan name.
The rates below are the US online rates in the Shopify plan calculator at the time of writing. Shopify changes its prices, and other countries differ, so check Shopify's pricing page before you act on a close call.
What the monthly bill is made of
- The subscription. Billed monthly or yearly. Yearly billing lowers the price of Basic, Grow and Advanced.
- The card rate. A percentage of each sale plus a fixed amount per order. The percentage falls as you move up a plan.
- The extra fee for another processor. If you take payments through PayPal, Stripe or another provider instead of Shopify Payments, Shopify adds its own transaction fee on top of that processor's fee.
The calculator adds these together for each plan. Use the revenue you expect next month, not last year's average, particularly if you are about to scale ads.
How to compare plans
- Open the Shopify plan calculator.
- Enter your monthly revenue and average order value (you can find the latter in Shopify's reports).
- Choose monthly or yearly billing.
- Choose whether you take payments through Shopify Payments or another processor.
- Read the bill for each plan and which one is lowest.
Worked example
This example uses the calculator's rates with monthly billing, Shopify Payments, and a $60 average order. The totals include the subscription and card fees but not apps or anything else you pay.
- $10,000 a month: Basic $379, Grow $425, Advanced $699. Basic is cheapest.
- $50,000 a month: Basic $1,739, Grow $1,705, Advanced $1,899. Grow is $34 cheaper than Basic.
- $200,000 a month: Basic $6,839, Grow $6,505, Advanced $6,399, Plus $7,800. Advanced is cheapest.
- $1,000,000 a month: Advanced $30,399, Plus $29,800. Plus is cheaper on fees alone.
The fixed amount per order is the same on every plan, so the crossover points do not depend on average order value. On these rates, with monthly billing and Shopify Payments, Grow starts to beat Basic at about $33,000 a month, Advanced beats Grow at about $147,000, and Plus beats Advanced at about $760,000. Yearly billing moves the first two to about $25,000 and $110,000, because the cheaper subscription makes the upgrade easier to justify.
How much a switch really saves
Near a crossover the saving is small, and it grows as revenue moves further past it. Using the same rates and a $60 average order, at $45,000 a month, Basic costs $1,569 and Grow $1,545, a saving of $24 a month. At $60,000 a month Basic costs $2,079, Grow $2,025 and Advanced $2,199, so Grow saves $54 against Basic. Those are real savings, but they are not a reason to rush a change. They do tell you that moving up a plan has to be paid for by volume, not by hope.
If the saving is only a few dollars a month, stay where you are and run the calculator again when revenue has grown.
Monthly or yearly billing
Yearly billing lowers the subscription on Basic, Grow and Advanced, which pulls the crossovers down. The cost is commitment. You pay for a longer period up front, and if the business slows or you outgrow the plan, you cannot simply step away. A cautious order is to start on monthly billing while revenue is uncertain, then switch to yearly once your monthly revenue has held for a few months. Run the calculator both ways with your own figures. If the yearly saving is small compared with the cash you would tie up, stay monthly.
If you do not use Shopify Payments
The extra fee for a third-party processor is a percentage of revenue, and it also falls as you move up. In the calculator it is 2% on Basic, 1% on Grow and 0.6% on Advanced. That is a large gap, so the crossovers arrive sooner. On those figures with monthly billing, Grow becomes cheaper than Basic at about $6,600 a month, and Advanced cheaper than Grow at about $73,500. These numbers cover only the Shopify charge. The processor charges its own fee on top, and that is not in the calculator.
When Plus is worth a look
On fees alone, Plus starts to pay for itself at high volume. But the plan is chosen for other reasons too. Merchants consider it for checkout customization, multiple stores or expansion stores, and support, none of which the fee comparison captures. If you are close to the crossover, ask Shopify for a quote, since Plus pricing depends on the contract and is not a fixed list price.
What the comparison leaves out
The calculator prices the subscription and the card fees. A few other costs and features can also decide the plan, and none of them is in the total:
- Features that differ by plan, such as the number of staff accounts, reporting depth and shipping rate options. Read Shopify's plan comparison for what you need.
- Your processor's own fee if you do not use Shopify Payments.
- Currency conversion and international fees, which depend on where you sell and how you are paid.
- Whether Shopify Payments is available in your country. If it is not, the third-party fee applies to everything.
- Apps, themes and domains. These cost the same on every plan.
Treat the total as the price of taking payments and nothing more. It narrows the choice. It does not make it.
Common mistakes
- Judging by last year's average. A plan should match the revenue you are about to have.
- Looking at the subscription only. The card rate is the bigger bill at higher volume.
- Forgetting to rerun after a change. A new billing cycle, a new processor or a big sale can all move the answer.
- Treating the plan as a fix. A higher plan lowers the cost of taking payments. It does not make a weak product page convert.
- Leaving out apps and ads. They are part of what the store costs to run. Price the plan here, then see what each sale keeps in the margin guide.
What to check next
Once you know the plan cost, the next question is whether each sale covers it. Use the profit margin guide to see what an order keeps, and the lifetime value guide to see whether repeat customers change the answer.
Shopify questions
Why does a higher Shopify plan sometimes cost less?
The monthly price rises but the card rate falls. Past a point, the lower rate saves more than the extra subscription costs.
When should I move from Basic to Grow?
When the card-fee saving is larger than the subscription difference. On the calculator's rates with monthly billing and Shopify Payments that is around $33,000 a month, or about $25,000 on yearly billing.
Does paying through PayPal or Stripe change the answer?
Yes. Shopify adds a fee on top of the processor's own fee, and it is lower on higher plans. The crossovers arrive sooner, and the calculator includes that fee.
Are these rates the same in every country?
No. The calculator uses Shopify's published US online rates. Check the pricing page for your country.
Is Shopify Plus worth it?
On fees alone it starts to pay off at high volume. For many merchants the reasons are checkout customization, multiple stores and support, which a fee comparison does not capture.