Shopify Pricing NZ:
What a Store Really Costs in 2026
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A guide to Shopify costs for a New Zealand business: the monthly bill at three store sizes, the one-off build, and where WooCommerce works out cheaper.
Small store
Growing store
Larger store
Each total covers the monthly plan, fees and apps.
Shopify pricing in New Zealand starts at about $66 a month for the Basic plan. A working store pays for four things: the plan, a fee on every card payment, apps and a theme. The first three recur, and together the monthly cost runs from about $277 for a small store to about $4,700 for a larger one. Having the store designed and built is a separate one-off cost.
Payment fees are the largest monthly line at every size. Shopify makes the plan the headline, and the plan is a small part of what store owners pay.
FIGURES IN NEW ZEALAND DOLLARSShopify charges New Zealand stores in US dollars. The plan and card figures here come from the Shopify New Zealand pricing page in October 2026, converted at about $1.70 to the US dollar, before GST.
The Four Bills Inside Shopify Pricing
Three of the four arrive every month and one is paid once.
The Shopify Plan
The monthly subscription for the platform itself, from about $66 on Basic to about $678 on Advanced.
Shopify handles the hosting, security and software updates inside that fee.
A Fee on Every Sale
Each card payment costs a percentage of the sale plus a fixed fee, as it does on any platform. On the Basic plan the cost per sale is 2.65 per cent plus 30 cents per online transaction.
These payment processing fees come out of your payouts, so they do not appear on the Shopify bill.
Apps
Reviews, courier labels and email marketing come from apps. The Shopify App Store lists more than 16,000 apps, and each maker sets its own monthly fee or usage charge.
App charges land on the bill you see in the Shopify admin. Some are set by order count or contact list, so they rise as you sell more.
The Theme
How your store looks. A Shopify theme from the official theme store is free or paid once, at a few hundred dollars.
A design made for your brand is part of the build, covered further down.
What Three Shopify Stores Pay Each Month
Small Store
Plan$66
Payment fees$151
Apps$60
Monthly total$277
Growing Store
Plan$179
Payment fees$1,115
Apps$120
Monthly total$1,414
Larger Store
Plan$179
Payment fees$4,185
Apps$298
Monthly total$4,662
A small store sells about $5,000 a month on the Basic plan, with Judge.me for reviews and Klaviyo for email.
A growing store sells about $40,000 a month on the Grow plan and adds Starshipit for courier labels.
A larger store sells about $150,000 a month, also on Grow, with the same apps and a bigger courier plan.
Three examples, before GST. Payment fees are the largest line in each one.
Payment Processing: Where Shopify Adds a Transaction Fee
With Shopify Payments
- The card rate is the whole fee. When you use Shopify Payments, it is about 2.5 per cent of each sale plus 30 cents per transaction, depending on your plan.
- Some cards cost more. The pricing structure sets a higher rate for American Express and overseas cards.
- PayPal carries no extra fee. With Shopify Payments as your main provider, PayPal sales are exempt from the added fee.
With a Third-Party Payment Provider
- A second fee on every sale. When you use a third-party payment provider, it charges its own card fees, and Shopify adds a transaction fee: 2 per cent on Basic, 1 per cent on Grow and 0.6 on Advanced.
- About $400 a month. That is the extra cost for a store selling $40,000 a month on Grow.
- Refunds do not return it. Shopify keeps the fee when an order is refunded, and running both providers side by side costs extra as well.
Get Your Store Costs Worked Out
Tell us what you sell and roughly how much. We will work out the plan, payment fees and apps your store would pay each month.
Book a Free Discovery SessionFour Hidden Costs Outside Shopify Pricing Plans
These four sit outside the Shopify fees above, and each one lands on the store owner.
GST on the Shopify Bill
Shopify charges 15 per cent GST on its bill to a store based in New Zealand. A GST-registered business that adds its IRD number is exempt.
The Exchange Rate
The Shopify subscription is charged in US dollars, so the amount leaving your account changes month to month. Ask your bank what it adds to a US dollar payment.
