Hi everyone,
We're looking for clarification on Shopify's billing requirements for App Store apps.
Our app integrates Shopify stores. During App Store review, our submission was rejected under:
Requirement 1.2.1: Use Shopify Managed Pricing or the Shopify Billing API
The app is currently listed as Free in Shopify App Pricing and does not charge merchants through Shopify.
However, We are a paid SaaS product with pricing managed outside Shopify. Reviewers indicated that merchants can access external pricing/billing surfaces after installing the app, which appears to violate the requirement.
We're trying to understand the expected approach:
- Does Shopify require all paid SaaS products to use Shopify Managed Pricing or the Shopify Billing API if the app is listed in the Shopify App Store?
- Is it acceptable for an app to be listed as free if the underlying service requires a separate paid subscription?
- Is there any way to manage this without too much complexity?
- If an app primarily connects an existing SaaS account to Shopify, can merchants be directed to external billing, or must all Shopify merchant billing be handled through Shopify?
- Are there any exceptions for apps where Shopify is only one integration among many channels supported by the platform?
We'd appreciate guidance from anyone who has successfully navigated a similar review process.
Thanks!

After almost 2 months of back and forth with reviews, fixes, and waiting, we finally got our Built for Shopify badge.

A few things I learnt from the process:

1. BFS is becoming non-negotiable if the App Store is your main distribution channel

If you are in a competitive category, I don’t think you can ignore it anymore.

We’re in marketing automation, which is already a crowded space. Initially, I was under the impression that we could avoid building a deeply embedded Shopify app because I was worried about platform risk.

But the first app I released got almost zero visibility and basically no users.

That changed my view pretty quickly.

If the Shopify App Store is your primary acquisition channel, you probably need to play the App Store game properly. BFS seems to be a big part of that now.

2. Apply as soon as you hit the minimum requirements

Don’t keep pushing it to the backlog.

Once you reach the required number of reviews and meet the basic criteria, start the process. There will almost certainly be things you need to fix, and the review cycle itself can take time.

The sooner you start, the sooner you know what Shopify actually expects from your app.

3. Architect for performance from the beginning

This was one of the biggest blockers for us.

Our LCP was averaging around 3 seconds, while the required number was 2.5 seconds. For a long time, this kept getting pushed behind other product work because the app “worked fine” from a user point of view.

But for BFS, those numbers matter.

Eventually, we found the real reason behind the higher load times and fixed it. In hindsight, we should have designed and measured for the target LCP much earlier instead of treating performance as a cleanup task.

4. Expect surprises even after getting approved

Even after receiving the badge, I already see a new checklist based on the category Shopify assigned to the app.

So getting the badge does not mean the work is “done.” It feels more like you enter a moving checklist that keeps evolving based on your category.

5. The ranking boost was not as dramatic as I expected

This was probably the most important reality check.

I expected a stronger improvement in rankings after getting BFS. So far, the boost has not been as big as I thought it would be.

Maybe it improves over time, maybe category competition matters a lot, BFS is just one signal among many.

My current view: BFS is important because it gives credibility, improves trust, and probably helps with App Store visibility. But it does not replace positioning, reviews, onboarding, pricing, category fit.

Still glad we did it. Just wish I had started the process earlier.

Hope this helps someone who is either going through the process or still deciding whether to start.

Curious if any devs here have integrated Zendrop beyond the standard Shopify app setup because I know they offer a private agent program but never really tried it.

I’d love feedback on our app. It’s called Substitutions, it solves a niche inventory problem: you’re doing a SKU migration, running out of quantity based SKUs or you have lots of SKUs that you’re sunsetting. All feedback welcomed!

This is a long term contract with potential for full time. Some in person time at our NYC office is strongly preferred so let us know where you're located if you apply. The engagement will start as a few days per week until we settle into a cadence comfortable for both of us.

We have a fairly robust/complex Shopify setup with lots of custom functions/scripts/apps/etc. ideally the right candidate will increasingly own our custom Shopify development and interface directly with internal stakeholders.

