Shopify Billing Plans: Cycles, Invoices & Plan Switching
A complete reference for Shopify's billing plans — 30-day billing cycles, proration math, invoices and taxes, failed-payment recovery, and how to switch plans without losing data or money.
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Key Insights in 60 Seconds
Skim the highlights first, then dive into the sections you need today.
30-day rolling cycles, not calendar months — invoice anchored to your plan-start date.
Upgrades bill immediately; downgrades wait — unused days become a credit; a downgrade lands at cycle end.
Annual saves ~25% but locks cash for 12 months and is non-refundable mid-term.
A bill unpaid for 28 days can freeze the store, not cancel it — admin and storefront go dark until you pay.
VAT, GST or US sales tax may be added by region — visible on the invoice only.
Real cost = plan + processing + apps; the plan fee is often the smallest.
What You'll Learn
1How the 30-day billing cycle actually works
2How upgrades and downgrades are billed
3What's on the invoice and how taxes are added
4What happens when a charge fails and how to recover
5When pausing or cancelling is the right call
6Reading fees: plan + processing + apps + transaction
What's New Since Publication: Updated since publication · 1 change
Shopify closed the Starter plan to new stores
Shopify's plan page now states that the $5 Starter plan "isn't available to new stores," and that a merchant who changes plan "can't revert back" to it. The plan row stays in the comparison because merchants already on Starter still pay that price, but it is no longer a plan anyone can choose — the entry rung is Basic. Shopify publishes no date for the change.
When merchants say billing plan they usually mean one of three things, and the answer is different depending on which one. The subscription tier (Basic, Grow, Advanced, Plus) sets your monthly platform fee and feature ceiling. The processing rate tied to that tier (2.9% / 2.7% / 2.5% on Shopify Payments) sets your card fee on every order. And the contract term (monthly or annual) decides whether you pay full price each month or get the ~25% annual discount with cash locked for 12 months. All three affect your bill.
This guide is the operational reference: how the cycle is anchored, how proration is calculated when you upgrade or downgrade, what's actually on the invoice, how taxes are added by region, what happens when a charge fails, and the safest way to switch plans without losing data or money. The Shopify pricing page shows the headline fees; this guide covers everything that happens after you click Subscribe.
30 days
Billing cycle length
~25%
Annual vs monthly discount
3 fees
Plan + processing + apps
Editorial summary based on Shopify's published billing terms and Help Center documentation.
The Three-Number Rule
Your real Shopify cost is plan fee + processing fee + app fee. On a $30K/mo store on Basic with Shopify Payments, that's roughly $39 + $870 + $100 = $1,009 before the 30¢ per-order fee — the plan fee is under 4% of the total. Compare plans on the sum, not the headline.
The Five Plans at a Glance
Key takeaway
Basic, Grow, and Advanced are chosen in Settings → Plan; Plus can also be selected there (with an identity check) or arranged through Shopify's sales team. Names and headline prices below reflect 2026 pricing — confirm against the live Shopify pricing page before you commit.
Plan
Monthly
Annual (per month)
Card processing
Staff
When it fits
Starter
$5/mo
Not listed
5% + 30¢ (online)
0 (none to add)
Closed to new stores — only merchants already on it, and leaving is one-way
Basic
$39/mo
$29/mo billed yearly
2.9% + 30¢ (online)
0 (none to add)
First real plan; fits most stores up to ~$15K/mo
Grow
$105/mo
$79/mo billed yearly
2.7% + 30¢ (online)
5
Crossover at ~$33K/mo — lower card rate funds the upgrade
Advanced
$399/mo
$299/mo billed yearly
2.5% + 30¢ (online)
15
Pays for itself near $147K/mo via card-rate savings
Plus
from $2,300/mo
$2,500/mo on a 1-year term; $2,300/mo on a 3-year term
Shopify Pricing Plans Explained: Find the Best Plan for Your BusinessA short visual walkthrough of all Shopify tiers — useful if you prefer to see plan differences side-by-side before reading the breakdown below.
Shopify offers two contract terms on Basic, Grow, and Advanced: monthly and annual. The annual version is paid up front for 12 months and discounts roughly 25% off the monthly rate. The trade-off is liquidity: pre-paying $79 × 12 = $948 for Grow saves $312 over the year versus monthly billing, but if you cancel in month 4, the remaining 8 months are not refunded.
