Every Fee Shopify Charges, Explained Simply

Shopify takes between 2.5% and 2.9% + 30¢ per online sale when you use Shopify Payments, plus your monthly plan subscription. On a $100 sale that works out to $2.80 on Advanced, $3.00 on Grow, or $3.20 on Basic. If you use a third-party gateway like PayPal or Stripe instead, Shopify adds another 0.6% to 2% on top.

That is the short answer. But most stores also pay for apps, themes, and the occasional currency conversion, and the real "what will Shopify actually cost me" number depends on your sales volume, average order value, and plan choice. This guide breaks down every 2026 fee, runs the math on three real-world store scenarios, and shows you the cheapest way to keep more of what you sell.

The Three Parts of Every Shopify Bill

Shopify's pricing has three components, and most confusion about "how much Shopify takes" comes from mixing them up:

• Your monthly plan subscription. A fixed fee you pay regardless of sales. In 2026: Starter $5, Basic $29, Grow $79, Advanced $299, Plus from $2,300.
• Payment processing fees. A percentage + flat fee on every sale. Lower on higher plans.
• Extra transaction fees (only if you use a third-party gateway). An additional percentage Shopify charges when you process payments outside Shopify Payments.

That's it. Everything else on your Shopify bill, apps, themes, POS hardware, shipping labels, is optional and sits outside these three categories. Let's break down what each one actually costs in 2026.

Shopify Plans and Monthly Subscription Costs (2026)

Shopify reshuffled and renamed its plans in late 2025. The middle plan, previously called "Shopify," is now called "Grow." Prices also shifted on some tiers. Here are the current 2026 numbers, verified against Shopify's official pricing page:

Shopify currently runs a $1/month promo for the first 3 months on most plans, and billing yearly unlocks the lowest prices shown above. Monthly billing is slightly higher on every plan. For an in-depth breakdown of whether each plan is worth it, see our guide to Shopify's total cost and whether Shopify Plus is worth it.

Credit Card Processing Fees by Plan

Every Shopify plan charges a processing fee on each sale, even if you use Shopify Payments. The rate depends on your plan and where the sale happens: online, in person, or through a third-party gateway.

Two things worth highlighting here:

• The difference between plans is small per transaction but adds up fast at volume. Basic to Advanced saves 0.4% per online sale. That's $40 per $10,000 in revenue, meaningful once you're doing real numbers.
• The 3rd-party extra fee is separate from your gateway's fee. If you process a $100 sale through PayPal on the Basic plan, you pay PayPal's ~3% + 30¢ and Shopify's extra 2%. That's about 5.3% + 30¢ total on a single sale. Switching to Shopify Payments would drop that to 2.9% + 30¢.

Shopify Payments vs. Third-Party Gateways

Shopify Payments is Shopify's built-in payment processor. Using it is the single biggest lever new store owners have to reduce fees, because it eliminates the extra "3rd-party gateway" transaction fee entirely. You still pay a standard credit card processing rate (2.5% to 2.9% + 30¢), but nothing extra on top.

There are two reasons you might still use a third-party gateway:

1. Shopify Payments isn't available in your country. It's currently supported in about 25 countries. If you're outside that list, you need PayPal, Stripe, or a regional gateway.
2. You need a specific gateway your customers trust. PayPal, for instance, is often added as a secondary option alongside Shopify Payments, customers who prefer PayPal can still use it, but the majority will default to the built-in card checkout.

Shopify also accepts digital wallets, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Shop Pay, at the same rate as card payments when you're using Shopify Payments. No extra fees.

If your store supports multiple currencies, Shopify adds a 1.5% to 2% currency conversion fee per transaction. This is often lumped together with "Shopify fees" but it's actually the cost of currency conversion, not Shopify taking a cut.

Real Fee Calculations: Three Example Stores

Numbers in a table are useful, but most people really want to know: "What will I actually pay?" Here are three realistic scenarios at 2026 prices, using Shopify Payments in each case.

Scenario 1: Low Volume Store ($2,500/month)

A niche accessory store selling handmade jewelry to a young audience on Instagram.

• Average order value: $50
• Monthly orders: 50
• Monthly revenue: $2,500
• Shopify plan: Basic at $29/month

The math:

• Processing fee per order: $50 × 2.9% + $0.30 = $1.75
• Total processing fees: $1.75 × 50 = $87.50
• Plan subscription: $29
• Total monthly Shopify cost: $116.50 (4.66% of revenue)

At this volume, Basic is clearly the right plan. The extra cost of moving to Grow ($50 more per month) would only save you about $5 in processing fees, a terrible trade.

Scenario 2: Medium Volume Store ($11,250/month)

A fitness apparel brand selling leggings, sports bras, and gym shorts via TikTok and Instagram ads.

• Average order value: $50
• Monthly orders: 225
• Monthly revenue: $11,250
• Shopify plan: Grow at $79/month

The math:

• Processing fee per order: $50 × 2.7% + $0.30 = $1.65
• Total processing fees: $1.65 × 225 = $371.25
• Plan subscription: $79
• Total monthly Shopify cost: $450.25 (4.00% of revenue)

At this volume, Grow is the right call over Basic. On Basic you'd pay $29 + $408.75 = $437.75 in total, only $12.50 cheaper, but you'd miss the 5 staff accounts and 87% shipping discounts Grow includes. The math tips firmly in Grow's favor once you factor in the shipping savings.

Scenario 3: High Volume Store ($400,000/month)

A luxury home decor store targeting affluent homeowners through Pinterest, Google Shopping, and email.

