When people plan a webshop, they usually look at Shopify's monthly fee first. That is only one line. What you really pay depends on how your customers pay, which payment provider you choose, which theme and apps you use and how much time maintenance takes. Below I lay out how those costs work and how to calculate them over three years, so you can make a fair comparison with a custom webshop.
What Shopify charges today
At the start of November 2026, Shopify's Belgian pricing page lists these monthly amounts:
- Basic: €24 when paid yearly, €32 when paid monthly
- Grow: €69 yearly, €92 monthly
- Advanced: €289 yearly, €384 monthly
- Plus: from €2,100 per month
Online card payments through Shopify Payments cost 2% + €0.25 per transaction on Basic. Over three years, Basic therefore costs €864 in subscription fees when paid yearly, and €1,152 when paid monthly. For Grow it is €2,484 or €3,312. Shopify adjusts these amounts regularly, so check them on the day you do the maths.
The cost lines
A Shopify store costs you money in five places:
- the subscription, paid monthly or yearly;
- payment fees on every sale;
- the theme, free or a one-off paid purchase;
- apps, which can charge monthly, once or per use;
- maintenance, in money or in your own hours.
The subscription is predictable. Payment fees grow with your revenue, and that is where most surprises are.
Payment fees: where the difference is
If you use Shopify Payments, you pay a rate per transaction. According to Shopify itself, beyond that rate and your subscription there are no monthly fees, no hidden fees and no setup fees.
If you choose an external payment provider, you pay that provider's processing fees and, on top of that, transaction fees to Shopify. How high they are depends on your plan. Shopify calculates them per 30-day period: product price minus discounts, plus tax, plus shipping, times your plan's rate. That is explained in the documentation on third-party transaction fees.
The same documentation has a few details that belong in your calculation:
- With Shopify Payments you pay no third-party transaction fees on Shop Pay, Shop Pay Installments and manual payment methods such as cash, cash on delivery and bank transfer.
- If Shopify Payments is your main provider, PayPal payments are exempt from third-party transaction fees.
- If you refund an order, you don't get the third-party transaction fees back.
- For stores created on or after 12 May 2025, Shopify charges third-party transaction fees on the part of an order paid with store credit or gift cards.
Combine Shopify Payments with an external provider and it gets more expensive. Payments through that provider carry third-party transaction fees, and payments through Shopify Payments cost the standard rate plus a 1.25% surcharge. If you later move from Shopify Payments to another processor, you pay your plan's transaction fees again, on top of that new processor's fees.
In short: picking an external provider because its rate looks lower on paper can end up costing you more. Run the numbers before you decide.
What matters in Belgium
For a Belgian store, Bancontact is essential. According to the list of payment methods for Belgium, Shopify Payments works here with Visa, Mastercard, Maestro, American Express and UnionPay, with Apple Pay, Google Pay and Shop Pay, and with local methods such as Bancontact, iDEAL | Wero for customers in the Netherlands and Klarna.
If you also sell to the Netherlands, note this: you can only activate iDEAL | Wero after processing at least 100 orders through Shopify Payments. A new store aiming at Dutch customers starts without it. That affects your payment mix in the first year, and so your costs.
How to calculate it over three years
I always do it in this order:
- Choose the plan you actually need. Note the monthly price for monthly and for yearly billing, work both out over twelve months and then over three years.
- Estimate your yearly revenue and number of orders. Split them across payment methods: how much Bancontact, how much card, how much iDEAL.
- Calculate the payment fees per method. A fixed amount per transaction weighs more on small orders, a percentage on large ones.
- If you are considering an external provider, add your plan's Shopify transaction fees to that provider's fees and compare with Shopify Payments.
- Add the theme if you buy a paid one. You pay that once.
- List the apps you need and how they charge. Multiply monthly apps by 36.
- Add maintenance: what you pay someone, or how many hours you spend yourself.
- Add it all up. That three-year total is the number you compare.
Once your store is live, track your real costs. You'll find your transaction fees in your past bills under Settings > Billing, and you can export your Shopify Payments transactions. Put them next to your estimate from steps 2 and 3.
Theme and apps: small one by one, large together
A theme is a one-off cost. Apps keep running. An app you once installed for a single campaign is often still on your bill a year later. Check your bills every quarter and remove what you no longer use. Forgetting about it is not enough: actually uninstall the app.
Shopify or a custom webshop
With that three-year total you can compare fairly. A custom webshop is structured differently: more work at the start, no plan subscription and no transaction fees to a platform. You do pay your payment provider, hosting and maintenance. What I charge is on my pricing page. If you are considering the move, read how switching from Shopify works, or see what I do with custom webshops.
Shopify is not automatically more expensive. For a small store that wants to start quickly, it is often a good choice. The point is to compare with the right number, not with the monthly fee alone.
When to outsource it
You can do the maths yourself. Get help if you want to combine several payment providers, if you sell in Belgium and the Netherlands at the same time, if growth pushes you towards another plan, or if you are unsure about switching. A second pair of eyes on your app list and payment mix often saves more than it costs.
