Part 2 of 10 in Starting a Shopify store: the money side.
The headline price of a Shopify plan is the smallest part of the bill once you add apps and card fees. Here’s what a first year costs at three levels, with every line visible.
Three budgets for year one
| Lean | Typical | Growing | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Orders a month | 20 | 60 | 250 |
| Average order | $40 | $45 | $55 |
| Shopify plan | Basic, yearly: $348 | Basic, yearly: $348 | Grow, yearly: $948 |
| Theme | Free: $0 | Free: $0 | Paid, once: $350 |
| Domain | $14 | $14 | $14 |
| Apps | $0 | $30 a month: $360 | $120 a month: $1,440 |
| Email marketing | Free tier: $0 | Free tier: $0 | $45 a month: $540 |
| Card fees (2.9% + 30¢, Basic; 2.7% + 30¢, Grow) | $350 | $1,156 | $5,355 |
| Year one | $712 | $1,878 | $8,647 |
| Per order | $2.97 | $2.61 | $2.88 |
Two things stand out. First, card fees are the biggest line in every budget, and they grow with sales. Second, the per-order cost hardly changes as you grow: costs go up roughly in step with orders.
Line by line
The plan
Basic is enough for almost every new store. The bigger plans mainly lower your card rate and add reports and staff accounts. On Grow, the lower card rate starts to pay for the higher plan price once you’re selling tens of thousands of dollars a month. Pay yearly once you’re sure you’re staying: it’s about a quarter cheaper.
The theme
Start with one of Shopify’s free themes. They load fast, they’re updated by Shopify, and every app supports them. A paid theme makes sense later, when a specific feature saves you an app or a developer’s time.
Picking and setting up the storefront itself (theme, homepage, product pages) is a whole topic of its own. We cover the money side here; for the storefront, start with Shopify’s free themes.
Apps
This is where budgets drift. Each app looks cheap on its own: $9.99, $14.99, $19. Five of them is $70 a month, $840 a year, often for features you use once a month. Part 10 of this series is a 30-minute audit for exactly this.
Many apps also charge by usage (per order, per response) or by the revenue they help create, rather than a flat monthly fee. Part 8 compares the models.
Card fees
With Shopify Payments in the US on Basic, online cards cost 2.9% + 30¢ (checked November 2026). International and premium cards cost more. If you use another payment provider instead, Shopify adds its own transaction fee on top (2% on Basic), so most US stores stick with Shopify Payments.
Things that aren’t on any price list
- Postage and packaging (part 1 covers these per order).
- Product photos. A phone and daylight are fine at the start.
- Your time. Track it for a month. It’s the cost most worth knowing.
- Taxes and bookkeeping. These depend on where you live. Ask a local accountant before your first sale, not after your first year.
What can wait until you have sales
- A paid theme.
- Paid email marketing (most tools are free for small lists).
- Any app whose job you could do by hand for the first 50 orders.
- A higher Shopify plan.
What can’t wait: a clear shipping policy, a working checkout you’ve tested with a real order, and knowing what each order leaves you.
Next in the series: how to price your products so discounts don’t eat your margin.
Questions people ask
How much does Shopify cost a month?
In the US the Basic plan is $39 a month billed monthly, or $29 a month billed yearly (US list prices, checked November 2026). Shopify shows different prices in many countries and often has an intro offer, so check shopify.com/pricing from where you are.
Do I need to buy a theme?
No. Shopify's free themes are fast and well maintained. Buy a theme only when it has something specific you'd otherwise need an app or a developer for.
Are there transaction fees on Shopify?
With Shopify Payments you pay card processing fees, but no extra Shopify transaction fee. If you use a third-party payment provider, Shopify adds its own transaction fee on top (2% on Basic in the US).