Shopify pricing 2024: how much does it cost to sell with Shopify? We break down Shopify pricing so you can decide which of Shopify's four plans offers the ideal mix of features for your ecommerce business Written by Richard Parris Updated on 19 January 2024 Our Research When recommending the best ecommerce platforms, our expert team of writers and researchers focus on the features that matter most to small businesses. We rate platforms on their value for money – including setup costs and ongoing transaction fees – design features, including store templates; inventory management; payment processing options; help and support, plus customer feedback. Written and reviewed by: Richard Parris Managing Editor Robyn Summers-Emler Digital Growth Editor Startups.co.uk is reader supported – we may earn a commission from our recommendations, at no extra cost to you and without impacting our editorial impartiality. 4.6 out of 5 Website features 4.2 Sales features 4.5 Design functionalities 3.9 Value for money 3.0 Help and support 3.8 Ease of use 3.5 Shopify has a well-earned reputation as the king of ecommerce website builders, and offers perhaps the most expansive range of quality sales features around. The various Shopify pricing plans keep things approachable and affordable for small business owners looking to sell online.Shopify’s pricing plans range from £5 to £259 per month when billed annually– it can be fantastic value for new online stores, and we rate Shopify as our top ecommerce site builder.When you compare this to Squarespace, for example, whose most expensive plan is £35, you get an idea of the premium Shopify asks for its product.We’re going to explain each Shopify pricing plan, break down the Shopify monthly cost, and explore any other costs or fees you might have to pay. Shopify Pricing at a glance Shopify offers four different pricing plans:Shopify Starter – starting from £5 per month, Shopify Starter is a great simple option for those that don’t have the time to bother with coding or design.Basic Shopify – from £19 per month (billed annually), this plan is great for small businesses with a low monthly sales volume. It includes basic reports, up to four reporting locations, and two staff accounts.Shopify – from £49 per month (billed annually), the Shopify plan gives you more powerful reporting tools and the ability to create country-specific domains to optimise your international SEO. This is great for growing and international online businesses.Advanced Shopify – from £259 per month (billed annually) you can get your hands on a custom report builder, lower credit card rates, and third-party calculated shipping rates. This powerful plan is best for large online stores with an international presence and a substantial customer base. This article will cover: Shopify pricing overview Shopify pricing plans Can I use Shopify for free? Shopify Costs: Billing cycles, ongoing costs, and additional fees Credit card rates and transaction fees Saving money on Shopify How do Shopify's prices compare to other ecommerce platforms? Summary Shopify pricing and costs: FAQs Shopify pricing overview Swipe right to see more 0 out of 0 backward forward GET FIRST MONTH FOR £1 Starter Basic Shopify Shopify Advanced Price £5 per month Price £1 for first monthThen £19 per month Price £49 per month Price £259 per month Features A simple, instant storefrontUnlimited product pagesFast and secure checkout Features Unlimited productsAbandoned cart recovery Features Professional reports and analytics5 staff accounts Features Advanced reportsCalculated shipping rates Online card processing fees 2.9% + 30p for online sales Online card processing fees 2% + 25p for online purchases Online card processing fees 1.7% + 25p for online purchases Online card processing fees 1.5% + 25p for online purchases Pricing correct as of January 2024For a more detailed breakdown of each plan, read our in-depth guide below.This page is purely focused on Shopify pricing. You can read a full review of the Shopify platform here. Shopify pricing plansShopify gives you a choice of four subscription plans: Starter, Basic, Shopify, and Advanced. Here’s a breakdown of each:An example of an ecommerce site built using ShopifyShopify Starter£5/month Pros Easy (no-code) setup Perfect for sharing products across social Quick and reliable transactions with Shopify checkout Cons Provides the essentials but nothing more A higher plan would be required for value-added features like theme editing, blog posts, and more As long as you have an image and a description of the product or service you want to sell, you can get started with the Shopify Starter plan and have a fully functional store up in just a few clicks. It’s the perfect ready-to-go system for anyone with an exciting product ready to launch, without having to stress about knowing how to code or design, or having to spend months working away on an advanced store right away.Based on our first-hand user testing, we found this plan is great for entrepreneurs that don’t want to get too wrapped up in all the ins and outs of website builder or feel