When people compare Shopify with Etsy or Amazon, they usually look at one number: the monthly plan price. But that's not what most stores end up paying. The real cost of running a Shopify store is spread across card fees, apps, a theme, a domain, and sometimes extra charges for using another payment provider.
None of these are hidden, exactly. They're just in different places. Let's put them all in one list.
The short version
- Card processing with Shopify Payments: 2.9% + 30¢ on Basic, 2.7% + 30¢ on Grow, 2.5% + 30¢ on Advanced (US online cards).
- Using PayPal, Stripe or another provider instead adds a Shopify fee of 2%, 1% or 0.6%.
- On top of that: the monthly plan, paid apps, a paid theme if you want one, and a domain.
- For many small stores, card fees and apps cost more each month than the plan.
1. Card processing fees
Every time a customer pays by card, a small part of the payment goes to processing. With Shopify Payments, you pay one rate that depends on your plan:
| Plan | US online card rate | Fee on a $49 order |
|---|---|---|
| Basic | 2.9% + 30¢ | $1.72 |
| Grow | 2.7% + 30¢ | $1.62 |
| Advanced | 2.5% + 30¢ | $1.53 |
International cards and some card types can cost more, and rates are different outside the US. Your exact rates are in your Shopify admin under Settings, then Payments.
2. Third-party payment provider fees
You don't have to use Shopify Payments. Some stores use another provider because Shopify Payments isn't available in their country, or because they already have an account elsewhere. But if you do, Shopify adds its own fee on top of whatever your provider charges:
- 2% on Basic
- 1% on Grow
- 0.6% on Advanced
This is the fee that catches people out. On a $49 order on Basic, it's another $0.98, on top of the provider's own fee. Across a month of sales, that can easily be more than the plan itself.
Offering PayPal as an extra option at checkout is a different thing from replacing Shopify Payments. Check how your setup is configured in your payment settings.
3. Your monthly plan
This is the fee everyone knows about. Shopify has several plans, and annual billing is cheaper than monthly. Prices change from time to time and can differ by country, so check Shopify's pricing page for the current numbers in your currency. What matters for your maths is that the plan is a fixed monthly cost, whether you make one sale or a thousand.
4. Apps
Most stores add apps for things like reviews, email marketing, upsells, shipping labels, subscriptions or product options. Many have a free plan, but the useful features are often paid, and monthly app bills creep up quietly.
Once a quarter, open your list of installed apps and ask of each one: "Would I notice if this disappeared tomorrow?" If the answer is no, remove it. Some apps keep billing until they're fully uninstalled.
5. Theme, domain and email
- Theme. Shopify has good free themes. Paid themes are a one-off cost, not monthly.
- Domain. A custom domain is a yearly cost, whether you buy it through Shopify or somewhere else.
- Email marketing. Usually priced by the number of contacts, so it grows with your list.
These are smaller costs, but they belong in your yearly budget.
A worked monthly example
Let's say a small store on the Basic plan does 200 orders a month with an average order of $49, so $9,800 in sales, all paid by card through Shopify Payments.
- Card fees: 200 × $1.721 (2.9% of $49 plus 30¢) = $344.20 a month
- If they used a third-party provider instead: Shopify's extra 2% would add $196 a month, on top of that provider's own fees
- Moving to Grow would save 0.2% of $9,800, which is $19.60 a month on card fees
So for this store, card processing costs far more each month than the Basic plan itself, and moving to Grow just to save on card fees doesn't pay. The extra monthly cost of Grow is much more than $19.60. At this size, the upgrade only makes sense for the features.
A quick rule: divide the extra monthly cost of the higher plan by 0.002. That's the monthly card sales where the 0.2% saving pays for the upgrade. A $60 difference, for example, needs $30,000 a month in card sales.
The cost that isn't on Shopify's bill: ads
Marketplaces like Etsy and Amazon bring buyers to you. Shopify doesn't. You find your own customers, and for most new stores that means paid ads on Meta, Google or TikTok. That cost per order is often the biggest number of all.
If you spend $12 on ads to win a $49 order, that's almost a quarter of the sale. Our guide to break-even ROAS shows how to work out the most you can spend on ads before an order stops making money.
How to see your real profit per order
Add it all up per order: product cost, shipping, card fees, a share of app costs, and ad spend. The Shopify profit calculator does this for you. Pick your plan, enter your costs and ad spend per order, and you'll see net profit, gross margin, net margin and markup.
Many store owners are surprised by the result. A product with a 70% gross margin can end up with a 15% to 25% net margin once everything is included. That's still a good business, but only if your prices are set with those costs in mind.
Ways to keep Shopify costs down
- Use Shopify Payments if it's available to you, to avoid the extra third-party fee.
- Pay yearly for your plan once you're sure you're staying.
- Audit apps every few months and remove the ones you don't need.
- Raise your average order value with bundles and free shipping thresholds. The 30¢ fee and your ad cost get spread over more revenue.
- Don't upgrade plans just for the card rate unless your sales volume clearly justifies it.
Bottom line
Shopify's plan is the smallest part of the bill for many stores. Card fees, third-party gateway charges, apps and ads are where the money goes. Know each of them, work out your profit per order, and price your products so the numbers still work after every fee.
Frequently asked questions
Does Shopify take a percentage of sales?
If you use Shopify Payments, Shopify doesn't add its own transaction fee. You pay the card processing rate for your plan: 2.9% + 30¢ on Basic, 2.7% + 30¢ on Grow and 2.5% + 30¢ on Advanced for US online card payments. If you use a third-party payment provider instead, Shopify adds 2%, 1% or 0.6% depending on your plan.
Is it worth upgrading from Shopify Basic to Grow to save on fees?
Only at higher sales volumes. Grow saves 0.2% of card sales compared with Basic. Divide the extra monthly cost of Grow by 0.002 to find the monthly card sales where the saving pays for the upgrade. Most small stores upgrade for the extra features rather than the lower rate.