Shopify POS in a Physical Shop
Shopify POS is a POS system for selling over the counter, and its basic features come with every plan. Shopify also sells POS Pro, with more features, at about $151 a month for each location.
Paying Month by Month
Paying a year ahead brings Basic from about $66 to about $49 a month, with the same saving on higher plans. It comes with a year’s commitment.
Which Shopify Plan Is Best for an Established NZ Business
Shopify’s pricing page compares the plans feature by feature. Choose the right plan by what the store needs today. Across the pricing tiers, the higher-tier plans add staff accounts and lower card rates. The Starter plan, for selling through social media links, is closed to new stores.
The Basic Shopify Plan
At about $66 a month, Shopify Basic carries the full online store and checkout, with no extra staff accounts.
It suits a store run by its owner.
The Grow Plan
At about $179 a month, it adds five staff accounts and a lower card rate. Shopify renamed it from the Shopify plan in 2025, so older guides use the old name.
The lower rate pays for itself once sales pass roughly $55,000 a month. Below that level, buy it for the staff accounts.
Shopify Advanced
At about $678 a month, it raises the limit to fifteen staff accounts and trims the card rate again.
The lower rate pays off for stores selling several hundred thousand dollars a month. Everyone else buys it for the staff accounts and features.
Shopify Plus
The Plus plan starts at about $3,900 a month on a three-year term.
Plus pricing buys checkout customisation and up to ten stores under one contract.
Shopify offers a free three-day trial, started by entering your email with no card details. On most plans the Shopify free trial is followed by three months at about $1.70 a month. A plan paid monthly can be cancelled at any time.
The One-Off Shopify Cost: Building an Ecommerce Store
The monthly figures assume a finished ecommerce website. Getting there is a project with its own budget.
- A theme-based store: around $5,000 and up. A free or paid theme, with your products loaded and payments set up. The figure comes from What a website costs.
- A custom-designed store: from $15,000. A Shopify website designed around your brand, with stock or point of sale connected, is a full website design project. Our ecommerce builds take 10 to 16 weeks and are quoted as a fixed amount.
Is Shopify Worth It for Your Store?
Shopify is worth it for a store that sells in a standard way and has nobody on hand to look after a website, since hosting, security and updates come inside the subscription. The cost case weakens as custom features and third-party payments pile up.
When a Shopify Store Costs Less
- No hosting or upkeep to arrange. Hosting, security, updates and the checkout are inside the subscription. A WooCommerce store needs a host and a person looking after it, and looking after a store is a bigger job than brochure-site care.
- A standard catalogue and checkout. A store that sells in the usual way needs few apps, so the monthly total stays close to the plan plus payment fees.
- A fast start. A theme-based store can be trading within weeks, long before a custom build would launch, and it costs less to set up.
When WooCommerce Costs Less
- A payment provider you want to keep. WooCommerce takes no fee of its own on sales, so a third-party provider costs its own rate and nothing more.
- Features that would each be an app. Wholesale accounts, bundles and stock sync can be built into a WooCommerce store. On a platform like Shopify they tend to become monthly subscriptions.
- Total cost of ownership over three years. Payment fees apply on either platform. The free WooCommerce software leaves the build, hosting, care and paid extensions against three years of subscription fees and apps. With heavy custom needs, that pricing model can come out cheaper.
Three Steps Before You Start
Your Shopify Free Trial
Have Your Numbers Ready
Your monthly sales and order count set most of the monthly total. Bring both to anyone quoting the store, along with the payment provider you use today.
List What the Store Must Do
Write down anything beyond a standard cart, such as wholesale logins or a stock system, and what you expect to add as you grow your business. Each item is an app or a custom build.
Get the Build Quoted as a Fixed Price
We build online stores on Shopify and WooCommerce and recommend whichever suits yours. You get a fixed price and a launch date from the senior developer who runs the build.
Want a Fixed Price for Your Store?
We scope your store on a free call, then quote a fixed price and a launch date for building it.
Book a Free Discovery Session