How Shopify fees work in United States
Selling on Shopify in United States means three separate costs eat into every order, and it is easy to under-count them. This calculator brings them together so you see real profit per unit, not just the headline margin on your product.
- Subscription: a fixed monthly plan fee, spread across the orders you actually take.
- Payment processing: a percentage of each sale plus a small fixed fee, charged by Shopify Payments or your gateway.
- Third-party transaction fee: an extra Shopify charge that only applies if you don’t use Shopify Payments.
On top of those sit your product cost, shipping and advertising; the calculator subtracts all of them to give net profit, margin, break-even price and the maximum you can spend on ads per order before you lose money.
Shopify plan pricing in United States (USD)
Rates last verified 2026-08-05. Shopify occasionally adjusts pricing, so always confirm against the official United States pricing page before committing.
American payment methods
Shopify Payments in United States supports the local methods American shoppers expect. Each is selectable in the calculator’s advanced options:
- Standard card (Visa / Mastercard / Discover)
- American Express: Costs the same as Visa and Mastercard on Shopify Payments in the US.
- International card: Adds 1% to the standard rate. Selling in a non-USD currency adds a further 1.5% conversion fee not modelled here.
The US has no separately priced local methods: Shop Pay, Apple Pay and Google Pay all process at your plan’s card rate. International cards add 1%, and currency conversion adds another 1.5% on top when you charge shoppers in a different currency. Shop Pay Installments has no published merchant rate, so we leave it out rather than guess.
Third-party gateway fees
If you use an external payment provider instead of Shopify Payments, Shopify adds a transaction fee on top of whatever your gateway charges: 2% on Basic, falling to 0.2% on Plus. Switch the calculator’s payment method to “Third-party provider” to enter your gateway’s own rate and see the combined cost.
For most American merchants, using Shopify Payments removes this fee entirely and is the cheaper route unless a specific gateway gives you a materially better processing rate.
Sales tax considerations
US sales tax is set at state and local level and ranges from 0% to roughly 10% combined, so this calculator leaves it at zero. Enter net prices, then apply your own state and local rates. Where you owe tax depends on nexus rules, which is a separate conversation with your accountant.
How this calculator works
Every figure is traceable to a formula:
- Processing fee = Price × rate% + fixed fee
- Plan allocation = Monthly plan fee ÷ Monthly order volume
- Break-even price = (fixed costs + fixed fee) ÷ (1 − variable fee rate)
- Max ad spend = profit per order before advertising is deducted
Sales tax is excluded throughout. The price-sensitivity table re-runs the full model at ±10/20/30% of your price so you can see how margin moves before you discount or raise prices.
Frequently asked questions
Basic ($39/month, or $29/month billed annually) has the lowest subscription but the highest rates: 2.9% + 30¢ per online card payment and a 2% fee if you skip Shopify Payments. Once volume grows, the lower rates on Grow (2.7%) and Advanced (2.5%) start covering their higher subscriptions. Use the advanced options to spread the plan fee across your real monthly orders and compare properly.
Not on Shopify Payments in the US. Amex, Visa, Mastercard and Discover all process at your plan’s standard online rate, which is unusual; most processors price Amex higher. If a good share of your customers pay with Amex, that is a genuine saving worth factoring in.
Cards issued outside the US add 1% to your plan’s rate. If you also charge the customer in a currency other than USD, Shopify takes a further 1.5% for conversion. Selling internationally from a US store can therefore cost up to 2.5% more per order than a domestic sale.
It is left out on purpose. Rates differ by state, county and city, from zero in Oregon to over 10% combined in parts of Louisiana, and what you owe depends on where you have nexus. Enter net prices here, and handle tax with Shopify Tax or your accountant.
Using an external gateway (say Stripe or PayPal directly) instead of Shopify Payments costs an extra 2% on Basic, 1% on Grow, 0.6% on Advanced and 0.2% on Plus, on top of the gateway’s own charges. For most US stores that makes Shopify Payments the cheaper route.
Sources
- Shopify pricing (US)
- Shopify Help Center, US credit card rates