Plan
Monthly
Annual (per mo)
Annual upfront
12-month saving
Basic
$39
$29
$348
$120
Grow
$105
$79
$948
$312
Advanced
$399
$299
$3,588
$1,200
The Annual-Switch Rule
Default to monthly billing for the first 6 months of any new store. Once three consecutive months sit comfortably above the plan's breakeven revenue (see the chart further down), switch to annual on the same tier and pocket the 25%. Switching monthly to annual starts a new annual billing cycle, and the full year is charged upfront.
How the Shopify Billing Cycle Works
Key takeaway
The billing cycle is the single thing most operators get wrong about Shopify. It is a 30-day rolling window anchored to your plan-start date, not a calendar month, and the date drifts: if your bill posts on March 14, the next one posts on April 13, and in months with 31 days you can receive two bills.
Changing plans does not by itself restart that window — an upgrade keeps the current cycle and prorates the difference from the upgrade date across the days left in it, while a downgrade takes effect once the pre-paid cycle ends. Within a plan change, the window restarts on the spot only when you also switch the billing cycle itself between monthly and annual.
Mid-cycle, Settings → Billing shows your upcoming bill — the current billing cycle's dates, a running total, and a breakdown of charges so far (click View current charges).
1
Day 0 — Anchor Date
The day you choose your plan and confirm a payment method becomes your billing anchor. Every future invoice for that plan is dated from this day, not from the 1st of the month. Upgrading later does not move it — the difference is prorated across the days left in the current cycle; within a plan change, a new cycle starts only if you also switch between monthly and annual billing.
2
Day 1–30 — The Service Period
Third-party transaction fees, recurring app charges, and other outstanding fees accrue during this window. If their total exceeds your account's billing threshold, Shopify bills them before your regular billing date; otherwise they land on your regular bill. Shipping labels are billed once label spend reaches your billing threshold, and your first label is billed individually.
3
Day 30 — Invoice Generated
Shopify automatically charges the saved payment method and emails the bill to the store owner and to staff with billing-email permission; you can export it as PDF or CSV from Settings → Billing. The invoice line-itemises subscription, third-party transaction fees, app subscriptions, and any taxes.
4
Day 30 — Cycle Restarts
A new 30-day window opens immediately. There is no buffer day. If your invoice posted on March 14, the next one will post on April 13 (30-day cycle, not 'next 14th').
“A billing cycle is the 30-day interval at which Shopify bills your plan fees and charges. You can't select the date that you get charged on, but you can extend your billing cycle to a longer one-year interval to earn a discount.”
A standard Shopify bill has up to four sections, each a separate line group. Knowing the structure makes reconciliation in QuickBooks or Xero painless. These are the bills Shopify sends you — money moving the opposite way from an invoice you send a customer, which runs on an entirely different set of tools.
What a Typical Monthly Invoice Contains
Subscription: the flat plan fee for the next 30 days, charged in advance.
Third-party transaction fees: 2% / 1% / 0.6% on Basic / Grow / Advanced respectively (0.2% on Plus), applied to orders processed through a third-party payment provider and, on stores created on or after May 12, 2025, to store-credit and gift-card payments.
App charges: recurring and usage-based app charges (for example, Loop or Judge.me) billed through Shopify — each app runs its own 30-day billing cycle, charged at the same time as your Shopify subscription, so an app's usage charges can land on two different Shopify bills.
Taxes: VAT, GST, HST/PST, or US state sales tax applied to the subscription where required by your country/state.
Shipping labels: billed by threshold — once label spend in a billing cycle reaches your account's billing threshold, Shopify invoices and charges it immediately. Your first label is billed individually.
Currency & Statement Descriptor
Shopify bills most stores in US dollars, but merchants in supported countries — including Canada (CAD), EU countries (EUR), and the UK (GBP) — can be billed in their local currency. If you're eligible, you can switch the billing currency yourself under Settings → Billing → Billing profile → Currency; the change applies from your next billing cycle. Shopify billing charges appear on your bank or card statement as SHOPIFY * followed by the 9-digit bill number.
Proration: Upgrade and Downgrade Math
Key takeaway
Proration is where merchants most often feel "billed twice". They are not — but the math is asymmetric. In Shopify's own example, a $39/month plan is upgraded to a $105 plan (the Basic and Grow prices) with 19 days left in its 30-day cycle:
Shopify's Upgrade Example
Already paid: $39 for 30 days of the current plan.
