The fastest, most polished way to launch a store.
Starts at $29/month · Best for first-time sellers, dtc brands, scaling retailers.
Last reviewed April 24, 2026
Overview
Quick facts about Shopify.
- Launched
- 2006
- Headquarters
- Ottawa, Canada
- Ownership
- Shopify Inc. — publicly traded (NYSE: SHOP)
- Scale
- 4.7M+ active stores globally
- Known for
- The default SaaS ecommerce platform — ~10% of global ecommerce runs on it
Pros & cons
The honest breakdown.
What's great
- Launch in a weekend — zero technical skills needed
- Best-in-class checkout (industry-leading conversion)
- Massive app ecosystem — 8,000+ apps
- Global payments + shipping integrations out of the box
- Rock-solid hosting, security, and uptime
What to watch for
- Transaction fees if you don't use Shopify Payments
- Customization is limited without a developer
- Monthly fees scale quickly on Advanced + Plus
- Vendor lock-in — migrations are painful
Shopify is the safest default for 80% of new ecommerce businesses. If you value speed and don't want to babysit your tech, start here.
Ideal for
Founders who want to sell, not tinker. Brands with $500-$50k/month revenue.
Skip it if
You need heavy custom functionality, have <$50/month total tech budget, or already run on WordPress and want to add a store module.
Pricing plans
What each plan gives you (and what it costs).
Basic
$29/mo (or $19 on annual)
Transaction fee: 2% without Shopify Payments · 0% with
Best for
First stores, solo sellers, <$50k/year revenue
- Unlimited products
- 2 staff accounts
- 1 location
- Shopify Payments + 100+ gateways
- Abandoned cart recovery
- Shop Pay, Apple Pay, Google Pay
Shopify
$79/mo
Transaction fee: 1% without Shopify Payments · 0% with
Best for
Growing stores, $50k-$500k/year
- 5 staff accounts
- 5 locations
- Lower card rates
- Professional reports
- International domains
- Gift cards
Advanced
$299/mo
Transaction fee: 0.5% without Shopify Payments · 0% with
Best for
Established brands, $500k-$5M/year
- 15 staff accounts
- 8 locations
- Custom report builder
- Third-party calculated shipping
- Lowest card rates
- Checkout capacity scale
Plus
From $2,300/mo
Transaction fee: Custom negotiated rates
Best for
Enterprise DTC brands, $5M+/year
- Unlimited staff
- 200 locations
- Checkout Extensibility (full customization)
- Shopify Flow automation
- 10 expansion stores
- Dedicated launch manager
💰 Costs the pricing page doesn't show
Budget for these on top of the subscription. They're normal — just not advertised.
Premium themes
$150-$500 one-time
Free themes work for many; premium ones pay off at scale
Apps (conversion, email, reviews)
$50-$500/mo
Average store runs 6-12 paid apps
Custom theme development
$2k-$15k
Only needed when off-the-shelf themes can't express your brand
Payment processing
2.4-2.9% + $0.30/transaction
Applies even on Shopify Payments — it's the card network fee
Shopify Plus setup
$10k-$50k+
Launch partner fees if you bring in a Plus agency
Migration services
$1k-$10k
If coming from WooCommerce, Magento, BigCommerce with significant catalog + history
Real-world cost
What Shopify actually costs at your scale.
Subscription is just the floor. Here's realistic monthly total including apps, payment fees, and day-to-day tools — based on real stores we've built and maintained.
Revenue
$0 – $1k/mo
$60 – $100/mo all-in
Basic plan ($29) + essential apps ($30-70)
Revenue
$1k – $10k/mo
$150 – $300/mo all-in
Basic or Shopify plan + 4-6 apps + design tweaks
Revenue
$10k – $100k/mo
$500 – $1,500/mo all-in
Shopify or Advanced plan + 8-12 apps + fractional dev/agency retainer
Revenue
$100k+/mo
$3,000 – $20,000+/mo all-in
Advanced or Plus + premium apps + dedicated dev team or agency
Features
What's built-in, what's paid, what's missing.
Drag-and-drop theme editor
100+ free and paid themes
Custom CSS + Liquid templating
Mobile-optimized by default
Visual page builder for landing pages
Needs PageFly, Shogun, or GemPages (paid apps)
Headless storefront (Hydrogen)
React-based, self-hosted on Oxygen
Unlimited products
100 variants per product
3 options × up to 100 variants
Digital products
Free Digital Downloads app
Multi-location inventory
Bulk editing + CSV import
Pre-orders, back-in-stock, bundles
App-based, not native
Single-page checkout (new)
Shop Pay one-click
Industry-highest checkout conversion
Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal
Abandoned cart recovery emails
Custom checkout code
Plus only — Checkout Extensibility
Accelerated checkouts (4-step)
Real-time carrier rates
Advanced plan or annual Shopify plan
Shopify Shipping (discounted USPS/UPS/DHL)
US, Canada, Australia only
Label printing + tracking
Multi-location fulfillment
Shopify Fulfillment Network
Flexport partnership, US-centric
Dropshipping app ecosystem
Shopify Email (built-in email marketing)
10k free emails/month
Automations + flows
Discount codes, gift cards, sale campaigns
Google Shopping + Meta/TikTok channels
SEO basics (meta, sitemap, schema)
Deep SEO needs Smart SEO or Yoast-equivalent apps
Loyalty programs
App-based (Smile.io, LoyaltyLion)
Built-in reports dashboard
Google Analytics 4 integration
Customer lifetime value tracking
Behavior + cohort reports
Advanced plan or higher
Custom report builder
Advanced plan or higher
Live View (real-time store activity)
Shopify Markets (multi-currency, multi-language)
175+ countries supported
Local payment methods per region
Automatic tax calculation
Included in US, EU, UK, AU — paid for others
Automatic hreflang tags
B2B wholesale (Plus)
Shopify Plus only
REST + GraphQL APIs
Well-documented, high rate limits
Webhooks (reliable, ~99% delivery)
Custom app development (public + private)
Theme development (Liquid)
Mature templating language since 2006
Admin UI extensions (App Bridge)
Hydrogen + Oxygen (headless)
React framework + hosting
Global readiness
Can you actually sell globally on Shopify?
