Shopify guideGuide8 min read
Which Shopify Plan Is Right for Your Business? A UK Guide
Shopify's plans share most features, so the right one comes down to your sales, your payment provider and a few specific tools. Here is how to choose, with UK prices and the break-even maths.
Key takeaways
- UK Shopify plans cost £25, £65 and £344 a month on monthly billing, or £19, £49 and £259 a month billed yearly, as checked on 7 November 2026. Shopify Plus starts from £1,800 a month.
- The plans share almost every selling feature. What changes is the card rate, the fee for using another payment provider, staff accounts and a few advanced tools.
- On card fees alone, Grow pays for itself from roughly £10,000 a month in online card sales with Shopify Payments, or £3,000 a month if you use another provider.
- Advanced only pays for itself on fees at six-figure monthly sales. Most stores that move up to it do so for a feature, not the rate.
- Who it is for
- UK store owners choosing or reviewing a plan
- Time needed
- About 20 minutes with your sales data
- What you need
- Admin access and 3 to 6 months of sales
Most store owners choose a Shopify plan once, at the end of the trial, and then never look at it again. That's how a store selling £400 a month ends up on Grow "to be safe", while another store turning over £30,000 a month stays on Basic and pays more in card fees than the upgrade would cost. I check the plan on every store I audit, and it's one of the quickest savings I find.
This guide is for UK businesses. Prices, rates and features come from Shopify's UK pricing page and help center, as I checked them on 7 November 2026. Shopify changes its plans from time to time, so confirm the numbers on the day you decide. I don't earn anything from the plan you pick, so this is purely about what fits.
Shopify plans and prices in the UK
There are three main plans for most businesses, plus Shopify Plus for large brands. Prices are in £ and billed every 30 days, or once a year upfront for the lower rate.
| Plan | Pay monthly | Pay yearly | Built for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | £25 a month | £19 a month | New stores getting their first sales |
| Grow | £65 a month | £49 a month | Stores with steady sales and a small team |
| Advanced | £344 a month | £259 a month | High-volume stores and larger teams |
| Plus | From £1,800 a month | – | Large brands needing full control |
New stores get 3 days free, then £1 a month for the first 3 months, with no card needed to start the trial. Yearly billing works out at about a quarter less per month, but you pay the year upfront, and Shopify says plan charges are generally non-refundable. I only recommend yearly billing once a store has a few months of sales behind it.
What actually changes between plans
The list of features on Shopify's pricing page is long, but most of it is the same on every plan. These are the rows that differ for a UK store:
| Feature | Basic | Grow | Advanced |
|---|---|---|---|
| Online card rate | 2% + 25p | 1.7% + 25p | 1.5% + 25p |
| In-person card rate | 1.7% | 1.6% | 1.5% |
| Amex and international cards | 3.1% + 25p | 2.7% + 25p | 2.5% + 25p |
| Fee with another provider | 2% | 1% | 0.6% |
| Staff accounts | – | 5 | 15 |
| Themes per market | – | – | Yes |
| Support | Live chat | Live chat | Enhanced live chat |
Two other differences are worth knowing. Advanced includes live third-party shipping rates, and Shopify's help center says Basic doesn't support carrier-calculated shipping at all. Advanced also gets higher API limits on some APIs, which matters only if you run heavy custom integrations.
What you get on every plan
This is the part people overpay for. All three plans include:
- The online store and website builder, hosting, a custom domain and SSL.
- Shopify Markets, local currencies, translated storefronts and local payment methods such as iDEAL and Bancontact.
- Gift cards, discount codes, abandoned checkout recovery and email campaigns.
- The same set of 200+ reports and analytics, according to the pricing page.
- Up to 10 inventory locations, and B2B with up to 3 catalogs.
- Shopify POS, with POS Pro available for £69 a month per location if you run a shop.
One newer charge applies on every plan: marketplace orders synced into Shopify are free for the first 50 a month, then cost 1% each, capped at $99 a month (the UK page lists the cap in $). If you sell on marketplaces through Shopify, include it in your sums.
The fee maths: when an upgrade pays for itself
Higher plans cost more each month and charge less per sale. The break-even point is where the saving on fees matches the extra plan cost. Here is the calculation for a UK store using Shopify Payments, with yearly billing and domestic online card sales:
Monthly online card sales where an upgrade breaks even
- Basic to Grow£10,000£30 extra a month, saved at 0.3% on every £1 of card sales.
- Grow to Advanced£105,000£210 extra a month, saved at 0.2% on every £1 of card sales.
If you take payments through another provider, such as PayPal as your main gateway or a separate card processor, the maths changes a lot. Shopify adds 2% to every sale on Basic and 1% on Grow, so the £30 a month difference is covered at just £3,000 a month in sales. Shopify's help center gives its own estimates for UK stores: about $200,000 a year for Grow with Shopify Payments, $60,000 without it, and $880,000 for Advanced with Shopify Payments. Mine are slightly different because I count only domestic online cards and yearly billing, but the message is the same.
How to choose your plan, step by step
- Find your real monthly sales. In the admin, go to
Analytics > Reportsand open the sales over time report for the last three to six months. Use the average, not your best month. - Check how you take payments. In
Settings > Payments, see whether Shopify Payments is your main provider. If it isn't, the third-party fee is probably your biggest avoidable cost, and switching may save more than any plan change. - Count the people who need a login. Basic has no extra staff accounts. If two or more people need their own access with their own permissions, you need Grow at least.