Daily rate of the current plan: $39 ÷ 30 = $1.30 per day.
Credit for 19 unused days: $1.30 × 19 = $24.70.
New plan's invoice, billed immediately: $105 − $24.70 = $80.30.
The "extra" charge mid-cycle is the proration adjustment, not a duplicate billing. Each bill has its own 9-digit bill number — track charges by that number, not by amount. Shopify's plan-change page instead describes the upgrade charge as calculated from the days remaining in your billing cycle; its two Help Center pages don't reconcile the difference.
Downgrades work differently. If you drop from Grow to Basic on day 10, the change takes effect at the end of your current billing cycle, and you stay on Grow — with its features and its card rate — until then. Shopify's refund policy says a mid-cycle downgrade earns account credits applied to future invoices instead of a refund. From the next cycle the plan is Basic and the subscription charge is $39.
The Mid-Cycle Downgrade Trap
Operators sometimes downgrade mid-cycle expecting an immediate cost saving. The lower price starts at the next billing cycle, not the moment you click Downgrade, and Shopify's refund policy says a mid-cycle downgrade earns account credits on future invoices, not a refund.
Switching Plans Without Losing Data
Key takeaway
Shopify's official guide to changing plans is brief because the operation itself is one click. The 90% of risk lives in the prep work and the post-switch cleanup. The checklist below covers both directions.
Pre-Switch Checklist (do the day before)
Export staff list if downgrading to a tier with fewer staff seats — the extras will be deactivated, not deleted, but you lose the visibility.
Audit shipping profiles — carrier-calculated rates change with the plan; print or screenshot current settings.
Note Shopify Payments processing rate currently in effect — your post-switch rate is on the new plan immediately for upgrades, on the next cycle for downgrades.
Check for staff accounts, features, or apps that depend on the higher plan — B2B catalog limits change only when leaving Plus (3 active catalogs on Basic, Grow, and Advanced; unlimited on Plus).
Check who receives billing emails — upgrading issues an immediate bill for the new plan's subscription fee.
Should You Switch Plans Now?
Upgrade now (correct call)
3 consecutive months above the breakeven revenue band
Card-rate savings exceed the plan-price delta
You need a feature only the higher tier includes (for example, staff accounts, which start on Grow)
You can absorb proration on the upgrade day
Annual term aligns with a steady forecast
Stay on current plan
Last 90 days had volatile revenue
Missing feature can be solved with an app under the price delta
Cash flow is tight — plan fee compounds 12× a year
You are about to enter a slow season
You haven't run the breakeven model — guess later, save now
Transaction Fees vs Plan Fees vs Processing Fees
Key takeaway
These three terms are used loosely across forums and even Shopify's own marketing. They are not the same and they stack differently.
Fee
Who charges it
Basic
Grow
Advanced
Plan / subscription fee
Shopify (flat per cycle)
$39
$105
$399
Online card processing
Shopify Payments (per order)
2.9% + 30¢
2.7% + 30¢
2.5% + 30¢
3rd-party transaction fee
Shopify (third-party providers; store credit and gift cards on stores created on or after May 12, 2025)
2.0%
1.0%
0.6%
The third-party transaction fee is the one most merchants forget about when they pick PayPal-only or a regional gateway. It is purely a Shopify charge — the payment processor's own fee is on top. For deeper detail on rates, refunds, and chargebacks, our complete Shopify Payments guide covers the full picture.
Add-ons, App Charges & Variable Fees
Key takeaway
Most "Why is my Shopify bill higher than I expected?" tickets trace back to one of the items below.
Charge
Typical amount
When it applies
App subscriptions
$0–$500+/mo per app
Recurring or usage-based; billed through Shopify on each app's own 30-day cycle, charged at the same time as your subscription. Usage-based apps with a spending limit stop charging at it until the next cycle unless you raise the limit in Settings → Apps.
Casual in-person selling features are included with every Shopify paid plan; POS Pro (retail staff permissions, unlimited POS-only staff, in-store inventory tracking, retail analytics) costs $89/mo for each retail location on top of your plan fee. Plus includes 20 POS Pro locations (or 200 with Shopify Payments).
Chargeback fee
$15 USD per dispute in the US (Shopify Payments)
Charged when a customer disputes a card payment. Other gateways set their own chargeback fees.
