Transaction fee vs card fee: what’s the difference?
Shopify uses two names for two different charges, and most confusion comes from mixing them up.
- Card rate (processing fee): what it costs to accept a card. With Shopify Payments, Shopify charges it and takes it out of your payout. With a third-party provider, that provider charges it.
- Third-party transaction fee: Shopify’s own percentage, charged only when a payment doesn’t go through Shopify Payments (plus a few cases below). It appears on your Shopify bill.
So the Shopify transaction fee is often 0%. The card rate never is.
How much are Shopify’s fees in 2026?
| US, Shopify Payments | Basic | Grow | Advanced | Plus |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Online card | 2.9% + 30¢ | 2.7% + 30¢ | 2.5% + 30¢ | 2.25% + 30¢ |
| Online premium card | 3.5% + 30¢ | 3.3% + 30¢ | 3.1% + 30¢ | 2.95% + 30¢ |
| International card | +1% | +1% | +1% | +1% |
| In-person card | 2.6% + 10¢ | 2.5% + 10¢ | 2.4% + 10¢ | 2.3% + 10¢ |
| Third-party transaction fee | 2% | 1% | 0.6% | 0.2% |
| Plan, billed yearly / monthly | $29 / $39 | $79 / $105 | $299 / $399 | from $2,300 |
Source: Shopify pricing page (US), checked 10 Oct 2026. Other countries have different rates.
When does Shopify charge a third-party transaction fee?
According to the Shopify Help Center, you pay it when:
- you take payments through a third-party provider instead of Shopify Payments;
- an order is paid with store credit or a gift card, on stores created on or after 12 May 2025. The fee only applies to the store-credit or gift-card part of the order;
- you run Shopify Payments alongside a third-party provider. The provider’s transactions get the transaction fee, and the ones processed by Shopify Payments are charged the standard rate plus a 1.25% premium.
You don’t pay it on orders paid through Shopify Payments, Shop Pay, Shop Pay Installments or manual methods such as cash on delivery and bank transfer. If Shopify Payments is your primary provider, PayPal transactions are exempt too. Plus stores that use Shopify Payments as their only provider also have the fee waived on store credit and gift cards.
Sources: Third-party transaction fees and Using Shopify Payments with a third-party provider, Shopify Help Center, checked 10 Oct 2026.
How are Shopify transaction fees calculated? A worked example
A $60 order on the Basic plan, paid online with a standard US card. The order value and the third-party provider’s rate are examples; use your own.
| $60 order, Basic plan | Shopify Payments | Third-party provider at 2.9% + 30¢ |
|---|---|---|
| Card fee | $60 × 2.9% + $0.30 = $2.04 | $2.04 (charged by the provider) |
| Shopify transaction fee | $0 | $60 × 2% = $1.20 |
| Total fees | $2.04 | $3.24 |
| You keep | $57.96 | $56.76 |
| Effective rate | 3.4% | 5.4% |
At 300 orders a month that’s $612 in fees with Shopify Payments against $972 with the third-party provider: $360 a month more for the same sales, before the $29 plan.
When does upgrading your Shopify plan pay off?
Higher plans cost more each month but charge a lower percentage. The 30¢ is the same on every plan, so the break-even is: difference in plan price ÷ difference in rate.
Basic to Grow, billed yearly, with Shopify Payments: ($79 − $29) ÷ (2.9% − 2.7%) = $50 ÷ 0.2% = $25,000 of online card sales a month. Below that, Basic is cheaper. With a third-party provider the transaction fee also drops from 2% to 1%, so the break-even falls to $50 ÷ 1% = $5,000 a month.
Do you get Shopify fees back when you refund an order?
No. When you refund a Shopify Payments order, the original card fee isn’t returned, though Shopify doesn’t charge an extra fee for the refund (Shopify Payments refunds). If the order went through a third-party provider in a country where Shopify Payments is available, Shopify’s transaction fee isn’t refunded either (Refunding orders). It’s one reason a return costs more than the refund; the refund policy guide works through an example.
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Work out your own Shopify feesEnter your order value, plan and payment method. See the fee per sale, your payout and the cheapest plan for your volume.Open the Shopify fee calculator