Shopify Review: Picking the Right Plan Now That B2B Is Built In
Shopify Review: Picking the Right Plan Now That B2B Is Built In
This Shopify review covers the platform’s current 2026 plan structure, including the April 2026 change that brought core B2B selling features to every standard plan, and what that means for choosing between Basic, Grow, and Advanced. Shopify remains the most widely used e-commerce platform for small and mid-sized businesses, and understanding exactly what changed this year — rather than working from an older comparison — matters more than usual given how much moved in a single twelve-month stretch.
What Shopify Offers Across Its Plans
Shopify runs five pricing tiers in 2026: Starter, Basic, Grow, Advanced, and Shopify Plus.
- Starter ($5/month) — No full online store; built for selling through social media, SMS, email, and a checkout link. Fits side hustlers and creators selling through an existing audience rather than a standalone site.
- Basic ($39/month, ~$29 annual) — A complete storefront with unlimited products, hosting, SSL, and multichannel selling. The default starting point for roughly 60-70% of new Shopify merchants.
- Grow ($105/month, ~$79 annual) — Formerly called the “Shopify” plan, renamed in 2026 for clarity. Adds five staff accounts, professional reports, and lower transaction rates (2.7% + 30¢ versus Basic’s 2.9%).
- Advanced ($399/month, ~$299 annual) — Fifteen staff accounts, further-reduced payment rates, third-party calculated shipping, and expanded API capacity for established, higher-volume stores.
- Shopify Plus (from $2,300/month) — Enterprise-tier plan with custom checkout capacity, 200 inventory locations, unlimited staff accounts, and the deepest native B2B suite.
The April 2026 B2B Change
As of April 2, 2026, Shopify extended its foundational B2B features to Basic, Grow, and Advanced at no additional cost — a significant shift from the previous model, where meaningful wholesale functionality was effectively a Shopify Plus exclusive. What’s now included on standard plans:
| Feature | Included on Basic/Grow/Advanced | Plus Only |
|---|---|---|
| Company profiles for wholesale buyers | Yes | — |
| Custom B2B catalogs | Up to 3 | Unlimited |
| Volume pricing and quantity rules | Yes | Yes |
| Net payment terms (Net 15/30/60/90) | Yes | Yes, plus conditional term logic |
| Dedicated B2B storefront on separate domain | No | Yes |
| Checkout extensibility and deposits | No | Yes |
For a small business testing wholesale alongside retail, this is a meaningful cost reduction — company accounts, negotiated pricing, and self-serve reordering no longer require either a Plus contract or a third-party wholesale app. The catch is the three-catalog cap: a business with ten distributors each needing distinct pricing structures will still hit a wall on standard plans and need either Plus or a supplementary app to manage that complexity.
Pricing and Fees (Checked September 2026)
| Plan | Monthly (Annual Billing) | Card Processing Rate | Staff Accounts |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | $5 | Varies by channel | Limited |
| Basic | $39 (~$29) | 2.9% + 30¢ | 1 (owner) |
| Grow | $105 (~$79) | 2.7% + 30¢ | 5 |
| Advanced | $399 (~$299) | Lower, tier-specific | 15 |
| Plus | From $2,300 | Custom, negotiated | Unlimited |
Source: Shopify’s official pricing page, cross-checked against multiple independent 2026 breakdowns for consistency.
A few cost details are easy to overlook when comparing plans purely by the monthly fee:
- Using a third-party payment gateway instead of Shopify Payments adds a surcharge ranging from 0.2% to 2.0% depending on plan, on top of that gateway’s own processing fees
- New stores get a 3-day free trial plus 3 months at $1/month on Basic, Grow, or Advanced — a meaningfully longer discounted window than Shopify’s earlier “$1 for one month” promotion
- Annual billing saves roughly 25% across Basic, Grow, and Advanced, though it requires paying the discounted total upfront
- Most stores should budget $50-150/month beyond the plan fee itself for a handful of paid apps and a premium theme
Where the Basic-to-Grow Upgrade Actually Pays Off
The jump from Basic to Grow costs roughly $50 more per month on annual billing, and the math on whether it’s worth it comes down to two factors: staff access and transaction fee savings. The 0.2 percentage-point reduction in card processing rate alone breaks even against that $50 gap at approximately $25,000 in monthly sales processed through Shopify Payments. Below that volume, Grow’s staff accounts and reporting features are the real reason to upgrade rather than the fee savings; above it, the fee reduction alone justifies the higher tier regardless of staffing needs.
