Shopify: Comprehensive Guide to Shopify Plans and Pricing

Shopify is a cloud-based eCommerce platform, known for giving businesses the opportunity to create, oversee, and advertise their own eCommerce store. With its user-friendliness, dependability, and security, Shopify has made a name for itself by providing merchants with the possibility of effortlessly selling their products and services online.

From hosting to content management systems, payment gateways to inventory management, Shopify’s all-in-one solution is guaranteed to satisfy every merchant’s eCommerce requirements.

Shopify offers four different pricing plans – Starter, Basic, Standard and Advanced. While this may look rather straightforward, it is important to make sure your pricing plan accommodates your needs perfectly, without taking up all of your budget in the process. Each plan introduces its unique set of features, restrictions, and costs. In this blog, we’ll be taking a closer look at the features of each pricing plan, going over their features and limitations, and providing guidance on which plan is most compatible with your business.

Shopify Starter

Shopify Starter gives you the option of adding a “Buy”-button powered by Shopify Payments to your existing site, so you can start taking payments for your running business straightaway, without having to build an entirely new webshop from scratch. This plan is designed to be as simple to use as possible and is mainly intended for businesses that want to move towards selling their product online but don’t have a full-fledged online store yet. Here’s an overview of the features you’re getting with Shopify Starter:

Main Features:

• Sell unlimited products
• Use Shopify’s payment gateway
• 24/7 customer support
• Competitive Transaction Fees
• Discount codes
• Manual order creation

Additional Features:

• Unlimited bandwidth
• Abandoned cart recovery
• Reports and analytics

Limitations

The main limitation of the Shopify Starter plan is that you can’t build an online store. You can only add a “buy” button to your existing website.

Use Cases

Shopify Starter is suitable for small businesses that haven’t sold any products online yet and aren’t exactly sure where to start. It’s also a good option for businesses that want to test the waters before committing to a higher priced plan. Shopify also offer’s some great tools for the low price point of the start package, such as Abandoned Cart Recovery, boosting conversions by notifying customers about items left in their shopping cart.

Price + Additional Costs

Shopify Starter comes at a price point of $5 per month. However, this price tag comes with an additional 5% transaction fee per received payment and an additional 2.9% + $0.30 fee for credit card payments.

Is Shopify Starter for you?

Shopify Starter is suitable for small businesses that want to start selling products online but don’t have a full-fledged online store yet. If you already have an online store or want to build one, then Shopify Basic, Standard, or Advanced may be a better option for you. Here are some factors to consider when deciding if Shopify Starter is right for you:

• Do you have an existing website?
• Do you have a limited budget?
• Do you expect to process a low volume of orders?
• Do you only need two staff accounts?

If you answered these questions with “yes”, then Shopify Starter may be a good option for you. Make sure that you already have a website and don’t require a new webstore before committing to this plan.

Shopify Basic

Shopify Basic is the next plan up and offers more features than Shopify Starter. Here’s an overview of the features:

Main Features

• All the features of Shopify Starter
• Online store builder
• Blogging platform
• Gift cards

Additional Features

• All the features of Shopify Starter
• Two staff accounts
• SSL certificate
• Shopify shipping discount
• Fraud analysis
• Shopify Point of Sale
• Shopify Payments

Limitations

Whilst you are able to customise most parts of your webstore, the main limitation of the Shopify Basic plan shows itself through not letting you customise your checkout page. You’ll also need to pay additional transaction fees if you use a payment gateway other than Shopify Payments.

Use Cases

Shopify Basic is suitable for small businesses looking to build their first online store and start selling their products online. With many options for customisation and conveying your brand identity, Shopify Basic is a good option for businesses that simply want to construct their brand online, but aren’t too intrigued by extensive additional features.

Price + Additional Costs

Shopify Basic costs $29 per month. However, you’ll need to pay additional transaction fees if you use a payment gateway other than Shopify Payments. You’ll also need to pay a 2.9% + $0.30 fee on all credit card payments.

Is Shopify Basic for me?

Shopify Basic is suitable for small businesses that want to build their first online store and start selling products over the internet. Businesses that simply want to customise their own online store but don’t need advanced features like professional reports or third-party calculated shipping rates will find the right product in Shopify Basic. Here are some factors to consider in order to find out, whether Shopify Basic is right for you:

• Are you trying to build an online store?
• Are you looking to customise your online store?
• Do you expect to process a moderate volume of orders?
• Do you need more than two management accounts?

If you answered yes to these questions, then Shopify Basic may be a good option for you.

Shopify Standard

Shopify Standard is the next plan up and offers more features than Shopify Basic. Here’s an overview of what features you’re getting with Shopify Standard:

Main Features

• All the features of Shopify Basic
• Professional Report Builder
• International Commerce

Additional Features

• All the features of Shopify Basic
• Five staff accounts
• Third-party calculated shipping rates

Limitations

The main limitation of the Shopify Standard plan is the disability of using third-party calculated shipping rates for international shipping. Furthermore, you will also need to pay additional transaction fees if you use a payment gateway other than Shopify Payments.

Use Cases

Shopify Standard is suitable for small to medium-sized businesses that want to increase conversions of their online store with the use of more advanced features, such as third-party calculated shipping rates for domestic shipping.

Price + Additional Costs

Shopify Standard costs $79 per month. Additionally, you will also have to pay a 2.6% + $0.30 fee on all credit card payments.

Is Shopify Standard for me?

Shopify Standard is intended for small to medium-sized businesses that plan on utilising more advanced features like professional reports, third-party calculated shipping rates, and gift cards, in order to boost conversions. Here are some questions to ask yourself, before purchasing Shopify Standard:

• Do you need advanced features like professional reports or third-party calculated shipping rates?
• Are you planning on selling gift cards to your customers?
• Do you expect to process a high volume of orders?
• Do you need more than 5 staff accounts?

