Shopify Review: The Plan Fee Is the Small Number - Watch the 2% Third-Party Transaction Fee

The plan fee is the number people compare. It is almost never the number that matters. Start with processing, because that is where the money goes. At Basic's 2.9% + 30¢, a store doing $10,000 a month across 200 orders pays about $290 in percentage fees plus $60 in per-transaction fees — $350 a month, against a $29 plan fee. Processing is roughly twelve times the subscription. So the right question is never "which plan is cheapest" but "what is my total cost per dollar of revenue". The plan upgrade breakeven, which is genuinely useful and rarely spelled out. Basic to Grow costs an extra $50 a month billed yearly ($600 a year) and saves 0.2% on card rates (2.9% to 2.7%). Breakeven: $600 ÷ 0.002 = $300,000 in annual card sales. Below that, Basic is cheaper on processing alone — you upgrade for features, not for rates. Grow to Advanced costs an extra $220 a month ($2,640 a year) and saves another 0.2% (2.7% to 2.5%). Breakeven: $1,320,000 in annual card sales. Run those numbers against your own volume before upgrading. The rate saving is real but small, and the feature differences are usually the actual reason to move. The 2% third-party transaction fee. Shopify's pricing page lists third-party transaction fees at 2%. This applies when you process payments through a gateway other than Shopify Payments — and it is charged in addition to that gateway's own fees, not instead of them. A store on an external gateway at 2.9% + 30¢ effectively pays 4.9% + 30¢. Why this matters more than it sounds: it is not always your choice. Shopify Payments is not available in every country, and it is not available for every product category — and some higher-risk categories, including certain CBD and supplement products, can find themselves needing a specialist processor. If that is you, model your costs at the 2% surcharge, not the headline rate, because it may change which platform makes sense entirely. Other real costs to budget: Monthly versus yearly is a 26% to 34% difference. Basic is $39 monthly against $29 yearly; Advanced is $399 against $299. Committing annually is the single biggest easy saving, but it is a year's commitment — take the trial first. Apps. Most stores run several paid apps — reviews, email, subscriptions, upsells, accounting sync — and $50 to $300 a month in app subscriptions is common. This is frequently larger than the plan fee and it is entirely absent from any pricing page. Themes. Free themes exist; paid ones are typically a one-off few hundred dollars. Marketplace sync, listed as free for 50 synced orders a month, then 1% up to a $99 monthly cap. Higher card rates than the headline. The published table shows online standard at 2.9% + 30¢ but online premium at 3.5% + 30¢, international +1%, PayPal wallet starting at 3.49% + 49¢, and in-person at 2.6% + 10¢. "From 2.9%" is a floor, not an average. Chargebacks, which carry fees and are a real cost in some categories. On the marketing claim. Shopify's site states its checkout "converts 15% better on average than other platforms." That is the company's own claim about its own product; we report it as such rather than as a verified benchmark. Treat any vendor-published conversion comparison as marketing until you see the methodology.

This is the section that matters most to readers of a health publication, and it is entirely your responsibility rather than the platform's. Shopify will host your store. It will not keep you legal. The rules below come from the FDA and the FTC and apply to you as the seller regardless of which platform you use. Claims are the thing that gets sellers in trouble. Dietary supplements cannot legally claim to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. Under DSHEA, you may make "structure/function" claims — describing an effect on the structure or function of the body — but the moment your copy names a disease, you have made a drug claim and the product is being marketed as an unapproved drug. "Supports immune function" is a structure/function claim. "Prevents flu" is a drug claim. "Helps maintain healthy blood sugar already in the normal range" is a structure/function claim. "Treats diabetes" is a drug claim. The line is not intuitive and it is where FDA warning letters concentrate. Structure/function claims require the DSHEA disclaimer — "This statement has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease" — displayed prominently. The FDA does not approve dietary supplements before sale. You cannot say or imply that it does. The FTC separately requires that health claims be truthful and substantiated by competent and reliable scientific evidence — and that applies to your product page, your ads, your email and anything an influencer says on your behalf. Other obligations new health sellers routinely miss: Manufacturing. Dietary supplement manufacturers, packers and holders must follow the FDA's cGMP regulations for dietary supplements, and facilities generally must register with the FDA. If you are contract manufacturing, confirm your manufacturer's compliance in writing rather than assuming. New dietary ingredients. Some ingredients require an NDI notification to the FDA before marketing. Serious adverse event reporting. Supplement sellers are required to report serious adverse events, and must include a domestic address or phone number on the label for that purpose. CBD is its own problem. The FDA has said CBD cannot lawfully be marketed as a dietary supplement or added to conventional foods, and has issued numerous warning letters over health claims. State law varies significantly. Payment processing is also restricted in this category — verify processor acceptance before building a store. Subscriptions. If you sell auto-renewing subscriptions, US rules on negative-option marketing require clear disclosure of terms up front, express informed consent, and a simple cancellation mechanism. Endorsements. The FTC's endorsement guides require material connections between you and any reviewer, affiliate or influencer to be disclosed clearly. Testimonials. Before-and-after claims and customer results are held to the same substantiation standard as your own claims. Practically, for a health seller choosing a platform: the questions that should drive your decision are whether Shopify Payments accepts your category, what a specialist processor costs if it does not, whether the subscription app you need handles compliant disclosure and easy cancellation, and whether your theme lets you place the DSHEA disclaimer prominently on product pages rather than buried in a footer. None of those appear on a pricing page, and all of them cost more to fix later.

