Shopify B2B Opens Up to All Plans: What Standard Plans Can Do, and Where You Still Need Plus
On April 2, 2026, Shopify made the foundational parts of its B2B (wholesale) feature set — previously centered on Plus — available on the standard Basic, Grow, and Advanced plans. At no additional cost, merchants on standard plans can now start using core B2B features natively. Some of the functionality that used to be patched together with apps or custom implementation can now be replaced with Shopify's standard features. That said, this update does not mean Plus is no longer needed. Based on Shopify's announcement, this article sorts out what standard plans can now do, what still requires Plus, and what this change really means. The article is based on Shopify's official announcement of April 2, 2026. Some Help Center pages may still carry older Plus-centric descriptions, so check your actual admin and the latest official information before implementing.
The Real Change to Understand First
The biggest thing about this update is not that individual features were added. It is that D2C ecommerce and B2B wholesale can now run on a single Shopify store — same admin, same inventory, same foundation. That is the essence. Until now, a small-to-midsize Shopify store that wanted to sell wholesale had limited options: install a third-party B2B app, manage pricing in a separate system or spreadsheet, or take orders by email and phone and build draft orders by hand. In other words, running wholesale meant running a separate parallel system just for it. Inventory was shared but managed in silos, price consistency was maintained by hand, and order intake was scattered — a structural inefficiency that never went away. With this update, B2C and B2B orders flow into a single admin, and both inventory and pricing are managed with Shopify's native features. Your wholesale customers can view their own catalog pricing on the store and place orders themselves. That this now works on standard plans is the heart of the change.
Before the Change: Forcing It to Work with Code and Apps
To understand how big this update is for day-to-day operations, it helps to review how things actually worked before. To approximate B2B on a standard plan, many stores resorted to something like this: tag customers with "wholesale" or similar, then write conditional logic into the theme's Liquid code — "if this tag exists, discount the price by X%." It looks like it works, but the problems pile up. Every rule change requires a code edit and a request to a developer. Stacking with sale settings or discount codes risks double-applied, broken pricing. Every theme update requires checking that the conditionals have not broken. And offering different prices to multiple partners makes the branching ever more complex. Even for stores that built this kind of price control and conditional display with Liquid or apps, Shopify's native features look set to replace much of it going forward — though depending on how they interact with your existing theme and apps, the switchover may require some adjustment.
Features Now Available on Standard Plans
According to Shopify's announcement, the following features are now available on the standard Basic, Grow, and Advanced plans. Company profiles: register and manage business customers as companies, attach multiple buyers (contacts), and set permissions and payment terms per company. Custom catalogs (up to 3): create catalogs with customized product visibility and pricing for each customer; buyers see their dedicated pricing automatically when they log in. Volume discounts / quantity rules: set quantity-based pricing rules like "10% off for 10 or more," validated automatically when items enter the cart. Vaulted credit cards: customers can store their card details to streamline subsequent orders. Payment terms: manage deferred payment terms like Net 30 and Net 60 per company from the admin. ACH payments: customers can pay directly from a bank account — but note that this is currently US-only (limited to holders of US bank accounts using US Shopify Payments), so it is not a feature Japanese merchants can use as is.
What Still Requires Plus
It is true that standard plans can now do quite a lot. But there are clearly still cases where Plus is required. Unlimited catalogs: standard plans cap out at 3 catalogs; if you need finely differentiated pricing per customer or individual control over product lineups, you need Plus's unlimited catalogs. Direct catalog assignment to companies and locations: assigning different catalogs directly to a company's individual locations (branches, warehouses, and so on) is Plus-only. Partial payments: sending multiple payment requests against a single order, such as billing per shipment. Deposits: collecting partial payment up front and billing the remainder later. Advanced customization via Checkout Extensibility: extending checkout logic and UI with your own code. The update makes it easier to start on a standard plan — it does not make Plus unnecessary. Fine-grained per-customer pricing, large catalog counts, and partial payments or deposits remain Plus territory.
Standard Plans vs. Plus: B2B Feature Comparison
| Feature | Basic, Grow, Advanced | Plus |
|---|---|---|
| Company profiles | Yes | Yes |
| Custom catalogs | Up to 3 | Unlimited |
| Volume discounts / quantity rules | Yes | Yes |
| Vaulted credit cards | Yes | Yes |
| Payment terms | Yes | Yes |
| ACH payments | Yes (US only) | Yes (US only) |
| Unlimited catalogs | No | Yes |
| Direct catalog assignment to companies and locations | No | Yes |
| Partial payments | No | Yes |
| Deposits | No | Yes |
| Checkout Extensibility | No | Yes |
When a Standard Plan Is Enough
If you can consolidate your customers' pricing terms into a few patterns, a standard plan is a realistic way to start. Standard-plan B2B works when: you have a small number of wholesale or corporate customers and their pricing terms fit within 3 patterns; you can group customers into broad tiers such as "wholesale," "direct retail," and "authorized dealer"; you do not need partial payments or deposits and deferred terms like Net 30 cover your needs; and you want to manage B2C and B2B in one store but Plus's monthly cost does not make sense yet. Start with native B2B on Basic or Grow, standardize your customers into types within the 3-catalog limit, and build a repeatable operation. That is the realistic starting line.
