Lewis SelbyCo-Founder, Maxme10 min read
Yes, Shopify works in Ghana. You can open a store from Accra, Kumasi or anywhere else, price it in cedis, and take MTN MoMo, Telecel Cash, AirtelTigo Money and cards through the free Paystack app. Shopify Payments is not available here, so Shopify adds a 2% fee per order on the Basic plan, and you pay the subscription in US dollars by card.
Is Shopify available in Ghana?
Yes. Shopify says it is available in nearly every country, and Ghana is one of them. You sign up with a Ghana address, set your store currency to Ghana cedis (GHS), and sell to buyers in Accra, Takoradi or abroad. The store builder, themes, product pages, discount codes and order management are all open to you from Ghana.
What is missing is Shopify Payments, Shopify's own payment system. At the time of writing it is offered only in a list of countries in Europe, North America and Asia Pacific, plus the UAE, and no African country is on that list. Shopify's rule is simple: if your country is not listed, you connect a third-party payment provider. For a Ghana store, that usually means Paystack.
That one gap drives most of the Ghana-specific costs in this guide: an extra Shopify fee on every online order, a separate payment account with its own fee, and a monthly bill in US dollars. None of it stops you selling. It just means you should do the sums before you pick a plan.
Does Shopify accept Paystack?
Yes. Paystack has an official Shopify app, free to install, listed for businesses in Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, Rwanda, Cote d'Ivoire and South Africa. Paystack first integrated with Shopify in 2016. Shopify switched the old integration off on 31 July 2022 and the current app replaced it, so if you are following an old tutorial, make sure you install the current app.
At checkout the buyer chooses Paystack and pays on Paystack's payment form. For Mobile Money in Ghana, Paystack supports MTN, AirtelTigo and Telecel. The buyer enters their number, picks the network, then approves with an OTP and their MoMo PIN. Paystack settles your money to a bank account or a MoMo wallet the next working day, and bank payouts have a GHS 50 minimum.
Run your store in GHS so the price the buyer sees is the price Paystack charges. If your store is priced in dollars, Paystack's currency presentment setting converts the cart into a currency your Paystack account accepts. Then test every payment method on a phone. On one Ghana fashion store we worked on, a Paystack configuration error was failing some payments and MoMo was not the first option. After the fix, checkout conversion went from 5.88% to 20.35% across two 30-day windows.
Installing the app takes a few minutes once your Paystack account is approved and you have your live API keys. Paystack's help centre lists the steps below. Keep test mode on for your first practice orders, and remember that the app only moves money: delivery, receipts and stock levels are still managed inside Shopify.
- Open a Paystack account for your Ghana business and copy your API keys from the Paystack dashboard.
- In your Shopify admin, go to Settings, then Payments, then Add payment methods.
- Choose Search by provider, type Paystack, select it, click Connect, then Install app.
- Paste your API keys, save, then click Activate Paystack.
- Tick Enable Test Mode with your test keys and place practice orders before you go live.
How much does Shopify cost in Ghana?
At the time of writing (September 2026), Shopify's pricing page showed the US dollar prices below to a visitor in Ghana. Shopify sets prices by region, so check the page yourself before you sign up. The cedi figures use the Bank of Ghana interbank mid-rate of GHS 11.6157 to the dollar on 24 September 2026. Your bank will charge its own card rate, which can differ.
There is also a Starter plan from $5 a month. It is a simplified store for sharing product links on social media and messaging apps, with one theme, no product collections and no staff accounts. It suits testing an idea, not running a full catalogue. At the time of writing, Shopify was also offering new stores 3 days free, then $1 a month for the first 3 months.
Budget beyond the plan. Stores often add apps for reviews, WhatsApp chat, delivery or upsells, and app charges on the Shopify App Store are billed in US dollars. Paystack's own fee comes on top of everything: 1.95% per local or international transaction in Ghana at the time of writing, with no setup or monthly fee.
Swipe the table sideways to see every column.
| Plan | Billed monthly | Billed yearly (per month) | Rough cedis per month | Extra Shopify fee when you use Paystack |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | $27 | $19 | GHS 221 to 314 | 2% of each online order |
| Grow | $72 | $54 | GHS 627 to 836 | 1% |
| Advanced | $399 | $299 | GHS 3,473 to 4,635 | 0.6% |
| Plus | From $2,300 | 1- or 3-year terms | From about GHS 26,700 | 0.2% |
How much does Shopify take from a $100 sale?
On the Basic plan with Paystack, Shopify takes $2 and Paystack takes $1.95, so you keep $96.05 before your own costs. In cedis, a GHS 1,000 order costs GHS 20 in Shopify's fee plus GHS 19.50 in Paystack's fee, leaving GHS 960.50. On Grow, Shopify's share drops to 1%, so the same GHS 1,000 order costs GHS 10 plus Paystack's GHS 19.50.
