Shopify fees in Australia at a glance
“Shopify transaction fee” can describe several different costs, which is where pricing comparisons often become misleading.
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Shopify publishes its current Australian subscription and payment rates on its Australian pricing page. The prices and fees in this article were checked on 3 September 2026. Shopify can change its pricing, payment rates and promotional offers, so check the current plan page before making a final decision.
Shopify pricing in Australia
Shopify also offers a Starter plan at A$7/month but it only gives you a checkout link, not a full store — it's excluded from this comparison because it doesn't cover the ecommerce operations this piece covers.
The core online store is available across Basic, Grow and Advanced. What changes materially is the subscription cost, payment rate, staff access and some of the tools used to run a larger or more international operation.
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Source: Shopify Australia plan comparison.
Shopify was also advertising a free trial followed by AUD $1/month for 3 months when this article was updated. That can reduce launch cost, but it should not be used to compare what Basic, Grow or Advanced will cost once the introductory period finishes.
Key features by Shopify plan
Basic
Basic is Shopify’s entry-level plan for running a complete online store.
Key features include:
- full online storefront
- unlimited products
- inventory management
- Shopify Payments
- core analytics and reporting
- abandoned checkout recovery
- in-person selling tools
- international selling features
- 24/7 chat support
Basic does not include additional staff accounts, which becomes one of the main reasons to consider Grow as the team expands.
Grow
Grow includes the core ecommerce features available on Basic, while adding more staff access and lower payment rates.
Key features include:
- everything included with Basic
- up to 5 staff accounts
- lower Shopify Payments rates
- lower third-party transaction fees
- shipping insurance
- additional tools for managing a larger operation
Its standard online card rate falls from 1.75% + 30¢ on Basic to 1.6% + 30¢.
Advanced
Advanced adds more operational controls for businesses managing higher sales volumes, larger teams or more complex international operations.
Key features include:
- everything included with Grow
- up to 15 staff accounts
- lower Shopify Payments rates
- lower third-party transaction fees
- live third-party carrier-calculated shipping
- regional storefront controls
- additional international selling functionality
- multi-currency payout capabilities
The standard online card rate falls again to 1.4% + 30¢.
Shopify Plus
Shopify Plus is the enterprise tier rather than simply the next incremental plan after Advanced.
Key features include:
- unlimited staff accounts
- deeper checkout customisation
- B2B catalogues and wholesale functionality
- multiple expansion stores
- higher API capacity
- additional enterprise controls
- priority support
- support for larger POS operations
- lower advertised payment rates
Shopify Plus starts at A$3,700 per month on a 3-year term or A$4,000 on a 1-year term. Higher-volume businesses with more complex structures may receive variable platform pricing.
Shopify transaction fees
Once the plan is chosen, the next cost depends on how the customer pays.
Credit card fees and Shopify transaction fees are different charges
With Shopify Payments, you pay Shopify’s card-processing rate.
With an external payment provider, the provider charges its own processing fee and Shopify can add a separate third-party transaction fee.
The current Shopify rates are:
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This is why saying “Shopify charges 2% per transaction” gives an Australian founder the wrong picture. Basic’s 2% figure is the additional Shopify fee associated with third-party payment providers, not the standard Shopify Payments fee on every Basic order.
Small orders carry a higher effective fixed fee
The 30¢ part of Shopify Payments pricing does not change with the order value.
On a AUD $20 order, 30¢ represents 1.5% of revenue before the percentage fee.
On a AUD $200 order, it represents just 0.15%.
A low-AOV accessories store can therefore pay a higher effective processing rate than a furniture merchant even when both are on Basic and process exactly the same dollar volume.
For example, AUD $10,000 in sales could mean:
- 500 orders at AUD $20 → AUD $150 in fixed 30¢ charges
- 50 orders at AUD $200 → AUD $15 in fixed charges
That AUD $135 difference exists before applying the 1.75% percentage component.
GST also applies to Shopify Payments processing fees
For Australian merchants, Shopify states that 10% GST is charged on top of Shopify Payments processing fees rather than being included in the advertised processing rate.
Shopify provides monthly invoices and transaction exports for this purpose. The business’s ability to claim GST credits depends on its own tax position, but founders comparing payment costs should at least recognise that the advertised processing rate is not the final cash charge.
