Shopify Fee Calculator

What Shopify charges

Shopify's costs come in three layers: the monthly plan, payment processing on each sale and any extras you add, such as paid apps or a premium theme. If you use Shopify Payments (Shopify's own payment processor), you pay only the card rate. If you use a third-party payment provider instead, Shopify adds its own transaction fee on top of whatever that provider charges.

Shopify also offers a low-cost Starter plan for selling through social media and links rather than a full online store. Prices and rates change from time to time and vary by country – always check Shopify's pricing page for your region. The calculator stores these figures as editable settings so you can update them.

Fee per order: a worked example

On the Basic plan with Shopify Payments, a $50 online order costs 2.9% × $50 + $0.30 = $1.45 + $0.30 = $1.75 in processing. With 200 orders a month ($10,000 in sales), processing comes to $350; add the $39 plan and the total is $389, or 3.9% of sales. The fixed 30¢ matters more for small orders: on a $10 order the same rates take $0.59 – nearly 6%.

At $10,000 a month, Basic is the cheapest. Higher plans charge lower percentages, so they become worthwhile only as sales grow – which is what the break-even figures below show.

When does upgrading pay for itself?

Divide the extra monthly plan cost by the saving in the card percentage. With monthly billing, Grow costs $66 more than Basic and saves 0.2 percentage points on online card payments, so it pays off once online sales exceed about $66 ÷ 0.002 = $33,000 a month. Advanced costs $294 more than Grow and saves another 0.2 points, so the break-even is about $147,000 a month. With annual billing the gaps are smaller: about $25,000 (Basic → Grow) and $110,000 (Grow → Advanced). Higher plans also include extra features – such as more staff accounts and reporting – which may matter more than the fee saving.

Using a third-party payment provider

If you take payments through another provider, Shopify charges its transaction fee – 2% on Basic, 1% on Grow and 0.6% on Advanced – on top of that provider's own fees. On a $50 Basic order, that is an extra $1.00 before the provider's charge. For most stores where Shopify Payments is available, that surcharge makes third-party gateways more expensive overall, but some businesses need them for specific countries, currencies or payment methods. Enter your provider's rate in the calculator to compare.

Profit per order

Fees are only part of the picture. Add the product cost, shipping and packaging, and your advertising cost per order to see what you keep. Example: a $50 order with a $20 product cost, $6 shipping, $1.75 in fees and $8 of ad spend leaves $14.25 – a 28.5% margin before fixed costs such as the plan and apps. Spread those fixed costs across your monthly orders for a true profit per order.

Other costs to include

• Paid apps (reviews, subscriptions, email, upsells) – often the largest hidden cost; add up what you actually pay each month.
• Premium themes – usually a one-off purchase; divide by the months you expect to use it.
• Domain name – a yearly fee.
• Currency conversion and international cards – extra fees can apply when customers pay in other currencies.
• Chargebacks and refunds – processing fees may not be returned on refunded orders; check Shopify's current policy for your country.
• Shipping labels, packaging, payment of sales tax or VAT, and your own time.

Example: online and in-person sales together

A store on the Grow plan (annual billing, $79 a month) sells 300 online orders at $40 and takes $6,000 in person at markets. Online processing is 300 × (2.7% × $40 + $0.30) = 300 × $1.38 = $414. In-person card sales at 2.5% cost $150. With the plan, the month's Shopify costs are $414 + $150 + $79 = $643 on $18,000 of sales – about 3.6%. Enter your own channel split in the calculator to see your blended rate.

Ways to lower your Shopify costs

• Use Shopify Payments where available to avoid the third-party transaction fee.
• Pay annually once you are sure you will keep the store.
• Raise average order value with bundles or free-shipping thresholds – the fixed 30¢ becomes a smaller share of each sale.
• Review apps every few months and cancel the ones you no longer use.
• Upgrade only when your sales pass the break-even point or you need the features.

Sources

1. Shopify – Pricing (shopify.com/pricing) – confirm current figures — shopify.com
2. Shopify Help Center – Transaction fees and Shopify Payments rates — help.shopify.com