Shopify Plus vs Shopify Advanced: Compare Features, Pricing & More

As your business scales and outgrows the features of Shopify’s basic plans, you will likely find yourself at a crossroads: Shopify Plus or Shopify Advanced? Both plans are designed to cater to growing businesses, but which one is the right fit for your unique needs?

In this post, we will break down the key differences between Shopify Plus vs Shopify Advanced, focusing on how each plan supports business growth, customization, and scalability.

Understanding Shopify Advanced

Shopify Advanced is typically the go-to solution for businesses that have surpassed the limitations of the lower-tier plans, such as Shopify Basic and Shopify Standard. It offers a range of advanced features tailored for businesses with a high volume of sales, but not quite at the enterprise level.

Key Features of Shopify Advanced

1. Advanced Reporting and Analytics

   Shopify Advanced includes custom reports and an advanced reporting system that helps businesses better understand their sales data, customer behavior, and marketing effectiveness.

2. Third-Party Calculated Shipping Rates
   If you rely on real-time carrier rates, Shopify Advanced gives you the ability to display those rates at checkout. This is essential for businesses that deal with complex shipping requirements.
3. Lower Transaction Fees
   Shopify Advanced has lower credit card rates and transaction fees compared to the lower-tier plans, which can make a significant difference if your sales volume is high.
4. Advanced Store Customization
   While not as customizable as Shopify Plus, Shopify Advanced still offers some flexibility through the use of custom code and apps. You can modify your store’s appearance and functions to a fair extent.
5. Support for International Expansion
   Shopify Advanced offers multiple currencies and languages, making it easier to expand internationally. You can sell globally with localized experiences for your customers.
6. Up to 15 Staff Accounts
   Shopify Advanced allows up to 15 staff members to manage different aspects of the store, from product listings to customer support, providing better workflow and operational management.

Understanding Shopify Plus

Shopify Plus is a premium offering targeted at enterprise-level businesses or high-growth companies that require more control, customization, and support than the standard Shopify plans provide. Shopify Plus comes with an array of exclusive features and a higher price tag, making it a powerhouse for businesses with complex needs.

Key Features of Shopify Plus

1. Customization at Scale
   One of the main advantages of Shopify Plus is its level of customization. With Launchpad and Script Editor, you can automate various tasks, such as scheduling product releases, and create custom scripts for discounts, shipping methods, and payment options, tailored to customer behavior.
2. Dedicated Support
   Shopify Plus comes with dedicated account management and priority support. You get access to a Launch Engineer, who helps guide you through the platform, and you receive 24/7 priority technical support.
3. Unlimited Staff Accounts
   Unlike Shopify Advanced, which caps staff accounts at 15, Shopify Plus provides unlimited staff accounts, enabling large teams to collaborate on different areas of the store without restrictions.
4. Wholesale Channel
   Shopify Plus offers a dedicated wholesale channel, allowing B2B and B2C sales under one platform. You can create a wholesale storefront with tiered pricing and exclusive access for your wholesale customers, separate from your retail store.
5. Lower Transaction Fees and Special Discounts
   Shopify Plus offers even lower credit card fees and transaction rates than Shopify Advanced. For businesses processing a high volume of sales, this can save significant costs over time. Plus, Shopify Plus customers may also get access to discounted rates on apps and services.
6. Enterprise-Level API Access
   For businesses that need to integrate third-party apps, CRMs, and ERPs, Shopify Plus provides more extensive API access, making it easier to build highly customized solutions.
7. International Expansion Made Easy
   Shopify Plus excels at supporting international growth, offering more robust features for selling in multiple currencies, languages, and countries. Plus, you can create multiple stores for different regions, each with its own distinct setup.

Shopify Advanced vs Shopify Plus: Feature Comparison

1. Price

• Shopify Advanced: The plan costs $399 per month. This is ideal for growing businesses that need advanced features like custom reports, calculated shipping rates, and lower transaction fees, but aren’t yet at an enterprise level.
• Shopify Plus: Starting at $2,000 per month (and can increase based on business needs), Shopify Plus is tailored for enterprise-level businesses or those experiencing rapid growth. The higher cost comes with advanced features, better support, and higher levels of customization that allow for scalability and more efficient operations.

2. Staff Accounts

• Shopify Advanced: Offers up to 15 staff accounts, which allows multiple team members to access the backend of your store to manage orders, customers, and products. This limit is suitable for mid-sized businesses with small to medium teams.
• Shopify Plus: Provides unlimited staff accounts, which is essential for larger
  businesses or enterprises with several departments and team members that need access to the platform. This also enables more granular control over permissions, giving large teams the ability to collaborate efficiently without hitting any account limits.

3. Customization

• Shopify Advanced: Offers moderate customization options. You can still customize your store using the Shopify Theme Editor, Liquid code, and third-party apps. However, the level of customization is somewhat limited compared to Shopify Plus, particularly when it comes to creating personalized shopping experiences or automating operations at scale.
• Shopify Plus: Delivers extensive customization capabilities through powerful tools like Launchpad and Script Editor. Launchpad helps automate storewide campaigns like product launches, flash sales, and holiday promotions. Script Editor allows you to create personalized shopping experiences by customizing checkout logic, discounts, and shipping options based on customer behavior. These advanced customization options give you full control over the look, feel, and functionality of your store.

