Shopify Basic Plan: $39/Month ($29 Annual) - Full Feature Breakdown

Who Is Shopify Basic For?

Shopify Basic is designed for solo entrepreneurs, side hustles, and small businesses doing under $33,000 per month in revenue. It is the entry point for anyone who needs a full-featured online store rather than just a product link page. If you are launching your first e-commerce business, testing a product line, or running a small but steady operation, Basic gives you everything required to sell professionally online without paying for features you do not yet need.

The typical Basic plan merchant is a first-time store owner who wants abandoned cart recovery, discount codes, and a proper checkout flow. They sell physical or digital products, ship domestically or to a few international markets, and manage the store themselves or with one additional staff member. Basic handles all of this competently. Where it falls short is in reporting depth, shipping insurance, and transaction fee rates for higher-volume sellers, all of which the Grow plan addresses.

If you are evaluating whether to start with Starter ($5/month) or Basic ($39/month), the answer is almost always Basic. The Starter plan does not include a full storefront, abandoned cart recovery, or discount codes. Its 5% transaction fee also makes it more expensive than Basic once your monthly revenue exceeds just $850. The only reason to choose Starter is if you exclusively sell through social media links and never need a standalone store.

Complete Feature List

Below is every feature included with the Shopify Basic plan. This is not a marketing summary. It is the complete list of what your $39/month subscription provides, verified against Shopify's official documentation as of April 2026. Understanding exactly what is included helps you avoid paying for third-party apps that duplicate built-in functionality.

What Basic Does NOT Include

Understanding the limitations of the Basic plan is just as important as knowing what it includes. These are the features reserved for higher-tier plans. For some merchants, these gaps are irrelevant. For others, they are the reason to upgrade. Knowing which category you fall into prevents both overspending on a plan you do not need and underspending on one that costs you more in lost efficiency.

Transaction Fee Math at Every Revenue Level

Your Shopify subscription is only part of the cost. Transaction processing fees are the largest expense for most merchants, often exceeding the subscription itself. The table below shows your total monthly cost on Basic at different revenue levels, assuming an average order value of $50 and Shopify Payments as the processor. This is the real math that Shopify's pricing page does not show you.

When to Upgrade to Grow

The Grow plan costs $66 more per month than Basic ($105 vs $39), but its lower transaction fee rate of 2.7% versus 2.9% saves you money once your monthly revenue crosses approximately $33,000. At that breakeven point, the 0.2 percentage point fee reduction generates exactly $66 in monthly savings, which offsets the subscription increase completely. Above $33,000, every additional dollar of revenue saves you 0.2 cents compared to Basic.

Beyond the pure fee math, the Grow plan also includes professional reports, shipping insurance, and USPS Priority Mail Cubic pricing. If you ship heavy, small items frequently, the Cubic pricing alone can save significant money. And if you rely on analytics to make inventory and marketing decisions, the professional reports on Grow are substantially more useful than Basic's limited analytics dashboard.

Basic vs Starter: Why $39 Beats $5

The $34/month price difference between Starter ($5) and Basic ($39) looks significant, but the Starter plan's 5% transaction fee makes it dramatically more expensive at any meaningful sales volume. At just $850/month in revenue, the fee difference exceeds $34, making Basic the cheaper option overall. Starter also lacks a full storefront, abandoned cart recovery, and discount codes, which are foundational e-commerce features.

The only scenario where Starter makes financial sense is if you sell exclusively through social media links and messaging apps, generate less than $850/month in revenue, and do not need a standalone online store. For everyone else, including dropshippers testing a new product line, Basic is the correct starting point. The $1/month promotional offer for the first 3 months makes the initial cost difference irrelevant.