overwhelmed by a wide range of features. With Shopify Starter, you can access:One staff loginOne inventory locationUnlimited productsFree SSL CertificateAbandoned cart recoveryIf you chose to go for the Starter plan, you’ll be paying Shopify 5% of your total transaction value.Who do we recommend Shopify Starter for?If the Starter plan is catching your eye, you’re probably a small business owner who is completely new to website building and is just start to give your SME a digital footprint. This is also great for those who want to take Shopify for spin and figure out if it’s a platform that you’ll be able to easily use and scale with.Basic Shopify£1 for first month, then £19 per month Pros Start from just £1 for first month Includes basic reports, up to four reporting locations and two staff accounts Cons This plan does not include advanced features such as ecommerce automations The Basic Shopify plan is for small businesses with a low monthly sales volume. It enables you to create and customise an online store, and manage all your products, orders, and customer information. You have a choice of 20 themes, and you can use simple editing tools to tailor your store to your brand. From our user testing, we thought this is great for small businesses that don’t want to splurge on a website builder but want to have enough features and range to have more creative and functional freedom than the Starter plan.The Basic plan also gives you access to a blogging engine, as well as finance, behaviour, and marketing reports. You’ll pay £19 per month if you choose to be billed annually, but £25 if you pay monthly.With Basic Shopify, you can access:Unlimited storage and bandwidth2 staff logins4 inventory locationsUnlimited productsFree SSL certificateAbandoned cart recoveryIf you choose to go for Basic Shopify and are using a third-party payment provider, you’ll pay a transaction fee of 2%.Who do we recommend Basic Shopify for?This is the best deal of small businesses who have a low monthly sales volume and aren’t looking for a highly sophisticated ecommerce platform. This also is great for your SME if you have a tight budget and can’t afford to burn a lot of money on your ecommerce website builder.Shopify£49 per month Pros Professional reports (as opposed to the basic ones in the two previous plans) 5 inventory locations 5 staff accounts Cons No duty and taxes feature (similar to the previous two above) allowing customers to see their estimated total costs The main difference between the Shopify plan and the Basic plan is the former’s much more powerful reporting tools. Professional reports give you granular detail on sales trends, customer behaviour, and even tax.The Shopify plan also includes the ability to create country-specific domains in order to optimise international SEO, and to customise your product prices for different global regions. Therefore, this is perfect for business that want to retain and expand their international clientele.Alongside lower credit card rates and transaction fees, this makes the Shopify plan a great option for growing and international online businesses. You’ll pay £49 per month if you’re billed annually, but £65 if you pay monthly.In short, with Shopify you can access:Unlimited storage and bandwidth5 staff logins5 inventory locationsUnlimited productsFree SSL certificateAbandoned cart recoveryIf you choose Shopify as your plan and are working with a third-party payment provider, you’ll be paying a 1% transaction fee.Who do we recommend Shopify for?With more powerful features, we recommend the Shopify plan for businesses that are serious about scaling and need an ecommerce solution that will grow alongside them. Its multiple staff accounts and inventory locations will permit you to have more hands on deck and expand internationally.Advanced Shopify£259 per month Pros The highest form of customisable report building Up to 8 inventory locations and 15 staff accounts Lowest transaction fees per sale Cons The most expensive upfront and recurring fees of all plans May be too confusing for beginner shop owners The Advanced Shopify plan’s reporting tools are even more advanced, and its credit card rates and transaction fees are even lower.Using the custom report builder, you can create unique reports from scratch. For example, you could create a report that tracks sales of products from a paid referral service such as Google Ads, and gather detailed insights on your loyal and at-risk customers.The Advanced plan also includes third-party calculated shipping rates. This allows you to integrate with a third-party shipping service in order to access up-to-date shopping rates for your customers, and provide them with a variety of shipping options.Advanced Shopify is best for large online stores with an international presence and a substantial customer base. As well as the three main plans discussed above, Shopify also offers Shopify Lite for users that just want to start selling from their existing websites and Shopify Plus for large online businesses with complex needs. You’ll pay £259 if you are billed annually, but £344 if you