Standard Shopify Plan Overview: Pricing, Features, and comparisons in 2024

The Shopify Plan is an ideal option for small businesses aiming to upgrade their online stores. It offers access to advanced features like unlimited products, brand assets, discount codes, fraud analysis, and financial reports, thus boosting sales and improving customer experience. In this article, we’ll walk you through the details of the Shopify Plan

What is Shopify Plan?

The Shopify Plan is one of the five main Shopify pricing plans (among Shopify Starter, Shopify Basic, Shopify Advanced, and Shopify Plus).

Starting at $105 per month, Shopify Plan is recommended for experienced sellers with enhanced reports, ecommerce automation, and much more.

Shopify Plan feature overview

Features similar to other Shopify plans

Shopify provides a suite of ecommerce features across all its plans; let’s look at what features included in the Shopify Plan.

• Unlimited products
• Unlimited bandwidth
• Brand assets
• Fraud analysis
• Manual order creation
• Discount codes
• Abandoned cart recovery
• Analytics
• Finance reports
• Customer support
• Custom pricing by market

Shopify Plan Additional Features

Online store

The Shopify Plan offers a fully functional online store to customize and manage your Shopify account.

Shopify also has a built-in theme editor that you can use to customize your store’s appearance. Alternatively, you can access over 100 mobile-friendly Shopify Themes from the Shopify Theme Store, which includes 12 free themes.

Blog

With your Shopify store blogging feature, you can post articles, tell your customers about events and promotions, and receive feedback from your customers. This blog plays a key role in inbound marketing and SEO (Search Engine Optimization), helping you attract customers ready to purchase.

Staff

The Shopify Plan offers five staff accounts.

SSL certificates

Internet browsers will warn users when they try to visit a website without SSL certificates. Thus, Shopify’s provision of SSL certificates ensures your online store’s content can be encrypted and published securely, offering your customers a safe and smooth experience on your Shopify store.

Reports

Tracking your online store with reports, including:

• Analytics page
• Finances reports
• Product Analytics
• Acquisition Reports
• Inventory Reports
• Behavior Reports
• Marketing Reports
• Live View
• Order Reports
• Sales Reports
• Retail Sale Reports
• Profit Reports
• Customer Reports

International commerce

The Shopify plan facilitates your global expansion with Shopify Markets. This cross-border management tool allows you to tailor settings for each international region and country, such as languages, currencies, and payment methods.

Shopify POS

You can use Shopify POS to sell in person almost anywhere, including brick-and-mortar stores, markets, and pop-up shops.

Shopify Shipping Discount

Shopify Shipping provides real-time shipping rates and significant discounts from leading carriers. Furthermore, it enables the printing of shipping labels in bulk, enhancing efficiency and saving time.

Shopify Flow

Shopify Flow - an ecommerce automation solution - is only available for the Shopify Plan (and other higher Shopify pricing plans). It helps automate tasks and processes within your Shopify store and across your Shopify apps.

How much does Standard Shopify Plan cost?

Shopify Plan subscription fees

The Shopify Plan costs $105 per month in the United States; the pricing can differ between regions. However, starting from January of 2024, shopify $1 for 3 months for the next month with Shopify Plan.

Additionally, you can always opt-in to the Shopify Free Trial to experience the features and decide if the Shopify Plan is suitable for your online store.

Shopify Plan transaction fees

The Shopify Plan transaction fees can be lower for merchants who use Shopify Payments. Learn more about Shopify Payments here.

Transaction fees with Shopify Payments

With the Shopify plan, you will only charge 2.6% + 30¢ per transaction without additional fees from your payment gateway providers. Additionally, the 2% transaction fee on each sale is waived if you use Shopify Payments.

Transaction fees without Shopify Payments

Using a third-party payment gateway provider instead of Shopify Payments will incur transaction fees.

Additionally, you still have to pay any transaction fees your gateway provider charges. An additional 1% fee applies to transactions made with credit cards issued outside the United States.

Tips: How to check Shopify Pricing for your store location

Shopify has different prices and transaction fees for different countries and regions.

If you want to sell to a specific country, it is recommended to locate your Shopify store there. However, make sure you check Shopify pricing for that country first.

Step 1: Visit https://shopify.com

Step 2: Scroll down to the footer section and choose where you want to locate your store.

Step 3: A list of available languages and countries will be shown. Click on any country to view the Shopify version for that country/region.

Step 4: Click on the Pricing section - usually in the header bar (in this example, I have chosen the Canada version). You might find the Shopify Pricing for Canada here different from the original United State ones.

Step 5: Click on Compare Pricing Plans (or a similar section in your language of choice) to view transaction fees for your store location.

Note: Just to be sure, you can turn on your VPN (if you are outside of your target country) or turn off the VPN (if you are inside your target country).

Additional Shopify costs for Shopify Plan

Domain for your Shopify Store

Shopify offers regarding domains:

• Default Domain: Shopify offers its users a free domain ending in “myshopify.com.” While this is a budget-friendly solution for new small businesses, it’s vital to note that having a custom domain can significantly create a unique brand identity for your brand.
• Custom Domains: You can purchase a domain from popular registrars like GoDaddy, Porkbun, Namecheap, Name.com, and Google Domains. Prices can vary depending on the domain extension and registrar. For example, GoDaddy offers the “.blog” extension for $4.99, while Google Domains sells the “.store” extension for $50.00.

