Shopify Basic vs Grow: Is the Upgrade Worth It?

Who it is for

Store owners on Basic weighing an upgrade

Time needed

8 minutes to read, 10 to run your numbers

What you need

Your last 3 months of sales and order count

Most store owners ask me about moving from Basic to Grow within a few months of making regular sales. Grow is the plan Shopify used to call simply "Shopify", so older articles still frame this as Shopify Basic vs Shopify. Shopify gets paid either way, and so do I, so my only interest is that you don't pay for an upgrade that gives you nothing.

Prices, rates and plan features below come from Shopify's pricing page and help center as I checked them on 7 November 2026. Shopify changes plans from time to time, so check the pricing page for your country on the day you decide.

The short answer

Shopify Basic vs Grow: what each plan costs

Both plans are cheaper per month if you pay for a year upfront. New stores were offered 3 days free, then $1 a month for 3 months, when I checked.

The US card rates are the standard online rates Shopify has quoted for each plan. The US pricing page itself doesn't list them, so confirm yours under Settings > Payments in your admin.

The break-even point: when Grow pays for itself

On card fees alone, the maths is simple. The fixed 30¢ per order is the same on both plans, so the only saving is the percentage: 0.2 points in the US. Divide the extra plan cost by that saving and you get the monthly sales level where Grow starts to cost less.

• US, yearly billing: $30 ÷ 0.2% = $15,000 a month in online card sales.
• US, monthly billing: $40 ÷ 0.2% = $20,000 a month.
• UK, yearly billing: £30 ÷ 0.3% = £10,000 a month. The UK gap between the plans' card rates is wider, so Grow pays off sooner.
• Not using Shopify Payments: Shopify's extra fee falls from 2% to 1%, a full point, so Grow pays for itself from about $3,000 a month on yearly billing, or $4,000 on monthly.

Two things to notice. Below the break-even point, Grow costs you only a little more, about $10 a month at $10,000 in sales. And above it, the saving grows slowly: $20 a month at $25,000. Card fees should not drive this decision on their own. They tip it once you are clearly past the line.

Staff accounts: the real difference

Shopify's help center is direct about this: the Basic plan doesn't support adding staff accounts to your store. Only the owner logs in. Grow supports five.

In practice, this is what makes most of my clients upgrade. The moment a second person works on the store, you have two choices on Basic: share the owner login, or upgrade. Sharing the owner login means that person can see payouts, change bank details and delete the store, and you have no record of who did what. A staff account lets you give someone orders and products, but not finances or settings.

One thing that often surprises people: you don't need a staff account to work with a developer or agency. Shopify Partners use collaborator accounts, which Shopify says don't count towards your store's user limit. You give a request code, approve only the permissions needed, and remove access when the work is done. So hiring help doesn't force you onto Grow.

Reports: no longer a reason to upgrade

For years, better reports were the standard reason to move up from Basic. That has changed. Shopify's help center now says the Basic plan includes access to all reports and lets you create custom reports with data explorations. The pricing page lists "200+ real-time reports, plus custom analytics" on every plan.

If you were planning to upgrade for profit reports, customer reports or custom explorations, check them on Basic first under Analytics > Reports. The reporting step up now happens at Advanced, which adds predicted values for some reports.

Everything else is the same

Most of what a growing store uses works identically on both plans:

• Selling abroad. Shopify Markets, local currencies, translated storefronts, local domains and duty and tax collection are included on all plans.
• Wholesale. Shopify B2B is available on both, with companies, quantity rules, net terms and the quick order list. Basic lacks sales staff permissions, which needs staff accounts anyway. Both are capped at 3 active B2B catalogs.
• Checkout. Both get the same standard checkout customizations and the same Shop Pay checkout.
• Locations and apps. 10 inventory locations on each, and the same App Store.

The one feature some Grow stores ask for is live carrier rates from UPS, FedEx or USPS at checkout. Shopify's pricing page lists that on Advanced. Merchants on Grow have had it added through Shopify support, but Shopify doesn't publish a price for that on its pricing page, so ask support before you count on it.

By country

• United States. Break-even around $15,000 a month on yearly billing. Sales tax collection works the same on both plans.
• United Kingdom. Card rates drop from 2% + 25p to 1.7% + 25p, so Grow pays for itself at about £10,000 a month on yearly billing. VAT settings are identical on both plans.
• Netherlands and EU. Plan prices and Shopify Payments rates differ by country, so check them on your local pricing page before using the US numbers. iDEAL and Bancontact come through Shopify Payments on every plan, so they don't decide this choice. BTW/VAT setup is the same on both.
• Australia. Check local rates the same way. Afterpay and GST handling don't change between Basic and Grow.

When to stay on Basic, and when to move

Stay on Basic if you run the store alone, sell under the break-even level for your country, and use Shopify Payments for most orders. A store at $5,000 a month that upgrades "to be ready" pays about $240 a year more, even after the card saving. Spend that on your product pages instead.

Move to Grow when any of these are true:

1. A second person needs access to orders, products or customers on a regular basis.
2. You are clearly past break-even, say 20% above it for three months in a row, so a slow month doesn't wipe out the saving.
3. You use another payment provider for most sales and sell more than about $3,000 a month.

And look past Grow when card fees reach several thousand a month or you need live carrier rates. That is the point where Grow vs Advanced becomes the useful comparison.

How to decide in three questions

How to switch plans

1. Check your last three months. In Analytics, note online sales, order count and how much went through Shopify Payments.
2. Pick the billing cycle. Yearly billing cuts the break-even point by a quarter in the US, but only choose it if you're confident you will stay on that plan.
3. Change the plan. Go to Settings > Plan, choose Grow and confirm. Your theme, apps and data stay exactly as they are.
4. Add staff accounts. In Settings > Users, invite each person with only the permissions they need.
5. Check your rate. Under Settings > Payments, confirm the new card rate shows, and look at your next payout statement.

Moving down works the same way. Before downgrading, list who uses a staff account, because Basic has none.

What to do next

The plan is a small lever. On a store selling $10,000 a month, the difference between Basic and Grow is about $10 either way. Lifting conversion from 1.5% to 1.8% on the same traffic adds $2,000 in sales. If you want to know where your store is losing buyers, the Shopify CRO audit checklist is a good start, and Shopify fees explained covers every other cost on your bill.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

1. Shopify pricing, Shopify
2. Basic plan, Shopify Help Center
3. Grow plan, Shopify Help Center
4. Collaborator accounts, Shopify Help Center
5. Shopify B2B features by plan, Shopify Help Center

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Written by Ashraf Siddik

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.

About me · Client reviews