Shopify vs Shopify Plus – What’s the Difference? Full Comparison

Disclosure: CyberNaira content is reader-supported. This means if you make purchases through our affiliate links, we may earned commission but at no additional cost to you. 

At the start of your e-commerce business, running on the Shopify platform requires minimal resources, store features, apps, etc. 

But as your business expands, making millions in sales regularly, it may be time to scale to an enterprise-level ecommerce Shopify solution. 

The Shopify standard features are no longer sufficient for your ecommerce needs; this is where you should look into the difference between the Shopify vs Shopify Plus plans.

What makes Shopify Plus an ideal solution for large-scale businesses? 

Let’s explore the key differences below. 

Shopify Vs. Shopify Plus – Overview

For most beginners, small business owners, and solo entrepreneurs, the Shopify standard (Starter, Basic, Shopify, and Advanced) provides the platforms to start, grow, and manage an online eCommerce business without complexity.

Whether you sell accessories, printables, gadgets, beauty and cosmetics products, or home and garden tools, Shopify standards allow you to sell across channels and platforms and process payments from hundreds of third-party services. 

Shopify has built-in payment features allowing merchants to process payments from a Shopify store without additional transaction fees. 

And if you sell in physical stores or brick-and-mortar businesses, Shopify has its POS payment system. 

What if your business has grown beyond just you? 

You now have up to 20 staff helping you run the commerce business, and you need to set roles and permissions and select admin. 

Additionally, you need more control over branding, like the checkout page, access to more advanced apps, and sales in more locations; it’s time to consider Shopify Plus. 

In a nutshell, Shopify Plus is for large businesses doing multiple millions in sales and needs more resources and features to help them run their eCommerce website on Shopify.

When you think of these businesses, you think of Shopify Plus. 

I reviewed the Shopify standard in this article; check it for more information about the normal Shopify pricing and features. And how it offers small size businesses and individuals the platform to run a successful online store and dropshipping business.

Now, let’s look at the key features of Shopify Plus and Shopify Standard. 

Shopify Plus Key Features

First, if you ask, what is Shopify Plus vs Shopify?

It’s important to know that Shopify and Shopify Plus are not different platforms. They are one platform developed on the same technology and use the same themes, features, and interface. 

So, what makes Shopify Plus different from Shopify standard? The core difference lies in the enterprise solution offered in Shopify Plus.

Think of Shopify Plus as accessing premium services or having customized cars. Still the same car, but features that help it adapt to your unique needs. 

Since Shopify Plus has all the features available in Shopify standard, I won’t compare each feature side by side; instead, I will focus on the core benefits of upgrading to Shopify Plus.  

So, let’s begin comparing Shopify Plus with Shopify standard plan.

Launch Supports Team

Shopify has a dedicated Launch team support program assisting Plus users with migration, integration, custom tool, and customization to meet their unique requirements. 

It’s like having a dedicated onboarding support team to ensure a seamless transition.

And that’s not all; the team provides an ongoing ecommerce marketing strategy program (merchant success) to ensure you maximize your efforts and resources.

Based on the Shopify claim, the launch team will get you live on Shopify Plus in 90 days or less. 

Shopify Organization Admin

Managing several stores from individual admin dashboards can be time-consuming and stressful, negatively affecting productivity.

Shopify organization admin lets the Plus merchant manage several Shopify stores from one central admin account. You can manage users, stores, roles, set permission, etc.

A user with an admin access level can make changes that affect all the stores in an organization, add, remove, or even suspend users, create new stores, see all store analytics reports in an organization, and more. 

There are several permissions and access levels for Shopify Plus users; for more information, check the documentation page. 

Advanced Apps and Channels

All Shopify store owners can access over 8,000 apps and sell products through several marketing channels. 

But Shopify Plus gives you more access to unlock advanced apps and channels. 

By accessing advanced Shopify Plus functionalities, you can experience faster growth, execute better marketing campaigns, and access more features like Shipping methods, sale channels, order fulfillment, and marketing automation. 

