Written by Sabrina Dougall Reviewed by Natasha Willett Updated on 9 February 2023 On this page Shopify Pricing Plans Comparison Shopify Starter Pricing Plan Basic Shopify Pricing Plan Shopify Main Pricing Plan Advanced Shopify Pricing Plan Does Shopify Have a Free Plan? Shopify Fees and Hidden Costs Shopify Pricing Versus Competitors' Pricing Expert Verdict Expand Our site is reader-supported – by clicking our links, we can match you with a potential supplier, and we may earn a small commission for this referral. Shopify pricing starts at £5 per month going up to £1,622 per month with three other price points in between. In this costs guide we’ll break down the pricing and plans Shopify currently offers to online merchants.Shopify regularly updates its pricing and plans, so it’s no wonder you’ve come here to get some clear answers. What’s more, the transaction fees and hidden costs can get a bit confusing so we’ll take the time to explain all those as well.In our independent testing, we scored Shopify 3/5 for overall value for money. This is on a par with competitors BigCommerce, Americommerce and Pinacle Cart – all of which scored the same as Shopify in terms of how their range of services compared with the prices charged. Shopify Pricing: How Much Does Shopify Cost?We’ve created this side-by-side comparison table of costs for Shopify plans. There are five plans available, ranging in price and scale to match the particular needs of your business. Let’s take a look at the main features you get at each Shopify price tier. Swipe right to see more 0 out of 0 backward forward Starter Basic Shopify Shopify Advanced Shopify Shopify Plus Price (billed annually) £5/month Price (billed annually) £19/month Price (billed annually) £49/month Price (billed annually) £259/month Price (billed annually) £1,640+/month Best For Selling on social media Best For Starting a small online store Best For Growing your retail business Best For International sellers Best For High volume retailers Key Features Get shoppable links (URLs)Product pagesBasic order management5% + 25p online credit card rates Key Features Sell an unlimited number of productsUp to two usersSell in 33 currencies (2% conversion fee)2% + 25p online credit card rates Key Features Five staff accountsStandard reportsTask automations1.7% + 25p online credit card rates Key Features 15 staff accountsThird-party calculated shipping ratesCollect import taxesAdvanced reporting1.5% + 25p online credit card rates Key Features Faster checkoutAutomate workflowsSecurity and compliancePriority support Transaction Fees 5% Transaction Fees 2% Transaction Fees 1% Transaction Fees 0.5% Transaction Fees 0.15% Even though Shopify increased its prices in January this year – and scrapped the chance to save more money by paying for two or three years upfront – it remains a market-leading tool. Platform technicians at Shopify have recently improved localisation by allowing upload of different images or videos to your main website pages (not product pages), depending on the location of your web visitor.Updates to customer analytics this year mean you can now access additional metrics to give you better insight into your best-selling products and most successful marketing channels. So there is some justification for the increase in pricing.Fortunately, Shopify offers a free trial of three days followed by three months for £1 a month, so you can test it out and see whether it’s the right fit. Shopify Starter Pricing PlanWhat: Sell products via URLs and a simple landing pageWho: Mobile-first merchants of lower-priced goodsWhy: Easy to sell via social media channelsHow much: £5 per month – no discounts available for multi-year purchaseNote this plan is only available to new merchants or those on the free trial.The Shopify Starter plan (formerly called “Lite”) is the cheap option for online sellers to send “shoppable” product links in instant messages over WhatsApp, Instagram, SMS and email. This means your customers click a URL link and buy your product directly or add to a cart and buy some more. It’s not a full online store and you’ll need your own social media channels or website to post the links on. It’s aimed at mobile device users because there isn’t loads of space for product specs, product videos, lengthy descriptions or customer reviews.You’re encouraged to use Shopify’s free landing page app called Linkpop which lets you list products directly for sale. The idea is you can put this landing page link in your social media bio for users to quickly find your products for sale. It’s much simpler than a full online shop, and much less formal, hence the cheaper subscription price. For this reason you can expect to sell merchandise, homeware, handmade gifts, clothing, accessories and the like. It’s not a platform aimed at expensive or regulated items such as precious jewellery and medical supplies.Shopify Starter Transaction FeesTransaction fees: 5.0% for all third-party payment providersOnline credit card rates: 5% + 25pShopify Starter Features– One user– Unlimited product pages– Customer support inbox– Shopping