Shopify Plus: Features, pricing and when to upgrade guide [2025]

Shopify Plus is Shopify's enterprise ecommerce solution, built to support high-growth and high-volume brands that need greater scalability, automation, flexibility, and control than standard Shopify plans can offer. It runs on the same core platform but unlocks advanced capabilities for enterprise operations, global expansion, and complex commerce models.

Shopify Plus is Shopify's enterprise-level e-commerce platform designed for high-volume, high-growth, and high-complexity merchants.

Shopify Plus is ideal for:

• High-growth brands scaling rapidly across products, channels, or markets
• B2B merchants and wholesale sellers requiring custom pricing, purchase orders, and account-level logic
• International retailers selling across multiple languages, currencies, and regions
• Multi-brand companies managing multiple storefronts centrally
• High-volume businesses running flash sales, influencer drops, or peak traffic events
• Brands with unique customization requirements that must align closely with internal business processes

When comparing Shopify Plus to its closest standard plan, Advanced Shopify, the biggest differences come down to enterprise-grade automation, higher scalability, and much deeper checkout control — capabilities that high-growth merchants can't fully achieve on standard plans.

To put these advantages into perspective, here's a simple comparison between Shopify Plus and Shopify Advanced, along with other enterprise-focused ecommerce solutions.

In short, Shopify Plus turns Shopify's already capable platform into a true enterprise-grade ecommerce engine - powerful enough for global expansion and complex business structures, yet still simple enough for teams to manage without heavy developer dependency.

Let's take a closer look at what makes Shopify Plus an enterprise-level solution. We'll break down the plan's capabilities across key features and criteria.

2.1 Shopify Plus scalability: Handling high-volume traffic

Shopify Plus is built to support large spikes in traffic and order volume without slowing down. The platform can handle 10,000+ checkouts per minute, maintains 99.99% uptime, and uses Shopify's global infrastructure to deliver fast page responses for customers worldwide. For brands running product drops, flash sales, or high-season peaks, this removes the risk of downtime and performance bottlenecks that often occur on standard hosting setups.

Because Shopify manages the infrastructure end-to-end, your team no longer needs to think about server scaling, traffic load balancing, or monitoring uptime during major campaigns. This reduces operational stress and allows teams to focus on launching products and improving the buying experience rather than worrying about site stability.

2.2 Advanced checkout customization

Shopify Plus unlocks the ability to customize checkout, designed for enterprise-grade optimization. Through Checkout Extensibility, brands can introduce logic, UI components, and data flows that standard Shopify cannot support - all while maintaining compliance and upgrade-safe architecture. This is also a major difference when comparing Shopify vs Shopify Plus.

Brands can implement advanced scenarios such as custom validation rules, account-based pricing, address-level restrictions, or personalized shipping and upsell modules. With Shopify Functions, developers can deploy serverless backend logic without maintaining infrastructure, enabling capabilities like custom discount engines, bespoke delivery calculations, advanced fraud checks, or tiered B2B payment rules.

For global and multi-segment retailers, the checkout layer supports versioned deployment, A/B testing, and localized customizations across different markets. Merchants can fine-tune checkout behavior with surgical precision, reducing friction and tailoring the experience to customer type, region, or order attributes.

You can customize your checkout flow with Shopify Plus.

2.3 Powerful automation tools (Shopify Flow automation)

Shopify Plus strengthens your operational efficiency with a deeper set of automation capabilities that streamline repetitive work across orders, inventory, customers, and promotions.

Shopify Flow is available on standard Shopify plans, but Shopify Plus stores get higher usage limits, access to more complex automations, and support for tasks created by custom partner apps, giving enterprise teams greater flexibility. Flow can automate core processes such as customer tagging, fraud checks, inventory alerts, ticket creation, and cross-system triggers via the Send HTTP Request action.

Launchpad, a Shopify Plus exclusive tool, allows brands to schedule and automate product drops, flash sales, theme changes, price updates, and inventory gating. This removes the need for manual coordination during high-traffic events.

Shopify Scripts, also exclusive to Plus, offers deeper cart and checkout logic for dynamic discounts, shipping rules, and customer-specific incentives, helping brands craft more tailored purchasing experiences.

