Do You Need Shopify Plus for B2B Wholesale?
No, you do not need Shopify Plus to sell B2B, unless you want Shopify's full native B2B system. Plus unlocks native B2B: company profiles, buyer-specific catalogs and payment terms. But the core of wholesale, showing business buyers their own prices, runs on any Shopify plan with an app. This guide explains what Plus adds, what you can do without it, and when the upgrade is actually worth it.
Key takeaways
- Wholesale pricing does not need Plus. An app applies customer-group, volume and tiered pricing on Basic, Grow or Advanced.
- Shopify's native B2B (companies, buyer catalogs, payment terms) is a Plus feature, and Plus starts at roughly $2,300 a month.
- For most small and mid-size wholesale, an app on your current plan does the job for a fraction of the cost, or free.
- Plus earns its price when you run large B2B operations with company hierarchies, buyer-specific catalogs and net terms at scale.
What Shopify's native B2B (Plus) gives you
On Shopify Plus, B2B is built into the platform. You get company profiles with multiple buyers per company, buyer-specific catalogs and price lists, payment terms such as net 30, and a checkout that can create draft orders for approval. It is a genuine B2B system, managed natively, with no third-party app. The trade-off is cost: Plus starts at roughly $2,300 a month.
What you can do without Plus
Plenty. A wholesale pricing app brings the pricing side of B2B to any plan:
- Customer-group pricing, a price list for tagged wholesale buyers.
- Blanket percentage discounts across your catalog for the group.
- Volume and quantity breaks, so bigger orders save more.
- Tiered pricing for different wholesale account levels.
Our free Libautech B2B Discounts app does exactly this at no cost. To set it up, see how to set up wholesale pricing on Shopify. What apps generally do not replicate is the deeper native system: company hierarchies, buyer approvals and native payment terms.
Native B2B (Plus) vs a wholesale app
| Feature | Native B2B (Plus) | Wholesale app (any plan) |
|---|---|---|
| Wholesale / customer-group pricing | Yes | Yes |
| Volume and tiered pricing | Yes | Yes |
| Company profiles and multiple buyers | Yes | Usually no |
| Native payment terms (net 30) | Yes | Some apps |
| Plan required | Shopify Plus | Any plan |
| Cost | From about $2,300/mo | Free to a small monthly fee |
When you actually need Plus
Upgrade to Plus for B2B when the pricing is the easy part and the operation is the hard part: many companies each with several buyers, buyer-specific catalogs, approval workflows, and net payment terms handled natively at volume. If you are a large brand running serious wholesale alongside retail, Plus is built for you.
If you mainly need to show wholesale customers a lower price, an app on your current plan is enough, and often free. New to all this? Start with the beginner's guide to B2B on Shopify.
