Picking a Shopify plan sounds straightforward until you realize the monthly price is only one piece of the puzzle. Transaction fees, app subscriptions, and theme costs all factor into what you actually pay each month.
Get the plan decision wrong and you either overspend on features you don’t need, or hit ceilings that slow down your operations at the worst possible time. The goal is matching your plan to where your business is today, with a clear upgrade path as you grow.
This article breaks down all four Shopify plans (Basic, Shopify, Advanced, and Plus), compares them on cost and features, and covers the Japan-specific payment considerations that international sellers often overlook.
Quick navigation
- How Shopify pricing works: the three layers
- Feature-by-feature comparison of the four plans
- Transaction fees and Japan-specific details
- Hidden costs (themes, apps, domain, email)
- Which plan fits your business size
- Frequently asked questions
How Shopify Pricing Works: The Three-Layer Model
Shopify’s cost structure has three distinct layers, and understanding all three is essential for accurate budgeting.
Layer 1: Monthly Plan Fee
This is the base subscription that unlocks Shopify’s core features. Higher plans give you more staff accounts, better reporting, and access to advanced tools like automation workflows and real-time shipping calculations.
Layer 2: Transaction Fees
Every sale incurs a payment processing fee. The rate depends on your plan level and whether you use Shopify Payments or a third-party payment gateway. For high-volume stores, even a 0.3% difference in transaction fees translates to significant annual savings.
Layer 3: Apps, Themes, and Add-ons
Shopify’s built-in features cover the basics, but most stores need paid apps for email marketing, reviews, SEO, inventory sync, or subscription management. These ongoing costs vary widely but are a real and unavoidable part of operating a Shopify store.
With that framework in mind, let’s compare the four plans in detail.
The Four Plans: Feature-by-Feature Comparison
Pricing and Feature Table
| Feature | Basic | Shopify | Advanced | Plus |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly price | $39/mo | $105/mo | $399/mo | $2,300+/mo |
| Annual billing (per month) | $29/mo | $79/mo | $299/mo | Custom |
| Staff accounts | 2 | 5 | 15 | Unlimited |
| Inventory locations | 10 | 10 | 10 | 200 |
| Reports | Basic | Standard | Custom | Custom + advanced |
| Third-party shipping rates | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| Checkout customization | No | No | No | Yes |
| B2B features | No | No | No | Yes |
| Shopify Flow (automation) | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| International pricing | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Plan-by-Plan Breakdown
Basic ($39/month)
The entry point. You get unlimited product listings and all the core EC functionality you need to start selling. Staff accounts are limited to two, reports cover only basic sales and traffic data. For a solo operator or a team of two just getting started, Basic covers the essentials without extra cost.
Shopify ($105/month)
The mid-tier plan adds Shopify Flow for workflow automation and international pricing. Staff accounts increase to five, and standard reports give you meaningfully better sales analysis. This plan makes sense once you have a team and need operational efficiency tools.
Advanced ($399/month)
Built for larger stores and cross-border sellers. Real-time carrier-calculated shipping rates, custom reports, and 15 staff accounts. The lower transaction fee rates start to pay for themselves at higher sales volumes. If you’re doing serious monthly revenue, the math often favors Advanced over Shopify.
Plus ($2,300+/month)
The enterprise tier. Full checkout customization, native B2B wholesale features, up to 200 inventory locations, Shopify Audiences for ad targeting, and a dedicated account manager. Plus is for businesses doing tens of millions in annual revenue, running multiple brands, or needing infrastructure that can handle traffic spikes without breaking.
Transaction Fees: The Japan-Specific Details
Payment processing works differently depending on which gateway you use and which market you’re selling in. For Japan-based stores, here’s what you need to know.
Shopify Payments Rates (Japan)
| Plan | Domestic credit card | International / AMEX |
|---|---|---|
| Basic | 3.55% | 3.9% |
| Shopify | 3.4% | 3.85% |
| Advanced | 3.25% | 3.8% |
| Plus | Custom | Custom |
When you use Shopify Payments, there are no additional transaction fees from Shopify. If you use a third-party payment provider instead, Shopify charges an extra transaction fee on top of whatever the provider charges: 2.0% on Basic, 1.0% on Shopify, and 0.6% on Advanced.
JCB Card Support
JCB is one of the most widely used card networks in Japan. Shopify Payments supports JCB at the same rate as Visa and Mastercard. If your store doesn’t accept JCB, you’re leaving Japanese orders on the table.
Convenience Store Payment and Bank Transfer
Convenience store payment (konbini) and bank transfer remain popular payment methods in Japan, particularly among consumers who prefer not to use credit cards online. Shopify supports these through third-party providers like KOMOJU, SB Payment Service, and GMO Epsilon.