2.4 Multi-store management & global expansion

Shopify Plus provides an organization-level management layer purpose-built for brands operating multiple regions, languages, or sub-brands. Through Organization Admin, teams can manage users, analytics, security policies, and store creation from a unified interface, eliminating the operational overhead of maintaining fragmented backends.

Enterprise merchants gain access to 9 expansion stores for internationalization or brand separation, plus unlimited staging stores for testing. Combined with Shopify Markets, expansion stores support localized catalogs, duties and taxes, multi-currency pricing, region-specific payment methods, and international content governance.

For multi-brand groups, centralized user controls and permissioning eliminate administrative drift, reducing the risk of misconfigurations during scale. Large teams also benefit from global analytics, allowing leadership to compare performance across stores and markets without stitching together separate datasets.

2.5 B2B & Wholesale capabilities (B2B Shopify)

Shopify Plus comes with a built-in B2B (business-to-business) system that replaces separate wholesale portals and custom ordering tools. Merchants can manage everything in one place — company accounts, buyers for each location, price lists, payment terms, and restricted catalogs.

Buyers can shop through dedicated B2B storefronts or a combined B2C (business-to-consumer) + B2B experience. They get useful features like volume-based pricing, purchase-order (PO) checkout, saved carts, quick order forms, and role-based purchasing permissions.

Advanced B2B APIs (application programming interfaces), Multipass login, and higher API limits make it easier to integrate with systems like ERPs (enterprise resource planning), OMS tools (order management systems), and procurement platforms. Shopify Flow and Shopify Functions automate approvals, payment rules, and company-specific logic.

Shopify Plus provides a built-in B2B engine to replace fragmented wholesale portals and custom ordering systems.

2.6 Shopify Plus API limits and enterprise integrations

Shopify Plus gives enterprise businesses the higher API capacity and system flexibility needed for large, complex ecommerce operations. With increased API rate limits, brands can continuously sync data across major systems — such as ERPs (enterprise resource planning), CRMs (customer relationship management), WMS/OMS platforms (warehouse and order management systems), and financial tools — without hitting throttling limits.

Plus-only APIs, including Multipass for unified customer login and expanded Admin and Storefront API access, enable support for advanced identity setups, multi-store synchronization, and real-time updates across systems. For headless builds, Shopify Plus provides a fast and reliable backend for Hydrogen storefronts, custom frontends, and middleware that depend on high-frequency data reads and writes.

This architecture creates consistent, low-latency integrations across fulfillment networks, procurement platforms, and multi-brand setups — all without needing custom load-balancing logic or external queueing systems.

2.7 Enterprise-grade support & resources

Shopify Plus includes a structured support layer tailored for enterprise execution. Merchants receive a dedicated Merchant Success Manager (MSM) who provides architectural guidance, launch oversight, risk assessment for major changes, and best-practice recommendations.

24/7 priority support, access to Plus-certified agencies, and migration resources reduce the friction of replatforming and ongoing development. Teams also benefit from Plus Academy, technical documentation, and direct escalation pathways for API, checkout, and performance-related issues.

This combination elevates the entire operational lifecycle, from planning and deployment to optimization and troubleshooting, especially for brands with aggressive roadmaps or frequent promotional events.

Understanding Shopify Plus pricing starts with three core components:

• Base subscription
• Transaction and payment processing fees
• Additional variable costs depending on your operational needs.

This section breaks down how each cost category works so you can assess the true total cost of ownership and whether the upgrade aligns with your financial model.

The pricing plan of Shopify Plus depends on your contract, varying from $2,300 - $2,500/month.

3.1 Shopify Plus base pricing

The Shopify Plus plan starts at $2,500 per month on a standard 1-year contract and $2,300 per month on a 3-year contract.

For high-growth brands, this subscription replaces the need for maintaining cloud infrastructure, checkout hosting, security layers, and scaling logic during traffic surges.

This base fee covers:

• Access to enterprise-level features
• Unlimited staff accounts
• Multi-channel capabilities
• Advanced checkout tools
• Merchant Success Manager + Priority support
• Access to expansion stores for multi-region selling

This predictable subscription model is significantly more cost-effective than traditional enterprise platforms, which often charge tens of thousands per month in licensing and maintenance fees.