Currency conversion
1.5% US / 2% rest of world
Applied per order when a customer pays in a currency different from your payout currency on Shopify Payments. Surfaces inside the per-order fee, not as a separate invoice line.
Shopify Shipping labels
Carrier rate per label
Billed immediately once label spend reaches your account's billing threshold. Your first label is billed individually.
Plus variable platform fee
Not listed — contact Shopify Plus sales
Shopify Plus starts at $2,300/mo on a 3-year term or $2,500/mo on a 1-year term; more complex, higher-volume businesses may switch to a variable platform fee based on their revenue and business model; for details, Shopify points merchants to its Plus sales team.
App Charge Mechanics
App subscriptions billed through Shopify post as a line on your Shopify invoice; some third-party apps charge you directly outside of Shopify, and those charges never appear there. Uninstalling an app does not refund the current cycle by default — the charge is for service already accrued. Usage-based apps can include a spending limit; once your spending in the app reaches it, no further charges for the app are permitted until a new billing cycle starts, unless you raise the limit in Settings → Apps. Whether that line carries VAT or GST is a separate question, answered in VAT and GST on app charges.
How Much Does it REALLY Cost to Sell on Shopify? (Full Breakdown)A 12-minute breakdown of every line on a real Shopify invoice — plan, processing, transaction fees, apps, and the hidden costs most operators miss. Watch before modelling your own monthly cost.
True Cost by Revenue Band
Key takeaway
Most plan-vs-plan articles compare features. The harder, more useful comparison is total monthly cost across realistic revenue bands. The chart below adds each plan's fee to its Shopify Payments percentage rate on your monthly card revenue; the 30¢ per-order fee is the same on Basic, Grow, and Advanced, so it doesn't move the crossover points.
Read the chart in two passes. First, find your current monthly revenue on the X axis. Second, look at which bar is shortest at that revenue — that is your cheapest plan today, all-in. Below ~$33K/mo Basic almost always wins; the Basic and Grow bars meet at $33K and Grow leads from there; Advanced only becomes the shortest bar above ~$147K, where its 2.5% card rate finally covers the $294/mo it costs over Grow.
When Each Upgrade Pays for Itself
Key takeaway
The breakeven view inverts the question: at what revenue does the next plan up actually save money on processing fees alone, after paying its higher subscription? Above $0 on the chart means upgrade pays off; below $0 means stay where you are.
Two clean rules emerge. Basic → Grow breaks even near $33K/mo: above that, the 0.2-percentage-point card-rate drop saves more than the $66/mo plan delta. Grow → Advanced breaks even near $147K/mo: a much higher bar because the plan delta is $294/mo and the card-rate drop is only 0.2 points. Most independent stores never need Advanced; the ones that do, need it for the staff seats as much as the card rate.
Taxes on Your Subscription
Key takeaway
Shopify's pricing page shows pre-tax numbers. Depending on your country or state, your real bill can carry an extra tax line, and the rules depend on where your business is registered. The summary below covers the major regions; consult Shopify's tax-on-subscription documentation for full country detail and any updates.
Region
Tax type
Rate
Tax number or exemption
EU
VAT
Ireland 23%; Shopify names no rate for other EU countries
Add your VAT number under Settings → Billing; Shopify verifies it through VIES
Australia
GST
10%
Register for GST and add your ABN — GST isn't charged on invoices issued after that
Canada
GST/HST/PST
Varies by province
Charged where Shopify has a business presence; exemptions only for eligible organizations, applied for through Shopify Support
USA
State sales tax
Varies by state
Charged where Shopify has a business presence; exemptions only for eligible organizations, applied for through Shopify Support
Add Your Tax Number on Day One
Go to Settings → Billing → Billing profile and enter your VAT, GST, ABN, or IRD number before your first invoice generates. The number applies to subsequent bills only — Shopify will not retroactively re-issue past invoices. Shopify notes that a bill's overview can include a reverse charge VAT notice for certain regions or countries; in Australia and New Zealand, if you're registered for GST, your ABN or IRD number stops GST being charged on invoices issued after you add it.
Failed Payments & Account Holds
Key takeaway
Failed-payment recovery is one of the easiest billing problems to avoid. If a subscription payment fails, Shopify retries the charge periodically and uses a backup payment method if one is on file, and your store remains fully active and keeps accepting orders until 28 days after the first failed attempt. Shopify's Terms also reserve the right to terminate an account whose fees stay unpaid 60 days after suspension.
