Evergreen guide · Prices checked 4 September 2026
Shopify Plus vs Shopify
The short answer: Shopify Plus starts at CA$3,400 a month against CA$389 for Advanced, and since April 2026 the B2B features that used to force the upgrade run on every paid plan. Plus is worth it when you need checkout-step customization, custom Shopify Functions, unlimited B2B catalogues, several storefronts on one contract, or more API throughput. Otherwise the gap is roughly CA$36,000 a year that most stores should spend on the store.
Written by EVDEV · Updated September 4, 2026
Key definitions
- Shopify
- The standard Shopify platform: Basic (CA$49/mo, or CA$37 billed yearly), Grow (CA$132 or CA$99) and Advanced (CA$517 or CA$389). Month-to-month, no contract. Since 2 April 2026 all three include B2B company profiles, payment terms, volume pricing and up to three B2B catalogues.
- Shopify Plus
- The enterprise tier. Listed from CA$3,400 a month on a three-year term or CA$3,650 on a one-year term, with a variable platform fee for larger or more complex merchants that Shopify quotes privately. Adds checkout-step customization, custom Shopify Functions, unlimited B2B catalogues, nine expansion stores, unlimited staff and higher API limits.
- Shopify Functions
- Server-side extension points that customize discounts, shipping rates, payment methods, cart validation and order routing. Public apps built on Functions run on every plan; a custom app containing your own Functions requires Shopify Plus.
- Expansion stores
- Up to nine additional storefronts included in a Shopify Plus contract, used for regional, brand or wholesale stores. Each is a separate admin and catalogue; below Plus, every extra storefront is a separate paid plan.
Side-by-side feature matrix
| Feature | Shopify | Shopify Plus |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly price (CAD)shopify.com/ca/pricing and /ca/plus/upgrade, 4 September 2026. | Basic $49 / Grow $132 / Advanced $517; $37 / $99 / $389 billed yearly | From $3,400 on a 3-year term, $3,650 on a 1-year term, or a variable platform fee |
| Online card rates (Shopify Payments) | 2.8% / 2.6% / 2.4% + 30¢ CAD | From 2.15% + 30¢ CAD; negotiated at volume |
| Third-party gateway feeThe published saving needs roughly CA$750,000 a month in gateway volume to cover the fee gap on its own. | 0.6% on Advanced | 0.2% |
| Staff accounts | Up to 5 on Grow, 15 on Advanced | Unlimited |
| B2B and wholesale | Company profiles, payment terms, volume pricing, vaulted cards, up to 3 B2B catalogues (since 2 April 2026) | Unlimited catalogues, direct catalogue assignment to companies and locations, deposits and partial payments |
| Checkout customization | Checkout UI extensions on thank-you and order-status pages; branding via theme settings | UI extensions on the information, shipping and payment steps, plus the Checkout Branding API |
| Custom logic | Public apps built on Shopify Functions | Your own custom app with Shopify Functions (discounts, shipping, payment, validation) |
| Storefronts | One per plan | Main store plus 9 expansion stores |
| Admin GraphQL API rate limit | 200 points per second | 1,000 points per second |
| Contract | Month-to-month | 1-year or 3-year term |
Monthly price (CAD)
shopify.com/ca/pricing and /ca/plus/upgrade, 4 September 2026.
- Shopify
- Basic $49 / Grow $132 / Advanced $517; $37 / $99 / $389 billed yearly
- Shopify Plus
- From $3,400 on a 3-year term, $3,650 on a 1-year term, or a variable platform fee
Online card rates (Shopify Payments)
- Shopify
- 2.8% / 2.6% / 2.4% + 30¢ CAD
- Shopify Plus
- From 2.15% + 30¢ CAD; negotiated at volume
Third-party gateway fee
The published saving needs roughly CA$750,000 a month in gateway volume to cover the fee gap on its own.
