Running a Shopify store looks simple on the pricing page — until you realize the advertised monthly subscription is only a fraction of what Shopify actually takes out of every sale. On top of the plan fee, every online order carries a credit card processing percentage plus a fixed $0.30 transaction charge, and if you skip Shopify Payments for another gateway, an extra transaction fee appears on top. This calculator adds all of those pieces together so you see your real total monthly cost, the revenue you actually keep, and whether a more expensive plan saves you money at your volume.
Type your monthly sales and order count into the form and every figure updates instantly. Switch the plan dropdown to compare Basic, Shopify, and Advanced side by side before you upgrade.
How to Use
- Enter your Monthly Online Sales — the gross dollar volume of online orders in a typical month, before refunds, discounts, and fees. If your sales swing a lot, use an average of the last three months rather than your best month.
- Enter your Monthly Orders — how many completed online orders you ship per month. This number matters because the fixed $0.30 fee stacks per order, so a store selling $20 t-shirts pays far more in fixed fees than a store selling $2,000 furniture at the same revenue.
- Choose your current Shopify Plan. Basic is $39/month at 2.9% + $0.30, Shopify is $105/month at 2.6% + $0.30, and Advanced is $399/month at 2.4% + $0.30 for online credit cards.
- Set the Third-Party Gateway Fee only if you process payments outside Shopify Payments. Shopify then charges an extra 2% on Basic, 1% on Shopify, and 0.5% on Advanced; leave it at 0 when you use Shopify Payments, which is the most common and cheapest setup.
- Read the result card: the total monthly cost, your net revenue after fees, the effective fee rate as a percentage of sales, and the side-by-side cost of all three plans.
How Shopify Fees Actually Add Up
Shopify pricing has two distinct layers. The first is the subscription — a flat monthly bill for the software, themes, and admin tools. The second is credit card processing, charged per order through Shopify Payments:
Total monthly cost = Plan fee + (Sales × processing rate) + (Orders × $0.30) + (Sales × extra gateway fee)
Worked example on the Basic plan with $10,000 in monthly sales and 200 orders: the plan fee is $39, the percentage fee is $10,000 × 2.9% = $290, and the fixed per-order fee is 200 × $0.30 = $60. Processing is $350, so your real monthly cost is $39 + $350 = $389. Net revenue is $9,611, and the effective fee rate is 3.89% — meaning Shopify takes about 3.9 cents of every dollar you sell.
Notice that the fixed $0.30 per order does not scale with the order value. On a $20 order, 2.9% is only $0.58, but adding the $0.30 fixed fee brings the total to $0.88 — an effective 4.4% of the sale. Small orders therefore always carry a higher effective rate than big orders, which is why average order value matters as much as raw revenue.
When Does a More Expensive Plan Pay Off?
Higher plans trade a bigger subscription for a lower processing percentage. On $50,000 of monthly revenue and 1,000 orders:
- Basic: $39 + ($50,000 × 2.9%) + (1,000 × $0.30) = $39 + $1,450 + $300 = $1,789/month
- Shopify: $105 + ($50,000 × 2.6%) + $300 = $105 + $1,300 + $300 = $1,705/month
- Advanced: $399 + ($50,000 × 2.4%) + $300 = $399 + $1,200 + $300 = $1,899/month
At this volume the Shopify plan is actually the cheapest — Advanced's extra $294/month subscription is not offset by the 0.2-point rate discount until revenue climbs much higher. The break-even point between Basic and Shopify is roughly $22,000 in monthly sales: below that, Basic wins; above it, Shopify wins. Advanced only pulls ahead around $146,000/month, and it adds features like advanced report builder and lower carrier-calculated shipping rates that smaller stores do not need. Use the plan comparison rows on this page to find your own crossover point.
Examples
Example 1 — A new store on Basic. A candle shop does $10,000 in monthly sales across 200 orders on the Basic plan with Shopify Payments. Processing is $290 in percentage fees plus $60 in fixed fees, and the subscription is $39. Total Shopify cost: $389/month, leaving $9,611 of net revenue at an effective rate of 3.89%.
Example 2 — Scaling past the Basic tier. A clothing brand grows to $50,000/month across 1,000 orders. Basic would cost $1,789, but switching to Shopify at 2.6% cuts processing enough that the total drops to $1,705/month — saving about $84 even though the subscription jumped from $39 to $105.
Example 3 — Using a third-party gateway. A store on Basic insists on PayPal as its only gateway, so Shopify adds a 2% transaction fee. On $10,000 of sales that is an extra $200/month, pushing the total from $389 to $589 and the effective rate to 5.89%. Switching to Shopify Payments almost always pays for itself.
Example 4 — High-volume operations. A store moving $2,000,000/month across 50,000 orders on Basic pays $39 + $58,000 + $15,000 = $73,039/month. At this scale the same volume on Advanced costs only $63,399 — a saving of roughly $9,640/month, which is exactly when upgrading becomes obvious.
FAQ
How much does Shopify take per sale?
On the Basic plan with Shopify Payments, Shopify takes 2.9% of the sale plus a flat $0.30 per online order. On a $100 order that is $2.90 + $0.30 = $3.20. Shopify and Advanced plans lower the percentage to 2.6% and 2.4% respectively, but the $0.30 fixed fee stays the same across all US online plans.
Is the $39 Basic fee the only monthly cost?
No. The $39 Basic subscription is the software fee, but Shopify also charges credit card processing on every order. A store doing $10,000/month typically pays about $389 in total — only $39 of which is the subscription. Always budget for processing, not just the advertised plan price.
When should I upgrade from Basic to Shopify?
The crossover point is around $22,000 in monthly online sales. Below that volume, Basic's lower subscription outweighs its higher rate; above it, Shopify's 2.6% rate saves more than the extra $66/month subscription costs. Compare the plan rows on this page with your own numbers to confirm.
What is the extra 2% transaction fee?
If you do not use Shopify Payments and instead process through another gateway, Shopify charges an additional 2% on Basic, 1% on Shopify, and 0.5% on Advanced, on top of that gateway's own fees. Choosing Shopify Payments removes this fee entirely and is usually the cheapest option.
How is net revenue calculated?
Net revenue = monthly online sales minus all Shopify costs: the plan subscription, the percentage processing fee, the $0.30-per-order fixed fee, and any third-party gateway fee. On $10,000 of sales at a total cost of $389, your net revenue is $9,611.
Do refunds and chargebacks change the calculation?
This calculator estimates your fees on gross sales. Refunds typically reverse the processing percentage but not always the fixed $0.30, and chargebacks carry a separate $15–$20 dispute fee. Treat the output as a planning estimate and check Shopify's actual billing dashboard for exact figures.
Disclaimer
This Shopify fee calculator is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, accounting, or legal advice. Figures are based on published US Shopify plan rates (Basic $39/mo at 2.9% + $0.30, Shopify $105/mo at 2.6% + $0.30, Advanced $399/mo at 2.4% + $0.30) and the inputs you enter; actual rates vary by country, currency, sales channel, and Shopify's terms, and may change. Always confirm current pricing and fees directly on shopify.com/pricing before making a subscription decision.