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Prices range from $5 per month for the Starter plan, to $2000+ for the enterprise-level “Shopify Plus” plan.
There are also transaction fees to consider on each plan. However, you can get a 25% discount on most plans if you choose an annual subscription.
Plus, if you take advantage of our Shopify trial offer, you can get your first month of Shopify Starter or Basic for just $1.
Shopify pricing can be tricky to understand. Aside from the monthly Shopify fees you’ll need to pay for a subscription to the ecommerce platform, there are transaction fees and additional costs to consider for certain dropshipping apps, premium themes, and more.
Compared to some ecommerce platforms, Shopify might not be the cheapest option for dropshipping vendors, but in our opinion, it offers the best value. That’s particularly true when you consider the various deals and offers you can get when signing up for the first time.
Today we’re going to comprehensively answer the question: “How much is Shopify?” and give you the guidance you need to choose the right plan, and save money on your dropshipping store.
What is Shopify? The Shopify Ecommerce Platform
Shopify is one of the world’s leading ecommerce solutions, and our favorite platform for dropshippers looking to build an impressive online store.
This all-in-one commerce solution combines everything you need to run a successful business into one convenient package. That includes an impressive website builder, with attractive themes, SEO and marketing tools, and business management features.
You also get one of the world’s best checkout solutions, and integrated payment processing, via Shopify Payments.
Shopify supports millions of vendors in over 170 countries worldwide, and the platform is constantly growing, with new features emerging all the time, like Shopify Magic (for AI), and Shopify Markets for localized global selling.
What’s more, Shopify goes beyond the basics of a standard online store builder for dropshipping companies, by giving them an omnichannel sales platform.
As well as selling through your custom online store, you can also sell through connected marketplaces like Amazon, Ebay and Etsy, social media channels, and in-store through Shopify POS.
Perhaps most importantly, Shopify also has a huge app marketplace, where you can find integrations with some of the best dropshipping and print-on-demand tools around. This makes it an excellent option for anyone starting a dropshipping company.
Plus, with our partnership offer, you can get your first month of Shopify for just $1, following a three day free trial. That means it’s cheaper to launch your Shopify store than you’d think!
How Much Does Shopify Cost? Key Takeaways
Compared to other e-commerce solutions, Shopify can be a little more expensive, particularly when you consider Shopify transaction fees. However, the pricing is often more affordable than you think, particularly when you consider the features you get.
There are 5 plans to choose from in total. Three focus on small to mid-sized businesses, while one (Starter), offers solutions to influencers and people with existing websites. The other (Shopify Plus) is an enterprise option for large-scale merchants:
- Shopify Starter – $5 per month: Selling options for influencers or new sellers.
- Basic Shopify – $39 per month: Ideal for new companies and solo entrepreneurs.
- Shopify – $105 per month: Great for small teams with advanced business needs.
- Shopify Advanced $399 per month- : Ideal for scaling businesses.
- Shopify Plus – starting at $2000 per month: Advanced sales tools for enterprise-level companies.
How Much is Shopify? The Pricing Plans
The five pricing plans offered by Shopify are all intended for specific purposes. While “Starter” and “Shopify Plus” are more specific plans for small sellers, or large enterprises, the Basic, Shopify, and Advanced Shopify plans are the “core” options for most businesses.
Let’s take a closer look at each option in closer detail.
The Shopify Basic Plan: For solo sellers
Price: $29 per month (paid annually) or $39 per month (monthly)
Key features: Top-converting checkout, standard analytics, and shipping discounts.
We recommend the Shopify Basic plan to most solo entrepreneurs in the dropshipping world who are just starting to build their business. Although you only get one admin account, you can create “collaborate” accounts for developers and designers.
This plan includes all of the foundational features of Shopify, including the fully customizable website builder, unlimited products, the Shopify payment gateway, and basic analytical tools. You also get discounts on shipping rates, and multiple sales channels, plus abandoned cart recovery.
The Shopify Plan: Ideal for Small Teams
Pricing: $79 per month (paid annually), or $105 per month (monthly)
Key features: Extra staff accounts, POS features, and shipping discounts.
The confusingly named “Shopify” plan is very similar to the Shopify Basic plan. The main difference is you get up to 5 accounts for other users, making it great for smaller teams. You still get all of the support for multiple sales channels, credit card processing, and add-ons via the Shopify app store.
Plus, you’ll also benefit from extra POS solutions (such as unlimited staff PINs), lower transaction rates, and better discounts on your shipping rates.
The Advanced Shopify Plan: Great for Scaling Companies
Pricing: $299 per month (paid annually) or $399 per month (monthly)
As your business starts to grow, we definitely recommend checking out the Shopify Advanced plan. This plan shines for its access to extra staff accounts (up to 15), enhanced live chat support, and low transaction fees. It also comes with a more powerful checkout system.
The Advanced plan includes third-party shipping rate calculation tools, as well as advanced and custom reports, so you can get granular insights into your business and its performance. It’s ideal for making intelligent decisions for growth.