- Shopify
- 0.6% on Advanced
- Shopify Plus
- 0.2%
Staff accounts
- Shopify
- Up to 5 on Grow, 15 on Advanced
- Shopify Plus
- Unlimited
B2B and wholesale
- Shopify
- Company profiles, payment terms, volume pricing, vaulted cards, up to 3 B2B catalogues (since 2 April 2026)
- Shopify Plus
- Unlimited catalogues, direct catalogue assignment to companies and locations, deposits and partial payments
Checkout customization
- Shopify
- Checkout UI extensions on thank-you and order-status pages; branding via theme settings
- Shopify Plus
- UI extensions on the information, shipping and payment steps, plus the Checkout Branding API
Custom logic
- Shopify
- Public apps built on Shopify Functions
- Shopify Plus
- Your own custom app with Shopify Functions (discounts, shipping, payment, validation)
Storefronts
- Shopify
- One per plan
- Shopify Plus
- Main store plus 9 expansion stores
Admin GraphQL API rate limit
- Shopify
- 200 points per second
- Shopify Plus
- 1,000 points per second
Contract
- Shopify
- Month-to-month
- Shopify Plus
- 1-year or 3-year term
What Shopify Plus actually adds in 2026
Half of the classic Plus sales pitch is out of date. Until April 2026 the honest reason most mid-sized Canadian merchants upgraded was wholesale: company accounts, net terms and customer-specific price lists were Plus-only. Since 2 April 2026 Basic, Grow and Advanced include company profiles, payment terms, volume pricing, vaulted credit cards and up to three active B2B catalogues at no extra cost. Most mid-sized wholesale operations fit inside three catalogues.
What is still exclusive is narrower and more technical. Checkout UI extensions on the information, shipping and payment steps and the Checkout Branding API. Custom apps that carry your own Shopify Functions, so discount stacking, shipping rules or payment routing can follow your logic rather than an app vendor’s. Unlimited B2B catalogues with direct assignment to companies and locations, plus deposits and partial payments. Nine expansion stores on one contract. Unlimited staff. 1,000 points per second on the Admin GraphQL API against 200 on Advanced. A redirect ceiling of twenty million URLs. And a third-party gateway fee of 0.2% instead of 0.6%.
If none of those sentences describes a problem you have this quarter, the upgrade buys you a bigger invoice and the same store.
Why Shopify Plus is so expensive, and where it breaks even
On annual billing the gap between Advanced and Plus is CA$3,011 a month, about CA$36,000 a year, before the variable platform fee that larger merchants move onto. Plus is priced for merchants whose checkout, wholesale or integration requirements would otherwise cost more than that in apps, workarounds and lost orders. It is not priced as a reward for reaching a revenue number.
The only saving Shopify publishes is the third-party gateway fee dropping from 0.6% to 0.2%. Covering a CA$3,011 monthly gap at a 0.4-point saving needs roughly CA$750,000 a month in gateway volume, so payment savings alone justify Plus only at very high volume. If you use Shopify Payments, the saving depends on a rate Shopify negotiates per merchant and does not publish, so ask for the rate in writing and run the same arithmetic on your own processed volume.
The one to two million dollars in annual revenue quoted across the web as an upgrade threshold has no published arithmetic behind it. Capability, not revenue, is the trigger.
What changes for a Canadian merchant
Shopify lists Plus in Canadian dollars on the Canadian storefront, CA$3,400 on a three-year term or CA$3,650 on a one-year term, billed monthly, and quotes larger merchants a variable fee by region and contract. A US merchant will see different figures. Card rates on every plan are quoted in CAD with a 30-cent fixed component, and Shopify Payments pays out in Canadian dollars.
Moving an existing Shopify store to Plus is a plan change, not a migration: your theme, products, orders and URLs stay exactly as they are. The work that justifies the fee comes afterwards, in checkout extensions, Functions and expansion-store setup, and merchants who upgrade and skip that work end up paying more for the store they already had. Choose the one-year term the first time and move to three years at renewal once the store is using what it pays for.
Comparing in US dollars? Shopify Plus pricing in USD has the US terms, US card rates and the break-even against Advanced.
When to upgrade from Shopify to Shopify Plus
Upgrade triggers are rarely "we want more features". They are one of five concrete requirements that Advanced cannot meet:
- 01
Checkout-step customization
You need to change the information, shipping or payment steps of checkout, or brand checkout through the Checkout Branding API. Below Plus, extensions only reach the thank-you and order-status pages.
