How much more does a third-party payment gateway cost on Shopify?
A third-party gateway at Stripe's published US rate costs $1,000 a month more than Shopify Payments on Basic and $425 more on Plus at US$50,000 of monthly sales. Updated October 19, 2026.
By Martin DejnickiUpdated
Short answer
A third-party gateway charging Stripe's published US rate costs $1,000 a month more than Shopify Payments on Shopify Basic, $600 on Grow, $500 on Advanced and $425 on Plus at US$50,000 of monthly online sales, according to Shopify's and Stripe's US pricing pages, read October 18, 2026. The figures assume a US$100 average order and are computed by Deploi.
A third-party gateway at Stripe's list rate adds $1,000 a month on Shopify Basic at US$50,000 in sales
Extra fees a month when paying through a third-party gateway at Stripe's published US rate instead of Shopify Payments, by plan, at the monthly online sales chosen, US$50,000 by default, and a US$100 average order, USD, October 2026
Extra fees a month through a gateway at Stripe's US rate, by plan, at $10,000 in sales
At $10,000 a month, a gateway at Stripe's list rate adds $200 on Basic, $120 on Grow, $100 on Advanced and $85 on Plus over Shopify Payments.
Showing: Monthly online sales: $10,000. Reset
Extra cost on Basic of a gateway at Stripe's rate, by monthly sales
- How this is calculated: Extra cost is Shopify's third-party transaction fee (2% on Basic, 1% on Grow, 0.6% on Advanced and 0.2% on Plus) plus Stripe's published 2.9% minus the plan's Shopify Payments rate (2.9%, 2.7%, 2.5% and 2.25%), times monthly online sales. Both sides charge 30 cents an order, so the US$100 average order the totals assume does not change the gap. Rates come from Shopify's and Stripe's US pricing pages, read October 18, 2026; Stripe's rate stands in for a third-party processor's list price, and a negotiated rate lowers that side. Computed by Deploi.
- Extra cost is Shopify's third-party transaction fee (2%, 1%, 0.6% and 0.2% by plan) plus the gap between Stripe's 2.9% plus 30 cents and the plan's Shopify Payments rate; computed by Deploi.
- Shopify Payments is supported in the United States, and Shopify's Help Center says Stripe can't be activated where it is, because Stripe is Shopify Payments' banking partner; Stripe's rate stands in for a third-party processor's list price.
- Assumes a US$100 average order; Stripe's rate and Shopify Payments both carry 30 cents per order, so the fixed fee does not change the gap.
- Uses Stripe's published standard US online card rate; a processor's negotiated rate lowers that side.
- PayPal's published 2.99% plus 49 cents for card payments is on the dataset page; PayPal lists PayPal Checkout at 3.49% plus the fixed fee. The chart prices the Stripe rate only.
- The table rounds each amount to the dollar, as the chart does, so the two fees and the extra cost in a row may not add up exactly; the dataset page has the exact amounts.
Source: Shopify pricing page (United States) and Stripe pricing page. Fees computed by Deploi. Read on .
What this means for your decision
- Switching to Shopify Payments? At US$50,000 of monthly online sales, a third-party gateway at Stripe's published rate costs $1,000 a month more than Shopify Payments on Basic, $600 on Grow, $500 on Advanced and $425 on Plus, computed by Deploi from October 2026 price pages. The gap is a share of sales, so enter your monthly sales in the chart to scale it to your volume; on Basic it is 2% of sales.
- Negotiating your processor rate? On Basic the whole gap is Shopify's 2% third-party fee, which a processor discount leaves in place. On Plus the fee is 0.2% and most of the $425 comes from the gateway's 2.9% against Shopify Payments' 2.25%, so a negotiated rate can close most of the gap there.
- Comparing your own processor? The figures use Stripe's published US rate as a processor's list price, and the arithmetic holds for any processor that charges 2.9% plus 30 cents. PayPal publishes 2.99% plus 49 cents for card payments and 3.49% plus 49 cents for PayPal Checkout, but Deploi did not compute a PayPal stack or record how Shopify's fee applies to PayPal orders, so do not apply these figures to PayPal.
- Reading the totals? They count card fees only, at list prices and a US$100 average order; subscriptions, apps and taxes are excluded. A smaller average order raises both totals and leaves the gap unchanged, because the gateway rate and Shopify Payments both carry 30 cents an order.
