Every Shopify Fee Explained: The Complete 2026 Breakdown
7 min read
Shopify's Fee Structure Is More Complex Than It Looks
Shopify's pricing page shows three clean numbers: $39, $105, or $399 per month. Pick a plan and go. Simple, right? In practice, the plan fee is often the smallest line item on your monthly Shopify bill. Transaction fees, credit card processing rates, app subscriptions, and usage-based charges pile on top — and in April 2026, Shopify bumped online card processing fees across all plans, making the true cost of running a store even less obvious than before.
This article breaks down every fee Shopify charges in 2026. No marketing spin, no "it depends" without the numbers. Just a clear picture of what you're actually paying.
This article breaks down every fee Shopify charges in 2026. No marketing spin, no "it depends" without the numbers. Just a clear picture of what you're actually paying.
Plan Fees: The Base Cost
Shopify's standard plans in 2026:
Basic: $39/month ($29/month if paid annually)
Shopify: $105/month ($79/month annually)
Advanced: $399/month ($299/month annually)
Plus: starts at $2,300/month (up from the historical $2,000 flat — see 2026 changes)
The Starter plan at $5/month still exists for selling via social media and messaging, and the Retail plan at $89/month is designed for brick-and-mortar. For most online stores, you're looking at $39 to $399 per month as your starting point.
Annual billing saves roughly 25%, so if you're committed to Shopify, paying yearly makes financial sense. But keep in mind: the plan fee is just the beginning.
Basic: $39/month ($29/month if paid annually)
Shopify: $105/month ($79/month annually)
Advanced: $399/month ($299/month annually)
Plus: starts at $2,300/month (up from the historical $2,000 flat — see 2026 changes)
The Starter plan at $5/month still exists for selling via social media and messaging, and the Retail plan at $89/month is designed for brick-and-mortar. For most online stores, you're looking at $39 to $399 per month as your starting point.
Annual billing saves roughly 25%, so if you're committed to Shopify, paying yearly makes financial sense. But keep in mind: the plan fee is just the beginning.
Credit Card Processing Fees (Updated April 2026)
This is where it gets expensive. Every sale you make is subject to credit card processing fees through Shopify Payments. As of April 2026, the rates are:
Basic plan: 2.9% + $0.30 per online transaction
Shopify plan: 2.7% + $0.30 per online transaction
Advanced plan: 2.5% + $0.30 per online transaction
In-person (POS) rates are lower: 2.6%, 2.5%, or 2.4% + $0.10 respectively.
On top of these base rates, Shopify now charges additional fees for specific card types: +0.6% for premium cards (rewards cards, corporate cards) and +1.0% for international cards. These surcharges were introduced in the April 2026 update and apply across all plans.
Let's put this in perspective. A store doing $50,000/month in online sales on the Basic plan pays approximately $1,480 in credit card processing fees alone (at the 2.9% + $0.30 rate, assuming an average order of $50). With a mix of premium and international cards, that number climbs to $1,700-1,800. That's more than 35x the monthly plan fee.
If you use a third-party payment provider instead of Shopify Payments, you pay an additional transaction fee on top: 2% on Basic, 1% on Shopify, and 0.6% on Advanced. This effectively makes third-party payment gateways prohibitively expensive on Shopify.
Basic plan: 2.9% + $0.30 per online transaction
Shopify plan: 2.7% + $0.30 per online transaction
Advanced plan: 2.5% + $0.30 per online transaction
In-person (POS) rates are lower: 2.6%, 2.5%, or 2.4% + $0.10 respectively.
On top of these base rates, Shopify now charges additional fees for specific card types: +0.6% for premium cards (rewards cards, corporate cards) and +1.0% for international cards. These surcharges were introduced in the April 2026 update and apply across all plans.
Let's put this in perspective. A store doing $50,000/month in online sales on the Basic plan pays approximately $1,480 in credit card processing fees alone (at the 2.9% + $0.30 rate, assuming an average order of $50). With a mix of premium and international cards, that number climbs to $1,700-1,800. That's more than 35x the monthly plan fee.
If you use a third-party payment provider instead of Shopify Payments, you pay an additional transaction fee on top: 2% on Basic, 1% on Shopify, and 0.6% on Advanced. This effectively makes third-party payment gateways prohibitively expensive on Shopify.
Transaction Fees You Might Not Know About
Beyond credit card processing, there are several less-visible fees:
Currency conversion fee: 1.5% on all orders where the customer pays in a currency different from your store's default. If you sell internationally (and most European stores do), this adds up fast.
Automated tax calculation: 0.35% per order for stores above $100K in annual US revenue, capped at $0.99 per transaction and $5,000 per year per region. This primarily affects stores selling into the US, but it's a fee many merchants discover only on their bill.
Shopify Markets surcharges: Using Shopify Markets for international selling can add duties, import tax collection fees, and conversion charges that vary by destination country.
