Shopify Advanced Plan Review 2026: Features, Pricing & Compare

Shopify offers five pricing tiers, and the Advanced plan sits just below the enterprise-level Plus plan. It’s designed for high-volume stores that need lower transaction fees, advanced reporting, and international selling tools.

But at $299 per month (billed yearly), it’s a significant investment. Is it worth upgrading from Basic to Grow? And at what point does it make more sense to jump to Plus instead?

In this guide, I’ll break down everything about the Shopify Advanced plan. You’ll get the full pricing breakdown, a feature-by-feature comparison with other plans, and a clear framework for deciding whether it’s the right fit for your store.

What Is the Shopify Advanced Plan?

The Shopify Advanced plan is the highest-tier plan before Shopify Plus. It includes everything from the Basic and Grow plans, plus lower credit card rates, advanced reporting, carrier-calculated shipping, duties and tax calculations, and up to 15 staff accounts.

It’s built for established businesses that process a high volume of orders and need detailed analytics to guide their decisions. If your store is growing fast and you’re losing money on transaction fees with a lower plan, Advanced is where you start saving.

Who Should Use the Shopify Advanced Plan?

Not every store needs the Advanced plan. Here’s who benefits most from this tier, and who should use Shopify Advanced at a different level.

The Advanced plan is a strong fit if you:

• Process $50,000 or more in monthly sales and want lower transaction fees
• Run a large team (more than five people) that needs separate staff accounts with role-based permissions
• Sell internationally and need duties, taxes, and multi-currency checkout built in
• Rely on data to make decisions and need custom reports beyond standard analytics
• Want to automate repetitive tasks with Shopify Flow instead of doing them manually
• Operate a B2B or wholesale side of your business that requires scalability across markets

You probably don’t need the Advanced plan if you:

• Your monthly revenue is below $30,000 consistently
• You sell in one country with a small product catalog
• Your team is fewer than five people
• You’re comfortable with standard Shopify reports and don’t need custom analytics

For most Shopify plans for large business operations, Advanced hits the sweet spot between the mid-tier Grow plan and the enterprise-level Plus. If your store is growing but not yet at the $1 million annual revenue mark, this is likely where you belong.

How much Does the Shopify Advanced Plan cost?

The Shopify Advanced Plan offers two payment options:

• Monthly: $399 per month 
• Yearly: $299 per month (billed annually) 

Choosing the annual plan saves you $1,200 per year, which works out to $100 per month. That’s a 25% discount for committing upfront. 

Free Trial and Special Offer

Shopify currently offers:

• Shopify Free Trial: Enjoy a 3-day free trial before committing.
• Special Offer for New Subscribers: Only $1/month for the first 3 months.

By combining the trial with the promotional pricing, you pay just $3 for your first three months. That’s enough time to set up your store, test the Advanced features, and decide whether they’re worth the full price.

Transaction Fees

Transaction fees are one of the biggest reasons to upgrade. Here’s what you’ll pay on the Advanced plan:

With Shopify Payments (Shopify’s built-in gateway):

• Online transactions: 2.5% + $0.30
• In-person transactions: 2.4% + $0.10
• Third-party payment provider fee: waived

With an external payment gateway:

• Shopify charges an additional 0.6% per transaction on top of whatever your gateway charges

For comparison, the Grow plan charges 2.7% + $0.30 online and 1% for third-party gateways. The Basic plan charges 2% for third-party gateways. Those differences add up fast at higher volumes.

Shopify Advanced vs. Shopify Grow: Transaction Fee Comparison

The Advanced plan offers lower transaction fees for both online and in-person sales. Here’s how they compare side-by-side with the Grow plan. 

Online Sales Transaction Fees:

	Grow Plan	Advanced Plan	Difference
Credit card rate	2.7% + $0.30	2.5% + $0.30	0.2% lower
Third-party gateway fee	1.0%	0.6%	0.4% lower

In-Person Sales Transaction Fees:

• Grow Plan: 2.5% + $0.10
• Shopify Advanced Plan: 2.4% + $0.10

⇒ 0.1% reduction

The online credit card rate drops by 0.2%, and the third-party gateway fee drops by 0.4%. For in-person sales, the rate drops by 0.1%. These differences compound quickly at higher volumes. 

When Do the Fee Savings Justify the Upgrade?

The Advanced plan costs $200 more per month than Grow ($299 vs $99 annually). So the question is: do your transaction fee savings exceed that $200? Here’s the return on investment at three different monthly sales volumes.

At $10,000/month in online sales:

• Credit card savings: $10,000 x 0.2% = $20/month
• Net cost after savings: still paying ~$180 more than Grow. Not worth upgrading yet.

At $50,000/month in online sales:

• Credit card savings: $50,000 x 0.2% = $100/month
• Net cost after savings: ~$100 more than Grow. Getting closer, and the advanced reporting and shipping features add extra value on top.

