Shopify pricing in Japan – plans, fees, apps and the real monthly total

The five costs behind Shopify pricing

The clearest way to read Shopify pricing is to split fixed monthly costs from costs that grow with sales. A running store has five kinds of cost:

• Plan fee: the monthly or yearly subscription; features and staff accounts depend on the plan
• Payment processing fee: a percentage of card sales, lower on higher plans
• Transaction fee: an extra percentage when you use a payment provider other than Shopify Payments
• Apps: monthly charges for reviews, subscriptions, delivery date selection and other add-ons
• Theme and domain: paid themes are a one-time purchase; a custom domain renews yearly

The plan fee and apps are fixed costs you pay even with zero sales. Payment and transaction fees scale with revenue. Keep the two groups separate when you compare options and the totals become much easier to judge.

Shopify plans and fees at a glance

Shopify's main plans are Basic, Grow (formerly Shopify) and Advanced, with Shopify Plus for large operations. The figures below are typical published rates at the time of writing, converted at 150 yen to the dollar.

• Basic: about $39 (around 5,900 yen) monthly, or about $29 (around 4,400 yen) a month paid yearly; domestic card fees around 3.55%
• Grow: about $105 (around 15,800 yen) monthly, or about $79 (around 11,900 yen) a month paid yearly; card fees around 3.4%
• Advanced: about $399 (around 60,000 yen) monthly, or about $299 (around 44,900 yen) a month paid yearly; card fees around 3.25%
• Shopify Plus: typically from around $2,300 a month on a yearly contract, built for high order volume and multiple stores
• Transaction fees: with a third-party payment provider, roughly 2% on Basic, 1% on Grow and 0.6% on Advanced on top

Shopify revises prices from time to time, and the billing currency and exchange rate change what you pay in yen. Check the official pricing page, including how consumption tax is applied, before you sign up. Some card brands such as JCB and American Express carry slightly higher rates. For when an enterprise plan makes sense, see our Shopify Plus guide.

A real monthly total for a small Japanese store

Here is a worked example: a store with 500,000 yen in monthly sales, on the Basic plan paid yearly, running three paid apps.

• Plan fee: about 4,400 yen
• Apps: reviews, delivery date selection and receipts – about 4,000 to 6,000 yen
• Payment fees: 500,000 yen × 3.55% = about 17,750 yen
• Domain: a few hundred yen a month when the yearly fee is spread out
• Total: roughly 27,000 to 29,000 yen, or about 5–6% of sales

At 2 million yen a month, payment fees alone reach about 70,000 yen, and moving up to Grow for the lower rate can make the total cheaper. In the early months, when sales are small, Basic keeps fixed costs low. Plug in your own sales forecast once and you will know where the switching point is for your store.

Where Shopify costs creep up – and how to keep them down

Budgets usually slip on apps and payment options. These habits keep monthly fixed costs small:

• Audit your apps monthly: apps installed for a free trial often keep billing after you stop using them
• Check the theme first: current free themes handle review display and flexible sections, so you may not need an app
• Build around Shopify Payments: other providers add a transaction fee; if you add convenience store payment or pay-later options, include that extra in the comparison
• Switch to yearly billing: once the store is clearly here to stay, yearly plans cost less per month
• List Japan-specific needs early: delivery date and time, gift wrapping (noshi), receipts, regional shipping rates – knowing these up front makes app choice simple

Running costs are separate from the build itself. For setup budgets see Shopify development cost, and for a comparison with BASE and WooCommerce see e-commerce site cost in Japan.

How to choose the right Shopify plan

You can change plans at any time, so there is no need to start high. Check three things before you subscribe:

• Monthly sales forecast: does the saving on payment fees exceed the difference in plan price?
• People using the admin: each plan has a limit on staff accounts
• Reports and features: do you need deeper analytics or international pricing?

Most small stores start on Basic and review the plan once sales settle. If you are unsure, write down your product count and expected monthly orders – that makes any conversation about plans quick and concrete.

How UNANOBO builds on Shopify: a cost estimate and a free demo first

Before you commit, UNANOBO builds a free demo of your Shopify store using your brand and products. While you click through it on a computer and phone, we sort out which apps you need, which you can skip, which plan fits and what the store will cost to run each month.

The process is free demo, feedback, launch, growth. The founder handles every project personally, from the first demo to marketing after launch, and everything runs by message in Japanese or English. Your Shopify account and domain are registered in your own name, so you always stay in control of the store.