Your Shopify rep has quoted $2,300 USD a month for Plus. Your finance lead wants to know what the store will really cost next year. The honest case for staying put is strong. Shopify Advanced lists at $399 a month and runs the same checkout, admin and B2B basics.
The short answer. Shopify Plus costs $2,300 a month on a three year term or $2,500 on a one year term. That puts the licence alone at $27,600 to $30,000 a year. The build, apps and upkeep usually decide the total. Advanced is the better answer until you hit a Plus-only limit.
Who this is for, and who it is not for. This is for the owner or finance lead of a Shopify store pricing an upgrade. It is also for a Plus store deciding whether to renew. It is not for you if you are choosing between Shopify and another platform. That comparison has different costs.
Prices and platform facts checked October 2026. Every price on this page comes from Shopify’s own pages, linked where it appears.
The licence is the only line Shopify prices for you
Shopify lists Plus at $2,300 a month for standard setups on a three year term. On a one year term it is $2,500 a month (Shopify Plus pricing). The term is the contract length you commit to. Shopify’s main pricing page shows the same figure as “Starts at $2,300” (Shopify pricing).
Your main store and 9 expansion stores sit inside that fee. An expansion store is an extra storefront for another region or location. Each store after the ninth costs $300 a month, or a share of revenue across all stores. Each live expansion store also needs its own theme licence (Shopify Plus plan).
Everything else is quoted by someone other than Shopify. The build is priced by whoever does the engineering. If you want to know what that work involves, see what a Shopify Plus agency actually does on a Plus build. Apps are priced by each app vendor. Shopify’s own Plus pricing page lists custom development, themes and third-party apps as the other costs to plan for.
Shopify Plus cost by stage
Most budgets go wrong because the licence is treated as the whole cost. It is the line you can be most sure of. In the Plus stores we inherit, the app bill usually surprises owners more than the licence. That is our judgement; we have not measured how often.
The table splits the total into five stages and shows who sets each number. Three terms in it, in plain words:
- Variable platform fee: a fee based on your revenue that replaces the flat licence for some larger businesses.
- System map: a list of every system the store connects to, and what each one owns.
- Function: a small program Shopify runs inside checkout to change discounts, shipping or payment options. Someone has to own each one after launch.
| Stage | What sets the number | Who prices it | What to get in writing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Licence | Term length: $2,300 a month on three years, $2,500 on one year | Shopify, listed | The term, the start date and the renewal terms |
| Variable platform fee | Your revenue and business model; Shopify publishes no rate | Shopify sales, quoted | The rate, the threshold and how B2B sales count |
| Build or migration | Checkout and discount logic, B2B rules, integrations, markets and history to move | Your agency or team, quoted | A system map and a fixed scope; a move from another platform typically runs eight to sixteen weeks |
| Apps | Paid apps that stay, and which ones Plus features replace | Each app vendor, listed | A list of every app, its owner and its monthly bill |
| Ongoing | Function upkeep, new markets, integrations, a theme licence per live expansion store, stores past the ninth at $300 a month each | Your team or agency, plus Shopify for stores | Who owns each custom rule after launch |
The two lines nobody can quote from a website are the variable fee and the build. Shopify says “more complex, higher volume businesses switch to a variable platform fee based on their revenue and business model”. It publishes no rate and no revenue threshold. Ask for both before you sign, then run them against your last 12 months of sales.
Shopify also states it “doesn’t charge you to migrate”. Migration is your responsibility, so the build line belongs to you or the agency you hire.
Shopify Advanced vs Plus, line by line
“Shopify vs Shopify Plus” is not a platform choice. Plus is the top plan of the same Shopify, so the question is what the extra fee buys. Advanced is the plan just below it. Here is what Shopify’s compare table lists for each.
A few terms from that table, in plain words. B2B means selling to other businesses. A catalogue is the set of products and prices one group of trade buyers sees. An API is the doorway other software uses to read and change your store data. The rate limit is how fast that software may knock. A headless storefront is a custom front end built outside Shopify’s themes that still uses Shopify’s checkout. POS Pro is Shopify’s paid add-on for physical shops.
| Line | Shopify Advanced | Shopify Plus |
|---|---|---|
| Listed fee | $399 a month, or $299 a month billed yearly | From $2,300 a month on a three year term |
| B2B price lists (Shopify calls them catalogs) | Up to 3 | Unlimited |
| Inventory locations | 10 | 200 |
| Staff accounts | 15 | Unlimited |
| Checkout customisation | Limited | Full |
| API rate limits | Up to 2x on select APIs | Up to 10x on select APIs |
| Headless storefronts | 1 | 25 |
| Expansion stores inside the fee | Not included | Up to 9 |
| POS Pro for physical stores | $89 a month per location | 20 locations included |
| Support | Enhanced live chat | Priority support |
On the fee alone, Plus on a three year term costs $27,600 a year. Advanced paid monthly costs $4,788. The gap is $22,812 a year before any build or app spend. Paid yearly, Advanced is $3,588 and the gap is $24,012.
