On the Basic plan, Shopify Payments is the cheapest way to take cards: about $175 a month on $5,000 of sales against about $275 with Stripe and about $274 with PayPal’s card processing (near-tied with Stripe), because Shopify adds a 2 percent third-party fee to any gateway that is not Shopify Payments. PayPal’s checkout button is the exception: with Shopify Payments switched on it carries no Shopify fee, but its own rate is higher, so it still costs more per order. The gap grows in proportion with sales; the worked table is below.
The US card rates are the ones to check before relying on this page: Shopify’s own US pricing page geolocated to Europe when read, so the Shopify Payments rate here is an assumption at the top of Shopify’s stated range (below). Shopify’s help pages say the rate depends on plan but do not print the percentages in a form we could read.
The rates used
| Item | Rate | Source and date |
|---|---|---|
| Shopify Payments, online US card | “from 2.5% to 2.9% plus 30 cents” depending on plan; Basic taken as 2.9% + $0.30 (our assumption, top of the range) | Shopify blog, 29 Sept 2026 |
| Stripe, domestic US card | 2.9% + $0.30 | Shopify blog page and Stripe’s US pricing as quoted in search results (2.9% + 30 cents, +1.5% international, +1% currency conversion); the Stripe page we fetched returned the Dutch (euro) version, so the US page itself was not read |
| PayPal card processing (“Advanced credit and debit card payments”) | 2.89% + $0.29 (an interchange-plus option also exists) | PayPal US fees, page dated 1 Sept 2026 |
| PayPal Checkout button and Venmo | 3.49% + $0.49 | Same page |
| Shopify third-party fee on Basic | 2% of the order total including tax and shipping | Shopify help centre |
Rules that shape the table:
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The 2 percent is the Basic rate as published by third parties (Grow 1 percent, Advanced 0.6 percent); Shopify’s help page confirms the fee varies by plan but does not print the percentages in the text we could read. Check your billing settings.
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If you run a third-party card gateway alongside Shopify Payments, Shopify’s help says Shop Pay and local-method orders processed by Shopify Payments then cost the standard rate plus a 1.25% premium (Shopify Payments fees). That does not apply to the single-processor columns below.
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The Shopify third-party fee is not charged on orders paid with Shopify Payments, Shop Pay, or PayPal Express Checkout while Shopify Payments is active. It is charged on Stripe and on PayPal card processing used as a separate gateway. It is not refunded on refunds.
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PayPal also does not return the fee it took when you refund (its fee page), and adds 1.50 percent when buyer and seller are in different markets.
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Card type and country matter: Shopify says premium cards (business, American Express) and international cards cost more (card-rates page).
Worked cost at three volumes
Assumptions: Basic plan, US store, all orders paid by domestic consumer cards, average order $50 (so $5,000 a month is 100 orders, $20,000 is 400, $50,000 is 1,000), one processor handling every order. Monthly plan price excluded, since it is the same in every column.
Formula: monthly cost = sales x (percentage) + orders x fixed fee.
| Monthly sales | Shopify Payments (2.9% + $0.30) | Stripe on Basic (2.9% + 2% = 4.9%, + $0.30) | PayPal cards on Basic (2.89% + 2% = 4.89%, + $0.29) | PayPal button with Shopify Payments active (3.49% + $0.49) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $5,000 (100 orders) | $145 + $30 = $175 | $245 + $30 = $275 | $244.50 + $29 = $273.50 | $174.50 + $49 = $223.50 |
| $20,000 (400 orders) | $580 + $120 = $700 | $980 + $120 = $1,100 | $978 + $116 = $1,094 | $698 + $196 = $894 |
| $50,000 (1,000 orders) | $1,450 + $300 = $1,750 | $2,450 + $300 = $2,750 | $2,445 + $290 = $2,735 | $1,745 + $490 = $2,235 |
Read the columns as “what if every order went this way”. Most stores that offer PayPal alongside Shopify Payments split orders between the two, so a real bill lands between the first and last columns in proportion to how many buyers pick PayPal. If your actual Shopify Payments rate is 2.7 percent or 2.5 percent, replace 2.9 in the first column and the Stripe and PayPal card columns (2.9 and 2.89) are unaffected.
What the table says in one line: Shopify’s 2 percent fee is $100, $400 and $1,000 at the three volumes (2% of $5,000, $20,000 and $50,000), and that is exactly the gap between Stripe and Shopify Payments, because both charge 2.9% + $0.30 themselves. A higher plan cuts that percentage. The plan break-even is worked out in Shopify third-party gateway fees and plan break-even.
Which to use
| If you… | Choose | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Can be approved for Shopify Payments and sell mostly domestic card orders | Shopify Payments, with PayPal as an added option | Lowest row above; PayPal Express carries no Shopify fee while Payments is active |
| Cannot get Shopify Payments (country or category) | Stripe or PayPal, and price the third-party fee in | The 2 percent is charged on every order on Basic; see the fee guide |
| Have had a payout reserve or hold | Read the reserve guide before choosing a second gateway | The fee premium on split processing changes the maths |
| Want buyers to pay by PayPal or wallets without Shopify’s fee | Keep Shopify Payments active | See wallets and Shop Pay |
Fees are one line of a margin calculation; the rest is in break-even ROAS.
What this page does not cover
Chargeback fees, currency conversion, payout timing, reserves, and EU or UK rates were not compared. Shopify’s help page says in-person rates are lower than online ones and manually entered cards higher; those are excluded. Confirm the rate on your own Shopify admin before making a decision.
Method: researched from Shopify’s help centre and blog, and PayPal’s US fee page, checked 29 Sept 2026. Stripe’s US rate is from Shopify’s blog and Stripe’s US pricing as quoted in search results, because the page we fetched showed the Dutch version. The Basic Shopify Payments rate is an assumption at the top of Shopify’s stated range. All costs are our arithmetic.