- 02
Custom Shopify Functions
Discount stacking, shipping rules, payment routing or cart validation that no public app implements. Custom apps carrying your own Functions require Plus.
- 03
Wholesale beyond three catalogues
Hundreds of B2B accounts on individual pricing, catalogues assigned directly to company locations, deposits or partial payments. Up to three catalogues with payment terms and volume pricing now run on every paid plan.
- 04
Several storefronts on one contract
A US store, a Canadian store and a wholesale store as separate admins. Plus includes nine expansion stores; below Plus each storefront is its own paid plan.
- 05
API throughput
ERP, PIM or 3PL syncs, or a headless front end, hitting the 200-points-per-second Admin GraphQL limit. Plus raises it to 1,000.
Shopify Plus vs Shopify FAQ
- How much does Shopify Plus cost in Canada in 2026?
- Shopify lists Plus from CA$3,400 a month on a three-year term and CA$3,650 a month on a one-year term, billed monthly, on shopify.com/ca as of 4 September 2026. Larger or more complex merchants move to a variable platform fee based on revenue and business model, which Shopify quotes privately. For comparison, Advanced is CA$517 a month, or CA$389 billed yearly.
- Is Shopify Plus worth it?
- It depends on capability before revenue. Plus is worth it if you need to customize the information, shipping or payment steps of checkout, need custom Shopify Functions, run more than three B2B catalogues or hundreds of wholesale accounts on individual pricing, need several storefronts on one contract, or are hitting the Advanced API limit. If none of those apply, the published gateway saving of 0.4 points rarely covers the roughly CA$36,000 a year fee gap.
- What are the advantages of Shopify Plus over Shopify Advanced?
- Checkout UI extensions on the information, shipping and payment steps plus the Checkout Branding API; custom apps with your own Shopify Functions; unlimited B2B catalogues with direct assignment, deposits and partial payments; nine expansion stores; unlimited staff accounts; 1,000 API points per second against 200; a 20,000,000-URL redirect ceiling; and a third-party gateway fee of 0.2% instead of 0.6%.
- Why is Shopify Plus so expensive?
- Because it is priced for merchants whose checkout, wholesale or integration requirements would otherwise cost more than the fee in apps, custom workarounds and lost orders. On annual billing the gap to Advanced is about CA$3,011 a month. Shopify publishes only one direct saving, the third-party gateway fee falling from 0.6% to 0.2%, which needs roughly CA$750,000 a month in gateway volume to pay for the gap by itself.
- At what revenue should I move from Shopify to Shopify Plus?
- There is no official threshold. The one to two million dollar figure repeated online is not based on published arithmetic. Run your own: take twelve months of processed volume, multiply by the rate reduction Shopify quotes you in writing, and set it against twelve times the fee gap. Then add the value of the Plus-only capabilities you will actually use, as a number rather than a feeling.
- Do I need Shopify Plus for B2B or wholesale?
- Not since 2 April 2026. Basic, Grow and Advanced include company profiles, payment terms, volume pricing, vaulted credit cards and up to three active B2B catalogues at no extra cost. Plus is still required for unlimited catalogues with customer-specific pricing, assigning catalogues directly to companies and locations, and deposits or partial payments.
- Can I downgrade from Shopify Plus back to Shopify?
- Yes, at the end of the contract term. Anything built on Plus-only features has to be unwound first: checkout-step extensions, custom Functions, expansion stores and catalogues beyond three. Plan the downgrade with your Merchant Success Manager well before the contract anniversary.
- Can EVDEV migrate my Shopify store to Shopify Plus?
- Yes. EVDEV is a Shopify Select Partner in Toronto and has moved Canadian and international brands from standard Shopify to Plus. The plan change itself keeps your theme, products, orders and URLs intact; the 4–6 week engagement is the checkout extensions, Functions, B2B catalogue and expansion-store work that makes the fee pay back.
Need a second opinion?
Not sure whether your store should be on Shopify or Shopify Plus? EVDEV runs a free 30-minute platform-fit call: we look at your processed volume, checkout and wholesale requirements, and growth plan, then tell you honestly which tier pays for itself.