Shopify Plus vs Shopify: Which to Choose

Last reviewed October 2026.

Shopify Plus is worth it only if you need something Advanced can't do. In 2026 that list is shorter than most comparisons suggest, because Shopify brought native B2B to every paid plan on April 2, 2026. This guide covers the three differences that still decide the upgrade, what Plus still can't do, and when to stay on Advanced.

What is the difference between Shopify and Shopify Plus?

Shopify Plus adds full checkout customization, nine expansion stores and unlimited B2B catalogs. It also raises limits: 200 inventory locations, unlimited staff, 20 included POS Pro locations and higher API limits. Everything else, including native B2B with three catalogs, runs on standard plans. Plus starts at $2,300 a month on a three-year term, against $299 to $399 for Advanced.

Most comparisons list twenty or more feature rows. Three of them decide the upgrade, and one of those shrank sharply this year.

Do I need Shopify Plus for B2B?

No, not since April 2, 2026. Shopify brought company profiles, payment terms, volume pricing and up to three B2B catalogs to Basic, Grow and Advanced at no extra cost. Plus keeps unlimited catalogs, catalogs assigned directly to companies, and deposits and partial payments. If your wholesale pricing is tiered rather than negotiated per account, you likely don't need Plus.

Shopify announced the change in its changelog. Net terms, self-serve ordering and B2B automations in Flow work on every paid plan, per Shopify's B2B features by plan. On non-Plus plans, catalogs are assigned through Shopify Markets, not to individual companies.

Many comparison pages still miss this. Of eight competing pages we reviewed in August 2026, six still described B2B as Plus-only or said Advanced merchants needed wholesale apps.

Why it matters commercially. B2B was one of the two strongest reasons to upgrade. Three catalogs can cover distributors, dealers and direct accounts, which is enough for many wholesale operations.

Where the line still falls. You need Plus if pricing is negotiated per account rather than per tier. That needs unlimited catalogs assigned directly to companies and their locations. A 200-account distributor network with individual rates needs Plus. Twenty accounts across three tiers does not.

Our Shopify B2B development page has the full native-versus-Plus matrix, sourced from Shopify's own documentation.

Can I customize checkout on Shopify Advanced?

Partly. Advanced can brand checkout in the checkout editor and add app blocks to the thank-you and order status pages. Extensions on the information, shipping and payment steps are Plus-only. That makes checkout the clearest remaining line between the plans, and usually the deciding one for conversion-focused brands.

Shopify's developer docs state that checkout UI extensions on those steps require Plus. Inside the checkout steps, Plus unlocks things like:

• Custom fields and validation, such as delivery date pickers or gift messages.
• Loyalty widgets and upsell blocks inside the checkout flow.
• Content and payment options that change by market.
• Custom-app Shopify Functions for discount, shipping and payment logic.

One thing Plus doesn't buy you is a better-converting base checkout. A Shopify-commissioned study found its checkout converts up to 36% better than competitors, and Shop Pay lifts conversion up to 50% against guest checkout. Those are vendor figures, and they apply to every plan. Shop Pay and the core checkout aren't Plus features. You upgrade to change what happens inside checkout, not to get a faster one.

Scripts are gone. Shopify Scripts stopped running on June 30, 2026. Their replacement is Shopify Functions, delivered in an app. Functions in public App Store apps run on any paid plan; Functions in a custom app need Plus. See Shopify app development for what that work involves.

How many stores do you get with Shopify Plus?

Plus includes your main store and nine expansion stores under one contract. Each can have its own products, prices, currency, language and branding. Shopify's Plus pricing page lists extra stores at $300 a month each in the US, or a revenue share across stores. Each live expansion store also needs its own theme license.

This is the second real differentiator, and the arithmetic is simple. Four regional stores on separate Advanced plans cost $1,196 a month billed yearly, or $1,596 billed monthly. That buys four separate admins. Under one Plus contract, from $2,300, the stores share one organization, with central staff and settings management.

