Stripe vs Shopify Payments, and the fee for choosing.
Shopify's online rate matches Stripe's on Basic and beats it on higher plans, but Shopify charges an extra 2% to 0.2% if you process with anyone else. That surcharge, not the rate, is the decision.
What this page settles.
Three questions, in the order most people ask them.
The short answer
If you are on Shopify, use Shopify Payments unless you are on Plus. If you are not on Shopify, Stripe is a payments platform and Shopify is a store platform, and they are not substitutes.
On published price for online cards: Shopify Basic is 2.9% + 30¢, which is exactly Stripe’s standard rate. Shopify Grow is 2.7% + 30¢, Advanced 2.5% + 30¢ and Plus 2.25% + 30¢ — all below Stripe’s standard tier.
Then the clause. Shopify charges an additional transaction fee if you process with anyone other than Shopify Payments: 2% on Basic, 1% on Grow, 0.6% on Advanced, 0.2% on Plus. So running Stripe inside a Shopify store on Basic costs 2.9% + 30¢ plus 2% — comfortably the most expensive option on this page.
At 0.2% on Plus the surcharge becomes small enough that a well-negotiated processing arrangement can beat Shopify Payments. That is exactly why Shopify Plus merchants shop their processing and Shopify Basic merchants do not.
Published pricing, side by side
| Stripe | Shopify Payments | |
|---|---|---|
| In person | 2.7% + 5¢ Terminal, domestic cards; Tap to Pay adds $0.10 per authorization |
2.6% + 10¢ Basic; 2.5% + 10¢ Grow, 2.4% + 10¢ Advanced, 2.3% + 10¢ Plus |
| Keyed | +0.5% on top of the base rate | Not published separately |
| Online | 2.9% + 30¢ domestic cards; +1.5% international, +1% currency conversion |
2.9% + 30¢ Basic; 2.7% + 30¢ Grow, 2.5% + 30¢ Advanced, 2.25% + 30¢ Plus |
| Pricing model | Flat rate | Flat rate, inside a plan |
| Monthly | $0 on standard pricing | $39/mo Basic, $105/mo Grow, $399/mo Advanced, from $2,300/mo Plus (monthly billing) |
| Contract | No contract stated. The page says no setup fees and no monthly fees on standard pricing. | No term stated; plans are monthly or annual |
| Monthly minimum | Not stated | Not stated |
| Funding | Rolling, weekly or monthly payouts, free on the standard schedule; instant payouts 1.5% with a 50¢ minimum | Not stated on the pricing page |
| Chargeback fee | $15 per dispute received, plus $15 per dispute responded to manually (refunded on a win) | Not published on the pricing page |
| Hardware | Sold outright; Terminal cellular $10 per reader per month | Sold outright |
| Account type | Own merchant account through Stripe, underwritten | Aggregator (sub-merchant under Shopify) |
Stripe: stripe.com — read 2026-10-08. Shopify Payments: www.shopify.com — read 2026-10-08.
Published prices change. These were read on the dates above and are list prices for a business buying direct — a quote you are given may differ, and should be compared as a quote rather than against a price list.
Stripe, also published:
- ACH Direct Debit 0.8%, capped at $5.00
- Point-to-point encryption 5¢ per authorization, optional
- Custom domain on Payment Links and Checkout $10/mo
Shopify Payments, also published:
- An extra transaction fee applies if you use an outside processor: 2% Basic, 1% Grow, 0.6% Advanced, 0.2% Plus
- Annual billing is cheaper: $29, $79, $299 a month
Where they actually differ
They are not really competitors. Shopify is an e-commerce platform; Stripe is payments infrastructure. A business choosing between them is usually choosing between “build a store on a platform” and “build a product and put payments in it”. Only businesses already on Shopify are genuinely choosing between these two as processors.
The plan fee. Shopify is $39 to $399 a month on monthly billing ($29 to $299 annual), and that fee buys the store, not the payments. Stripe’s standard pricing has no monthly fee, and you supply the store.
What you can build. Stripe’s billing engine, its fraud tooling, its marketplace and platform products, and its API have no equivalent inside Shopify Payments. If your payments need logic, Stripe. Subscription pricing.
In person. Shopify publishes 2.6% + 10¢ in person on Basic, falling to 2.3% + 10¢ on Plus. Stripe Terminal is 2.7% + 5¢. Close, and Shopify’s retail hardware is built around a shop attached to an online store while Stripe Terminal is built for embedding payments in your own software.
Disclosure. Stripe publishes dispute fees ($15 received, $15 countered, refunded on a win), international surcharges and currency conversion. Shopify publishes none of those on its pricing page. Stripe’s disclosure is substantially better. Chargeback fees.
The account. Stripe underwrites you as a merchant in your own right. Shopify Payments is an aggregator arrangement — you are a sub-merchant. Merchant account versus aggregator.
Who each one suits
Shopify Payments suits every Shopify merchant below Plus, because the outside-processor surcharge removes the alternative. On Grow and Advanced the rate is also simply better than Stripe’s standard tier.
Stripe suits a business building its own checkout, a marketplace, a subscription product, anything international, and Shopify Plus merchants whose 0.2% surcharge is small enough that a negotiated processing arrangement wins.
Neither is the cheapest for a high-volume store. Both are flat rates. A store doing $200,000 a month online would save materially on interchange-plus, and whether it can act on that depends entirely on which plan it is on.
What the comparison does not show
Work the surcharge into every comparison. Any processing quote you consider while on Shopify has to beat Shopify Payments plus your plan’s surcharge. On Basic that is a 2% head start and essentially unbeatable.
Shopify’s headline prices are annual-billing prices. Monthly billing is $39, $105, $399 rather than $29, $79, $299.
Your online cost is mostly not your rate. Decline rate and dispute rate move more money than the gap between these two for almost every store. Selling online.
Check your descriptor on whichever you use. Unrecognised charges are the largest single source of online disputes and the cheapest thing on this list to fix. Billing descriptors.
How to settle it with your own numbers
Both of these are flat rates, which means both charge you the same whether your customer handed over a plain debit card or a premium rewards card. The published difference between Stripe and Shopify is therefore real but narrow, and neither figure is your cost.
Your cost is your effective rate: total fees for a month divided by total card volume. Work it out, then price Stripe and Shopify against it at your own average ticket — the per-item is often what separates them — and remember that neither can show you the card mix underneath, which is what decides whether a flat rate is treating you generously or not.
The calculator works it out from two figures on a statement, and what an effective rate is explains why it so often differs from the rate on the quote.
What we charge
Interchange + 0.50% + 10¢ in person, interchange + 0.75% + 25¢ keyed, with no contract, no monthly fee and no monthly minimum.
Both Stripe and Shopify are flat rates, and so is the limitation they share: above roughly $25,000 to $40,000 a month in card volume, interchange passed through at cost generally costs less than either. Send us a statement and we will tell you which side of that line you are on — including when the answer is that you should stay where you are.
While we are on the subject
Can I use Stripe with Shopify?
Yes, and Shopify charges an extra transaction fee for it: 2% on Basic, 1% on Grow, 0.6% on Advanced, 0.2% on Plus.
Is Shopify Payments cheaper than Stripe?
On Basic the online rates are identical. On Grow, Advanced and Plus, Shopify’s rate is lower. And the outside-processor surcharge makes Shopify Payments cheaper in practice on every plan below Plus.
Which should I use if I am not on Shopify?
Stripe, or another processor. Shopify Payments only exists inside Shopify, so it is not an option without the platform.
Why does Shopify charge extra for other processors?
Because payment processing is a large part of its revenue. The surcharge is published per plan and falls as the plan price rises.