How much extra does a third-party gateway cost compared with Shopify Payments?
At Stripe's published US rate of 2.9% plus 30 cents, a third-party gateway costs $1,000 a month more than Shopify Payments on Basic, $600 on Grow, $500 on Advanced and $425 on Plus at US$50,000 of monthly sales, according to Shopify's and Stripe's US pricing pages, read October 18, 2026. Deploi assumes a US$100 average order, which is 500 orders.
Enter your monthly online sales to see what a third-party gateway at Stripe's published rate adds each month on each plan.
Stripe cannot be added as a separate gateway where Shopify Payments is available, as in the United States. Shopify's Help Center says Stripe "won't be available for you to activate" where Shopify Payments is supported, because Stripe is Shopify Payments' banking partner.
Stripe's published rate stands in here for a third-party processor's list price, and the arithmetic holds for any processor that charges 2.9% plus 30 cents. Extra cost is Shopify's third-party transaction fee plus the gap between that rate and the plan's Shopify Payments rate. A negotiated processor rate lowers the third-party side.
What is Shopify's third-party transaction fee?
Shopify charges a third-party transaction fee of 2% on Basic, 1% on Grow, 0.6% on Advanced and 0.2% on Plus for orders paid through a provider other than Shopify Payments, according to its United States pricing page, read October 18, 2026. The processor's own fee is charged separately.
The fee falls as the plan rises. On Plus it is one tenth of the Basic fee.
What are Stripe's and PayPal's published rates?
Stripe publishes 2.9% plus 30 cents per domestic online card transaction and PayPal 2.99% plus 49 cents for standard card payments, according to their US pricing pages, read October 18, 2026. Shopify Payments charges 2.9% plus 30 cents on Basic, so a gateway at Stripe's rate matches it there and only Shopify's third-party fee separates the two.
PayPal's card rate is on the dataset page; PayPal Checkout is 3.49% plus 49 cents. The chart does not price PayPal, because Deploi did not compute a PayPal stack for the plans.
What does the full fee stack look like at US$50,000 a month?
At US$50,000 of monthly online sales and a US$100 average order, card fees on Shopify Payments are $1,600 on Basic, $1,500 on Grow, $1,400 on Advanced and $1,275 on Plus, against $2,600, $2,100, $1,900 and $1,700 through a gateway at Stripe's rate, according to Shopify's and Stripe's US pricing pages, read October 18, 2026. Deploi computed the totals.
| Plan | Shopify Payments fees | Gateway at Stripe's rate | Extra cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | $1,600 | $2,600 | $1,000 |
| Grow | $1,500 | $2,100 | $600 |
| Advanced | $1,400 | $1,900 | $500 |
| Plus | $1,275 | $1,700 | $425 |
All amounts are dollars a month, computed by Deploi.
Why does the gap shrink on higher plans?
The gap shrinks on higher plans because Shopify's third-party fee falls from 2% on Basic to 0.2% on Plus, according to Shopify's United States pricing page, read October 18, 2026. On Basic the card rates are equal at 2.9%, so the extra cost is the 2% fee alone, which is $1,000 on US$50,000.
On higher plans the Shopify Payments rate drops below the gateway's 2.9%, which adds to the gap, while the third-party fee falls faster.
Does the average order size change the gap?
The average order size does not change the gap between a gateway at Stripe's rate and Shopify Payments, because both carry a 30-cent fixed fee per order, according to Shopify's and Stripe's US pricing pages, read October 18, 2026. The US$100 average order only sets the totals. Deploi labels it an assumption.
A merchant with smaller orders pays more in total on both sides, as the effective card rate page shows. The extra cost of the third-party gateway stays the same.
The data
Each chart on this page is drawn from the numbers below. Units are in the column headers.
