The upgrade is worth it only if you need something Plus alone provides, such as custom checkout steps, custom Functions, extra stores, or deeper B2B. On fees alone, the move is close to a wash around $8M in yearly sales, so price is not the deciding factor. If Advanced plus a few vetted apps already covers your roadmap, the honest answer for now is not yet.
Plus costs about $2,300 a month on a three-year term, against $299 a month for Advanced on annual billing. Lower payment rates win back most of that gap once online card sales reach roughly $7M to $10M a year. So the real question is capability, not price: which Plus-only feature will you use in the next six months?
What Plus adds, and which parts matter at your size
Five differences decide most upgrade cases. Each one only matters if it removes a limit you are hitting today.
Matters when: you need custom fields, rules or content in the information, shipping or payment steps.
On Advanced: checkout changes stay close to branding and what public apps provide.
Matters when: discount, shipping or payment logic goes beyond what apps express, such as member tiers or delivery-date rules.
On Advanced: public App Store apps built on Functions work, but custom-built Functions apps do not.
Matters when: wholesale needs many catalogs, direct assignment to companies and locations, deposits or partial payments.
On Advanced: up to three catalogs. For the full picture, see Shopify B2B setup.
Matters when: you run separate regional or brand stores.
On Plus: a main store plus nine expansion stores are included, with more at $300 a month each.
Matters when: you run heavy integrations, large teams or many locations.
On Plus: 1,000 against 200 Admin API points a second, unlimited staff accounts against 15, and 200 locations against 10.
| Capability | Advanced | Plus | Worth paying for when |
| Platform fee | $299 a month, annual billing | $2,300 a month, three-year term | You use at least one feature below |
| Custom checkout steps | Not available | Checkout UI extensions | Checkout rules differ by customer or region |
| Custom Functions apps | Public apps only | Custom apps supported | Logic is unique to your business |
| Flow automation | Included | Adds tasks from custom partner apps | You automate against your own systems |
| B2B catalogs | Up to 3 | Unlimited, with deposits and partial payments | Wholesale has many price lists or terms |
| Expansion stores | None included | 9 included | You run separate regional or brand stores |
| Staff accounts | 15 | Unlimited | Large merchandising or support teams |
| Admin API (GraphQL) | 200 points a second | 1,000 points a second | Bulk syncs hit throttling |
What the move really costs
The platform fee is the visible part. Payment rates and the revenue-based fee change the total, so compare all three.
| Cost item | Advanced | Plus |
| Platform fee | $299 a month on annual billing, $399 month to month | $2,300 a month on a three-year term, $2,500 on a one-year term |
| Contract | Cancel anytime | One or three year term |
| Online card rate | Baseline | Roughly a quarter to a third of a point lower |
| Third-party gateway fee | 0.6% of sales on that gateway | 0.2% of sales on that gateway |
| Revenue-based fee | None | Widely reported at 0.35% to 0.40% of sales above about $800,000 a month, capped near $40,000 a month |
- Extra platform fee: about $24,000 a year ($27,600 less $3,588).
- Payment savings at $8M in online card sales: about $20,000 to $28,000.
- Break-even on card rates alone: roughly $6.9M to $9.6M a year.
- With a third-party gateway: about $6M through that gateway.
- Revenue-based fee: $8M averages about $667,000 a month, under the reported threshold, but a peak month can cross it.
- Assumes all sales are online card payments. Confirm exact rates in your quote.
What you can do on Advanced with apps
Before paying for Plus, check how much of your roadmap an app can cover.
Public apps built on Functions handle many tiered, volume and bundle rules without Plus.
Three catalogs cover a few trade price lists and a simple approval flow.
Flow is included, so order tagging, fraud checks and alerts do not need Plus.
Branding changes and post-purchase upsell apps work on Advanced.
Stacked apps add monthly fees and failure points. Once your apps cost close to the plan gap, Plus is the cheaper route.
Upgrade now, or not yet
Use these conditions to settle the question before you sign a multi-year term.
Rule of thumb: if two or more items on the left describe you today, plan the upgrade. If most items on the right describe you, wait and revisit at the next growth step.
Five questions to put to your rep
If the rep cannot name one tied to your roadmap, the pitch is about volume, not need.
The revenue-based fee is quoted, not published, so get it in writing.
The rate gap drives most of the break-even math above.
A three-year term is a commitment of about $83,000 in base fees.
The plan unlocks the features. Building them is separate work and budget, so ask whether the team is a certified Shopify Plus partner. For how to choose, see Shopify Plus development enterprise agencies.
Plus-only capabilities in use
A premium fishing rod maker moved to Plus for tiered pricing by customer group, account-based purchasing and a B2B portal. The store removed more than 25 WooCommerce plugins, and support calls dropped by more than 80 percent.
Read more: our HFF Custom Rods Shopify Plus case study
A Pacific Northwest beef producer used Plus checkout customization to show only delivery dates that meet cutoff times, carriers and warehouse capacity, with blackout rules by date, state and ZIP code. Logistics handling effort fell by up to 90 percent.
Read more: our Agri Beef Shopify Plus case study
Share your yearly online sales, payment gateway, wholesale needs and the features your rep is pitching, and our Shopify Plus development agency team will tell you whether Plus pays off now or later.
Frequently Asked Questions
Plus is about $2,300 a month on a three-year term or $2,500 on a one-year term. Advanced is $299 a month on annual billing or $399 month to month. Plus also adds a revenue-based fee at high monthly sales, which Shopify quotes rather than publishes.
On payment rates alone, roughly $7M to $10M in yearly online card sales, depending on the rate gap in your contract. With a third-party gateway the point drops to about $6M through that gateway. Below that, Plus has to earn its cost through features.
Some of them. Public apps built on Functions cover many discount rules, Advanced includes Flow, and up to three B2B catalogs handle light wholesale. Custom checkout steps, custom Functions apps and expansion stores need Plus. Weighing other platforms? See BigCommerce against Shopify Plus for hybrid B2B and B2C.
It is widely reported to start near $800,000 in monthly sales, at 0.35% to 0.40% of sales and capped around $40,000 a month. Shopify does not publish it, so ask your rep how peak months are treated.
Usually yes. The upgrade unlocks the features, but custom checkout logic, Functions, B2B workflows and integrations still have to be built and tested.
