Shopify Advanced and Shopify Plus can both support high-volume businesses, but they’re built for different levels of complexity. Advanced offers lower payment rates than Shopify’s other self-serve plans, along with custom reports and 15 staff accounts. Plus adds full checkout control, more B2B options, higher API limits, and priority support.
Advanced costs $299 per month when billed yearly. Plus starts at $2,300 per month with a three-year term. But businesses can’t add Plus-only features to Advanced à la carte.
This guide compares the two plans, then explains when Advanced is the right fit and when moving to Plus makes sense.
What's the difference between Shopify Plus and Shopify Advanced?
Shopify Advanced is a plan for high-volume businesses that need low transaction fees, custom reports, and control over international sales. Its Shopify Markets tools let businesses adjust storefront content and checkout settings for different countries and regions.
Shopify Plus is for fast-growing businesses with complex operations. It includes everything in the Advanced plan, plus checkout customization, unlimited B2B catalogs, higher API limits, and priority support.
Feature-by-feature comparison: Advanced vs Plus
The table below shows the current limits for each plan.
| Feature | Shopify Advanced | Shopify Plus |
|---|---|---|
| Staff accounts | 15 | Unlimited |
| Inventory locations | 10 | Up to 200 |
| POS Pro locations | $89 per month each | 20 included; up to 200 (see below) |
| Staging stores | None included | Unlimited |
| Themes | Up to 20 | Up to 100 |
| B2B catalogs | Up to three | Unlimited |
| Checkout customization | Standard editor and eligible apps | Advanced apps and Branding API |
| GraphQL Admin API | 200 points per second | 1,000 points per second |
| Support | Enhanced 24/7 chat | Priority 24/7 phone and chat |
| File storage | 500 GB per store | 1 TB per store |
| Shopify Functions | Public apps only | Public and custom apps |
Staff accounts and locations
Shopify Advanced allows 15 staff accounts and 10 inventory locations. Shopify Plus allows unlimited staff accounts and up to 200 locations.
POS Pro and retail
Advanced retailers can add Shopify POS Pro for $89 per month per location. Advanced accounts can choose monthly or yearly billing. All POS Pro locations on the account use the same billing schedule.
Shopify Plus includes POS Pro for the first 20 locations. Shopify waives the fee for locations 21 through 200 when the brand uses Shopify Payments and processes at least one retail transaction per month at any retail location.
Staging and themes
Staging stores are available only to businesses on Plus plans. Shopify Plus includes unlimited staging stores and allows up to 100 themes per account.
Advanced doesn’t include staging stores. Retailers can still add up to 20 themes and preview unpublished versions before making them live.
API access
API limits vary by API. Advanced gets 200 GraphQL Admin API points per second. Plus gets 1,000 points per second and can request higher limits through Shopify Support.
Shopify now treats the REST Admin API as legacy. Within that API, GiftCard, Multipass, and User are Plus-only resources. Plus also has access to the publishablePublish and publishableUnpublish GraphQL mutations.
Both plans can install public apps that use Shopify Functions. Only Plus can use custom apps that contain Shopify Functions.
Support
Advanced has enhanced 24/7 chat support. Plus provides priority 24/7 phone and chat support.
File storage
Advanced provides 500 GB of file storage per store, compared with 1 TB on the Plus plan. Plus brands can contact Shopify Support for more storage during early access. Each additional terabyte costs $100 per month.
Pricing side by side, and where the crossover sits
Current USD pricing varies by plan term:
| Plan and billing term | Monthly price |
|---|---|
| Advanced, billed yearly | $299 |
| Advanced, billed monthly | $399 |
| Plus, three-year term | $2,300 |
| Plus, one-year term | $2,500 |
Plus pricing varies by billing currency. Shopify lists different rates for CAD, EUR, GBP, JPY, AUD, and INR.
More complex, higher-volume businesses may pay a variable platform fee based on revenue and business model. The fee differs for B2B and direct-to-consumer (DTC) sales.
Shopify doesn’t publish a revenue level at which variable pricing begins. Businesses need to contact the Shopify Plus team for an exact quote. However, there are estimated break-even points for upgrading to Advanced:
| Region | With Shopify Payments | Without Shopify Payments |
|---|---|---|
| US and Australia | $1.32 million per year | $528,000 per year |
| Canada, UK, and Ireland | $880,000 per year | $528,000 per year |
| Singapore and New Zealand | $2.64 million per year | $528,000 per year |
These figures estimate when lower payment rates may cover the cost of moving from a lower Shopify plan to Advanced. They aren’t thresholds for moving from Advanced to Plus.
Which plan is best for large-scale retail
Advanced can support a retailer with up to 10 inventory locations. POS Pro costs $89 per month per location, and can be added only where the extra retail features are needed. Advanced brands can choose monthly or yearly POS Pro billing.