cart– Order management– Analytics Basic Shopify Pricing PlanWhat: Build an ecommerce website where customers buy your productsWho: Small-scale merchants, independent boutiques and startupsWhy: Sell from a professional ecommerce websiteHow much: £19 per month (£228 for the year)This is the lowest price you can pay to set up your own Shopify webstore. You create your own online shop using the Shopify drag-and-drop website builder and gain access to Shopify’s ecommerce platform. This means you can display your products, take payments and manage order fulfilment all from one place.It’s not by chance we’ve named Shopify as one of our best ecommerce platforms for small businesses. The convenience of the Shopify Basic plan is the ability to streamline your order purchase and fulfilment workflow. You’ll be able to print shipping labels and track packages through Shopify and pay your shipping costs in the same monthly bill as your subscription.Basic Shopify Transaction feesThird-party transaction fees: 2.0%Online credit card rates: 2% + 25pOnline international/Amex credit card rates: 3.1% + 25pCurrency conversion fee: 2.0%Basic Shopify Features– Up to two users– Online ecommerce website and blog– Maximum four inventory locations– Unlimited products– Order managementMany apps (to add website features) are available for free on Shopify, while some have free trials and others require paid monthly subscriptions. All change, please! Shopify used to offer a discount on its price plans if you bought a longer-term subscription over two or three years. But this was scrapped in January 2023. Shopify Main Pricing PlanWhat: A solid ecommerce website with workflow automationsWho: Managers of growing online storesWhy: Save time on manual tasks with ecommerce automationsHow much: £49 per month – paying for one year up front (or £65 month-to-month)Discount: 25% if you pay annually rather than monthlyShopify’s mid-tier price plan doesn’t have a name, it’s simply called “Shopify”. But we’ve given it the nickname “Shopify Main” to make things a bit clearer because all of the price plans are named “Shopify” in some form or another.Shopify’s main plan includes all the features you get with lower-priced tiers, including an ecommerce website with social media channel integration so you can sell across several platforms. This is really handy because you save on the individual costs of a website such as hosting and a security certificate.Now, the main new benefit you get with this plan compared with Basic Shopify is ecommerce automations. These features equip leaders of growing online stores to build workflows and save time on manual tasks, making it well worth the investment.Although the price of this tier goes up significantly compared with the Shopify Basic plan, you won’t make big savings on credit card fees: the charge for online credit cards is just 0. 3% lower compared with the Basic plan. However, transaction fees are 1% which is a decent saving compared with 2% on the Basic plan. To save real money here you’d need to be selling in far greater quantities than you would be on the Basic plan.Shopify Main Transaction feesThird-party transaction fees: 1.0%Online credit card rates: 1.7% + 25pOnline international/Amex credit card rates: 2.7% + 25pCurrency conversion fee: 2.0%Shopify Main Features– Up to five users– Ecommerce automations– Maximum five inventory locations– Unlimited products– Order managementShopify’s search engine listing preview lets you easily edit the snippet for your products.If this kind of pricing isn’t going to suit your budget, check out our recommended Shopify alternatives to find a better deal. Advanced Shopify PlanWhat: Ecommerce website with advanced reporting and more international optionsWho: International sellers with medium or large storesWhy: Improved control on international selling and cost transparency for buyersHow much: £259 per month – paying for one year up front (or £344 month-to-month)Discount: 25% if you pay annually rather than monthlyThe Advanced Shopify plan is aimed at international sellers with medium-to-large scale ecommerce businesses. At this tier, you’ll benefit from 1.5% duties and import taxes rates (0.85% if you use Shopify’s own payment gateway) and country-specific features such as international pricing. The advantage of functions like these is greater pricing control for merchants and better cost transparency for ecommerce customers.This is the cheapest Shopify price plan at which you can get third-party calculated shipping rates. Unlike the three cheaper Shopify price plans, Advanced Shopify lets you set specific price points for products in various international locations. Again, there are slight savings to be made on credit card fees but the currency conversion fee remains the same as the other price plans at 2%.Advanced Shopify Transaction feesThird-party transaction fees: 0.5%Online credit card rates: 1.5% + 25pOnline international/Amex credit card rates: 2.5% + 25pCurrency conversion fee: 2.0%Duties and import taxes: 1.5% (with Shopify Payments: 0.85%)Advanced Shopify Features– Up to 15 users– Set