Shopify fits a business that wants a hosted online store with checkout, inventory, payments, social selling, marketplace connections, and in-person sales in one system. Basic is usually the sensible starting point for one owner, but the real cost includes card processing, apps, domains, shipping, taxes, and possibly third-party payment fees.
The main tradeoff is control versus convenience. Shopify handles hosting, store infrastructure, and checkout, while you accept recurring plan charges, platform rules, payment eligibility checks, and less control than a self-hosted store. Before paying, list your products, sales channels, staff needs, payment methods, shipping destinations, and required apps.
Key takeaways
- Basic costs $39 per month when paid monthly, or $29 per month on yearly billing (12 x $29 = $348 over the year), based on US prices checked October 31, 2026.
- Shopify Payments on Basic lists 2.9% plus $0.30 for online cards, so a $20 sale costs $0.88 before other expenses.
- Grow is aimed at teams needing up to five staff accounts, while Advanced adds lower listed card rates and more shipping and global tools.
- Apps, themes, domains, shipping labels, taxes, third-party payment fees, and POS Pro can sit outside the plan price.
- Shopify does not guarantee traffic, profit, uptime, or a refund when a customer is scammed.
What Shopify Is And Who It Fits
Shopify is an all-in-one commerce platform. The provider supplies the hosted store, checkout, online store tools, inventory features, reports, support, payment integrations, and billing system. You can sell through a website, social channels, marketplaces, and physical locations through Shopify POS.
That makes Shopify a strong fit when you want one dashboard for products, orders, payments, and sales channels. It can suit a small business owner starting with one store, a growing retailer adding staff, or a company that needs several locations and more detailed operations.
The hosted model also changes what you give up. You do not manage a separate web server, WordPress installation, or security patching process, but you pay a recurring platform fee and work within Shopify’s product, payment, and account rules. Apps and themes can add more flexibility, though they can also add monthly or one-time charges.
Shopify says its stores are PCI DSS Level 1 compliant by default. That is a provider claim, not an independent audit result. SSL/TLS protects the connection between the customer and the store, but it does not prove that a merchant is legitimate or guarantee that the store cannot be hacked.
Shopify’s US status page listed Admin, Checkout, Storefront, Reports, API, Support, and POS as operational on October 30, 2026. A separate October 29 incident affected some Admin and mobile-Admin users before it was resolved. Treat the status page as operational information, not as a promise of observed speed or uptime. Shopify does not publish a general uptime guarantee in its US pricing and help pages. Ask sales or support for applicable service terms if a contractual uptime commitment matters.
Shopify Plans: Monthly Cost, Annual Cost And What Renews
Shopify’s US prices checked October 31, 2026 list three main plans for ordinary stores. Yearly billing is not a monthly payment. It charges the full year upfront (the upfront column below is 12 times the monthly price, as arithmetic), with the effective monthly figure shown only to help compare the commitment. Check the amount due at checkout.
Basic, Grow, and Advanced include online stores, unlimited products, inventory management, and 24/7 chat support. Basic has no additional staff accounts. Grow includes up to five staff accounts, and Advanced includes up to 15. Each of those plans lists 10 locations.
The US pricing page displayed three days free followed by $1 per month for three months on October 30, 2026. The $1 period is paid promotional time, not free time. The standard plan rate applies afterward unless you change or cancel the plan. Trial length and promotional pricing can vary by store and location, so confirm the offer inside your Shopify account.
A trial is separate from a free tier and separate from a refund window. Shopify’s stated trial begins when the account is created. If you select a paid plan during the trial, billing begins after the trial ends. If you do not select a paid plan, the store is paused or frozen when the trial ends.
Shopify says monthly subscription refund requests may be reviewed within seven days of invoice issuance, the first post-trial invoice within 30 days, and annual subscriptions within 30 days. Review is case by case and does not guarantee a refund. Unused service time, third-party app charges, and theme purchases are generally excluded. Confirm the billing interval, upfront amount, post-promotion price, and cancellation terms before paying.
What Shopify Takes From Each Sale
Shopify Payments lists different card rates by plan. For online cards in the US, Basic lists 2.9% plus $0.30, Grow lists 2.7% plus $0.30, and Advanced lists 2.5% plus $0.30. The listed in-person rates are 2.6% plus $0.10 for Basic, 2.5% plus $0.10 for Grow, and 2.4% plus $0.10 for Advanced. Prices checked October 28, 2026.
On Basic, a $20 online card sale produces a listed processing charge of $0.88. That leaves $19.12 before taxes, refunds, shipping, apps, and other costs. The calculation is 2.9% of $20, or $0.58, plus the $0.30 fixed fee.
The payment rate is only one part of the sale cost. Shopify’s pricing page lists a 1% international-rate addition for applicable online transactions. For PayPal Wallet rates, check Shopify’s pricing page, since the rate depends on the payment method, region, and plan.
