Shopify Vs. Shopify Plus (2024 Comparison) – Forbes Advisor INDIA

Shopify is one of the most well-known platforms for e-commerce merchants of all sizes. It represents a trusted name in e-commerce, with many well-known brands relying on its user-friendly interface, customization options and dedicated support.

As your business grows, however, you may find yourself needing to upgrade. Enter Shopify Plus, which bills itself as an omnichannel enterprise platform. Let’s look at Shopify vs. Shopify Plus so that you can decide which is the right fit for your needs.

Shopify vs. Shopify Plus: At A Glance

The three standard Shopify plans―Basic, Shopify and Advanced―provide a platform for users to start, grow and manage their businesses. Merchants selling everything from personalized T-shirts to digital downloads can build a customized online store and sell across a myriad of locations, including on the web, via mobile devices, at brick-and-mortar stores and across channels, such as social media and online marketplaces.

There’s no coding knowledge required and Shopify provides top-notch customer support 24/7, making it an ideal setup for small businesses. As your enterprise expands and your needs change, you can upgrade your Shopify account to a higher plan simply by changing your account preferences.

But say those personalized t-shirts start selling well. Then, you add in some other merchandise and that sells even better. Suddenly, you’re not only running an online store but have also added locations across the country and are thinking about franchising. In that case, it’s likely time for Shopify Plus, an extension of the original offering. Launched in 2014 to provide a scalable, customizable enterprise solution, Shopify Plus gives business owners more choices and control when it comes to their websites and stores.

Pricing

Shopify allows users to get hands-on experience building an e-commerce site by paying INR 20 every 30 days for three months, and opt for any Shopify plan as per their requirements. Standard Shopify plans have flat, easy-to-understand pricing tiers, so choosing the best option for your business is fairly straightforward.

Basic is INR 1,994 per month, Shopify is INR 7,447 per month and Advanced is INR 30,164 per month. You can try any of them for free with a complimentary 14-day trial, which will help you determine which is the best fit for your needs and budget. See our Shopify pricing guide for more details.

Shopify Plus software pricing is more complex than the standard plans as the final totals of fees you’ll pay are based on sales volumes. Every business will pay a minimum of INR 1,52,000 per month for standard setups and integrations. 

Shopify Features

Shopify wants its customers to remain both happy and loyal and, as such, the platform offers some of the top features in a highly competitive e-commerce marketplace. First, it makes creating a storefront simple for anyone, supplying professional themes, branding, domain names and customizations like blogging.

Next up are various shopping cart and store management options, including abandoned checkout recovery, automatic carrier shipping rates, customer profiles and refunds. There’s plenty of space for marketing and SEO as well, with Google Ads credits, discounts and social media integrations. You’ll also have access to analytics, mobile app possibilities and various levels of product organization. Finally, Shopify features 24/7 dedicated support, which provides users with a support team that is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, by email, live chat and phone.

Learn more: Read Forbes Advisor’s Shopify review

Shopify Plus Features

Shopify Plus includes all of the standard Shopify features, plus additional resources that are designed to help support merchants with higher revenue and sales. The Shopify organization admin lets you manage all the stores in your organization from a single location.

The management tools in the Shopify organization admin can be used by Shopify Plus merchants only include Users, Store and Shopify Flow. In addition, customers have access to advanced apps that are designed for high-growth businesses and Shopify Plus supports additional application programming interface (API) calls that lets you integrate with custom apps. 

Along with additional integrations and permissions, users also get access to the Merchant Success Program, the Shopify Plus Partner Program, Shopify POS Pro and a Shopify Plus Community on Facebook.

How To Decide Between Shopify and Shopify Plus

When choosing a platform for your e-commerce needs, it’s important to consider factors such as budget, customer support, contracts and additional features. And when considering making the leap from Shopify to Shopify Plus, it’s essential to take a deeper look at the details of these factors and determine which ones will make or break your final decision.

Bottom Line

Shopify is a multidimensional, user-friendly platform that caters to e-commerce businesses of all sizes, from small sellers just starting out to larger brands that have branched into a variety of outlets. And while many of these businesses will need to upgrade their Shopify plans as they expand, advancing to Shopify Plus is a whole different ball game.

Because of its high costs, Shopify Plus is much more than simply a top-tier standard Shopify plan. Instead, the software caters to enterprise sellers—those who have both the funds and the need for a higher level of support. Bottom line: if you aren’t raking in millions of dollars in revenue annually, stick with a traditional Shopify plan until your ship(s) come in.