The short answer: Yes, when a store takes payments through an outside provider: Shopify adds its own transaction fee to each of those orders, on top of what the provider charges. When the store uses Shopify Payments, Shopify waives that added fee. Card processing still costs something either way, so the waiver removes one layer of cost, not all of it. The size of the added fee depends on the plan, and it gets smaller as the plan goes up.
Every card sale costs a store something, and most people call all of it a transaction fee. On a Shopify store there are really two separate charges, and only one of them is an add-on from Shopify.
Keeping the two apart matters, because the waiver only touches the second one. Shopify Payments, the payment provider built into Shopify, still bills for processing. It simply does not stack the extra fee on top.
The added fee is a share of each order, and the share depends on the plan the store pays for. As of September 2026, Shopify's pricing page lists that fee as Basic 2 percent, Grow 1 percent, Advanced 0.6 percent and Plus 0.2 percent, waived on Shopify Payments.
The fee shrinks as the plan rises, so a store that keeps an outside provider feels its plan choice twice: once in the subscription and again on every order. Orders paid through Shopify Payments carry none of the added fee, on any plan.
Pricing pages change, so before a real decision turns on these rates, check them against Shopify's pricing page that day.
For a store starting fresh, the waiver tilts the default. If Shopify Payments is offered for the business and fits how it sells, using it keeps the added fee off every order paid through it, and what remains is the processing charge any provider would bill in some form.
The harder case is a business that already has a provider it wants to keep. The provider may also handle the business's sales outside the store, a contract with it may still be running, or Shopify Payments may not serve the business where it operates or for what it sells. On that path the added fee is a standing cost of keeping that provider, and it deserves a plain look:
A business that already sells has its recent orders, the plan prices and the rates above, and that is enough to see which way the math leans.
Shopify's plan prices and trial terms, each with its own date and source, sit together in Shopify pricing explained.
If the real question is what a whole store costs to build and run, the Shopify website cost answer walks through every layer, and a Shopify build here is scoped per store, quoted after the free consult.
Which provider takes the money is worth settling early on a new build. Kelly Webmasters and Marketers offers Shopify web design and development, and the provider question fits into a free 30-minute consult with the owner: book one with a quote request or by calling (407) 694-2055.
Yes. Shopify's waiver covers only the extra transaction fee it adds when a store uses an outside provider. Card processing is a separate charge, and Shopify Payments bills it on each card sale at a rate that can differ by plan. Shopify's pricing page lists those card rates, and they are worth reading beside the plan prices.
No. The plan is a subscription the store pays whether it sells or not. The added transaction fee is charged per order, and only on orders paid through an outside provider, so it rises and falls with sales. Two stores on the same plan can pay very different amounts in added fees, depending on the provider each one uses and how much each one sells.
Yes, where Shopify Payments is offered for the business, it can be turned on after launch, and orders paid through it stop carrying Shopify's added transaction fee from then on. Treat it like any payment change: place a real test order, refund it, and confirm the payout and the bookkeeping look right.
Shopify Payments, defined · Shopify pricing explained · How much does a Shopify website cost? · Shopify store setup · Shopify web design and development · The plain-English glossary
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