The monthly plan is one line in the budget. This guide lists the other costs of running a Shopify store, how each is charged and what decides it, so you can plan before you commit.
A Shopify store cost has more parts than the monthly plan. You also pay payment gateway fees, a possible Shopify transaction fee, any paid apps, a paid theme if you choose one, your domain, product photography and copy, developer help and your own time. Some are one-off, some monthly and some a share of each sale, so list each one before you compare platforms.
Shopify store cost: every line in one table
A Shopify store cost is the monthly plan plus everything around it. The plan pays for the platform. It does not pay for taking payments through an outside gateway, extra features, a premium design, product content or the work of setting the store up. Some costs are fixed each month, some arrive once and some are a share of every sale. The table lists them. Figures are left out on purpose, because they change, differ by plan and country, and are published on Shopify's own pages.
| Cost | How it is charged | What decides the amount |
|---|---|---|
| Shopify plan | Monthly, or yearly in advance | The plan level you need; Shopify's documentation says yearly billing carries a discount |
| Payment gateway fees | A share of each online payment | The gateway you use and your agreement with it |
| Shopify transaction fee | A share of each order paid through an outside gateway | Your plan level; check the current documentation |
| Apps | Monthly, by use or once, as each developer sets | Which jobs you hand to apps |
| Theme | Free, or a one-off purchase for a paid theme | The theme you pick and how far it is adapted |
| Domain | Yearly renewal | Where you register it and the extension |
| Photography and product content | One-off, then as the range changes | Number of products and how much you do yourself |
| Setup and developer help | One-off, then as needed | How far the store departs from a standard setup |
| Shipping, email and messaging tools | Monthly or by use | Order volume and the tools you pick |
| Your time | Hours each week | How much of the work you do yourself |
The Shopify plan: what it covers and how billing works
The plan is the fixed part. Shopify's documentation describes a billing cycle as a 30-day interval and says you can move to yearly billing for a discount, with the full year charged at the start. Month-to-month billing costs more over a year than yearly billing. Check the refund terms before you pay a year ahead.
Which plan you need depends on how you run the store: the staff accounts, reports, and checkout and shipping options each plan includes. Plan contents change, so compare on Shopify's current pricing page and match each plan to a real need rather than to the longest feature list. Shopify has offered a free trial. Check the current terms, and note that, according to its documentation, charges for apps installed during a trial appear on the first invoice after the trial ends.
Payment gateway fees and Shopify transaction fees
A payment gateway is the service that takes card and bank payments and passes the money to your bank. It charges for this, usually as a share of each payment. The fee is set by the gateway and your agreement with it, not by Shopify, and it applies whichever platform you use.
Shopify has its own processor, Shopify Payments, which is offered only in certain countries. Check Shopify's current country list for your country before you plan around it. If you use a different gateway, Shopify's documentation says it charges a third-party transaction fee on top of the gateway's fee. The rate depends on your plan. Shopify works it out on the order value after discounts, plus tax and shipping, and whether it is returned when you refund an order depends on your country and payment setup, so check the refund rules.
The same documentation says the fee does not apply to manual payment methods such as cash on delivery, or to test orders. Check the current page, because rules change. Cash on delivery, where you offer it, has other costs: collection charges from the courier, parcels that are refused, and money that arrives later than a prepaid payment.
To see what this means for your store, take one typical order and write down the order value, the gateway fee with any tax added to it, and Shopify's transaction fee if it applies. Repeat for a cash on delivery order and for a refunded order. Added up over a month, these are the costs that beginners most often leave out.
Do you need paid apps on Shopify?
Not always, but most stores end up with some. Apps do jobs the plan does not: product reviews, tax invoices, local payment rules, shipping labels and tracking, email and SMS, upsells, translation and search tools. Each developer sets its own charge, which can be monthly, based on use or one-off. Shopify's documentation says most app charges appear on your Shopify bill, and some developers bill you directly.
Many sellers need an app or custom work for tax invoices and local payment rules, whichever platform they pick. List what your store has to handle first, so you know which jobs to give an app. Three habits keep app costs in check.
- Write the job down before you search for an app. "Send a tax invoice with every order" is a job. "Improve sales" is not.
- Add up the monthly total across all apps before you install any. Several small charges make a large one.
- Remove apps you no longer use. Uninstalling stops future billing, but Shopify's documentation warns that a charge already pending for your next bill may still appear.
Apps also add code to your pages and can slow the store, so fewer apps can mean a faster one. For what a hosted store cannot do without extra work, see the comparison of a custom ecommerce website and Shopify.
Do you pay for a Shopify theme?
You can pay nothing or pay once. Shopify's documentation says free themes are made by Shopify, while paid themes come from third-party designers and are sold in the Theme Store as a one-time purchase. You can try a paid theme and customise it before you buy, but you must buy it before you can publish it. A purchased theme is licensed to the store you bought it for, and the theme's developer provides general support and updates.
