Shopify is a hosted commerce platform: you build an online store, take payments and sell online, on social media and in person from one admin, without writing code. You pay a monthly subscription, from $29 a month on yearly billing in the US ($39 monthly), plus payment fees and any apps you add. Because you rent the platform rather than install it, Shopify handles hosting, security and updates.
Shopify Inc., the Canadian company behind it, is listed on Nasdaq and the Toronto Stock Exchange under the ticker SHOP. Shopify says millions of merchants in more than 175 countries use it, and that the Shopify App Store has over 13,000 apps. We are OkayScale, a Shopify agency in Esbjerg, Denmark, with more than 125 projects behind us. This is how we explain Shopify when a new client asks what it actually is.
How does Shopify work?
Shopify is software you subscribe to. You create an account, pick a theme for the design, add products and connect a payment method. Everything runs on Shopify's servers, so there is no separate hosting to buy, and every store gets a free myshopify.com address alongside the domain you own or buy.
The theme controls the design. Anything Shopify does not do out of the box comes from apps in the Shopify App Store or from custom development built for your store. While you build on a trial, the store is private or its checkout is inactive. When you pick a paid plan, you keep everything you built.
What you get on every paid plan
According to Shopify's pricing page (checked 9 November 2026), all four plans (Basic, Grow, Advanced and Plus) include:
- A full online store with unlimited products and hosting included.
- Themes. You can try any theme free in your store before buying. Theme Store purchases are final and non-refundable.
- Shopify Checkout. Customizing the checkout itself is limited on Basic, Grow and Advanced. Full customization requires Plus.
- Shopify Markets. Translation, local domains and duty and tax calculation, so you can sell to several countries from a single store. Local currency pricing requires Shopify Payments.
- Shopify POS. The free version of the point of sale app is on every plan, so you can take payments with a phone or card reader. POS Pro is a paid add-on.
- B2B. Companies, catalogs, net payment terms and self-serve ordering. On Basic, Grow and Advanced you get up to 3 catalogs, and features like deposits and partial payments are Plus only. More in our guide to B2B on Shopify.
- Shopify Flow. A free automation app. The Send HTTP Request action needs Grow or higher.
Shopify Payments
Shopify Payments is Shopify's built-in payment provider. Where it is available, it takes the major cards plus Apple Pay, Google Pay and Shop Pay, with no extra provider to set up. If you use a third-party provider instead, Shopify adds its own transaction fee. On the US, Irish and Danish pricing pages (checked 7 November 2026) that fee is 2% on Basic, 1% on Grow, 0.6% on Advanced and 0.2% on Plus.
For stores in Denmark, Shopify Payments also supports MobilePay and Klarna, but not Dankort. Dankort needs a separate provider, so the third-party fee applies. We compare the options in the best payment providers for Shopify.
How much does Shopify cost?
The full breakdown of plans, fees and the total cost of a store is on our page about what a Shopify store costs. In short, these are the plan prices on Shopify's own pricing pages, checked 7 November 2026 (Ireland as the Eurozone example):
| Plan | US, per month | Eurozone (Ireland), per month |
|---|---|---|
| Basic | $29 yearly, $39 monthly | €24 yearly, €32 monthly |
| Grow | $89 yearly, $105 monthly | €69 yearly, €92 monthly |
| Advanced | $359 yearly, $399 monthly | €289 yearly, €384 monthly |
| Plus | From $2,300 | From €2,100 |
Card fees come on top when you use Shopify Payments: in the US, 2.9% + 30¢ per online payment on Basic. There are no setup fees. In the US, the trial shown on 7 November 2026 was 3 days free, then $1 a month for 3 months on most plans. If you are looking at the top tier, read when Shopify Plus is the right choice.
Where Shopify falls short
- You do not control the server. You can change the theme, apps and data, but not the platform itself. That is the trade for Shopify running hosting and security.
- Apps add up. Many features come from apps with their own monthly fee, and ten small subscriptions quickly become a real cost.
- Checkout customization is limited below Plus. Changing the checkout steps themselves requires Plus.
- Third-party payments cost extra. Use another provider and you pay Shopify's fee of 2% down to 0.2% on top.
- Limits on the smaller plans. Up to 3 B2B catalogs and 10 inventory locations on Basic, Grow and Advanced.
Shopify compared with other platforms
WooCommerce is a free plugin for WordPress that you host yourself. You get full control, but also ongoing work with hosting, updates and plugins. See WooCommerce to Shopify.
If you sell in Denmark, you will also meet three local platforms. DanDomain bundles the OnPay payment solution, which takes Dankort (DanDomain to Shopify). Shoporama is a Danish system from Odense, and every package can export products, customers, orders and 301 redirects as CSV (Shoporama to Shopify). SmartWeb is sold today as Dandomain Webshop, and its product and category URLs sit under /shop/ with an ID, so redirects matter most when you move (SmartWeb to Shopify).
How a move works on any platform is on our Shopify migration page, and our count of which platforms Danish stores actually use is in ecommerce platforms in Denmark.
Is Shopify good for small business?
For most small businesses, yes. Hosting, checkout and payments come in one subscription, Basic already allows unlimited products, and you can run the store without code. A free theme and a few apps will take a small catalog a long way. Costs rise when you need more staff accounts, lower fees or features from the bigger plans.
Do it yourself or hire a Shopify agency?
An agency makes sense when the store needs something a standard theme cannot do: a design built around your brand, integrations with ERP, PIM or shipping, B2B with customer-specific pricing, several markets, or a move from another platform without losing Google rankings. Our projects start by pinning down what the store has to solve. Then we make complete Figma designs for desktop and mobile, build the store and test it with you before launch. A custom store takes 6 to 8 weeks on average from idea to live store.
Smaller jobs such as fixes and conversion improvements typically cost DKK 10,000 to 40,000 excl. VAT, and a complete custom store often starts around DKK 125,000 excl. VAT. If you already have a store, ongoing work can run through Unlimited Shopify Development at DKK 7,995 a month excl. VAT with no lock-in. See what we build under Shopify development, or read more about us as a Shopify agency.
FAQ
Is Shopify free?
No. There is a short free trial, followed by a low introductory price for 3 months on most plans (in the US, $1 a month as of November 2026). After that you pay the standard plan price.
Where is Shopify based?
Shopify Inc. is a Canadian company. Stores with a European billing address, including Danish ones, contract with Shopify International Limited in Dublin, Ireland.
Do I need Shopify Payments?
No, but if you skip it you pay Shopify's third-party transaction fee on top of your provider's fees, and local currency pricing in Markets requires Shopify Payments.
Can I use Shopify for a physical shop?
Yes. The free version of Shopify POS is on every plan, and you run it from the same admin as the online store. POS Pro is a paid add-on per location.
Want help with your Shopify store?
Tell us where the store is today and what it needs to do. You will get an honest answer on whether you can handle it yourself or what it takes. Contact us for a no-obligation chat.