Two lines change the math for some stores. A retailer with many shops pays $89 a month per location for POS Pro on Advanced. Plus includes 20 locations. On Plus, a store using a third-party card processor pays that processor’s fees. It also pays Shopify 0.20% per transaction, as stated on the Plus pricing page.
The B2B difference is narrower than most sales decks suggest. Company accounts, net payment terms (pay later, by invoice) and self-serve ordering run on every plan. Plus lifts the 3 catalogue cap and adds company-level catalogues and deposits (B2B features by plan).
When Advanced is the better answer
Advanced wins more often than the upgrade conversation admits. Pick it, or stay on it, when these hold:
- Three or fewer price lists. Advanced allows 3 active B2B catalogues across all B2B markets. If your trade buyers fit in three tiers, Plus adds nothing here.
- Ten or fewer inventory locations. Advanced covers 10. Plus is built for networks well past that.
- No checkout logic beyond discounts and apps. If your checkout needs no custom rules, you will not use “Full” checkout customisation.
- One storefront. If you sell in one region under one brand, the 9 expansion stores sit idle.
- API traffic inside the standard limits. If no integration hits its rate limit today, the higher Plus limits are spare room, not a fix.
When all five are true, the $22,812 gap buys priority support and room to grow. Some stores pay for that on purpose. That is a fair decision once someone has made it in writing.
The case for Plus is just as concrete. Advanced cannot cover four or more price lists or a custom checkout rule. It also falls short for several regional stores or an integration that hits rate limits. Which of those you have is a count, not a feeling.
How the variable fee changes the total
The listed price is a floor for complex businesses, not a ceiling. Shopify’s Plus pricing page offers “a variable platform fee for more complex business structures”. The Plus plan page says the fee “differs for B2B and D2C companies”. D2C means direct-to-consumer: selling to shoppers rather than to business buyers.
Three questions settle it. First, at what revenue does the variable fee replace the flat fee? Second, does B2B revenue count at the same rate as direct-to-consumer revenue? Third, does a revenue share replace the $300 per extra store charge? Get each answer in the order form, not in an email.
Is Shopify Plus worth it?
Only if you use at least one Plus-only feature. The licence is at least $27,600 a year. So the test is whether the features in the Plus column above earn that back for your store.
Our honest review of Shopify Plus works through that verdict in full. It also covers where BigCommerce and Adobe Commerce make a better case for businesses that sell mostly to trade buyers.
If the answer is yes, the next cost decision is who builds it. Our guide to hiring a Shopify Plus developer gives checks for that. They separate people who have shipped Plus work from people who only list it.
Four numbers to get in writing before you sign
- The term. One year at $2,500 or three years at $2,300 is a $2,400 a year difference. Take the longer term only if you can name what you will use Plus for in year three.
- The variable fee. The rate and the revenue threshold, with B2B treatment spelled out.
- The store count. How many expansion stores you will really run, against the 9 included.
- The build scope. A written scope from a system map, so the build line is a number rather than a range.
Shopify’s price figures change. Re-check the Plus pricing page and the Shopify pricing page by 6 November 2026, and before any renewal.
Our bias, and how to weigh this page
Our bias. Autonomous Technologies is paid to build and fix Shopify Plus stores, so we gain when you choose Plus. Weigh this page with that in mind. That is why every price here links to Shopify’s own pages. It is also why the Advanced case gets its own section.
Your next step is to count your price lists, locations and storefronts, then check each against the Advanced vs Plus table above.
Sources, read 6 October 2026: Shopify Plus pricing, Shopify pricing, Shopify Plus plan, B2B features by plan.
Common questions
How much is Shopify Plus?
Shopify Plus is $2,300 a month on a three year term or $2,500 a month on a one year term. More complex, higher volume businesses move to a variable platform fee based on revenue, with no published rate. Nine expansion stores are included, then $300 a month each.
How much does Shopify Plus cost per year?
The licence alone is at least $27,600 a year on the three year term and $30,000 on the one year term. The total adds the build or migration, paid apps and ongoing upkeep. Your agency and app vendors quote those, not Shopify.
What is the difference between Shopify and Shopify Plus?
Plus is the top plan of the same platform, not a different product. It adds unlimited B2B catalogues, full checkout customisation and up to 10x API limits on select APIs. It also adds 200 inventory locations, 9 expansion stores and priority support. Lower plans share the same admin and checkout.
Shopify Plus vs Advanced: which do I need?
Advanced, at $399 a month, until you need a Plus-only feature. The common triggers are more than 3 B2B catalogues or more than 10 inventory locations. Custom checkout rules, several regional storefronts and integrations hitting API limits are triggers too. If none apply, Advanced is the better answer.
Is Shopify Plus worth it?
Only if you use at least one Plus-only feature, because the licence is at least $27,600 a year. Count your price lists, locations, storefronts and checkout rules first, then check each against Plus-only features. Our honest review of Shopify Plus works through the full verdict.
Does Shopify charge to migrate to Shopify Plus?
No. Shopify states it does not charge you to migrate, and that migration is your responsibility. The cost is the build: moving data, rebuilding checkout and discount logic, and reconnecting integrations. A move onto Plus from another platform typically runs eight to sixteen weeks, quoted by your agency.