The catch is that using a third-party provider triggers Shopify’s additional transaction fee. For stores with high monthly revenue, this surcharge adds up. A store doing $100,000/month in sales through a third-party gateway on the Basic plan would pay $2,000/month in extra Shopify fees alone.
Cash on Delivery (Daibiki)
Cash on delivery is a Japan-specific payment method that still sees use. Shopify supports it as a manual payment method, but the actual COD handling fees are set by the shipping carrier (Yamato Transport, Sagawa Express, etc.). Plan choice doesn’t affect COD fees directly, but you should factor carrier COD charges into your cost model if you plan to offer this option.
Hidden Costs That Catch Store Owners Off Guard
Beyond the plan fee and transaction rates, real-world Shopify operation involves costs that don’t always show up in the initial planning.
Paid Themes
Shopify offers free themes, but stores that need specific design capabilities or advanced layout options typically go with a paid theme. Prices range from $180 to $350 for a one-time purchase. No recurring cost, though some themes require repurchase for major version upgrades, so check the update policy before buying.
Paid Apps
Apps are where Shopify’s flexibility comes from, and where ongoing costs accumulate. Here’s what typical stores spend on common app categories:
| App category | Typical monthly cost |
|---|---|
| Email marketing (Klaviyo, etc.) | $20 - $100/mo |
| Product reviews | $15 - $50/mo |
| SEO tools | $20 - $80/mo |
| Inventory management / sync | $30 - $100/mo |
| Subscriptions / recurring orders | $50 - $100/mo |
Most stores run 3 to 5 paid apps, adding $50 to $300 per month on top of the plan fee. This isn’t optional overhead; these apps fill genuine gaps in Shopify’s native feature set.
Domain and Email
A custom domain costs $14 to $40 per year. You can buy through Shopify or register externally and point it at your store.
Shopify Email includes 10,000 emails per month for free. Beyond that, it’s $1 per 1,000 emails. Stores running serious email marketing campaigns usually move to a dedicated platform like Klaviyo, which has its own pricing tier.
Which Plan Fits Your Business Size
Just Starting Out: Basic ($39/month)
If your monthly revenue is under $10,000, Basic gives you everything you need. Unlimited products, a functional online store, and the ability to process payments. Start here, validate your business, and upgrade when the limitations actually start costing you.
This is the most cost-optimized approach: don’t pay for features before you need them.
Growing: Shopify ($105/month)
Once your monthly revenue hits $10,000 to $50,000 and your team grows beyond two people, Shopify plan makes sense. Shopify Flow alone can save hours of manual work per week by automating order tagging, inventory alerts, and customer segmentation. International pricing becomes available here too, which matters if you’re expanding beyond your home market.
Scaling: Advanced ($399/month)
Above $50,000/month, Advanced starts to pay for itself through lower transaction fees. On a store doing $100,000/month, the 0.3% difference between Basic and Advanced rates saves about $3,600 per year. Add custom reports for data-driven decision making and real-time shipping rates for better customer experience, and the upgrade becomes easy to justify.
Enterprise: Plus ($2,300+/month)
Consider Plus when your business meets one or more of these criteria:
- Annual revenue in the tens of millions of dollars
- Need for checkout customization to match brand identity
- B2B wholesale operations alongside DTC
- High-traffic events (flash sales, product drops) requiring infrastructure guarantees
- Multiple stores or brands under one organization
- Requirement for a dedicated support contact
Plus has a high monthly cost, but the capabilities and stability it provides match the needs of businesses at that scale.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use Shopify for free?
Shopify offers a 3-day free trial, and periodically runs promotions where the first three months cost $1/month. There is no permanent free tier, but the barrier to trying the platform is very low.
Can I change plans at any time?
Yes. Upgrades take effect immediately with prorated billing for the remainder of your cycle. Downgrades apply at the start of your next billing cycle. If you’re using features exclusive to a higher plan, those features become unavailable on downgrade.
What does the total monthly cost actually look like?
Here’s a realistic range for each plan, including an estimated 5 apps:
| Plan | Plan fee | Estimated apps | Total monthly range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | $39 | $50 - $150 | $89 - $189 |
| Shopify | $105 | $50 - $200 | $155 - $305 |
| Advanced | $399 | $100 - $300 | $499 - $699 |
| Plus | $2,300+ | $200 - $500 | $2,500 - $2,800 |
Transaction fees are additional and scale with your sales volume, so calculate your total cost based on projected monthly revenue.
The right approach to Shopify pricing is simple: start with the plan that matches your current business size, and upgrade as your needs grow. Shopify makes plan changes easy, so there’s no reason to overspend early.
DEMETIO provides end-to-end Shopify store development and operational support. If you need help choosing the right plan, setting up Japan-specific payment methods, or building a store optimized for the Japanese market, visit our Shopify development services or get in touch.
For a broader comparison of EC platforms including Shopify, EC-CUBE, and Rakuten, see our guide on choosing the right EC platform.