| Monthly online sales (USD per month) | Plan | Fees, Shopify Payments (USD per month) | Fees, third-party gateway at Stripe's rate (USD per month) | Extra cost of a third-party gateway (USD per month) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1,000 | Basic | 32 | 52 | 20 |
| 1,000 | Grow | 30 | 42 | 12 |
| 1,000 | Advanced | 28 | 38 | 10 |
| 1,000 | Plus | 26 | 34 | 9 |
| 1,500 | Basic | 48 | 78 | 30 |
| 1,500 | Grow | 45 | 63 | 18 |
| 1,500 | Advanced | 42 | 57 | 15 |
| 1,500 | Plus | 38 | 51 | 13 |
| 2,000 | Basic | 64 | 104 | 40 |
| 2,000 | Grow | 60 | 84 | 24 |
| 2,000 | Advanced | 56 | 76 | 20 |
| 2,000 | Plus | 51 | 68 | 17 |
| 2,500 | Basic | 80 | 130 | 50 |
| 2,500 | Grow | 75 | 105 | 30 |
| 2,500 | Advanced | 70 | 95 | 25 |
| 2,500 | Plus | 64 | 85 | 21 |
| 3,000 | Basic | 96 | 156 | 60 |
| 3,000 | Grow | 90 | 126 | 36 |
| 3,000 | Advanced | 84 | 114 | 30 |
| 3,000 | Plus | 77 | 102 | 26 |
| 4,000 | Basic | 128 | 208 | 80 |
| 4,000 | Grow | 120 | 168 | 48 |
| 4,000 | Advanced | 112 | 152 | 40 |
| 4,000 | Plus | 102 | 136 | 34 |
| 5,000 | Basic | 160 | 260 | 100 |
| 5,000 | Grow | 150 | 210 | 60 |
| 5,000 | Advanced | 140 | 190 | 50 |
| 5,000 | Plus | 128 | 170 | 43 |
| 6,000 | Basic | 192 | 312 | 120 |
| 6,000 | Grow | 180 | 252 | 72 |
| 6,000 | Advanced | 168 | 228 | 60 |
| 6,000 | Plus | 153 | 204 | 51 |
| 7,500 | Basic | 240 | 390 | 150 |
| 7,500 | Grow | 225 | 315 | 90 |
| 7,500 | Advanced | 210 | 285 | 75 |
| 7,500 | Plus | 191 | 255 | 64 |
| 10,000 | Basic | 320 | 520 | 200 |
| 10,000 | Grow | 300 | 420 | 120 |
| 10,000 | Advanced | 280 | 380 | 100 |
| 10,000 | Plus | 255 | 340 | 85 |
| 15,000 | Basic | 480 | 780 | 300 |
| 15,000 | Grow | 450 | 630 | 180 |
| 15,000 | Advanced | 420 | 570 | 150 |
| 15,000 | Plus | 383 | 510 | 128 |
| 20,000 | Basic | 640 | 1,040 | 400 |
| 20,000 | Grow | 600 | 840 | 240 |
| 20,000 | Advanced | 560 | 760 | 200 |
| 20,000 | Plus | 510 | 680 | 170 |
| 25,000 | Basic | 800 | 1,300 | 500 |
| 25,000 | Grow | 750 | 1,050 | 300 |
| 25,000 | Advanced | 700 | 950 | 250 |
| 25,000 | Plus | 638 | 850 | 213 |
| 30,000 | Basic | 960 | 1,560 | 600 |
| 30,000 | Grow | 900 | 1,260 | 360 |
| 30,000 | Advanced | 840 | 1,140 | 300 |
| 30,000 | Plus | 765 | 1,020 | 255 |
| 40,000 | Basic | 1,280 | 2,080 | 800 |
| 40,000 | Grow | 1,200 | 1,680 | 480 |
| 40,000 | Advanced | 1,120 | 1,520 | 400 |
| 40,000 | Plus | 1,020 | 1,360 | 340 |
| 50,000 | Basic | 1,600 | 2,600 | 1,000 |
| 50,000 | Grow | 1,500 | 2,100 | 600 |
| 50,000 | Advanced | 1,400 | 1,900 | 500 |
| 50,000 | Plus | 1,275 | 1,700 | 425 |
| 60,000 | Basic | 1,920 | 3,120 | 1,200 |
| 60,000 | Grow | 1,800 | 2,520 | 720 |
| 60,000 | Advanced | 1,680 | 2,280 | 600 |
| 60,000 | Plus | 1,530 | 2,040 | 510 |
| 75,000 | Basic | 2,400 | 3,900 | 1,500 |
| 75,000 | Grow | 2,250 | 3,150 | 900 |
| 75,000 | Advanced | 2,100 | 2,850 | 750 |
| 75,000 | Plus | 1,913 | 2,550 | 638 |
| 100,000 | Basic | 3,200 | 5,200 | 2,000 |
| 100,000 | Grow | 3,000 | 4,200 | 1,200 |
| 100,000 | Advanced | 2,800 | 3,800 | 1,000 |
| 100,000 | Plus | 2,550 | 3,400 | 850 |
| 150,000 | Basic | 4,800 | 7,800 | 3,000 |
| 150,000 | Grow | 4,500 | 6,300 | 1,800 |
| 150,000 | Advanced | 4,200 | 5,700 | 1,500 |
| 150,000 | Plus | 3,825 | 5,100 | 1,275 |
| 200,000 | Basic | 6,400 | 10,400 | 4,000 |