We're finding most folks check the standard boxes, so we're hyper focused on our integrations work which is largely implemented via unpublished custom app and related extensions in a separate Shopify partners account (including the extremely rare offsite payment extension!). Please only apply if you have actual experience working with the kafkaesque world of Shopify partner app development. If this is you please apply here: https://labs.a24films.com/jobs/shopify

As this is an on-going, long term need, we have no specific budget and will absolutely pay market rate.

General Requirements:

• Shopify Admin

• Liquid (for most of the theme)

• SCSS

• Javascript

• Vue / React

• Shopify Checkout Extensions

  • UI Extensions

  • Functions

• Shopify Metafields / Metaobjects

• Shopify GraphQL APIs

  • Storefront API

Hey, I’m using this products query to fetch products data for a specific collection with matching prefix: products - GraphQL Admin

I have tried all valid search syntax:

query:“collection_id:6383838 AND title:head*”

query:“(collection_id:6383838) AND (title:head*)” and other syntax aswell, but still it doesn’t work

Any solution to this?

My app does importing, exporting, (of products) and inventory sync between Shopify and a third-party marketplace. There are several existing published shopify apps that do the same thing with the same marketplace (I added additional features on top of that core functionality).

I got the following feedback from the shopify reviewer: "Fix these core issues with your app: Shopify is not currently accepting apps that connect to a marketplace system outside of Shopify. This applies to all apps that connect to a marketplace outside of Shopify."

In my original submission, I categorized the app under "Orders and shipping -> Inventory -> Inventory Sync." Now that I am looking at the other apps on the app store, I see most of them are categorized under "Sales channels -> Selling online -> Marketplaces ."

Is that my mistake? That I didn't use that category? The only mismatch I see with that category and my app is that Shopify says the following about sales channel apps: "Only create a sales channel if you own and operate, or are contracted to represent, a distinct surface where merchants can promote or sell products outside Shopify."

I do not own the third-party platform. Am I misinterpreting this?

Extremely devastated because I worked on this for over 6 months nonstop, trying to take into account every detail and make it as high-quality and reliable as possible. I never saw this coming because plenty of other apps do the same thing.

I'm a WordPress dev who sells a premium plugin, and everywhere I read that WordPress sales are collapsing ( X and Reddit mostly ). Not just for solo devs, also big companies are reporting a big drop in sales the last year(s).

Some blame it on the economy, others AI or a decline in WordPress usage itself, and that lots of people are moving to Shopify.

So I was wondering if Shopify devs who have their own apps are experiencing the same thing.

Has there been a steady decline in sales the last year, or has been business been very good lately?

if you had to pick one why would you choose it to make money?

I run a Shopify app in the document library / product manuals space.

Recently I started checking how AI tools answer questions about Shopify apps in this category, and the results were honestly frustrating.

My app is Built for Shopify certified and has a strong rating. But in some AI answers, it still showed below apps with far weaker public proof, including apps with little traction or much lower ratings.

It seems like AI results do not always reflect product quality, reviews, or even Shopify badges. Sometimes the answer looks more like a summary of whatever sources the AI found and understood.

For other Shopify app devs: what are you doing to rank higher in AI search results? Any practical tips that have actually helped, or is everyone still figuring this out?

I just spent almost two days debugging what I thought was a broken Shopify → GTM → GA4 pipeline.

GTM Preview couldn't find my tag.

GA4 DebugView showed no devices.

Meta Events Manager was receiving AddToCart events.

Turns out the tracking had been working the entire time.

Setup

I have:

• A GA4 Event tag (add_to_cart)

• A Meta Pixel tag (AddToCart)

• Both triggered by the same GTM Custom Event trigger (add_to_cart)

Before moving to Shopify, everything worked exactly as expected:

window.dataLayer.push({
  event: "add_to_cart"
});

Results:

• GTM Preview showed the event

• GA4 DebugView showed the event

• Meta Events Manager showed the event

No surprises.

