Shopify & Shopify Plus
The undisputed leader in DTC infrastructure. But is it right for complex B2B?
The SaaS Reality
Shopify removed the burden of server maintenance from the merchant. In doing so, it created a massive ecosystem of apps. The hidden cost of Shopify is rarely the platform fee (starting around $2k/mo for Plus); it is the "app tax" and the architectural constraints of a multi-tenant SaaS.
Checkout Extensibility
With the deprecation of checkout.liquid, merchants must now use Checkout Extensibility. This is more secure and upgrades seamlessly, but it strictly limits what you can do at checkout without building custom apps using Shopify Functions. If you have extreme custom logic (e.g., highly specific geographic restrictions combined with multi-currency dynamic pricing), you will pay heavily in agency dev hours.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Base Cost (Plus) | $2,300+ / month |
| Transaction Fees (w/o Shopify Payments) | 0.15% - 0.20% |
| API Limit | GraphQL: 1000 pts/sec |