Which Shopify Plan Should You Choose in 2026? Comparison and Cost Calculator

Shopify has four plans in 2026: Basic, Grow, Advanced and Plus. They range from $39 to more than $2,000 a month. But the subscription is only part of the bill: once a store is selling, the fees taken on every order weigh more. So the right plan is not the cheapest one on paper, but the one that costs you least once those fees are counted.

Below are the prices of each plan, what actually changes from one to the next, and the revenue at which moving up a plan starts to pay off. To run the numbers for your own store, use our free Shopify pricing calculator, no sign-up needed.

The short answer

If you take payments with Shopify Payments and pay monthly, at Shopify’s public US prices in September 2026:

• Basic is cheapest up to about $33,000 in monthly revenue;
• Grow takes over up to about $147,000 a month;
• Advanced is cheapest beyond that;
• Plus is not a plan you pick to save on fees: many brands move to it from $1–2 million in annual revenue, for its features, a negotiated rate or the apps it replaces (see below).

Just launching? Start on Basic: Shopify currently offers a 3-day free trial, then $1/month for 3 months(opens in a new tab). You can switch plans once your sales justify it.

Shopify plans and prices in 2026

US prices in USD, before tax, from Shopify’s pricing page(opens in a new tab), checked on September 23, 2026. Rates for standard US cards; in-person rates are lower (2.6% on Basic down to 2.15% on Plus). Prices differ by country: in Europe, Basic is €36 a month.

Basic, Grow and Advanced share the essentials: unlimited products, an online store, selling on social media and marketplaces, discount codes, basic reports. They differ on three points:

• fees per order, which drop with each plan;
• staff accounts: none on Basic besides the owner, 5 on Grow, 15 on Advanced, unlimited on Plus;
• advanced features: custom reports on Advanced; high-volume checkout, bot protection, higher API limits and up to 200 retail locations included on Plus.

What really makes the difference: fees per order

On every card payment, Shopify Payments (Shopify’s built-in payment processing, which runs on Stripe) takes a percentage plus a fixed 30¢. The percentage drops by 0.2 points from Basic to Grow, and again from Grow to Advanced. On $50,000 of monthly sales, those 0.2 points are worth $100 a month: enough to cover a good part of the subscription difference.

That is the whole calculation: a pricier plan pays off when the fee savings outweigh the extra subscription cost. The fixed 30¢ is the same on every plan, so your average order value does not move the threshold: only your revenue does.

What each plan costs at your revenue

Total monthly cost (subscription plus payment fees), with Shopify Payments, monthly billing and a $60 average order:

Calculated with our Shopify pricing calculator. Plus on a 1-year term, with no app savings counted.

At $20,000 a month, Basic is still cheapest despite its higher fees: Grow’s subscription costs $66 more, and the fee savings are only $40. By $50,000, the gap flips.

At what revenue should you switch plans?

The thresholds below show the monthly revenue at which the higher plan becomes cheaper than the one before it:

Two things move these thresholds: how you are billed, and how much of your sales goes through a gateway other than Shopify Payments.

What if you don’t use Shopify Payments?

If you take payments through another gateway (your own Stripe account, Authorize.net, Adyen, etc.), Shopify adds its own fee on every sale: 2% on Basic, 1% on Grow, 0.6% on Advanced and 0.2% on Plus. That comes on top of whatever the gateway itself charges.

The gap between plans then gets much wider. On $20,000 of monthly sales, Basic costs you $400 in Shopify fees, against $200 on Grow. Grow pays off from $6,600 a month, and Advanced from $73,500.

Before moving up a plan to cut those fees, check whether you can turn on Shopify Payments: it is usually the simplest saving.

Shopify Payments or Stripe?

Shopify Payments runs on Stripe’s infrastructure. Turning it on means you already get Stripe, with no separate account and no third-party gateway fee.