Alternative Shopify Plans: Shopify Starter and Shopify Plus
As mentioned above, Shopify Starter and Shopify Plus stand outside of the “core” plans for most vendors. They do have benefits for specific companies, however.
Starter costs $5 per month with 5% transaction rates. It’s a good option if you’re an influencer selling POD merch or dropshipping products through social media and messaging apps. It also allows you to add payment processing to an existing website (such as a WordPress site).
The Shopify Plus plan is specifically targeted at high-volume sellers and larger companies, making hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. Prices start at $2,000 per month, and you get access to more customization options and apps. However, it’s worth noting your exact price can vary depending on the specific features you need.
Shopify Plan Comparison: Benefits and Costs
Each Shopify plan is particularly well-suited to a specific type of business model or entrepreneur. The option that’s right for you will depend on the type of company you’re running, and your specific needs. Let’s take a closer look at the features, and pricing for each plan.
Shopify Starter: $5 per month
Transaction fees: 5%
Shopify’s Starter plan is the cheapest option for online sellers, but it also has the highest transaction fees. It doesn’t include Shopify’s online store building features or comprehensive marketing tools, but it does allow you to sell through “buy now” buttons, links, and social media. It can also be used to transform your existing website into an ecommerce website.
Features:
- Unlimited product pages
- Secure checkout
- Shopify Inbox
- Contact page
- Linkpop for social media bio links
- Basic analytics
- Order management and fulfillment
Best for: If you don’t need a full ecommerce website builder, the Shopify starter plan is a good choice. It’s ideal for influencers who want to sell POD merch and simple products through social channels or a “buy button”, but it lacks the scalability many ecommerce business owners need.
Basic Shopify: $29-$29 per month
Transaction fees: 2.9% +30c for online transactions, or 2.7% + 0c In-person
Third party payment fees: 2%
Basic Shopify is our go-to recommendation for the best monthly subscription option for most new dropshippers and online business owners.
It comes with lower processing fees than the Starter plan, and all of the core features of Shopify, including tools to build an attractive storefront, automated workflows, and abandoned cart recovery.
Features:
The Starter plan features plus:
- Customizable website builder
- Support for unlimited products
- 1 admin account and multiple collaborator accounts
- Multichannel selling options
- 10 inventory locations
- Standard analytics
- 24/7 live chat support
- 1 headless storefront
- 10 inventory locations
- Discount codes and gift cards
- Manual order creation
- Standard custom apps
- Customer segmentation
- Marketing and ecommerce automation
- Unlimited contacts
- Shopify POS Lite
- Shopify Marketplace Connect (for 3 markets)
- Free SSL certificate
- Connect your own domain name
Best for: Since you only get a single Shopify account with the Basic subscription, we recommend it to solo business owners. It’s ideal if you want to access all of the core functionality of Shopify without a high monthly fee. Plus, you can access all of Shopify’s apps.
The Shopify Plan: $79-$105 per month
Transaction fees: 2.6% + 30c online or 2.5% + 0c in-person
Third party payment fees: 1%
As your small business starts to grow, the Shopify plan gives you access to more admin accounts (up to 5) stronger reporting capabilities, better payment rates, and lower transaction fees. You also get higher shipping discounts too.
Features:
The Basic plan features plus:
- PII access for custom apps (extra $29 per year)
- 5 staff accounts
- Lower transaction fees
Best for: We recommend considering the Shopify plan as you start adding employees to your team. It allows you to share all of the main features of Shopify with other employees, while still accessing all the top features for currency conversion, online sales, marketing, and website design.
Advanced Shopify: $299-$399 per month
Transaction fees: 2.4% + 30c online or 2.4% + 0c in-person
Third party payment fees: 0.5%
Advanced Shopify is a good choice for companies whose online sales are starting to grow.
Alongside extra Shopify admin accounts (up to 15), you also get more advanced point of sale features from Shopify POS for in-person selling. Plus, there are more advanced reporting capabilities, to help you optimize and improve your Shopify website.
Features:
The features of the Shopify, plus:
- Enhanced real-time support
- More Shopify POS features
- Advanced and custom reports
- Faster checkout capacity
- Additional support for active markets (for an extra fee)
- 15 staff accounts
Best for: We’d advise dropshippers and ecommerce business owners to consider Advanced Shopify as they start scaling their sales. It’s great for reducing your transaction fees, and gives you access to much more advanced analytics, to help boost your profit margins.
The Shopify Plus Enterprise Plan
So, when should you consider the Shopify Plus Enterprise plan? Ultimately, this plan is really only intended for very large business owners, making around $1 million in sales per year.
The plan includes all of the features you get on the other Shopify pricing plans, as well as extra access to comprehensive code-based customizations for your Shopify templates and themes.
You can also make granular changes to your checkout experience, access exceptional discounts on credit card fees, and use unique integrations and apps from the app store.
Plus, you’ll have access to extra support from the Shopify team to help you scale your business.
