On a US Shopify store using Shopify Payments, a standard online card sale costs 2.9% + 30¢ on the Basic plan, 2.7% + 30¢ on Grow and 2.5% + 30¢ on Advanced. A $50 order on Basic therefore costs $1.75 in card fees, or 3.5% of the sale. On top of that you pay your monthly plan, and some cards add extra charges.
These numbers come from Shopify's official pricing page, read on 2 November 2026. They apply to the US store; UK and German stores have their own local rates, which I could not confirm from that page, so look them up in your Shopify admin before you model margins for those markets. Shopify changes plans and rates, so recheck before you rely on them.
What Shopify charges, in three layers
- The plan. On the US pricing page, Basic is $39 per month billed monthly or $29 per month billed yearly. Grow is $105 monthly or $79 yearly. Advanced is $399 monthly or $299 yearly. Plus starts at $2,300 per month.
- Card processing. With Shopify Payments, online card rates from the pricing page are 2.9% + 30¢ (Basic), 2.7% + 30¢ (Grow) and 2.5% + 30¢ (Advanced). The page also lists higher "premium card" rates of 3.5% + 30¢ and an additional "+1%" line for international rates.
- Third-party gateway fee. If you switch off Shopify Payments as your main provider and use another gateway, Shopify's help centre says transaction fees apply, and it says you are not charged them when Shopify Payments is your primary provider. The exact percentage per plan is on the pricing page; check it for your plan, because it sits on top of whatever your gateway charges.
Apps, themes, shipping labels, VAT and ad spend are separate, and the full per-order picture is in Shopify profit margin: every cost to include.
Worked example: the same sale on each plan
Fee = percentage × order value + 30¢.
| Order value | Basic (2.9%) | Grow (2.7%) | Advanced (2.5%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| $20 | $0.88 (4.4%) | $0.84 (4.2%) | $0.80 (4.0%) |
| $50 | $1.75 (3.5%) | $1.65 (3.3%) | $1.55 (3.1%) |
| $100 | $3.20 (3.2%) | $3.00 (3.0%) | $2.80 (2.8%) |
The fixed 30¢ hurts cheap orders most. On a $20 order, 30¢ is 1.5 points of the 4.4% total.
Premium and international cards
If a $50 order is paid with a card charged at the premium rate of 3.5% + 30¢, the fee is $1.75 + $0.30 = $2.05 (4.1%), compared with $1.75 on a standard card on Basic. If the international line adds 1 percentage point, as the pricing page shows, the same order costs another $0.50. Confirm in your Shopify settings which cards and which countries trigger each rate, because the pricing page does not explain the scope in detail.
Is a higher plan worth it?
The card-rate saving from Basic to Grow is 0.2 percentage points. The price difference is $50 per month on yearly billing ($79 − $29), or $66 on monthly billing ($105 − $39). Break-even sales through Shopify Payments:
- Yearly billing: $50 ÷ 0.002 = $25,000 per month
- Monthly billing: $66 ÷ 0.002 = $33,000 per month
Below that volume, the card-rate saving alone does not pay for the upgrade, though you may want Grow for staff accounts or reports. From Basic to Advanced the rate gap is 0.4 points and the yearly price gap is $270 per month, so break-even is $270 ÷ 0.004 = $67,500 per month.
Using this in a product decision
Card fees are a small share of cost compared with product, freight and ads, but they shift your break-even. A $20 product loses about 4.4% to fees on Basic before anything else, and your advertising allowance shrinks by the same amount (see break-even ROAS). Ecomtoro lets you test a product's margin with your own cost and fee assumptions before you order, at ecomtoro.com.
Frequently asked questions
Does Shopify charge a fee on every sale?
Shopify Payments charges a card processing fee on each online card sale (from 2.9% + 30¢ on Basic in the US). Using an outside payment provider adds a separate third-party transaction fee. You also pay the monthly plan regardless of sales.
What are the Shopify Payments rates for the UK and Germany?
They are set per country and are not the US figures. Open your Shopify admin payments settings or the pricing page for your region to see them, and use those numbers in your margin model.
Is Shopify cheaper on a yearly plan?
Yes, on the US pricing page Basic is $29 per month billed yearly versus $39 billed monthly, and Grow is $79 versus $105. Yearly billing commits you for the year, so it suits stores that are already selling.
Do I pay Shopify fees on refunds?
Shopify's help centre describes how fees are treated on refunds; check the current rule before assuming you get the fee back. Model refunds in your margin by assuming you may not recover the fixed 30¢.
Which Shopify plan should a new store choose?
Most new stores start on Basic. Upgrading for lower card rates only pays off at roughly $25,000 per month in sales on yearly billing, so upgrade for features first and rates second.
