Is Shopify free? What the trial covers

Short answer: No, Shopify isn't free forever, and the free trial alone can't take a real order. The current offer is a 3-day free trial with no credit card required. This is followed by $1/month for your first three months on eligible standard plans, according to Shopify's pricing page checked August 26, 2026. What the trial genuinely covers is full store-building access — products, themes, apps, and payment and shipping settings — so you can set up everything except a live checkout. The catch is that apps, a custom domain, and transaction fees can start costing you before the trial even ends. Treat the trial as a setup window and track every cost clock, not just the day counter.

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Shopify plans, pricing and features change; always verify the current details on shopify.com before deciding.

Most people asking "is Shopify free?" are really asking how long they can build before the bill starts. The answer runs on two clocks. One is the trial clock — how many days you get before Shopify asks for payment. The other is the cost clock — the apps, domain, and processing fees that can start before the trial ends.

If you're starting from scratch, our How to start a Shopify store: a complete guide walks through the full setup. This article focuses on the narrower question: what's free, for how long, and what costs money even when the plan fee is paused.

What "free" actually means on Shopify right now

Every free thing on Shopify runs on a countdown. The trial ends. The promo ends. The difference between a trial and a discounted promo is the whole argument here, and blurring it is exactly what regulators have cracked down on in other industries.

The Federal Trade Commission announced in 2025 that Instacart will pay $60 million in consumer refunds to settle allegations of deceptive free trial tactics. The same agency sent more than $27.6 million to consumers harmed by unauthorized billing schemes that year. Those cases aren't about Shopify. They're about why the word "free" deserves precision.

So here's the precise version. Shopify Inc. offers a free 3-day trial with no credit card required, according to Shopify's pricing page checked August 26, 2026. During those three days you pay nothing. After them, you pick a plan and the $1/month promo begins — a discounted paid period, not a free extension. Three days free, then three months at $1 each: roughly 93 days of access for about $3 total.

Shopify Inc. also charges no setup fees on any of its plans, the same pricing page confirms. No activation charge, no onboarding fee. The only number that matters is the recurring plan price, and that starts when you choose a plan, not when you sign up.

The trial clock starts the moment you create your account. It doesn't pause if you log out, and it doesn't reset if you don't build anything. Three days means three calendar days from signup.

What you can build in the free trial

The trial is genuinely useful. You get full admin access — products, themes, apps, settings, the works. Shopify doesn't gate features behind the plan picker during the trial window.

You can add products with photos and variants. Customize a free theme. Install apps from the Shopify Inc. App Store, which hosts over 16,000 apps as of 2026, each one passing a 100-checkpoint review before listing. Configure payment providers, set up shipping zones, write policies, and build your navigation.

What you can't do is sell. Checkout stays inactive until you choose a paid plan and set up payments. Your store stays password-protected, visible only to you. A customer who finds your URL sees a coming-soon page, not a buy button.

This is the distinction that matters. The trial is a building window, not a selling window. If you want to understand the full admin layout before signing up, our How to use Shopify: a tour of the admin walks through each section. And if you're still deciding whether Shopify fits at all, What is Shopify, and how does it work? covers the platform's scope.

The trial's real value is that you can build the entire store before spending a dollar on the plan. Use those three days to get products loaded, a theme configured, and your shipping rules written. When the $1/month period starts, you're selling, not still setting up. To see how the full order flow works once you go live, How does Shopify work, step by step? traces the path from cart to payout.

The cost clocks that keep running while you build

The trial pauses your plan fee. It does not pause your business costs.

Apps are the first clock. The App Store's 16,000-plus catalog includes free apps, but plenty of useful ones charge monthly fees. Install three paid apps during the trial and you've already built a recurring bill that starts the moment you pick a plan. Our Shopify apps: what they actually cost you breaks down how those charges stack.

A custom domain is the second clock. Shopify includes a .myshopify.com URL for free, but a professional domain costs money annually. You can buy it through Shopify or connect one you already own. Either way, it's a cost that exists during the trial if you set it up then.