When Advanced Actually Makes Sense
Advanced’s $399/month price tag (or $299 on annual billing) is a considerable jump from Grow, and it’s worth being specific about which businesses actually need it rather than defaulting to it as “the more serious plan.” The concrete additions are fifteen staff accounts (versus five on Grow), further-reduced payment processing rates, third-party calculated shipping rates at checkout, and expanded API capacity for custom integrations. A store with a growing internal team that has outgrown five logins, or one running complex multi-carrier shipping logic that needs real-time third-party rate calculation, gets clear value from Advanced. A store that’s simply doing more revenue without those specific operational needs may find that Grow, combined with a well-chosen shipping app, covers the same ground for considerably less money — the upgrade decision should follow a specific feature gap, not revenue growth alone, and it’s worth reviewing the exact staff and shipping requirements against the plan comparison table above before committing to the higher tier.
| Platform | Best For | Key Trade-Off vs. Shopify |
|---|---|---|
| BigCommerce | Catalog-heavy B2B operations needing deep per-customer pricing | Reserves full custom pricing to its top Performance tier; Shopify now includes basic B2B on all standard plans |
| Wix | Simpler stores prioritizing design flexibility | Less e-commerce-specific depth, generally lower cost for small catalogs |
| Squarespace | Content-and-commerce hybrid sites | Weaker dedicated e-commerce tooling, stronger design templates |
A Real-World Monthly Cost Example
A mid-sized apparel store doing $15,000 a month in sales through Shopify Payments on the Grow plan gives a useful reference point. The base subscription runs $79/month on annual billing. Card processing at 2.7% + 30¢ on $15,000 in monthly sales adds roughly $405 in transaction fees, a figure that scales with revenue rather than staying fixed. Add two or three paid apps for email marketing, reviews, and abandoned cart recovery at a combined $80-150/month, plus a premium theme purchased once for $200-350. All told, this store’s realistic all-in monthly cost lands somewhere between $560 and $650 once transaction fees are included — considerably more than the $79 subscription price alone suggests, though the transaction fees scale with revenue rather than representing a fixed cost the way the subscription and apps do.
Setup and Ongoing Costs to Plan For
Getting a basic Shopify store live is fast — most of the core setup (theme selection, product upload, payment configuration) can be completed within a day using Shopify’s guided onboarding. The costs that build up over time are less visible at signup: apps for email marketing, reviews, and loyalty programs commonly run $100-300/month combined once a store has real traffic, and premium themes add a one-time cost on top of the monthly subscription. Budgeting for these from the start, rather than treating the plan fee as the full cost of running the store, produces a more accurate picture of Shopify’s real monthly cost.
Migrating an existing store onto Shopify from another platform is a separate cost worth planning for explicitly. Product data, customer records, and order history typically need to be exported and reimported, and depending on catalog size and how heavily customized the previous store’s theme was, this can range from a few hours of self-service work using Shopify’s migration tools to a paid migration service for larger, more complex catalogs. Businesses switching from BigCommerce or a custom-built site in particular should budget both time and, potentially, a one-time migration fee separate from the ongoing subscription cost.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need Shopify Plus for B2B selling now? No — as of April 2026, core B2B features (company profiles, up to three catalogs, net payment terms, volume pricing) are included on Basic, Grow, and Advanced. Plus is only necessary for unlimited catalogs, a dedicated B2B storefront, or checkout extensibility.
What’s the difference between the old “Shopify” plan and Grow? Nothing functionally — Shopify renamed its middle tier from “Shopify” to “Grow” in 2026 for clarity, since having a plan named the same as the company confused new merchants.
Does Shopify charge extra for using PayPal or another payment gateway? Yes — a surcharge of 0.2% to 2.0% applies on top of that gateway’s own fees when not using Shopify Payments, with the exact rate depending on plan tier.
Is the Starter plan enough to run a full online store? No — Starter is built for selling through social media, SMS, and a checkout link; it does not include a full storefront, theme, or blog. Basic is the entry point for a standalone store.
How many B2B catalogs can I run without upgrading to Plus? Up to three custom catalogs are included on Basic, Grow, and Advanced as of April 2026. Businesses needing more than three distinct pricing structures for different customer groups will need Shopify Plus.
Does annual billing lock me into a full year even if my business changes? Yes — annual billing requires paying the discounted total upfront for the full term, so it’s worth being reasonably confident in your plan choice before committing, particularly for a newer store still finding its footing.
Integrations
- Klaviyo — The most commonly paired email marketing platform for Shopify stores, sold separately from the Shopify subscription.
- Shopify POS — Native point-of-sale for unifying online and in-person inventory and customer records.
- QuickBooks — Common accounting integration for syncing order and revenue data.
- Omnisend — An alternative email and SMS marketing connector, worth comparing against Klaviyo for smaller stores.
Alternatives
- BigCommerce — Worth comparing for catalog-heavy B2B operations that will eventually need deeper per-customer pricing than Shopify’s standard-plan B2B cap allows.
- Wix — A simpler, more design-forward option for smaller stores that don’t need Shopify’s transaction-scale features.
- Squarespace — Better suited to businesses where content and brand storytelling matter as much as the storefront itself.
