Shopify vs. Shopify Plus: These 9 Differences You Should Know

Shopify Plus and Shopify may seem similar in name, as if one is "just" a kind of pro version with extended functionality of the other. After all, this business model is often encountered within the software and e-commerce landscape. In fact, the differences between the two systems are much more profound: starting from the target group, to a number of basic functions, to support and various background processes, Shopify Plus and Shopify are sometimes very different. In this article, we will therefore compare the two systems with each other. But first, we'd like to talk about the different plans and how to decide which one is right for you.

What plans does Shopify offer?

Shopify offers different versions of their store system. First, we will show you what plans are available and how to choose the right one.

Shopify offers the following plans:

• Shopify Starter: €5/month

• Shopify Basic: €33/month

• Shopify Grow: €88/month

• Shopify Advanced: €384/month

• Shopify Plus: from $2300/month

• Shopify Commerce Components: prices depend on the merchant's requirements

Which Shopify plan is right for me?

Since there is no specification as of when which version of the system should be used, we can only give you recommendations here:

Shopify Starter: Shopify Starter is ideal if you are just starting out with your business and want to sell primarily via social media or messenger. The plan is perfect for a quick start without your own online store - simple, affordable and mobile-friendly.

Shopify Basic: Shopify Basic is suitable for small businesses that want to launch their first online store with a full range of functions. With an integrated checkout, simple shipping management and initial reporting functions, this plan is a solid introduction to professional e-commerce. Recommended for companies with a turnover of up to €10,000/month.

Shopify Grow: Shopify Grow is aimed at growing brands that want to increase sales and use multiple sales channels simultaneously. The plan offers advanced reporting, professional marketing tooling and additional staff accounts - ideal for building a scalable business. Recommended for companies with a turnover of €10,000/month or more.

Shopify Advanced: Shopify Advanced is the right choice for established online stores with higher order volumes, more complex logistics processes and a larger team. With precise analysis tools, automated workflows and lower transaction fees, it is designed for growth and efficiency. This plan is recommended for companies with a turnover of €25,000/month or more.

Shopify Plus: Shopify Plus is for large companies, enterprise brands and D2C brands with high traffic and complex requirements. It offers maximum scalability, API access, individual checkout customization and dedicated support - perfect for international expansion and automation. Recommended for companies with a turnover of €750,000/year or more.

Shopify Commerce Components: Shopify Commerce Components is a modular enterprise system for very large retailers who want to flexibly integrate individual Shopify functions (such as checkout, cart, APIs) into existing system landscapes. Commerce Components is ideal for companies with their own infrastructure and individual requirements. Commerce Components tends to be used by companies with a turnover of at least €500 million per year.

Now that you have an overview of the different plans, let's go over the most essential differences of Shopify vs Shopify Plus.

#1: Target audience - Enterprise solution vs. E-commerce startup

Shopify and Shopify Plus differ significantly in one respect: their respective target groups. Shopify is designed to enable even non-professionals to get started in e-commerce. They can start their own online store within a few days and usually do not need any programming knowledge. Particular emphasis is also placed on simplicity when it comes to operation.

Shopify Plus, on the other hand, is the Canadian system's enterprise solution and is aimed primarily at high-revenue companies with a broad product portfolio and international target markets.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that the other differences in our list result from this target group orientation. After all, small and medium-sized companies in local markets have different requirements for their online store than a global player.

#2: Pricing model - monthly fixed price against revenue commitment for up to 10 stores

When comparing Shopify prices and Shopify Plus prices, the differences are immediately apparent. Shopify knows three standard plans: Basic (33 € / month), Shopify Grow (88 € / month) and Advanced (384 € / month). Shopify Plus costs are tied to revenue and thus variable, but a minimum of $2,300/month is charged. This sum alone shows the focus of the enterprise solution. However, it should not go unmentioned that in addition to the costs for a Shopify plan, costs for various paid apps can always be added. The final price of the system therefore always depends on the requirements of your store.

Shopify Plus has many functions already integrated that would only be possible under Shopify with the help of a paid app. In addition, the system offers the option of connecting up to 10 stores. This is particularly interesting for companies that sell internationally and have, for example, a .com, .de, .it and .fr domain. They can easily clone their store and operate it in another language.

For companies that operate multiple domains under Shopify Advanced with the help of various paid apps, switching to Shopify Plus could be interesting, not least because of these differences.

