Which Shopify plan costs less?

What it computes

This calculator compares the estimated monthly cost of Basic, Grow and Advanced for an Australian store. It uses the same average customer payment and order count for every plan. Results include the subscription, processing fees, any Shopify third-party surcharge, apps and an allocated theme budget.

The lowest total identifies the cheapest modelled option. It does not check whether that plan supplies the features your business needs. Use the Australian setup guide to consider those requirements, and the Shopify cost guide for other expenses.

How it works

For each plan, processing equals monthly orders multiplied by the fee per payment. That fee combines a percentage of the average payment with a fixed amount. Customer payments include shipping and collected tax after discounts; they are not your profit.

The Australian Shopify pricing page, checked on 14 September 2026, lists monthly subscriptions of 56 AUD, 149 AUD and 575 AUD. Annual billing uses monthly equivalents of 42 AUD, 114 AUD and 431 AUD. The annual subscription is prepaid for twelve months.

Standard online Shopify Payments rates are 1.75%, 1.6% and 1.4%, respectively, plus 0.30 AUD per payment. External processing instead uses the provider percentage and fixed fee you enter. Shopify's additional surcharge is 2%, 1% or 0.6%. The exemption option removes only that surcharge; your provider still charges its own fees. Confirm exemption eligibility for the actual payment method.

The total adds subscription and transaction costs to your monthly app budget and theme allocation. Divide the one-off theme budget by your chosen number of months. This spreads a purchase for planning; it does not create monthly instalments or establish a tax deduction. Identical app and theme budgets do not change the plan ranking.

Each break-even figure divides the subscription difference by the saving per order, then multiplies by the average payment. It represents continuous monthly payment volume at that basket size. A dash means no positive crossover from fee savings. Check all three totals: equality between two plans does not make them the cheapest overall.

Examples

These examples use an 80 AUD average payment, Shopify Payments, 30 AUD in monthly apps and a hypothetical 360 AUD theme spread over twelve months. The shared budget is 60 AUD monthly; these are illustrative expenses, not market quotes.

At 50 orders with monthly billing, Basic totals 201 AUD, Grow 288 AUD and Advanced 706 AUD. Basic has the lowest cost. Basic and Grow reach equal cost at 62,000 AUD in monthly customer payments.

At 1,000 orders with monthly billing, the totals become 1,816 AUD, 1,789 AUD and 2,055 AUD. Grow costs least. The Basic–Grow crossover remains unchanged because the basket size and pricing have not changed.

For those 1,000 orders with annual billing, monthly equivalents become 1,802 AUD, 1,754 AUD and 1,911 AUD. Grow remains cheapest, with a 1,368 AUD annual subscription payment. Basic and Grow now cross at 48,000 AUD in monthly payments.

Limits

The model assumes one payment per order and a constant basket size and payment method. Promotions, Plus, negotiated prices, Amex, international cards and in-person rates are excluded. Refunds, disputes, currency conversion, service taxes and provider rounding can change actual charges. Billing dates and app cycles differ, so this monthly budget is not a prediction of your next invoice.