Shopify Payments Fees by Plan: What You Really Pay

Shopify payments fees by plan run from about 2.9% + 30¢ per online card sale on Basic down to 2.4% + 30¢ on Advanced (US rates). Higher plans cut the percentage but cost far more monthly. On $100,000 of revenue, Basic is usually the cheapest overall, and Advanced only pays off past roughly $650,000 a year.

Rates change, so confirm yours on Shopify's pricing page before you decide. The numbers below use the US rates and annual-billing plan prices that Shopify has published. The method works whatever the exact figures are.

Shopify Payments Fees by Plan: The Rate Table

Each Shopify plan sets its own card rate, third-party gateway fee and monthly price. Moving up a tier lowers the percentage you pay per sale, but the 30¢ fixed fee on online orders stays the same across plans.

Plan	Monthly price (annual billing)	Online card rate	Third-party gateway fee
Basic	$29	2.9% + 30¢	2%
Grow (called "Shopify")	$79	2.6% + 30¢	1%
Advanced	$299	2.4% + 30¢	0.6%

That third column matters. If you skip Shopify Payments and use another processor, Shopify charges its own fee on top of what that processor takes. Our guide to Shopify transaction fees breaks down when that applies. For a gateway-by-gateway view, see Shopify payment gateway charges by plan.

Shopify credit card rates by plan for in-person sales

Selling with Shopify POS hardware uses different, lower percentages with no 30¢ fixed fee on most plans. If you sell at markets or a pop-up as well as online, check the in-person rates separately. Blending the two in one estimate hides where your money goes.

How Much Does Shopify Take Per Sale?

Shopify takes your plan's percentage plus 30¢ from every online card sale. On a $50 order, that's $1.75 on Basic (3.5%), $1.60 on Grow (3.2%) and $1.50 on Advanced (3%). Small orders feel the fixed fee most.

Here's how the effective rate shifts with order value on Basic:

• $20 order: $0.88 in fees, an effective 4.4%
• $50 order: $1.75, or 3.5%
• $100 order: $3.20, or 3.2%
• $250 order: $7.55, or about 3.0%

If your average order is under $30, the fixed fee does more damage than the plan tier. Bundling products or setting a free-shipping threshold lifts order value and shrinks that effective rate without touching your plan.

A simple Shopify processing fees calculator

You don't need an app. Use this formula: (revenue × card rate) + (number of orders × $0.30) + (monthly plan price × 12). Add 1.5 to 2 points on any orders that carry international or currency-conversion fees. That's your annual payment-and-plan cost.

Shopify Fees on 100K Revenue: Worked Example

On $100,000 of revenue, Basic costs about $3,698 a year in payment fees plus plan price, Grow about $3,998 and Advanced about $6,438. The cheapest plan isn't the one with the lowest rate. It's the one where savings outrun the subscription.

The assumptions: 1,500 orders at roughly $67 each, all paid by card through Shopify Payments, billed annually, all domestic.

Plan	Percentage fees	Fixed fees (1,500 × 30¢)	Plan cost (12 months)	Total per year
Basic	$2,900	$450	$348	$3,698
Grow	$2,600	$450	$948	$3,998
Advanced	$2,400	$450	$3,588	$6,438

That's your Shopify total payment costs per year at this volume. Advanced costs $2,740 more than Basic even though its card rate is lower. If you're considering that jump for a store at this size, our break-even math on Shopify Advanced shows why it rarely makes sense early.

Shopify basic vs advanced card rates: the break-even point

The gap between Basic and Advanced is 0.5 percentage points on card sales. Advanced costs $3,240 more per year in subscription. Divide one by the other and you get roughly $648,000 in annual card revenue before Advanced breaks even on fees alone.

• Basic to Grow: saves 0.3% on sales, costs $600 more a year. Break-even near $200,000.
• Grow to Advanced: saves 0.2%, costs $2,640 more. Break-even near $1.32 million.
• Basic to Advanced: break-even near $648,000.

