To start a Shopify store you need four things before your first sale: a paid plan, a way to take payments, shipping rates, and a store that is switched from private to public. The only cost you cannot avoid is the plan. In the US, Basic is $39 a month billed monthly or $29 a month billed yearly, and Shopify’s pricing page currently advertises 3 free days followed by $1 a month for 3 months. Everything else (a custom domain, a paid theme, apps) is optional at launch. In our modelled first year, a lean US store pays about $370 in fixed costs, and card fees end up costing more than the plan itself.
This guide goes through the setup in the order Shopify’s own launch checklist uses, with the admin path and the cost at each step. Prices and paths were checked on October 17, 2026.
What you pay before your first sale
Here is every cost you meet during setup, split into what you must pay and what you can skip at launch.
Basic plan, billed monthly $39/month $49 CAD/month Yes (or yearly billing)
Basic plan, billed yearly $29/month, paid upfront $37 CAD/month, paid upfront Alternative to monthly
Introductory offer 3 days free, then $1/month for 3 months Same headline offer Shown in your admin; terms can vary
myshopify.com address Free Free Included
Custom domain from Shopify From $9/year; a .com is about $16/year Shown in admin No, but recommended
SSL certificate Free Free Included
Theme Free themes available; paid themes priced by their developers Same No
Apps Free to paid, billed by each developer Same No
Card processing (Shopify Payments, online) 2.9% + 30¢ per order on Basic 2.8% + 30¢ CAD on Basic Only when you sell
Sources: Shopify pricing pages for the US and Canada, shopify.com/domains, and Shopify’s domain cost article (May 22, 2026). Checked October 17, 2026.Shopify’s Help Center says trial length “can vary based on different factors” and that post-trial pricing can vary by location, so confirm the $1 offer in your admin. The older Starter plan is not an option: Shopify says it “isn’t available to new stores.”
Grow ($79 yearly or $105 monthly in the US) and Advanced ($299 or $399) mostly add staff accounts and lower card rates. Basic includes no additional staff accounts; Grow adds 5. For a store doing a few thousand dollars a month, the lower rate does not pay for the higher plan. On yearly billing, Grow’s extra $50 a month is only covered by its 0.2 point lower card rate once you process about $25,000 a month online. On monthly billing that rises to about $33,000.
Step 1: Open the store and pick a plan
Sign up at shopify.com. Shopify’s pricing page says no credit card is needed for the trial. Your store starts in private mode (behind a password page) or with checkout inactive. You can add products, pick a theme and configure settings during the trial, but to take real orders you need to choose a paid plan.
When you are ready, go to Settings > Plan and choose a plan and billing cycle. If the trial ends before you pick one, Shopify pauses the store until you do. Your products and settings are kept.
Monthly or yearly? Monthly billing keeps you free to stop without having paid for a year. With the $1 introductory months, our model’s first year on monthly billing ($354) is almost identical to yearly billing ($348).
Step 2: Add products and choose a theme
Add your first product under Products > Add product. Then go to Online Store to open the Themes page. A default theme is already installed, and you can add other free themes from there at no cost.
Paid themes come from third-party developers through the Shopify Theme Store. Before you buy one, a few rules from Shopify’s Help Center are worth knowing:
- You can try a paid theme in your admin before buying it, and preview up to 19 paid themes at once.
- You must buy a paid theme before you can publish it.
- A purchased theme is licensed to the store where you bought it.
- Third-party theme purchases are non-refundable.
So launch on a free theme unless a paid one solves a problem you have already hit. Basic, Grow and Advanced can hold up to 20 themes, so switching later is easy.
Step 3: Connect a domain
Every store gets a free myshopify.com address, and you can launch on it, but a custom domain looks more trustworthy in ads and emails.
You have three options: buy a domain through Shopify, buy one elsewhere and connect it, or transfer an existing domain. Shopify says its domains “typically start at $9 USD per year,” and its own domain cost guide puts a standard .com at around $16 a year, with renewal at roughly the same price. Domains bought through Shopify:
- Register for one year, with automatic renewal on by default.
- Include WHOIS privacy on most eligible extensions, but not all (Shopify lists exceptions such as .fr and .nl).
- Can take up to 48 hours to start working.
Shopify also runs a domain credit offer for new merchants on eligible plans. The credit amount appears in your admin, and the domain must be claimed within 180 days of choosing an eligible plan. Check it before you pay for a domain elsewhere.
Step 4: Set up payments
This step decides most of your running cost. Go to Settings > Payments and, in the Shopify Payments section, click Activate Shopify Payments. You will enter personal, address and identification details, then business details, the phone number to show on customers’ bank statements, and submit for verification. After verification you connect a bank account. Only the store owner can do this.