pay monthly.With Shopify Advanced you’ll get access to:Unlimited storage and bandwidth15 staff logins8 inventory locationsUnlimited productsFree SSL certificateAbandoned cart recoveryE-commerce automationsIf you select Advanced Shopify as your preferred plan, you’ll be paying a 0.5% transaction fee.Who do we recommend Advanced Shopify for?As the most expensive Shopify plan, we’d only recommend Advanced for large online stores that already have an international presence and a significant customer base. Did you know? 79% of Shopify traffic comes from mobile devices. Therefore, once you pick the right pricing plan for your ecommerce business, you’ll want to make sure your website displays well on mobile to attract customers. Can you use Shopify for free?Shopify offers a free trial which lasts three days on all plans. This has been dramatically shortened since our previous round of testing, when users could access the platform for free for a full two weeks.During the free trial, you can get your store set up, but you won’t be able to start selling until you sign up for a paid plan. If you don’t choose a paid plan at the end of your free trial, you’ll lose access to your online store as Shopify does not have a freemium tier. Shopify costs: billing cycles, ongoing costs, and additional feesShopify’s standard billing cycle is yearly, but like other website builders you can choose to pay monthly. However, paying for a year up front will save you 25% on the standard monthly cost.Basic ShopifyShopify Advanced ShopifyMonthly£25 per month£65 per month£344 per monthAnnually£19 per month£49 per month£259 per monthBusiness owners have to pay the total billing cycle price at point of purchase. That means the account holder will pay for a year up front if they choose the annual subscription. Shopify credit card rates and transaction feesShopify charges you a fee to accept credit card payments, though you don’t pay any additional fees to the credit card provider itself.You’ll also pay a transaction fee if you use a third-party provider to take payments, which covers the charge for Shopify to integrate with the provider. However, you won’t pay any transaction fees if you use Shopify Payments.Shopify Payments integrates directly with your checkout, allowing your customer to pay without leaving your online store (like they’d have to do with third-party providers). It also enables you to view your payouts in real time.In short, if you want to save money, there’s no good reason not to use Shopify Payments.Basic Shopify ShopifyAdvanced ShopifyOnline credit card rates2% + 25p1.7% + 25p1.5% + 25pIn-person credit card rates1.7% + 0p1.6% + 0p1.5% + 0pAdditional fees using all payment providers other than Shopify Payments2%1%0.5%Shopify domain nameSome website builders and ecommerce platforms offer a free domain name for the first year.Shopify doesn’t…That means you’ll have to buy one, either through Shopify itself, or through a third-party domain name supplier.The Shopify App StoreShopify has a very expansive App Store, which you can use to enhance the functionality of your online shop. Many of the apps and extensions are free, but some require a monthly payment of anything from a few dollars to hundreds of dollars a month. Saving money on ShopifyAs discussed above, the best way to reduce the monthly cost of your Shopify website is to choose a longer billing cycle (pay more upfront).While it’s expensive, if you can afford to pay the larger upfront sum, it’s worth it in the long run. For example, if you’re on the Advanced Shopify plan, you’ll save a whopping £1,020 per year on a two year plan in comparison with a monthly subscription.The other way to save money with Shopify is by using Shopify Payments instead of a third-party payment provider such as PayPal. You won’t pay any transaction fees, and your credit card payment processing fees will be lower. How do Shopify’s prices compare to other ecommerce platforms?Plan for plan, Shopify is pretty expensive when you compare it to the ecommerce offerings of website builders like Wix, Squarespace or GoDaddy.If value is your primary motivation, then we’d recommend Wix – it received the highest value for money score in our ecommerce platform rankings, offering excellent sales features at a very reasonable price. Shopify’s cheapest plan costs £19 per month, while Wix’s most expensive ecommerce plan is only £27 per month.This is a premium product at a premium price but, if you’ve got big ambitions for your online store, then Shopify could make a huge difference in the long run.That’s because you’re simply not going to find the same depth of sales features that you get with Shopify from a non-ecommerce specific builder. If you do want to become a large global, online selling operation, you’ll really need the granular customer insights and international commerce features offered by Shopify as you grow. Swipe right to see more 0 out of 0 backward forward BEST ALL ROUND BEST SALES FEATURES Wix Shopify Squarespace Square Online BigCommerce GoDaddy BEST FOR All-round ecommerce platform for small businesses BEST FOR Best range of