Chargeback fee: $15 per chargeback in the US. If you win the dispute, Shopify refunds the fee — but the cash flow impact of the chargeback itself (the full order amount held in escrow) can be significant for smaller stores.
Currency conversion fee: 1.5% on all orders where the customer pays in a currency different from your store's default. If you sell internationally (and most European stores do), this adds up fast.
Automated tax calculation: 0.35% per order for stores above $100K in annual US revenue, capped at $0.99 per transaction and $5,000 per year per region. This primarily affects stores selling into the US, but it's a fee many merchants discover only on their bill.
Shopify Markets surcharges: Using Shopify Markets for international selling can add duties, import tax collection fees, and conversion charges that vary by destination country.
Chargeback fee: $15 per chargeback in the US. If you win the dispute, Shopify refunds the fee — but the cash flow impact of the chargeback itself (the full order amount held in escrow) can be significant for smaller stores.
App Fees: The Bill That Grows With You
Here's where Shopify's real cost picture gets ugly. The average store spends $200-350/month on third-party apps. Stores doing real volume — 2,000+ orders per month — routinely spend $500 to $1,000 or more.
The problem isn't the base subscription price of individual apps. It's the per-order fees layered on top. Tracking apps charge $0.05-0.08 per shipment. Invoicing apps charge $0.03-0.05 per invoice. Returns apps charge $0.50-1.50 per return. These usage-based fees compound as your store grows, and they're the single biggest area where merchants overpay.
A realistic app stack for a mid-size store — tracking, invoicing, returns, reviews, email, and a loyalty program — can easily total $800/month when you add up base fees plus usage charges. That's $9,600 per year in app fees alone.
The problem isn't the base subscription price of individual apps. It's the per-order fees layered on top. Tracking apps charge $0.05-0.08 per shipment. Invoicing apps charge $0.03-0.05 per invoice. Returns apps charge $0.50-1.50 per return. These usage-based fees compound as your store grows, and they're the single biggest area where merchants overpay.
A realistic app stack for a mid-size store — tracking, invoicing, returns, reviews, email, and a loyalty program — can easily total $800/month when you add up base fees plus usage charges. That's $9,600 per year in app fees alone.
The Total Picture: What a Real Store Actually Pays
Let's add it all up for a store doing $80,000/month in sales with 3,000 orders on the Shopify plan ($105/month):
Plan fee: $105/month
Credit card processing (2.7% + $0.30 avg): ~$2,160 + $900 = $3,060/month
Premium/international card surcharges (estimated 30% of transactions): ~$290/month
Currency conversion (estimated 40% international orders): ~$480/month
App subscriptions + usage fees: ~$650/month
Total monthly Shopify cost: approximately $4,585.
That's 5.7% of gross revenue going to Shopify and its app ecosystem. On a store with 25% gross margins, Shopify-related costs consume nearly a quarter of your gross profit. The $105/month plan fee? It's 2.3% of the total — almost a rounding error.
The takeaway isn't that Shopify is too expensive — it's that the plan price dramatically understates the real cost of running a store. Understanding the full fee picture lets you make informed decisions about where to cut costs. For most stores, the biggest savings come from auditing the app stack, not from switching plans.
Plan fee: $105/month
Credit card processing (2.7% + $0.30 avg): ~$2,160 + $900 = $3,060/month
Premium/international card surcharges (estimated 30% of transactions): ~$290/month
Currency conversion (estimated 40% international orders): ~$480/month
App subscriptions + usage fees: ~$650/month
Total monthly Shopify cost: approximately $4,585.
That's 5.7% of gross revenue going to Shopify and its app ecosystem. On a store with 25% gross margins, Shopify-related costs consume nearly a quarter of your gross profit. The $105/month plan fee? It's 2.3% of the total — almost a rounding error.
The takeaway isn't that Shopify is too expensive — it's that the plan price dramatically understates the real cost of running a store. Understanding the full fee picture lets you make informed decisions about where to cut costs. For most stores, the biggest savings come from auditing the app stack, not from switching plans.
FAQ
+How much does Shopify actually cost per month in 2026?
The plan fee ranges from $39 to $399, but the real cost is much higher. A store doing $50,000-80,000/month in revenue typically pays $3,000-5,000/month total when you include credit card processing, app fees, and transaction charges. The plan fee is usually less than 3% of total Shopify costs.
+Did Shopify raise credit card fees in 2026?
Yes. In April 2026, Shopify introduced surcharges for premium cards (+0.6%) and international cards (+1.0%) on top of the existing base processing rates. This effectively raised costs for stores with a high proportion of rewards cards or international customers.
+Is Shopify Payments cheaper than a third-party payment gateway?
Almost always yes, because Shopify charges an additional transaction fee (0.6%-2%) on top of whatever your third-party gateway charges. Unless your gateway offers significantly lower processing rates, Shopify Payments is the cheaper option.