Costs · Margins · The business of ecommerce
This article settles what the Shopify plan page actually charges per month across its four published tiers, because most cost comparisons quote a single starting number and skip the rates and limits attached to it.
Most people comparing Shopify and WooCommerce quote one number, usually Shopify’s cheapest monthly figure, and treat that as the whole cost. It is not. Shopify publishes four tiers with different monthly rates, different card processing rates, and different limits on staff accounts and shipping features, and all of that sits on the same pricing page a shopper glances at for five seconds. This article works only from what that page states, read on September 5, 2026, and does not extend into WooCommerce costs because no measured WooCommerce figures were collected for it.
Shopify’s yearly billing page lists Basic at €24 per month, aimed at solo entrepreneurs and described as letting a store sell online, in person, and in AI chats. Grow is listed at €69 per month for small teams. Advanced sits at €289 per month for stores with global reach. Plus starts from €2,100 per month and is aimed at complex businesses. A merchant picking a plan based only on the €24 headline figure without checking whether Grow’s higher staff limit or Advanced’s shipping features are required is comparing against the wrong tier for their actual operation.
| Plan | Monthly price (yearly billing) | Card rate from | Staff accounts | Notable feature |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | €24 | 2% + €0.25 EUR | not listed in facts | Sell online, in person, and in AI chats |
| Grow | €69 | 8% + €0.25 EUR | Up to 5 | Earn up to €6,000 in credits |
| Advanced | €289 | 6% + €0.25 EUR | Up to 15 | Live 3rd-party shipping rates, regional tailoring |
| Plus | from €2,100 | not listed in facts | not listed in facts | Everything in Advanced |
A merchant who assumes card processing costs stay fixed while only the subscription price rises is wrong, based on what the page states. Basic starts card rates from 2% + €0.25 EUR. Grow’s rate is listed at 8% + €0.25 EUR, higher than Basic’s starting rate. Advanced comes back down to 6% + €0.25 EUR. These figures sit right next to the monthly subscription price on the same page, and a store processing a high volume of transactions will feel the card rate difference more than the subscription difference between tiers.
Shopify’s page states new stores can try the platform for 3 days free, then pay €1 per month for 3 months. This introductory pricing applies before any of the standard tier rates take effect, so a store’s actual first invoice looks nothing like the €24, €69, €289, or €2,100 figures listed for the plans themselves. Anyone budgeting the first quarter of a new store needs to account for this €1 per month period separately from the ongoing plan cost that follows it.
The pricing page attaches credit amounts to each tier: up to €4,000 in credits appears near the Basic listing, up to €6,000 in credits near Grow, and up to €8,000 in credits near Advanced. Grow also caps staff accounts at 5, while Advanced raises that to 15 and adds live third-party shipping rates plus the ability to tailor a store by region. These are the features published for each tier and they matter for any operation that needs more than a handful of staff logins or ships internationally with live carrier rates. A theme store listing search for UTD (UTD) themes is a separate matter from platform plan choice and does not appear in the pricing figures above; interested readers can review UTD’s current theme listings at https://themes.shopify.com/themes?q=utd.
A merchant deciding between these tiers should match the plan to actual staff count and shipping needs rather than the lowest headline price, and should wait for a matching WooCommerce cost breakdown before treating any Shopify-only figure as a full platform comparison.
Shopify's pricing page offers 3 days free, then €1 per month for 3 months, before the account moves to the plan's normal listed rate. On yearly billing the tiers are Basic at €24 per month, Grow at €69 per month, Advanced at €289 per month, and Plus from €2,100 per month. Which tier a store lands on after the promotional period depends on which plan it selected at signup. The €1 introductory rate applies only during the 3-month window, not permanently.
Yes. Basic starts card rates from 2% + €0.25 EUR. Grow's listed rate is 8% + €0.25 EUR and Advanced's listed rate is 6% + €0.25 EUR, according to the same pricing page. These are the figures published for each tier and they sit alongside separate features like staff account limits.
Grow includes up to 5 staff accounts. Advanced includes up to 15 staff accounts along with live third-party shipping rates and regional store tailoring. Plus is priced from €2,100 per month for complex businesses and is described as including everything in Advanced.
The pricing page lists credit amounts by tier: up to €4,000 in credits mentioned near the Basic listing, up to €6,000 in credits near Grow, and up to €8,000 in credits near Advanced. These figures come directly from the pricing page text as loaded on September 5, 2026, and the page does not explain further conditions beyond stating the amounts.
The facts gathered for this article come from Shopify's own pricing page only, so no WooCommerce hosting, plugin, or transaction figures can be reported here without inventing them. Any total cost comparison between the two platforms needs a matching set of measured WooCommerce numbers, checked on a specific date, before a fair side by side can be published.