External gateways can change the plan economics much faster
The difference between Basic and Grow’s standard Shopify Payments rate is only 0.15 percentage points. Their third-party transaction fees differ by a full 1 percentage point: 2% versus 1%.
If an external processor charges the same rate regardless of Shopify plan, that 1-point Shopify difference covers Grow’s extra AUD $93 monthly subscription at only:
AUD $93 ÷ 1% = AUD $9,300 of monthly third-party-provider volume.
So a store relying heavily on an external gateway can reach the economic case for Grow much earlier than one using Shopify Payments exclusively.
An Australian ecommerce founder raised exactly this operational problem in a June 2026 discussion: whether adding PayPal or Stripe alongside Shopify Payments would generate enough conversion benefit to justify the extra fees and reconciliation work. Read the Australian ecommerce payment-gateway discussion
That is the right question. An additional payment method should be evaluated on incremental sales versus incremental payment and back-office cost, not simply whether customers recognise the logo.
Shopify currency conversion in Australia
International card processing and currency conversion are separate costs.
An Australian Shopify Payments store currently pays a 2% currency-conversion fee when Shopify converts a payment from the customer’s currency into the store’s payout currency. If no conversion occurs, there is no Shopify currency-conversion fee for that order.
This matters because an international order can involve more than one layer of cost. If an overseas customer uses an international card and the transaction also requires currency conversion, the merchant needs to account for the relevant international-card rate and the conversion treatment rather than treating “international fee” as one number.
Shopify explains its current exchange-rate and local-currency mechanics in its local currencies documentation.
What changed on 6 April 2026?
Shopify changed the calculation method for Shopify Payments currency-conversion fees and multi-currency payout fees on 6 April 2026.
Under the old method, the conversion fee was calculated after applicable Shopify Payments fees had been deducted. It is now calculated directly on the gross order amount.
For a gross order of AUD $1,000 equivalent subject to Australia’s 2% conversion rate, the fee base is now the full AUD $1,000 rather than a smaller amount remaining after processing fees.
The rate did not change because of the update; the calculation base did.
Shopify documents the old and new formulas in its April 2026 currency-conversion update.
Checkout FX is not the same as the FX cost of running the business
This distinction matters for an Australian ecommerce P&L.
Shopify currency conversion happens around the customer payment and payout.
A separate FX cost can arise when the merchant later pays:
- inventory manufacturers in USD
- a fulfilment partner in SGD
- European contractors in EUR
- foreign SaaS subscriptions
- advertising or other international operating costs
Those transactions happen outside Shopify’s checkout pricing. Combining both into one “Shopify FX cost” makes it harder to see where margin is being lost.
Australian merchants have discussed this exact issue for years. One Australia-based Shopify merchant selling heavily into the US described receiving converted AUD payouts before later needing USD again to pay suppliers and advertising costs. See the Australian merchant discussion on repeated currency conversion
The useful question is therefore not only what does Shopify charge to convert the customer payment? It is also how many times does the business convert the same economic value before it is finally spent?
Extra Shopify costs to budget for
Subscription and payment fees are predictable enough to model. The rest depends on how you build the store.
Apps, themes and domains
A Shopify store can run with very few paid apps or build a large stack across reviews, subscriptions, loyalty, search, customer service, fulfillment and analytics.
There is no credible universal monthly app cost.
The useful control is simpler: keep a list of paid apps, their monthly cost and the revenue or labour saving each one is supposed to create. A AUD $40 app that removes hours of manual work can be cheap. Five AUD $40 apps left installed after they stop being useful are AUD $2,400 a year of margin leakage.
Premium themes, domains and custom development should be treated the same way: as store-building costs, not transaction fees.
Shopify POS Pro
Shopify currently charges AUD $129 per month per location for POS Pro on Basic, Grow and Advanced. Plus includes 20 POS Pro locations, with support for up to 200 when Shopify Payments is used.
For an online-only business, that number is irrelevant.
For a retailer with 4 stores, POS Pro alone would add AUD $516 per month before hardware or other retail costs. The business case for Shopify therefore changes when physical retail becomes a meaningful channel.
Development, shipping and integrations
Custom development, shipping software and other integrations can eventually cost more than the Shopify subscription.