The cost that surprises people is not the theme but adapting it. Changing sections, fonts, product page layout or checkout details may need a developer, and each change must still work when the theme is updated. A free theme can be enough for a first store, because the effort is better spent on photographs, product copy and clear policies. A paid theme earns its cost when it already has a layout feature you would otherwise pay to build. Check that before you buy.
Domain, email and other small recurring costs
A store needs an address. Shopify's documentation describes three routes: buy a domain through Shopify, connect one you bought elsewhere, or transfer one to Shopify. A domain bought through Shopify renews yearly, and the renewal is charged separately from your plan. If you connect a domain registered elsewhere, Shopify charges nothing extra for connecting, and you keep paying and renewing with your registrar. On any route, register the domain in your own name.
Other small costs include business email, which is separate from the store, a shipping tool or aggregator, email and SMS tools charged by volume, and accounting or tax software. Courier charges, packaging and returns are costs of selling rather than of the store, but they belong in the same budget. Each item is small alone. Together they are part of your monthly cost.
Setup, content and developer costs
The store does not fill itself. Product photographs, descriptions, sizes, prices and tax details have to be prepared, and that work falls to you whoever builds the store. If someone else does it, it is a cost. If you do it, it is time.
Developer or agency help is the other one-off cost. It covers jobs such as configuring shipping rates, setting up tax invoices and local payment rules, adapting a theme, moving products from an old store or a spreadsheet, and testing orders from start to finish. How much you need depends on how close your store is to a standard setup. A plain catalogue with one gateway needs little. A catalogue with many variants, mixed tax rates or special payment rules needs more. The guide to what affects the cost of an ecommerce website goes through those factors, and the ecommerce solutions page describes the stores Liftup builds.
The cost of your own time
Running a store takes hours every week, and those hours have a price even if you never pay them. Owner time goes on adding and updating products, answering customer messages, packing, booking couriers, handling returns and refunds, matching payouts to orders and preparing tax records.
To count it, list the weekly tasks, estimate the hours for each and decide what an hour is worth, either your own time or the cost of hiring help. Do the sum for a normal week and for a busy one. If the total is high, the answer may be to spend on setup or apps that save time, or to hand a task to someone else. Time is also why a cheaper-looking setup can cost more. A plan or tool with fewer built-in features may leave you doing by hand what an app or a developer would do once.
How to build your Shopify budget
- List every line in the table above and mark it one-off, monthly, yearly or a share of sales.
- Estimate monthly orders and an average order value, even roughly, and note which orders will be prepaid and which will not.
- Work out the per-order costs: gateway fee, Shopify transaction fee if it applies, shipping you pay, packaging and returns.
- Add the fixed monthly costs: the plan, apps and tools.
- Add the yearly items, such as the domain, divided by twelve.
- Add the one-off setup costs and decide which you will pay for with money and which with your own time.
- Check each figure on the current Shopify pricing page or documentation, and ask your accountant how sales tax or VAT applies to your costs and sales.
Then compare the result with other routes. A store with a budget on paper is easier to compare with any quote you receive.
Questions and answers
What does a Shopify store cost besides the monthly plan?
Besides the plan you pay payment gateway fees, a Shopify transaction fee if you use an outside gateway, any paid apps, a paid theme if you choose one, your domain, product photography and copy, and developer help. Add shipping tools and your own time. Some are one-off, some monthly and some a share of each sale.
Do I need paid apps on Shopify?
Not always, but many stores add some for jobs the plan does not cover, such as tax invoices, local payment rules, reviews or shipping labels. Each developer sets its own charge. Write down the job first, add up the monthly total before installing, and remove apps you stop using.
What are payment gateway fees?
A payment gateway takes card and bank payments and charges a fee on each one, usually a share of the payment. The gateway sets the fee, not Shopify. If you use a gateway other than Shopify Payments, Shopify's documentation says it adds its own transaction fee, which depends on your plan.
Do I pay for a theme?
You can use a free theme made by Shopify or buy a paid theme from a third-party designer, which Shopify's documentation describes as a one-time purchase. Adapting a theme can cost more than the theme itself if it needs a developer, so check what the theme already does before you buy.
What is the cost of my own time?
It is the weekly hours you spend adding products, answering customers, packing, handling returns and preparing records, priced at what that time is worth or what it would cost to hire help. Counting it shows whether paying for setup, apps or a helper would save money over the year.
Do Shopify transaction fees apply to cash on delivery orders?
Shopify's documentation says its third-party transaction fee does not apply to manual payment methods such as cash on delivery. Cash on delivery still has other costs, such as courier collection charges and refused parcels. Rules change, so check Shopify's current page before you rely on this.