1
Charge Fails
Card declined, expired, or insufficient funds. Shopify retries the charge periodically and uses your backup payment method when the primary can't be charged; your store remains fully active and keeps accepting orders in the meantime.
2
After 28 Days Unpaid — Store Frozen
If an invoice remains unpaid for 28 days, the store moves to a frozen state: you can't access your Shopify admin and customers can't view your store. Paying the outstanding bills reactivates it; if you reactivate more than 30 days after your last bill was issued, you also pick a plan and pay for the upcoming subscription cycle.
The 'No Backup Card' Failure Mode
An expired primary card with no backup payment method on file leaves the bill unpaid. Add a backup card under Settings → Billing → Billing profile today (backup methods aren't available on Plus). Shopify uses the backup payment method when your primary payment method can't be charged.
Pause, Cancel and Reactivate
Key takeaway
Operators frequently confuse pausing and cancelling. They are different products with different recovery paths. The decision usually comes down to one question: are you coming back, and within how many months?
Reactivation is straightforward in any of the three states. Pause and Build ends when you select a new plan, which starts a new billing cycle. A cancelled store can be reopened within 2 years without rebuilding it, though cancelling uninstalled all its apps. Shopify guarantees a deactivated store's information for 2 years; export everything before cancelling regardless of which path you choose. The store owner can ask Shopify to delete customers' personal data sooner, after which the store can't be re-opened. One consequence catches people out: a chargeback can still be filed against an old order, and Shopify names reactivation as the route to contesting one after the store is closed.
Refunds & Credits
Key takeaway
The default policy is no refunds on subscription fees. The cycle has already accrued and the service was available. Shopify's own billing documentation says its plans are generally non-refundable under section 5.10 of its Terms of Service, but Shopify Support reviews refund requests case by case when they arrive within these windows:
Refund Request Windows
Monthly subscription: within 7 days of the invoice issue date.
First invoice after a trial: within 30 days.
Annual subscription: within 30 days.
SEPA Direct Debit payments: within 14 days.
Merchants located in Brazil: within 90 days.
Meeting these time windows doesn't guarantee a refund.
Third-party app charges are refunded only by the app developer, not Shopify: contact the developer, and if they haven't helped within 3 days, Shopify contacts them again on your behalf. Do not assume "uninstalled the app" auto-refunds the cycle — uninstalling stops future billing cycles but doesn't remove a charge already generated for your upcoming invoice.
Trial, Promo & the First Real Invoice
Key takeaway
The Shopify trial flow has changed several times. As of September 2026, Shopify's US pricing page says the trial is a free 3 days with no credit card required, after which most plans start at $1 per month for the first 3 months, then switch to standard monthly pricing. That means the first full-price invoice posts on day 94 (3 trial days + 90 promo days), not day 4. The math matters for cash-flow planning. For full mechanics see what the three-month term is and how it is claimed and what the $1 rate covers and what year one costs.
Trial & Promo Timeline
Day 1–3: free trial — you can try Basic, Grow, and Advanced, and no credit card is required.
Day 4–93: $1/month promo. First charge posts on day 4 ($1.00), second on day 34 ($1.00), third on day 64 ($1.00).
Day 94: first full-price Basic invoice ($39 or local equivalent).
Day 94+: standard 30-day cycles continue, anchored to day 94.
Start your Shopify trial in 2 minutes
Spin up a Shopify store to test the billing flow first-hand — see the 30-day cycle, the invoice format, and how plan-switching proration appears in your admin.
Most billing problems are solved inside Shopify admin without contacting Support. The six settings below cover ~95% of operational billing tasks for a typical store.
Settings → Billing
Payment methods, billing address, billing currency, tax information
Manage your Billing profile to add payment methods, and to set up your billing address, billing currency, and tax information where applicable. The plan itself is switched one page over, under Settings → Plan.
Past bills
Every past invoice as PDF + CSV export
Each bill itemises subscription, app charges, transaction fees, shipping, and taxes. Export a single bill as PDF or CSV, or export your billing history as CSV for any date range back to when you created the account. Each bill has a 9-digit bill number beginning with #, which also appears on your bank statement.