3.2 Shopify Plus transaction fees & Shopify payments rates

Transaction fees are often the most misunderstood part of Shopify Plus pricing. Here's the real breakdown:

Lower fees through Shopify Payments:

• Use Shopify Payments → 0% transaction fee
• Use third-party gateways → reduced fee of 0.15% (vs. 0.5–2% on standard plans)

Why this matters for scale: For brands processing millions annually, this reduction becomes significant.

Example: At $2M annual revenue processed through a third-party gateway, the reduced fee (0.15% vs. typical 0.5%) saves approximately $7,000/year compared to standard Shopify plans.

Credit card fees remain the same: Shopify Payments has fixed card-processing rates by region. These do not change by going Plus, but removing 3rd-party transaction fees means a notable reduction in blended processing cost.

Additional fee advantages:

• Lower operational costs during flash sales (no scaling fees)
• No surcharge for peak traffic
• Predictable infrastructure cost regardless of volume
• Improved margins for B2B orders with thin profit spreads

3.3 Additional costs and total Shopify Plus investment

Beyond the base fee and transaction structure, some merchants may incur extra costs, mainly from paid apps & integrations or migration work if replatforming from another eCommerce system.

These expenses vary widely and depend entirely on your tech stack, so they're only highlighted here as factors to include in your total cost assessment.

Below is the estimated pricing summary if you use Shopify Plus:

Upgrading to Shopify Plus requires more than hitting a revenue milestone. This section lays out a clear decision framework built around the factors that matter most:

• Revenue threshold & growth signals
• Operational complexity
• Checkout & customization needs
• Technical or Integration requirements.

These criteria help determine whether your current setup is limiting scale and whether Shopify Plus will deliver measurable ROI for your business.

4.1 Shopify Plus revenue requirements: The $1M benchmark

Upgrading to Shopify Plus becomes worthwhile when your growth and complexity outpace Advanced Shopify. While many reference the "$1M annual revenue benchmark," the real trigger is whether current limitations are costing you more than the $2,300/month fee.

At around $1M/year, patterns emerge: $80K+ monthly revenue, rising inefficiencies, valuable time lost to manual workarounds, and transaction-fee savings of $200 - $400. Some $500K stores need Plus for international expansion or B2B needs, while certain $2M brands remain fine on Advanced. If you face bottlenecks during flash sales, product launches, or peak seasons, Shopify Plus ensures reliable scalability and can save $3,400/year in gateway fees.

The bottom line:

• Under $500K/year: ROI is harder to justify unless you have specific needs like B2B or international expansion that standard plans can't support
• $500K–$1M/year: Depends on pain points, automation needs, and expansion plans
• Over $1M/year: Efficiency gains and cost savings typically outweigh the Shopify Plus fee

Deciding whether to make an enterprise upgrade isn't just about hitting a single revenue milestone.

4.2 Operational complexity has outgrown standard Shopify

Revenue alone shouldn't drive your upgrade decision. If your team is constantly working around platform constraints, it's a clear sign you're reaching the limits of what the non-Plus plans can support.

Here are the operational red flags to look for:

• Checkout customization limitations: If you need checkout extensibility, custom fields, advanced upsells, tiered pricing, or B2B ecommerce flows, standard Shopify simply won't give you the flexibility required for optimized conversion paths.
• API & integration constraints: Hitting Shopify API limits, needing more webhook capacity, or requiring advanced integrations like Multipass login or custom ERP/OMS connections are strong signals that you've surpassed what standard Shopify can handle reliably.

If two or more of these challenges apply, your operational complexity has surpassed the capabilities of your current plan. This is a strong signal for when to upgrade Shopify Plus, as the platform removes bottlenecks rather than adding more work.

4.3 The need for multi-store, multi-region, or global expansion

As brands expand internationally, they often need advanced tools to manage:

• Multi-region compliance
• International shipping rules
• Localized content for different countries
• International tax configuration
• Centralized control through Organization Admin

Shopify Plus is designed for global operations, making it easier to manage multiple stores under one organizational structure.

4.4 Requirements for Advanced B2B or Wholesale Workflows

Businesses entering or scaling their wholesale operations often need more control over:

• Custom price lists for distributors
• Purchase order management
• NET payment terms
• Buyer-specific catalogs
• High-account-volume workflows

If your B2B operations are outgrowing standard Shopify features, Shopify Plus platform (combined with robust B2B extensions) is the natural next step.

