Etsy vs Shopify Fees: The Breakeven Formula, Not a Static Number

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The two fee shapes

Etsy: $0 monthly subscription. Per listing: a $0.20 listing/renewal fee. Per sale: a 6.5% transaction fee plus payment processing (a percentage plus a small fixed fee, varying by country — the U.S. example is 3% + $0.25) on the order total. There's no fixed monthly cost, so a slow month costs you almost nothing beyond listing fees; a strong month costs proportionally more.
Source: Etsy — Fees and Taxes for Selling on Etsy.

Shopify: a fixed monthly subscription (the exact price depends on the plan tier, your region, and whether you bill monthly or annually — check Shopify's pricing page for your current number), plus a per-sale card-processing rate that is typically lower than Etsy's combined rate, and no per-listing fee at all. That means a slow month still costs you the full subscription; a strong month costs relatively less per dollar sold than Etsy does.

The breakeven formula

Since Etsy's cost is (mostly) proportional to sales and Shopify's has a fixed floor, there's a monthly sales total where the two become equal. Below that total, Etsy is cheaper (you're not paying for a subscription you're not using enough to justify). Above it, Shopify is cheaper (the lower per-sale rate starts outweighing the fixed cost).

Worked through with placeholder numbers

To show the mechanics without asserting a specific current price (see the callout above for why), say Shopify's monthly subscription for your plan tier is P dollars, and its card rate is S%. Etsy's combined rate is roughly 6.5% + your country's processing percentage — call that E%. Your breakeven monthly sales total is P ÷ (E − S). Below that number, Etsy's zero-subscription structure wins; above it, Shopify's lower percentage starts paying for itself.

Example with round numbers just to show the arithmetic: if P = 30, E = 9.5%, and S = 3%, the breakeven is 30 ÷ 0.065 ≈ $462/month in sales. Sell less than that and the no-subscription platform costs less; sell more and the lower-percentage platform starts winning. Replace 30, 9.5, and 3 with your own plan's actual current numbers from each platform's pricing page to get your real breakeven.

What the formula leaves out (and why that's usually fine)

• Etsy's $0.20 listing fee and per-order minor fixed fees aren't in the formula — at typical order sizes they're small relative to the percentage-based fees, but if you have very low average order values and high listing counts relative to sales, they matter more than this simplified version accounts for.
• Shopify apps, themes, and transaction fees for non-Shopify-Payments gateways aren't included — those are additional costs specific to how a given Shopify store is configured, not a fixed part of the base plan.
• Etsy's built-in marketplace traffic versus Shopify's "you drive your own traffic" model is a real, significant difference in what each platform actually does for a seller — but it's not a fee, so it's out of scope for a fee-comparison page specifically.

Check it with your own numbers

Two inputs to look up before you calculate your own breakeven: your country's current Etsy payment-processing rate (see How Etsy Fees Work for the full breakdown, including country variation), and the current subscription price and card rate for the specific Shopify plan tier you'd actually use (on Shopify's pricing page). Then run your actual Etsy sales numbers through the free Etsy Fee Calculator to see your real current Etsy fee total side by side with what the formula above says Shopify would cost at your volume.

What this page doesn't cover

• It doesn't recommend one platform over the other — the right answer depends on your sales volume, whether you value Etsy's built-in buyer traffic, and how much control over branding/checkout you want, not fees alone.
• It doesn't compare Etsy to eBay, which has its own fee shape (category-tiered percentages rather than a subscription) — see Etsy vs eBay Fees for that comparison.
• It doesn't include Offsite Ads, which is a separate, conditional Etsy fee — see Etsy Offsite Ads Fee Explained for that mechanic.
• It doesn't cover what Etsy refunds back to you if you refund a buyer — see Does Etsy Refund Fees When You Refund a Buyer?.
• It doesn't itemize Shopify's transaction-fee surcharge for using a non-Shopify-Payments gateway, or the cost of paid apps/themes — those vary by store setup.
• It uses the U.S. Etsy payment-processing example rate; other countries have their own published rate — see How Etsy Fees Work.

Frequently asked questions

Is Etsy or Shopify cheaper?

It depends on your monthly sales volume. Etsy has no subscription but a higher combined percentage fee; Shopify has a subscription but a lower percentage fee. Below your personal breakeven volume, Etsy tends to cost less; above it, Shopify tends to cost less. Use the formula above with your own current numbers from each platform.

What is the Etsy-vs-Shopify fee breakeven point in dollars?

There's no single universal number — it depends on the Shopify plan tier's current subscription price and card rate (which vary by region and change over time) and your country's Etsy payment-processing rate. Divide the Shopify subscription price by the difference between Etsy's combined rate and Shopify's card rate to get your own breakeven.

Does this include Etsy's Offsite Ads fee or Shopify app costs?

No — this page compares the base subscription and per-sale fee structure only. Offsite Ads is a separate, conditional Etsy fee (see the linked article above), and Shopify app/theme costs vary too much by store to include in a general formula.

Is this page affiliated with Etsy or Shopify?

No. This page is an independent project, not created, affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Etsy, Inc. or Shopify Inc. Always confirm current fee figures directly on each platform's own pricing page before making a decision.

← How Etsy Fees Work: the full fee-layer breakdown, with a worked example

This page provides a general calculation method for informational purposes only, not financial or business advice — confirm current fees directly with each platform before making a decision.
Etsy is a trademark of Etsy, Inc. Shopify is a trademark of Shopify Inc. This content is not created or endorsed by either company.