Shopify remains the top eCommerce platform year after year.
Shopify is a highly reliable and user-friendly eCommerce platform.
New eCommerce entrepreneurs and seasoned veterans have something to gain from using Shopify, but all those fantastic features come at a price. After you’ve exhausted your 14-day free Shopify trial, you’ll need to decide on your monthly plan if you wish to stay with the service.
Fortunately, Shopify offers several pricing plans. Each plan comes with its own benefits, and Shopify gives pricing to fit almost every budget.
But which Shopify pricing plan is best for your store? Can you avoid using their least-expensive program, or should you invest more monthly to cover your bases?
We’re looking at Shopify’s pricing model in-depth to see which plans are the best deal. The best method for your brand will depend on your monthly needs, so let’s look at which Shopify pricing model is best for you.
Shopify Pricing Plans: Lite, Basic, Professional, Advanced, & Plus
As of the time of writing, Shopify offers five monthly plans: Lite, Basic, Professional, Advanced, and Plus.
Each monthly plan is priced differently according to its features. More fully-featured plans will cost more per month, but many businesses can thrive on Shopify’s entry-level tiers.
The right pricing plan for you will depend on what you’re selling and how many customers and site visitors you have each month. Let’s take a look at each plan’s features, and which types of online sellers they’re best suited for.
Shopify Lite ($9 Per Month)
Shopify Lite is an excellent option for anyone just breaking into eCommerce. At just $9 a month, it’s not a huge financial commitment, but it’s enough to get your store up-and-running. Currently, the Lite plan has been replaced by the Shopify Starter plan with only $5 per month and has almost the same features as Shopify Lite. See more: Shopify Fulfillment Network: How Much Does It Cost?
What Features Can I Expect?
This entry-level plan isn’t the best option for everyone, but it does come with plenty of useful features:
Sell on Facebook – Shopify Lite let’s you showcase and sell your products directly from your Facebook page, featuring your products on the new Facebook Shop section.
Facebook Messenger Customer Support – Social media customer service is on the rise. With Shopify Lite, you get access to specialized Facebook customer Support features, provided through the Messenger platform.
Sell with Buy Buttons – The Shopify Lite plan let’s you embed your products on any site, allowing shoppers to buy it directly from that location. Using this feature, you can turn any website into an online store.
Accept Credit Cards on Mobile Devices – Using Shopify’s Point-of-Sale mobile app, you can accept credit card payments on your personal or business device anytime, anywhere.
Create Invoices – Create and send invoices to your customers and easily accept payment.
Pros & Cons of Shopify Lite
Pros:
Budget-friendly.
Low-risk.
Enough features to get anyone started.
Cons:
Won’t support larger stores.
Doesn’t come with an online store.
Lacks many features of the Basic Shopify plan.
Who Should Use it?
The Shopify Lite plan is best for eCommerce newcomers on a budget. It doesn’t let you build your own online store like the Shopify Basic plan does, so you’ll need a standalone website to sell your products.
The Shopify Lite plan is a good place to start if you already have a website and want to turn it into an eCommerce store. However, the Basic or Professional plan might be better if you need an online store and you already have a large customer base purchasing from your brand.
Shopify Basic ($29 Per Month)
The Shopify Basic plan costs about three times as much as the Lite plan, but its additional features make it worth the extra expenditure. In addition to all of the features in the Lite plan, the Shopify Basic plan let’s you create your own online store using Shopify’s store builder, making it a better option for many brands.
What Features Can I Expect?
In addition to all of the features in the Shopify Lite plan.
The Shopify Basic plan offers a wide range of features to help you establish and grow your online store. In addition to all the features included in the Shopify Lite plan, the Basic plan comes with even more functionalities to enhance your eCommerce experience.
One of the key benefits of the Shopify Basic plan is the ability to create your very own online storefront. With this plan, you have the freedom to design and customize your eCommerce store to represent your unique brand. Whether you’re a coding expert or a beginner, you’ll find the themes and theme editors provided by Shopify Basic extremely helpful. These tools allow you to effortlessly modify the appearance of your online store, ensuring it looks exactly the way you want it to.
But that’s not all – Shopify Basic also includes a built-in blogging engine. A blog is an essential component of any successful online store, and with this feature, you can easily start blogging right from your store. Share valuable content, engage with your customers, and boost your brand’s visibility with the integrated blogging capabilities of Shopify Basic.
And when it comes to product management, Shopify Basic has you covered. With this plan, you can upload an unlimited number of products to your online store. Whether you’re selling a handful of items or have an extensive catalog, Shopify Basic ensures that you have the flexibility to showcase and sell as many products as you desire.
By offering these comprehensive features, the Shopify Basic plan empowers you to create a professional and fully functional eCommerce website. Take advantage of the online storefront, themes and theme editors, built-in blogging engine, and the ability to upload unlimited products to build a captivating online presence and drive sales.
