Standard Shopify Plan Overview: Pricing, Features, and comparisons in 2023

Last updated: January 05, 2023

What is Shopify Plan?

The Shopify Plan is one of the five main Shopify pricing plans (among Shopify Starter, Shopify Basic, Shopify Advanced, and Shopify Plus).

Starting at $105 per month, Shopify Plan is recommended for experienced sellers with enhanced reports, ecommerce automation, and much more.

Shopify Plan feature overview

Features similar to other Shopify plans

Unlimited products
Unlimited bandwidth
Brand assets
Fraud analysis
Manual order creation
Discount codes
Abandoned cart recovery
Analytics
Finance reports
Customer support

Shopify Plan Additional Features

Online store

The Shopify Plan offers you a fully functional online store from which you can customize and manage from your Shopify account.

Shopify also has a built-in theme editor that you can use to customize your store’s appearance. Alternatively, you can access over 100 mobile-friendly Shopify Themes from the Shopify Theme Store, which includes 11 free themes.

Blog

With your Shopify store blogging feature, you can post articles, tell your customers about events and promotions, and receive feedback from your customers.

Your blog is crucial for inbound marketing and SEO (Search Engines Optimization), where you can attract customers with a clear intention to buy.

Staff

The Shopify Plan offers five staff accounts.

SSL certificates

Most internet browsers will warn users if they try to visit a website without SSL certificates.

Therefore, with SSL certificates provided by Shopify, your online store’s content can be encrypted and published securely, giving your customers a safe and smooth experience on your Shopify Store.

Reports

Tracking your online store with reports, including:

Analytics page
Finances reports
Product Analytics
Acquisition Reports
Inventory Reports
Behavior Reports
Marketing Reports
Live View
Order Reports
Sales Reports
Retail Sale Reports
Profit Reports
Customer Reports

International commerce

Shopify Markets Additional Features

Go global with Shopify Markets - an international management tool that lets you customize settings for each region and country (for example, languages, currencies, payment methods, etc.)

Shopify POS

Shopify POS system

You can use Shopify POS to sell in person almost anywhere, including brick-and-mortar stores, markets, and pop-up shops.

Shopify Shipping Discount

In addition to real-time shipping rates, Shopify Shipping offers significant discounts from major carriers and the ability to print shipping labels in bulk.

Shopify Flow

Shopify Flow - an ecommerce automation solution - is only available for the Shopify Plan (and other higher Shopify pricing plans). It helps automate tasks and processes within your Shopify store and across your Shopify apps.

How much does Standard Shopify Plan cost?

Shopify Plan subscription fees

The Shopify Plan costs $105 per month (in the United States - the pricing can differ between regions).Starting from March of 2023, Shopify even offers 1$ per month for the first three months with Shopify Plan.

However, you can always opt-in to the Shopify Free Trial to experience the features and decide if the Shopify Plan is suitable for your online store.

Shopify Plan transaction fees

The Shopify Plan transaction fees can be lower for merchants who use Shopify Payments. Learn more about Shopify Payments here.

Transaction fees with Shopify Payments

Shopify Plan transaction fees

Shopify will only charge 2.6% + 30¢ per transaction with the Shopify Plan. You don’t need to pay other fees from your payment gateway providers.

Shopify Payments will also waive the 2% transaction fees Shopify would otherwise charge on each sale.

The only exception is purchases made with credit cards issued outside the United States, which will incur a 1% additional transaction fee.

Transaction fees without Shopify Payments

Using a third-party payment gateway provider instead of Shopify Payments will incur transaction fees.

For third-party payment gateway services, Shopify charges 1% credit card processing fees for Shopify Plan.

On the other hand, you still have to pay your gateway provider transaction fees. And there will also be a 1% fee for purchases made by credit card issued outside of the United States.

Tips: How to check Shopify Pricing for your store location

Shopify has different prices and transaction fees for different countries and regions.

If you want to sell to a specific country, it is recommended to locate your Shopify store there. However, make sure you check Shopify pricing for that country first.

Choose the country:

Step 1: Visit https://shopify.com

Step 2: Scroll down to the footer section and choose where you want to locate your store.

Scroll down to the footer section and choose where you want to locate your store

Step 3: A list of available languages and countries will be shown. Click on any country to view the Shopify version for that country/region.

A list of available languages and countries will be shown. Click on any country to view the Shopify version for that country/region

Step 4: Click on the Pricing section - usually in the header bar (in this example, I have chosen the Canada version). You might find the Shopify Pricing for Canada here different from the original United State ones.

You might find the Shopify Pricing for Canada here different from the original United State ones

Step 5: Click on Compare Pricing Plans (or a similar section in your language of choice) to view transaction fees for your store location.

Note: Just to be sure, you can turn on your VPN (if you are outside of your target country) or turn off the VPN (if you are inside your target country).

Additional Shopify costs for Shopify Plan

Domain for your Shopify Store

While Shopify offers free domains for your Shopify stores, our recommendation is to purchase your own domain names.

Initially, the domain for your Shopify store will be something like “nameofyourstore.myshopify.com”. This is not ideal for gaining customers’ trust and building your brand.

You can find and purchase domain names right on Shopify (starting at 14$ per year) or look at other domain name registrars like Namecheap, Godaddy, etc. The domain you purchased will be yours even if you leave Shopify - you can just transfer it to another registrar.

Email Hosting

Unfortunately, your Shopify Plan (and other plans) don’t include email hosting, so you must install Shopify Apps to send emails from your store’s domain.

The Shopify Email app, for instance, is free for the first 10,000 emails you send. For every 1000 emails sent after that, you will be charged $1.