Billing emails
Store owner plus permitted staff
Shopify emails each bill to the store owner and to staff who have the View billing and receive billing emails permission. Staff accounts start on the Grow plan — Basic and Starter include none.
Payment methods
Card, PayPal, or bank debit (region-dependent)
Shopify accepts major cards in every region; PayPal in many; SEPA direct debit in parts of the EU. Add a backup card (not available on Plus) — Shopify charges the primary first and uses the backup when the primary can't be charged.
Tax fields on invoice
Add VAT/GST/ABN number for tax-correct billing
Add your VAT, GST, ABN, or IRD number under Settings → Billing → Billing profile. In Australia and New Zealand, if you're registered for GST, it stops GST being charged on invoices issued after you add it; EU VAT numbers are checked through VIES.
Shopify Balance / Payouts
Where Shopify Payments deposits land
Payments and subscription billing are separate flows. Subscription is charged from your saved payment method; payouts (your sales) land in your bank or Shopify Balance account on a separate schedule (a minimum settlement time of 2–7 business days depending on country — 3 in the US).
Common Billing Pitfalls
Key takeaway
These six come up in every operator forum, every Shopify Help thread, and every accountant's first month with a new client. Recognize the patterns now.
Annual lock without budget runway
Pre-paying a year, then needing to downgrade in month 4
Annual billing saves 25% but is non-refundable mid-term. Common mistake: a founder pre-pays Advanced annual ($299/mo × 12 = $3,588) on optimistic forecasts, then needs Basic by month 4 — but a downgrade doesn't take effect until the annual cycle ends, so the Advanced year is already paid for. Pay monthly until revenue is steady; switch to annual once 3 consecutive months exceed your plan's breakeven.
Downgrade-day data loss expectation
Assuming features stay accessible after a downgrade
A downgrade takes effect at the end of your current billing cycle, not the day you click. When it lands, users over the new plan's limit are suspended — Basic allows 0 staff accounts, so dropping from Grow suspends the staff accounts Grow allowed — and any feature gated to the higher plan turns off. Do the cleanup (export staff list, archive shipping profiles) before the cycle ends.
Missing VAT/GST number on invoice
GST charged on bills issued before you add it
Add your VAT, GST, ABN, or IRD number under Settings → Billing → Billing profile on day one. In Australia and New Zealand, if you're registered for GST, it stops GST being charged — but only on invoices issued after you add it, not on past or pending ones.
Single payment method, no backup
One expired card can leave a bill unpaid
Shopify pays your bills with your primary payment method and uses a backup payment method when the primary can't be charged — but only if one is on file (backup methods aren't available on Plus). Add a backup card under Settings → Billing → Billing profile so Shopify has a second method to charge.
Ignoring transaction-fee line
Comparing plan fees but missing the bigger number
On a $30K/mo store at 2.9% card rate, processing fees are $870/mo (the 2.9% part; the 30¢ per-order fee comes on top) — 22× the Basic plan fee. Comparing $39 vs $105 plans without modelling the 0.2 percentage-point card-rate drop misses the actual cost driver. Always compute total cost = plan + processing + apps.
Pause-then-forget
Paused stores still pay app charges
'Pause and Build' costs $9/mo and keeps admin open with no storefront sales — useful while rebuilding. Apps with recurring charges keep billing while the store is paused unless you uninstall them.
The Bottom Line
Key takeaway
Pick the plan whose total cost (subscription + processing + apps + transaction fees) is lowest at your current revenue, not the one with the most features. Default to monthly billing while revenue is volatile. Add a backup payment method (not available on Plus) and your business tax ID on day one, and on Grow or Advanced give your finance person the permission to receive billing emails (Plus manages billing access through organization roles). Understand that downgrades save money next cycle, not today.
Set up the billing fundamentals before you obsess over the plan choice. Backup card, tax ID, billing emails reaching the right people, and a habit of downloading invoices monthly remove 90% of billing friction. The plan you start on is reversible in one click; the operational hygiene compounds for years.