Pros & Cons of Shopify Basic
Pros:
Budget-friendly for most brands.
Suitable for most entry-level entrepreneurs, without lacking features.
No coding experience necessary to design an attractive Shopify store.
Comes with 1GB of storage and two staff accounts.
Cons:
Three times as expensive as the Shopify Lite plan.
Lacking many key features found in the Professional and Advanced Shopify plans.
Might not suit some larger brands.
Who Should Use It?
The Shopify Basic Plan is best for entry-level entrepreneurs who haven’t yet built their own eCommerce storefront. It’s also an excellent option for anyone without coding or WordPress experience, as the Shopify themes and website building tools are very straightforward and easy for anyone to use.
Larger brands in need of more advanced features might want to consider one of Shopify’s more advanced plans. While the Basic plan is a great option for small eCommerce brands, bigger businesses will benefit from the additional features of Shopify’s advanced plans.
Shopify Professional ($79 Per Month)
At nearly $80 per month, Shopify Professional is generally reserved for online businesses with significant revenue. This plan comes with all of the features in Shopify’s entry-level plans, but it comes with additional features like abandoned cart recovery and gift cards as well.
What Features Can I Expect?
For $79 per month, the Shopify Professional plan delivers all of the features from the two entry-level packages as well as numerous benefits of its own:
Discounted Credit Card Rate – You’ll pay less in fees to Shopify for each transaction, thanks to the Professional plan’s reduced credit card rate. If you make a lot of sales, these savings can really add up over the course of a month.
Gift Cards – Sell and accept gift cards with the Professional plan.
Abandoned Cart Recovery – Combat cart abandonment with Shopify’s built-in cart recovery tools.
Pros & Cons of Shopify Professional
Pros:
Offers more features than Shopify’s entry-level plans.
Can pay for itself each month, thanks to the reduced credit card rate it offers.
Comes with 5GB of storage and five staff accounts.
Cons:
Costs nearly twice as much as the Shopify Basic plan.
Isn’t suitable for small businesses with few sales.
Lacks some key features found in Shopify’s most advanced plans.
Who Should Use It?
The Shopify Professional plan is best suited for companies with hundreds of sales and lots of products to sell. It’s also a great choice for small businesses scaling quickly, as the reduced credit card rate makes it worth the extra cost each month for businesses scaling quickly enough.
Ultimately, the Professional plan isn’t suitable for small businesses on a tight budget, making relatively few monthly sales. The extra features can be beneficial, but until you’re making enough sales to compensate for the increased monthly fee, the Basic plan is probably enough to suit your store’s needs.
Advanced Shopify ($299 Per Month)
At $299 per month, the Advanced Shopify plan is not for everyone. It offers numerous advanced features you won’t find in the Professional program, but most of these benefits are only valuable to huge companies.
What Features Can I Expect?
When considering the cost-effectiveness of each Shopify plan, it is important to carefully evaluate the features and fees associated with each option. The Advanced Shopify plan, for instance, offers a comprehensive set of features that make it particularly suitable for large businesses. With this plan, you not only have access to all the features of the lower-tier plans but also additional advantages that can enhance your operations.
One notable benefit of the Advanced Shopify plan is the significantly lower credit card fees compared to the Basic or Professional plans. Over time, these reduced fees can potentially offset the higher monthly cost of the program. This makes the Advanced Shopify plan a viable choice for businesses that generate substantial monthly sales, as the reduced credit card rates can make the extra expense worthwhile.
However, it is important to consider the limitations of the Advanced Shopify plan. This plan only includes 15 staff accounts, which may restrict access for larger teams. Additionally, due to its advanced features and capabilities, the Advanced Shopify plan requires a larger budget compared to the lesser Shopify plans.
To determine whether the Advanced Shopify plan is cost-effective for your business, it is crucial to evaluate your specific needs and sales volume. If your brand is experiencing significant growth and generating a high number of monthly sales, the reduced credit card fees and access to unlimited storage and product uploads can be advantageous. On the other hand, if your business is still in its early stages or has lower sales volumes, it might be more prudent to wait until your brand grows before upgrading to the Advanced Shopify plan.
By carefully considering the features and fees of each plan, as well as your business’s specific requirements and growth trajectory, you can make a well-informed decision regarding the cost-effectiveness of each Shopify plan.
Pros & Cons of the Advanced Shopify Plan
Pros:
Features unlimited storage and product uploads.
Meager credit card fees compared to the other plans.
Offers an advanced report builder.
Cons:
It only features 15 staff accounts.
Requires a much larger budget than the lesser Shopify plans.
Who Should Use It?
The Advanced Shopify plan should be reserved for only the most prominent brands. Your business should make enough monthly sales to make the reduced credit card rate worth the extra monthly fee you’ll pay for this plan.
