The question of when to upgrade to Shopify Plus comes up in almost every scaling conversation. The platform promises more power, more customization, more support. But Plus isn’t right for every store, and the decision is more nuanced than hitting a revenue threshold.
What Plus Actually Provides
Shopify Plus offers several categories of capabilities: checkout customization, higher API limits, automation tools (Flow), wholesale/B2B features, expansion store options, and dedicated support. Each of these solves specific problems for specific types of businesses.
The checkout customization—through checkout extensibility and, historically, checkout.liquid—is often the headline feature. If your business requires checkout modifications that standard Shopify doesn’t allow, Plus may be necessary. But many stores don’t actually need checkout customization; they just think they do.
When Plus Makes Clear Sense
Plus is clearly valuable when you’re hitting platform limits: API rate limits that constrain your integrations, checkout requirements that standard tiers can’t meet, or international expansion needs that require multiple storefronts.
It also makes sense when you need the automation capabilities that Flow provides, or when your B2B business requires the wholesale channel features. These are concrete capabilities that either matter to your business or don’t.
When Plus Is Premature
Many stores upgrade to Plus based on revenue alone—crossing some threshold that feels like it warrants the “enterprise” platform. But if you’re not using Plus-specific features, you’re paying significantly more for capabilities you don’t need.
The support relationship is valuable, but it’s not magic. Your success manager won’t solve your strategic problems. The priority support is helpful for urgent issues, but most scaling challenges aren’t support tickets.
The Hidden Costs
Beyond the platform fee, Plus can create pressure to use its features. The checkout customization capabilities are powerful, but customizations require maintenance. The automation tools are flexible, but automations add complexity. More capability means more decisions about what to build and maintain.
Making the Decision
The right question isn’t “can we afford Plus?” but “do we need what Plus provides?” If you can articulate specific features you’ll use on day one, the upgrade probably makes sense. If the appeal is mostly status or a vague sense that scaling stores should be on Plus, you might be better served by investing that budget elsewhere.
Plus is a tool. Like any tool, its value depends on whether you have the problem it solves.