Three details catch Ghanaian sellers out. Shopify calculates its fee on the whole order, including delivery charges and tax, not just the products. The fee is added to your Shopify bill and charged in dollars to your card, rather than taken out of your Paystack payout. And Shopify does not give the fee back when you refund an order.
Manual payment methods carry no Shopify transaction fee. That includes cash on delivery and bank deposits, which many Ghanaian stores offer next to MoMo. If a large share of your orders are paid on delivery, the 2% costs you less than the table suggests, because it only applies to orders paid online.
When does Grow pay for itself? Billed yearly, Grow costs $35 a month more than Basic and saves 1% on every Paystack order. The break-even point is $3,500 of online sales a month, roughly GHS 40,700 at the rate above. Billed monthly, the gap is $45, so the break-even rises to $4,500. Below those levels, stay on Basic.
How do you pay Shopify's bill from Ghana?
Shopify bills Ghana stores in US dollars. Local currency billing exists only for a short list of places such as Canada, India, the UK and the EU, and Ghana is not on it. Your subscription, your third-party transaction fees and your app charges all land on the same dollar bill, charged to the payment method on file.
Shopify accepts Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Diners Club and Discover credit cards, and debit cards co-branded with Visa, Mastercard or American Express that have international and recurring payments switched on. PayPal is also listed. Shopify states that prepaid and virtual cards are not accepted, so a virtual dollar card from a fintech app will not work for your Shopify bill.
Before you launch, call your bank and confirm two things: that your card allows recurring international charges, and what exchange rate and fees it applies to dollar payments. Then watch the first bill go through. A cedi that weakens against the dollar raises your Shopify costs even in a month when your sales stay the same, so review the numbers every quarter.
How do delivery, domains and VAT work for a Ghana Shopify store?
Delivery is manual. Shopify's calculated rates come from carriers such as UPS and FedEx, and live third-party carrier rates are an Advanced plan feature. For riders in Accra, Kumasi or Tema, you set the rates yourself: create shipping zones with flat rates you choose, for example one rate for Greater Accra and another for the rest of Ghana, plus free delivery above an order value if it suits your margins.
If you use your own riders, Shopify's local delivery option helps. You can set up to 10 delivery zones around a verified business location, by distance up to 160 km or by postal code, each with its own delivery price and minimum order. Add cash on delivery as a manual payment method if your buyers expect it.
Shopify sells common domain endings like .com, but not .gh or .com.gh. If you want a .com.gh address, buy it from a .gh registrar (the registry lists them at nic.gh) and connect it to Shopify from your domain settings. A .com bought inside Shopify connects itself.
On tax, Ghana's VAT Act 2025 (Act 1151) took effect on 1 January 2026. Businesses supplying goods must register for VAT once turnover passes GHS 750,000, and the combined rate is 20%: 15% VAT plus 2.5% NHIL and 2.5% GETFund. Shopify lets you enter tax rates manually, but it does not file or pay anything to GRA for you.
What is the disadvantage of Shopify?
For a Ghanaian seller, the downsides are mostly about money and currency, not features. Shopify's store builder and checkout are strong. What hurts is paying in dollars from a cedi income, and paying two fees on every online order: Shopify's and Paystack's.
WooCommerce on WordPress avoids the platform fee and the dollar subscription, but it brings hosting, updates and security work that Shopify handles for you. We compare the two for Ghanaian businesses in our Shopify vs WooCommerce guide. If you are leaning towards Shopify, weigh these points before you commit:
- You pay in US dollars, so a weaker cedi raises your costs even when sales hold steady.
- Without Shopify Payments you pay an extra 2% per online order on Basic, on top of Paystack's 1.95%.
- That extra fee is charged on delivery and tax too, and it is not returned when you refund an order.
- Apps bill in dollars as well. Check each app's monthly charge before you install it.
- Prepaid and virtual cards are not accepted for the Shopify bill.
- Delivery rates for Ghana are manual. You set them and keep them up to date yourself.
Is Shopify still worth it in 2026?
For most small Ghanaian brands selling physical products, yes. You get a store you can run from your phone, hosting and security handled for you, and MoMo checkout through Paystack once your Paystack account is live. On the Basic plan billed yearly, the fixed cost is about GHS 221 a month at today's rate, plus 2% of orders paid online.
It is worth less if your margins are thin and most of your sales close in WhatsApp chats with MoMo sent straight to your number. There, a paid store adds cost without adding many orders. It also makes less sense if you have a developer on hand and want full control, where WooCommerce can cost less to run each month.
Whichever you choose, the store only earns if checkout works on the phones your buyers use. Place real test orders with MoMo on MTN and Telecel before you spend a cedi on ads. If you want a second pair of eyes, Maxme's free Ads & Store Audit at maxmegroup.com/audit reviews your store and sends the three fixes that matter most on WhatsApp within 2 working days.
