Is Shopify Free? What the Free Trial Actually Hides
TL;DR Shopify isn't free. Verified May 2026: 3-day free trial (no credit card), then intro offer (often $1/mo for 3 months depending on country), then standard paid plan (Basic ~$39/mo, Grow ~$105/mo, Advanced ~$399/mo on annual billing, with regional variation). A published store runs on a paid plan. Real cost also includes domain, apps, optional theme, payment fees (1.5% to 2.9% depending on plan) and marketing. Always check the official pricing page before signing up, terms change.
The direct answer: no, Shopify isn't free
Shopify is a paid platform. No permanent free plan. What exists: a short free trial (no credit card) + a discounted intro offer for a few months, then you switch to the standard subscription.
I know it's not the answer you were hoping for. The nuance that matters: you still get a free trial (no credit card), then a discounted intro offer for the first months, often around $1/mo. During that window, you configure your store, add products, customize your theme, as if you were live.
Exact terms (duration, promo price) often change. Check the official Shopify pricing page before signing up.
And if the real question behind the price is "is Shopify worth it at all", I wrote a full Shopify review covering reliability, the real drawbacks and what merchants actually say.
And the thing that actually matters, the one you forget when you're panicking about the price: the Shopify subscription isn't where your money really goes. The first months cost almost nothing, and the real spend is marketing, not the ~$39/mo plan. More on that below.
What you can do during the free trial
The short free trial lets you explore the interface. But let's be honest: it's too short to build anything serious.
The promotional offer that follows, that's where it gets interesting. During this period you can:
- Add your products and configure your collections
- Customize your theme (free or paid)
- Set up your payment methods
- Configure shipping
- Start selling and collecting real orders
That's enough to test your concept, validate your niche, and generate first sales before paying full price.
My straight take: the short free trial is useless for launching a real business. The intro offer, on the other hand, is a real opportunity to test without significant financial risk.
Shopify paid plans: what they really cost
Shopify pricing verified May 2026 (annual billing, USD baseline, varies by region): Basic ~$39/mo, Grow ~$105/mo, Advanced ~$399/mo. Shopify Plus from ~$2,300/mo, quote-based. Always check the official pricing page before signing up, these numbers shift.
| Plan | Price (annual, $/mo) | For who |
|---|---|---|
| Basic | ~$39 | Launch, small store, 1-2 people |
| Grow | ~$105 | Growing store, team |
| Advanced | ~$399 | Significant volume, advanced features |
| Shopify Plus | ~$2,300+ (quote-based) | Enterprise, high volumes |
Monthly billing is about 25% more expensive than annual. If you're still unsure about your project, start monthly and switch to annual once it's validated.
For the vast majority of starting projects, the Basic plan is more than enough. It includes everything you need to launch and start selling.
Honest disclaimer: these prices shift, Shopify regularly runs promo offers (like Basic at $1/mo for 3 months). Verify the pricing page when you sign up. The point here is to give you a budget magnitude, not a price guarantee.
The hidden costs no one tells you about
The Shopify subscription is just part of the budget. Also count: domain name, apps, payment fees, optional premium theme, email marketing, reviews, translation, acquisition, and time spent setting up the store.
This is where many people are surprised. The Shopify subscription is the base, not the total cost.
The domain name
Shopify gives you a free subdomain (yourstore.myshopify.com), but for a professional store, you need a real domain. The price depends on registrar, extension, and renewal terms. Check the yearly cost before buying.
The apps
The Shopify App Store contains thousands of applications to add features: customer reviews, email marketing, upsell, SEO, chat. Many are free, but the best are often paid.
Some apps are free, others bill monthly, by usage, or by volume. If you install several without a plan, it adds up fast.
Good news: Shopify has built several features natively that used to require separate apps, especially around email, translation, markets, and AI. Still check the exact limits of each feature.
Transaction fees
This is the hidden cost most impacting margins.
With Shopify Payments (the integrated payment solution), you only pay credit card processing fees, which vary by plan (verified May 2026, US rates):
- Basic: 2.9% + 30¢ per online credit card transaction
- Grow: 2.7% + 30¢
- Advanced: 2.5% + 30¢
The higher your plan, the lower the card fees. On volume, the gap between Basic and Advanced can offset part of the higher subscription cost.
Without Shopify Payments (so with Stripe, PayPal, etc.), Shopify adds external fees on top of your gateway's fees:
- Basic: +2% on every sale
- Grow: +1%
- Advanced: +0.5%
These external fees stack on top of what you already pay Stripe/PayPal. On volume, that hurts fast.
Simple advice: enable Shopify Payments from day one to avoid the external fees. If Shopify Payments isn't available in your country or for your activity, factor the external fees into your margin calculation before committing to a higher plan.
The premium theme (optional)
Shopify offers quality free themes: Dawn, Sense, Craft. They're more than sufficient to start.
