Shopify Pricing in the UAE: every plan in AED, plus the fees you don’t see
Shopify’s pricing page shows dollars. Your bank statement shows dirhams — plus transaction fees, apps and payment processing. Here’s what a Shopify store really costs a UAE business per month, plan by plan.
Shopify plans in AED (October 2026)
| Plan | Billed monthly | Billed annually (per month) | Shopify fee with a third-party gateway | Staff accounts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | $39 ≈ AED 143 | $29 ≈ AED 107 | 2% | 2 |
| Grow | $105 ≈ AED 386 | $79 ≈ AED 290 | 1% | 5 |
| Advanced | $399 ≈ AED 1,465 | $299 ≈ AED 1,098 | 0.6% | 15 |
| Plus | From $2,300 ≈ AED 8,447 (3-yr term) · $2,500 ≈ AED 9,181 (1-yr) | Negotiated | Unlimited | |
AED at 3.6725 per USD. Shopify bills UAE merchants in USD, so your card may add an FX fee. Prices change — last checked October 2026; confirm on shopify.com. The Starter plan isn’t offered to new stores in most cases and doesn’t include a full online store, so we leave it out.
The fee that surprises UAE merchants
Shopify Payments is now available in the UAE — but only to eligible merchants on Advanced and Plus. On Basic and Grow you must use a third-party gateway (Telr, PayTabs, Network International, Stripe, Mamo…), and Shopify charges its own transaction fee on top of what the gateway charges.
Example on Basic with AED 50,000 monthly sales through a gateway charging ~2.7%:
- Gateway fees: ≈ AED 1,350
- Shopify third-party fee (2%): ≈ AED 1,000
- Plan: ≈ AED 143
That 2% is why the plan you pick should follow your sales volume, not just your feature list.
When to upgrade: the break-even maths
Using monthly billing and only the Shopify transaction fee (gateway fees are the same either way):
| Monthly sales | Basic (2%) total | Grow (1%) total | Cheaper |
|---|---|---|---|
| AED 10,000 | 143 + 200 = AED 343 | 386 + 100 = AED 486 | Basic |
| AED 25,000 | 143 + 500 = AED 643 | 386 + 250 = AED 636 | About equal |
| AED 50,000 | 143 + 1,000 = AED 1,143 | 386 + 500 = AED 886 | Grow |
Rule of thumb: Grow pays for itself from about AED 25,000/month in sales. Advanced becomes interesting at higher volumes — not just for the lower 0.6% fee but because it unlocks Shopify Payments, which removes the Shopify transaction fee entirely (your card processing rate then depends on Shopify’s plan-based rates).
The other monthly costs
| Cost | Typical UAE range | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Apps | AED 100–1,500/month | Reviews, BNPL (free to install; fee per order), email, subscriptions, translation. Audit quarterly. |
| Theme | Free–~AED 1,500 one-off | Premium themes are a one-off licence; custom themes are part of the build. |
| Card processing | ~2.5–3% per order | Gateway-dependent; confirm your negotiated rate. |
| BNPL (Tabby, Tamara) | ~4–6% per BNPL order | Usually offset by higher order values. |
| Domain | ~AED 50–200/year | .ae domains through UAE registrars. |
| VAT | 5% | Charged on Shopify’s fees under reverse charge once you are VAT-registered — ask your accountant. |
Realistic monthly totals
- New store, Basic: ~AED 250–600/month before payment processing.
- Growing store, Grow: ~AED 700–1,800/month before processing.
- Established store, Advanced: ~AED 1,600–3,000/month before processing.
And the one-off cost of building the store properly is separate — see our ecommerce website cost table.
Free trial and cancelling
Shopify usually offers a short free trial followed by a discounted first few months (the offer varies by region and changes often). To cancel or pause, go to Settings → Plan; you can pause on a reduced plan while keeping your store data. Export products and customers first if you’re leaving.
Which plan should a UAE store choose?
- Launching / under AED 25k a month: Basic, annual billing.
- AED 25k–150k a month: Grow.
- Higher volume, or you want Shopify Payments: Advanced.
- Multi-store, B2B, custom checkout, ERP: Shopify Plus.
More context in Shopify in the UAE: the complete guide and UAE payment gateways for Shopify.