4. Reports & Analytics

• Shopify Advanced: Comes with advanced reports, such as customer reports, sales reports, retail sales reports, and custom reports. These are invaluable for businesses that need insights into their operations, customer behavior, and marketing campaigns. Shopify Advanced also allows you to create custom reports tailored to your specific needs, helping you track KPIs and make data-driven decisions.
• Shopify Plus: Includes everything Shopify Advanced offers but also provides custom analytics reports. This allows enterprise-level businesses to dig even deeper into data by integrating with external reporting tools or using Shopify’s advanced reporting to analyze trends, behaviors, and sales patterns at a granular level. Plus, Shopify Plus users get access to advanced analytics integrations, such as with Google BigQuery.

5. Transaction Fees

• Shopify Advanced: Offers lower credit card processing fees and transaction fees compared to Shopify’s lower-tier plans. These lower rates are essential for businesses that experience a higher volume of sales, as transaction fees can quickly add up and eat into profit margins.
• Shopify Plus: Takes the savings on transaction fees even further by offering the lowest rates among Shopify plans. For businesses handling high-volume transactions, these fee savings can be substantial, significantly reducing operating costs over time. Shopify Plus users also may qualify for special pricing with Shopify Payments or other payment gateways, which can further reduce costs.

6. International Expansion

• Shopify Advanced: Offers basic multi-currency and multi-language support, enabling you to sell in different currencies and cater to customers from different regions. This is ideal for businesses expanding internationally, but the tools are somewhat limited in how localized you can make each region’s store experience.
• Shopify Plus: Takes international selling to the next level by offering multi-store capabilities. You can create entirely separate storefronts for different regions or countries, each with its own currency, language, product offerings, and pricing. This allows for highly localized experiences for each market you serve. Shopify Plus also offers more sophisticated tools to handle taxes, duties, and shipping logistics for global markets.

7. Wholesale Support

• Shopify Advanced: Does not offer built-in support for wholesale operations. Businesses that want to cater to wholesale clients will need to rely on third-party apps, which can introduce complexity and lack the seamless integration that some businesses prefer.
• Shopify Plus: Offers a dedicated wholesale channel, enabling you to run both B2C and B2B businesses from the same Shopify platform. This includes the ability to create a separate wholesale storefront with custom pricing, product visibility, and order processing options exclusively for wholesale customers. It’s a powerful tool for businesses that want to manage wholesale and retail operations under one roof.

8. Dedicated Support

• Shopify Advanced: Provides access to standard Shopify customer support, which is available 24/7 via live chat support. While the support is generally reliable, it’s shared across all Shopify plans, meaning you don’t get prioritized service or a dedicated account manager.
• Shopify Plus: Includes dedicated account management through an assigned Launch Engineer, whose role is to help you set up your store, optimize its performance, and integrate third-party systems. In addition, Shopify Plus users get 24/7 priority support, meaning any technical issues are resolved faster than with lower-tier plans. This level of support is crucial for businesses that cannot afford downtime or operational bottlenecks.

9. API Access

• Shopify Advanced: Provides standard API access, allowing for third-party integrations with apps, CRMs, or other external systems. However, there are limitations in terms of API call limits and the depth of integration capabilities, making it adequate but not exceptional for businesses with more advanced technical needs.
• Shopify Plus: Grants enterprise-level API access, offering greater flexibility and higher API rate limits, allowing you to integrate with complex third-party systems such as ERPs, CRMs, custom apps, and more. Shopify Plus also gives you access to Shopify’s GraphQL API, which enables more efficient data retrieval and integrations for businesses needing high-level data manipulation and synchronization across multiple platforms.

Which Plan is Right for You?

Choosing between Shopify Advanced and Shopify Plus comes down to your business needs, growth trajectory, and budget. Here are some guiding factors to help you decide:

1. Business Size & Sales Volume
   If your business is growing steadily but isn’t quite at the enterprise level, Shopify Advanced offers robust features without the enterprise-level price tag. However, if your sales volume is high, and you are scaling quickly, Shopify Plus may be the better investment due to the significant cost savings in transaction fees and the added operational efficiency.
2. Customization & Flexibility
   Shopify Plus is the clear winner when it comes to customization. With access to the Script Editor and Launchpad, businesses can create a highly tailored shopping experience, automate workflows, and manage flash sales or promotions with ease.
3. Support Requirements
   If your business demands high-level support or has complex onboarding needs, Shopify Plus provides dedicated account management and priority support, making it ideal for enterprises that need immediate assistance. On the other hand, if your team can manage with standard support and fewer customizations, Shopify Advanced will suffice.
4. International and Wholesale Operations
   If international expansion or wholesale operations are key components of your growth strategy, Shopify Plus offers more robust tools to manage these complexities. The wholesale channel and multi-store capabilities of Shopify Plus provide an unparalleled advantage for global and B2B sales.

Conclusion

Both Shopify Advanced and Shopify Plus offer tremendous value for growing businesses, but the decision ultimately comes down to your specific needs and budget. Shopify Advanced is perfect for businesses that need advanced features without an enterprise-level investment, while Shopify Plus is designed for companies ready to scale rapidly, offering more extensive customization, support, and savings.

When deciding which plan is right for you, consider your sales volume, need for customization, international strategy, and whether the added support and tools in Shopify Plus are worth the additional investment.

If you are still unsure which option to choose, or if you’d like assistance transitioning to a more advanced Shopify plan, feel free to reach out to us at cmsMinds. We are here to help you make the best decision for your business!