If you answered yes to these questions, then Shopify Standard may be a good option for you, providing you with all the necessary tools, and more, to get your eCommerce store up and running. 

Shopify Advanced

Shopify Advanced is one of the most extensive plans offered by Shopify and provides you with nearly all of the features that Shopify has to offer. Here’s an overview of what to expect when getting Shopify Advanced:

Main Features

• All the features of Shopify Standard
• Advanced report builder
• Third-party calculated shipping rates for international shipping

Additional Features

• All the features of Shopify Standard
• Fifteen staff accounts
• Real-time carrier shipping
• Advanced fraud detection
• API access

Limitations

There are no major limitations with the Shopify Advanced plan.

Use Cases

Shopify Advanced is suitable for businesses that need access to all of the features that Shopify has to offer, including advanced report building, real-time carrier shipping, and API access. It’s also a good option for businesses that process a high volume of orders and need advanced fraud detection.

Price + Additional Costs

Shopify Advanced costs $299 per month. Additionally, you will have to pay an extra 2.4% + $0.30 fee on all credit card payments.

Is Shopify Advanced for me?

Shopify Advanced is suitable for larger / running businesses that need access to all of the features that Shopify has to offer, including advanced report building, real-time carrier shipping, and API access. Here are some factors to consider when deciding if Shopify Advanced is right for you:

• Are you able to utilise all the features Shopify Advanced offers?
• Do you process a high volume of orders?
• Do you need advanced report building and real-time carrier shipping?
• Do you need API access?

If you can answer these question positively, then Shopify Advanced may be the right package for you!

Shopify Plus

Shopify Plus is designed for high-volume businesses that just need more advanced features, tools and customisation options, than the standard Shopify plan offers. Shopify Plus was developed, in order to offer large businesses and fortune 500 companies a scalable solution to support their growth.

Shopify Plus offers a range of features that can be customly tailored towards the needs of larger businesses, including:

Main Features

• All the features of Shopify Advanced
• Custom checkout options
• Dedicated account management
• Wholesale channel

Additional Features

• All the features of Shopify Advanced
• Unlimited staff accounts

Price + Additional Costs

Shopify Plus pricing is customised based on your business needs, but it starts at $2,000 per month. Additional costs may include development fees for customisations and integrations.

Is Shopify Plus for me?

Large businesses often seek advanced customisation options and features to support a high volume of sales. Shopify Plus is the perfect solution when it comes to flexibly satisfying your needs and allowing you to fully customise your shop. Here are some factors to consider when deciding if Shopify Plus is right for you:

• Are you able to utilise all the additional features that come with Shopify Plus?
• Do you process a high volume of orders?
• Do you require advanced customisation options?
• Do you need a dedicated account manager and priority support?

Shopify Plus is suitable for larger businesses that need advanced customisation options and features to support high volume sales. If you answered yes to the questions above, then Shopify Plus may be a good fit for your business.

Shopify Templates

Shopify offers you to use templates created by Shopify experts, so you can use stunning websites in order to sell your products, without having to spend a lot of time on building an excessive webstore from scratch. At the time of writing Shopify offers 133 Templates, 12 of which are free. Here’s an overview of how the prices for the templates are spread out:

Shopify Monthly vs Yearly Plans

Many online service providers will give you the opportunity of paying in yearly, instead of monthly instalments, luring users to commit to a longer plan by using the incentive of potential savings. With Shopify, these savings make a rather significant difference and so you should aim towards closing an annual plan with Shopify, in order to benefit from potentially substantial savings. Here is an overview of the difference in pricing of the different plans when comparing the monthly and yearly options:

Shopify Local Pricing

The cost of Shopify plans may also vary, depending on where in the world you’re currently located. Shopify offers reduced rates to certain areas and regions, in order to make Shopify more affordable in less economically developed countries. Shopify is fully transparent with it’s costs and the features supplied in return, so you will never have to worry about getting surprised by any hidden fees.

To find out more about Shopify’s Local Pricing, click here.

In conclusion

Shopify offers an array of packages to cater to businesses of all magnitudes. Regardless of whether you intend to initiate first sales with a “buy” button on an existing website or to build a completely new online store with cutting-edge functionalities from the ground up, Shopify works with all needs and budgetary constraints:

The Shopify Starter package is suitable for businesses that yearn to start selling their products online but lack a fully-fledged online store. Shopify Basic is fitting for businesses that seek to build an online store and start selling products online, whereas Shopify Standard is a great alternative for small to medium-scaled businesses that necessitate sophisticated features like professional reports, third-party calculated shipping rates, and gift cards. Shopify Advanced is intended for larger businesses that require more advanced features like custom reports, third-party calculated shipping rates for international shipping, and advanced fraud detection.

Shopify also provides the exclusive Shopify Plus package, which is mainly aimed towards enterprise-level businesses. Shopify Plus presents supplementary functionalities like the ability to personalise the checkout process, tailored assistance, and API access to cater to any intricate automation demands of the enterprises. The service is available at a premium price, which is tailored around the specific needs of the business. If you want to find out more about Shopify Plus, you can always contact Shopify directly.

When opting for a package, it’s crucial to carefully contemplate your budget, necessities, and the additional expenses correlated with each package, such as transaction fees and app costs. By assessing your budget and requirements, you can easily cherry-pick the package that best aligns with your business’s objectives and sell products online in no time!

We at Flatline Agency are here to help you take your business to the next step, including custom development, design, and marketing. If you are interested, please feel free to contact us.