While Shopify is great, I found their pricing to be confusing when building my Shopify store. Not only that, but Shopify rolled out a major update to their plans and pricing on May 30th, 2016. That’s why today, I am going to explain your new Shopify pricing options in plain English.
All the plans, all the pricing, all in one spot.
New Shopify Plans Pricing Summary
Plan Price* (per month) | Credit Card Rates (Online, Shopify) | Credit Card Rates (In Person, Shopify) |
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|---|---|---|---|
Shopify Lite | $9 | 2.9% + 30¢ 2.7%
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Basic Shopify | $29 2.9% + 30¢ 2.7%
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Shopify | $79 2.6% + 30¢ 2.4%
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Advanced Shopify | $299 2.4% + 30¢ 2.2%
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*Shopify offers a 10% discount on annual plans and 20% discount on biennial plan if you pay for them upfront.
**If you were enrolled in a Shopify plan prior to their May 30th, 2016 plan and pricing changes, your pricing and plan stays the same.
New Shopify Plans Features Summary
What You Get |
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|---|---|
Shopify Lite | Buy Button for your website, Facebook Shop, Unlimited Products, 24/7 Support, Shipping Label Discounts, and Customer Discount Codes |
Basic Shopify | Everything in Lite + Online Store, Twitter and Pinterest Integration, Website and Blog, Free SSL certificate, |
Shopify | Everything in Basic + Gift Cards, Abandoned Cart Recovery, and Professional Reports (and lower credit card processing fees) |
Advanced Shopify | Everything in Professional + Advanced Reports Builder and Real-Time Carrier Shipping Calculations (and lower credit card processing fees) |
Retail Package | Can be added to any plan. Complete hardware integration (cash drawer, receipt printer, barcode scanner etc), shift scheduling, employee logins and sales tracking. (Hardware purchased separately) |
*You can supplement the above plans with apps from the Shopify App Store
Who Each Plan is Right For Summary
Who It’s Right For |
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|---|---|
Shopify Lite | Those who want the ability to sell via their existing website, and/or create a Facebook store, plus get a very simple mobile POS for in-person sales. |
Basic Shopify | Those who want an online store and/or the ability to sell on Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. Plus, get a very simple mobile POS for in-person sales. |
Shopify | Those who want all the capabilities of the Basic package plus advanced features like cart recovery, gift cards to optimize sales, and expanded reporting capabilities. Anyone with more than $25K in sales per month (lower credit card fees offered). |
Advanced Shopify | Those who want all the capabilities of the professional package plus real-time carrier shipping and customizable reporting. Anyone with more than $110K in sales per month (lower credit card fees offered). |
Retail Package | Can be added to any plan. Those who want complete hardware integration (cash drawer, receipt printer, barcode scanner etc), shift scheduling, employee logins and sales tracking. (Hardware purchased separately) |
*You can supplement the above plans with apps from the Shopify App Store
Shopify Pricing In-Detail
Shopify has a lot of price variations because it’s a versatile product. It can handle the retailing needs of a hobby quilter selling to their friends and family on Facebook, someone like me who is selling desks from multiple suppliers, or a bustling bicycle shop with significant in-store and online sales.
Once you know how your business plans to sell, Shopify’s pricing get’s a lot more clear.
6 Primary Ways to Sell with Shopify
#1 Buy Button on Your Website – Included in all plan levels
Sell products from your existing website or blog. This is ideal for the business that already have a site with a captive audience. Shopify provides you with embed code for each product you want to sell and for a shopping cart so customers can add multiple products before checking out. The Buy Button integrates easily with WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, Tumblr, Wix, Weebly, Squarespace, Blogger and more.
#2 Facebook Store – Included in all plan levels
Sell products directly from your business’s Facebook page. Anyone with a Facebook account can then view and buy your products on without leaving Facebook. A great way to show fans of your business new or featured products that they can buy.
#3 Sell on Twitter and Pinterest – Included in Basic Shopify and Above
Sell products by adding a buy option to your product posting on Pinterest or Twitter. No more trying to coax customers away from the site they’re on. Customers can buy your product without leaving Pinterest or Twitter.