At $100,000/month in online sales:

• Credit card savings: $100,000 x 0.2% = $200/month
• Net cost after savings: roughly break even on fees alone. Every dollar above $100K saves you money.

If you use a third-party payment gateway instead of Shopify Payments, the ROI is even stronger because of the 0.4% difference in gateway fees. At $100,000/month, that’s $400 in savings, putting ~$200/month back in your pocket after the plan cost difference.

I’d recommend considering the Advanced plan once your monthly sales consistently reach $50,000 or more. Below that, the Grow plan covers most needs at a lower cost.

Additional Costs

There are additional costs associated with the Advanced Shopify plan:

• Domain Purchase: Starts at $14 per year via Shopify or external registrars like Namecheap and GoDaddy.
• Email Hosting: No built-in email hosting; Shopify Email app is free for the first 10,000 emails, then $1 per 1,000 emails sent.
• Shopify Apps or third-party apps: Costs vary; the average app subscription is around $19 per month.
• Shopify Themes: Prices range from $0 to $350; free themes available.
• Shopify POS Pricing
  • POS Lite: Free on Shopify Advanced Plan.
  • POS Pro: $89 per store location.

Shopify Advanced Plan Features Overview

The Advanced plan includes all features from Basic and Grow, plus several exclusive tools that support scalability and operational efficiency. Here’s what sets it apart.

Advanced Reporting

This is one of the biggest reasons to upgrade. The Advanced plan gives you access to custom reports that go well beyond the standard analytics dashboard. You can build reports that analyze: 

• Custom Reports
  • Analyze sales performance by channel, product category, or marketing campaign.
  • Understand customer behavior across demographics and buying habits.
  • Gain insights into inventory management, including Shopify Advanced product options, stock levels, product popularity, and supplier performance.
• Detailed Analytics
  • Customer Segmentation: Analyze customer behavior based on demographics, purchase history, and preferences.
  • Marketing Attribution: Track the effectiveness of your marketing efforts across different channels (e.g., social media, email marketing, paid advertising). Identify which channels generate the highest return on investment (ROI) and optimize your marketing spend accordingly.
  • Cohort Analysis: Compare the behavior of different customer groups acquired at various times.

In short, the Advanced Reporting feature is a game-changer for data-driven businesses. It’s like having a magnifying glass that reveals the inner workings of your store. Instead of just seeing surface-level numbers, you’ll uncover the “why” behind the “what.”

For instance, a spike in sales might seem significant at first. Still, the Advanced Reporting feature can reveal if it’s due to a successful marketing campaign, a seasonal trend, or simply a lucky coincidence.

Shopify Flow (Workflow Automation)

Shopify Flow is an automation tool available on the Advanced plan that lets you build custom workflows without writing code. It works on an “if this, then that” logic.

Common automations include:

• Tag high-value customers automatically when they spend over a certain amount
• Send internal alerts when inventory drops below a threshold
• Flag suspicious orders based on criteria you define
• Auto-publish products to specific sales channels based on tags
  

Shopify Flow saves hours of manual work each week, especially for stores with large catalogs or high order volumes. It connects with many Shopify apps, so you can trigger actions across your entire tech stack. For stores focused on scalability, Flow is one of the most practical features in this tier.

Carrier-Calculated Shipping

The Advanced plan lets you integrate directly with major carriers like USPS, UPS, and FedEx. At checkout, customers see real-time shipping rates based on their location, package weight, and chosen speed.

This matters because:

• Accurate Shipping Costs: Shows real-time shipping costs during checkout. This reduces losses from undercharging for shipping.
• Multiple Carrier Options: Connects with various carriers. Customers can choose their preferred shipping option.
• Automatic Selection: Automatically picks the cheapest or fastest shipping method. This saves time and reduces manual work.

Lower-tier plans don’t include carrier-calculated shipping, so if you’re currently using flat rates or manual calculations, this feature alone can save you money and improve your checkout conversion rate.

Duties And Taxes Calculation

The Shopify Advanced plan features a built-in duties and tax calculator. It’s a game-changer, especially when expanding your business globally.

Basically, through the Advanced plan, you can estimate and collect those unexpected fees upfront during checkout. This means fewer abandoned carts, as customers appreciate knowing the full cost upfront. Also, transparency in pricing helps build trust, as customers don’t encounter unexpected fees after making a purchase.

10x Faster Checkout capacity

The Shopify Advanced Plan’s Checkout Capacity feature is a lifeline for businesses during high-traffic events like Black Friday or flash sales. It processes transactions up to 10 times faster than the Basic and Shopify plans, preventing site crashes and keeping customers happy.