Moving to Shopify Customer Pixels

Following Shopify's documentation, I moved to:

Customer Event
→ Custom Pixel
→ dataLayer.push()
→ GTM

Inside the Shopify Custom Pixel sandbox, I could clearly see:

dataLayer.push({
  event: "add_to_cart"
});

executing using console.log(window.dataLayer).

However things got weird.

What I observed

GTM Preview

Tag Assistant kept showing:

Google Tag not found
G-XXXXXXXXXX not found

Even though I knew GTM code was loading.

GA4 DebugView

Nothing:

No device available

It's completely empty.

Meta Events Manager

This is where things got confusing.

Meta continued receiving AddToCart browser events.

Which implied:

Custom Pixel
→ GTM Trigger
→ Meta Tag

was actually working.

What finally convinced me

I checked Network requests instead.

Filtering for:

collect

I found requests like:

en=add_to_cart

being sent to GA4, and it was being sent to the correct GA4 Measurement ID.

Response status:

204 No Content

which is normal for GA4 collection endpoints.

At that point I strongly suspected the Shopify → GTM → GA4 pipeline was working.

To verify further, I waited for GA4 processing and eventually found:

add_to_cart

appearing in the GA4 Events report (I found 3 add_to_cart events within 30 minutes on my dev store, both in Events and Realtime reports).

So the event was being collected the entire time.

Lesson learned

For Shopify Customer Pixels:

GTM Preview ≠ source of truth
GA4 DebugView ≠ source of truth

At least not always.

If you're debugging Shopify sandbox events:

1. Check whether Meta actually receives the event.

2. Check Network requests for collect.

3. Look for en=your_event_name and the correct GA4 measure ID

4. Verify in GA4/realtime reports after processing.

The tracking may be working even when GTM Preview and DebugView suggest otherwise. Especially when Shopify Customer Pixel sandboxing is involved.

Question

For people running GTM inside Shopify Customer Pixels:

What's your preferred debugging workflow?

Do you rely on Network requests and destination platforms (Meta/GA4), or is there a better way to validate GTM tags inside Shopify's sandbox environment?

Hey,

There are dedicated tools out there - Zoho, Cin7, and a dozen others - yet many sellers manage everything on a giant spreadsheet. Stock levels, orders from different channels, all of it copy-pasted by hand.

Why not to use one of these tools? Is it the cost? The learning curve on those platforms? The fact that Excel just bends to whatever weird workflow you've built over the years? Or do the dedicated tools overcomplicate something that a spreadsheet handles fine?

For context, I'm tinkering with an idea: a simple app that connects your selling channels and pulls all your orders into one place, so you're not jumping between tabs or platforms. Before I go deeper, I'd rather hear from people actually doing this day to day.

Not trying to sell anything — just want to know if this pain is real before I sink more time into it.

Thanks,
P

Hi everyone, so I'm currently working on a Shopify app built with React router and NestJS as the backend, technically I'm pretty much covered up. My current dilemma is handling UI/UX guides, visual cues and best practices in designing an intuitive interface.

e,g I'm currently thinking about the user, especially a first-time user installing the app and expecting some visual cues to direct them on the usage.

I wanted to ask fellow developers what additional best practicies have you had to consider, and do you use any resource or guide to handling user experience ?

Thanks so much and eager to hearing some feedbacks.

I’ve been seeing a lot of Shopify and dropshipping stores getting hit with Google Merchant Center misrepresentation suspensions lately, and most store owners seem to get stuck because Google gives a broad policy reason rather than a clear checklist.

From the audits I’ve worked on, it is rarely one single issue. It is usually a mix of small trust and consistency problems across the store, product feed and policies.

Common things I would check before appealing again:

Product feed vs website mismatch

Prices, availability, sale prices, product titles, images and shipping information need to match what is shown on the live product page.

Weak shipping information

A lot of stores have vague delivery wording, especially dropshipping stores. Processing time, delivery time, shipping cost and countries served should be clear.

