Ecommerce Platform Fees Explained

The three layers of store costs

Every online sale passes through up to three charges:

1. The plan fee, a fixed monthly or yearly subscription for the platform.
2. A platform transaction fee, a percentage some platforms take on each sale, depending on plan or payment method.
3. Payment processing, the card or wallet provider's charge, which on the rates in this guide is a percentage plus a fixed amount per transaction.

Some platforms combine layers two and three into one rate when you use their own payments. Others charge them separately. Comparing stores fairly means adding all three for your expected sales.

Platform transaction fees by plan

Wix's plan guide says online payments begin on its Core plan ($29 a month billed annually); we did not find a platform transaction fee stated there, so check at checkout for your payment method.

Payment processing rates

Shopify publishes its online card rates by plan: 2.9% plus 30 cents on Basic, 2.7% plus 30 cents on Grow, 2.5% plus 30 cents on Advanced and 2.25% plus 30 cents on Plus. WooCommerce lists about 2.50% to 2.90% plus 30 cents per transaction through WooPayments. Webflow says its transaction fee is "In addition to Stripe or Paypal processing fees." Squarespace and Wix did not list processing rates on the plan pages we read; check each platform's payments page for current rates.

The fixed per-transaction amount weighs most on stores with small orders. On a $10 order, 30 cents is 3% of the sale on its own.

A worked example

Imagine a store with $50,000 of online sales a year from 1,000 orders averaging $50. To keep the comparison fair, we assume a processing rate of 2.9% plus 30 cents everywhere a platform does not publish its own, which gives $1,750 a year in processing. That assumption is ours, for illustration only.

The pattern is clear: once sales pass a certain level, a plan with no platform fee costs less overall, even if its monthly price is higher. For Squarespace in this example, Core saves $880 a year over Basic. The point where the higher plan pays off is the extra yearly plan cost divided by the fee rate; for Squarespace that is $120 divided by 2%, or $6,000 of yearly store sales.

Costs outside the three layers

• Apps and extensions: reviews, subscriptions, shipping rules or loyalty programs, some billed monthly. WooCommerce lists extensions at $29 to $299 a year each.
• Themes: free or a one-off purchase.
• Chargebacks and refunds: processors may charge for disputes and may not return the original fee on refunds; check your provider's terms.
• Currency conversion if you sell abroad.
• Sales tax tools if your obligations span several states.

How order size changes the picture

The fixed part of a processing fee, such as 30 cents, weighs heavily on small orders and lightly on large ones. Two stores with the same yearly sales can pay quite different processing totals.

A store selling low-priced items should look closely at the fixed fee and consider ways to raise the average order, such as bundles or a minimum order for free shipping. A store selling high-priced items will care more about the percentage.

When a higher plan pays for itself

Platforms that charge a transaction fee on lower plans set up a simple calculation. The higher plan is worth it once the fee you would save is larger than the extra plan cost.

Break-even sales = (higher plan yearly cost minus lower plan yearly cost) divided by the fee rate you would stop paying.

Using yearly-billed prices from November 4, 2026:

• Squarespace Basic to Core: ($348 minus $228) divided by 2% = $6,000 of store sales a year.
• Webflow Standard to Plus: ($888 minus $348) divided by 2% = $27,000 of sales a year.
• Shopify Basic to Grow, with a third-party provider: ($948 minus $348) divided by the 1% difference in Shopify's fee = $60,000 of sales a year. (Shopify's lower card rates on Grow apply only if you switch to Shopify Payments.)

These figures ignore other plan differences, which may matter more than fees for your store.

Questions to ask about fees before you choose

• Does the platform charge a transaction fee on my plan, and does it change if I use a different payment provider?
• What processing rate applies to online card payments, and is there a fixed amount per order?
• Are there separate fees for in-person sales, subscriptions, digital products or memberships?
• How are refunds and disputes charged?
• What would my fees be at twice my expected sales, and would a different plan be cheaper then?

Answering these with your own sales estimate takes an hour and can save far more over a year.

Fees as a store grows

The cheapest setup at launch is not always the cheapest a year later. Using the same illustrative assumptions as the worked example (processing at 2.9% plus 30 cents where a platform does not publish its own rate, and an average order of $50), here is how two common choices compare as yearly sales rise.

Each figure adds the yearly plan price, any platform fee and processing (2.9% of sales plus 30 cents on each order). At $10,000 of sales the gap between plans is small; at $150,000 the platform fee costs about $3,000 a year. That is the moment to review your plan, not after the year has ended.

A note on payment providers

If you want to keep a payment provider you already use, for example because your bookkeeping is set up around it, check whether the platform adds its own fee for it. Shopify does on every plan, from 2% on Basic to 0.2% on Plus, though its help center says PayPal orders are exempt when Shopify Payments is your primary provider. Sometimes switching to the platform's own payments for the online store, while keeping your existing provider for in-person sales, gives the lowest total.

How to compare for your store

Estimate next year's sales and average order value, then add plan, platform fee and processing for each candidate. Add the extras you know you will need. The first-year cost calculator does this, shows the formula and lets you change any number. For a closer look at two store platforms side by side, read Shopify vs WooCommerce.

Sources for this page

1. Shopify: Plans & pricing. Official source, read November 4, 2026.
2. Squarespace: Squarespace Pricing Plans & Features. Official source, read November 4, 2026.
3. Webflow: Our pricing. Official source, read November 4, 2026.
4. Wix Blog (updated October 20, 2026): Wix Premium Plans: Which Plan to Pick for Your Site. Official source, read November 4, 2026.
5. WooCommerce: WooCommerce Pricing Puts You In Control. Official source, read November 4, 2026.
6. WordPress.com (Automattic): WordPress.com Pricing. Official source, read November 4, 2026.
7. Shopify Help Center: Exploring PayPal payment integrations and fees. Official source, read November 4, 2026.