Shopify charges you in three ways: a monthly plan fee, a processing fee on every card payment through Shopify Payments, and a transaction fee on sales that go through any other payment provider. Each one is small on its own. Together they're a cost every order carries, and one of the few you can lower with a settings change.
The calculator adds the three together and gives the monthly total, the share of sales it takes and the cost per order.
Shopify fees by plan (US)
These are the US online rates on monthly billing, checked on 28 October 2026. Shopify sets rates by country and changes them from time to time, so confirm yours under Settings, then Payments, in your Shopify admin.
| Plan | Monthly price (billed monthly) | Billed yearly | Online card rate | Transaction fee on other providers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | $39 | $29/mo | 2.9% + 30¢ | 2% |
| Grow | $105 | $79/mo | 2.7% + 30¢ | 1% |
| Advanced | $399 | $299/mo | 2.5% + 30¢ | 0.6% |
| Plus | Quoted by Shopify | Negotiated | 0.2% |
The card rate is the standard domestic rate. International cards, American Express and currency conversion cost more, so your real average is usually a little above the headline figure. Your payouts report shows the fees you actually paid.
How the calculator works
Card processing = card sales × card rate + card orders × fixed fee
Transaction fees = sales through other providers × Shopify transaction fee
Total Shopify fees = plan + card processing + transaction fees
- Monthly sales and orders per month come from your Shopify analytics.
- Sales through other payment providers are anything paid with PayPal, Klarna or another gateway rather than Shopify Payments. Your finance reports split sales by gateway. The calculator treats everything else as card sales.
- Card orders are estimated by giving each provider its share of orders in proportion to its share of sales.
The total covers Shopify's charges only. PayPal and other providers bill their own processing fees separately, on top of Shopify's transaction fee.
Shopify fee worked example
These are the calculator's default inputs: a US store on the Grow plan with $30,000 of monthly sales, $3,000 of it through PayPal. Change them to your own numbers above.
| Input or result | Value |
|---|---|
| Plan fee (Grow, monthly billing) | $105 |
| Card sales | $30,000 − $3,000 = $27,000 |
| Card rate | $27,000 × 2.7% = $729 |
| Fixed fee | 450 card orders × $0.30 = $135 |
| Transaction fee on PayPal sales | $3,000 × 1% = $30 |
| Total Shopify fees | $105 + $729 + $135 + $30 = $999 |
| Share of sales | $999 ÷ $30,000 = 3.3% |
| Fees per order | $999 ÷ 500 = $2.00 |
On a $60 average order, Shopify's fees take about $2. That's before the product, shipping or a single dollar of advertising.
Basic vs Grow vs Advanced: when the bigger plan pays for itself
A bigger plan costs more per month but takes less per sale. The break-even is where the per-sale saving covers the higher plan price.
Moving from Basic to Grow costs $66 more a month on monthly billing and saves 0.2 percentage points on card sales, plus a point on any sales through other providers. Counting card sales alone, 0.2% of $33,000 is $66, so a store selling more than about $33,000 a month through Shopify Payments pays less on Grow. Sales through PayPal or another provider bring that point lower.
Moving from Grow to Advanced costs $294 more a month for another 0.2 points, which breaks even at about $147,000 a month in card sales.
These are break-evens on fees alone. The bigger plans add features, and staff accounts or reporting may decide the question before the fees do. Run the calculator with each plan's figures and compare the totals.
How to lower your Shopify fees
- Move sales onto Shopify Payments. Sales through another provider pay Shopify's transaction fee and that provider's own fee. Where Shopify Payments supports a wallet you already offer, switch it over.
- Pay yearly. Yearly billing takes about a quarter off the plan price, if you're sure of the plan for twelve months.
- Check the upgrade maths every few months. As sales grow, the break-even above moves in your favour. Few stores revisit the plan after the first year.
- Raise the order value. The 30¢ fixed fee is the same on a $30 order as on a $90 one. A higher average order value spreads it, and every other per-order cost, over more revenue.
Common Shopify fee mistakes
- Forgetting the fixed fee. On small orders the 30¢ is a large share of the total. A $20 order on Basic pays 4.4% in card fees, not 2.9%.
- Comparing plans on the plan price alone. The cheapest plan is often the most expensive one once card and transaction fees are counted.
- Ignoring the third-party fee. A provider that seems free to add costs you Shopify's transaction fee on every sale through it.
- Using the headline rate as your real rate. International and premium cards push it up. Check what your payouts report shows.
Where to go next
Fees are one line in your costs. See them next to product, shipping, ads and apps in the Shopify profit calculator, or check what each order keeps with the contribution margin calculator. Browse all our ecommerce calculators, or if you'd rather we looked at the store itself, the Teardown reviews your homepage, best-selling product page and cart drawer, with every finding ranked by what to fix first.