If you use an outside payment provider, that provider charges its own fee. Shopify’s displayed comparison lists a 2% third-party transaction fee for the relevant case. The external provider’s fee and Shopify’s fee are separate, so calculate both before choosing a gateway.
Shopify also lists a 1.75% charge for manually capturing a payment after the standard seven-day authorization period, in addition to standard card fees. That matters when you authorize a card but delay capturing the payment.
Build a product-level calculation before paying for inventory or a plan. Include the selling price, card fees, external gateway fees, Shopify’s transaction fee if applicable, product cost, shipping, returns, tax, app charges, and customer-service time. A lower plan rate may not outweigh the plan’s higher fixed cost unless your sales volume supports it.
The Extra Costs Behind A Shopify Store
The plan fee does not cover every part of operating a store. Apps may charge subscriptions, usage fees, or one-time fees. Paid themes can add another upfront cost. A custom domain may be purchased through Shopify or connected from another registrar, and the domain has its own renewal terms. The free myshopify.com address is not the same as owning a custom domain.
Shipping labels can appear as separate charges. Taxes can apply to Shopify bills. Shopify also lists POS Pro at $89 per location per month. Marketplace syncing can add 1% up to $99 per month for more than 50 synced marketplace orders under the pricing shown. Prices checked October 28, 2026.
Shopify’s hosting is included in the plan, but “unlimited” hosting does not make apps, domains, payment processing, shipping, or taxes unlimited. Shopify Payments may hold or reserve funds during chargeback, compliance, verification, fulfillment, risk, or tax-detail reviews.
Make a separate cost line for each domain, theme, app, payment provider, shipping service, and sales channel. Check whether each app bills monthly, annually, by usage, or on a different cycle from Shopify. An app canceled outside Shopify may continue to generate a charge until it is uninstalled in Shopify, and uninstalling it does not remove a charge already generated for the next invoice.
If you need a different store model, compare the real costs and tradeoffs in Shopify vs WooCommerce before committing to the hosted setup.
Basic, Grow, Advanced Or Plus: Which Plan Matches The Store
Basic is the practical choice for one owner who needs an online store, unlimited products, inventory tools, checkout, and chat support. Its main limits are the lack of additional staff accounts and the higher listed card rate compared with Grow and Advanced.
Grow fits a store with a small team. It includes up to five staff accounts and lists lower online and in-person card rates than Basic. The higher fixed cost makes sense only when staff access or payment savings justify it.
Advanced is for a larger operation that needs up to 15 staff accounts, lower listed card rates, live third-party shipping rates, and more advanced global tools. It still does not include Plus-only enterprise features such as full checkout customization, expansion stores, higher API limits, or bot protection.
Plus is a contractual enterprise plan. It lists unlimited staff accounts, up to 200 POS Pro locations, 200 inventory locations, advanced reporting, and enterprise features. Shopify's page says Plus starts at $2,300 per month. Request a written Plus quote and contract terms for your payment mix, billing term, store count, and required features. Prices checked October 31, 2026.
Do not choose Grow or Advanced only because the plan sounds more capable. Start with staff access, payment volume, shipping needs, reporting, and international requirements. Then compare the added fixed cost with the savings or features you will actually use.
Payouts, Holds, Refunds And Unexpected Charges
Shopify Payments allows daily, weekly, or monthly payout schedules. For US stores, Shopify lists a minimum settlement time of three business days. After Shopify sends the payout, the bank may take another one to three days.
Payouts can be held or placed in reserve because of chargebacks, customer complaints, high-risk orders, compliance reviews, fulfillment issues, verification, or tax-detail problems. Adding or replacing an external payout bank account can pause payouts for three to five business days. Review Shopify Payments eligibility before building your cash-flow plan, especially if you sell regulated products or have long fulfillment times.
Shopify does not decide ordinary customer refunds for an individual merchant’s store. A customer should contact the merchant, payment provider, and card issuer, and report suspected fraud to ReportFraud.ftc.gov. Shopify’s chargeback process says the customer’s bank and card network decide chargeback outcomes.
A charge near $40 may be the $39 monthly Basic subscription before applicable taxes. It could also be an app, domain, shipping label, transaction fee, tax, or another store on the same billing account. Check Shopify Admin billing records and the invoice description before disputing the charge. Prices checked October 28, 2026.
When you deactivate a store, pending payouts, chargebacks, gift cards, subscriptions, open orders, domains, and external apps may still require action. Shopify says deactivated-store information is retained for two years, and personal-data deletion can be requested. Deletion is irreversible.