Shopify Apps

Shopify Apps are priced separately from the Shopify Plan, as you will be charged for each app integration. You might find Shopify Apps effectively solve many ecommerce use cases, but more apps mean more fees and sometimes worse performance.

Therefore, we recommend clearly defining your struggles and setting your priorities before deciding which apps are suitable for your ecommerce store.

The parameters of the Shopify App

Note: You can find and install Shopify Apps from the Shopify App Store. An average merchant installs 6 Shopify Apps, and the average subscription for an app is around $19 per month.

In conclusion, the cost for Shopify Apps might vary between 50$ to 2000$ per month.

Shopify Themes

Shopify Themes determine how your website looks and feels for customers. Similar to apps, Shopify Themes are not included in the Shopify Pricing Plans.

However, there are many free Shopify Themes available inside and outside Shopify. For premium themes, you can always preview how they look with your products and branding before purchasing.

An average Shopify Theme might cost between $0 to $350 as a one-time purchase. More importantly, you can transfer themes between Shopify Stores if your theme was created by Shopify or a Shopify Partner.

Shopify POS Pricing for Shopify Plan

Shopify POS subscription

Shopify POS Lite is free on the Shopify Plan, while Shopify POS Pro will cost 89$ per store location.

You should expect these costs for using Shopify POS on your store:

Shopify POS Lite: from $1094 per store as a 1-time investment, covering your Shopify POS system.
Shopify POS Pro: from $2133 per store for year-1 investment. From the second year on, Shopify POS Pro will only cost 1068$ per store.

The initial investment for Shopify POS hardware may differ for each merchant, and this estimation might only be accurate for some. We have selected the cheapest option for each type of hardware to give you an idea of the minimum Shopify POS spending.

We have selected the cheapest option for each type of hardware to give you an idea of the minimum Shopify POS spending

Shopify Plan comparison

What is the difference between Shopify Basic Plan and Shopify Plan?

Pricing: Shopify Basic Plan vs Shopify Plan

Compare the prices of the Shopify Basic Plan vs the Shopify Plan

The Shopify Plan subscription fee is three times higher than the Basic Shopify Plan.

On the other hand, the Shopify Plan appeals to higher volume sales store owners with a 0.3% lower transaction fee and higher shipping discount with Shopify Shipping service.

Compare shipping discounts the Shopify Plan with the Shopify basic Plan

Feature: Shopify Basic Plan vs Shopify Plan

Customers will not have these features when using the Shopify Basic

Both of these Shopify pricing plans share many similar features. However, the Shopify Plan is capable of running automation - a game changer for ecommerce businesses. With Shopify Flow, you can optimize your operation inside and outside of your businesses while having an autonomous ecommerce website with less human manual work and errors.

Conclusion

Shopify Plan is designed for experienced sellers who have been familiar with many ecommerce use cases. At the same time, Shopify Basic is an excellent option for new merchants to explore Shopify or create their first online stores.

Among other perks, Shopify Flow is considered the most attractive feature for store owners to choose the Shopify Plan over the Basic Shopify Plan.

What is the difference between Shopify Plan and Shopify Advanced Plan?

Pricing: Shopify Plan vs Shopify Advanced Plan

Compare the prices of Shopify Plan vs Shopify Advanced Plan

The Advanced Shopify Plan costs 399$ per month, four times higher than the Shopify Plan.

Merchants who use the Advanced Plan will get an attractive 2.4%+ 30¢ fee per transaction, with higher discounts for Shopify Shipping service.

Compare shipping discounts Shopify Plan with Shopify Advanced Plan

Overall, the Advanced Shopify Plan is a huge leap from your Basic Shopify Plan or Shopify Plan in terms of subscription fees and scalability.

While the transaction fees and discounts are considerable, we recommend staying with Shopify Plan or the Basic Shopify Plan if your monthly revenue is less than $5000.

Feature: Shopify Plan vs Shopify Advanced Plan

Customers will not have these features when using Shopify Plan

Shopify Advanced Plan features that outshine the Shopify Plan:

Custom Reports: Customize default reports and create your own using Shopify’s filtering and editing tools.
Staff: Shopify Advanced Plan offers 15 staff accounts.
Carrier-calculated Shipping: Using this feature, you can provide your customers with third-party calculated shipping rates and options when they place an order (useful if Shopify Shipping doesn’t support your carrier or you don’t qualify for it).
Collecting international duties and import taxes at checkout: Using this feature, you will be able to calculate and collect duties and taxes for international shipment automatically.

Conclusion

Overall, the Shopify Advanced Plan is more favorable for fast-growing merchants who are expanding to the global market. It appeals to merchants who need automation on shipping prices, duties, and taxes for different regions and countries.

On the other hand, if you are selling domestically or with medium sales volumes, the Shopify Plan is more suitable for your ecommerce store.

Standard Shopify Plan FAQ

What are other Shopify Pricing Plans besides the Shopify Plan?

Starter Shopify Plan: $5 per month + 5% transaction fees
Basic Shopify Plan: $39 per month, with 2.9% + 30¢ per transaction
Advanced Shopify Plan: $399 per month, with 2.4% + 30¢ per transaction
Shopify Plus: Starting at $2000 per month

Will I lose my data for upgrading or downgrading my Shopify pricing plans?

Answer: No

Your data will always be available for all of the Shopify Pricing Plans you choose. It does not matter whether you upgrade or downgrade your plan.

Do I get free hosting when I use the Shopify Plan?

Answer: Yes

With all plans except Starter, Shopify includes secure, unlimited ecommerce hosting. You may also use the Buy Button to integrate ecommerce into an existing website.