4.5 Planning major growth? When Shopify Plus makes sense

Suppose you are planning a major growth initiative, such as scaling 3x–6x within 12 months, entering new markets, or restructuring core systems. In that case, it's critical to assess whether your current Shopify plan can support that future state.

You want to identify platform limits before the growth project begins. Hitting API caps, checkout restrictions, multi-store limitations, or B2B constraints midway through an expansion forces teams to pause, rework plans, or migrate under pressure, delaying timelines and increasing operational risk.

Shopify Plus provides a more stable, scalable foundation for long-term digital transformation, ensuring growth projects can run end-to-end without technical bottlenecks.

As more high-growth companies evaluate Shopify Plus as their enterprise ecommerce solution, real-world examples become essential for understanding its impact. These successful brands span multiple industries, from fashion and lifestyle to gaming hardware and subscription services, demonstrating how versatile the platform is for enterprise merchants with different business models.

Each case study highlights how these enterprise businesses leverage the platform's enterprise-level features, whether to support international selling, enhance checkout customization, or improve eCommerce scalability. Let's explore what companies use Shopify Plus now!

5.1 UrbanStems: Scaling subscriptions on Shopify Plus

The industry: Floral & gifting

UrbanStems is one of the successful brands that migrated from Salesforce Commerce Cloud to Shopify Plus.

UrbanStems is one of the case studies for upgrading to Shopify Plus and has gained outstanding growth.

As an enterprise merchant in the gifting and subscription space, they leveraged Shopify Plus to scale their D2C flower business, especially around peak seasons like Valentine's Day. In just four months, they replatformed and launched a more resilient, feature-rich store.

The results? A 15% reduction in total cost of ownership (TCO), 7% YoY subscription growth, 180% growth in December subscriptions, and zero downtime during peak Valentine's traffic.

5.2 NZXT: $3M savings after Shopify Plus migration

The industry: Gaming hardware

NZXT, a leader in the gaming and PC hardware space, uses Shopify Plus to transform how they sell custom PCs and pre-built systems. The brand moved away from a maintenance-heavy headless configurator and leveraged Plus as an enterprise ecommerce solution that supports cleaner catalog architecture, faster merchandising updates, and easier custom API integration.

By using Shopify Plus to streamline their PC configurations, NZXT was able to save $3 million.

By simplifying their product workflow and tapping into features designed for Shopify Plus merchants, this high-growth company improved scalability across regions and prepared their storefront for continued international selling.

The impact was significant: over $3M in cost savings, fulfillment times reduced from 10 days to under 2 days, and higher conversions driven by a more curated shopping journey, improved performance, and a more scalable ecommerce foundation that helps boost average order value and streamline operations long term.

5.3 Pura: 100% conversion lift with Shopify Plus B2B

The industry: Home fragrance

Pura is a high-growth brand in the smart fragrance market and a standout example of how Shopify Plus merchants use the platform to scale. On the Shopify Plus platform, they rebuilt their storefront using custom API integration and checkout extensibility to deliver a smoother, more personalized buying experience.

Pura launches a custom theme on Shopify Plus and doubles conversion.

With faster deployment cycles and automated workflows, Pura accelerated product launches and improved subscription management. They also leveraged B2B capabilities to streamline wholesale ordering without increasing operational load.

According to Shopify's case study, Pura achieved a 100% increase in conversion rate after rebuilding on Shopify Plus. This is a significant reduction in churn and more efficient operations powered by an agile, enterprise-level ecommerce setup that supports long-term scalability.

Shopify Plus is a powerful enterprise platform, but it still comes with constraints. Understanding these helps you decide whether the upgrade aligns with your operational needs and long-term goals.

6.1 Customization isn't fully open-source

Shopify Plus is not open-source, so deep backend customization has limits. Brands used to open-source platforms like Magento or WooCommerce may feel restricted by API rules and server-side guardrails.

Workaround: Use headless commerce for maximum frontend freedom, or rely on vetted partners and approved apps to extend functionality safely.