Shopify's genuine strengths are that it is fully hosted with no server maintenance, PCI compliance handled, an enormous app ecosystem, a well-regarded checkout, strong multi-channel and POS integration, and it scales from a first order to enterprise without replatforming. For most people selling physical products, it is the default for good reasons. Its genuine weaknesses are the 2% third-party transaction fee, app costs that accumulate quietly, limited control over checkout below the Plus tier, a proprietary templating language, and the fact that you are renting — your store, data and customers live on someone else's platform under terms that can change. The alternatives, honestly: Open-source self-hosted — no platform fee and no transaction surcharge, but you own hosting, security, PCI compliance and updates. Cheaper in fees, more expensive in time or developer cost. Sensible if you have technical capacity and high volume where the percentage saving is large. Other hosted platforms — compare on total cost per dollar of revenue, not plan fee. Some do not levy a surcharge for external gateways, which flips the maths entirely if you cannot use the in-house processor. Marketplaces — no storefront to build and built-in traffic, but commission is typically far higher than any of the above and you do not own the customer relationship. Simple site plus payment links — for a handful of products, this genuinely works and costs almost nothing. You do not need a $29 monthly platform to sell four SKUs. Who should pick Shopify: anyone selling physical products at real volume who wants to stop thinking about infrastructure; sellers who need both online and physical retail on one system; anyone who values the app ecosystem's breadth; and anyone who expects to grow past a starter platform and does not want to migrate twice. Who should look elsewhere: anyone in a category Shopify Payments will not accept and who would therefore pay the 2% surcharge indefinitely — model that before committing; sellers of a handful of digital products, who are overpaying for a storefront they do not need; anyone with the technical capacity and volume to make self-hosting pay; and anyone who needs deep checkout customisation but cannot justify Plus. How to run the trial properly. Take the 3-day free trial and the $1-per-month period, and use it to answer specific questions rather than to browse themes: does Shopify Payments accept your product category in your country; what do your required apps actually cost per month; does the checkout support the compliance disclosures you need; and what is the real per-order cost once processing, apps and shipping are included? Then commit annually, because that is worth 26% to 34% off the plan fee. Before the trial ends, confirm the cancellation route and note the renewal date — the transition from $1 a month to full price is where unwanted charges start.

What does Shopify cost in 2026? As listed on August 12, 2026: Basic $29/mo billed yearly or $39 monthly; Grow $79 or $105; Advanced $299 or $399; Plus from $2,300/mo. POS Pro adds $89/mo per location. There is a 3-day free trial then $1/month for 3 months. What are the payment processing fees? Card rates from 2.9% + 30¢ on Basic, 2.7% on Grow, 2.5% on Advanced and 2.25% on Plus. The published table also shows online premium at 3.5% + 30¢, international +1%, and in-person at 2.6% + 10¢. What is the 2% third-party transaction fee? A 2% surcharge Shopify applies when you process through a gateway other than Shopify Payments. It is charged on top of that gateway's own fees. When is it worth upgrading plans? On processing rates alone, Basic to Grow breaks even at roughly $300,000 in annual card sales, and Grow to Advanced at roughly $1.32 million. Below those, upgrade for features rather than rates. Is annual billing worth it? It saves roughly 26% on Basic and 25% on Advanced, but commits you for a year. Take the trial first. What are the hidden costs? Paid apps, which commonly run $50 to $300 a month and appear on no pricing page; paid themes; marketplace sync above 50 orders a month at 1% capped at $99; chargeback fees; and the 2% surcharge if you cannot use Shopify Payments. Can I sell supplements on Shopify? Generally yes, but compliance is yours. Supplements may not claim to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent disease, structure/function claims require the DSHEA disclaimer, and the FTC requires substantiation for health claims. Can I sell CBD on Shopify? This is a restricted category. The FDA has stated CBD cannot lawfully be marketed as a dietary supplement, state law varies, and payment processing is limited — verify processor acceptance before building. Do I own my store? You license it. Your storefront, data and apps run on Shopify's platform under terms it sets, which is the fundamental trade against self-hosting. How do I cancel? Note your renewal date at the start of the trial and find the cancellation route before the $1/month period ends — that transition is where unexpected charges appear.