Shopify Plus costs significantly more than standard Shopify plans. The question isn't whether it has more features - it does - but whether those features matter enough to your specific business to justify the cost.
Here's what you actually get on Plus, what you don't get on standard Shopify, and a clear-eyed view of when the upgrade makes sense.
The most important Plus features
Checkout Extensibility
This is the biggest functional difference between Plus and standard Shopify. On Plus, you can customise the checkout experience in ways that simply aren't possible on standard plans.
Checkout Extensibility (which replaced the old checkout.liquid system in 2024) lets you add upsells, custom fields, loyalty point redemption, gift message options, and more - all within the checkout flow. For brands where the checkout experience is part of the brand experience, or where post-purchase upsells are a meaningful revenue stream, this matters a lot.
Shopify Functions
Functions let you run custom logic within Shopify's backend - custom discount rules, shipping logic, payment method conditions, subscription logic. If you need discounts that work on complex rules ('20% off for members who have ordered more than three times'), standard Shopify can't do that. Functions can.
This replaced Shopify Scripts (deprecated in 2024) and is more powerful and more stable.
B2B Commerce
Shopify Plus includes a native B2B channel that lets you run wholesale operations from the same Shopify admin as your DTC store. Separate pricing, net payment terms, company accounts, custom catalogues.
For brands that sell both direct to consumer and to trade, this is genuinely useful. Before Plus's B2B features improved, this usually required a separate Shopify store or a third-party app.
Dedicated support
Standard Shopify gives you access to 24/7 support. Plus gives you a Merchant Success Manager - an actual person at Shopify who knows your account and can escalate things when needed.
How much this matters depends on your team. If you have a developer and a dedicated ecommerce manager, you'll use it less. If you're a small team running a large store, having a direct line to someone at Shopify can be valuable.
Organisation admin and multiple stores
Plus lets you manage up to 9 expansion stores from a single organisation dashboard. This is relevant for brands running multiple market-specific stores (UK store, US store, EU store) or operating multiple brands under the same parent company.
What you give up when you upgrade
Honestly? Not much in practical terms. The features you have on standard Shopify all carry over to Plus. You're gaining features, not trading them.
The trade-off is purely financial. Shopify Plus starts at around $2,500 per month (pricing does vary and changes - check shopify.com for current rates). Standard Advanced is $299 per month. The jump is significant.
When the upgrade makes sense
The honest answer is: when you're hitting specific limits that Plus removes.
If you're running a checkout that you want to customise beyond what standard Shopify allows - that's a clear signal. If you need complex discount logic that Functions enables - that's a signal. If you're managing multiple market-specific stores and the admin overhead is becoming painful - that's a signal.
Revenue isn't the only trigger, but it's a useful proxy. Most brands find the upgrade economics work somewhere between £500k-£1M annual revenue, because at that scale the checkout customisation and retention tools that Plus enables have a meaningful impact on revenue relative to the cost.
Below that, standard Shopify with good third-party apps gets you 90% of the way there at a fraction of the cost.
A few things that don't actually require Plus
We sometimes see brands assuming they need Plus for things they don't. You don't need Plus for: selling subscriptions (there are excellent third-party apps), basic loyalty programmes, multi-currency selling (available on standard plans with Shopify Markets), or most integrations.
Before committing to Plus, be specific about what you need. If the specific feature you need is available via a third-party app on standard Shopify, the upgrade may not be necessary.
How to make the decision
List the specific features of Plus that you would actually use. Put a realistic revenue impact on each one. If the total revenue impact exceeds the cost difference (roughly $2,200/month more than Advanced), the upgrade probably pays for itself.
If you're not sure, talk to a Shopify Plus Partner (which we are) - they can tell you fairly quickly whether your specific requirements need Plus or can be solved on standard Shopify.