6.2 B2B tools may not fit complex wholesale models

The native B2B suite is strong, but highly customized wholesale operations—contract pricing, quoting flows, multi-step approvals, or ERP-heavy setups—may exceed what Shopify provides out of the box.

Workaround: Integrate specialized wholesale or ERP systems through dedicated apps or custom API extensions.

Although Shopify Plus is an effective commercial e-commerce solution, it's crucial to be aware of its limits before making an upgrade.

6.3 Higher cost for mid-sized merchants

Shopify Plus pricing can feel high for brands that haven't reached enterprise-level scale. Merchants without advanced workflows or large transaction volume may not see immediate ROI.

Workaround: Remain on Advanced Shopify until operational complexity clearly justifies the upgrade.

6.4 Dependence on apps for advanced workflows

Features like subscriptions, bundling, advanced merchandising, and enhanced search often require third-party apps, which can add to stack complexity and long-term cost.

Workaround: Choose multi-functional, high-quality apps to reduce bloat and simplify maintenance.

Understanding these considerations helps you determine whether Shopify Plus is the right fit for your technical capacity and growth roadmap. For many brands, the tradeoffs are manageable; for others, they may require additional planning before committing.

Choosing the right platform for your next stage of growth comes down to understanding how Shopify Plus aligns with your business requirements, long-term scalability goals, and operational workload. As a scalable ecommerce platform, Shopify Plus provides the infrastructure and omnichannel solution many high-growth brands need to expand faster, manage complexity, and maintain reliability during peak demand.

Key takeaways:

• There are competitive Shopify Plus benefits for brands needing automation, flexible checkout, stronger integrations, or multi-region expansion.
• The platform delivers advanced capabilities from expansion stores to merchant success manager support that help enterprise teams operate more efficiently.
• Your decision shouldn't hinge on revenue alone. Instead, evaluate pain points like workflow bottlenecks, checkout restrictions, international growth, or wholesale management challenges.

So what can you do next? Assess your store's operational challenges, future roadmap, and customization needs to determine whether upgrading now or preparing for a near-future transition offers the best value. The right upgrade timing depends on both your growth momentum and your ability to leverage the platform's enterprise-level capabilities.

Once you've made the upgrade, maximizing your checkout's potential becomes the next priority. Apps like Qikify Checkout Customizer help Shopify Plus merchants implement upsells, trust badges, and custom checkout fields—extending your platform's capabilities without requiring developer resources.

By combining Shopify Plus with the right optimization tools, you create a foundation that supports faster scaling, smoother operations, and higher revenue potential.

1. Can Shopify Plus handle high traffic?

Yes, Shopify Plus is built to handle high traffic exceptionally well. The platform can process up to +10,000 checkout starts per minute with unlimited bandwidth and transactions.

Designed to handle traffic spikes without compromising stability, it delivers 99.99% guaranteed uptime on average, ensuring consistent performance even during flash sales and traffic spikes.

2. Is Shopify Plus worth the cost?

Shopify Plus is worth the cost for businesses needing enterprise performance and flexibility. Starting at $2,300/month, many merchants report a lower total cost of ownership compared to self-hosted enterprise platforms, along with improved conversion rates from the optimized checkout experience.

It's ideal for high-volume sellers, brands needing checkout customization, B2B + DTC, multi-market expansion, or the ability to integrate APIs. With features like unlimited staff, carrier-calculated shipping, POS Pro, and staging stores, the ROI often outweighs the monthly fee.

3. What are the main features of Shopify Plus?

The main features fall into several categories:

• Checkout & conversion: Advanced checkout customization
• Scale & infrastructure: 200 locations, 99.99% uptime, +10,000 checkouts/minute
• Automation: Launchpad, Shopify Flow, Scripts for workflow automation
• B2B: Full wholesale functionality with company accounts, price lists, and payment terms
• Support: 24/7 priority support, dedicated Merchant Success Manager, and Plus Partner access

4. Does Shopify Plus support B2B and wholesale?

Yes, Shopify Plus includes full wholesale and B2B capabilities. You can use dozens of out-of-the-box wholesale features to sell B2B and DTC from a single store, or set up a separate B2B-only store. Plus also allows you to create unique buying flows for both B2B and DTC customers within the same store, giving you flexibility in how you manage different customer types.