What Is Shopify? How It Works, Pricing & Key Features
Everything you need to know about Shopify — what it is, how it works, pricing, features, sales channels, and whether it's right for your business.
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Key Insights in 60 Seconds
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Fully managed platform — hosting, security, and updates are handled for you. No servers to manage.
Millions of businesses in 175+ countries use Shopify, according to its newsroom.
Available plans run from $39 to $2,300/mo — Basic through Plus; $5 Starter is closed to new stores.
Sell everywhere — online store, social media, marketplaces, POS, and B2B from one dashboard.
21,000+ apps in the App Store extend Shopify with any feature you can imagine.
$378B GMV in 2025 — Shopify processes more e-commerce volume than most countries' GDP.
What You'll Learn
1What Shopify is and how it works
2What you can (and can't) sell
3Plans, pricing, and true costs
4Key features and sales channels
5How Shopify compares to alternatives
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." The lightweight route this guide pointed at — a Spotlight store and product links for $5 — is closed to anyone opening a store today, so the entry point is Basic at $39/month, whose Buy Button embeds products into pages you already publish. Shopify publishes no date for the change.
Shopify is a subscription-based e-commerce platform that lets anyone create an online store, accept payments, and manage a business from a single dashboard. Shopify's platform was released in 2006, and the company is led by CEO Tobias Lütke.
Brand new to the platform? Our Shopify for beginners guide builds the mental model before you open the admin.
“Shopify is a commerce platform that helps you sell online and in person. Entrepreneurs, retailers, and global brands use Shopify to make sales, run stores, and grow their businesses.”
The Official Shopify Tutorial for Beginners (2025)A comprehensive 50-minute walkthrough from Shopify's own channel — covers setup, products, payments, and launch.
Getting started with Shopify takes about 30 minutes. Here's the step-by-step flow from sign-up to first sale:
1
Create Your Account
Sign up with email. Shopify instantly creates your store with hosting, SSL, and a default theme. No credit card needed for the free trial.
2
Add Products
Upload product photos, write descriptions, set prices, configure variants (size, color), and organize into collections. Supports physical goods, digital files, and services.
3
Customize Your Design
Choose from 24 free and 1,200+ premium themes in the Theme Store. Use the drag-and-drop editor to customize colors, fonts, layout, and sections — no code required.
4
Set Up Payments
Activate Shopify Payments for instant credit card processing, or connect third-party gateways. Enable Shop Pay, Apple Pay, and Google Pay for accelerated checkout.
5
Configure Shipping
Set shipping zones and rates (flat, calculated, or free). Print discounted shipping labels directly from Shopify. Taxes are calculated automatically.
6
Launch and Sell
Connect your custom domain, remove the password page, and your store is live. Shopify handles CDN, load balancing, and scaling automatically.
The restrictions work the other way round from the way most guides describe them: a single banned-products list does not exist, and the four rulebooks carry different consequences — losing the store, losing Shopify Payments, losing one channel, or vanishing from the catalogue buyers see in one country. What you can't sell on Shopify separates them.
Restricted Products
The Acceptable Use Policy works by principle rather than by catalogue, so it is not a list you can clear your product against — it gets applied to what you sell. The category lists merchants recognise sit elsewhere: the Shop channel's own page, the Managed Markets list, and your payment processor's document.
Key Features
Key takeaway
Shopify's feature set covers every aspect of running an e-commerce business:
Store Builder & Themes
Key takeaway
Shopify's Online Store 2.0 architecture powers the theme system. The Horizon theme (Shopify's flagship as of 2025) provides a modern, high-performance starting point. The drag-and-drop theme editor lets you customize every section without code.
For advanced needs, developers can use Liquid (Shopify's templating language) or build fully custom headless storefronts with Hydrogen (React-based).
Payments & Checkout
Key takeaway
Shopify Payments (with Stripe as its banking partner) is the built-in payment processor, so orders paid through it carry no third-party transaction fee. Shop Pay is the accelerated checkout that Shopify says delivers as much as 50% better conversion than guest checkout — a significant conversion lever. For a deep dive, see our Shopify Payments guide.
“Meet the best-converting accelerated checkout. As much as 50% better conversion compared to guest checkout.”
Shop Pay is easy to confuse with the Shop app — Shopify's consumer shopping app — but they're different products; see Shopify vs the Shop app.
App Ecosystem
Key takeaway
The Shopify App Store offers 21,000+ apps covering email marketing, SEO, reviews, upsells, accounting, and more. Most apps offer free plans or free trials.
