Shopify's Real Monthly Cost: Plans, Apps and Fees
By CodexierPublished 6 min read
Shopify publishes its plan prices, which makes it look easy to budget. The plan is rarely the largest cost, though. Payment processing scales with sales, apps accumulate one subscription at a time, and the theme and setup are paid before the first order. This guide walks through each line for a Swedish shop and ends with a realistic monthly example you can adapt to your own numbers.
Plans and what they include
| Plan level | Who it fits | What you gain by upgrading |
|---|---|---|
| Starter | Selling through links and social, no real storefront | Nothing yet; this is not a shop |
| Basic | Most new shops with one or two people | The full storefront, checkout, discount codes, basic reports |
| Shopify (mid) | Shops with staff and steady sales | More staff accounts, better reports, lower card rates |
| Advanced | Larger shops with international sales | Custom reporting, duties and import tax tools, lowest card rates |
The rate cut on payments at higher plans only pays for the plan difference above a certain sales volume; calculate it with your own numbers before upgrading for that reason.
Payment and transaction fees
Every card payment costs a percentage of the order plus a small fixed amount, charged by Shopify Payments or by your own provider. If you use an external provider such as Klarna or a separate card acquirer without Shopify Payments, Shopify adds its own transaction fee on top, which is the item most Swedish shops miss when they set up Klarna first.
- Activate Shopify Payments where possible; it removes the extra transaction fee and supports the cards and wallets Swedish customers use.
- Klarna and Swish can run alongside Shopify Payments. Check whether each is billed by Shopify or by the provider, and at what rate.
- Fees are charged on the order total including VAT and shipping, so the effective cost on your margin is higher than the headline rate.
- Refunds usually return the fee only partly or not at all; a shop with many returns pays fees on sales it never keeps.
- Currency conversion for foreign orders carries its own fee; if you sell to Norway or Finland, budget for it.
Apps: the cost that creeps
Shopify's core does a lot, and the app store fills every gap, one monthly subscription at a time. Reviews, bundles, back-in-stock alerts, translation, advanced shipping rules, subscriptions, email marketing, a better search: each is reasonable on its own. Together they can exceed the plan price several times over, and each one adds scripts that slow the storefront.
Before installing
Ask whether the theme or a Shopify built-in already does it. Many apps duplicate features added to the platform in the last few years.
Count the total
Keep a list of every app with its monthly fee and what it does. Review it quarterly. Apps you have forgotten about are the ones still billing.
Prefer fewer, larger apps
One reviews-and-loyalty app is cheaper and lighter than three separate ones. Usage-based pricing can also surprise you as the shop grows.
Custom code instead
A feature you will use for years can be cheaper as a one-off customisation than as a subscription forever; our custom e-commerce features service exists for exactly that trade.
Themes and one-off costs
Some costs arrive once but belong in the monthly picture because you will pay them again at the next redesign. A premium theme is a one-off licence. Setup, design, product data import, payment and shipping configuration and Swedish legal texts are the build cost, whether you do it yourself or buy it as a package. Product photography and the first batch of copy are often larger than the theme.
- Theme: free themes are solid for a first shop; a paid theme buys layout options and speed, not sales.
- Setup: our store setup service is a fixed price listed on the pricing page; a self-build costs your evenings instead.
- Domain and email: small yearly costs, but they belong to the shop and should be in your name.
- Legal texts: terms, returns policy and privacy policy adapted to Swedish consumer law; do this once, properly.
A realistic monthly example
Take a small Swedish shop on the Basic plan with a few hundred orders a month. The plan is a fixed line. Payment fees are a percentage of everything sold, so at that volume they are typically several times the plan price. Four apps for reviews, email, shipping rules and back-in-stock add roughly another plan's worth. The theme licence, spread over a couple of years, is small. The result is a monthly total dominated by payment processing, which is a good sign: it means the shop is selling. The plan and apps are the part you control.
When Shopify is not the right choice: if you already run WordPress with a capable developer and need unusual product logic, our guide to the real cost of running WooCommerce may point the other way. If you sell a handful of items a month, a marketplace or a simple payment link may be all you need, and we will say so. To get a monthly estimate built on your own order volume and product count, book a free 15-minute call.
Frequently asked questions
Is Shopify cheaper than WooCommerce per month?
For a small shop without in-house technical help, usually yes, once WooCommerce hosting, paid plugins and maintenance time are counted. For a shop with a developer and unusual requirements, WooCommerce can be cheaper to run. The fees on payments are similar on both.
Do I pay Shopify a fee on Klarna orders?
If Klarna runs through Shopify Payments there is no extra Shopify transaction fee, only the provider's rate. If Klarna is set up as a separate external gateway, Shopify charges its own transaction fee on top unless your plan waives it. Check which setup you have.
Which plan should a new Swedish shop start on?
Basic, in almost every case. Upgrade when you need more staff accounts, better reporting or when your card volume is high enough that the lower rate pays for the plan difference.
Can I cut app costs without losing features?
Usually. Check what the current theme and Shopify's built-in features already cover, merge overlapping apps, and consider a one-off customisation for anything you will keep for years.
Want a monthly figure for your shop?
Tell us your expected orders per month, product count and which payment methods you need. In fifteen minutes you get a realistic monthly estimate and a plan recommendation.
Book a free 15-minute call