Products, Taxes, Business Setup And Store Rules
Shopify provides the store and payment infrastructure, but you remain responsible for product legality, safety, licensing, taxes, fulfillment, customer service, refunds, chargeback evidence, and accurate policies. Write clear shipping, return, privacy, and subscription terms before sending customers to checkout.
Shopify Payments restricts or excludes categories that can include regulated or illegal products, cannabis and related products, prescription drugs, medical devices, tobacco, firearms, weapons, money transfers, cryptocurrency-related services, check cashing, credit repair, sexually explicit adult products, unverified health claims, gambling, and counterfeit products. The list varies by region and payment provider and is not exhaustive. Ask Shopify Payments whether your exact product and business model are eligible.
Shopify’s US tax guidance says the platform can automate sales-tax calculations, but the merchant generally remains responsible for determining where tax applies, collecting it, filing, and remitting it unless using Shopify-managed tax or automated filing. Check registration and tax requirements for the states and localities where the business operates.
You do not universally need an LLC to sell on Shopify. The IRS treats a sole proprietorship and an LLC as different business structures, while state and local rules control registration, permits, business names, and taxes. Check the applicable government requirements before selling.
Choose products using demand, margin, compliance, supply, shipping, and customer-service requirements. A product that sells well can still lose money after fees, returns, delivery, and support.
What To Check Before Paying For Shopify
Start by configuring a test store and running a test checkout. Confirm that your products, shipping destinations, taxes, refund policy, payment methods, and customer emails behave as expected. Review Shopify Payments eligibility for your business and product category before relying on its listed rates.
Then price the complete store:
- Plan fee and billing term
- Domain purchase and renewal
- Apps, themes, and usage charges
- Card processing and third-party transaction fees
- Shipping, tax, POS, and marketplace costs
Check the amount charged upfront, the price after the promotion, the renewal or ongoing rate, and the cancellation process. If you need a custom domain, check the applicable registrar’s renewal terms. If your business needs a legal entity, license, permit, or tax registration, check the state and local rules where it operates.
Shopify’s status page can show whether services are operational, but it is not a promise of observed uptime or speed. Ask Shopify sales or support for written service terms if a contractual uptime commitment matters. If Shopify’s recurring fee and hosted model do not fit, compare the best online store builders and their costs before paying.
Frequently asked questions
How trustworthy is Shopify?
Shopify is an established commerce platform with documented payment, billing, security, support, and status systems. Trust still depends on the individual merchant because the seller remains responsible for legal compliance, products, taxes, fulfillment, customer policies, and disputes.
What is the main downside to Shopify?
The main downside is the stack of recurring and per-sale costs. You may pay for the plan, card processing, apps, a domain, shipping, taxes, and third-party transaction fees while also working within Shopify’s product and payment rules.
How much does Shopify cost per month?
US pricing listed Basic at $39 monthly, Grow at $105 monthly, and Advanced at $399 monthly on October 31, 2026. Yearly billing listed effective monthly rates of $29, $89, and $359, charged for the full year upfront (12 x $29 = $348, 12 x $89 = $1,068, 12 x $359 = $4,308). Prices checked October 31, 2026.
How much does Shopify take from a $20 sale?
On Basic using Shopify Payments and a standard online card, the listed fee is 2.9% plus $0.30. A $20 sale therefore produces a $0.88 processing charge, leaving $19.12 before taxes, refunds, shipping, apps, or other costs.
Is Shopify better than Etsy or Amazon?
Shopify gives you a standalone store and more control over branding, checkout, products, payments, and sales channels. Etsy and Amazon provide marketplace access and their own audiences, but they also impose marketplace rules and fees, so the better choice depends on whether you need owned-store control, marketplace discovery, or both.
Will Shopify refund me if I get scammed?
Shopify does not promise to refund a customer when a merchant scams them. Contact the merchant, payment provider, and card issuer, and report suspected fraud to ReportFraud.ftc.gov.
Why is Shopify charging me $40?
A charge near $40 may be the $39 monthly Basic subscription before applicable taxes. It may also be an app, domain, shipping label, tax, transaction charge, or another store, so check the billing record in Shopify Admin.
Do I need an LLC to sell on Shopify?
No, Shopify does not require every seller to form an LLC. State and local rules still determine whether you need business registration, permits, licenses, tax registration, or a particular business name.
What cannot be sold on Shopify?
Shopify and Shopify Payments restrict illegal products and several regulated categories, including some weapons, drugs, gambling products, counterfeit goods, sexually explicit adult products, and unverified health-claim products. The exact rules vary by region and payment provider, so check eligibility for the specific product before building the store.
Why is no one buying from my Shopify store?
Shopify provides store, checkout, marketing, and analytics tools, but it does not promise traffic or sales. Review demand, pricing, product pages, checkout, delivery terms, trust information, traffic sources, and abandoned checkouts before paying for more apps or a higher plan.
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