App Performance Tip
Each storefront-facing app adds JavaScript to your pages. Keep under 15 customer-facing apps to maintain fast page speeds. Use Shopify's built-in features before reaching for apps.
Analytics & Reporting
Every plan includes real-time analytics: sales, traffic, conversion rates, average order value, and customer behavior. Basic, Grow, Advanced, and Plus all include 200+ real-time reports plus custom analytics, according to Shopify's plan comparison.
Sales Channels
Key takeaway
Shopify's unified commerce model means you manage all channels from one admin. Inventory, orders, and customer data sync automatically:
Online Store
Your primary storefront with full customization, SEO tools, blog, and checkout.
Social Commerce
Sell on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and Pinterest with native integrations.
Marketplaces
List products on Google Shopping, Amazon, eBay, and Walmart Marketplace.
POS (Point of Sale)
Sell in person with Shopify POS hardware — retail stores, pop-ups, markets.
B2B / Wholesale
Sell to business buyers with company accounts, payment terms, and B2B catalogs — up to 3 catalogs on Basic, Grow, and Advanced, unlimited on Plus.
International (Shopify Markets)
Multi-currency, localized content, duties calculation, and regional payment methods.
Shopify's pricing is straightforward — a monthly fee plus per-transaction payment processing:
Plan
Monthly
Annual
Card Rate
Best For
Starter — closed to new stores
$5
$5
5.0% + 30¢
Merchants already on it; social product links
Basic
$39
$29
2.9% + 30¢
New stores, solopreneurs
Grow
$105
$79
2.7% + 30¢
Growing businesses, small teams
Advanced
$399
$299
2.5% + 30¢
Scaling, international
Plus
From $2,300
From $2,300
2.25% + 30¢
Enterprise, high-volume, B2B
Tip: Annual billing saves 25% on Basic, Grow, and Advanced — bringing prices to $29, $79, and $299/mo respectively. Most merchants choose annual billing.
Beyond the subscription, factor in payment processing fees, apps ($0–$300/mo each), premium themes ($100–$500 one-time), and custom development if needed. For a detailed breakdown, see our Shopify Pricing Explained guide.
“Four Shopify plans, each designed to support different business needs: Basic — the most popular plan for solo entrepreneurs. Grow — for small teams. Advanced — supports businesses as they scale. Plus — for complex businesses.”
If you're running at small-business scale, our Shopify for Small Business guide covers the features, costs, and real ROI for that stage.
When Shopify might not be the best fit
If you need deep content management (blog-heavy sites), heavy product customization (configurators), or you sell only on marketplaces without needing your own store — evaluate WordPress, custom solutions, or marketplace-native tools first. Our FAQ on whether Shopify is a content management system breaks down exactly where its built-in CMS features fall short of a traditional CMS.
Not sure if Shopify is the right platform for you? Take this 60-second quiz for a personalized recommendation — and if the question is less about the platform and more about whether you're ready to start, our Am I Ready to Open a Shopify Store? guide answers that instead.
Is Shopify Right for Your Business?Answer 5 quick questions to find outStart the quiz
Is Shopify Right for Your Business?Answer 5 quick questions to find out
Question 1 of 5
What's your primary goal?
Shopify vs Alternatives
Key takeaway
Platform Comparison at a Glance
Feature
Shopify
WooCommerce
Wix
Hosting
Included
Self-managed
Included
Starting Price
$39/mo ($29 annual)
~$20/mo (hosting)
$29/mo
Apps / Plugins
21,000+
61,000+
500+
Ease of Use
Excellent
Moderate
Excellent
Scalability
To $100M+
Depends on hosting
Limited
POS
Native
Plugins only
Basic
B2B / Wholesale
Native (catalog limits below Plus)
Plugins
No
For an in-depth comparison, read our Shopify vs WordPress analysis with cost breakdowns and decision framework.
Shopify Limitations
Key takeaway
No platform is perfect. Here are Shopify's honest limitations:
Fixed URL structure — product URLs must be /products/handle, collection URLs must be /collections/handle. You can't customize these paths.
Checkout customization — apps and extensions that change the information, shipping, and payment steps of checkout are available only on Shopify Plus (from $2,300/mo); on Basic, Grow, and Advanced, some apps can customize the Thank you and Order status pages, and Shopify's plan comparison lists checkout customization as Limited.
3 options per product — a product carries at most three option types (e.g., size, color, material). The variant ceiling itself was raised from 100 to 2,048 in October 2025, though some third-party themes might not support more than 100 variants. Workarounds exist via apps.
Content management — Shopify's blog engine is basic compared to WordPress: posts are grouped with tags rather than a category hierarchy, and comments stay off on a new blog until you allow them.
