Etsy vs Shopify fees
Etsy charges per sale. Shopify charges per month. On the same $30 order Etsy keeps $3.78 in fees while Shopify's card fee is $1.32 — but Shopify also wants $29 a month. The crossover is about 12 orders a month, and the honest answer also has to include traffic, which neither pricing page sells.
The two pricing models
Etsy is a marketplace: there is no monthly fee, and every sale pays a stack of per-order charges. Shopify is a platform: you rent the store, and per-sale costs drop to just the card processing fee. Neither is "cheaper" in the abstract — it depends entirely on volume.
| Charge | Etsy (US seller) | Shopify Basic (US) |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly fee | None | $29/mo billed annually |
| Listing / catalogue | $0.20 per listing, renews every 4 months and each time a unit sells | Unlimited products, no listing fee |
| Commission on the sale | 6.5% of item + shipping + gift wrap | None |
| Payment processing | 3% + $0.25 | 2.9% + $0.30 online |
| Marketplace advertising | Offsite Ads 15% when a sale is ad-attributed (12% above $10k trailing sales, no opt-out) | None — you buy your own ads |
Shopify's card rate is from shopify.com, checked 11 October 2026; rates differ by country and by plan (Grow, at $79/mo, is 2.7% + $0.30). Etsy's rates are the ones every calculator on this site uses — see the rate reference for the full list and change history.
One $30 order, side by side
A $30 item with $5 shipping, buyer pays $35.00. US seller, no advertising on either side.
| Etsy fee | Amount | Math |
|---|---|---|
| Listing fee | $0.20 | Per unit sold |
| Transaction fee | $2.28 | ($30 + $5) × 6.5% |
| Payment processing | $1.30 | $35 × 3% + $0.25 |
| Total | $3.78 | 10.8% of the order |
| Shopify (Basic) cost | Amount | Math |
|---|---|---|
| Platform commission | $0.00 | No commission on paid plans |
| Online card fee | $1.32 | $35 × 2.9% + $0.30 |
| Per-order total | $1.32 | 3.8% of the order — plus $29/mo |
Same order, same price to the buyer. Etsy's fees are $2.46 higher per order. Over a month, that gap is what the Shopify subscription has to beat.
Where the crossover is
Divide the $29 monthly fee by the $2.46 per-order gap and you get 11.8. So:
Below about 12 orders a month, Etsy costs less in fees. Above it, Shopify does. At 11 orders the month ends with Etsy at $41.58 in fees versus Shopify at $43.52 ($29 + 11 × $1.32). At 12 orders it flips: $45.36 versus $44.78.
Cheap items widen the gap
Fixed per-order fees punish low prices, and Etsy has more of them ($0.45 of fixed fees per sale versus Shopify's $0.30). A $4.99 item with free shipping:
| $4.99 order | Etsy | Shopify Basic |
|---|---|---|
| Per-order fees | $0.92 | $0.44 |
| Share of the price | 18.5% | 8.9% |
| Orders/month before the $29 plan pays for itself | — | ≈ 60 |
Etsy's fee share of a $4.99 sale is more than double Shopify's — but if $4.99 is all you sell, you'd need roughly 60 orders a month on Shopify before the subscription breaks even. Cheap items keep you on Etsy unless volume is high.
What the fee tables don't show
Fee-per-order is the smallest number in this decision. Four bigger ones:
1. Traffic is the real cost. Etsy is a marketplace — buyers are already searching inside it, which is what the 6.5% commission buys. A Shopify store has no visitors until you bring them: ads, SEO, social, email. For most small sellers, a single month of ad spend exceeds the entire fee difference in this comparison. A fair reading: Etsy's fees are high, and part of what they buy is customers.
2. Etsy's smaller charges add up. Catalogue size costs $0.20 per listing every 4 months; nine countries pay a regulatory operating fee of 0.05–1.97% (none for US or Australian sellers); selling in a currency other than your deposit currency adds 2.5%. Sellers in the UK pay 4% + £0.20 processing instead of the US rate. All of it is on the rate page, and every logged change is in the fee change log.
3. Shopify's bill is bigger than $29. The plan price assumes you use Shopify Payments (using a third-party gateway instead adds a platform fee on top). A domain runs ~$15/year, and most stores add at least one paid app. If you outgrow Basic, Grow is $79/mo at 2.7% + $0.30.
4. Opt-out asymmetry. Under $10k in trailing 12-month sales you can switch Offsite Ads off; above it you can't. Shopify has no equivalent charge — but it also has no equivalent ad engine feeding you buyers.
Common questions
Is Shopify cheaper than Etsy?
Per sale, yes: $1.32 versus $3.78 on a $35 order. But Shopify's $29/month subscription means below roughly 12 orders a month, Etsy is cheaper in total fees. And the biggest cost — getting customers — runs the other way: Etsy includes marketplace traffic, Shopify doesn't.
How many sales per month before Shopify is cheaper than Etsy?
About 12 for a typical $30 item with $5 shipping (Shopify Basic billed annually). Formula: monthly fee ÷ per-order fee gap. If your Etsy sales are Offsite-Ads-attributed, the gap widens to $7.71 and the break-even drops to about 4 orders.
What does Shopify charge per transaction in 2026?
On Basic in the US: 2.9% + $0.30 for online card payments through Shopify Payments, with no additional platform fee on paid plans. Grow ($79/mo) lowers it to 2.7% + $0.30. Rates vary by country — verify on Shopify's pricing page for your region.
What does Etsy charge on a $4.99 sale?
$0.92, or 18.5%: $0.20 listing + $0.32 transaction (6.5%) + $0.40 processing (3% + $0.25). The same order costs about $0.44 (8.9%) on Shopify Basic — but you'd need around 60 such orders a month before its $29 plan breaks even.
Should I sell on Etsy or Shopify — or both?
Both is the common answer, in this order: start on Etsy to reach buyers without a marketing budget; open Shopify once you have repeat customers, a brand, or a margin profile that justifies paying for your own traffic. The fee crossover at ~12 orders/month is the point where the maths stops arguing against the subscription.
Work out your own numbers
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