Starting a Shopify Store in 2026: The Real Costs Nobody Puts in the Headline

I started a Shopify store in 2022. I didn't fully understand what it would cost until a few months in. This is the breakdown I wish I'd read before signing up.

The headline plan prices are fine. The real cost of running a Shopify store is significantly higher once you account for apps, payment fees, and the infrastructure you actually need to compete.

The Shopify Plans (Actual Starting Points)

Plan	Monthly Price	Annual Price (per month)	Transaction Fees
Starter	$5	N/A	5% per transaction
Basic	$39	$29	2% (or 0% with Shopify Payments)
Shopify	$105	$79	1% (or 0% with Shopify Payments)
Advanced	$399	$299	0.5% (or 0% with Shopify Payments)

A few things worth noting:

Transaction fees disappear if you use Shopify Payments. If you're in a supported country, use Shopify Payments. Using a third-party processor (PayPal only, for example) at the Basic plan level means paying 2% on every transaction. On $10,000 in monthly revenue, that's $200 gone.

Annual billing saves significantly. The Basic plan at $39/month becomes $29/month annually — a 26% saving. If you're serious about running the store, commit annually.

The Starter plan is for social selling only. If you want a real storefront, you need at least Basic.

The Apps: Where Budgets Die

The Shopify App Store has thousands of apps. Many are free. Many others are $10-50/month each, and a moderately serious store easily ends up with 8-15 apps installed.

Here's a realistic app stack for a new store:

App Category	Example Apps	Monthly Cost
Email marketing	Klaviyo, Omnisend	$20-100
Reviews	Judge.me (free tier available), Yotpo	$0-50
Upsell/cross-sell	ReConvert, Bold Upsell	$30-50
SEO	Plug in SEO, Smart SEO	$20-30
Loyalty program	Smile.io	$0-49
Abandoned cart	Built-in or Klaviyo	included above
Shipping rates	ShipStation	$30-50

A lean-but-functional stack runs $80-150/month in apps. A more aggressive stack hits $200-300/month easily. That's on top of your plan cost.

The recommendation I give now: start with as few apps as possible. Add one at a time, test it, and only keep it if you can attribute real revenue to it.

Payment Processing Fees (The Invisible Cost)

Even with Shopify Payments, you're not free. Credit card processing runs 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction on the Basic plan, dropping to 2.6% + $0.30 on the Shopify plan.

On a $50 average order value:

100 orders/month = $5,000 revenue
Credit card fees at 2.9% + $0.30: ~$175
Monthly plan cost: $29 (annual Basic)
App stack: ~$100

Total monthly overhead at modest volume: ~$300. That's before any cost of goods, advertising, or fulfillment.

This isn't a reason not to start — the margins on e-commerce can easily absorb this — but it's important to factor in before projecting profitability.

The 14-Day Trial and How to Use It

Shopify's 14-day free trial is generous. Here's how to actually use it:

Set up your full store during the trial — products, pages, policies, checkout.
Install the apps you think you need — most have free trials or free tiers.
Run test orders to verify the checkout experience.
Don't launch publicly until you're ready — the trial clock doesn't care about your readiness.

After 14 days, there are usually promotional rates for new stores — commonly 3 months for $1/month. These promotions run periodically; check SaveMoreDaily for current Shopify promo codes before your trial ends.

Is Shopify Worth It?

Yes, for most e-commerce use cases. The platform infrastructure — hosting, security, payment processing, mobile optimization — is excellent and would cost significantly more to replicate independently.

The gotcha is understanding your total cost of ownership before you start projecting margins. A Basic plan store with a modest app stack costs around $300-400/month to run before any product costs. Make sure your product margins and expected volume support that from the beginning.

For high-volume stores (>$50k/month in revenue), the Shopify plan's lower transaction fees and reporting tools start to pay for themselves clearly. At that scale, switching from Basic to Shopify easily covers its cost difference.