Expansion stores also support market-specific fulfillment priorities, payouts to different bank accounts and currencies, and local staff permissions.

Shopify's Help Center notes that a dedicated B2B store means creating a new store. Plan your store count with that in mind.

What can Shopify Plus still not do?

Plus doesn't give you unrestricted checkout control. Checkout UI extensions are capped at a 64 KB bundle, can't touch the checkout page's HTML, and can't override its CSS. If you want to rebuild checkout from scratch, no Shopify plan allows it. Plus customizes Shopify's checkout; it doesn't replace it.

Few comparison pages say this. It matters because a brand upgrading only to rebuild checkout will be disappointed, and finding out after signing a three-year term is expensive.

Two more honest limits:

• Automation isn't a Plus differentiator. Shopify Flow has run on every paid plan since July 2023. Plus adds Flow tasks from custom partner apps and Launchpad for scheduled campaign launches.
• $2,300 is a starting price, not a ceiling. Shopify moves more complex, higher-volume businesses to a variable platform fee. It doesn't publish the rate or threshold, so large merchants should budget from a written quote.

How do Shopify Advanced and Shopify Plus compare, feature by feature?

Plus starts at $2,300 a month against $299 to $399 for Advanced. The rows that decide the upgrade are checkout steps, expansion stores and B2B catalogs. Most other rows raise limits: locations, staff, POS Pro and API calls. Payment fees differ too, but Shopify quotes Plus card rates per merchant rather than publishing them.

Sources: Shopify pricing, Shopify's Plus pricing page and Plus plan features in the Help Center, checked October 2026. Rates vary by country.

Do I need Shopify Plus?

You need Plus if any one of these is true. You need checkout customization beyond branding. You run more than one storefront. Your B2B pricing is negotiated per account. You need more than 10 inventory locations or 15 staff accounts. Or you run about 20 or more POS Pro locations. If none apply, Advanced is the right plan.

Why about 20 POS locations? Twenty POS Pro licenses on Advanced cost $1,580 to $1,780 a month. Plus includes 20, which roughly covers the gap between the two plan fees.

Note what isn't on that list. Revenue isn't a qualifying criterion on its own. A $10M brand on one storefront, with a standard checkout and tiered wholesale, has no operational reason to be on Plus.

The financial case is separate from the feature case. It turns on payment fees, POS licensing and store count, not a revenue number. Our Shopify Plus cost guide works through each break-even point.

When should you stay on Shopify Advanced?

Stay on Advanced if you run one storefront with a standard checkout, tiered wholesale, fewer than 15 staff and fewer than 10 locations. Those conditions describe most brands considering the upgrade. Upgrading later doesn't require a migration, so deferring the decision is cheap.

Four situations where we tell brands to stay:

• Your reason is B2B and your pricing is tiered. Since April 2026, this no longer requires Plus.
• Your reason is a revenue milestone. A revenue figure isn't an operational requirement. Wait for a constraint you can name.
• Your reason is automation. Flow is on every paid plan. Launchpad alone rarely justifies roughly $2,000 a month more.
• You want to rebuild checkout entirely. Plus won't let you. See the limits section above.

What changes when you upgrade to Shopify Plus?

Upgrading is a plan change, not a migration. Your store, data, theme and apps carry over. What needs building is the capability you upgraded for: checkout extensions, expansion store setup, B2B catalogs or a POS rollout. Budget for that work, not for moving the store.

• Checkout work. UI extensions built as app extensions, plus Functions replacing any old Scripts logic. See Shopify app development.
• Expansion store architecture. Decide what each store owns and what's shared. That's a data decision before it's a build. Related: Shopify ERP integration.
• B2B configuration. Companies, catalogs, terms and buyer permissions. See Shopify B2B development.
• POS rollout, if retail is the reason. See Shopify POS and multi-location retail.

Moving to Shopify from another platform is a different project. Start with Shopify Plus migration services.

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