Shopify Vs. Shopify Plus: Which Should I Use for E-Commerce?

The Short Answer: Most merchants should start on a standard Shopify plan and move to Shopify Plus once they outgrow it. Standard Shopify (Basic, Grow, and Advanced) costs between $39 and $399 per month and covers almost everything a growing online store needs. Shopify Plus starts at $2,300 per month and adds full checkout customization, unlimited staff accounts, dedicated support, lower transaction fees, and tools for high-volume merchants and enterprise businesses.

E-Commerce is now a core part of how people shop, and one platform keeps coming up for merchants of every size: Shopify. Merchants have collectively made over $1.1 trillion in sales on Shopify, and the platform earned that trust by lowering the barrier to entry for entrepreneurs and retail stores that want to sell online. It handles hosting, security, Shopify Payments, and shipping so you can focus on selling. As a Shopify Premier Partner, 20North builds on Shopify every day, so this guide breaks down the key differences between standard Shopify and Shopify Plus and which one fits your store.

What Is Standard Shopify?

Shopify's core offering, the standard Shopify plans, comes in three tiers: Basic, Grow, and Advanced. They cost between $39 and $399 per month, with lower rates if you pay yearly. Every plan is a single platform that includes an e-commerce website and blog, unlimited product listings, Shopify Payments, abandoned cart recovery, discount codes, a free SSL certificate, and access to the Shopify App Store. A few things scale with the plan you choose:

• Staff accounts: Grow includes up to 5 and Advanced up to 15, so more of your team gets direct access.
• Transaction fees: Third-party transaction fees drop as you move up the standard Shopify plans, 2% on Basic, 1% on Grow, and 0.6% on Advanced, and they disappear entirely when you use Shopify Payments.
• Sales channels and reporting: Sell across social media and marketplaces, with deeper reporting on higher plans.

For most new and growing stores, a standard Shopify plan covers everything you need without additional costs.

What Is Shopify Plus?

Shopify Plus is the enterprise version of Shopify, built for high-volume merchants and enterprise-level businesses. Pricing starts at $2,300 per month, a big jump up from Advanced at $399, so it is not for every merchant. As a rule of thumb, Plus starts to make sense once a store is doing roughly $1 million or more in annual revenue, or when rapid growth and customization needs outpace the standard plans. A Shopify Plus merchant runs on the same reliable platform but gets a deeper set of advanced features.

Key Differences Between Shopify and Shopify Plus

Here are the key differences that matter most:

• Checkout customization. This is the main difference for many stores. On standard plans, checkout customization is limited. Plus unlocks full control through checkout extensibility, so you can build custom checkout experiences with apps and custom logic instead of the legacy script editor. Since it converts up to 15% better on average than other platforms, that greater flexibility over the checkout process matters.
• Customer support. Every plan has 24/7 customer support, but Plus adds dedicated support, including a launch manager and priority help. It is like having a small consulting staff for your store.
• Staff accounts and automation. Plus gives you unlimited staff accounts and advanced automation with Shopify Flow, plus deeper analysis through ShopifyQL Notebooks. Automating manual work frees your team to focus on growth.
• Lower transaction fees. Plus carries the lowest transaction fees of any plan, which adds up fast for high-volume merchants.
• Expansion stores and global selling. Plus includes expansion stores, so a global brand can run separate storefronts for different regions, different countries, and B2B, all from one account.
• Apps and integrations. Plus merchants get access to Plus-certified third-party apps and higher API limits to connect systems like ERP, CRM, and warehouse management.

Which Plan Should You Use?

For most merchants, a standard Shopify plan is the right starting point. It delivers the same ease of use and customer experience that made Shopify popular, at a price that fits a growing business. Choose Shopify Plus when you have outgrown the standard plans: you need custom checkout experiences, you are processing high order volume, you are expanding into different regions, or you want the dedicated support and lower fees that come with the enterprise tier. Plenty of merchants happily run millions in sales on a standard plan, so the right answer is the plan that matches your revenue, your customization options, and your roadmap.

Signs You're Ready for Shopify Plus

You do not need to guess when it is time to upgrade. A few clear signs point to Shopify Plus:

• You are hitting plan limits. You have maxed out your staff accounts, or you want more than the standard plans allow.
• Your order volume is climbing fast. High-volume merchants save real money on lower transaction fees, and Plus is built to handle traffic spikes during peak sales.
• You need custom checkout experiences. If the standard checkout process is holding back conversions, checkout extensibility on Plus lets you build the exact flow you want.
• You are expanding globally. Selling in different countries and different regions, or launching B2B, is far easier with expansion stores running from a single platform.
• Manual work is eating your team's time. When you are doing by hand what Shopify Flow could automate, the advanced automation on Plus pays for itself.
• You want dedicated support. Growing brands often reach a point where 24/7 chat is not enough and a launch manager with direct access makes the difference.

If you recognize three or more of these, it is worth pricing out a move to Plus.

How Migrating to Shopify Plus Works

One of the best parts of upgrading is that you are not re-platforming. Upgrading to Shopify Plus happens on the same platform, so your products, orders, customers, and content stay put. You keep your store, your data, and your Shopify App Store integrations, and you unlock the advanced features on top. What changes is what you can now do: fully custom checkout experiences, unlimited staff accounts, expansion stores, and access to Plus-certified third-party apps and higher API limits.

That said, an upgrade is the right moment to clean house. It is a chance to rebuild your checkout customization the right way, retire any legacy script editor logic in favor of checkout extensibility, connect systems like ERP and CRM, and set up the automation that removes manual work. This is where a partner like 20North comes in. As a Shopify Premier Partner, 20North can plan the move, handle the technical setup, and make sure your store is faster and better-converting on the other side.

Work With 20North

Choosing between Shopify and Shopify Plus is a decision about where your business is headed, and you do not have to make it alone. As a Shopify Premier Partner that lives in Shopify every day, 20North helps growing brands pick the right plan, then build, migrate, or optimize the store to match. Our web development team handles the build and the checkout, our SEO team drives the traffic, and our conversion rate optimization team turns that traffic into revenue. Contact 20North today to talk through your e-commerce store.