Your Next Step by Stage
Start Your Free Shopify TrialSee the 30-day billing cycle, invoice format, and plan-switching proration first-hand inside admin.Start Free Trial
Read: Choose the Right Shopify PlanDecision framework that matches plan to revenue, AOV, and feature needs — the deeper companion to this guide.View Guide
Read: Shopify Pricing ExplainedFull plan-by-plan breakdown including features, hidden costs, and the True Cost Calculator.View Guide
Frequently Asked Questions
Shopify bills on a 30-day rolling cycle anchored to your plan-start date, not the 1st of the month. Start on March 14 and the next charge posts on April 13, 30 days later. Changing plans does not move it: an upgrade keeps the current cycle, prorating the difference across the days left, a downgrade takes effect once the pre-paid cycle ends, and within a plan change a new cycle starts only if you also switch between monthly and annual billing. Settings → Billing shows the exact date.
Shopify may retry the charge and uses your backup payment method when the primary can't be charged. After 28 days unpaid, the store is frozen: you can't access the admin and customers can't view your store. Paying the outstanding bills reactivates it; if that's more than 30 days after your last bill, you also pick a plan and pay for the next cycle.
Upgrades bill immediately: Shopify turns the unused days of your current plan into a prorated credit on the upgraded plan's invoice. In Shopify's own example, a $39 plan with 19 unused days gives a $24.70 credit ($39 ÷ 30 × 19), so a $105 plan's invoice comes to $80.30. Downgrades take effect at the end of the current billing cycle.
Downgrade keeps all store data — only feature access changes (for example, staff accounts over the new plan's limit are suspended). Cancelling deactivates the store at the end of the billing cycle, and Shopify guarantees a deactivated store's information for 2 years so you can re-open it within that window. Export products, customers, and orders before cancelling, or consider Pause and Build ($9/mo) instead.
Annual billing saves about 25% on Basic, Grow, and Advanced. The trade-off is cash paid upfront: Shopify reviews annual refund requests only within 30 days of the invoice date, cancelling later gets no refund for the remaining period, and a downgrade doesn't take effect until the annual cycle ends. Pay monthly while revenue is volatile; switch to annual once three consecutive months sit above breakeven.
Yes, where Shopify is required to charge tax, based on your billing address — for example 23% VAT in Ireland, 10% GST in Australia, 15% GST in New Zealand, and US or Canadian taxes where Shopify has a business presence. In Australia and New Zealand, if you're registered for GST, adding your ABN or IRD number to the billing profile removes GST from invoices issued afterwards.
Go to Settings → Billing and open the Past bills section. Every past invoice is listed with its date, status, and total; click a bill, then Export bill to download it as PDF or CSV. For accounting, export billing history as CSV for any date range. Shopify emails each bill to the store owner and to staff with the View billing and receive billing emails permission.
Processing fees go to the payment processor (Basic: 2.9% + 30¢ on Shopify Payments). Third-party transaction fees are an extra Shopify charge — 2% on Basic, 1% on Grow, 0.6% on Advanced, 0.2% on Plus — when you use a third-party provider and, on stores created on or after May 12, 2025, on store-credit and gift-card payments. Plus with only Shopify Payments is exempt.
Yes. The Pause and Build plan costs $9 USD a month: you can still access your Shopify admin and edit your products or online store, but checkout is deactivated across all sales channels, so customers can't buy. It isn't available on Shopify Plus, and apps with recurring charges keep billing unless you uninstall them. Use it while a store rebuilds or seasonally shuts.
Generally no — Shopify's plans are non-refundable under its Terms, but Shopify Support reviews requests case by case within set windows, such as 7 days of the invoice date for a monthly subscription and 30 days for an annual one or the first invoice after a trial. Meeting a window doesn't guarantee a refund. Third-party app charges are refunded only by the app developer.
Yes. Casual in-person selling features are included with every Shopify paid plan. POS Pro — which adds retail staff permissions, unlimited POS-only staff, and in-store inventory tracking — costs $89/month per retail location on top of your plan fee. A Grow merchant running POS Pro in three retail stores pays $105 + (3 × $89) = $372/month before processing fees. POS hardware is separate.
Uninstalling an app does not automatically refund the current 30-day cycle — the charge is treated as service already rendered. The next cycle will not include the app, but the current one stays. To request a partial refund, contact the app developer (not Shopify) with the bill number. If the developer hasn't helped within 3 days, Shopify contacts them again on your behalf.
Front-end developer specializing in Shopify since 2017. Experienced in building custom Liquid themes, optimizing storefront performance, and integrating third-party apps. Directs the editorial process behind Shopify Ecom: sets each topic, and checks facts, links, and interactive elements before publication.
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