Those figures ignore non-fee reasons to upgrade, like better reporting or more staff accounts. Our Shopify Plus vs Advanced comparison covers what happens at the top end.

Shopify Payments International Card Fee and Other Add-Ons

The Shopify Payments international card fee adds a surcharge when a customer pays with a card issued outside your store's country. Shopify has published it at roughly 1% extra, with a currency conversion charge of around 1.5% when selling in foreign currencies. Check your own admin for the current figure.

Stack them and a cross-border order can cost 4.5% or more once the base rate is included. Here's where the extras show up:

• International cards: an added percentage on top of your plan rate.
• Currency conversion: charged when you present prices in another currency.
• Chargebacks: a flat dispute fee per case, which Shopify has listed at $15 in the US.
• Third-party gateways: the 2%, 1% or 0.6% penalty described above.
• Taxes and duties handling: can add separate charges depending on your setup.

If a quarter of your orders come from abroad, that surcharge can quietly outweigh the gap between Basic and Grow. Track it in your payout reports rather than guessing.

How to Reduce Payment Fees on Your Online Store

You can reduce payment fees on an online store by raising average order value, switching plans only past the break-even point, steering customers to cheaper methods, and cutting the app costs that sit beside processing. Processing is usually the smaller half of the bill.

1. Raise average order value. A $30 order pays 3.9%+ on Basic; a $90 order pays 3.2%. Bundles and thresholds work.
2. Stay on Shopify Payments. Using an outside gateway adds the 2%, 1% or 0.6% fee. The exception is a processor offering a much lower negotiated rate. Shopify Payments vs PayPal shows how the numbers compare.
3. Pick the plan by revenue, not ambition. Upgrade when your annual card volume passes the break-even figures above.
4. Limit international and conversion fees. Price in one currency if most buyers are domestic.
5. Negotiate at scale. Stores moving high volume can ask about custom rates, though that's not guaranteed.
6. Audit your app bill. Many merchants spend more on apps than on card fees. See how to reduce Shopify app costs.

Compare against other processors

Stripe's standard US rate is 2.9% + 30¢ for online cards, according to Stripe's pricing page. That matches Shopify Basic. So on Basic, you aren't overpaying relative to the market. The savings come from the platform around the processor, not from the card rate.

Is Shopify Payments Worth It, and What Else Should You Weigh?

Shopify Payments is worth it for most small and mid-size stores because it avoids the third-party gateway penalty and pays out simply. The real cost question is the total stack: card fees, plan price and the apps Shopify doesn't include. That's where margins leak.

Shopify's own card fees are competitive. The pain is what surrounds them. Abandoned cart recovery, wishlists, reviews and Q&A usually mean paid apps. Shopify's hidden costs and the full real price of Shopify show how $100,000 in sales can cost far more than $3,698 once the apps are in.

Rovela takes a different route. It's a flat subscription with 100+ features included, Stripe checkout built in and no commission on sales. Stripe's standard processing still applies, because card networks charge somebody. But there's no platform transaction fee and no per-app billing. Rovela's own data shows merchants typically save $5,000+ a year on previous platform and plugin costs. See Rovela pricing to compare it against your current stack.

A quick recommendation by revenue

• Under $200K a year: Basic with Shopify Payments.
• $200K to roughly $650K: Grow, if you also want its extra staff and reporting.
• Above $650K in card sales: run the Advanced math with your real order count.

The Bottom Line on Shopify Payments Fees

Shopify payments fees by plan are simple on paper and misleading in practice. Basic costs 2.9% + 30¢, Advanced 2.4% + 30¢, and the subscription gap usually erases the savings until you're past $600K in sales. Add international fees and the 30¢ per order on small baskets, and the effective rate climbs fast.

Run your own numbers with the formula above, then look at everything else you pay beside processing. If the app stack is the bigger leak, Rovela builds a complete store from a plain-language chat, with the features Shopify sells as add-ons already included. Try Rovela and see what your store costs without the stack.