| 200,000 | Grow | 6,000 | 8,400 | 2,400 |
| 200,000 | Advanced | 5,600 | 7,600 | 2,000 |
| 200,000 | Plus | 5,100 | 6,800 | 1,700 |
| 250,000 | Basic | 8,000 | 13,000 | 5,000 |
| 250,000 | Grow | 7,500 | 10,500 | 3,000 |
| 250,000 | Advanced | 7,000 | 9,500 | 2,500 |
| 250,000 | Plus | 6,375 | 8,500 | 2,125 |
| 300,000 | Basic | 9,600 | 15,600 | 6,000 |
| 300,000 | Grow | 9,000 | 12,600 | 3,600 |
| 300,000 | Advanced | 8,400 | 11,400 | 3,000 |
| 300,000 | Plus | 7,650 | 10,200 | 2,550 |
| 400,000 | Basic | 12,800 | 20,800 | 8,000 |
| 400,000 | Grow | 12,000 | 16,800 | 4,800 |
| 400,000 | Advanced | 11,200 | 15,200 | 4,000 |
| 400,000 | Plus | 10,200 | 13,600 | 3,400 |
| 500,000 | Basic | 16,000 | 26,000 | 10,000 |
| 500,000 | Grow | 15,000 | 21,000 | 6,000 |
| 500,000 | Advanced | 14,000 | 19,000 | 5,000 |
| 500,000 | Plus | 12,750 | 17,000 | 4,250 |
Download Shopify Payments versus a third-party gateway: fee stack by plan, United States as CSV · All 15 columns on the dataset page
Methodology
Reading the chart: A third-party gateway at Stripe's list rate adds $1,000 a month on Shopify Basic at US$50,000 in sales
- How this is calculated: Extra cost is Shopify's third-party transaction fee (2% on Basic, 1% on Grow, 0.6% on Advanced and 0.2% on Plus) plus Stripe's published 2.9% minus the plan's Shopify Payments rate (2.9%, 2.7%, 2.5% and 2.25%), times monthly online sales. Both sides charge 30 cents an order, so the US$100 average order the totals assume does not change the gap. Rates come from Shopify's and Stripe's US pricing pages, read October 18, 2026; Stripe's rate stands in for a third-party processor's list price, and a negotiated rate lowers that side. Computed by Deploi.
- Extra cost is Shopify's third-party transaction fee (2%, 1%, 0.6% and 0.2% by plan) plus the gap between Stripe's 2.9% plus 30 cents and the plan's Shopify Payments rate; computed by Deploi.
- Shopify Payments is supported in the United States, and Shopify's Help Center says Stripe can't be activated where it is, because Stripe is Shopify Payments' banking partner; Stripe's rate stands in for a third-party processor's list price.
- Assumes a US$100 average order; Stripe's rate and Shopify Payments both carry 30 cents per order, so the fixed fee does not change the gap.
- Uses Stripe's published standard US online card rate; a processor's negotiated rate lowers that side.
- PayPal's published 2.99% plus 49 cents for card payments is on the dataset page; PayPal lists PayPal Checkout at 3.49% plus the fixed fee. The chart prices the Stripe rate only.
- The table rounds each amount to the dollar, as the chart does, so the two fees and the extra cost in a row may not add up exactly; the dataset page has the exact amounts.
Caveats: Shopify Payments versus a third-party gateway: fee stack by plan, United States
- The average order of US$100 and the monthly sales of US$50,000 are assumptions set by Deploi. They fix the number of orders at 500; the extra cost of the third-party gateway does not depend on the average order, because Stripe's rate and Shopify Payments both carry a 30-cent fixed fee.
- The third-party stack is Shopify's third-party transaction fee plus Stripe's 2.9% plus 30 cents, Stripe's published standard US online card rate; a processor's negotiated rate lowers that side.
