Shopify Plus costs a lot more than Advanced. Many stores move up because they reach a certain size, not because they need anything Plus does. That is the wrong reason.
Plus is worth it when you need one of a few specific things. Here they are.
B2B in the same store
Plus includes Shopify's B2B features: company accounts with several locations, price lists per company, payment terms, and wholesale and retail in one store. On Advanced, you put this together with apps, and it never fits quite as well.
A checkout you can extend
On Plus you can add your own fields, messages and logic to the checkout steps with checkout extensions. Gift notes, delivery dates, extra consent, custom upsells. On other plans you can change much less.
Your own Functions
Shopify Functions decide discounts, delivery options and payment methods. Every plan can use Functions that come inside public apps. Only Plus can run Functions in a custom app built for your store alone. That matters when your discount or delivery rules are specific to your business and no public app does them.
More than one store
Plus includes expansion stores, for a second brand, a wholesale store, or a separate store for a market. It also adds tools for running several stores from one place.
Signs you do not need Plus yet
- You have no B2B, or a handful of trade customers you can handle with discount codes.
- Nobody has asked for a checkout change that you could not make.
- Your discount rules fit Shopify's built-in discounts or a public app.
- You run one store and plan to keep it that way.
If all four are true, stay on Advanced and spend the difference on your store.
Signs you do
- Wholesale is a real part of the business and you manage it by hand.
- You need checkout changes to meet a legal or business requirement.
- You keep paying for workarounds that Plus would make unnecessary.
Shopify changes plan prices and features from time to time, so check the current numbers on Shopify's pricing page before you decide. If you want a second opinion on your own case, ourShopify Plus consulting starts there. We will tell you honestly, including when the answer is to stay where you are.