Shopify vs Shopify Plus — What’s the Difference?

Shopify is an ecommerce solution used by millions of businesses worldwide to build an online store.

Most of these are small to medium-sized businesses, who are happy to use one of the standard Shopify pricing plans (‘Basic’, ‘Shopify, ‘Advanced Shopify’ etc.).

With the ‘normal’ versions of Shopify, users get access to core selling features that generally work well for ‘solopreneurs’ or small businesses.

These include:

• a standalone store
• multilingual selling features
• multi-currency selling features
• dropshipping tools
• point-of-sale functionality

However, some businesses — 12,500+ brands, according to Internet statistics company Builtwith.com — choose to use a premium version of the platform, Shopify Plus.

The companies that use Shopify Plus tend to be large, well-known brands — businesses like Sony, Heinz, Polaroid, Staples and Gymshark.

Shopify vs Shopify Plus — are they actually different platforms?

A key thing to understand when comparing Shopify vs Shopify Plus is that they are not different platforms.

They are…

• built on the same technology
• use the same Shopify themes
• provide the exact same interface
• have the same core functionality.

The difference between the two solutions simply boils down to the ‘enterprise-grade’ features that are unlocked when you use the Shopify Plus plan, and pricing.

Key features that are unique to Shopify Plus

Exclusive access to Shopify’s Merchant Success programme

A fundamental difference between Shopify and Shopify Plus is the amount of ‘hand-holding’ and personal support that you get.

When you take out a Plus plan, a ‘Launch Team‘ is on hand to help you get your store online live faster by assisting with migrations and custom integrations, and a ‘merchant success’ programme is provided to help you with your ongoing ecommerce strategy.