Free Plan or Paid Plan? A Practical Upgrade Decision for Online Sellers
Run a simple break-even check on your own order numbers, then weigh the features you actually need. No pressure to upgrade; the free plan may be all you need.
The short answer: Count how many qualifying orders you get in a typical month, multiply by the ₦300 per-order fee on the Pay per order plan, and compare the result with the monthly equivalent of the Standard plan (between about ₦4,000 and ₦5,000 depending on the billing period). Then ask a second question that matters just as much: do you need any Standard feature, such as a custom domain, invoices and receipts, staff management, discount features, unlimited offline sales recording or Money Tracker? The fee arithmetic alone should not make the decision.
Last updated 28 October 2026.
Choosing a plan feels harder than it is because two different questions get mixed together: what does each plan cost me at my volume, and what does each plan let me do. Keep them apart. This guide gives you a method for the first, a checklist for the second, and a simple rule for when to look again. It does not assume you need to upgrade. If the Pay per order plan covers what you need, staying on it is a perfectly reasonable decision.
For the full list of what each plan includes, see Webift Pricing Explained. Everything below uses the plan terms in force when this article was updated. Prices and terms can change, so check your own dashboard before you decide.
The two plans in one paragraph
On Pay per order (the Free plan) there is no recurring subscription fee, and a ₦300 platform fee applies to each qualifying order. The terms say it covers paid orders only, and the fee is reversed if the whole order is refunded. Webift states that it takes no percentage-based sales commission. The fee is deducted from the payout when the sale goes through the Webift gateway; otherwise it is added to your balance, never exceeding the unpaid-fee limit. This means the way a fee is collected can differ by payment method, so check the fee terms in your dashboard. The break-even tables below only multiply your qualifying orders by the ₦300 fee; they do not model how or when each fee is collected. The Standard plan is ₦5,000 per month, ₦12,000 per quarter, ₦25,000 per six months or ₦50,000 per year. No per-order fee is listed as a Standard-plan term; check the dashboard to confirm what applies to your store. Payment providers charge their own fees on either plan, and those fees do not change the comparison below because they apply in both cases.
Step 1: Count your qualifying orders
Use paid orders, not enquiries and not unpaid orders. A refunded whole order does not count, because the fee is reversed. Take the last three to six months from your dashboard and write down the number of paid orders in each month.
A single month can mislead. Look at the range and the average, because the decision depends on whether your volume is steady or lumpy.
Step 2: Convert every plan to a monthly equivalent
To compare a subscription with a per-order fee, put them on the same monthly basis. Divide the price by the number of months in the billing period.
| Billing period | Price | Monthly equivalent | Orders where fees match it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly | ₦5,000 | ₦5,000 | 17 a month |
| Quarterly | ₦12,000 | ₦4,000 | 14 a month |
| Six-monthly | ₦25,000 | about ₦4,167 | 14 a month |
| Yearly | ₦50,000 | about ₦4,167 | 14 a month |
The arithmetic: ₦12,000 / 3 = ₦4,000. ₦25,000 / 6 = ₦4,166.67, and ₦50,000 / 12 = ₦4,166.67 (both rounded to ₦4,167). Divide each by the ₦300 fee: ₦5,000 / ₦300 = 16.67, which rounds up to 17 orders. ₦4,000 / ₦300 = 13.33, which rounds up to 14. ₦4,166.67 / ₦300 = 13.89, which rounds up to 14.
The last column means the number of qualifying orders at which a month of ₦300 fees reaches or goes above the subscription's monthly equivalent. Check the boundary: 16 orders is 16 x ₦300 = ₦4,800, below ₦5,000, while 17 orders is ₦5,100, above it. For the cheaper equivalents, 13 orders is ₦3,900 and 14 orders is ₦4,200.
The same break-even is easier to see over the whole billing period:
| Billing period | Price | Orders in the period where fees match it |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | ₦12,000 | 40 |
| Six-monthly | ₦25,000 | 84 |
| Yearly | ₦50,000 | 167 |
Check: ₦12,000 / ₦300 = 40 exactly. ₦25,000 / ₦300 = 83.33, so 84 orders (84 x ₦300 = ₦25,200; 83 x ₦300 = ₦24,900). ₦50,000 / ₦300 = 166.67, so 167 orders (167 x ₦300 = ₦50,100; 166 x ₦300 = ₦49,800).
Step 3: Try it on illustrative scenarios
These order counts are illustrative, not Webift customer results. They show how the fee line moves against the subscription line, and nothing else. The table compares fees with subscription cost only; it does not value any feature.
| Qualifying orders a month | Fees at ₦300 | Against ₦5,000 monthly | Against about ₦4,167 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | ₦2,400 | fees ₦2,600 lower | fees ₦1,767 lower |
| 14 | ₦4,200 | fees ₦800 lower | fees ₦33 higher |
| 17 | ₦5,100 | fees ₦100 higher | fees ₦933 higher |
| 30 | ₦9,000 | fees ₦4,000 higher | fees ₦4,833 higher |
| 60 | ₦18,000 | fees ₦13,000 higher | fees ₦13,833 higher |
The sums: 8 x ₦300 = ₦2,400; 14 x ₦300 = ₦4,200; 17 x ₦300 = ₦5,100; 30 x ₦300 = ₦9,000; 60 x ₦300 = ₦18,000. Differences against ₦5,000: ₦5,000 - ₦2,400 = ₦2,600; ₦5,000 - ₦4,200 = ₦800; ₦5,100 - ₦5,000 = ₦100; ₦9,000 - ₦5,000 = ₦4,000; ₦18,000 - ₦5,000 = ₦13,000. Differences against ₦4,167: ₦4,167 - ₦2,400 = ₦1,767; ₦4,200 - ₦4,167 = ₦33; ₦5,100 - ₦4,167 = ₦933; ₦9,000 - ₦4,167 = ₦4,833; ₦18,000 - ₦4,167 = ₦13,833.
