Shopify transaction fees explained
Shopify charges three kinds of money on a sale: your monthly plan, a card processing fee, and sometimes a third-party transaction fee. That last one catches many new sellers by surprise. Here is how each works, when the third-party fee applies, and what it adds up to at different sales levels.
The three costs on a Shopify sale
- Your plan. Basic is $39 a month, or $29 a month billed yearly. Grow is $105 or $79. Advanced is $399 or $299. Plus starts at $2,300 a month.
- Card processing. Whoever processes the card charges a fee. With Shopify Payments, online card rates on Basic are 2.9% + 30 cents. Grow is 2.7% + 30 cents, Advanced is 2.5% + 30 cents, and Plus is 2.25% + 30 cents.
- The third-party transaction fee. A fee Shopify adds when customers pay through a gateway other than Shopify Payments.
The third item is the one to understand, because they depend on a choice you make.
When the third-party fee applies
Shopify's help center says the fee applies to all transactions processed through third-party and alternate payment gateways. If you choose Shopify Payments as your primary provider, PayPal transactions are exempt. Stripe and other gateways still carry the fee. Shopify Payments is not available in every country, so some sellers cannot avoid it.
The fee is a percentage of the sale, charged on top of whatever PayPal or Stripe takes:
| Plan | Third-party transaction fee |
|---|---|
| Basic | 2% |
| Grow | 1% |
| Advanced | 0.6% |
| Plus | 0.2% |
See Shopify's own pricing page for the current numbers.
Example: a single $50 order on Basic
- Shopify Payments: 2.9% of $50 is $1.45, plus $0.30, so $1.75.
- PayPal Checkout, with Shopify Payments not your primary provider: PayPal's 3.49% + $0.49 comes to about $2.24, plus Shopify's $1.00, so about $3.24.
- Stripe as your gateway: Stripe's $1.75, plus Shopify's 2% of $50 ($1.00), so $2.75.
The same order costs $1.75 or $3.24 to process depending on the setup. That difference is repeated on every sale.
Example: what the fee adds up to each month
This table shows only the platform side: the plan billed yearly, plus the third-party fee if all sales go through a third-party gateway. Processor fees (PayPal's or Stripe's) come on top and are the same on any platform.
| Monthly sales | Basic ($29 + 2%) | Grow ($79 + 1%) | Advanced ($299 + 0.6%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| $1,000 | $49 | $89 | $305 |
| $5,000 | $129 | $129 | $329 |
| $20,000 | $429 | $279 | $419 |
At $1,000 a month, the third-party fee is $20 on Basic, and the plan itself is the bigger cost. At $5,000 a month, Basic and Grow cost the same. Above that, Grow is cheaper because its fee is smaller. If you pay month to month instead of yearly, each plan costs more a month: $10 more on Basic, $26 more on Grow and $100 more on Advanced.
Shopify Payments avoids the third-party fee on card sales. Its own card rate still applies, and it is not offered in every country, so check availability for your location before you plan around it.
Does the fee apply to Shopify Payments sales?
No. The third-party fee applies to orders processed through other gateways. Orders paid through Shopify Payments carry the card rate for your plan instead. Read Shopify's help center page on third-party providers for the current rules before you rely on a number.
What a platform with no transaction fee looks like
Some platforms charge no fee of their own on sales. Payly is one of them. It is a free ecommerce platform with hosting built in: no monthly fee, no transaction fee and no commission. Customers pay your own PayPal or Stripe account directly, and the only fee on a sale is PayPal's or Stripe's standard one.
On the $50 order above, that means about $2.24 with PayPal Checkout or $1.75 with Stripe. There is nothing added on top, and you can connect either one. See What does Payly cost? for the full list of costs, and Connect PayPal and Connect Stripe for the setup.
Shopify has strengths Payly does not. Payly has no point of sale and no app marketplace, and it accepts payments only through PayPal and Stripe. If you need in-person selling or a large app catalog, weigh that. If you mainly want to sell online without platform fees, it is worth comparing.
Questions
Can I avoid Shopify's transaction fee?
Yes, by using Shopify Payments as your payment provider where it is available. Otherwise the fee applies, and a higher plan lowers the percentage.
Is the transaction fee charged by PayPal or Stripe?
No. PayPal and Stripe charge their own processing fees. Shopify's third-party fee is separate, and it is added on top.
Is it worth upgrading to lower the fee?
Use the table above. When the fee saved is larger than the extra plan cost, upgrading pays off. With yearly billing, Basic and Grow cost the same at $5,000 a month in sales, and Grow is cheaper above that.
Prices as published by each company for the US in October 2026. Prices can change; check each company's own pricing page.
