Shopify Costs Explained: Subscription, Payments and Apps
Guide · 2026-10-17
Shopify advertises a $39 monthly plan. Nobody runs a profitable store on $39 a month, and the gap between the advertised cost and the real cost is where new stores get into trouble.
1. The subscription
| Plan | Monthly | Card rate | Third-party gateway fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | $39 | 2.9% + 30c | 2% |
| Grow | $105 | 2.7% + 30c | 1% |
| Advanced | $399 | 2.5% + 30c | 0.5% |
At 30 orders a month the Basic plan alone costs $1.30 per order. At 1,000 orders it is $0.04. Volume is what makes the subscription cheap, not the plan tier.
2. Payment processing
2.9% + 30c on Basic with Shopify Payments. On a $10 order that is 5.9%; on a $100 order it is 3.2%. The fixed component is why low-ticket stores feel a margin squeeze that high-ticket stores do not.
Use a third-party gateway and Shopify adds 2% on Basic on top of whatever that gateway charges. For most sellers this makes Shopify Payments the only sensible option, even when a regional gateway looks cheaper on paper.
3. The app stack
This is the line item nobody budgets for. A functional store typically needs:
- Reviews: $15-40/month
- Email marketing: $0-30/month at low volume
- Upsells and bundles: $10-30/month
- Analytics or attribution: $0-20/month
- Currency or translation: $10-20/month if you sell internationally
A realistic app bill is $50-120 per month. Many apps also take a revenue share, which does not show up as a subscription at all.
4. Theme and development
A premium theme is $180-400 one-off. Custom work is hourly. Neither is recurring, but both hit cash flow in month one, when revenue is lowest.
5. Traffic
The largest cost by far, and the one Shopify does not mention because it is not Shopify's revenue. At a $15 customer acquisition cost, 100 orders a month costs $1,500. That is 38 times the subscription.
The real monthly picture at 100 orders
| Line | Cost |
|---|---|
| Subscription (Basic) | $39 |
| Payment fees (2.9% + 30c on $40 AOV) | $146 |
| Apps | $80 |
| $15 | |
| Total platform cost | $280 |
| Ad spend (optional, $15 CAC) | $1,500 |
Platform cost works out to $2.80 per order, or 7% of a $40 average order. That is the number to compare against marketplace fees, not the $39 headline.
When Shopify is the wrong choice
Before you have traffic. A Shopify store with no audience generates no orders, and the subscription plus apps is a fixed cost that accrues while you learn. Marketplaces charge more per sale but only when a sale happens, which is the correct risk profile for a business that has not found product-market fit yet.