Two things stand out. Near the break-even point, the difference is tiny, so other considerations should decide. And the fee depends on the number of qualifying orders, not on how big each order is, so a seller of high-priced items and a seller of low-priced items with the same order count see the same fee line.
Step 4: Test with lumpy months, not just the average
Many shops have a busy month and several quiet ones. An average can hide this. Illustrative six months of qualifying orders: 9, 12, 25, 11, 10 and 31. The total is 9 + 12 + 25 + 11 + 10 + 31 = 98 orders, an average of about 16.3 a month.
Fees over those six months at ₦300: 98 x ₦300 = ₦29,400. Now compare with each way of paying for Standard over the same six months:
- Six months at ₦5,000 monthly: 6 x ₦5,000 = ₦30,000. Fees are ₦600 lower.
- Two quarters at ₦12,000: 2 x ₦12,000 = ₦24,000. Fees are ₦5,400 higher.
- One six-month payment at ₦25,000. Fees are ₦4,400 higher.
In this example, the monthly average looks close to the monthly break-even, yet the result depends heavily on which billing period you compare with. Two other points belong in any honest comparison. A longer billing period is paid in advance, so it ties up more cash up front and its value depends on your orders staying at or above your estimate. This guide also makes no assumption about how or when a plan can be changed or refunded; check the terms in your dashboard before paying for a long period.
For a more reliable estimate, use the lowest month you would be comfortable planning around, not only the best one.
Step 5: Run the feature check
Now the question that often matters more than the fee. The Standard plan includes everything in Pay per order plus unlimited offline sales recording, discount features, invoices and receipts, a custom domain, staff management and Money Tracker. The Pay per order plan does not include invoices and receipts, custom domains or Meta Pixel.
Fill in this table for yourself.
| Feature | Do I need it now? | What happens if I wait? |
|---|---|---|
| Custom domain | Yes / No | |
| Invoices and receipts | Yes / No | |
| Staff management | Yes / No | |
| Discount features | Yes / No | |
| Unlimited offline sales recording | Yes / No | |
| Money Tracker | Yes / No |
Be specific in the last column. "I would hand-write receipts for eight orders a week" is a real cost. "Nothing, I do not run discounts" is also an answer.
Some prompts for each row:
- Custom domain. Does your brand depend on having your own web address on cards, packaging and adverts, or is a webift.com/yourstorename address fine for now?
- Invoices and receipts. Do your customers, especially businesses, ask for them? Can you issue them another way at your volume?
- Staff management. Do you want to add team members? Check in your dashboard what a team member can actually do before you decide it is worth paying for. For when other people work on orders, see What Should an Online Seller Delegate First?
- Discount features. Do you plan regular promotions? Before you decide, run the numbers in How to Tell Whether an Online Promotion Actually Made You Money; a discount is only worth having if it earns.
- Offline sales recording. Do you sell in person or by phone and want those sales in the same place?
- Money Tracker. Read what it does in your dashboard and decide whether you would use it. A spreadsheet may do the same job; see When Should an Online Seller Move from Spreadsheets to Order Management Software?
If every answer is "No, not now", the Pay per order plan is probably enough. If one or two are "Yes, and it costs me time or sales every week", that can justify the subscription even where your fees are below the subscription cost. That judgement is yours; there is no formula that replaces it.
Step 6: Put the two answers together
| Fee check | Feature check | Reasonable direction |
|---|---|---|
| Fees clearly below the subscription | No Standard feature needed | Stay on Pay per order |
| Fees clearly below the subscription | A Standard feature is needed | Weigh the feature against the extra cost |
| Fees near the break-even | No feature needed | Either; stay flexible |
| Fees near the break-even | A feature is needed | Standard may fit |
| Fees well above the subscription | Any answer | Compare closely; Standard may fit |
"Clearly below" and "well above" are for you to define; a simple way is to use a 25% gap, such as fees below 75% of the subscription's monthly equivalent. At ₦5,000 that is under ₦3,750, which is 12 orders (12 x ₦300 = ₦3,600; 13 x ₦300 = ₦3,900 is over).
Also consider your profit. Subscription and fee costs both come out of what you earn, so look at them next to the contribution on each order, as in How to Calculate the Real Profit on Each Online Order.
Set a review rule, not a deadline
Pick a point to look again, such as every quarter, or whenever you add a new sales channel or a staff member. A good trigger is "three months in a row above my break-even, or I need a Standard feature". A bad trigger is a sales push or a feeling of pressure. There is no wrong time to stay on the plan that fits.
FAQs
Is the Standard plan cheaper than the Pay per order plan?
It depends only on your numbers. At low order volumes the per-order fees add up to less than the subscription. At higher volumes the fees reach and then exceed it. Use the break-even table above with your own paid order count.
Does the Standard plan have a per-order fee?
No per-order fee is listed as a Standard-plan term. Check the plan and billing section of your dashboard to confirm what applies to your store.
I only just started. Should I begin on the free plan?
If your volume is uncertain, Pay per order means no subscription to pay while you learn your real order count, which is a reasonable starting point for many new sellers. Check the plan and billing section of your dashboard for how plan changes work.
Do payment provider fees change the comparison?
Not for this comparison. Providers such as Paystack and Flutterwave charge their own fees whichever plan you use, so they affect your profit but not the difference between the two plans.
What if my sales are seasonal?
Use your lowest realistic month and the whole billing period, as in step 4, and be cautious about paying for a long period in advance unless your volume is steady.
If you are not on Webift yet, you can create a store, check the plan and billing section of your dashboard, and then use the method above with your own paid-order numbers.
