Shopify sells anywhere. The question is at what cut.
A ready platform with an app ecosystem and international reach. On top of the monthly plan come app subscriptions and, with a third-party payment gateway, a percentage of every order.
We are not against Shopify. If you are aiming abroad with a small team, it is a sensible choice.
Products are unlimited, but only as many people may sign in as the tier allows. A new hire is a step up.
Shopify price list for Slovakia, checked 14 Aug 2026.
A percentage of every order, when the gateway is not theirs.
Shopify charges a surcharge when you do not use its own payment gateway. Whether you can avoid it depends on where you are based.
Czechia is on Shopify's list of supported countries, so a Czech shop can use Shopify Payments and skip the surcharge. Slovakia is not on that list, so a Slovak shop pays 0.6 to 2 % of every order on top of the gateway's own fee.
This is not the payment processor's fee — that is paid on top. It is Shopify's surcharge for not using Shopify Payments, which a Slovak shop cannot use at all: Slovakia is absent from Shopify's own list of supported countries, while Czechia is on it.
Shopify price list and Shopify Payments country list, checked 14 Aug 2026.
Not on features. On headcount and margin.
There is an app for everything and products are unlimited. What is limited is how many people can sign in — Basic includes no staff account, Grow five, Advanced fifteen.
On top of that come the monthly plan and the app subscriptions. At a thin margin it is the percentage that decides.
A percentage of revenue is not a fee. It is a share — and a share is paid in the years you got nothing new, too.
It is not about what the platform does, but what it takes from revenue.
Five things decide it: revenue and margin, how many people need access, whether you sell abroad, whether the app ecosystem suits you, and which payment gateway you want.
If you sell abroad with a small team and the margin carries the percentage, Shopify is a sensible choice and we will say so.
- You sell abroad and want a ready international platform.
- The team is small and fits inside the account limit.
- The app ecosystem suits you and you can pay for it.
- Margins can carry a percentage of revenue on top.
- A percentage of every order is material at your revenue.
- You need more people in the system than the tier allows.
- Order or pricing logic does not fit into apps.
- You want a local payment gateway without a surcharge for it not being theirs.
- The data and the code should stay with you.
If you are aiming at foreign markets with a small team, Shopify is a sensible choice and we will say so.
A shop that takes nothing from your revenue.
No percentage per order
You pay the payment gateway you chose. Nobody else, for having chosen it.
No cap on people
Whoever needs access has it. A new hire is not a step up a tier.
Local gateways natively
We wire up what your customers actually use, including invoice and cash-on-delivery.
The data and code are yours
You run on your own, with no tie to one vendor's ecosystem.
Common questions
Is Shopify a bad platform?
No, it is among the best in the world and hard to beat for international selling. This page does not compare quality — it compares what the model costs a particular company.
Can the percentage be avoided?
It depends where you are based. Shopify Payments removes the surcharge and is available in a specific list of countries — Czechia is on it, Slovakia is not. We date the check, because the list changes.
How many people does Shopify let into the system?
By tier: Basic no staff account, Grow five, Advanced fifteen. Above that is a step up, and the step to Advanced is a steep one. On a custom build it is a permissions question, not a pricing one.
When does custom development pay for itself?
Work it out from revenue. At half a million euro, two percent is ten thousand a year in surcharge alone — before the plan and before the apps. At low revenue it does not pay off, and we will tell you.
Can we move off Shopify without losing rankings?
Yes, if the URL structure is kept or permanent redirects are set, and products, content and reviews come across. A post-migration drop comes from forgotten URLs, not from changing platform.
Tell us what you turn over.
Write to us with your revenue, how many people need the system and where you sell. Within 24 hours we reply on whether a custom build pays off — or whether you should stay on Shopify.