Three setup details catch new stores out:
- Payouts can be held until two-step authentication is turned on for the store and until your information is verified. Turn on two-step authentication now.
- Pick your store currency before your first sale. Shopify says changing it afterwards requires contacting Shopify Support.
- Payouts take a few days. For US stores, Shopify says payouts typically arrive 3 to 5 business days after payment is captured, and new accounts start with a longer settlement time that can shorten as you fulfill orders on time.
What card fees really cost a small store
On Basic in the US, an online domestic card payment through Shopify Payments costs 2.9% + 30¢. The fixed 30¢ is why small orders pay a much higher effective rate.
Effective rate = (order value x 2.9% + $0.30) / order value, using the US Basic online rate from Shopify’s pricing page, checked October 17, 2026.
A $20 order loses 4.40% to card fees; a $100 order loses 3.20%. If your products are cheap, bundles and minimum order sizes do more for your fee bill than any plan change. Our Shopify fees calculator breaks down the same maths for Canadian rates and higher volumes.
Using another payment provider
You can use a third-party provider instead of Shopify Payments, but Shopify then adds its own third-party transaction fee on top of the provider’s processing fee: 2% on Basic, 1% on Grow, 0.6% on Advanced and 0.2% on Plus. These fees are not refunded when you refund an order. They do not apply to Shopify Payments, Shop Pay, or manual methods such as bank transfer, and PayPal payments are exempt when Shopify Payments is your main provider.
On $1,800 a month on Basic, that 2% is $36 a month, or $432 a year, before the provider’s own charges. Canadian sellers comparing options can see our Canadian payment processing fee comparison.
Step 5: Shipping, taxes and policies
Shipping rates
Go to Settings > Shipping and delivery, open your shipping profile, and add a shipping option to each zone. For a first launch, a flat rate per zone is the simplest option to run. You can also tick Offer free shipping and enter a minimum order amount, which is an easy way to lift order values above the point where card fees bite.
For live carrier prices, choose Carrier or app calculated. Built-in rates such as USPS in the US or Canada Post in Canada work on all plans; connecting your own UPS, FedEx or USPS account needs specific plans or an extra monthly fee.
Sales tax settings and the Shopify Tax fee
Whether and where you must collect sales tax, GST or HST depends on your location and sales, and is outside the scope of this guide. Check with your state or provincial tax authority or an accountant. What we can tell you is the cost of Shopify’s tax calculation tool. For US stores created on or after May 13, 2026, Shopify Tax is free until you reach $100,000 USD in lifetime sales. After that, it costs 0.35% on Basic, Grow and Advanced, capped at $0.99 per order, and only in regions where you have turned on tax collection. In Canada the rate is 0.25%, capped at $0.99 CAD per order, after $100,000 CAD.
Store policies
Go to Settings > Policies to add return, privacy, shipping and terms of service policies. Shopify can generate some of them, but says its templates “aren’t legal advice, and don’t guarantee compliance with applicable laws,” so edit them to match how you actually handle returns.
Step 6: Test, then launch
Shopify’s pre-launch checklist asks you to place at least one test order before going live. It checks checkout, inventory, shipping and tax in one go.
- Turn on test mode: Settings > Payments > Shopify Payments > Edit, check Use test mode, and save.
- Place an order on your storefront with a test card, then check the order, the shipping charged and the tax shown.
- Turn test mode off. Shopify’s checklist says to confirm it is deactivated before you accept real payments.
- Add your store address under Settings > General in the business details section.
- Preview the store from Sales channels > Online Store > Preview store on a phone and a desktop.
- Launch: go to Online Store > Preferences, find Store access, turn off Private mode and save. Or click Private on the Online Store page, choose Public, then Launch store.
What the first year costs: a worked model
To show where the money goes, we modelled a hypothetical new US store on Shopify Basic. It sells 40 orders a month at a $45 average order value ($1,800 a month, $21,600 a year), all paid online with domestic cards through Shopify Payments. It uses a free theme and buys a .com through Shopify for $16. We compare three setups.
Basic plan $354 (3 x $1 + 9 x $39) $348 (12 x $29) $468 (12 x $39)
.com domain $16 $16 $16
Theme $0 $0 $0
Apps $0 $360 $360
Fixed costs $370 $724 $844
Card processing (480 orders at $1.605) $770.40 $770.40 $770.40
Total first-year platform cost $1,140.40 $1,494.40 $1,614.40
Cost per order $2.38 $3.11 $3.36
Share of sales 5.28% 6.92% 7.47%
Hypothetical model by E-commerce Partners. Plan, card and domain prices from Shopify’s US pricing page and domain pages, checked October 17, 2026. The $30/month app budget, order volume and order value are assumptions. Excludes products, shipping, ads, taxes and any third-party fees.
