Stripe vs Shopify: Cost and Fees Calculator
Enter your volumes to compare estimated monthly costs and fees for Stripe and Shopify across the selling types both offer, using published US pricing.
In-person card payments
Selling online (eCommerce)
Estimates combine processing fees and monthly subscriptions on the plans noted above. One-time hardware, setup, and add-ons are excluded. Rates are published or typical US pricing as of mid-2026 and may have changed.
How the Stripe vs Shopify calculator works, and how the two compare
Stripe is a developer-focused online payments infrastructure company that also sells Terminal card readers for in-person sales. Stripe charges 2.9% + $0.30 for online card payments and 2.7% + $0.05 in person via Stripe Terminal (Reader M2 $59), with no monthly fee and volume discounts on request. Shopify is the leading dedicated eCommerce platform in the US, which also sells in person through Shopify POS. Shopify Basic is $39 per month at 2.9% + $0.30 online with Shopify Payments (Grow $105 at 2.7% + $0.30); in-person processing is 2.6% + $0.10 with POS Lite included in every plan, and POS Pro adds $89 per month per location.
How they are similar: Where they overlap: both Stripe and Shopify cover taking card payments in person with a card reader or terminal and selling online, which is what this calculator compares. In both cases the bill is driven by a percentage of each sale plus any fixed per-transaction fee, which is why your average transaction size changes the effective rate as much as the headline percentage does.
How they differ: Only Shopify offers a full POS system, so that side of the business is not part of this comparison. Stripe operates as flat-rate card processing with published per-transaction fees, while Shopify operates as a subscription platform where you pay a monthly plan plus payment processing. Stripe is built API-first: it has no storefront or POS software of its own, but offers unmatched flexibility, 135+ currencies, and dozens of payment methods for businesses that build their own checkout. Shopify's strength is depth and ecosystem: the largest app store in commerce and true omnichannel selling, but third-party gateways trigger an extra 0.6% to 2% fee and app costs creep up at scale.
Assumptions used in this calculator
- Stripe is modeled on: 2.7% + $0.05 in person via Stripe Terminal, Reader M2 $59; 2.9% + $0.30 per online card payment, no monthly fee.
- Shopify is modeled on: 2.6% + $0.10 in person with POS Lite, included in the $39 Basic plan; reader $49; Basic $39 per month, 2.9% + $0.30 online with Shopify Payments.
- Rates are published or typical US pricing as of mid-2026 and change often; quote-based providers are modeled at representative rates. Always confirm current pricing with the provider.
- One-time hardware, setup, add-on apps, keyed-in transactions, international cards, and chargeback fees are excluded from the monthly figures.