Shopify launched in 2006 after its founders could not find a good enough platform to sell snowboards online. That origin story shaped its core product philosophy: make it possible for anyone to run a serious online store without being a developer.
In 2026 Shopify powers over 4 million stores in 175 countries. The platform handles the full commerce stack — storefront, product management, checkout, payments, shipping, inventory, and basic marketing — without requiring multiple separate tools or technical configuration.
The Basic plan at $39/mo covers everything a new store needs: a customisable storefront, unlimited products, online and in-person sales, basic reports, and Shopify Payments. Annual billing reduces this to $29/mo. The Grow plan at $105/mo ($79/mo annually) adds professional reports, lower transaction fees, and more staff accounts — the right tier for stores doing consistent monthly revenue that benefit from better data.
The transaction fee structure is important to understand. When using Shopify Payments, you pay only the credit card processing rate. When using a third-party processor like Stripe or PayPal, Shopify charges an additional 0.6–2% platform fee on top of the processor’s rate. For most stores, using Shopify Payments is the more economical choice.
The app ecosystem is both Shopify’s strength and its cost driver. The Shopify App Store has over 8,000 apps covering reviews, email marketing, subscriptions, upsells, and more. A mature store typically runs 5–15 apps at $5–30/mo each, adding $50–150/mo to the platform cost. This is normal for a scalable ecommerce operation but should be budgeted for from the start.