Imagine this: a massive influx of eager shoppers flooding your store. Instead of crashing under pressure, your site seamlessly handles the traffic surge. Even better, Shopify’s queue management system steps in if the traffic is exceptionally high. Customers are placed in a virtual line with precise wait times and updates, eliminating frustration and keeping them engaged.

Additional Staff Accounts

The Shopify Advanced lets you build a bigger team with up to 15 staff accounts.  You can control exactly what each team member can access, whether that’s product management, order processing, reports, or store settings.

For comparison:

• Basic: two staff accounts
• Grow: five staff accounts
• Advanced: 15 staff accounts
• Plus: unlimited

With more staff, you can delegate tasks effectively. You control who has access to what, ensuring each team member has the right permissions for their role. For instance, your inventory manager can focus on product management while your customer service team handles inquiries.

As your business grows, so can your team, ensuring you can meet rising demands without sacrificing efficiency or customer service

Localized Selling With Custom Markets

Shopify’s Advanced Plan includes Shopify Markets, a cross-border management tool that helps businesses unlock global expansion opportunities. This tool allows businesses to manage international sales from one centralized hub, eliminating the need for separate stores for each region.

With Shopify Markets, businesses can customize their online stores for different regions. This includes adjusting product prices, content, and marketing strategies to suit local tastes and shopping habits.

This includes  accommodating factors like:

• Currency: Display prices in the local currency for better transparency.
• Language: Deliver product descriptions and marketing messages in the preferred language of your target audience.
• Payment Methods: Offer popular payment options used in each region to streamline the checkout process.
• Taxes and Regulations: Ensure compliance with local tax regulations to avoid legal issues.
• Cultural Preferences: Adapt product offerings, marketing visuals, and overall brand messaging to resonate with local cultural norms.

Initially, you can target up to three markets without additional costs. Expanding beyond that is simple, with each additional active market costing $59 monthly. This flexible pricing structure allows businesses to scale at their own pace, entering new markets as they gain confidence in cross-border trade.

Shopify Advanced Plan Pros and Cons

Before committing to $299/month (yearly paid), here’s an honest look at what works and what doesn’t. Is the Shopify Advanced plan worth it? That depends on your situation.

Pros	Cons
Lowest transaction fees of any standard plan (0.6% third-party)	$299/month (yearly paid) is steep if your monthly sales are below $50,000
Custom reports and advanced analytics for data-driven decisions	No B2B/wholesale channel (only available on Plus)
Shopify Flow automation saves hours of manual work weekly	No priority support or dedicated account manager
Carrier-calculated shipping improves checkout accuracy	International markets beyond three cost $59/month each
Duties and import tax calculator builds trust with global buyers	Some features like advanced reporting require time to learn and set up
10x checkout capacity prevents lost sales during traffic spikes	Not much ROI advantage if you use Shopify Payments with low volume
15 staff accounts with granular role-based permissions	Still limited to ten inventory locations (same as Basic and Grow)
Three international markets included at no extra cost	No checkout customization (reserved for Plus)

Bottom line: The Shopify Advanced plan pros and cons tilt clearly toward “worth it” once your store processes $50,000+ monthly. Below that threshold, the Grow plan delivers most of what you need at a fraction of the cost. Above $1 million annually, consider whether Shopify Plus and its B2B/wholesale tools make more sense.

Shopify Advanced Plan vs Other Shopify Plans: A Quick Comparison

Choosing the right Shopify plan for your large business depends on your store’s size, sales volume, and operational needs. Here’s how all plans compare side by side.

Feature	Basic ($39/mo)	Grow ($105/mo)	Advanced ($399/mo)	Plus ($2,300/mo)
Staff accounts	2	5	15	Unlimited
Transaction fee (3rd party)	2.0%	1.0%	0.6%	Negotiable
Online CC rate	Higher	2.7% + $0.30	2.5% + $0.30	Best rates
Reporting	Basic analytics	Standard reports	Custom reports	Custom + ShopifyQL
Shopify Flow	No	No	Yes	Yes + Launchpad
Carrier-calculated shipping	No	No	Yes	Yes
Duties and taxes	No	No	Yes	Yes
Checkout capacity	Standard	Standard	10x faster	10x+ faster
Shopify Markets	One market	One market	Three markets	50 markets
B2B/Wholesale	No	No	No	Yes
Priority support	No	No	No	Yes (Merchant Success Manager)
Inventory locations	Ten	Ten	Ten	200
POS Pro	Paid ($89/loc)	Paid ($89/loc)	Paid ($89/loc)	Up to 200 included

How to choose:

• Basic is for new stores testing the waters with low volume.
• Grow is a solid middle ground for businesses doing well but not yet at high volume.
• Advanced is where scalability starts. Upgrade when your monthly sales consistently exceed $50,000, or when you need custom reporting, Shopify Flow, and international tools.
• Plus is for enterprise operations that need full checkout customization, B2B/wholesale channels, priority support, and negotiable rates. Consider it once annual revenue exceeds $1 million.