#4 Online Store – Included in Basic Shopify and Above
Sell products via your own full-fledged Shopify ecommerce store. Shopify stores are easy to set up (see my guide) and offer many different customizable store themes. Display product pictures, descriptions, videos, and customer reviews. Customers can add and remove products to their cart. Charge all applicable taxes and shipping charges as well as offer discounts. Basic inventory tracking capabilities as well. A great fit for someone who wants to start a new dedicated ecommerce site.
#5 Mobile Credit Card Reader Point of Sale (POS) – Included in All Plan Levels
Sell products to your customers in person from your mobile phone or tablet. Shopify offers a free credit card reader when you sign up for their 14-day free trial. You’ll be able to take payments, add cart or line item discounts, add custom taxes, and mark orders as fulfilled.
#6 Retail Package Full Blown Point of Sale and Inventory Tracking – Available as $40 Add-On to All Plans
While Shopify is known for their ecommerce capability they also offer full blown in-store, point of sale functionality. This includes complete hardware integration (advanced card readers, receipt printers, barcode scanners, shipping label printers, etc.) as well as the ability to manage shifts and create individual employee log-ins.
This is a great add on for those want to use Shopify to sell both in-store and online.
Shopify’s 4 Plans In Depth
Now that you understand everything you can do with Shopify let’s take a deeper look into what each of the 5 plans offers, how much they cost, and who they’re right for.
Shopify Lite – $9 per month
Don’t let the price of the Lite plan fool you. If you want to sell online but don’t need Shopify’s full blown ecommerce store, it’s a high powered option.
Shopify Lite Pricing and Details
Base Cost | $9 Per Month (10% discount for 1 year, 20% for 2 years) |
|---|---|
Credit Card Fees | Online: 2.9% + 30¢ per transaction In-Person: 2.7% |
Hardware Included | 1 Free audio jack credit card swiper if you want to sell in person. |
Ways You Can Sell | Buy Button on your website, Facebook Store, In-Person Mobile Credit Card Swiper |
How Many Products? | Unlimited products and variations of those products. |
Number of Accounts | 1 Owner Account and 1 Staff Account |
Other features | Unlimited products and file storage, 24/7 support, shipping label discounts, and customer discount codes. |
What’s Missing? | Full blown ecommerce store, ability to sell on Pinterest & Twitter, gift cards, professional reports, abandoned cart recovery, real time carrier shipping. |
Who’s it right for? | Someone who wants to sell from their existing site, blog, or Facebook page and/or occasionally sell in person using a mobile credit card swiper (like at a convention or seminar). |
When to Upgrade? | If you want/need a new site, blog, or dedicated ecommerce site or if you’re doing over $25,000 per month in sales lower credit card fees make it worth the switch. |
As with all Shopify plans, you can add Shopify’s Retail Package for $40 per month which, with a little Hardware, give you the ability to operate sophisticated in-person sales. Likewise, Shopify’s App Store offers additional features you add a la carte.
Is Lite the right plan for you? Sign up for your free 14 day trial of Shopify.
Basic Shopify- $29 per month
Basic offers you everything the Lite plan does but allows you an unlimited number of products and variations of products.
Basic Shopify Pricing and Details
Base Cost | $29 per month (10% discount for 1 year, 20% for 2 years) |
|---|---|
Credit Card Fees | Online: 2.9% + 30¢ per transaction In-Person 2.7% |
Hardware Included | Free audio jack credit card swiper if you want to sell in person |
Ways You Can Sell | Online Store, Buy Button, Facebook Store, Pinterest, Twitter, In-Person Mobile Credit Card Swiper |
How Many Products? | Unlimited products and variations of those products. |
Number of Accounts | 1 Owner Account and 2 Staff Accounts |
Other features | 24/7 support, shipping label discounts, discount codes, website and blog, and free SSL certificate |
What’s Missing? | Gift cards, professional reports, abandoned cart recovery, real time carrier shipping |
Who’s it right for? | Someone who has many different products to sell and wants an online store, social media platforms, and/or occasionally sell in person using a mobile credit card swiper (like at a fair or weekly market). |
When to Upgrade? | If you’re doing over $25,000 per month in sales lower credit card processing fees make it worth the switch. Also if you require reporting and sales optimizing features of higher level plans. |
As with all Shopify plans, you can add Shopify’s Retail Package for $40 per month which, with a little Hardware, give you the ability to operate sophisticated in-person sales. Likewise, Shopify’s App Store offers additional features you add a la carte.
