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When starting an online store on Shopify, choosing a plan is probably the first thing you'll struggle with. You might think "isn't the plan with the lowest monthly fee enough?" but in fact, once your monthly sales exceed a certain level, switching to a higher-tier plan can actually keep your total cost lower.
Shopify has five plans — Starter, Basic, Grow, Advanced, and Plus — each with a different monthly fee, card payment fee, transaction fee, and set of available features.
In this article, we thoroughly compare each plan from both the cost and fee perspectives, and explain, with a break-even simulation, how to choose the plan best suited to your company's sales scale. Please read to the end.
The blog article below introduces Shopify's free trial in detail. Please use it as a reference.
Differences Between Shopify Plans and How to Choose
Shopify offers five plans: the three main plans, Basic, Grow (formerly: Standard), and Advanced (formerly: Premium), plus Shopify Starter, which only lets you add cart functionality, and Shopify PLUS, aimed at large enterprises.
The initial cost is ¥0 for all plans, and the number of products you can register is also unlimited across all plans.
The higher the plan tier, the lower the payment fees become, so it's a good idea to calculate your sales and the fees incurred against them, and consider which plan will cost you the least.
Starter Plan
The Shopify Starter plan is the cheapest of Shopify's pricing plans, letting you add cart functionality to an existing website or social media, or build a simple online store.
It can also be used when you want to sell products "temporarily" or "on a trial basis" on your own social media or website before fully building out an e-commerce site.
The Starter plan is introduced in detail in the article below. Please use it as a reference.
Basic Plan
This is the cheapest of Shopify's main plans in terms of monthly fee. Starting with the Basic plan, you can build a full e-commerce site, and it comes with the basic e-commerce features you need at low cost. The Basic plan also gives you access to Shopify's robust servers, so it can withstand heavy traffic.
However, since it only comes with one staff account that can operate the admin screen, it's recommended for those running an e-commerce site with a small team, or those trying e-commerce for the first time.
Grow Plan (formerly: the Shopify Plan)
Compared to the Basic plan, the Grow plan has lower payment fees and transaction fees, and the number of staff accounts increases to 5, so it's recommended for small companies with a somewhat larger sales scale who want multiple teams to manage and run their e-commerce site.
Advanced Plan (formerly: the Premium Plan)
The Advanced plan has lower payment fees and transaction fees than the Grow plan, and the number of staff accounts increases to 15, making it a recommended plan for companies with large sales or those who want to run e-commerce with a large team.
Shopify Plus Plan
Shopify Plus has a considerably higher monthly fee compared to the main plans. Since low fees and unlimited staff accounts are the benefits of this plan, it's a plan aimed at large enterprises with quite large sales.
Shopify Plus also allows you to run multiple stores. The number of sites you can open and the details of any additional costs vary depending on the contract, so please contact official Shopify support for specific terms.
Shopify Plus also has many other additional features only available on this plan, such as being able to customize the checkout screen to your own store, and lower additional fees for external payment methods such as Amazon Pay.
Shopify Plus is explained in detail in the article below. Please use it as a reference.
Pause and Build Plan
The Pause and Build plan lets you temporarily pause your Shopify store while continuing store operation and management tasks. With this plan, you can access the admin screen and edit product information for a low cost of $9/month, but checkout functionality is disabled, so customers cannot purchase products.
For example, it's a suitable option for a seasonal store or when you want to temporarily stop selling.
Please refer to the blog article below for the features available and unavailable on the Pause and Build plan, and how to sign up.
How to Keep Shopify's Monthly Fee Low
If you know you'll be using the system for a long time, we recommend signing an annual contract, since it lets you keep your costs lower.
Monthly Fee by Shopify Plan Contract Term
About Shopify's Fees
Besides the monthly fee, there are several other fees involved in using Shopify. These fees differ depending on whether or not you use "Shopify Payments" as your payment method.
What Is Shopify Payments?
When building a typical e-commerce site, in many cases users can't make online payments unless you contract with an external payment provider.
Shopify Payments is a payment service provided by Shopify, and it lets you add customer payment methods within the same service.
The payment methods supported by Shopify Payments are as follows.
- Credit card (VISA, JCB, Mastercard, American Express)
- Shop Pay
- Apple Pay
- Google Pay
Since there's no initial cost or monthly fee, and no screening is required, a major benefit is that you don't have to wait to open your site just to add payment functionality.
Also, the biggest benefit is probably that the transaction fees that arise with external payment providers are waived when using Shopify Payments.
*Even if you're signed up for Shopify Payments, a transaction fee will apply if you use an external payment service not supported by Shopify Payments.
Payment Fee
A payment fee is the fee that arises when a user purchases a product using a credit card or a payment service.
When using Shopify Payments, the payment fee is as follows.
Transaction Fee
A transaction fee is the fee that arises when receiving payment from a user.
The transaction fee is waived when using Shopify Payments, but if you use any other external payment provider, the following fees apply.
Regarding Payment Methods Other Than Shopify Payments
If you want to add a payment method to your e-commerce site that isn't supported by Shopify Payments, you'll need to contract with an external payment provider.
