Evidence-backed guide
What Shopify actually costs
The short answer
- There is no free plan. Shopify offers a free 3-day trial with no credit card required, and after it the product has to be paid for.
- The lowest published price is US$ 29 per month for the whole store, not per person, when paying yearly; paying month to month, Shopify states US$ 39.
- Team size moves you up a plan rather than adding a per-person charge — logins allowed: Basic Not included; Grow 5; Advanced 15.
- Card processing is charged on every sale on top of the plan price: 2.5% + 30¢ to 2.9% + 30¢ depending on the plan, so that price is not the total.
- Every figure here is in US dollars, as Shopify publishes them; another country or currency may be priced differently and CROLISVA has not read those pages. The advertised $1 a month applies to the first 3 months only, after which the plan prices above take over. The free trial runs 3 days.
The headline price on a pricing page is rarely the monthly cost. 2 facts have been checked against Shopify's own pages — here is what it states, with the source and the date it was read, so you can work out your own figure.
Compiled 2026-10-20 from pages CROLISVA read itself.
Illustrative — A year of subscription on Basic, each way round
Committing to a year: 12 × US$ 29 = US$ 348Paying month to month: 12 × US$ 39 = US$ 468Difference over the year: US$ 120
Not included
- · Card-processing rates, charged on every sale on top of the subscription. On any real sales volume this is the largest excluded cost.
- · Tax, which the pricing page does not state.
- · Apps and themes, which are bought separately.
- · The introductory offer Shopify advertises, which applies only to the first months.
- · How many people need to log in — that is a plan condition here, not an extra per-person charge.
When a higher plan pays for itself
Shopify’s higher plans cost more each month but publish a lower card rate. Above a certain level of monthly card sales, the saving on every sale covers the higher subscription.
Basic → Grow
- Extra per month
- US$ 50
- Card rate saved
- 0.2 points
- Break-even card sales a month
- US$ 25,000
Grow → Advanced
- Extra per month
- US$ 220
- Card rate saved
- 0.2 points
- Break-even card sales a month
- US$ 110,000
- CROLISVA’s arithmetic on the figures quoted below, using the prices billed yearly. The fixed 30¢ per transaction is the same on both plans, so it cancels out. It ignores everything else a plan changes, such as staff accounts and features, which may matter more.
Who it may fit
Shopify positions itself for: Solo operator · Small team · Growing business
Commonly used for
- · Selling products online
- · Taking payments
- · Managing orders and inventory
How it handles your data
Where the Services involve Shopify storing, processing or transmitting "Account Data" (as defined under PCI DSS) on your behalf, Shopify acknowledges that it is responsible for securing such Account Data in accordance with the applicable PCI DSS requirements.
Not yet confirmed
CROLISVA has not confirmed these from Shopify’s own pages. Treat them as questions for a trial:
- · what Shopify connects to
- · what Shopify runs on
- · what setting up Shopify involves
- · what Shopify cannot do
How to work out your own figure
- Check the plan against how many people need an account — the tier, not a per-person rate, is what changes the price.
- Compare the monthly-billed and yearly-billed figures side by side; the headline is usually the yearly one.
- Add the transaction costs to the subscription. A percentage of every sale can exceed the plan itself.
- Check whether a capability you need is included or sold separately — the entry price rarely covers both.
- Prefer the tool your team will actually keep using; an unused feature is worth nothing.
- Where the published facts do not settle a question, they do not settle it, and deciding on anything else is guessing.
Before you decide
Next
If it fits
If what you have read matches what you need, you can start with Shopify directly.
CROLISVA may earn a commission if you sign up through this link, at no extra cost to you — the price is the same as going direct, unless an offer explicitly says otherwise. Commission never affects our assessment, our conclusions or where a product appears.
Visit ShopifyWhat the provider publishes, with sources
Each quotation below is taken from the provider’s own pages, with the address it came from and the day CROLISVA read it.
What Shopify is
Titles itself "The All-in-One Commerce Platform for Businesses" and states "Sell everywhere people shop. Online and in person. Across AI and on social. …
What Shopify's plans cost
Every figure is for the whole store, not per person — the number of people who may log in is a plan condition rather than an extra charge. Card-processing rates are charged on every sale on top of the plan. A dash means the provider publishes no figure for that column.
Comparison table, read 2026-09-24. Basic "For solo entrepreneurs" at $29/mo under "Pay yearly" and "$39 USD/mo" under "Pay monthly", staff accounts "Not included", card rates "2.9% + 30¢"; Grow "For small teams" at $79 ($105 USD/mo monthly), staff accounts "5", card rates "2.7% + 30¢"; Advanced "For global reach" at $299 ($399 USD/mo monthly), staff accounts "15", card rates "2.5% + 30¢"; Plus "For complex businesses" "from $2,300 USD/mo", staff accounts "Unlimited", card rates "2.25% + 30¢". Headline: "Try 3 days free, then $1/month for 3 months." No free plan is listed. Every figure is printed in USD and the page states no price for any other country or currency. FAQ answers "How much does Shopify cost?" with "Shopify starts with a free 3-day trial—no credit card required. After your trial, most plans start at just $1 per month for the first 3 months, then switch to standard monthly pricing."
Disclosure: CROLISVA has an affiliate relationship with Shopify and may earn a commission. It changes nothing above: every statement is quoted from the provider's own published page, with the date it was read, and CROLISVA's assessments are made without reference to who pays.