Is Basic Shopify the right plan for you? Sign up for your free 14 day trial of Shopify.
Shopify – $79 per month
Shopify – the self titled plan – will appeal to more established retailers who will appreciate the added reporting capabilities, customer optimization features, and lower credit card rates.
Shopify Pricing and Details
Base Cost | $79 per month (10% discount for 1 year, 20% for 2 years) |
|---|---|
Credit Card Fees | Online: 2.6% + 30¢ per transaction In-Person 2.4% |
Hardware Included | Free audio jack credit card swiper if you want to sell in person |
Ways You Can Sell | Online Store, Buy Button, Facebook Store, Pinterest, Twitter, In-Person Mobile Credit Card Swiper |
How Many Products? | Unlimited products and variations of those products. |
Number of Accounts | 1 Owner Account and 5 Staff Accounts |
Other features | 24/7 support, shipping label discounts, discount codes, website and blog, free SSL certificate, gift cards, abandoned cart recovery, and professional reports. |
What’s Missing? | Advanced reports builder and real-time carrier shipping |
Who’s it right for? | An established retailer who has many different products to sell. They want to sell via an online store, social media platforms, and/or occasionally sell in person using a mobile credit card swiper (like at a fair or weekly market). They also are ready to put added sales features and detailed reporting to work for their store. |
When to Upgrade? | If you’re doing over $110,000 per month in sales or require more customizable reporting or real-time carrier shipping. |
As with all Shopify plans, you can add Shopify’s Retail Package for $40 per month which, with a little Hardware, give you the ability to operate sophisticated in-person sales. Likewise, Shopify’s App Store offers additional features you add a la carte.
Is Advanced the right plan for you? Sign up for your free 14 day trial of Shopify.
Advanced Shopify – $299 per month
The Advanced plan is for established retailers who need all the capabilities of other plans, but also need to be able to run detailed, customizable reports and provide their customer with real-time carrier shipping. Their sales volume is also significant enough to truly benefit from the lower credit card rates.
Advanced Shopify Pricing and Details
Base Cost | $299 per month (10% discount for 1 year, 20% for 2 years) |
|---|---|
Credit Card Fees | Online: 2.4% + 30¢ per transaction In-Person 2.2% |
Hardware Included | Free audio jack credit card swiper if you want to sell in person |
Ways You Can Sell | Online Store, Buy Button, Facebook Store, Pinterest, Twitter, In-Person Mobile Credit Card Swiper |
How Many Products? | Unlimited products and variations of those products. |
Number of Accounts | 1 Owner Account and 25 Staff Accounts |
Other features | 24/7 support, shipping label discounts, discount codes, website and blog, free SSL certificate, gift cards, abandoned cart recovery, professional reports, real-time carrier shipping, and advanced report building. |
What’s Missing? | Nothing. For additional capabilities see Retail Package, Apps, and Hardware. |
Who’s it right for? | An established retailer who has many different products to sell. They want to sell via an online store, social media platforms, and is likely selling regularly in person using a mobile credit card swiper. They also are ready to put added sales features and detailed reporting to work for their store. |
As with all Shopify plans, you can add Shopify’s Retail Package for $40 per month which, with a little Hardware, gives you the ability to operate sophisticated in-person sales. Likewise, Shopify’s App Store offers additional features you add a la carte.
Is Advanced Shopify the right plan for you? Sign up for your free 14 day trial of Shopify.