For example, Shopify Plus lets you sell B2B (Business-to-Business) on the platform without third-party applications or services. No workaround is needed. The Plus platform is designed to enable businesses to sell directly to other businesses seamlessly. 

Businesses can set up their terms of service, payment options, terms of Purchase orders, draft orders, etc. 

Additionally, Shopify Plus allows large businesses to sell on:

Checkout Customization

While this is not possible in the standard Shopify plan, Shopify Plus users can customize the checkout page extensively. 

You can customize the logo, font, background image, color, checkout functionalities, add features, etc. And even customize the information, shipping details, and checkout pages. 

Shopify Plus also allows you to install checkout apps from the app store and activate the checkout editor. The checkout editor is a drag & drop function that lets you completely control your checkout design.  

Additionally, Shopify Plus allows you to work with app developers or Shopify Partners to build custom apps that work with your checkout pages. 

However, the Shopify Plus store owners must upgrade to Checkout extensibility to use the checkout editor. 

Initially, the Shopify Plus plan used the checkout.liquid file for customizing the Shipping, Checkout, and information on the payment pages. But Shopify has announced it will be deprecated in the coming year (August 2024).

So, if your store is on Shopify Plus, you must use the Checkout extensibility feature to customize the information, shipping, and checkout payment pages. 

With all these features, Shopify Plus merchants can completely control their checkout user experience, branding, shipping calculations, and information. 

Access to API Resources

As a digital marketer, you use many tools in your business. API lets you integrate with many third-party tools seamlessly. 

API stands for Application Programming Interface, which allows two web applications to communicate. API facilitates the request and response of two or more computers to ensure seamless collaborations. 

Shopify Plus merchants can access more API calls, build custom apps, integrate with third-party applications, and call the APIs more often.  

Shopify Plus REST APIs included GiftCard, MultiPass, and User. And GraphicQL includes PublishablePublish and PublishableUnpublish.

Merchant Success Program

The Shopify Plus merchant’s success program is designed to help businesses maximize their full potential and get the best out of their Shopify Plus store. 

The Merchant’s success managers help with training, integration, tips, and advice to improve your store, drive more sales, and increase revenue. 

It’s a helpful program for Shopify Plus merchants only. Aside from the 24/7/365 support, the merchant success team helps with various support, from store creation and products to use the platform. 

Add Unlimited Staff

One of the benefits of Shopify Plus is adding unlimited staff members to your store. 

In the standard Shopify plan (Basic, Shopify, or Advanced), the number of staff that can work on your store backend is capped, with the number of seats depending on the plan. 

The Basic plan allows 2, Shopify allows up to 5, while you can have up to 15 staff in the Advanced plan. The starter plan has just one staff seat. 

This can negatively affect a business’s operation and slow service delivery, especially if you process large sales volumes or need more hands to work on your store. 

With Shopify Plus, there’s no limit to the number of staff accounts you can add to your store as part of the administrative users. 

Shopify Plus account owners can give collaborator access to Shopify partners. This is also helpful if you need to work on a particular section of your website without allowing access sitewide.

Set Permission Level

In addition to adding unlimited staff, Shopify Plus allows you to set staff permission levels.

You can give different access levels to each staff member, allowing more control over what they can do in the backend of your store. 

For example, you can set different access levels for app installation and management, sales reports, themes, content, etc. This feature can be helpful for businesses that employ freelancers to work on specific site features or maintenance.  

You don’t have access to this feature in the regular Shopify plan. 

Store Expansion 

In the standard Shopify plan, you can only build one store; Shopify Plus allows up to 10 store creations. 

This is an ideal option for businesses with multiple selling locations and needs to create localized stores front for each. 

You can use the store expansion function to build localized stores to target a specific market or audience. 

If you need more than 10, a Shopify Plus subscription allows you to create more, but you pay $250 per additional store. 