- Shopify Payments is supported in the United States, and Shopify's Help Center says that where Shopify Payments is supported in the country where a business is located, Stripe can't be activated as a separate payment gateway, because Stripe is Shopify Payments' banking partner. Stripe's published rate stands in here for a third-party processor's list price.
- PayPal's published 2.99% plus 49 cents, in the table, is its rate for standard credit and debit card payments. PayPal lists PayPal Checkout, Pay with Venmo and PayPal Guest Checkout at 3.49% plus the fixed fee. Deploi did not compute a PayPal stack for the plans, and the dataset does not record a separate Shopify fee treatment for PayPal.
- Processor fields are empty on plan rows and Shopify fields are empty on processor rows because each applies to one kind of row only. Subscription prices, apps and taxes are excluded.
Deploi's charts and compilation are licensed CC BY 4.0. The underlying facts belong to their sources, which are named on every page. How Deploi Shopify Data works.
Sources
Tier A sources are primary documents: filings, official releases and official price pages. How sources are ranked.
- Tier APayPal Merchant Fees (United States)
PayPal, Inc. · HTML · Read on
- Tier AShopify Help Center: Understanding payment gateway availability
Shopify Inc. · HTML · Read on
- Tier AShopify Pricing (United States, USD)
Shopify Inc. · HTML · Read on
- Tier AStripe Pricing and Fees (United States)
Stripe, Inc. · HTML · Read on
Cite and reuse
Deploi's charts and compilation are licensed CC BY 4.0. The underlying facts belong to their sources, which are named on every page.
APA
Deploi. (2026). How much more does a third-party payment gateway cost on Shopify? [Web page]. https://deploi.ca/shopify/data/third-party-payment-gateway-cost-on-shopify Retrieved October 19, 2026.
BibTeX
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author = {{Deploi}},
title = {How much more does a third-party payment gateway cost on Shopify?},
year = {2026},
url = {https://deploi.ca/shopify/data/third-party-payment-gateway-cost-on-shopify},
note = {Accessed 2026-10-19}
}Embed this chart
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Questions
How much does Shopify charge for using a third-party gateway?
Shopify charges a third-party transaction fee of 2% on Basic, 1% on Grow, 0.6% on Advanced and 0.2% on Plus for orders paid through a provider other than Shopify Payments, according to its United States pricing page, read October 18, 2026. The processor charges its own fee on top.
Is Shopify Payments cheaper than a third-party gateway?
Yes, at Stripe's published rate. At US$50,000 of monthly sales and a US$100 average order, a third-party gateway at that rate adds $1,000 a month on Basic, $600 on Grow, $500 on Advanced and $425 on Plus, according to Shopify's and Stripe's US pricing pages, read October 18, 2026. Deploi computed the amounts.
What does PayPal charge on Shopify?
PayPal publishes 2.99% plus 49 cents for standard credit and debit card payments and 3.49% plus 49 cents for PayPal Checkout, according to its US business fees page, read October 18, 2026. The dataset does not record a separate Shopify fee treatment for PayPal, and Deploi did not compute a PayPal stack for the plans.
Does a negotiated processor rate change the result?
Yes. A negotiated rate lowers the processor side of the stack and leaves Shopify's third-party fee in place. Deploi's figures use Stripe's published standard US online card rate of 2.9% plus 30 cents, read October 18, 2026, as a processor's list price.
What assumptions does the calculation use?
The figures quoted on this page assume US$50,000 of monthly online sales and a US$100 average order, which is 500 orders; the chart recomputes the extra cost for the monthly sales you enter. Every figure uses Shopify's and Stripe's US list prices, read October 18, 2026, and excludes subscription prices, apps and taxes.
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- What is the effective Shopify Payments card rate on a small order?
Shopify Payments online standard card fees take 5.9% of a $10 order on Basic and 3.2% of a $100 order in the United States, because of the 30-cent fixed fee. Updated October 19, 2026.
- Which checkout surfaces can you customize on each Shopify plan?
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- Which Shopify Plus features are now available on other plans?
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Changes
- · Shopify Payments versus a third-party gateway: fee stack by plan, United States
First release. Four plan rows and two processor rows read from Shopify's, Stripe's and PayPal's US pages on October 18, 2026, and a calculator grid computed by Deploi: 100 rows, 25 monthly sales values for each of the 4 plans (rowType, monthlySalesUsd, paymentsFeesUsd, stripeFeesUsd and extraCostUsd).