apps and extensions BEST FOR Best for ease of use and great design BEST FOR Best value – start selling for free BEST FOR Best sales features BEST FOR Creating a simple online store Overall Score Based on our in-depth research and user testing 4.8 Overall Score Based on our in-depth research and user testing 4.6 Overall Score Based on our in-depth research and user testing 4.6 Overall Score Based on our in-depth research and user testing 4.3 Overall Score Based on our in-depth research and user testing 4.2 Overall Score Based on our in-depth research and user testing 3.9 Pricing £16-119 per month, billed annually£14.40-£107.10 with code “TAKE10” Pricing £19 – £259 per month, billed annually£1 for first month Pricing £17-£35 per month, billed annuallyUse code “SU10” to receive a 10% discount on all Squarespace plans Pricing £0-£64 per month Pricing $29-$299 (around £23-£240) per month Pricing £12.99 per month (first term savings available) Is Shopify’s pricing competitive? Find out more about this in our dedicated article on Shopify alternatives. Is Shopify affordable for a very small business?Unless you can afford to spend hundreds or even thousands of pounds a year running your online store, we wouldn’t recommend using Shopify. It’s worth noting, however, that you can always migrate your online store later if you want to take advantage of Shopify’s excellent sales features to accelerate the growth of your business once you have an established presence.Is it more expensive to sell with Shopify than Wix?You’ll almost certainly be paying more in monthly subscription fees for a Shopify store than for a Wix store. However, things get a bit more complicated when we compare the total cost of actually selling products. Because of the different transaction and processing fees charged, if you’re on a Shopify or Advanced Shopify plan, you’ll pay lower charges than you would with Wix for each transaction – and this could add up to considerable savings over time. SummaryWith more than one million customers around the world, Shopify is one of the most widely used and respected ecommerce platforms around.You might be paying hundreds or thousands of pounds a year, but growing ecommerce businesses will find that the benefits of using Shopify more than make up for the marginal dent in their profit margins.If you’re a smaller online store, by all means opt for something cheaper. But if you want something that supports you as you scale, Shopify is worth the investment. Frequently Asked Questions How can I add a custom shipping rate? You can set up free, flat, or calculated shipping rates that appear in the checkout for your customers. You can do this by going to your Shopify admin account, go to Settings > Shipping and delivery. From here, go to the Shipping section, click the shipping profile that you want to add shipping rates to. Click Add rate and customise your shipping rate accordingly. How can I stop customers abandoning their carts? If you're on the Online Stores sales channel, the Buy Button sales channel, and the Plus Wholesale Channel, you'll be able to use Shopify's Abandoned Checkout Recovery feature. You can set this up by going to Orders > Abandoned checkouts. You can also do some detective work by clicking on Orders > Abandoned Checkouts > Timeline. Click on a payment event to understand where the payment fell through. Why do customers abandon their carts? Common causes for abandoned carts include slow website speed, mandatory account registration, and having too many form fields. In short: your checkout process being too long. To rectify this, Shopify allows businesses to add guest checkout and cut the number of fields down to between six and eight. Plus, you can run your own Lighthouse report using the Shopify integration with Google PageSpeed Insights to monitor site speed and see how that might be impacting conversion rate. Startups.co.uk is reader-supported. If you make a purchase through the links on our site, we may earn a commission from the retailers of the products we have reviewed. This helps Startups.co.uk to provide free reviews for our readers. It has no additional cost to you, and never affects the editorial independence of our reviews. Share this post facebook twitter linkedin Written by: Richard Parris Managing Editor Richard joined the Startups team in 2021, and has a career in publishing that has spanned over 15 years. As a researcher, writer and editor, Richard has worked on brands across the UK, US and Asia in both print and online, including at the BBC, on the US-focused tech industry site Tech.co, plus at Which? magazine and its website, where Richard oversaw technology reviews and advice publishing. Richard has been an interviewee and contributor on television, radio, newspaper, magazine and online publications, and has featured in interviews including on the BBC and The Scotsman. Richard is passionate about converting potentially complex topics into clear, actionable advice and recommendations, and works alongside the in-house Startups team and its growing network to promote the needs of the UK small business community.