variable international price points– Maximum eight inventory locations– Advanced report builder– Third-party calculated shipping rates Does Shopify Have a Free Plan?Shopify doesn’t have a free plan but it does offer a 3-day free trial so you can test its ecommerce services free of charge. This is much shorter than its competitors, most of whom offer a two-week trial period at no cost. To make it easier to start using Shopify’s features without commitment, Shopify won’t ask for your payment details until the end of the trial period at which point you can simply walk away if you’re not comfortable signing up.This is really convenient for those looking to set up an online store and try out the best ecommerce platforms without committing financially at first. You can save your cash until you’re absolutely sure which ecommerce provider is best for your particular business. Shopify Fees and Costs: Billing Cycles, Ongoing Costs and Hidden FeesLots of services are included in all Shopify pricing plans including the following:Website builderWeb hostingSSL certificateUnlimited productsUnlimited bandwidthWeb shop analyticsShopify Billing CyclesShopify subscriptions are charged month to month or annuallyCancel your Shopify subscription at any time (however, you won’t be refunded that month’s fee)You can downgrade or upgrade your Shopify plan at any time (however, you cannot downgrade to Shopify Starter)Additional Shopify Website Costs:Domain name that isn’t myshopify.comThemes (template designs) ranging from $200 to $350 each (or choose one of 10+ free ones)Apps for additional website features (eg Judge.me product reviews £12.35 per month)Emails: First 10,000 per month are free then USD$1 per 1,000 emails sentAdditional Shopify Sales Costs:Third-party transaction fees of 2%, 1% or 0.5% with the Basic Shopify, Shopify and Advanced Shopify plans respectivelyCurrency conversion fees of 2%Credit and debit card fees (these vary depending on price plan)Duties and import taxes rates of 1.5% (applicable for Advanced Shopify)However, you can avoid transaction fees by signing up for and using Shopify Payments, the company’s proprietary payment gateway. With Shopify Payments the duties and import taxes rates on Advanced Shopify decreases to 0.85%. Shopify Pricing Versus Competitors’ PricingAccording to our independent research, Shopify is middle-of-the-road when it comes to Value For Money, scoring 3 out of a possible 5. This puts it on exactly the same level as BigCommerce, Americommerce and Pinacle Cart.Competitors Which Scored Higher than Shopify in Value for Money:Shopify was not the top-scoring ecommerce platform provider when our researchers looked into its value for money. The following alternatives to Shopify are better value for money, according to our in-depth testing:Square: 4.7/5WooCommerce: 4.3/5Squarespace: 4.2/5Wix: 4.2/5When you’re working out which ecommerce platform provider is best for your particular business needs, you should be aware that BigCommerce, unlike Shopify, doesn’t charge any transaction fees. Feel free to check out our complete guide to the best ecommerce platforms for small businesses if Shopify looks like the wrong fit for your strategic goals. Expert Verdict You’ve got plenty of pricing options with Shopify: five ecommerce price plans to choose. That’s more than competitors including WooCommerce and Wix.If you pay for a one-year price plan, the monthly Shopify cost comes to:Shopify Starter: £5 per monthBasic Shopify: £19 per monthShopify: £49 per monthAdvanced Shopify: £259 per monthShopify Plus: £1,640+ per monthWith a Value For Money score of 3/5, Shopify is in the mid-range of delivering features versus taking your money. As ever, the way to get the most bang for your buck is to pay upfront for a year of Shopify. This way you’ll benefit from a 25% discount versus paying month-to-month, if you select the main or Advanced Shopify plans.Shopify offers more convenience compared with WooCommerce because of its built-in hosting. However, you’ll need to be a self-starter with Shopify because it’s business support is a lot more hands-off than a provider like Americommerce, which offers ecommerce consulting and custom product development. Be sure to check out our other reviews of the best ecommerce platforms for even more in-depth research. Written by: Sabrina Dougall Writer Sabrina writes about tech for business as well as consumer software. She covers topics ranging from digital marketing to ecommerce fulfilment, security systems, franking machines, and more. Having run her own successful small business, Sabrina knows first-hand how much there is to keep on top of. Writing with your company’s needs in mind, she distils truly useful product information (without the sales pitch). Reviewed by: Natasha Willett Head of Research For over 9 years Natasha has worked as a mixed method researcher working across a range of sectors from insurance and policy development, to business services and software. As a member of the Market Research Society, Natasha is an advocate for high ethical, commercial and methodological best practices.