Ongoing costs add up — plan fee + payment processing + apps + themes. A typical store pays $100–$500/mo in total, not just the plan fee.
Platform dependency — Shopify controls your store's infrastructure. If Shopify raises prices or changes policies, you have limited recourse beyond migrating.
Shopify powers millions of merchants for a reason: it balances ease of use with professional-grade features. Whether you're testing a product idea on Basic at $39/month or running a $50M enterprise on Plus, the platform scales with you; the $5 Starter plan is closed to new stores.
If you're choosing an e-commerce platform in 2026, start with Shopify. The $1/mo promotional deal gives you 3 months to build and test your store with minimal risk. If your needs outgrow the platform (rare), you can export your data and migrate — but most merchants never need to.
Ready to BuildFollow the step-by-step store setup guideStart building →
The best platform is the one you actually launch on. Shopify removes the technical barriers so you can focus on what matters — finding customers and selling great products.
Ready to Start Your Shopify Store?
Get Shopify for $1/month for 3 months. No risk, no commitment — build your store and see results before paying full price.
Shopify is a subscription-based platform that lets you create an online store, accept payments, and manage your business — all without writing code or managing servers. You pay a monthly fee, add your products, choose a design, and start selling. Think of it as renting a fully equipped storefront instead of building one from scratch.
Shopify is not free, but it offers a free 3-day trial and a promotional $1/month for the first 3 months. After that, a new store starts on Basic at $39/month, or $29/month with annual billing. The $5 Starter plan is closed to new stores and remains only for merchants already on it. There are no setup fees or long-term contracts.
You can sell physical products, digital downloads (e-books, music, templates), services, subscriptions, memberships, gift cards, and even dropshipped products. Shopify supports virtually any product type; what you can't sell is decided by several documents rather than one. The Acceptable Use Policy works by principle rather than by catalogue, so not finding your category in it is not permission — the category lists merchants recognise belong to the Shop channel, to Managed Markets, and to your payment processor's own document.
No. Shopify is designed for non-technical users. The drag-and-drop theme editor lets you customize your store visually. Adding products, setting up payments, and configuring shipping all happen through a guided admin interface. For advanced customization, Shopify uses Liquid (its templating language), but most merchants never need to touch code.
Shopify makes money from plan subscriptions (Basic at $39/month up to Plus from $2,300/month), from card processing through Shopify Payments (US online card rates from 2.9% + 30¢ on Basic down to 2.25% + 30¢ on Plus), and from a revenue share on app revenue earned by Shopify App Store developers. If you accept payments through a third-party provider instead of Shopify Payments, Shopify also charges a third-party transaction fee of 2% on Basic, 1% on Grow, 0.6% on Advanced, and 0.2% on Plus. Stores created on or after May 12, 2025 also pay that fee on the part of an order paid with store credit or gift cards, unless they're on Plus with Shopify Payments as their only payment provider.
It depends on your priorities. Shopify is better for merchants who want a turnkey, managed solution with built-in hosting, security, and support. WooCommerce (WordPress) offers more flexibility and lower base cost, but requires you to manage hosting, security updates, and plugin compatibility yourself. For most non-technical store owners, Shopify is the faster and safer choice.
Yes. You can connect any custom domain you already own, or buy a new domain directly through Shopify. Your store URL will be yourdomain.com instead of yourstore.myshopify.com. SSL certificates are included free with every mainline plan (Basic through Plus).
Shopify provides built-in shipping tools: calculated carrier rates (USPS, UPS, DHL, etc.), discounted shipping labels, order tracking, and multi-location inventory management. You can set flat rates, free shipping thresholds, or real-time carrier rates. For larger operations, the Shopify Fulfillment Network app connects your store to third-party logistics partners that store your inventory and ship your orders.
Yes. Shopify Markets lets you sell internationally with a translated storefront, prices in local currencies and local payment methods (both require Shopify Payments), and duties and import taxes estimated and collected at checkout on Basic through Plus — with a 0.85% fee on those orders when Shopify Payments is your gateway, or 1.5% with another provider. You can manage international and domestic sales from one admin.
You can export your products, customers, and order history as CSV files at any time. There are no exit fees or lock-in contracts. However, your theme design and Liquid code won't transfer to other platforms — you'd need to rebuild your storefront. SEO redirects should be set up carefully to preserve search rankings during migration.
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.
This article was written entirely by AI under human editorial direction. The editor sets the topic and structure, runs multi-stage validation on facts, links, and interactive elements, and verifies the output is useful from a business perspective. All claims are checked against official Shopify sources. Details may change — always confirm critical data at shopify.com.
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