Shopify vs Shopify Plus: Differences, Costs and When to Upgrade

Key takeaways

• Standard Shopify plans run from $39 to $399 a month billed monthly; Shopify Plus starts at $2,300 a month on a three-year term.
• Plus adds checkout customisation with your own Shopify Functions, expansion stores, organisation-level admin and higher API limits.
• Many features once exclusive to Plus — including B2B and Shopify Flow — are now on standard plans too.
• The payment surcharge for third-party gateways is lower on Plus, which can cover much of the upgrade for high-volume stores.
• Upgrade when Plus features unlock revenue or remove real costs, not because the store feels bigger.

Shopify and Shopify Plus run on the same platform: the same admin, the same hosting, the same checkout engine and the same app ecosystem. Plus is Shopify's enterprise plan. It adds control, scale and support for brands whose needs have outgrown the standard plans. The question is never "is Plus better?" but "will what Plus adds earn back what it costs?"

What the plans cost

• Basic: $39 a month billed monthly, or about $29 billed annually.
• Grow: $105 a month billed monthly, or about $79 billed annually.
• Advanced: $399 a month billed monthly, or about $299 billed annually.
• Plus: From $2,300 a month on a three-year term, or $2,500 on a one-year term. Very high-volume stores move to a variable platform fee instead.

Card processing fees sit on top of every plan. If you use a payment provider other than Shopify Payments, Shopify also charges a surcharge on each order: 2% on Basic, 1% on Grow and 0.6% on Advanced, and less on Plus. Our Shopify Plus pricing guide covers the fee structure in detail.

What Shopify Plus adds

Checkout customisation

Every plan can brand the checkout and add apps that use checkout UI extensions. Plus goes further: you can build your own Shopify Functions in a custom app for discounts, shipping, payment and validation rules, and customise the checkout more deeply. For brands with complex promotions or delivery rules, this is often the deciding feature. Our checkout extensibility guide explains what changed when Shopify retired checkout.liquid.

Expansion stores and organisation admin

Plus includes additional stores for other regions, brands or wholesale, managed from one organisation admin with shared users and permissions. Standard plans sell internationally through Shopify Markets from a single store, which is enough for many brands; separate stores suit regions that need a different catalogue, team or legal entity.

Scale and support

• Higher API rate limits for integrations with ERPs, warehouses and marketplaces.
• Launchpad for scheduling sales, theme changes and product releases.
• Priority support and access to Shopify's Plus partner network.
• Higher checkout capacity for flash sales and product drops.

What standard plans now include

The gap between the plans has narrowed. B2B selling — company accounts, price lists and payment terms — has been available on all plans since April 2026, and Shopify Flow automation is on standard plans too. Before upgrading for a single feature, check whether it is still Plus-only. Our guide to Shopify B2B shows what wholesale looks like on each plan.

Shopify vs Shopify Plus at a glance

• Price: Standard: $39 to $399 a month. Plus: from $2,300 a month.
• Checkout: Standard: branding and app extensions. Plus: your own Functions and deeper customisation.
• Stores: Standard: one store, international through Markets. Plus: expansion stores under one organisation.
• Integrations: Standard: standard API limits. Plus: higher limits for heavy integrations.
• Payment surcharge: Standard: 2%, 1% or 0.6% with third-party gateways. Plus: lower.

When to upgrade to Shopify Plus

1. Run the surcharge test: If you use a third-party gateway, multiply your monthly sales by the surcharge difference between Advanced and Plus. At high volumes, that saving alone can cover most of the upgrade.
2. List the features you need: Custom checkout rules, expansion stores or higher API limits each have a value. Put a number on what they would earn or save.
3. Count the workarounds: Apps, manual processes and duplicated stores cost money and time. Plus often replaces several of them.
4. Check the term: The three-year term is cheaper per month but is a commitment. Make sure the business case holds for its full length.

Frequently asked questions

Is Shopify Plus worth it for a small business?

Usually not. Plus pays off when checkout customisation, expansion stores, higher API limits or the lower gateway surcharge are worth more than the extra fee. Most small and mid-sized stores grow well on Advanced.

Can I switch from Shopify to Shopify Plus without rebuilding?

Yes. Upgrading is a plan change on the same store: your theme, products, customers and orders stay. The work is in building the Plus features that justified the move.

Can I downgrade from Shopify Plus?

It is possible at the end of your term, but you lose Plus-only features such as custom Functions and expansion stores, so plan what replaces them first.

If the numbers don't add up yet, Advanced is a strong plan, and most stores can grow a long way on it. If they do, plan the move properly: the upgrade itself is a plan change, but getting value from Plus means building the checkout rules, automations and integrations that justified it. Our Shopify Plus development team can model the numbers with you before you commit.