If you want a paid theme for advanced features, check its price directly in the Shopify Theme Store: pricing changes by developer and theme. I detailed the topic in my comparison of the best Shopify themes if you want to know which to choose by niche.
Hosting
Good news here: hosting is included in all Shopify plans. You don't pay extra for it.
Realistic budget to launch a Shopify store
For a properly configured store, excluding marketing, think in total budget: Shopify plan + domain + truly useful apps + optional theme + payment fees. Marketing comes on top depending on your strategy.
The smallest viable setup
Want the bare minimum for a real store that actually takes payments? Here's what it looks like:
- Basic plan: ~$39/mo annual, and often around $1/mo for the first 3 months via the intro offer
- A domain name: a small yearly cost, depends on the extension
- Shopify Payments enabled, to avoid external fees
- A free theme: Dawn does the job perfectly at the start
- Zero paid apps until you have a precise need
That's it. Everything else (apps, premium theme, tools) you add when the project justifies it, not before. For the full step-by-step once your budget is set, I wrote the guide to building your Shopify store.
The right reflex: simulate your costs before launching. Add plan, domain, essential apps, and payment fees. Then keep acquisition budget separate.
Then add ad budget if you do paid, and there, amounts vary wildly based on your strategy.
Budget by profile
By experience level, here's what concretely happens:
- Beginner, tight budget: entry plan + free theme + very few apps.
- Intermediate, serious store: adapted plan + possible premium theme + selected apps.
- Advanced, growing brand: higher plan + app stack + customization + reporting.
Below the beginner minimum, you can test, but you'll quickly need to reinvest to move the project forward.
Free alternatives and their real limits
WooCommerce and PrestaShop are open source: free in theory. In practice, you pay hosting, extensions, theme, maintenance, and often technical time.
WooCommerce and PrestaShop are often presented as "free" alternatives to Shopify. It's true in theory: the software is open source.
In practice, you have to pay for hosting, domain name, a professional theme, essential extensions, and maintenance. And you need technical skills to manage all that.
Wix offers a paid e-commerce plan, but features remain limited compared to Shopify for stores wanting to scale. I put all these platforms head to head in my best online store builder comparison if you want the full picture.
The real question isn't "free or paid", it's "what's the total cost relative to what it brings me". Shopify is paid, but it bundles hosting, payments, SSL, basic marketing tools, and part of the infrastructure into one subscription.
Can you really launch a store with no budget?
Honestly: you can test with very little budget if an intro offer is available, with a free theme and very few apps. But launching a store is not the same as building a profitable sales channel.
What costs money is marketing. Without ad budget, you have to bet on SEO, social media, content: channels that take time before producing results.
Going further
Want to see what your store looks like before pulling out your card? With Scale Ova, you generate your full Shopify store (theme, product pages, collections) from a simple description, and you look at it for free. You only pay when you publish to Shopify (from €29/mo, see pricing). Discover Scale Ova
FAQ
Is Shopify free?
No. Shopify offers a short free trial, then sometimes an intro offer at reduced price for the first months. After that, you switch to a standard subscription. Exact terms change by period and country, so always check the Shopify pricing page before signing up or planning a launch budget today.
Can you sell during the free trial?
The short free trial is mainly for exploring the admin, adding products, and understanding the interface. To collect payments and publish seriously, you need an offer or plan compatible with selling. Check official terms when signing up, because Shopify can change trial and intro offers regularly by market and period.
What are Shopify's real hidden costs?
Costs to watch: apps, payment fees, domain name, premium themes, marketing tools, and acquisition budget. Hosting is included in the subscription, but it is not the only cost of a store. The real budget is the sum of everything you activate, keep, and actually need every month after launch phase.
Is Shopify Payments available in my country?
Shopify Payments is available in many markets, but availability depends on country, business type, and Shopify's current rules. It can help avoid Shopify's additional transaction fees linked to some external gateways. Check eligibility, card fees, payout timing, and required documents on the official Shopify Payments page before launching or promising checkout options.
Can you change Shopify plans easily?
Yes. You can move to a higher plan immediately, or downgrade at the end of your billing period according to Shopify's current rules. This is useful when volume grows. Before paying annually, make sure your project is launched, you will keep the store, and the selected features are enough for operations.
Is WooCommerce really free compared to Shopify?
The software is free, but you have to pay for hosting, domain, extensions, and often a theme. You also manage maintenance, updates, security, backups, and technical conflicts. Shopify looks more expensive upfront, but removes part of that operational burden from the beginning of the project for non-technical founders early on.
How much should you really plan to launch?
Separate platform cost from acquisition cost. Platform side: Shopify plan, domain, essential apps, optional theme, and payment fees. Acquisition side: SEO, content, advertising, or social budget depending on your strategy. Without qualified traffic and a clear offer, even a technically clean store will not sell sustainably after its first launch month.
