The short answer: at a $50 average order, a Shopify store on the Basic plan costs a Canadian shop less in fees than Etsy from 13 orders a month. Below that, Etsy’s per-sale fees cost less than the store’s $49 monthly plan. If a quarter of your Etsy orders come from Offsite Ads, the store gets cheaper from 9 orders. Fees are only half of it: Etsy brings you buyers, a store does not.
Etsy or your own store: monthly fees
From 13 orders a month, your own store (Shopify Basic) costs less in fees than Etsy at this order size.
Etsy
$110.62
a month in fees, $5.53 per order
Own store (Shopify Basic)
$83.00
a month: $49.00 plan + card fees
Offsite Ads, plan and billing
Fee by fee, one order
Etsy, no Offsite Ad
Etsy pays you
$44.47
Fees $5.53 (11.1% of $50.00)
Fee by fee
- Listing fee (1 × 0.20 USD)$0.28
- Transaction fee (6.5%)$3.25
- Payment processing (3% + 0.25)$1.75
- Regulatory operating fee (0.5%)$0.25
Etsy publishes the listing fee and the Offsite Ads cap in US dollars. We convert them at 1.4054 CAD per USD; Etsy uses its own rate on the day.
Own store (Shopify Basic)
You keep per order
$45.85
Fees $4.15 (8.3% of $50.00)
Fee by fee
We may earn a fee if you sign up with some providers in these results. It never changes the prices we show or what we recommend.
Fees only: Etsy brings buyers, a store doesn't, so the cost of finding visitors (ads, social, email) is yours on top. One item per order, no sales tax, buyer in your country.
Fees verified Oct 20, 2026 from each platform's own fee pages. Each line links to its source.
Fees at 10, 50 and 200 orders a month
| Orders a month | Etsy | Own store (Basic) |
|---|---|---|
| 10 | $55.31 | $66.00 |
| 50 | $276.55 | $134.00 |
| 200 | $1,106.22 | $389.00 |
A $50 item sold to a buyer in Canada or the US, no shipping charge, no Offsite Ads, Shopify Payments and monthly billing. Etsy prices its listing fee in US dollars; we convert it at 1.4054 CAD per USD (Bank of Canada, October 20, 2026), so the Etsy column is an estimate that moves with the exchange rate.
Why the lines cross
On Etsy a Canadian shop pays per sale: a 0.20 USD listing fee for each item sold, a 6.5% transaction fee, 3% + $0.25 for payment processing and a 0.5% regulatory operating fee that US shops don’t pay. On a $50 order that comes to $5.53, with nothing to pay in a month you sell nothing.
A Shopify store turns that around. The Basic plan is $49 a month whether you sell or not, and each card payment costs 2.8% + $0.30, so $1.70 on the same order. Each order saves you the difference, and the plan is paid off once those savings add up to $49.
Order size moves the line. At a $20 average order the store costs less from 30 orders a month; at $100, from 7. Paying for the plan yearly ($37 a month) brings it to 10 orders at $50.
Offsite Ads move the break-even lower
When a buyer reaches your Etsy listing through one of Etsy’s ads on another site and buys within 30 days, Etsy adds an Offsite Ads fee: 15% of the order while your shop has sold less than 10,000 USD in a year, and 12% for good once it has. The fee is capped at 100 USD per order. Shops that never reached the threshold can opt out.
At $50, a shop passes that threshold at about 24 orders a month, at 1.4054 CAD per USD. With a quarter of orders from Offsite Ads, the break-even falls from 13 to 9 orders. Your Shop Manager shows what share of your sales came from them.
What the fees leave out
- Buyers. Etsy’s fees pay for a marketplace people already search. Your own store starts with no visitors; ads, social media and email cost money and time, and none of that is in the numbers above.
- Etsy’s set-up fee. Etsy charges a one-time fee to open a shop but does not publish the amount; it shows during sign-up.
- Apps and themes. Paid Shopify apps and paid themes are extra. Their prices vary, so they are not counted here.
- Overseas buyers. Etsy charges 4% + $0.25 to process orders from outside Canada and the US. Shopify prices international and American Express cards at their own rates; both are on Shopify’s cost per order page.
- Shipping to the US. Postage, duties and brokerage come on top of either one; see shipping to US customers.
Etsy’s own website option, and selling on both
Etsy also sells its own standalone website, Pattern, as an optional subscription priced in US dollars. Etsy charges no transaction fee on Pattern sales; payment processing still applies.
| Fee | Amount | When it applies |
|---|---|---|
| Pattern website subscription (optional standalone site) | $15.00 USD | optional; no Etsy transaction fee on Pattern sales, processing fees still apply |
You don’t have to choose one: you can keep Etsy for the buyers it brings and add a store for repeat customers. Shopify charges for marketplace orders synced into your store above a monthly allowance:
| Fee | Amount | When it applies |
|---|---|---|
| Synced marketplace orders over 50 per month | 1%, max $99.00 USD |
Every fee on each side is on its own page: what selling on Etsy costs a Canadian shop and Shopify’s plans and cost per order. To weigh them against eBay or Amazon too, put one sale through every platform.
Etsy is a trademark of Etsy, Inc. This content is not created or endorsed by Etsy, Inc. Honest Fees is independent. Shopify may pay us a fee if you sign up through our link; that never changes the numbers above. Ready to compare plans? See Shopify’s plans.
Common questions
Is it better to sell on Shopify or Etsy?
On fees, Shopify once you sell enough; on buyers, Etsy. At a $50 average order, a Shopify Basic store costs less in fees than Etsy from 13 orders a month. Below that, Etsy's per-sale fees cost less than the $49 monthly plan. Etsy also brings buyers, which a store does not.
How much does Etsy take compared with Shopify?
On a $50 order, Etsy takes about $5.53: a 0.20 USD listing fee, 6.5% transaction, 3% + $0.25 processing and the 0.5% regulatory operating fee. Shopify takes $1.70 in card fees on Basic, plus $49 a month for the plan.
Does Shopify take a percentage of each sale like Etsy?
No commission if you use Shopify Payments, only the card fee (2.8% + $0.30 on Basic). With an outside payment provider, Shopify adds 2% on Basic on top of that provider's fees.
When should I move from Etsy to my own store?
On fees alone, when your orders pass the break-even for your order size (13 a month at $50). Count the cost of bringing your own visitors before you move, since Etsy's buyers don't follow you. You can also run both.
Get told when these prices change
Providers change fees with little notice. We email you what changed when a price here does, and nothing else.