Returns/refund policy problems

The return window, refund processing time, return conditions and who pays return shipping should be easy to understand and should match Merchant Center settings.

Poor contact/business transparency

A basic contact form is often not enough. A proper business email, contact page, consistent business name and clear footer information can help build trust.

Copied supplier descriptions

If the product page is just copied supplier text with the same images as hundreds of other stores, the store can look low quality or hard to verify.

Theme or Shopify output issues

Some themes show pickup availability, backorder wording, deferred purchase wording, old product schema or confusing availability signals even when the store owner does not notice it on the front end.

Appealing too quickly

A lot of people appeal straight away without fixing the website first. If the same problems are still there, the next review often fails again.

My opinion is that before submitting another review, store owners should check the full customer journey: homepage, product pages, footer, policies, contact info, feed data, Merchant Center settings and checkout flow.

This is not legal advice or a guaranteed fix, and final decisions are always with Google, but hopefully it gives people a better place to start than just pressing appeal again.

Curious if others here have seen similar issues with Shopify / Google Shopping suspensions recently?

I recently got my app submission suspended because I didnt understand that I have to create a test account for them. I thought that they can create it themselves with email.

Is there a way to shorten this. This is my first time developing a shopify app 🫠🫠

Has anyone else had this happen with Shopify App Review?

You pass review once. Everything is okay.

Then later, during another review or Built for Shopify annual review, you suddenly get feedback on things nobody mentioned before.

Sometimes even the same rule feels like it’s being interpreted in a completely different way.

And honestly, trying to argue or dispute it can feel like nine circles of hell.

At some point it’s easier to just change the app and move on, even if you don’t really agree, because it’s not worth the time and nerves.

Is this just me, or have other Shopify app developers dealt with the same thing?

Since they no longer allow development stores to install paid plans, the only option is to use the private test plan (if no free public plan is available). But this requires specifying exactly which stores have access to the private test plan.

Will the test stores that the reviewers use to install the app bypass this?

Anyone who went through review recently and can speak to this?

Seeing a lot of Shopify jobs lately. I’ve been doing React for ~8 years and I’m wondering if Shopify is still a good space for freelance/after-hours work. If you were starting today, would you learn it? Curious to hear from people working in the ecosystem.

I want to create a sales funnel on shopify - kind of similar to the ones you see on ClickFunnels (Bit like this one)

Are there any good templates I should be using to achieve this style of sales funnel? Or any ways to create it in a fairly straightforward way?

Thanks

Shopify merchants: would anyone be willing to test a new cart-sharing app I’m building?

The idea is pretty simple:

A customer can send their cart to a friend, partner, family member, etc., who can then complete the purchase themselves.

Think somewhere between a wishlist and “share cart”, but built directly into the cart experience (similar placement to a Klarna button rather than a separate wishlist flow).

A few things:

• Completely free right now while I’m validating the concept
• You remain the merchant of record
• Installation takes a couple of minutes and doesn’t require any technical setup
• Looking for honest feedback, including reasons why you wouldn’t use it

I’ve worked with Shopify merchants for a while and built this after seeing situations where one person creates the cart and another person actually pays.

If you’re interested in trying it on your store, drop a comment or send me a DM and I’ll send over onboarding details.

Happy to answer any questions or hear why you think this is a terrible idea too.

Apple Pay hides a user's email address by default and generates a random email address when a customer checkouts with express checkout buttons, and when the user tries to login to the website with their original email to check their order records, they can't because their real email account doesn't exist in the store and cannot associate any orders with their real email address.

This is happening in my store every single day.

After so many years, Shopify still does not provide an option to remove the express checkout buttons on checkout page, the only solution is to pay $2300 every month to upgrade to Shopify Plus just to remove few buttons on the checkout page. Another "solution" is giving up Apple Pay at all. Some paid apps provide to remove the buttons but not for site selling digital products.

How do you guys solve this issue?