That does not automatically make Shopify expensive. It may mean the business has built an expensive operating stack around it.
Separating Shopify-mandated fees from optional operating tools makes it easier to identify which cost can actually be changed.
True Shopify costs across different sales volumes
A simple monthly model shows why percentage differences should be translated into dollars before upgrading.
Assume:
- Shopify Payments
- standard domestic online cards only
- AUD $100 average order value
- monthly Shopify billing
- no currency conversion
- no external gateway
- GST on processing fees excluded from this comparison
AUD $10,000 monthly sales
That is 100 orders at AUD $100.
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Grow saves AUD $15 on card processing but costs AUD $93 more to subscribe to. The additional features would need to be worth at least the remaining difference.
AUD $100,000 monthly sales
At the same AUD $100 order value, that is 1,000 transactions.
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Grow is now AUD $57 cheaper before assigning any value to its other features.
This is what “lower card rates” actually means to the business. The feature becomes financially relevant only after the saving is translated against the extra subscription.
Choosing the right Shopify plan
The pricing table shows what each plan includes. The better decision rule is whether the additional features and lower payment rates justify the higher subscription for your actual sales volume and operating setup.
Choose Basic if
Choose Basic if you do not need additional staff accounts and your sales volume is still below the point where Grow’s lower payment rate recovers its higher subscription.
For an owner-run store processing A$20,000 per month through standard domestic Shopify Payments cards, Grow’s 0.15 percentage-point lower rate saves about A$30 per month.
That is still well below the A$93 monthly subscription difference between Basic and Grow.
At that volume, upgrading purely for lower card fees increases total cost. Basic can therefore remain the better fit for an owner-operated store doing A$20,000 or A$30,000 a month if there is no need for Grow-specific features such as additional staff access.
Choose Grow if
Choose Grow if you need up to 5 staff accounts, or your payment volume makes its lower rates financially worthwhile.
The standard online card rate falls from 1.75% + 30¢ on Basic to 1.6% + 30¢ on Grow. Because the fixed 30¢ component is the same on both plans, the simplified break-even is:
A$93 additional monthly subscription ÷ 0.15% = approximately A$62,000 in monthly card sales.
At around A$62,000 under those assumptions, Grow’s card-rate saving covers its higher subscription.
Annual billing changes the calculation. The effective subscription difference falls from A$93 to A$72 per month, reducing the equivalent break-even to roughly A$48,000 in monthly sales.
If a large share of sales goes through an external payment provider, Grow can become economical much earlier. Its third-party Shopify transaction fee is 1% versus 2% on Basic, meaning the A$93 subscription difference can be recovered at roughly A$9,300 of monthly third-party-provider volume, assuming the external processor charges the same rate on either plan.
These are useful baselines rather than universal thresholds. Amex, international cards and your actual payment mix can change the result.
Choose Advanced if
Choose Advanced if the store needs features such as 15 staff accounts, live third-party shipping rates or regional storefront controls, or if sales volume is high enough for the lower processing rate to justify the additional subscription.
Advanced costs A$426 more than Grow on monthly billing and reduces the standard online rate from 1.6% to 1.4%.
Using card-rate savings alone:
A$426 ÷ 0.20% = approximately A$213,000 in monthly standard-card sales.
At A$80,000 per month, that 0.2 percentage-point difference saves about A$160, which does not cover the A$426 subscription increase.
At A$300,000 per month, the same rate reduction saves around A$600. At that point, Advanced becomes cheaper on subscription plus percentage processing before assigning any value to its additional features.
A business can still justify Advanced below the A$213,000 threshold if it specifically needs its operational or international-selling functionality.
Choose Shopify Plus if
Choose Plus when the business has moved beyond problems the Advanced plan can solve.
Typical reasons include:
- more than 15 staff need Shopify access
- B2B or wholesale is a meaningful sales channel
- checkout requires deeper customisation
- multiple international storefronts need central management
- API requirements are materially higher
- the business operates a large physical retail footprint
Payment savings can contribute to the business case, but Plus is normally an enterprise-capability decision first.
Shopify’s Australian comparison currently advertises Plus card rates from 1.2% + 30¢, versus 1.4% + 30¢ on Advanced.
