When do Shopify payment rates make Grow cheaper than Basic?

Plan prices and payment rates

Scroll sideways to see every column.

Sources: US pricing, terms, payment and taxes and annual billing, checked 10 October 2026. Annual amounts are calculated from monthly equivalents. Taxes depend on the billing address. Introductory offers and apps are excluded.

When do the processing savings cover Grow?

Let S be the monthly amount processed at the standard online card rate, including the amounts on which the provider charges fees. The plan difference is (79 + S × 2.7%) − (29 + S × 2.9%) = 50 − S × 0.2%. It reaches zero at $50 ÷ 0.2% = $25,000. Both totals are $754 before the equal 30¢ per-transaction charges, tax and other purchases.

Below that volume, Basic costs less in this model; above it, Grow costs less. Monthly billing moves the threshold to $66 ÷ 0.2% = $33,000. Grow-to-Advanced on annual billing is $220 ÷ 0.2% = $110,000. The published 1% international surcharge is the same across these plans and therefore does not alter the rate gap. Keep in-person, wallet and other payment categories separate where their rates differ.

Outside payment methods and fee exemptions

Shopify's billing help exempts PayPal transactions from third-party transaction fees when Shopify Payments is the primary provider. It also exempts specified manual methods such as bank transfers and cash on delivery, and POS orders. PayPal's own processing charge still belongs in your budget, but do not treat its volume as automatically saving one percentage point on Grow.

For transactions that do attract Shopify's third-party fee, Grow's rate is one point lower than Basic's. Let Ssp be the volume with the 0.2-point Shopify Payments saving, and Sext the volume subject to the 1-point third-party saving. The monthly plan difference is $50 − 0.002 × Ssp − 0.01 × Sext. If all qualifying volume is on an outside provider, $50 ÷ 1% = $5,000. With a chargeable outside share f, the rate-only threshold is $50 ÷ {0.002 × (1−f) + 0.01 × f}: about $13,889 at 20% or $8,333 at 50%. These examples exclude exempt transactions and assume the outside provider's processing rate is unchanged between Shopify plans.

Source: third-party transaction fees, checked 10 October 2026. The help states that these fees are additional to the provider's processing fees and uses products minus discounts, plus tax and shipping, as its fee base. Store credit and gift-card payments have separate conditions, including the store's creation date; include them when applicable.

When does the 1.25% premium apply?

Shopify describes a specific setup in which a direct third-party provider is the primary credit/debit-card processor and Shopify Payments handles supported additional methods or payment recovery. Shopify Payments transactions in that setup carry their standard rate plus 1.25%. It is not a rule that every store offering PayPal or another payment method receives that premium.

If your account offers this setup, compare the complete bill with the alternative before activation. The premium can increase the bill even when it cancels out of a comparison between two Shopify plans. Eligibility and routing also matter; the help lists restrictions for signed Plus contracts and multi-entity stores.

Sources: Shopify Payments fees and the direct-provider setup, checked 10 October 2026.

Can a second person use Basic?

Basic has no additional staff accounts; Grow has five and Advanced fifteen. If another employee needs a normal admin staff account, Grow or higher is required regardless of sales. However, collaborator accounts and POS-only staff are exempt user types, so “any second person requires Grow” is too broad. Check the role needed rather than counting everyone involved in the business.

Source: users by plan and exemptions, checked 10 October 2026.

Use your own payment statements

If you need normal staff access or a higher-tier feature, compare the qualifying plans before using the rate threshold. If Basic's features fit, put your own payment categories and chargeable amounts into the formula. If volume is uncertain, monthly billing can avoid an annual commitment while you gather statements, although its rate-only threshold is different. Do not upgrade solely because gross revenue passes $25,000.

Sources and scope

This edition uses US prices checked 10 October 2026; the Japanese edition uses Japan's yen prices and card-rate differences. The model compares the plan fee and payment-rate savings, excluding apps, POS subscriptions, promotions and differences in provider-specific contracts. It is not a full store budget. Use your billing country's rate card and actual settlement statements before deciding.

← Back to the comparison