Shopify Plus allows up to 200 locations. The first 20 POS Pro locations are included in all Plus plans. For locations 21 through 200, Shopify waives the POS Pro fee when the brand uses Shopify Payments and processes at least one retail transaction per month at any retail location.
Both plans can keep online and in-store orders, inventory, and customer data in Shopify. Plus raises the location cap and changes the POS Pro cost structure for retailers with larger store networks.
For high-volume product launches, Plus handles more than 10,000 checkouts per minute and averages 99.99% uptime. Bandwidth and transactions are unlimited.
Canadian luggage retailer Bentley runs on Shopify Plus and Shopify POS across more than 125 stores. Staff can see inventory in real time, and customers can buy online for in-store pickup. Bentley also ships online orders from their stores. The company saw 129% year-over-year revenue growth, a 74% increase in online sales, and 17% growth in point-of-sale (POS) transactions.
Checkout customization: What Advanced can't do
Shopify Advanced uses the standard checkout and accounts editor for changes to logos, colors, and fonts. Eligible apps can be added to the thank-you and order-status pages, but not to the information, shipping, or payment pages.
- The Checkout Branding API for more visual changes
- Direct editing through Shopify Extensions
- Checkout Blocks for custom shipping discounts
- Separate B2B and DTC checkout flows within the same store
Advanced checkout customization is one reason to upgrade to the Plus plan.
House of Chikankari upgraded to Shopify Plus for app integrations and checkout customization. The apparel company was able to add loyalty-point information to their checkout using the Smile app. With Shopify Plus, their conversion rate doubled, orders increased 50%, and revenue rose 34%.
B2B: What’s on every plan vs. Plus-only
Shopify B2B is available on Basic, Grow, Advanced, and Plus. Every plan includes companies, catalogs, net payment terms, self-serve ordering, and Shopify Flow automations.
Basic, Grow, and Advanced stores can assign up to three active B2B market catalogs across all their markets. These stores must use the new Shopify Markets to access B2B catalog features.
Advanced also includes contextual checkout and storefront customization through Shopify Markets. Brands can create B2B markets and customize their storefront for each market.
Plus adds:
- Unlimited B2B market catalogs
- Direct catalog assignment to individual companies and company locations
- Deposit requirements
- Partial payments
- Payment requests for each fulfillment
Darche moved their wholesale business to Shopify and added company profiles, custom catalogs, personalized price lists, and self-serve ordering. Wholesale customers gained access to searchable catalogs and tiered pricing for their accounts. After moving to Shopify, Darche exceeded their previous 12 months of sales in just 4 months, and projected B2B sales to triple year over year in 2024.
If each customer pricing tier requires its own catalog, a fourth tier would exceed the Advanced limit. Businesses that need separate catalogs for individual companies or locations will also need a Plus-only feature.
When Shopify Advanced is the right answer
Shopify Advanced is the right answer when Plus-only features would go unused. That usually means:
- The standard checkout editor provides enough control.
- B2B sales need no more than three active catalogs.
- Catalogs don’t need to be assigned directly to specific companies or locations.
- POS Pro is needed at only a few locations. On Advanced, POS Pro is a paid add-on per location, billed monthly or annually.
- There is no clear return on investment (ROI) on the additional $2,300 to $2,500 per month for Plus.
- The business is growing, but its checkout, B2B, retail, API, and staffing needs still fit within Advanced.
Upgrading before those features are needed means paying more for tools the business will not use. Advanced can work now and be upgraded later.
Shopify Plus vs Shopify Advanced FAQ
How much does Shopify Plus cost compared to Shopify Advanced?
Shopify Advanced costs $299 per month when billed yearly. Shopify Plus starts at $2,300 per month with a three-year term or $2,500 per month with a one-year term. More complex, higher-volume businesses may pay a variable platform fee.
Can I customize checkout on Shopify Advanced?
Yes, but only through Shopify’s standard checkout and accounts editor. You can change branding and add eligible apps to the thank-you and order-status pages. Apps for the information, shipping, and payment pages are Plus-only.
What B2B features are available on Shopify Advanced vs. Shopify Plus?
Both plans include companies, net terms, self-serve ordering, and Shopify Flow. Advanced allows three active B2B market catalogs. Plus adds unlimited catalogs, direct company and location assignments, deposits, partial payments, and payment requests for each fulfillment.
Does Shopify publish a revenue threshold for upgrading to Plus?
No. Shopify does not publish a universal revenue threshold for moving from Advanced to Plus. Businesses need to compare the cost of Plus against the checkout, B2B, retail, API, and support features they would use.
What APIs are only available on Shopify Plus?
Shopify Plus has access to the GiftCard, Multipass, and User REST resources. Plus-only GraphQL mutations include publishablePublish and publishableUnpublish. Plus stores also receive more API calls and can request higher rate limits.