Due to its unlimited storage and product uploads, businesses introducing new products regularly might consider the Advanced Shopify plan. Unless you’re making hundreds of monthly sales and uploading more data than the limits on fewer plans can provide, you might consider waiting until your brand grows to upgrade to the Advanced Shopify plan.
Shopify Plus (Price Varies)
The Shopify Plus plan is Shopify’s enterprise tier, and it’s reserved for huge businesses with hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue per month. Explore our ultimate review of Shopify Plus in this article, where we delve into detailed Shopify Plus reviews from various large-scale businesses.
Most businesses don’t need the features offered by the Shopify Plus plan. With this plan, brands won’t experience any transaction or credit card feeds, and they’ll receive 200TB of storage to host their site – much more data than any small business could use.
This plan isn’t designed for order management but focuses on eCommerce’s marketing and design aspects. With this plan, your site will be fully hosted with Shopify, and they’ll help you manage and set up your store every step along the way.
While Shopify doesn’t rule out small teams for their Shopify Plus plan, they traditionally reserve it for huge businesses because of its required resources (the Los Angeles Lakers host their site using the Shopify Plus plan as a frame of reference). If your brand is large enough to warrant the Shopify Plus plan, you’ll want to call them for a pricing quote.
Shopify Point of Sale (POS)
Sure! Here is a thorough answer to the question “What are the pricing options for Shopify Point of Sale (POS)?”:
Shopify Point of Sale (POS) offers different pricing options depending on your needs. All Shopify plans, except for Shopify Starter, include a range of POS features. This means that if you have a physical storefront and want to accept payments in-person, you can utilize these features without any additional costs.
However, if you are looking for more advanced functionality and additional benefits, you may want to consider adding Shopify POS Pro to your plan. Shopify POS Pro is specifically designed for businesses with physical storefronts, offering targeted solutions for in-person sales. With Shopify POS Pro, you gain access to enhanced features and capabilities that can streamline your in-store operations.
The pricing for Shopify POS Pro is $89 per month per location. This means that for each physical store or outlet you operate, you will need to pay the monthly subscription fee of $89 per location.
By subscribing to Shopify POS Pro, you can unlock a comprehensive set of tools that can help you manage your in-store operations and drive sales. These tools include advanced inventory management, staff management features, customizable hardware setups, and more.
It’s important to note that the pricing for Shopify POS Pro is separate from the regular Shopify plan pricing, so you should take that into account when considering the overall cost of using Shopify POS for your business.
In summary, Shopify Point of Sale (POS) offers different pricing options to cater to different needs. While all Shopify plans include basic POS features, businesses looking for more advanced functionality and features for their physical storefronts can opt for Shopify POS Pro at a monthly fee of $89 per location.
Final Thoughts on Shopify Pricing
Unfortunately, Shopify can’t be free, but they offer enough plans to cover entrepreneurs with all budgets.
Don’t feel you need to select the most expensive Shopify pricing plan because you don’t think the entry-level ones will suit your needs. You can always upgrade your plan when necessary, and Shopify’s entry-level programs are fully featured enough to support your store until you’re ready to upgrade.
Please describe and compare your store’s needs to Shopify’s pricing plans. The best method for you should meet your store’s needs without exceeding your budget.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are there any discounts available for Shopify plans?
Yes, there are discounts available for Shopify plans. When you choose Shopify’s annual plan and pay for your subscription annually or biennially, you can benefit from considerable discounts. These discounts are not prominently advertised on Shopify’s pricing page, but you can save 10% if you pay for a year in advance and 20% if you pay for two years in advance.
What is the pricing for Shopify Email?
The pricing for Shopify Email starts with a generous allowance of 10,000 emails per month, which can be sent for free. If you require more than this, you will be charged at a rate of $1 for every additional 1,000 emails. Essentially, this means that each email beyond the initial 10,000 works out to be one-tenth of a cent in cost. This pricing structure enables you to send either manual or automated emails efficiently and cost-effectively.
How much does a custom domain name cost on Shopify?
The cost of a custom domain name on Shopify starts at $11 per year.
What is included in the Shopify Starter plan?
The Shopify Starter plan offers essential sales functionality without the full-fledged ecommerce website features provided in the three main Shopify plans. With Shopify Starter, users gain access to the core capabilities necessary for selling products, including payment processing and inventory management. This plan is specifically designed for individuals or businesses who do not require a comprehensive online store but still want to kickstart their selling journey. By utilizing Shopify Starter, users can easily create a simple online store and conveniently sell their products through various social and messaging apps, such as Facebook Shop or Messenger. Furthermore, this plan allows for product promotion through SMS, email, and any other desired platforms, providing ample opportunities to reach potential customers effectively.