- List the features you can't do without. Live carrier rates at checkout, different theme content per country, or higher API limits point to Advanced. Most other features are on every plan.
- Run the break-even. Use the figures above or the calculator. If you're well below the break-even and don't need a missing feature, stay where you are.
- Pick monthly or yearly. Go yearly only once you're confident you'll stay on that plan for twelve months.
Which plan: a quick decision flow
Basic, Grow or Advanced?
- 1
Do you need live carrier rates, themes per market, or more than 5 staff accounts?
Yes: AdvancedNo: next question
- 2
Do you sell over about £10,000 a month online with Shopify Payments, or £3,000 with another provider?
Yes: GrowNo: next question
- 3
Do other people need their own logins to the admin?
Yes: GrowNo: Basic is enough
Review the answer every six months, or when sales or staff change a lot. For the detailed comparisons, see Shopify Basic vs Grow and Grow vs Advanced.
How to change your Shopify plan
- Check you have permission. Only the store owner, or a staff member with the Manage plan permission, can change the plan.
- Open the plan page. Go to
Settings > Planand clickChange plan. - Choose the plan and billing cycle. Pick monthly or yearly. Moving to yearly billing starts a new cycle and charges the year upfront.
- Review the charge and confirm. The new rates and features apply straight away.
- Check what you lose when moving down. Before downgrading from Grow to Basic, remove or reassign staff accounts, and turn off any feature the lower plan doesn't support, such as carrier-calculated shipping.
Your billing page is under Settings > Billing. Apps are billed on their own cycles, separate from the plan, so a plan change doesn't affect app charges.
Starter, Retail and Shopify Plus
You may see two other plan names online. Starter, for selling through social media links, and Retail, for in-person shops with a simple website, are no longer open to new stores, according to Shopify's help center. Stores already on them can stay, but can't switch back once they move off.
Shopify Plus starts from £1,800 a month in the UK. It adds full checkout customization, unlimited staff, up to 200 inventory locations, unlimited B2B catalogs, extra expansion stores and priority phone support. It's worth considering when you need those controls, not simply because sales are high. I cover that decision in Shopify vs Shopify Plus.
Common mistakes
- Upgrading for features you already have. Markets, gift cards, B2B basics and reports are on Basic too.
- Staying on Basic with a third-party gateway. The 2% fee on every sale is often the most expensive line on the bill.
- Paying yearly in the first month. If the store changes direction, the money is gone.
- Moving to Advanced for the card rate alone when sales are well under six figures a month.
- Forgetting staff when downgrading, and losing access for people who still need it.
- Using your best month instead of your average to justify an upgrade.
Plan choice checklist
- Average monthly sales taken from the last three to six months.
- Payment provider checked in
Settings > Payments. - Staff logins counted.
- Must-have features listed and checked against the plan table.
- Break-even worked out with your own numbers.
- Billing cycle chosen, yearly only when you're sure.
- Review date set for six months from now.
Next steps
Pull your average monthly sales, run them through the fees calculator, and change the plan only if the numbers or a missing feature say so. The plan is rarely what holds a store back. Conversion rate, speed and average order value usually matter far more.
If you'd like a second opinion on your plan and the rest of your setup, I work with stores across the UK as a Shopify developer. Send your store for a free review and I'll tell you whether your plan fits and what I'd change first.
Free tools
Check your own store
Free, no sign-up. Each one runs a part of this guide for you.
Frequently asked questions
How much are Shopify plans in the UK?
As checked on 7 November 2026, Basic is £25 a month, Grow £65 and Advanced £344 on monthly billing. Billed yearly, they cost £19, £49 and £259 a month. Shopify Plus starts from £1,800 a month.
Which Shopify plan is best for a new store?
Basic, for almost every new store. It has the same selling features as Grow, including Markets, gift cards and abandoned checkout recovery. Move up when sales or staff needs justify it.
When should I upgrade from Basic to Grow?
When you need staff accounts, or when your online card sales pass roughly £10,000 a month with Shopify Payments. If you use another payment provider, the 1% lower fee covers the upgrade from about £3,000 a month.
Is Shopify Advanced worth it?
Only for high-volume stores or for its features, such as live carrier rates, themes per market, 15 staff accounts and higher API limits. On card fees alone, it breaks even at around £105,000 a month in online card sales with yearly billing.
Can I change my Shopify plan later?
Yes. Go to Settings > Plan and click Change plan. You need to be the store owner or have the Manage plan permission. Check staff accounts and features before moving to a lower plan.
Can I still choose the Shopify Starter plan?
No. Shopify's help center says new stores can't select the Starter plan, and stores that leave it can't switch back. The same applies to the Retail plan.
Sources
- Shopify pricing (UK), Shopify
- Choosing the right plan, Shopify Help Center
- Basic plan, Shopify Help Center
- Advanced plan, Shopify Help Center
- Pricing plans and billing overview, Shopify Help Center
- Starter plan, Shopify Help Center
Related services and work
I'm a Shopify developer and CRO specialist. I have built and improved Shopify stores since 2018, completed more than 1,000 projects, and hold a 4.96 average rating across 719 client reviews.
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