"How much does Shopify actually cost?" is the wrong question. Shopify's pricing is a stack of separate fees — a monthly plan, card processing, sometimes a transaction fee, and apps. Here's every layer in plain English, with the real math so you can price your products to keep a profit.
Unlike a marketplace such as Etsy or Amazon, Shopify does not take a commission on your sales when you use its own payment processor. That's the single most misunderstood thing about Shopify's pricing.
| Plan | Monthly | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Starter | $5 | Selling via social/links, no full online store |
| Basic | $39 | New & small stores |
| Shopify | $105 | Growing stores, lower processing |
| Advanced | $399 | High volume, lowest processing + reports |
Paying annually typically knocks ~25% off (Basic drops to roughly $29/mo equivalent). The higher plans cost more but lower your processing rate — which only pays off above a certain volume (see the transaction-fee math below).
This is what your card processor charges to move money. With Shopify Payments (the built-in processor), 2026 US online-card rates are:
| Plan | Online card rate |
|---|---|
| Basic | 2.9% + $0.30 |
| Shopify | 2.7% + $0.30 |
| Advanced | 2.5% + $0.30 |
| Starter | 5% + $0.30 |
On a $50 order on Basic, that's $1.45 + $0.30 = $1.75. In-person (POS) rates are lower; international and manually-keyed cards are higher.
Enter your price and costs — our free calculator shows net profit after processing, plan, apps and ads.
Free Profit Calculator Full Spreadsheet — $9If you choose to use an outside payment gateway (e.g. PayPal Express, Stripe, a regional processor) instead of Shopify Payments, Shopify charges an additional transaction fee on top of whatever that gateway charges:
| Plan | Extra transaction fee (non-Shopify Payments) |
|---|---|
| Basic | 2% |
| Shopify | 1% |
| Advanced | 0.5% |
On a $50 order on Basic, that extra 2% is $1.00 — and you still pay your gateway's own processing. For most US/UK/EU sellers, using Shopify Payments to get this fee to 0% is the easiest margin win available.
The Shopify app store is where costs creep. A typical small store runs an email tool, a reviews app, and maybe an upsell or subscription app — often $30–$150/month combined. Apps aren't a Shopify fee per se, but they're a real, recurring cost you must price into your margins. Audit them quarterly; uninstall anything you can't tie to revenue.
Say you do 100 orders/month at a $45 average order value on Basic with Shopify Payments:
Total Shopify-side cost ≈ $2.60 per $45 order (5.8%). That's before your product cost and your ad spend — which for most stores is the biggest line of all. The fee you obsess over (processing) is rarely the one that decides your profit; your customer-acquisition cost is.
The $9 spreadsheet works backward from the margin you want and tells you the exact price to charge — plus a break-even tab for your plan + apps + ads.
Get the Spreadsheet — $9 Calculator + Pricing Worksheet — $14Not as a marketplace commission. With Shopify Payments you pay card processing (e.g. 2.9% + $0.30 on Basic) but no separate sales cut. Only if you use a third-party gateway does Shopify add a transaction fee (0.5%–2% by plan).
The Starter plan at $5/mo if you sell through links/social and don't need a full storefront. For a real store, Basic ($39/mo) with Shopify Payments and minimal apps is the lowest realistic cost.
No hidden fees, but easy-to-miss ones: app subscriptions, higher rates for international/manual card entry, currency conversion, and the third-party transaction fee if you avoid Shopify Payments.
It depends on volume. Etsy charges per-sale fees that scale with revenue; Shopify charges a flat plan plus processing. Above roughly $2,000–$3,000/month, Shopify's flat cost often wins — but you must drive your own traffic. See the full comparison.