Email Hosting

Unfortunately, your Shopify Plan (and other plans) doesn’t include email hosting, so you must install Shopify Apps to send emails from your store’s domain. The Shopify Email app is free for the first 10,000 emails you sent. For every 1000 emails sent after that, you will be charged $1.

And, there are different third-party email hosting providers:

• Zoho Mail: Offers email accounts for your custom domain at a competitive price, starting at $1/user/month.
• Google Workspace: Allows users to send email from their custom domain. Their Business Starter package is at $7.8/user/month.

Shopify Apps

Shopify Apps are priced separately from the Shopify Plan, as you will be charged for each app integration. While these apps can address various ecommerce needs, adding more can lead to higher costs and potentially slower site performance. So, you need to clearly define your specific needs and set your priorities before choosing the right apps for your store.

On average, a merchant installs 6 apps in Shopify App store, with the typical app subscription costing about $19 a month. Ultimately, the monthly expense for Shopify Apps can range from $50 to $2000.

Shopify Themes

Shopify Themes determine how your website looks and feels for customers. Similar to apps, Shopify Themes are not included in the Shopify Pricing Plans.

• Free Shopify themes: Shopify offers over ten free themes, best for store owners to find a cost-effective solution for building a professional-looking store before purchasing.
• Premium themes: These themes range from $150 to $380, coming with advanced features and various design choices.

Shopify POS

For merchants seeking to sell at physical locations, Shopify offers two plans:

• Starter Plan: Priced at $5/month, this plan is great for merchants just starting an in-person selling experience or operating at a smaller scale.
• Retail Plan: For a robust in-store experience, the Retail plan is available at $89 per month per store location.

If your goal is to sell both online and in-person, you’ll need to consider the standard subscription plan cost. Additionally, you’ll pay transaction fees and expenses for each POS Pro location, which costs $89/month.

Shopify Plan comparison

Shopify Basic Plan vs Shopify Plan

Pricing

The Shopify Plan subscription fee is three times higher than the Basic Shopify Plan.

On the other hand, the Shopify Plan appeals to higher volume sales store owners with a 0.3% lower transaction fee and higher shipping discount with Shopify Shipping service.

Feature

Both of these Shopify pricing plans share many similar features. However, the Shopify Plan is capable of running automation - a game changer for ecommerce businesses. With Shopify Flow, you can optimize your operations inside and outside of your businesses while having an autonomous e-commerce website that does less manual human work and errors.

The Verdict

Shopify Plan is best for experienced sellers who are familiar with various ecommerce use cases, while Shopify Basic is ideal for newcomers looking to explore Shopify or launch their first online stores.

Among other perks, the Shopify Plan is favored for offering Shopify Flow, an attractive feature for automating tasks and processes.

Shopify Plan vs Shopify Advanced Plan

Pricing

The Advanced Shopify Plan costs 399$ per month, four times higher than the Shopify Plan.

Merchants who use the Advanced Plan will get an attractive 2.4%+ 30¢ fee per transaction, with higher discounts for Shopify Shipping service.

While the transaction fees and discounts are considerable, we recommend staying with the Shopify Plan or the Basic Shopify Plan if your monthly revenue is less than $5000.

Feature

Besides the features available on the Shopify plan, the Advanced Shopify plan offers several features:

• Custom Reports and activate predicted values for specific reports: Customize default reports and create your own using Shopify’s filtering and editing tools to help you track your business performance.
• Staff: Shopify Advanced Plan offers 15 staff accounts.
• Carrier-calculated Shipping: Using this feature, you can provide your customers with third-party calculated shipping rates and options when they place an order
• International commerce: The Advanced plan supports your international growth via Shopify Markets, a cross-border management tool that help you calculate, collect duties and taxes, and control the prices in different markets.
• Markets: The Advanced Shopify plan includes three Markets, and you will pay an additional cost if you want to reach 50.
• Customer support: The plan offers enhanced 24/7 chat support.

The Verdict

The Shopify Advanced Plan is more favorable for fast-growing merchants expanding to the global market. It appeals to merchants who need automation on shipping prices, duties, and taxes for different regions and countries. On the other hand, if you are selling domestically or with medium sales volumes, the Shopify Plan is more suitable for your ecommerce store.

Wrapping Up

The Shopify plan provides access to a suite of enhanced features and tools designed to support business growth and improve customer engagement. It represents a cost-effective solution for businesses ready to take their operations to the next high revenue levels.

Shopify Standard: FAQs

What are other Shopify Pricing Plans besides the Shopify Plan?

There are four Shopify plans for store owners to pick up:

• Starter Shopify Plan: $5 per month + 5% transaction fees
• Basic Shopify Plan: $39 per month, with 2.9% + 30¢ per transaction
• Advanced Shopify Plan: $399 per month, with 2.4% + 30¢ per transaction
• Shopify Plus: Starting at $2000 per month

Will I lose my data for upgrading or downgrading my Shopify pricing plans?

No, Your data will always be available for all of the Shopify Pricing Plans you choose. It does not matter whether you upgrade or downgrade your plan.

Do I get free hosting when I use the Shopify Plan?

Yes, With all plans except Starter, Shopify includes secure, unlimited ecommerce hosting. You may also use the Buy Button to integrate ecommerce into an existing website.

How much does Shopify charge for the bandwidth with the Shopify Plan?

Zero, The Shopify plans all include unlimited bandwidth for free.

Can I use my own domain name with the Shopify Plan?

Yes, You can purchase a domain name within Shopify or use your existing one. Otherwise, when you sign up for Shopify, you will receive a free domain name myshopify.com that will remain yours forever.