We are big fans of Shopify at AfterShip. We went to their recent Shopify Unite event a couple of months ago in San Francisco. It was a lot of fun.
Many AfterShip users sign up with us through Shopify. [Our app](https://apps.shopify.com/aftership" target="_blank) is among the essentials app to download when you launch your shop. And it's free. Our users are happy (843 reviews with a 5-star rate) and we strive to improve this:
It's always interesting to notice when there are some changes happening. And when you update your pricing, even slightly as Shopify did this week, it's necessary to recap the changes briefly.
Here is the essential:
- the names have changed
- the monthly price for the Unlimited plan has increased a lot
- the 'staff account' limitation on each plan has been updated
1. Names of Shopify Plans
Shopify clarified the names of their different plans. From four options, now they display just three:
- Basic Shopify
- Shopify
- Advanced Shopify
The starter plan has been discontinued.
You can still use the Lite plan, but it does not appear as it used to in the Shopify pricing page.
You still have the [14-days FREE trial](www.shopify.com" target="_blank) which is a great way to start testing and push online stores to hustle and start selling. We like this emotional trigger to encourage users to give everything they can during those two weeks to start selling.
2. Advanced / Unlimited Shopify monthly fee increased by 67%. Ouch.
This new price will affect only new Shopify users or the ones who will upgrade. If you were using Shopify Unlimited and paying $179 / month, you won't notice any difference. That's a relief.
3. Staff Account Restrictions
It's easy to develop a nice Shopify website. It's harder to develop a great Shopify website that sells. You will need a web-developer, a UX / UI designer, maybe a marketer. Of course you can share the same login and password with everyone in your team but sometimes, it just doesn't feel right. Here are the changes in details:
-
Lite: updated plan has a limit of 1 staff account in addition to the owner’s account.
-
Basic: updated plan has a limit of 2 staff accounts in addition to the owner’s account.
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Shopify: updated Shopify ('regular') plan has a limit of 5 staff accounts in addition to the owner’s account.
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Unlimited: updated plan has a limit of 15 staff accounts in addition to the owner’s account.
Conclusion
The changes are minor. Although they show Shopify might target new users who are willing to invest more time and money into the platform.
The more expensive the entry is, the more serious you are about your approach. It will be curious to see whether this new pricing update affects [our downloads](https://apps.shopify.com/aftership" target="_blank).
