Which Shopify plan is actually cheapest at your volume?

The subscription price is a red herring: the processing rate does the real damage. Total cost is subscription plus processing, and the cheapest plan flips as GMV grows. Answer four questions and get the full four-plan comparison with 2026 rates, plus the crossover points where the answer changes.

4 inputs~45 secondsNo email to see your plan

✓ See your cheapest plan and all-in monthly cost instantly. No signup to view your result.

By Taylor Sicard · early Shopify employee who helped build and scale the Partner Program, then co-founded WIN Brands Group and scaled it to mid nine figures on the platform · I've paid these fees at every tier

WHICH SHOPIFY PLAN IS CHEAPEST

The cheapest Shopify plan is rarely the one with the cheapest subscription. Total monthly cost is subscription plus card processing plus a 30 cent fee on every order, and because the processing rate falls as the subscription rises, the winner flips as volume grows. Price all four plans at your own GMV and pick on the total.

Formula: total per month = subscription + (monthly GMV x plan card rate) + (orders x $0.30) + any third-party gateway surcharge. Orders = GMV divided by AOV.
2026 rates: Basic $39 at 2.9%, Grow $105 at 2.7%, Advanced $399 at 2.5%, Plus from $2,300 at roughly 2.35% once negotiated.
Third-party gateway surcharge, charged on top of whatever your gateway costs: 2% on Basic, 1% on Grow, 0.5% on Advanced, 0.20% on Plus.
Crossovers: Grow overtakes Basic at about $33,000 monthly GMV (the $66 subscription gap divided by 0.2 points of rate), Advanced overtakes Grow at about $147,000 ($294 divided by 0.2 points).
Healthy band: subscription plus processing under 4% of revenue is priced right, 4% to 6.5% says check the crossover, over 6.5% means the wrong plan or the wrong gateway.
Common mistake: staying on Basic past $33,000 a month because the subscription looks cheap, which is a rate decision dressed up as a subscription decision.

Worked example. $85,000 monthly GMV, a $72 AOV, Shopify Payments. That is about 1,181 orders, so $354 in 30 cent fees. Basic: $39 + $2,465 + $354 = $2,858. Grow: $105 + $2,295 + $354 = $2,754. Advanced: $399 + $2,125 + $354 = $2,878. Grow wins by $104 a month over Basic, $1,248 a year, and lands at 3.2% of revenue.

Source: Taylor Sicard, Taylor Sicard Consulting · Updated August 2026

The method behind the number

The pricing pages, decoded.

Consumer Commerce

Shopify plans and pricing in 2026

Every plan, every rate, and the fine print the pricing page glosses over. The source for this tool's numbers.

Read post →

Consumer Commerce

Shopify Plus pricing in 2026

The greater-of fee structure, the $40k cap, and the real total cost of ownership at Plus.

Read post →

Consumer Commerce

Shopify B2B on every plan

B2B was the classic reason to jump to Plus. What each plan can and can't do now.

Read post →

Method

How the number is calculated

Total monthly cost per plan is the subscription plus processing on your GMV. With Shopify Payments, online card rates in 2026 are 2.9% + 30¢ on Basic ($39/mo), 2.7% + 30¢ on Grow ($105/mo), and 2.5% + 30¢ on Advanced ($399/mo). Plus is the greater of $2,300 or 0.25% of monthly GMV (capped at $40,000), with negotiated processing modelled here at 2.35% + 30¢ as an estimate of the typical 2.2 to 2.5% range. A third-party gateway adds Shopify's surcharge (2%, 1%, 0.5%, 0.20% by plan) on top of your gateway's own fees. The cheapest plan is arithmetic at your volume; the bands grade the winning stack as a share of revenue.

Platform + processing under 4% of revenueThe stack is priced right for your volume.

4 to 6.5% of revenueCheck the crossover: you are probably one plan away from cheaper.

Over 6.5% of revenueYou are on the wrong plan or the wrong gateway for your volume.

At Plus volume the platform fee stops being the story and the negotiated lines start: the Plus cost calculator models the full all-in number with apps and services. The profitability calculator shows where platform and processing land in the P&L. All of the free DTC calculators share these benchmarks.

Questions

Common questions

Which Shopify plan should I choose?

The one with the lowest total of subscription plus processing at your volume, unless a feature forces your hand. Cheap plans carry expensive processing: Basic's 2.9% online rate versus Advanced's 2.5% means the subscription ranking and the total-cost ranking are different, and they flip as GMV grows. Run your GMV through the comparison instead of reading the pricing page top-down.

What are Shopify's transaction fees by plan in 2026?

With Shopify Payments, online card rates are 2.9% + 30¢ on Basic ($39/mo), 2.7% + 30¢ on Grow ($105/mo), and 2.5% + 30¢ on Advanced ($399/mo). Plus is negotiated, typically in the 2.2% to 2.5% range. On a third-party gateway Shopify adds a surcharge on top: 2% on Basic, 1% on Grow, 0.5% on Advanced, and 0.20% on Plus.

When does Grow beat Basic?

At about $33,000 in monthly GMV. Grow costs $66 more per month in subscription ($105 vs $39) but saves 0.2 points of processing (2.7% vs 2.9%), and 0.2% of $33,000 is $66. Above that, the processing saving outruns the subscription gap and keeps widening. The same logic puts the Grow-to-Advanced crossover near $147,000 a month: a $294 subscription gap against another 0.2-point saving.

When does Shopify Plus make sense?

Rarely on fees alone. Plus is the greater of $2,300 a month or 0.25% of GMV (capped at $40,000 a month), plus negotiated processing, so pure fee math only favours it at serious volume. The real reasons brands move are features: native B2B, checkout extensibility, higher API limits, and multi-store. The Plus cost calculator models the full all-in number.

Do third-party gateways cost more on Shopify?

Yes, twice. Shopify adds its surcharge (2% Basic, 1% Grow, 0.5% Advanced, 0.20% Plus) on top of whatever your gateway charges to process the card. Unless a gateway is contractually required or your card mix is unusual, Shopify Payments is cheaper on every plan.

Is Shopify cheaper on annual billing?

Shopify has offered a discount for paying annually rather than monthly, and the exact size has moved around. Rather than quote a number that goes stale, check the current terms in the plans and pricing decoder. The crossover logic in this calculator does not change with the billing interval.