How to start a Shopify store for $1 a month: the trial, the plans and the fees that actually matter
Shopify does not do coupon codes, but it does have one official deal that most new stores never fully use: a 3-day free trial with no card, then $1 a month for 3 months. This guide walks through how to use it, what the plans cost once the offer ends, and the two fees that decide your real monthly bill. Everything is from shopify.com on 14 October 2026.
By Fırat Papatya · Published · 3 min read
Affiliate disclosure: links to the tools in this article are partner links. If you buy through them, Kuponaut may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Prices were read on the official sites on 14 October 2026 and can change.
Step 1: start the 3-day trial without a card
Open Shopify through our partner link and click the free-trial button. Shopify asks for an email and a few questions about what you sell; no card is required to start. The trial lasts 3 days, which is short on purpose — Shopify wants you to pick a plan before it ends. If you do not, the store is frozen (not deleted), and you can still choose a plan later to unfreeze it.
Use the 3 days to do three things: add 5–10 products, pick a free theme, and open Settings → Payments to see whether Shopify Payments is available in your country. That last check matters more than the theme.
Step 2: choose a plan before day 3 to get the $1 months
Shopify’s offer is “$1 a month for the first 3 months” on most plans. You get it by selecting a plan from the admin while the trial is running. The plans on 14 October 2026 were Basic $39 a month, Grow $105 and Advanced $399 when billed monthly, or $29, $79 and $299 a month when billed yearly. Shopify Plus starts at $2,300 a month on a 3-year contract.
For a new store, pick Basic. Grow adds staff accounts and slightly lower card fees; it pays off only when you process roughly $10,000 a month in card sales or need five people in the admin. You can upgrade any time.
Put a reminder in your calendar for the end of month 3: the $1 price switches to the standard monthly price automatically.
Step 3: understand the two fees — card processing and third-party transaction fee
Every sale pays a card-processing fee. With Shopify Payments the online rate on Basic is 2.9% + 30¢, on Grow 2.7% + 30¢ and on Advanced 2.5% + 30¢. That is the normal cost of taking cards.
The fee people miss is the transaction fee for not using Shopify Payments. If your main gateway is PayPal or another provider, Shopify adds 2% on Basic, 1% on Grow and 0.6% on Advanced to every order. On $5,000 of monthly sales that is $100 a month on Basic — more than the difference between monthly and yearly billing. If Shopify Payments is available where you are, switch it on.
Step 4: switch to yearly billing when the store is proven
Yearly billing is about 25% cheaper: Basic is $348 a year instead of $468. But it is charged upfront and Shopify’s terms say subscription charges are non-refundable; Support reviews refund requests within 30 days of an annual invoice, after that you are committed. So do not pay yearly on day 4. Run the $1 months, see whether the store sells, then switch.
The same logic applies to apps and paid themes: they bill monthly on top of the plan, and a handful of $10–$30 apps can double a Basic bill. Start with free apps and add paid ones when a specific problem justifies them.
Is there a Shopify discount code?
No. Shopify has no public coupon codes, no student discount and no seasonal sale on plans. The trial-plus-$1 offer and yearly billing are the whole discount structure. Nonprofits can ask Shopify Support about charity pricing with proof of status. Any site advertising a “Shopify promo code” is either repeating the official offer or selling theme and app discounts.
Our Shopify page lists the current plans and fees and links to the official offer; our Shopify pricing page breaks down every plan, and Shopify vs Wix compares it with the main alternative for small sites.
Related code pages
- Shopify discount code — 3 days free, then $1/month for 3 months (official offer) — via our link, no code needed
- Wegic discount code — Tested at checkout November 7, 2026: 20% off annual plans (KUPONAUT10: 10% off any plan).
- Base44 discount code — Readers have bought through this link — no code needed
- Shopify: shopify pricing
- Wegic: wegic pricing
- Base44: base44 free credits
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- Lovable vs Base44 (2026): Pricing, Free Credits & Which to Pick
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