When You Need Plus
If you need finely differentiated pricing or catalogs for each customer, Plus is the more realistic option. As the business expands, standard-plan constraints start to surface. If any of the following applies, it is time to consider upgrading: your customer count has grown and you need to manage 4 or more catalogs; each company needs a completely different price list and product lineup; you need advanced payment flows such as partial payments and deposits; customization via Checkout Extensibility has become a business requirement; or you want to assign individual catalogs directly to multiple locations and branches. No data migration is needed between plans — your settings carry over as is when you move to Plus. "Build the model first, then upgrade to Plus when you need it" is the sequence that avoids unnecessary cost.
How to Think About the 3-Catalog Limit
Standard plans cap catalogs at 3. In early B2B operations, 3 is often plenty — but as a general matter you cannot assume it will be enough. If you can organize customers into a handful of types — say "wholesale," "direct retail," and "authorized dealer" — and assign a catalog to each, then even dozens of customers pose no problem as long as their pricing terms collapse into 3 patterns. If, on the other hand, each customer needs a fully bespoke price list, or you need to fine-tune product lineups company by company, 3 will not be enough. Judge by your own customer structure; when you reach that point, upgrading to Plus becomes the natural choice.
Potential for Cross-Border B2B
Combined with Shopify Markets, selling wholesale to overseas buyers is now realistic below Plus. Handling currency, language, and regional pricing through Markets while layering per-customer wholesale pricing through B2B catalogs could lower the cost of entering cross-border B2B. But this is only one advanced application. The realistic path is to stabilize your domestic B2B operation first, then consider it.
Should You Uninstall Your Existing B2B App?
If you already run a third-party B2B app, you may be wondering about the overlap with the new native features. Our conclusion: do not uninstall it right away. Before switching, confirm the following: how you will migrate the company data and pricing settings accumulated in the app; whether your theme will break after uninstalling if the app rewrote Liquid code directly; and the double-management risk during the transition (running native features and the app side by side can break price consistency). Start by enabling the native features and comparing where they overlap with — and fall short of — what your app does. Migrate in stages only after confirming the native features can fully replace what the app provides. That is the safe path.
Beware of Older Articles That Say an App Is Required
Many of the Shopify B2B articles ranking high in search were written in 2023–2024. Most of them say B2B requires a dedicated app or a Plus subscription. As of April 2026, basic B2B functionality is available natively. Before evaluating apps, we recommend first checking the current state of your admin. Shopify evolves quickly, and specs can change substantially between an article's publish date and today. Ultimately, verify against your current admin and Shopify's official help with your own eyes.
Caveats: What to Know Before You Start
ACH payments are currently US-only. They are not a feature Japanese merchants can use for domestic transactions. Expansion may come in the future, but for now they are limited to transactions between Shopify Payments users within the US. Catalogs are capped at 3 on standard plans. Plus removes the cap. If your customer count grows and pricing rules become more complex, you will need to upgrade to Plus. Japanese-language help pages may not be updated yet. There can be a lag between Shopify's news releases and Help Center updates. The English Help Center and Changelog are updated first, so refer to those for accurate specifications.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Now that standard plans include B2B, is Shopify Plus no longer needed? No. Basic B2B features are now available on standard plans, but unlimited catalogs, direct catalog assignment to companies and locations, partial payments, deposits, and advanced customization via Checkout Extensibility remain Plus-only. The more customers and pricing rules you have, the more Plus's advantages persist. When should we consider Shopify Plus? The typical triggers are when 3 catalogs are no longer enough, when you want to assign catalogs directly to companies or locations, when you need partial payments or deposits, and when you need advanced customization via Checkout Extensibility. Can we run B2C and B2B in the same store? Yes. According to Shopify's announcement, standard plans support running B2C and B2B in the same store with the same admin. Buyers attached to a company profile see their dedicated catalog pricing when they log in, while regular consumers see standard pricing. Configured properly, you can add B2B while keeping the consumer shopping experience intact. Can we use ACH payments in Japan? Not at this time. ACH is a feature for US Shopify Payments users to collect payment from customers with US bank accounts. It is not a domestic bank payment feature for Japan, so take note. What if 3 catalogs are not enough? Upgrading to Plus removes the catalog cap. If 3 catalogs cover your operation for now, the realistic approach is to start on a standard plan and consider Plus as the business expands. Can we remove our existing B2B app right away? We do not recommend removing it immediately. Compare the native features against your existing app, plan the data migration, and switch over in stages. Running native features and an existing app at the same time risks inconsistent pricing.
Summary
This Shopify B2B update comes down to three points. B2C and B2B can now run on one admin and one inventory foundation. Standard plans now include company profiles, custom catalogs (up to 3), volume discounts, payment terms, vaulted credit cards, and ACH payments (US only). Unlimited catalogs, direct catalog assignment to companies and locations, partial payments, deposits, and Checkout Extensibility remain Plus-only. The point is not just that "Shopify B2B is now available to everyone" — it is knowing exactly where standard plans end and Plus begins, and making the call that fits your trading scale. The first step: create one company profile and set up one catalog.
Sources
This article is primarily based on Shopify's official news announcement. The Help Center was consulted for supplementary confirmation, though some pages may lag behind. When implementing, also verify what you see in your own admin.
