This calculator was manually reviewed to confirm current platform fees, plan details, and assumptions as of September 2026.
Platforms may update pricing or terms at any time.
Etsy can make perfect sense at a lower sales volume. You pay fees as orders come in, and there is no Shopify plan bill waiting patiently whether you sold anything or not. But as sales grow, Etsy’s per-order fees grow with them, while Shopify’s monthly cost gets spread across more orders. That is where the math can flip. This calculator finds the first whole monthly order where Shopify becomes cheaper using your order value, shipping charged, payment setup, and Offsite Ads assumptions. Not a universal winner. Just the point where the numbers change for your business.
Etsy vs Shopify sales threshold
Find the monthly sales point where Shopify becomes cheaper
Compare platform-related costs on the same order. The calculator finds the first whole monthly order where Shopify costs less than Etsy, then shows what the result means at your current sales volume.
Order and sales volume
Use one realistic order and your current or expected monthly volume.
The item amount before shipping and sales tax.
Leave blank if shipping is free or included in the item price.
This is used to compare your current volume with the calculated crossover.
Etsy setup
Standard U.S. Etsy fees are built in. Add only the costs that apply to your shop.
Each unit is assigned one $0.20 listing or renewal fee.
The fee applies only to attributed orders and is capped at $100 for each attributed order.
Optional: a cost required for the Etsy sale but not the Shopify sale.
Optional: Etsy Plus or another Etsy-specific monthly expense.
Shopify setup
Choose the plan and payment path, then enter the monthly and per-order costs that apply to your store.
Standard monthly price loads automatically. Edit for annual billing, promotions, or contracted pricing.
Optional: an app or service charge needed to produce the Shopify sale.
Do not repeat the plan cost. Add paid apps and Shopify-specific services here.
Basic with Shopify Payments uses the current published U.S. standard online rate of 2.9% + $0.30.
Estimated Shopify crossover
Enter your numbers
Complete the required fields to calculate the first monthly order where Shopify costs less.
Cost breakdown
Etsy
Shopify
What this result means
Complete the required fields to see which platform costs less at your volume.
The crossover depends on each platform’s per-order costs and fixed monthly costs.
A lower platform cost does not guarantee more sales. Customer acquisition and platform fit still matter.
This is a planning estimate, not a guarantee of savings, sales, or profit. It excludes sales tax, refunds, chargebacks, currency conversion, international and premium-card rates, Shopify Tax charges, duties, income tax, and any expense not entered above. Etsy payment processing is modeled at the standard U.S. rate of 3% + $0.25. Confirm your actual Etsy, Shopify, and payment-provider rates before making a platform decision.
A second sales channel can do more than lower fees.
Shopify does not have to replace Etsy to make your business less dependent on one marketplace. It can give you another place to sell, a more direct path to your customers, and greater control over how your storefront works. Use the trial to see what adding a second channel would require before a policy change, account issue, or traffic drop makes the decision for you.
Affiliate disclosure: If you start a Shopify trial through this link, Seller Calculators may earn a commission at no additional cost to you. These commissions help support the work of building, testing, and maintaining free calculators for sellers.
Test the second channel. Keep what works. Depend on less.
Shopify vs Etsy break-even FAQs
How many monthly sales does it take for Shopify to become cheaper than Etsy?
There is no single number that works for every seller. The crossover depends on your average order value, shipping charged, Etsy Offsite Ads exposure, Shopify plan, payment setup, and platform-specific costs.
This calculator finds the first whole monthly order where Shopify’s estimated platform costs become lower than Etsy’s using the numbers you enter.
Why does monthly sales volume change which platform is cheaper?
Most Etsy fees increase with every order. Shopify also has per-order payment costs, but much of its platform cost comes from the monthly plan.
At a lower sales volume, that fixed Shopify cost is spread across relatively few orders. As volume grows, the cost is divided across more sales, which is where Shopify can start to become cheaper.
How do the Shopify plan and payment setup affect the crossover?
Each Shopify plan has a different monthly price, payment-processing rate, and additional transaction fee for outside payment providers. A more expensive plan may offer lower per-order rates, but lower rates do not automatically make the plan cheaper.
The calculator weighs the fixed monthly cost against the per-order savings. Sometimes upgrading helps. Sometimes it is just a larger bill wearing a lower percentage.
Does shipping charged to the customer affect the threshold?
Yes. Etsy’s transaction fee and payment-processing fee are calculated using the item subtotal plus shipping charged to the customer. Shopify’s payment-processing fee also applies to the amount the customer pays, including shipping.
Higher shipping charges can therefore change both platforms’ costs and move the crossover point.
How are Etsy Offsite Ads included?
Choose the Offsite Ads rate that applies to your shop, then enter the estimated share of monthly orders attributed to those ads. The calculator applies the selected rate only to that share of orders and caps the fee at $100 for each attributed order.
Using your actual attributed-order share produces a more realistic threshold than assuming every Etsy order came through an Offsite Ad.
Does this calculator include product costs or profit margin?
No, and that is intentional. Product cost, fulfillment expense, and other shared order costs do not change the platform-cost crossover when the same sale is being compared on Etsy and Shopify.
The calculator does include the platform-specific per-order and monthly costs you enter. It excludes sales tax and does not calculate total profit or profit margin.
What does it mean if Shopify never becomes cheaper?
It means Shopify’s per-order cost is not low enough to overcome its fixed monthly costs under the assumptions entered. Increasing sales volume will not create the usual crossover if Shopify costs more for each additional order.
Check the plan, payment provider, rates, and platform-specific expenses you entered. If those numbers are correct, Etsy remains the lower-cost platform in this particular scenario.
Does reaching the crossover mean I should leave Etsy?
No. A fee crossover tells you when Shopify’s estimated platform costs become lower. It does not tell you whether Shopify will generate the same sales or replace Etsy’s marketplace traffic.
For many sellers, the better decision may be to add Shopify as a second sales channel, build more direct customer relationships, and reduce dependence on one marketplace. Moving everything overnight is not required. Frankly, it is rarely the calmest experiment.