InMinutes vs Shopify: Transaction Fees Compared (2026)
Does Shopify charge transaction fees? 2% on Basic with third-party gateways, 0% with Shopify Payments. InMinutes charges 0% platform fees, flat $99/mo. Full math.
What each platform actually takes from every sale — with the processing-fee vs platform-fee distinction most comparisons blur, and the exact revenue level where the math flips.
Quick answer: Yes, Shopify charges transaction fees — 2% per sale on the Basic plan if you use any payment provider other than Shopify Payments; 0% if you use Shopify Payments (per shopify.com/pricing). InMinutes charges a 0% platform transaction fee on its Business plan ($99/mo) — you pay only Stripe's standard processing (~2.9% + $0.30 US). On $10,000/mo in sales through a third-party gateway, that's $589 on Shopify Basic vs $449 on InMinutes.
The distinction most people miss
Two different fees hide inside "transaction fees":
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Payment processing fee — what Stripe, PayPal, or Shopify Payments charge to move the money (~2.9% + $0.30 per US online card payment). Everyone pays this, on every platform. InMinutes does not remove it and doesn't claim to.
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Platform transaction fee — what the website builder charges on top, for using their store. This is the fee InMinutes sets at 0%.
Fee comparison at $10,000/month in sales
Platform | Monthly plan | Platform transaction fee | Payment processing | Total on $10,000/mo |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Shopify Basic (Shopify Payments) | $39 | 0% | 2.9% + 30¢ | $389 |
Wix (Core) | $29 | 0% | 2.9% + 30¢ (Wix Payments) | $379 |
Squarespace (Core) | $23 | 0% | 2.9% + 30¢ | $373 |
InMinutes (Business) | $99 | 0% | Stripe 2.9% + 30¢ | $449 |
Squarespace (Basic) | $16 | 2% | 2.9% + 30¢ | $566 |
Shopify Basic (third-party gateway) | $39 | 2% | gateway's rate (Stripe/PayPal ~2.9% + 30¢) | $589 |
Etsy | $0 | 6.5% + $0.20/item | 3% + 25¢ (Etsy Payments) | $1,040 |
Assumptions: US rates, $10,000/mo in online card sales at a $50 average order (200 orders), card-not-present, July 2026 prices from each platform's own pricing page. Squarespace/Wix plan prices are annual-billing equivalents; Shopify Basic is $29/mo on annual billing. |
Break-even math: when flat beats percentage
Shopify's 2% third-party-gateway fee means every $1,000 in sales costs you an extra $20. The crossover against InMinutes' flat $99:
$39 + 2% of sales = $99 → sales = $3,000/month.
Above $3,000/month in sales, InMinutes' flat fee costs less than Shopify Basic with a third-party gateway ($3,500 if Shopify is billed annually at $29/mo). Below it, Shopify is cheaper — that's the honest low end.
And to be fully fair: if you use Shopify Payments, Shopify charges no platform fee at all, and Basic's raw store cost stays $60/month under InMinutes at every volume. In that configuration the comparison isn't about fees — it's about what the monthly bill includes (next section).
Monthly sales | Cost on Shopify Basic (3rd-party gateway) | Cost on InMinutes | You keep with InMinutes |
|---|---|---|---|
$2,000 | $149 | $169 | $1,831 |
$5,000 | $314 | $274 | $4,726 |
$10,000 | $589 | $449 | $9,551 |
$25,000 | $1,414 | $974 | $24,026 |
$50,000 | $2,789 | $1,849 | $48,151 |
Same assumptions as above; both columns include Stripe-level processing (2.9% + 30¢). |
What you give up, what you gain
What Shopify genuinely does better: it is the deepest ecommerce platform in the world. Massive app store, advanced inventory and fulfillment integrations, multi-location stock, wholesale channels, POS hardware, and an ecosystem of agencies and developers. A high-volume store with complex logistics belongs on Shopify.
What InMinutes gives back: the store is generated as part of your website — not a platform you configure — with inventory tracking and real-time revenue analytics included. The Business plan's $99 also covers what Shopify sells as separate apps or subscriptions: appointment booking, the Audience CRM with email campaigns, the SEO/AEO engine (structured data, sitemaps, llms.txt), and chat-to-edit site changes in plain language. One flat bill, and it does not grow when your sales do.
Who should switch — and who shouldn't
Consider InMinutes if you:
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Sell through PayPal or Stripe and are paying Shopify's 2% on top
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Do more than ~$3,000/month and want a bill that stops scaling with success
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Are a service business (salon, clinic, trainer) that sells products and takes bookings
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Are paying for Shopify apps that replicate email marketing, SEO, or booking
Stay on Shopify if you:
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Run high-volume fulfillment with 3PL, multi-warehouse, or complex shipping apps
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Depend on specific Shopify apps with no equivalent elsewhere
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Sell under ~$3,000/month using Shopify Payments — Basic is cheaper there, full stop
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Need POS hardware across retail locations
Keep 100% of your sales.
Flat $99/mo. Zero platform fees. Live in 2 minutes.