Shopify's pricing page lists monthly fees, but the actual cost of running a Shopify store depends on which payment gateway you use, how many apps you need, and whether you're on an annual or monthly contract. This guide cuts through the marketing and gives you the real numbers.
The five Shopify plans
Starter — $5/month
No online store. Just a buy button and checkout link you can embed on any existing website or share via social media. No theme, no product pages — just the ability to take payments. Right for creators selling a single product via their existing audience, or testing Shopify without committing to a full store.
Basic — $29/month
The entry point for a real Shopify store. Includes: unlimited products, online store with themes, Shopify Payments (0% platform transaction fee), abandoned cart recovery, blog, and basic analytics. Up to 2 staff accounts.
Credit card rates with Shopify Payments: 2% online (UK/EU rates vary). Third-party gateway fee: 2%.
Right for: new stores, stores doing under £5,000/month in revenue, and anyone just launching.
Shopify — $79/month
Adds: 5 staff accounts, better reporting (sales by product, traffic sources), lower credit card rates, and a reduced third-party gateway fee (1% instead of 2%).
The lower credit card rates only save you money once you're processing meaningful volume. At £10,000/month in sales, saving 0.3% on transaction fees is £30/month — less than the £50 plan upgrade cost. At £50,000/month, it starts to make sense.
Right for: established stores doing £30,000+/month where the lower rates justify the upgrade, or stores that need 5+ staff accounts.
Advanced — $299/month
Adds: up to 15 staff accounts, advanced reporting (custom reports), the lowest credit card and gateway rates, and calculated shipping rates. The third-party gateway fee drops to 0.5%.
Advanced is justified when: you have a team large enough to need 15 accounts, you need custom reporting, or your transaction volume is high enough that 0.5% vs 2% makes a meaningful difference. At £200,000/month in sales with a third-party gateway, saving 1.5% is £3,000/month — far more than the plan cost.
Right for: high-volume stores with large teams or complex reporting needs.
Shopify Plus — from $2,300/month
Enterprise tier. Adds: custom checkout UI (Checkout Extensibility), Shopify Functions for custom logic, native B2B features, Shopify Flow automation, Launchpad, and up to 9 expansion stores. Dedicated merchant success manager.
Right for: stores doing £1M+/year that need checkout customisation, B2B, or complex automation. The full Shopify Plus breakdown covers when the upgrade pays for itself.
The real total cost of Shopify
The plan fee is only part of the cost. A realistic monthly Shopify cost for a growing store includes:
| Cost item | Typical range |
|---|---|
| Shopify plan | $29 - $299/month |
| Domain | £14/year |
| Theme (one-time) | Free - £400 |
| Email marketing (Klaviyo) | Free - £200/month |
| Reviews app | Free - £15/month |
| Other apps (average) | £50 - £150/month |
| Total (Basic plan) | £100 - £400/month |
Annual vs monthly billing
Shopify offers a 25% discount for annual billing. On the Basic plan: $29/month billed monthly vs $21.75/month billed annually — saving $87/year. On Advanced: $299/month vs £224/month — saving $900/year.
If you're confident you'll stay on Shopify for at least 12 months (most stores are), annual billing is almost always the right choice.
Shopify Payments vs third-party gateways: the fee difference
This is the most misunderstood part of Shopify pricing. Using Shopify Payments eliminates the platform transaction fee entirely. Using any other gateway adds:
- Basic: +2% per transaction
- Shopify: +1% per transaction
- Advanced: +0.5% per transaction
- Plus: +0.15% per transaction
On a store doing £10,000/month using a third-party gateway on Basic: an extra £200/month in fees — nearly as much as upgrading to Shopify ($50 difference) or switching to Shopify Payments (£0 extra).
If Shopify Payments is available in your country: use it. The fee elimination alone often justifies the choice. Check availability at shopify.com/payments.
Which plan should you start on?
Just launching: Basic. Don't overpay for features you don't need yet. Upgrade when revenue justifies it.
Doing £30,000+/month: Evaluate whether the lower transaction fees on Shopify ($79) save more than the extra £50/month. Calculate your specific numbers.
Doing £200,000+/month with third-party gateway: Advanced almost certainly pays for itself in gateway fee savings.
Need checkout customisation, B2B, or automation: Plus when those features become necessary — not before.
