Shopify Fees Breakdown: What You Actually Pay
When you sign up for Shopify, the pricing page shows three clean numbers: $39, $105, or $399 per month. What it does not show is that your actual cost can be two to three times higher once you add transaction fees, payment processing, apps, and other charges.
This guide breaks down every fee Shopify charges, shows you what a real sale actually costs on each plan, and helps you figure out which plan makes financial sense for your business.
Monthly Subscription Plans (2026)
Shopify offers three main plans:
| Plan | Monthly Price | Annual Price (per month) |
|---|---|---|
| Basic | $39/mo | $29/mo |
| Shopify (Grow) | $105/mo | $79/mo |
| Advanced | $399/mo | $299/mo |
Annual billing saves roughly 25 percent. If you know you will be on Shopify for at least a year, the annual plan pays for itself quickly.
There is also Shopify Plus starting at $2,300 per month for enterprise businesses, but that is outside the scope of this guide.
Credit Card Processing Fees
Every time a customer pays with a credit card, Shopify takes a percentage of the sale. The exact rate depends on your plan and whether you use Shopify Payments (their built-in processor) or a third-party like PayPal or Stripe.
With Shopify Payments
| Plan | Online Rate | In-Person Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Basic | 2.9% + $0.30 | 2.6% + $0.10 |
| Shopify | 2.7% + $0.30 | 2.5% + $0.10 |
| Advanced | 2.4% + $0.30 | 2.4% + $0.10 |
With a Third-Party Payment Provider
If you use PayPal, Stripe, or another processor instead of Shopify Payments, Shopify charges an additional transaction fee on top of whatever your payment provider charges:
| Plan | Extra Transaction Fee |
|---|---|
| Basic | 2.0% |
| Shopify | 1.0% |
| Advanced | 0.6% |
This means if you use Stripe on the Basic plan, you pay Stripe's processing fee (2.9% + $0.30) plus Shopify's 2.0% transaction fee. That is nearly 5 percent of every sale going to fees.
Bottom line: Using Shopify Payments eliminates the extra transaction fee. Unless you have a specific reason to use another processor, Shopify Payments is the cheaper option.
What a $100 Sale Actually Costs
Here is what happens when a customer buys a $100 product on each plan using Shopify Payments:
| Basic | Shopify | Advanced | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Credit card fee | $3.20 | $3.00 | $2.70 |
| Monthly plan (spread across 500 orders) | $0.08 | $0.21 | $0.80 |
| Total fees per $100 sale | $3.28 | $3.21 | $3.50 |
At low volume, the Basic plan costs less per order because the monthly subscription is lower. The Advanced plan only makes sense when your volume is high enough that the lower per-transaction rate saves more than the higher monthly fee.
The crossover point: The Shopify (Grow) plan becomes cheaper than Basic at roughly $7,000 in monthly sales. The Advanced plan becomes cheaper than Grow at roughly $40,000 in monthly sales.
Hidden Costs Most Store Owners Miss
Apps ($50 to $200+ per month)
Most Shopify stores use 6 to 12 apps. Each one has a monthly fee. Common examples:
- Email marketing (Klaviyo): $20 to $150+/mo depending on list size
- Reviews app: $15 to $50/mo
- Upsell and cross-sell: $20 to $80/mo
- Subscription management (Recharge): $99/mo and up
- Analytics or profit tracking: $25 to $200/mo
These add up fast. A store with 10 apps at an average of $30 each is paying $300 per month just for apps. That is almost 8 times the Basic plan subscription.
Themes ($0 to $400 one-time)
Shopify has free themes, but most serious stores use a paid theme ($250 to $400 one-time purchase). Some themes also charge for updates or support after the first year.
Domain Name ($14 to $20 per year)
If you buy your domain through Shopify, expect to pay $14 to $20 per year. You can also buy from an external registrar like Namecheap or Cloudflare for less.
Currency Conversion Fees (1.5% to 2%)
If you sell internationally and receive payments in a different currency, Shopify Payments charges a currency conversion fee of 1.5 to 2 percent on top of the regular processing fee.
How Fees Scale as You Grow
The mistake most store owners make is looking at fees as a fixed cost. They are not. As your sales grow, your total fee dollars grow even if the percentage stays the same.
At $10,000 per month in sales on the Basic plan:
- Credit card processing: roughly $320
- Monthly subscription: $39
- Apps (estimate): $150
- Total: roughly $509 per month in Shopify-related costs
At $50,000 per month on the Advanced plan:
- Credit card processing: roughly $1,350
- Monthly subscription: $399
- Apps (estimate): $250
- Total: roughly $1,999 per month
That is 4 percent of revenue going to platform costs at $50,000 per month. Understanding these costs is essential for knowing your true profit margins.
When to Upgrade Your Plan
Upgrade from Basic to Shopify when:
- Your monthly sales consistently exceed $7,000
- You need professional reports or more staff accounts
- You want lower credit card processing rates
Upgrade from Shopify to Advanced when:
- Your monthly sales consistently exceed $40,000
- You need advanced report building or third-party calculated shipping rates
- You have international sales and want better currency conversion rates
Track Your Real Shopify Costs
Knowing your Shopify fees is one piece of the puzzle. The other pieces are your product costs, shipping expenses, ad spend, and operating costs. Nummbas automatically pulls payment processing fees from Shopify and Stripe, combines them with your other expenses, and shows you what you actually keep after everything is paid. Instead of guessing at your margins in a spreadsheet, you can see your true cost per order across every platform you sell on.