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Short answer: a Shopify store in India costs ₹1,499–₹22,680 a month for the plan (annual billing, before 18% GST), plus about 4% on every online payment on the Basic plan once Shopify's extra fee and your gateway's fee are added together, plus apps and a one-time build cost. Cash on delivery orders don't attract Shopify's extra fee.
The plan price is the number everyone quotes. The transaction fee is the number that actually decides your margin. This guide covers both, with the maths.
1. Shopify plan prices in India
Shopify bills Indian stores in rupees. On annual billing, the main plans are:
| Plan | Price per month (annual billing, before GST) | Shopify's extra fee on online payments |
|---|---|---|
| Basic | ₹1,499 | 2% |
| Grow | ₹5,599 | 1% |
| Advanced | ₹22,680 | 0.6% |
| Plus | Custom (from about ₹1.75 lakh a month) | Negotiated |
Add 18% GST to every Shopify charge. Monthly billing is more expensive than annual billing, and Shopify regularly runs trial offers (for example, a low first-three-months price), so always confirm on Shopify's own India pricing page before you sign up — these numbers move with exchange rates and promotions.
There is also a ₹399 Starter plan, but it is built for selling through social links, not for running a full online store. If you want your own branded website, start at Basic.
2. The fee most Indian founders miss
In many countries, Shopify stores use Shopify Payments and pay a single card rate. Shopify Payments is not available in India. That means every Indian store connects a third-party gateway — Razorpay, Cashfree, PayU, PhonePe and so on — and Shopify then adds its own third-party transaction fee on every online payment:
- 2% on Basic
- 1% on Grow
- 0.6% on Advanced
That fee sits on top of the gateway's own charge. Razorpay's standard domestic rate, for example, is 2% plus 18% GST on that fee.
What one ₹1,000 prepaid order actually costs you
| Basic | Grow | Advanced | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shopify third-party fee | ₹20.00 | ₹10.00 | ₹6.00 |
| Gateway fee (2%) | ₹20.00 | ₹20.00 | ₹20.00 |
| GST on gateway fee (18%) | ₹3.60 | ₹3.60 | ₹3.60 |
| Total | ₹43.60 (4.36%) | ₹33.60 (3.36%) | ₹29.60 (2.96%) |
Your exact gateway rate may be lower if you negotiate, and GST on fees can usually be claimed back if you are GST-registered. But as a planning number, assume about 4.4% of online revenue on Basic.
Cash on delivery is different. Manual payment methods such as COD are exempt from Shopify's third-party fee, because no gateway processes them. COD has its own cost — returns — which we cover in our COD guide.
3. When to move from Basic to Grow (and Grow to Advanced)
Because the transaction fee drops as the plan price rises, there is a clear break-even point. Shopify's fee only applies to online-paid orders, so use your prepaid revenue, not total revenue.
- Basic → Grow: Grow costs ₹4,100 more a month and saves 1% of prepaid revenue. Break-even is ₹4.1 lakh of prepaid revenue a month. Above that, Grow is cheaper overall.
- Grow → Advanced: Advanced costs ₹17,081 more a month and saves 0.4%. Break-even is roughly ₹42.7 lakh of prepaid revenue a month.
(GST applies to both the subscription and the fee, so it doesn't change the break-even point.)
Example: a store doing ₹6 lakh a month, 60% prepaid, has ₹3.6 lakh of prepaid revenue. That's below ₹4.1 lakh, so Basic is still the cheaper plan. If prepaid share rises to 80% (₹4.8 lakh), Grow wins.
4. Apps: the quiet monthly bill
Shopify's apps add features the core platform doesn't have. A typical Indian D2C store pays for some of these:
- Reviews (photo reviews on product pages)
- WhatsApp and email automation (abandoned carts, order updates, COD confirmation)
- Shipping (Shiprocket or a courier aggregator — usually charged per shipment, not monthly)
- GST invoicing
- Subscriptions or loyalty, if you need them
Many apps charge in US dollars, and prices change often, so we don't list amounts here. Budget a fixed monthly line for apps from day one, and review it every quarter — stores often pay for apps they stopped using months ago.
5. The one-time build cost
The platform is the cheap part. What you pay an agency or freelancer depends on what the store needs, not on Shopify itself:
| What drives the price | Lower cost | Higher cost |
|---|---|---|
| Design | Customised existing theme | Fully custom design |
| Pages | Home, collection, product, cart | Plus lookbook, wholesale, quiz, landing pages |
| Catalogue setup | A few dozen products | Hundreds of products with variants |
| Integrations | Payments and shipping | ERP/Tally sync, multi-currency, loyalty |
| Automations | None | Cart recovery, COD confirmation, review requests |
| Architecture | Standard Shopify theme | Headless |
This is why a single "Shopify store from ₹X" price is rarely useful. At AdsPeek we price stores by component: you pick the pages, integrations and automations in our package builder and get an itemised quote. Our builds start from [YOUR PRICE].
6. A realistic first-year budget
For a new brand on the Basic plan selling ₹3 lakh a month with 50% prepaid:
| Cost | How to estimate |
|---|---|
| Shopify Basic | ₹1,499 × 12 + 18% GST ≈ ₹21,226 a year |
| Transaction + gateway fees | ~4.36% of ₹1.5 lakh prepaid × 12 ≈ ₹78,480 a year |
| Apps | Your chosen apps × 12 |
| Domain | One yearly renewal |
| Build | One-time, from your quote |
Notice that fees on payments cost several times more than the plan itself. That's the number to watch as you grow — and the reason the Basic-to-Grow switch matters.
7. How to keep Shopify costs down in India
- Pay annually once you're sure the store is staying — it's noticeably cheaper than monthly.
- Upgrade on the maths, not on features. Use the break-even figures above.
- Negotiate your gateway rate once you have steady volume.
- Grow your prepaid share carefully. Prepaid orders cost more in fees but return far less often than COD. A small prepaid discount usually pays for itself.
- Audit apps every quarter.
- Build only the pages you need now. You can add a lookbook or wholesale page later.
The bottom line
For most Indian D2C brands, Shopify's plan fee is a small line. The real costs are payment fees on prepaid orders, returns on COD orders, and the build. Plan for all three and choose your plan using the break-even numbers, not the feature list.
If you want a quote that's broken down by what you actually need, build your package — it takes about two minutes. Based in NCR? Meet us for Shopify development in Gurugram, Delhi or Noida.
Sources
- Razorpay — Shopify payment gateway cost in India and cheapest payment gateway for Shopify in India (plan fees on annual billing, third-party fees, worked ₹1,000 example, COD exemption)
- Shopify Help Center — Third-party transaction fees
- Shopify — Pricing (India) — check for current prices and offers
Prices and fees checked in November 2026. Shopify and payment gateways change pricing; confirm current figures before deciding.