Shopify offers four main plans, and each step up lowers your card processing rate a little. This guide calculates exactly when upgrading saves you money versus when it costs more than it saves. All figures are for US stores using Shopify Payments; the middle plan, formerly called "Shopify", is now named Grow.
| Plan | Monthly Cost | Processing Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Basic | $39 ($29 billed yearly) | 2.9% + $0.30 online · 2.6% + $0.10 in person |
| Grow | $105 ($79 billed yearly) | 2.7% + $0.30 online · 2.5% + $0.10 in person |
| Advanced | $399 ($299 billed yearly) | 2.5% + $0.30 online · 2.4% + $0.10 in person |
| Plus | From $2,300 (3-year term) | Negotiated |
The online processing rate difference between Basic and Grow is 0.2 percentage points (2.9% vs 2.7%). To save the $66/month price difference purely through reduced fees, you need:
$66 ÷ 0.2% = $33,000/month in online sales to justify upgrading from Basic to Grow on processing fees alone (monthly billing). On yearly billing the gap is $50/month, so the break-even is $25,000/month.
Below that volume, the lower rate alone won't pay for Grow. The step from Grow to Advanced is similar: another 0.2 points for $294/month more, which only pays off at around $147,000/month in online sales. In practice, most merchants upgrade for the features below rather than the processing savings.
Higher plans also unlock features beyond just lower fees: more staff accounts, advanced reporting, third-party calculated shipping rates, and (at Advanced tier) custom report builder. Factor these into your decision if you need the features regardless of the fee savings.