The same model as a chart. Card processing is the largest line in every setup.
Three things stand out:
- Card fees are the biggest cost. At $770, processing costs more than twice the plan in setup A. It grows with every sale, so it matters more as you grow.
- Apps are the cost you control. A $30 monthly app habit adds $360 a year, almost exactly the price of the plan. Install apps to fix a problem you have, and remove the ones you stop using.
- Billing choice barely matters in year one if the $1 offer applies to you. It matters in year two, when yearly billing saves $120.
Products, shipping and marketing will cost far more than the platform. Before you spend on ads, work out the return you need from them with our break-even ROAS guide.
Two launch mistakes to avoid
- Leaving test mode on. Real customers cannot pay you while it is active.
- Launching without a test order. Wrong shipping rates and tax settings are much cheaper to find before customers do. If you launch and get visits but no orders, our guide on Shopify traffic with no sales covers the usual causes.
What you should check next
- Confirm in your admin whether the $1 introductory offer and the domain credit apply to your store.
- Turn on two-step authentication and activate Shopify Payments before your first order.
- Set a free shipping minimum that lifts orders above $40 to $50, where card fees drop below about 3.7%.
- List every app you install with its monthly price, and review the list after 30 days.
- Place a test order, turn test mode off, then remove private mode.
Frequently asked questions
Can I start a Shopify store for free?
You can build it for free during the trial. Shopify says that when you are ready to start selling, you need to select a paid plan, and a trial store starts in private mode or with checkout inactive.
Do I need a business registration to open a Shopify store?
Shopify Payments setup asks for personal, identification and business details, and Shopify says a registered business name and number must match government records. Whether you need to register a business where you live is a separate question for your local government.
Should I sell on Shopify or start on Amazon?
It depends on whether you want to own the customer relationship or tap into existing marketplace traffic. Our comparison of Amazon vs Shopify for a new brand walks through the trade-offs.
Is Shopify cheaper than WooCommerce?
It depends on what you add on each side. Our Shopify vs WooCommerce total cost comparison works through the numbers.
Can I sell in person as well?
Yes. On Basic in the US, Shopify lists in-person card payments at 2.6% + 10¢. If you need the advanced point of sale features, POS Pro is an $89 per month add-on per location on Basic, Grow and Advanced.
The takeaway
Starting a Shopify store costs less than most guides suggest: a Basic plan, an optional $16 domain and a free theme will get you live. The real costs show up once you sell, in card fees and in apps added along the way. Set up Shopify Payments properly, test before you launch, and keep a running list of every monthly charge.
Sources
- Shopify, “Pricing” (US plan prices, card rates, third-party transaction fees, staff accounts, trial headline). shopify.com/pricing
- Shopify Canada, “Pricing” (CAD plan prices and card rates). shopify.com/ca/pricing
- Shopify Help Center, “Free trial”. help.shopify.com
- Shopify Help Center, “Starter plan”. help.shopify.com
- Shopify Help Center, “Getting started” setup steps and “Preparing to launch your store”. help.shopify.com and help.shopify.com
- Shopify Help Center, “Adding themes”. help.shopify.com
- Shopify Help Center, “Third-party charges” and “Third-party transaction fees”. help.shopify.com and help.shopify.com
- Shopify, “Domains” and Shopify Staff, “How Much Does a Shopify Domain Cost?” (May 22, 2026). shopify.com/domains and shopify.com/blog
- Shopify Help Center, “Buying a domain through Shopify” and “Offers”. help.shopify.com and help.shopify.com
- Shopify Help Center, “Setting up Shopify Payments” and “Shopify Payments payouts in the United States”. help.shopify.com and help.shopify.com
- Shopify Help Center, “Setting up shipping rates”. help.shopify.com
- Shopify Help Center, “Shopify Tax pricing”. help.shopify.com
- Shopify Help Center, “Store policies”. help.shopify.com
Last reviewed: October 17, 2026. Plan prices, card rates, offers and admin paths match Shopify’s pricing pages and Help Center as checked on that date.
How this article was made: researched and drafted with AI assistance, with every factual claim checked against the sources above. The first-year cost model, its order volume, order value and app budget are hypothetical assumptions, not observed store data.
Related guides
- Shopify Fees Explained: Complete Cost Calculator
- Best E-commerce Platform for a Small Canadian Business
- What Happens If a Customer Files a Chargeback on Shopify?
- What ROAS Do You Need to Break Even?
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