The five plans that Shopify offers will be able to fit most small businesses’ basic needs. However, every business is different. Some might want more sales features, others more marketing features. Some businesses might need only very basic POS hardware because they do in-person sales so infrequently while others might want a more robust POS hardware package because in-person sales make up a large portion of their sales. Recognizing this, Shopify has three ways to customize your plan.
3 Ways to Supplement Your Plan
You can supplement and customize any of Shopify’s plans in three ways: adding the retail package, adding apps, and adding hardware.
Shopify’s Retail Package
All of Shopify’s plans offer POS via their iOS and Android app which are both compatible with Shopify’s swipe card reader (1 free audio jack credit card reader, $19 each additional reader). While this allows a seller to accept payments from customers, it is best in a less-than-formal setting. It isn’t enough to support a full-fledged physical store. For that, you’ll need to add Shopify’s Retail Package.
Shopify’s Retail Package costs $40 per month and gives you complete hardware integration and the ability to create multiple shifts and employee log-ins. It is required if you want to print receipts or gift receipts, use a barcode scanner for inventory or checkout, or accept physical gift cards.
Shopify’s App Store
Shopify’s App Store offers apps from both Shopify and third-party developers. Prices vary – some apps charge you a flat monthly fee, some take a percentage of each sale, and others are completely free. For example, I explained how to install Shopify’s free Customer Review App in my last article. Also, be sure and check out our Top 25 Free Shopify Apps article.
There are nine different categories of apps that can help you with everything from managing shipping and inventory to increasing sales or engagement on social media to integrating with your accounting software. Shopify’s App Store is searchable and also provides categories like “free” or “most popular.”
Shopify’s Hardware
Shopify’s hardware store allows your store to build out its capabilities by purchasing card readers, receipt printers, label printers and weight scales, cash registers, barcode printers and scanners, and gift cards.
Shopify offers a POS hardware kit which bundles essential POS hardware ($779) and offers a small discount to purchase everything together versus buying the item separately.
Hardware isn’t just important for those businesses doing serious POS. Shipping label printers, labels, and weight scales are useful hardware for retailers doing online sales (complete package starting at $322). In addition, inventory issues can be made easier using the barcoding hardware (complete package starting at $446) available through Shopify.
Note: You cannot use third party hardware for the following items: Card Reader, Barcode Reader, Receipt Printer.
Note: You need Shopify’s Retail Package in order to integrate your Shopify store with all of this hardware.
Summary
With so much flexibility, Shopify is able to accommodate a wide variety of retailers but Shopify pricing can vary widely. From a blogger who wants to sell merch to fans, to a new drop shipping business like mine, to a well established bicycle store on Main Street that is also doing significant online sales – Shopify has a plan to fit your small business.
Now that you understand which plan is right for you read my step-by-step guide to building your Online Store with Shopify.
Mike A.
Very informative! What if I’m already using the shopify basic plan. Is there a ways to downgrade it to Shopify Lite?
Mike,
You should be able to downgrade at any time. But, you may have to get in touch with customer support to have them switch your plan.
Jason
Fernando
Shopify appears to provide an easy platform to start an ecommerce business, if that was the only factor to success then stores opened on shopify would have 100% success.
Hi Fernando,
You’re absolutely right.
Shopify is a powerful and intuitive eCommerce tool that’s perfect for many small businesses.
But even with all the right tools, running a successful small business is tough work.
We do our best to equip our readers with the best information so they every possible advantage. From starting a business, to increasing sales, to financing your first big expansion – we want our readers to have a leg up on their competition.
Thanks for the comment,
Ian
Anna Henson
Great guide, thanks for posting it!
Shopify changed my way of thinking about leading my own online store. It’s really easy-to-use, intuitive and reliable online selling system.
Last month I found a nice reporting app which improved my sales management results – SimplyTick. It met my expectations perfectly.
Hope you will check it.
Greetings,
Anna
Hi Anna,
Thanks for chiming in.
We couldn’t agree more: Shopify is certainly intuitive and reliable.
And the customization that Shopify’s App Store allows for greatly expands small businesses’ capabilities. I am glad you found an app that works for you.
Best,
Ian