Shopify Plus vs Advanced is a question that tends to arrive with growth: more orders, more staff, more markets, and a feeling that the store has outgrown its plan. But Plus isn’t simply a bigger Advanced. It’s a specific set of features at a much higher price. In this guide I cover what Advanced already includes, what Plus adds as of October 2026, what each one costs, and the signs that tell you whether the upgrade will pay for itself.
Shopify Plus vs Advanced: the short answer
Upgrade when you need something only Plus does: custom code in the checkout steps, more than 15 staff accounts, separate stores for new regions, or more than three B2B catalogs. Don’t upgrade for features you already have, or to fix problems a plan can’t fix, such as a slow theme, weak product pages or unreliable tracking.
If you’re weighing it up, start with one question: what exactly can’t your store do today, and what is that costing you each month? The answer usually settles it.
What Advanced already gives you
Many features people link with Plus are available on every plan today, or from Advanced up. According to Shopify’s pricing page and Help Center at the time of writing:
- Shopify Flow automation is available on every plan, Basic included.
- B2B selling works on every plan, with up to three active B2B catalogs below Plus.
- Reports: the pricing page lists more than 200 reports plus custom analytics on all plans.
- Public apps built on Shopify Functions, which change discount, shipping and payment logic, work on any plan.
- Advanced adds up to 15 staff accounts, live third-party shipping rates at checkout, theme customization by market, enhanced live chat support and higher limits on some APIs.
- Lower card rates: 2.5% + 30¢ for a standard US online card on Advanced, against 2.9% + 30¢ on Basic.
What Plus adds today
These are the main Plus-only features Shopify lists in October 2026. The full list is on the Shopify Plus plan page in Shopify’s Help Center.
- Checkout customization. Checkout UI extensions on the information, shipping and payment steps are available only on Plus. Other plans get limited checkout customization.
- Custom Shopify Functions. Only Plus stores can use custom apps that contain Shopify Functions, so you can build your own discount, shipping or payment rules instead of relying on a public app.
- Staff and permissions. Unlimited staff accounts, plus custom user groups for assigning permissions in bulk.
- Expansion stores. Up to nine extra stores, for example one per region, managed through organization settings.
- Locations and retail. Up to 200 inventory locations instead of 10, with the first 20 POS Pro locations included.
- Deeper B2B. Unlimited B2B catalogs, catalogs assigned to specific companies, and deposits or partial payments.
- Launch tools. Launchpad for scheduled sales events, bot protection and Shopify’s high-volume checkout.
- Marketing extras. Shopify Audiences for ad targeting, and the Combined Listings app, which shows separate products, such as one per color, as a single listing.
- Support and scale. Priority support, higher API limits and up to 25 headless storefronts instead of one.
One thing Plus no longer offers is Shopify Scripts. They stopped running on June 30, 2026, and Shopify points stores to Shopify Functions or public apps instead. If an older guide tells you to get Plus for Scripts, it’s out of date.
What Plus costs compared with Advanced
At the time of writing (October 2026), US pricing, billed monthly or yearly as shown:
- Advanced: $399 a month billed monthly, or $299 a month billed yearly.
- Plus: starting at $2,500 a month on a one-year term, or $2,300 a month on a three-year term. Shopify says more complex, higher-volume businesses may pay a variable platform fee based on revenue instead.
Prices and terms change, so check Shopify’s current pricing page before you plan around these numbers.
Don’t expect lower card rates to cover the gap. A quick sum with the US rates: Plus charges 2.25% + 30¢ for a standard online card, against 2.5% + 30¢ on Advanced, a difference of 0.25 percentage points. The cheapest Plus term costs about $2,000 a month more than Advanced billed yearly, so you would need around $800,000 a month in online card sales before the rate saving alone paid for it. For most stores, the case for Plus has to come from the features.
Signs you need Plus
- Your checkout needs custom fields, logic or content on the information, shipping or payment steps, and no public app does it.
- You need your own discount, shipping or payment rules built as a custom app with Shopify Functions.
- Your team has outgrown 15 staff accounts, or permissions have become hard to manage person by person.
- You’re opening new regions or business lines that each need their own store, run under one organization.
- Wholesale has outgrown three catalogs, or buyers need company-specific catalogs, deposits or partial payments.
- Product drops bring traffic spikes and bots, and a failed launch costs you real money.
- Your retail side is heading past 10 locations.
Signs you don’t need Plus yet
- You want Flow, B2B with a few price lists or detailed reports. You already have them.
- The checkout change you want exists as a public app built on Shopify Functions.
- Your real problem is conversion: slow pages, weak product photos or surprise shipping costs. Plus fixes none of these, and a focused redesign or theme cleanup usually does more for the money.
- You can’t trust your sales data. Fix tracking first, so you can measure whether any upgrade works. My conversion tracking service covers GA4 and ad pixels on Shopify.
How much work the move from Advanced to Plus takes
Less than most people expect for the switch itself. Shopify treats a move from Advanced to Plus as a plan change, not a rebuild, so your products, customers, orders and theme stay where they are. You get a quote by sharing your annual online revenue, payment setup, sales model and technical needs, then agree a one- or three-year term. Eligible stores can try Plus first: at the time of writing (October 2026), US pricing, the trial cost $399 a month for one to two months, with some features held back, including expansion stores and bot protection.
The real work is putting the new features to use. Plan time for:
- Building and testing checkout extensions or custom Functions.
- Setting up each expansion store: products, theme, apps, languages and payments. Each one can be close to a new store build.
- Moving staff into user groups and reviewing permissions.
- Asking each app vendor whether their price changes on Plus.
- Re-testing checkout and purchase tracking after any checkout change.
I build and test this kind of work on a duplicate theme or a development store before anything touches the live checkout. If you’re weighing the upgrade, my Shopify development service can help you scope what Plus would actually change for your store.
What to do next
- List the three things your store can’t do today that cost you sales or staff time.
- Check each one against the Plus-only list above, and cross off anything Advanced or an app already covers.
- Put a monthly value on what’s left and compare it with the price difference.
- If Plus still wins, ask Shopify for a quote and plan the setup work before you sign.
Related reading: The Shopify SEO Basics to Fix First on a New or Old Store and Shopify Shipping Settings Done Right: Rates, Zones and Free Shipping.
FAQ
Is Shopify Plus worth it for a mid-size store?
Only if you need a Plus-only feature, such as checkout extensions on the payment step or expansion stores. Lower card rates alone cover the cost only at very high volume.
Is Shopify Plus a long-term commitment?
Yes. Plus is sold on one- or three-year terms, and Shopify’s pricing page says you can cancel when the term commitment expires. Plan as if you’re committed for the full term.
Do I need Plus for B2B or wholesale?
Not to start. B2B works on every plan with up to three active catalogs. Plus adds unlimited catalogs, company-specific catalogs, and deposits or partial payments.
Will Plus make my store faster?
Not by itself. Page speed depends mostly on your theme, apps and images. Plus helps with checkout capacity during big launches, which is a different problem.
Not sure whether your store has outgrown Advanced? Get a free website review and I’ll tell you honestly whether Plus would change anything that matters for your sales.
