Plus per-tx fee 0.15%, when does it actually bite at scale?
It bites earlier than most enterprise teams expect, and it compounds with the GMV-based license fee.
How the Plus fee structure stacks:
- License floor: $2,300/mo OR 0.4% of monthly GMV, whichever is greater. This kicks in above ~$575k/mo GMV ($6.9M/yr) where 0.4% × monthly-GMV exceeds the $2,300 floor.
- Per-transaction fee on Shopify Payments: 0.15% of GMV. This is on top of the standard interchange rate (~2.4% + 30¢), not instead of.
- Per-transaction fee on third-party payment gateways: 0.20-0.25% of GMV, even higher. Most enterprise stores use Shopify Payments to avoid this hit.
The math at $50M GMV: license = max($2,300/mo, 0.4% × $4.17M/mo) = $16.7k/mo = $200k/yr just for license. Per-tx fee 0.15% × $50M = $75k/yr extra. Combined Plus platform cost: ~$275k/yr, before apps + dev + Plus Academy.
The math at $100M GMV: license $33k/mo = $400k/yr. Per-tx $150k/yr. Combined: $550k/yr.
The math at $500M GMV: license $1.67M/mo... wait, no, the Plus 0.4% fee caps at $40k/mo (= $480k/yr) by negotiation in most enterprise deals. Per-tx 0.15% × $500M = $750k/yr. Combined post-cap: ~$1.2M/yr. AC license at $500M GMV is ~$300-500k/yr, usually cheaper at this band, but the gap narrows once you account for AC’s ops cost.
Negotiation tip: at $50M+ Plus contracts, the 0.4% GMV-based fee is usually the negotiation lever. Plus reps will cap it (typically at the equivalent of 12 months prepay) and bundle Plus Academy / dedicated Merchant Success. Push for the cap before signing.