Comparing the A$3,125 monthly subscription gap with that 0.2 percentage-point rate difference gives an illustrative card-rate-only break-even of:
A$3,125 ÷ 0.20% = approximately A$1.56 million in monthly standard-card sales.
Plus payment pricing can vary by country and commercial arrangement, so that is not a universal upgrade threshold. The stronger reason to move is usually that the business needs B2B, checkout, multi-store, staffing or enterprise capabilities that Advanced cannot provide.
How to reduce avoidable Shopify costs
The biggest savings usually come from changing the cost structure, not hunting for a cheaper theme.
Compare annual billing once Shopify is clearly the long-term platform. The effective monthly subscription falls from AUD $56 to AUD $42 on Basic, AUD $149 to AUD $114 on Grow and AUD $575 to AUD $431 on Advanced.
Model the actual card mix. A store where most customers use standard domestic cards has different economics from one selling heavily to international customers or receiving a large share of Amex.
Check the full cost before adding another gateway. Include the provider’s processing charge, Shopify’s additional transaction fee and the reconciliation work created by another payment stream.
Review apps as recurring operating expenses. Remove tools whose original use case no longer exists.
Separate checkout currency conversion from operating FX. One is controlled by Shopify’s payment setup; the other comes from how the business pays suppliers and other international expenses.
That final distinction is where Aspire becomes relevant.
Using Aspire for managing international operating spend
Aspire does not reduce Shopify’s subscription, Shopify Payments rates, third-party transaction fees or Shopify’s checkout currency-conversion fee.
Its role starts with the money the business needs to hold and spend after the ecommerce transaction.
An Australian Shopify merchant importing inventory from China, paying a US advertising platform and using contractors in Singapore can have several currency exposures even if all Shopify payouts arrive in AUD. Aspire Australia currently supports multi-currency accounts across 13 currencies, international SWIFT transfers and FX rates starting from 0.5% above mid-market rates.
You can see the current fees and supported currencies on Aspire Australia pricing.
For recurring software, advertising or other card spend, Aspire also provides corporate cards that can be used alongside its multi-currency account setup.
The distinction is narrow but important:
Shopify fees determine what it costs to sell and collect the customer payment. Aspire can be relevant to what it costs the business to hold, convert and spend money internationally after that sale.
FAQs
How much does Shopify cost in Australia?
Shopify currently costs AUD $56/month for Basic, AUD $149 for Grow and AUD $575 for Advanced on monthly billing. Annual billing reduces the effective monthly prices to AUD $42, AUD $114 and AUD $431. Plus starts from AUD $3,700/month.
What are Shopify transaction fees in Australia?
When an external payment provider is used, Shopify currently charges an additional 2% on Basic, 1% on Grow and 0.6% on Advanced. Those charges are separate from the payment provider’s own processing fee.
What are Shopify Payments fees in Australia?
For standard online cards, Shopify currently lists 1.75% + 30¢ on Basic, 1.6% + 30¢ on Grow and 1.4% + 30¢ on Advanced. Amex and international-card rates are higher.
Does Shopify charge GST on payment-processing fees?
Yes. Shopify states that 10% GST is charged on top of Shopify Payments processing fees for Australian merchants rather than being included in the advertised processing fee.
Does Shopify charge currency-conversion fees in Australia?
Australian Shopify Payments stores currently pay a 2% currency-conversion fee where Shopify converts the customer payment into the store’s payout currency. The fee does not apply where no currency conversion occurs.
When is Grow cheaper than Basic?
Using monthly billing, Shopify Payments and standard domestic online cards only, Grow’s 0.15 percentage-point processing advantage offsets its AUD $93 higher subscription at roughly AUD $62,000 in monthly sales. Different card types, external gateways and annual billing change the result.
When should a business consider Shopify Advanced?
If payment rates are the only reason to move from Grow, the simplified monthly break-even is roughly AUD $213,000 in standard domestic online card sales. Advanced can make sense earlier if the business needs 15 staff accounts, live third-party shipping rates or regional store customisation.
How much does Shopify Plus cost in Australia?
Shopify Plus starts at AUD $3,700/month on a 3-year term or AUD $4,000/month on a 1-year term. Higher-volume businesses with more complex structures can receive variable platform pricing based on revenue and business model.
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