Connecting your own Stripe account as a third-party gateway, where your country allows it, means paying twice: Stripe’s rate (2.9% + 30¢ for a standard US card) plus Shopify’s third-party fee, 2% more on Basic. That is 4.9% + 30¢ per order, and $400 a month for nothing on $20,000 of sales. A separate Stripe account only makes sense if Shopify Payments is not available to your business.

Shopify Plus: who is it for?

On the public card rate alone, Plus (2.25%) is only 0.25 points ahead of Advanced (2.5%): that is not what makes it pay off, and the threshold table is not enough to decide. Yet many brands move to Plus from $1–2 million in annual revenue. Their calculation includes other items:

• a card rate negotiated with Shopify, well below the public rate;
• features that replace paid apps: a customizable checkout, custom staff permissions, unlimited expansion stores for your markets;
• many physical stores: up to 200 POS Pro locations included;
• traffic spikes that call for a high-volume checkout.

Above $800,000 in monthly sales, the Plus subscription becomes variable: 0.4% of revenue, capped at $40,000 a month.

If Shopify has made you an offer, enter the proposed rate in our calculator: it shows the rate at which Plus beats Advanced at your sales volume, and the apps it would let you drop.

Monthly or yearly billing?

Yearly billing cuts the subscription by about 25%:

The catch: you pay a year upfront. The safest route is to start monthly, take the $1 offer, then switch to yearly once your store sells steadily and you know which plan you are staying on.

Which plan for your situation

You are launching your store: Basic

As long as you sell less than about $30,000 a month, Basic is the cheapest. It has everything you need to sell. With the current offer, your first three months cost $1 each.

You are growing or working with a team: Grow

Grow pays off at around $25,000 to $33,000 in monthly sales with Shopify Payments, much earlier without it. Its 5 staff accounts also matter once someone helps you with customer service or orders.

You are past $100,000 a month: Advanced

Advanced becomes cheapest between $110,000 and $147,000 in monthly sales, depending on billing. It adds 15 staff accounts and custom reports.

You run high volumes or several stores: Plus

Many brands move to it from $1–2 million in annual revenue. Plus pays off through its features, the negotiated rate and the apps it replaces, not through the public card rate. Run the numbers on Shopify’s offer before signing.

Run the numbers for your store

The tables above assume a store that sells 100% online. Your situation is probably different: in-person sales, payments outside Shopify Payments, retail locations, apps to replace. Our Shopify pricing calculator takes all of that into account:

• pick your market (United States or France and the EU);
• enter your monthly revenue, average order value and share of in-person sales;
• say whether you use Shopify Payments, and how much of your payments goes elsewhere;
• compare monthly and yearly billing, and enter a negotiated Plus rate if you have one.

The calculator shows the cost of each plan, the cheapest one for you and the break-even points on a single bar. Its prices come from Shopify’s official pricing page and are rechecked regularly.

How to start on Shopify for $1

1. Start your Shopify trial(opens in a new tab): 3 days free, no commitment.
2. Pick a plan when the trial ends. Basic is enough to get started; the $1/month for 3 months offer applies to monthly billing on eligible plans.
3. Turn on Shopify Payments in Settings › Payments, to avoid third-party gateway fees.
4. Rerun the numbers with the calculator as your sales grow. You can change plans at any time from Settings › Plan.

Frequently asked questions

Conclusion

For most new stores, Basic is the right choice, and by far the cheapest. Move to Grow at around $30,000 in monthly sales (much earlier without Shopify Payments), to Advanced past $100,000, and only consider Plus with a negotiated rate or a real need for its features.

Try Shopify: 3 days free, then $1/month for 3 months →(opens in a new tab)

Method: prices and rates from Shopify’s US pricing page, checked on September 23, 2026, and calculations run with our calculator (Shopify Payments, standard US cards, $60 average order, 100% online sales). Trafik Plus earns a commission if you open a store through our Shopify links, at no extra cost to you.