5 Tips for Maximizing Your Advanced Shopify Plan

1. Use custom reports weekly: Don’t just set up reports and forget them. Check your sales-by-channel and customer-segment reports every week. This data should directly inform your marketing spend and inventory decisions. Over time, this is where you’ll see the clearest return on investment from the Advanced tier.

2. Automate repetitive tasks with Shopify Flow: Start simple. Tag customers, flag low stock, organize orders by fulfillment priority. Each automation you build saves hours over time and reduces human error as your operations scale.

3. Track your transaction fee savings: Document how much you’re saving each month compared to the Grow plan. Reinvest those savings into marketing, product development, or customer retention tools like Joy Loyalty Program & Rewards.

4. Expand internationally with Markets: Your three included markets are free. Research which countries have demand for your products and set them up. Even adding one or two international markets can meaningfully increase revenue without the complexity of running separate storefronts.

5. Review shipping costs monthly: With carrier-calculated rates, you have access to real shipping cost data. Analyze it monthly to negotiate better carrier rates or adjust your shipping strategy for improved conversion rate at checkout.

Ready to get started? Here’s how to set up your store on the Advanced plan.

How to Set Up an Online Store with the Shopify Advanced Plan from Scratch

Here, we have documented all the steps you need to take to create and run an online store with the Shopify Advanced Plan.

Step 1: Creating a Shopify Account

1. Visit the Shopify website and click on “Start free trial.”
2. Provide your email address, choose a password, and name your Advanced Shopify store.
3. Answer questions to tailor Shopify’s setup to your business needs.

You can skip all the questions and tailor the settings to your preferences later.

Step 2: Selecting a Plan

1. Click on the “Select a Plan” button in the left-bottom corner of the screen.
2. Click on “Select Advanced.“
3. Fill in your payment details.
4. Click on the “Subscribe” button.

Step 3: Choosing a Theme

1. Access the ‘Themes’ section under ‘Online Store’ in the Shopify admin.
2. Use filters to select themes by industry or features.
3. Preview themes on both desktop and mobile.
4. Add and publish your chosen theme for immediate use.
5. Consider hiring a designer for a custom look.
6. Always use professional photography and videos for products.

Step 4: Adding Products and organize collections

1. Go to Products > Add Product. Enter names, descriptions, images, pricing, and inventory details
2. Create collections under Products > Collections to group related items for easier browsing

Step 5: Configure payments, shipping, and taxes Adding Shopify Apps

• Under Settings, set up your payment provider (Shopify Payments waives the 0.6% third-party fee)
• Configure shipping zones and rates, and adjust tax settings based on your selling regions

Step 6: Set up your domain and test 

• Connect a custom domain, preview your store
• Run a few test transactions to make sure checkout works smoothly.

Step 7: Reviewing and Previewing Your Progress

• Preview your store by clicking the ‘Eye’ icon next to the ‘Online Store’ button on your Shopify admin.
• Test a few transactions to ensure the checkout process is error-free.
• Check responsiveness and functionality on various devices.

Step 8: Activate Advanced-specific features

This is the step most merchants skip, but it’s where the real value is:

• Custom reports: Go to Analytics > Reports and build reports for sales by channel, customer segments, and marketing attribution.
• Shopify Flow: Go to Apps > Shopify Flow and start with pre-built templates for tagging VIP customers or flagging low inventory.
• Carrier-calculated shipping: Go to Settings > Shipping and Delivery, connect your carrier accounts (USPS, UPS, FedEx), and enable real-time rates at checkout.
• Shopify Markets: Go to Settings > Markets, add your target countries, and configure local currencies, languages, and duty/tax calculation.

Advanced Shopify Plan: FAQs

Final Thoughts

The Shopify Advanced plan is built for stores that have outgrown the Grow plan and need lower fees, deeper analytics, and tools for scaling internationally. At $299 per month (yearly), the return on investment becomes clear once your monthly sales exceed $50,000, driven solely by transaction fee savings.

The advanced reporting, Shopify Flow automation, carrier-calculated shipping, and Shopify Markets give you the infrastructure to operate a larger, more complex business without jumping to the enterprise-level Plus plan. For most fast-growing stores generating between $50,000 and $1 million in monthly revenue, Advanced strikes the right balance between scalability and cost.

If you need B2B/wholesale capabilities, priority support, or full checkout customization, that’s when Shopify Plus comes into play. But for everything else, Advanced delivers.

⭐Related articles:

• Shopify Fee Calculator: How Much Does A Shopify Store Cost?
• Shopify Starter Plan Review
• Shopify Basic Plan Review
• Shopify Plus Review