Multi-currency, multi-language, local payment methods, regional tax compliance — the four pillars of international commerce. Here's where Shopify lands on each.
Countries
175+ countries supported (Shopify Markets)
Currencies
135+ currencies with live conversion + per-country pricing
Languages
20+ languages native · 100+ via translation apps
Tax compliance
Automatic in US, EU, UK, AU, CA · Avalara integration for global · paid in other regions
Local payment methods supported
Strongest in
Weak in
How it compares
Shopify vs the main alternatives.
The head-to-head that actually matters — what each platform wins on, based on 19 years of delivering both.
Shopify is the 'no-think' SaaS; WooCommerce is the 'own-everything' open-source. Pick Shopify for speed + polish; Woo for content-led brands and deep customization.
Shopify wins on
- Launch speed — live in a weekend vs weeks
- Checkout conversion (Shop Pay is industry-best)
- Zero hosting + maintenance headache
- App ecosystem depth (8k+ vs WordPress plugins)
- Global commerce out of the box
WooCommerce wins on
- Total cost over 3+ years (no monthly platform fee)
- Content + commerce combined (WordPress native)
- SEO depth via Yoast/RankMath
- Full code ownership
- No vendor lock-in
Both are enterprise-capable SaaS. Shopify wins on ecosystem + polish; BigCommerce wins on built-in features (no-fee transactions, native B2B, faster APIs) and pricing at scale.
Shopify wins on
- Much larger app ecosystem (8k+ vs 1k+)
- More themes + design templates
- Shop Pay + Shopify Fulfillment Network
- Brand recognition + agency supply
BigCommerce wins on
- No transaction fees (ever, on any plan)
- Better native SEO controls
- B2B edition included at Enterprise
- Unlimited API calls (Enterprise)
- Lower price at scale
Different weight classes. Shopify is built for scaling ecommerce; Wix is an easy site-builder that added a store. Fine for side hustles, outgrown past 500 SKUs.
Shopify wins on
- Scales past $1M+/year without friction
- Massive app + theme ecosystem
- Strong multi-currency + multi-language
- Headless option (Hydrogen)
- Clean data export if you ever migrate
Wix eCommerce wins on
- Cheaper at entry ($17/mo Light plan)
- Better visual design editor
- All-in-one website + store simpler
- Free plan genuinely usable
Migration
Moving in, and moving out.
What it actually takes to get onto Shopify — and how painful it is if you outgrow it later. No vendor lock-in surprises.
Moving to Shopify
Here's what it typically takes to migrate from common starting points.
Typical time
1-3 weeks
Typical cost
$1,000 – $5,000
Products import cleanly via Shopify's importer app. Blog content, customer data, order history migrate. Theme needs rebuilding. Plugins don't carry over — research Shopify app equivalents first.
Typical time
4-12 weeks
Typical cost
$5,000 – $30,000
Magento stores are typically complex (B2B, multi-store, custom extensions). Shopify Plus Launch partners specialize in this. Budget generously; plan a dual-running period.
Typical time
2-4 weeks
Typical cost
$2,000 – $8,000
Straightforward product + order data migration via BigCommerce's export + Shopify's importer. Theme rebuild needed. Custom BC extensions won't port.
Typical time
1-2 weeks
Typical cost
$500 – $3,000
Wix's data export is limited — you'll often rebuild content manually. Products can be CSV'd out and imported. Plan to lose some URL structure.
Leaving Shopify later
How hard is it if this isn't the right platform for you in 2-3 years? (Honest vendor lock-in reality.)
Product data, customer data, and order history all export cleanly (CSV + API). Theme code you own — it's .liquid files. What you lose: installed apps, custom Shop Pay history, Shopify Fulfillment Network setup. Brands migrate off Shopify regularly; it's painful but not punishing.
Social proof
Brands that run on Shopify.
Allbirds
Sustainable footwear
Mid-marketGymshark
Fitness apparel
EnterpriseKylie Cosmetics
Beauty
EnterpriseFashion Nova
Fast fashion
EnterpriseRothy's
Sustainable footwear
Mid-marketMVMT Watches
Watches + accessories
Mid-marketHeinz
CPG (D2C line)
EnterpriseChubbies
Men's apparel
Mid-marketFAQ
People ask us this a lot.
How much does it actually cost to run a Shopify store?+
Plan on $29-$79/month for the subscription, 2-3% on transactions (waived if you use Shopify Payments), and another $30-$200/month in apps. A typical working budget is $100-$300/month total for a small-to-mid store.
Can I migrate from WooCommerce or Magento to Shopify?+
Yes — product catalogs, orders, and customer data all migrate via Shopify's importer or third-party apps. Expect 1-3 weeks for a clean migration depending on SKU count and customizations.
Is Shopify good for international selling?+
Very good — Shopify Markets handles multi-currency, multi-language, and regional payment methods. Available in 170+ countries. Better for global-first brands than most alternatives.
Do I need a developer for Shopify?+
No for the basics — themes, apps, and product setup are no-code. Yes if you want custom features, theme modifications, or private apps. Budget $500-$5,000 for a developer-customized theme.
Still unsure if Shopify is right for you?
Book a 30-minute call. I'll tell you honestly — even if the answer is "pick something else."
Book a call · $29