Platform
Selling on Shopify: what it costs, and what it does not give you
Every other page in this section describes a fee taken out of a sale somebody else sent you. Shopify inverts that: there is no referral fee, and there is no traffic. The plan price is the number people compare and the smallest line on the bill — card processing dominates at any real volume, and the published plan prices themselves disagree because half the sources quote annual billing without saying so.
Rates checked 2026-09-05. Marketplaces revise fee schedules on their own timetable — confirm anything you are about to price against before you use it.
What it costs
| Charge | Rate |
|---|---|
| Starter Checkout link only — not a full storefront | $5 / month |
| Basic Sources also give $27; annual billing explains most of the spread | $39 / month monthly, ~$29 annual |
| Grow Renamed from "Shopify" in 2026; one source gives $72 | $105 / month monthly, ~$79 annual |
| Advanced topping out around $1M a year in sales | $399 / month monthly, ~$299 annual |
| Plus Contract-based; reported on a 3-year term billed yearly | From $2,300 / month |
| Card processing (Basic) 2.6% + 10¢ in person, via Shopify Payments | 2.9% + 30¢ online |
| Card processing (Grow) 2.5% + 10¢ in person | 2.7% + 30¢ online |
| Card processing (Advanced) One source gives 2.4% + 10¢ in person | 2.5% + 30¢ online |
| Third-party gateway surcharge On top of whatever your gateway charges. Zero if you use Shopify Payments | 2% Basic · 1% Grow · 0.6% Advanced |
There is no fulfillment fee, and that is the point
Shopify does not hold your inventory or ship your orders. Fulfillment is whatever you arrange — your own warehouse, a 3PL, or Amazon Multi-Channel Fulfillment routing your FBA stock to Shopify orders. The cost sits outside the platform entirely.
| Item | Effect |
|---|---|
| Fulfillment fee You pay a 3PL, or you pack it yourself | None charged by the platform |
| Routing FBA stock here One inventory pool; note the peak surcharge runs October 15 to January 14 on MCF too | Possible through MCF |
| Apps The line most first-time modellers omit entirely | Reported $350–$1,400 / month for mid-market brands |
A worked example
A $100 order on the Basic plan through Shopify Payments, with the subscription allocated over 300 orders. Fulfillment and storage figures are illustrative; substitute your own before making a decision.
| Line | Amount |
|---|---|
| Sale price | $100.00 |
| Card processing at 2.9% + 30¢ | −$3.20 |
| Plan fee, allocated over 300 orders | −$0.13 |
| Apps, allocated (illustrative, lean stack) | −$0.30 |
| Left to you | $96.37 |
Platform take: 3.6% of the sale price — before the cost of acquiring the customer, which is the real number here.
What catches sellers out
The third-party gateway surcharge is the expensive mistake
Sell $20,000 a month through PayPal on Basic and you pay PayPal’s rate plus Shopify’s 2% penalty — roughly $400 a month for not using Shopify Payments. Reporting’s own verdict on whether that is worth it: almost never.
The plan fee is not the cost
At $30,000 a month in revenue on Basic, one worked example puts the bill at $39 in subscription and roughly $900 in card processing. The plan is 4% of the total. Comparing platforms on subscription price compares the wrong number.
Traffic is the whole problem
A marketplace fee buys you demand. Shopify does not. Reporting across the diversification literature is consistent that marketplace rank does not transfer — a brand with strong Amazon placement and no independent audience does not automatically sell on its own site.
You become the sales tax collector
Marketplace facilitator laws put sales tax collection on Amazon, Walmart and eBay. On your own store, that obligation is yours in every state where you have nexus — including states where FBA inventory created it.
Basic includes no staff accounts
unchanged since 2024: the store owner is the only login on Basic. Staff need Grow, or a collaborator invitation through a free Partner account.
Figures the sources disagree on
These are recorded rather than resolved. Where published rate cards conflict, the honest position is to name the conflict and send you to the primary source.
| Figure | The disagreement |
|---|---|
| Plan prices | Basic is given as $39, $29 and $27; Grow as $105, $79 and $72; Advanced as $399 and $299. Monthly against annual billing explains most of it, but several sources do not say which they are quoting — check the billing term before comparing. |
| The Agentic plan | One 2026 source lists a new Agentic plan at $0 per month among six tiers. Others describe five plans and do not mention it. Treat it as unconfirmed until you see it on Shopify’s own pricing page. |
| App spend | One source puts a mid-market app stack at $350–$1,400 a month; another describes beginner stores staying under $50 a month all-in. Both are plausible for different businesses, which is why an average is useless here. |
Where it fits, and where it does not
Worth considering for
- Brands with an existing audience — email list, social following, or repeat customers who already know the name
- Sellers wanting the customer relationship and the data that marketplaces do not hand over
- Anyone whose margin is being consumed by referral fees on a product that does not need marketplace discovery
Works against you if
- Sellers expecting marketplace demand to follow them — reporting is consistent that it does not
- Anyone treating it as a volume replacement rather than a margin and data play
- Businesses without the capacity to take on sales tax collection in every nexus state
Sources
- Shopify pricing (2026): plans, fees and real cost breakdown, Commerce-UI Secondary accessed 2026-09-05
- Shopify pricing plans 2026: complete cost breakdown, Craftshift Secondary accessed 2026-09-05
- Shopify pricing (2026): plans, fees and real costs, Shero Commerce Secondary accessed 2026-09-05
- Shopify pricing: plans and fees explained (2026 updated), Skailama Secondary accessed 2026-09-05
- Shopify pricing 2026: every plan, fee and hidden cost explained, Startup Launch Page Secondary accessed 2026-09-05
- Shopify pricing 2026: which plan to choose?, Ecomm.design Secondary accessed 2026-09-05