Although prices for Shopify Plus start at $2,000 USD, it’s worth remembering that your full costs can vary depending on a number of factors.
If you need extra features and accounts, you may pay more. Plus, there are costs to consider for your domain name, premium templates, and unique apps.
For most companies, this plan will only be worthwhile if you’re running a very large business, and want access to granular tools for customizing the user experience.
Shopify POS Pricing: An Overview
One point to consider when comparing Shopify pricing plans, is that there may be other costs to consider too. For instance, if you want to sell both online and in-person, you’ll need the Shopify POS app.
Fortunately, the basic toolkit for in-person credit card processing, inventory, order, customer, and employee management comes included on most Shopify plans.
All of the three core plans include Shopify POS Lite, which gives you most of the functionality you need to run a store in-person. However the Advanced plan does have a few extra features thrown in.
Unfortunately, you can’t access Shopify POS Lite on the Starter plan, but you can get a similar plan “Shopify Lite”, which includes the features of Starter, and Shopify POS Lite.
If you need more advanced in-person sales functionality, Shopify Plus comes with access to Shopify POS Pro – the fully-featured point of sale system.
If you want to access this package on any other plan, you’ll need to pay an extra fee of $89 per month per location, on top of your ecommerce package fee. Notably, if you opt for an annual plan, this price is reduced to around $79 per month.
Shopify Costs for Starting a Dropshipping Business
If you’re launching your Shopify store to start a dropshipping business, there may be a couple of additional fees to think about. However, you can still get started without spending a fortune, if you have the right plan.
We recommend using the $1 deal for the first month of Shopify’s Basic plan for beginners. You can always upgrade to Shopify later, if you have more team members to manage.
Once you have your Shopify plan, you’ll need to consider the following costs:
- Your dropshipping app: Some dropshipping apps charge a monthly fee for access (alongside the price you pay for your goods and shipping). If you want to keep costs low, it’s worth looking for an app with a free plan, like DSers (The AliExpress dropshipping app). If you’re considering print on demand, both Printful and Printify have free plans.
- Your domain name: Having a unique domain name will help to differentiate your store from the competition. You can buy a new domain name through Shopify for an annual payment starting at $14. Alternatively, you can shop around for the best deals from other domain name providers.
- Additional costs: Consider additional fees you might need to pay for premium marketing apps, inventory management tools, and similar solutions. You might also opt for a premium theme to help make your store more aesthetically appealing to your customers.
Saving Money on Shopify
We consider Shopify to be one of the best ecommerce platform options out there. It works with dozens of third-party apps, has its own payment processor, and is packed with useful features.
However, the costs can be quite high when you consider things like credit card rates, monthly fees, and other add-on costs. Here are some great ways to save money:
- Stick with Shopify Payments: Using Shopify as your payment provider means you can avoid the extra fees for using alternative options like Stripe or PayPal.
- Look for free tools: Consider using Shopify’s free themes, and when searching for dropshipping apps, choose solutions with a free plan.
- Use an annual plan: If you want to stick with Shopify for the long term, use an annual plan instead of paying monthly. This will save you 25% on your bill.
Plus, remember you can take advantage of the $1 trial offer for the first month of your Shopify subscription, saving you up to $38.
You can also use this plan if you’re an existing Shopify customer on the “Starter” plan. Just visit your plan page, and upgrade to the “Basic” plan using the $1 offer.
Navigating Shopify Pricing
Hopefully this guide to Shopify pricing has helped you understand the various fees you might need to pay when getting started with Shopify. Remember, while Shopify isn’t the cheapest option for ecommerce beginners, it still offers incredible value for money.
The key to success is making sure you choose the right plan for your specific needs. Think carefully about your business requirements before making your choice.
If you’re not sure where to begin, we recommend taking advantage of the three day free trial, followed by the $1 first month of your Basic plan, so you have plenty of time to explore the platform.
FAQ
What is Shopify, and how does it work?
Shopify is an all-in-one commerce platform, designed to help companies create, manage, and grow their online business. It allows you to sell across multiple sales channels, and works as a hosted platform, so you don’t have to buy your own hosting service.
How much does Shopify cost?
The price you pay for Shopify will depend on your plan, transaction fees, and other external costs. Plans range from $5 per month for the Starter plan, to $39 for Shopify Basic, $105 for Shopify, and $399 for Shopify Advanced. There’s also the enterprise plan starting at $2000 per month.
Can I change my Shopify plan later on?
Shopify does allow you to change your plan whenever you choose. You can upgrade to a more expensive plan, or downgrade to something cheaper by visiting your Store Settings tab, and clicking on the “Change Plan” option to see your options.
Does Shopify have any hidden fees?
There may be some extra fees to consider on Shopify outside of the monthly fee. For instance, you have to pay transaction fees, payment fees if you’re using an alternative solution for card payments, and you need to buy a domain name. There’s also the additional costs of buying premium apps and themes for your store.
