Shopify Advanced vs. Shopify Plus: The Key Differences

The $1,900/Month Question

Shopify Advanced and Shopify Plus are both designed for serious e-commerce operations. But the jump from $399 to $2,300 per month is substantial, and many merchants aren't sure whether the extra cost is justified for their business. The answer depends less on revenue and more on which specific capabilities your operation actually needs.

Both plans include everything in Shopify's lower tiers—unlimited products, 24/7 support, abandoned cart recovery, discount codes, Shopify Payments, and all the core commerce functionality. The differences emerge in four key areas: checkout customization, B2B capability, international selling, and operational scale.

Plan Comparison at a Glance

Checkout: The Biggest Differentiator

For most merchants, checkout customization is the single biggest reason to consider Plus. With Shopify Advanced, you're working with the standard Shopify checkout—you can add custom fields through some workarounds, but meaningful changes to checkout logic or flow are not possible.

Shopify Plus unlocks Checkout Extensibility and Shopify Functions, which together give you genuine control over how your checkout works:

• Checkout Extensibility: Add UI components (banners, fields, custom sections) directly to checkout pages using Checkout UI Extensions—without touching Shopify's core code
• Shopify Functions: Customize backend commerce logic—discount calculations, shipping method filtering, payment method visibility—using serverless compute that runs inside Shopify's infrastructure
• checkout.liquid access: Full template control for deeper visual customization (though extensibility is the preferred modern approach)

If your store requires upsells at checkout, custom discount logic, dynamic shipping rules, or any non-standard checkout flow, you need Plus.

B2B Capabilities

This is a clean split: Shopify Advanced has no native B2B features. Shopify Plus includes a full B2B commerce suite built into the platform:

• Company accounts: Separate B2B company profiles with multiple buyers, locations, and permissions
• Custom price lists: Per-company or per-customer-group pricing that buyers see when logged in
• Volume discounts: Quantity-based pricing tiers configured without apps
• Wholesale channel: Password-protected storefront for wholesale buyers
• Net payment terms: Net 30/60/90 payment options for corporate buyers
• Sales rep login: Staff can log in as customers to place orders on their behalf

If you're running or planning a B2B wholesale operation alongside D2C, Plus is effectively required. You can approximate some B2B functionality on Advanced through third-party apps, but the native implementation on Plus is significantly more robust and doesn't require stitching together multiple paid app subscriptions.

International Selling

Shopify Advanced includes basic Shopify Markets access—you get 3 markets included, with the ability to expand to 50 for an additional cost. This covers multi-currency, basic localization, and some domain management.

Shopify Plus upgrades this to Shopify Markets Pro, which adds:

• Localized storefronts: Per-market stores with full content and product customization
• Duty and import tax calculations: Landed cost shown at checkout, with Shopify handling tax remittance
• Compliance automation: Country-specific payment methods and legal requirements handled automatically
• Expansion stores: Up to 10 additional stores included (vs. paying per store on Advanced)

For merchants generating significant international revenue or managing operations across multiple brands or regions, the expansion store and Markets Pro capabilities often justify the Plus price on their own.

Automation and Operations

Shopify Plus includes Shopify Flow and Launchpad—two automation tools that can meaningfully reduce operational overhead:

• Shopify Flow: No-code workflow automation for order processing, inventory management, customer tagging, fraud review, and more. Think of it as Zapier built natively into Shopify with commerce-specific triggers and actions
• Launchpad: Scheduled automation for sales events—price changes, product launches, inventory adjustments, and theme switching all set to trigger at a specific time

Advanced merchants can access some Flow functionality, but the full suite of triggers and actions is Plus-only.

API Limits and Integration Depth

If you're running deep integrations with an ERP, WMS, PIM, or complex middleware layer, Shopify Plus's higher API call limits matter. Standard plans throttle API requests in ways that can create bottlenecks for high-volume order processing or real-time inventory sync.

Plus merchants also get access to additional APIs not available on lower plans, including certain B2B APIs and the Checkout UI Extensions API.

Support and Account Management

Both plans include 24/7 support, but the nature of that support differs significantly:

• Advanced: Enhanced priority chat support—faster response times than lower tiers, but still ticket-based
• Plus: Dedicated Merchant Success Manager—a named person who knows your account, proactively flags relevant platform updates, and can escalate issues internally

For enterprise operations where downtime during peak periods is costly, the dedicated account management can be valuable beyond just support—your MSM knows your business and can help with strategic platform decisions.

When to Choose Shopify Advanced

Shopify Advanced is the right choice when:

• You're a growing D2C brand that doesn't need B2B functionality
• Standard checkout works for your conversion flow
• You're operating in 1–3 markets without complex international requirements
• Your team is under 15 people, or you manage access through fewer accounts
• Your integration needs are met by standard API limits and available apps
• The $1,900/month difference is better invested in marketing or team

When to Upgrade to Shopify Plus

Shopify Plus makes clear business sense when:

• You're running or launching a B2B/wholesale operation alongside D2C
• Your checkout conversion is constrained by the inability to customize checkout logic or flow
• You're scaling internationally across multiple markets or brands
• You need workflow automation to manage operational volume without adding headcount
• Your revenue is high enough that checkout optimization gains would offset the plan cost
• You're doing high-volume flash sales or product launches that benefit from Launchpad
• API throttling is creating integration bottlenecks with your backend systems

The ROI Calculation

The practical question is whether Shopify Plus's incremental capabilities generate more than $1,900/month in value over Advanced. For many merchants, the answer is yes—but often through a specific capability rather than the full feature set.

A 0.5% improvement in checkout conversion rate on a $500K/month revenue store is $2,500/month—more than the plan upgrade cost. A wholesale channel that eliminates a manual order entry process for five hours of staff time per week is another way the math works out.

If you're not sure whether Plus is justified for your specific situation, talk to an agency partner who can model the ROI against your actual numbers before you commit.