• Average order value: $400
• Monthly orders: 1,000
• Monthly revenue: $400,000
• Shopify plan: Advanced at $299/month

The math (Shopify Payments):

• Processing fee per order: $400 × 2.5% + $0.30 = $10.30
• Total processing fees: $10.30 × 1,000 = $10,300
• Plan subscription: $299
• Total monthly Shopify cost: $10,599 (2.65% of revenue)

Now compare that to third-party payments:

• Shopify's extra 0.6% fee: $400,000 × 0.6% = $2,400 extra
• Plus your gateway's processing fee (roughly the same as Shopify Payments): $10,300
• Plan subscription: $299
• Total: roughly $12,999 (3.25% of revenue)

Using a third-party gateway at this volume costs an extra $2,400 per month, that's $28,800 per year, just for the privilege of not using Shopify Payments. This is the clearest example of why Shopify Payments is non-negotiable at scale.

What These Three Scenarios Tell Us

A few patterns emerge that are worth internalizing before you pick a plan:

• Higher plans lower your effective fee rate. Basic stores pay ~4.7% of revenue in Shopify fees. Advanced stores pay ~2.65%. The gap is real money once you cross five figures in monthly revenue.
• The per-transaction flat fee hurts low-AOV stores more. On a $50 sale, the 30¢ fee is 0.6% of revenue. On a $400 sale, it's 0.075%. High AOV stores get a built-in discount on the flat fee.
• Third-party gateways are a tax on convenience. Using PayPal as your primary processor instead of Shopify Payments adds 0.6% to 2% to every sale. At any meaningful volume, that becomes thousands of dollars per month.
• Shopify can take anywhere from $1.75 to over $10 per individual transaction. The exact number depends on your plan, your AOV, and whether you use Shopify Payments.

Apps, Themes, and the Hidden Costs Most Guides Miss

Subscription + processing + third-party fees are the obvious costs. But most stores also pay for:

• Paid apps. Typical store: $50 to $200/month in apps for email marketing (Klaviyo, $45+/month), upsells (Bold Upsell, $10+/month), reviews (Judge.me, $15+/month), SEO, and analytics. Apps are where "my Shopify bill keeps creeping up" usually comes from.
• Premium themes. One-time $100 to $380. Plenty of free themes like Dawn work well for most stores, but premium themes often ship with conversion features worth the price.
• Domain name. $10 to $20/year through Shopify or your preferred registrar.
• POS hardware. If you sell in person: card readers from $49, full POS bundles from ~$200.
• Shipping labels. Shopify offers discounted rates but you still pay per label. Built in to most stores' per-order cost.

For a complete breakdown of everything a dropshipping store actually costs in 2026, see our guide on how much it costs to start dropshipping.

How Shopify Fees Compare to Etsy, Amazon, and WooCommerce

If you're weighing Shopify against other platforms, here's how the fees stack up in 2026:

Shopify and WooCommerce have the lowest per-sale fees. The difference is that Shopify is fully managed (you pay more upfront, less in time and headaches) while WooCommerce is self-managed (you save cash but spend time on maintenance). Etsy and Amazon have higher fees but come with marketplace traffic attached.

How to Minimize Your Shopify Transaction Fees

The three highest-impact moves, in order:

1. Use Shopify Payments

This is the biggest single lever. Eliminating the 0.6% to 2% third-party fee by switching to Shopify Payments is free money. The only reason not to do this is if Shopify Payments isn't supported in your country. Shopify Payments also supports Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Shop Pay at the same rate, so you're not locking customers into one checkout method.

2. Upgrade Your Plan When the Math Works

Moving from Basic to Grow saves 0.2% per transaction. Moving from Grow to Advanced saves another 0.2%. These look small, but they add up fast at volume. Rough rule of thumb:

• Stay on Basic until you hit ~$25,000/month in revenue.
• Upgrade to Grow between ~$25,000 and ~$120,000/month.
• Upgrade to Advanced above ~$120,000/month.

These crossover points aren't exact, they depend on your AOV and how much you use the extra features each plan unlocks. But they're a reasonable starting point.

3. Raise Your Average Order Value

Every sale carries a flat 30¢ processing fee regardless of order size. On a $20 sale, that's 1.5% of revenue just from the flat fee. On a $200 sale, it's 0.15%. Bundling products, offering free shipping thresholds, and adding post-purchase upsells all raise AOV, which dilutes the flat fee's impact.

Apps like Bold Upsell, Rebuy, and ReConvert make this straightforward to implement. Even a 20% AOV lift from post-purchase upsells directly reduces your effective fee rate.

At Dropbuild, we build stores with conversion optimization, upselling, and Shopify Payments configured from day one. Our clients have generated over $120 million in revenue through stores we've built, and fee optimization is baked into every launch. If you'd rather skip the setup and start with a store that's already dialed in, see our plans and pricing here.

Is Shopify Worth What It Takes?

For most ecommerce businesses, yes. Shopify's 2.5% to 2.9% processing fee is competitive with the best standalone payment processors, the monthly subscription is cheap relative to what you'd spend building the same functionality yourself, and the platform handles every unglamorous part of running an online store: hosting, security, PCI compliance, checkout optimization, fraud protection.

The real question isn't whether Shopify is too expensive. It's whether the thing you're building can generate enough margin to cover the fees and still profit. A well-built dropshipping store on Basic at 4.5% in Shopify fees, with product margins of 40% and ad costs of 25%, still clears 10% net. A poorly-built store with 15% margins and 30% ad costs can't absorb the same fees and will lose money even before factoring in Shopify.

The platform isn't the problem. The product, the pricing, and the marketing are what make or break a Shopify store. For a deeper look at this question, see our guide on whether Shopify is worth the cost, or the broader breakdown of how Shopify works end-to-end.