There are several payment providers, but here we introduce some of the most commonly used ones.
| Main Payment Provider | Supported Payment Methods | Payment Fee |
|---|---|---|
| GMO Epsilon |
・Credit card ・Convenience store payment ・Online bank payment ・Cash on delivery ・Wallet payment ・Mobile carrier payment ・Bank transfer ・PayPay ・Deferred payment ・Prepaid payment |
・Credit card payment: 3.6% ・Convenience store payment: from ¥130/transaction ・Carrier payment: 6.0% ・Prepaid payment: 5.0% ・PayPay: 3.45% Other payment methods vary |
| SBPayment |
・Credit card ・Carrier payment ・PayPay ・Rakuten Pay ・Web convenience store payment 20+ other payment services also available |
・Credit card payment: 3.15–3.45% ・PayPay: 3.3% ・Carrier payment: 6% ・Rakuten Pay: 4% ・Web convenience store payment: Free |
| Paidy | Paidy | Free |
| PayPal | PayPal | 3.6% + ¥40 |
| KOMOJU |
・Credit card ・Mobile payment (PayPay/Line Pay/Merpay) ・Convenience store payment ・Bank transfer ・PayEasy ・Paidy ・Carrier payment ・Prepaid payment |
・Credit card payment: 3.6%–3.85% ・Mobile payment: from 3.5% ・Convenience store payment: 2.75% ・Carrier payment: from 6.6% ・Prepaid payment: 12% Other payment methods vary |
The blog article below summarizes the payment methods available on Shopify. Please be sure to check what payment methods are available.
Which Payment Provider Should You Choose?
If you're unsure which payment method to choose, go with the one that has the most users.
First, Shopify Payments — which offers online payment methods such as credit cards and Apple Pay, and waives the transaction fee — is something you should definitely sign up for.
○If you want a wide range of payment types, choose SB Payment Service○
For other payment methods, we recommend Amazon Pay, which has a large number of users, or SB Payment Service, which includes PayPay and Rakuten Pay as payment methods.
However, external payment providers may also involve an initial cost or monthly fee, so be sure to check whether the service fits within your company's budget.
The blog article below explains in detail the features of SB Payment Service, how to integrate it with Shopify, and its benefits. Please use it as a reference.
○If you want to keep fixed costs low, choose KOMOJU○
If you're in an early phase and want to keep fixed costs as low as possible, KOMOJU is recommended. KOMOJU is characterized by having no monthly fee and a fast screening process.
The blog article below explains in detail the features of KOMOJU, how to integrate it with Shopify, and its benefits. Please use it as a reference.
How to Choose a Shopify Plan
When choosing a Shopify plan, it's a good idea to consider the following points.
How Much You'll Pay in Transaction Fees and Payment Fees
As sales grow, the difference in fees directly affects your profit. It's wise to run a simulation based on your company's monthly sales and choose the plan with the lowest total cost.
① Break-Even Point for Card Payment Fees (When Using Shopify Payments)
Below is a rough guide to the monthly sales level at which the combined cost of the monthly fee and fees reverses, when using credit card payment via Shopify Payments.
| Plan Comparison | Monthly Fee Difference | Fee Rate Difference | Monthly Sales at Which Switching Pays Off |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic → Grow | ¥8,650 | 0.15% | Approx. ¥5.77 million |
| Grow → Advanced | ¥45,000 | 0.15% | Approx. ¥30 million |
| Advanced → Plus (1-year contract) | ¥339,500 | 0.35% | Approx. ¥97 million |
② Break-Even Point for Transaction Fees (When Using External Payments)
If you use an external payment method (PayPay, Rakuten Pay, Paidy, etc.), a transaction fee applies in addition to Shopify Payments. This fee rate differs by plan, and the break-even points are as follows.
| Plan Comparison | Monthly Fee Difference | Fee Rate Difference | Monthly Sales at Which Switching Pays Off |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic → Grow | ¥8,650 | 1.0% | Approx. ¥865,000 |
| Grow → Advanced | ¥45,000 | 0.4% | Approx. ¥11.25 million |
| Advanced → Plus (1-year contract) | ¥339,500 | 0.4% | Approx. ¥84.88 million |
* The figures above are only a guide. Actual costs vary depending on your payment method mix and sales composition. Please check the Shopify official site for the latest fee rates.
Number of Staff Accounts
Choose a plan with a number of accounts that matches the size of your operating team. You don't necessarily need an account for every member, but we recommend securing enough accounts that your work efficiency doesn't suffer.
Feature Set
Available features differ by plan. For example, starting with the Grow plan you can add staff, and with the Advanced plan you can use local storefront functionality, and run A/B tests on themes using Shopify Rollouts.
Higher-tier plans have a richer feature set, but if the features you need can be covered by an external app, you may be able to keep costs down by running on a lower-tier plan.
Can You Change Plans?
With Shopify, you can change plans even while in use, according to your sales or transaction volume. You can operate it easily from the admin screen, so you can rest assured that you can respond flexibly to changes in sales.
Q&A About Shopify Plans
Here we've summarized frequently asked questions about Shopify plans.
Q. Is there an initial cost?
The initial cost is ¥0 for all plans.
Q. Which is the cheapest plan?
The cheapest plan by monthly fee is the Starter plan.
Q. How do I pay for a plan?
The monthly fee can be paid using the following methods.
・Credit card
・Co-branded debit card
・Shopify Balance
・PayPal
Q. Is there a minimum contract term?
Shopify has no contract term commitment on any plan.
However, if you sign an annual contract, you can use it at a 25% discount.
Q. How many staff accounts are there?
The Starter plan has 1, Basic has 1, Grow has 5, Advanced has 15, and Plus has unlimited.
Q. Is there a free period?
There is a free period of a few days.
*The free period varies depending on the time of year.
Q. Can I change plans?
You can change plans partway through. You can also switch from monthly to annual billing.
In Closing
In this article, we thoroughly compared Shopify's five plans — Starter, Basic, Grow, Advanced, and Plus — from the perspectives of monthly fee, card payment fee, transaction fee, and features.
An easy thing to overlook when choosing a plan is thinking in terms of total cost, not just the monthly fee. By simulating your cost including fees based on your company's monthly sales, the best plan becomes clear. Since you can change plans anytime, first try out the experience with the 3-day free trial.
If you need help with Shopify implementation, choosing a plan, or running your e-commerce operations, feel free to contact Tsun, which provides end-to-end support from site building through growth.