Themes Customizations

Shopify regular version allows customization using its templates drag and drop editor, which is ideal for beginners and moderates theme customization.

You need access to the Shopify theme language (Liquid) to make extensive changes to your store themes at the code level. Only Shopify Plus can change the Shopify theme at the code level in the backend. 

This gives you more control over your store’s look, branding, and user experience. 

Third-Party Integration

Shopify Plus merchants can integrate with more third-party apps and services. 

For example, suppose the Shopify standard built-in tax engine isn’t suitable for your business, and your store is on the Shopify Plus plan. In that case, you can activate the Avalara AvaTax, which works in over 12,000 tax jurisdictions. 

Avalara AvaTax is a software that automates tax filing and provides real-time tax calculations. 

Shopify Plus merchants can also integrate with existing tools in their business, like CRM tools, Warehouse management tools, logistics, global order fulfilment services, Shipping services, etc.

Shopify POS Pro 

Regular Shopify plan comes with POS lite features, allowing you to sell offline and online. You can sell and process payment conveniently anywhere through its hardware, card readers, and other accessories. 

But if you want to access the POS Pro features in the normal Shopify plan, it costs an extra $89/m per location. 

These extra features include 

However, you won’t pay the extra $89 monthly to enjoy these features with the Shopify Plus plan. 

It is bundled into your Shopify Plus package and can be accessed anytime within your account. 

Exclusive Shopify Resources 

Shopify Plus subscription automatically gives you access to tools and resources like the Shopify Plus Facebook community and access to preview the Shopify BETA release. 

You also enjoy these exclusive resources and tools:

Shopify Standard vs Shopify Plus Pricing

Our Shopify vs Shopify Plus won’t be completed without looking at the key difference in pricing, especially a breakdown cost analysis of Shopify Plus cost is important.

The Shopify Standard pricing and fee are straightforward; four options exist.

• Starter – $5/m
• Basic – $39/m
• Shopify – $105/m
• Advanced – $399

Read our extensive review for more information on Shopify’s standard pricing and available features in each plan.

There are two pricing options available for Shopify Plus merchants. 

• Shopify Plus – Normal set-up, integrations, and features cost $2,000 monthly. 
• Variable fee – Available to Shopify plus large businesses doing high sales volume. Note you need to contact sales for discussion.

In summary, here’s how the Shopify Plus pricing works.

Shopify Plus pricing is resource usage based. It is believed that the more sales you make, the more server resources, support, and features you need. 

Based on the average or approximate resource usage for most Shopify Plus merchants, the minimum cost is $2,000 per month.

However, the variable fee pricing model might apply to your subscription if you sell $800,000 or more monthly. A 0.25% revenue-based model subscription fee affects businesses with high monthly sales volume above $800k. 

For example, a business making $2 million in monthly sales will pay $5,000 monthly. So, the Shopify Plus subscription is not fixed; you could pay more, but not less. 

You need to consider a 0.15% additional Credit Card processing fee, though it varies by country. But it is worth putting all these costs into consideration. 

Which Option Is Best for You?

If you’re starting with ecommerce, you have no business thinking of Shopify Plus unless you’re a celebrity like Kim Kardashian or SnoopDog. And you’re sure your product will break the internet on launch.

A standard Shopify Plan is the best option for most individual and small business owners. It has all the features and tools you need to grow and manage your store effectively.  

The Shopify POS Lite is equally sufficient if you want to sell offline and have limited needs for POS Pro features. 

Suppose your business requires extra staff, Inventory tracking, Purchase order, and other Pro features. In that case, you can upgrade to the Shopify POS Pro at an additional monthly cost without subscribing to a Shopify Plus merchant account. 

You should start considering Shopify Plus if your business needs some of these:

If you are already in this stage as a merchant, you won’t be reading this post. 

FAQ – Shopify Plus vs Shopify Standard

If you still require more clarification or have questions not answered in the content, I think some answers to the burden questions below might be helpful. And help you decide between Shopify Plus and regular Shopify plans.