#3: Customizing - seamless integration and more customizability for the enterprise platform

Shopify Plus is designed as a plug-and-play platform and offers more integrations than the simple Shopify. Various ERP and CRM systems can be connected directly to Shopify Plus, including SAP, Microsoft Dynamics, and Acumatia, for example. For brick-and-mortar retail, companies also get full access to the Pro version for the ShopifyPOS in-house POS system. This would cost $89/month for traditional Shopify.

Shopify Plus customers get access to the Pro version of the ShopifyPOS checkout system.

Shopify Plus also has other strong APIs that can be used to connect to important tools or systems, including:

• Third-party logistics (3PL)

• Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)

• Product Information Management (PIM)

• Warehouse Management Software (WMS)

• Inventory Management Systems (IMS)

• Order Management Systems (OMS)

Headless commerce is also no problem with Shopify Plus. Especially the Storefront API, but also the GraphQL APIs convince with their strong performance. They offer all options for custom frontends or integrations with other software solutions.

Shopify's enterprise solution is also more adaptable, meaning that the checkout process, for example, can be very easily tailored to your company's corporate design and individual requirements.

#4: B2B commerce - Shopify Plus with its own business-to-business portal

Shopify is primarily aimed at direct-to-customer brands. Shopify Plus, on the other hand, is suitable for both B2C and B2B customers. Using the wholesale channel, you can give your customers access to a separate B2B store that has a number of features specific to this segment, for example:

• Quantity discounts and price scales

• User defined prices

• Configuration of shipping requirements

• Special wholesale products

#5: Unlimited number of employee accounts

Another difference between Shopify and Shopify Plus is the employee accounts. While Shopify's basic plan offers a limited number of employee accounts, Shopify Plus lets you add unlimited accounts. This way, you can give any of your team members access to the online store at any time.

#6: 24/7 prioritized support

Shopify Plus merchants benefit from 24/7 prioritized support that is available around the clock - even on weekends and public holidays. A dedicated team of experts is exclusively available and offers fast, competent help with technical questions, integrations or individual adjustments. Thanks to prioritized processing, inquiries are answered much faster than with regular Shopify support.

#7: Bandwidth

Unlike Shopify, Shopify Plus can handle a high volume of visitors. That's why many big brands also rely on Shopify Plus. One of them is LIVE FAST DIE YOUNG (LFDY). Here, for example, it had to handle a high volume of visitors in March 2021, when LFDY had 35,000 active users on its store thanks to a big product drop. Shopify Plus easily withstood that. No wonder, since Shopify Plus serves more than 600,000 merchants with around 80,000 requests per second at peak times.

#8: Checkout Extensibility

With Checkout Extensibility, Shopify provides a future-proof, API-based framework that is exclusively available to Shopify Plus merchants. The aim is to be able to customize the checkout process individually, securely and scalably - with the help of apps, UI extensions and integrated functions. In the long term, this new solution will replace the previous Script Editor, which was the preferred method for customizing the checkout for many years.

Another advantage of Shopify Plus is the automated localization of the checkout - a decisive factor for internationally operating merchants. Functions such as multilingual checkouts, automatic currency conversion including local price rounding and country-specific domains allow international markets to be developed much more efficiently and user-friendly. Shopify Plus not only provides the technical basis for complex requirements, but also actively helps to optimize the checkout for customers worldwide.

#9: Headless Commerce

Shopify Plus offers special advantages for headless commerce solutions. With the powerful Storefront API, product data, shopping cart and checkout can be controlled independently of the classic Shopify frontend. Shopify Plus also supports modern frameworks such as Hydrogen and Remix, which developers can use to create customized and high-performance frontends - for example for individual designs, faster loading times or personalized user experiences. This makes it possible to create a completely custom website or app that only uses the Shopify backend without being tied to standard themes.

Although the Storefront API is also available in regular Shopify plans, Shopify Plus offers extended options, including higher API rate limits, exclusive access to Hydrogen and technical advice. While simple headless solutions are also possible with standard stores, Shopify Plus is a much better and often necessary choice for professional, scalable and highly customized headless commerce projects.

Our conclusion on the Shopify vs. Shopify Plus comparison

Comparing Shopify and Shopify Plus, some differences can be noticed - significant is of course the price level, which is completely different for Shopify Plus than for Shopify. The enterprise platform justifies this with numerous exclusive features not found on any of the three Shopify plans. Some of these can noticeably simplify the business processes of medium-sized and large companies, and the exclusive wholesale channel, in turn, makes it possible to address a completely different customer group.