Transaction fees are the third clock, and they're the sneakiest. Once you pick a plan and go live, every sale carries a card processing fee. Using a payment gateway other than Shopify Payments adds a surcharge on top, and that surcharge varies by plan tier. Shopify's pricing page documents the rates, but the exact percentages shift, so check the page rather than trusting a guide.

The FTC's enforcement record shows why these clocks matter. In 2025, the agency ordered shutdown of unauthorized billing schemes requiring forfeiture of assets valued at approximately $40 million. The FTC noted that unauthorized billing scams have taken in over $200 million from consumers total. A separate case sent $5 million from Paddle to settle allegations of unfair payment-processing practices.

None of those involve Shopify. They illustrate why tracking recurring charges — not just the headline plan price — is the habit that keeps you out of trouble.

After the trial: the $1/month offer vs. standard plans

When the three-day trial ends, you have a choice. Pick a plan and start the $1/month promo, or do nothing and let the store freeze.

The $1/month offer applies to eligible standard plans — Basic, Shopify, and Advanced — for your first three months. It's not a free extension. It's a discounted paid period, and after those three months, standard pricing applies. The promo is for new Shopify accounts only, one offer per account, and availability varies by country.

If you don't choose a plan, Shopify doesn't delete your store. It pauses the account and saves your data, products, and settings. You can reactivate later by picking a plan. Nothing is lost, but checkout stays off.

Here's the practical path for most new stores. Take the trial, pick Basic during the $1/month window, and use the three discounted months to validate whether the store sells. If it does, stay on Basic or move up as volume grows. If it doesn't, pause before the promo ends and you've spent $3 total. Our How much does Shopify cost? covers the full cost breakdown, and How Shopify pays you: payouts and timing explains when the money actually lands.

One more thing: paying annually instead of monthly saves roughly 25% on standard plans. That's a post-promo cost-cutting move, not a trial decision. Wait until the $1/month period ends, then decide if annual billing makes sense for your volume.

Plan pricing side by side in 2026

Shopify's three standard plans differ in two ways that matter: the monthly fee and the per-transaction cost. Both figures live on Shopify's pricing page and both can change. The table below describes what differentiates each tier rather than restating dollar amounts.

The pattern is simple. As you move up, the monthly fee rises and the per-order fee falls. The break-even point depends on your order volume and whether you use Shopify Payments or a third-party gateway. A store processing 500 orders a month feels the per-order difference more than one processing 50.

Our take: Basic is the right starting point for nearly every new store. The $1/month promo makes it nearly free for three months, and the processing rate is fine until volume pushes you to shop the math. Move up only when your monthly order count makes the lower per-order fee outweigh the higher plan fee. If you're selling through social media only and don't need a full storefront, the Starter plan at $5/month is cheaper than Basic. However, it's a different product, not a cheaper version of the same thing.

Free alternatives to Shopify that stay free after the trial

Shopify's trial ends. Some platforms don't charge at all, or charge nothing at low volume. The trade-offs explain why the Shopify trial is still worth taking.

WooCommerce is a plugin for WordPress. The software is free, but you pay for hosting, a domain, an SSL certificate, and often premium extensions. You own the stack, which means you also maintain it.

Big Cartel offers a free tier for up to five products. It's built for makers and artists, not growing stores. The product cap is the ceiling.

Square Online provides a free storefront with no monthly fee, but transaction costs are built into each sale, and the free tier shows ads and limits features.

Ecwid has a free plan for up to 10 products. Paid tiers unlock more product slots and sales channels. The free tier is real but narrow.

Wix includes e-commerce on its paid plans, with a free website tier that doesn't allow online selling. You're paying for the website builder, and the store is a feature of it.

Each one trades cost for something else. Product limits, ads, hosting burden, or feature gates. Shopify charges more but includes hosting, security, updates, and support in the plan fee. You don't manage servers, and you don't code a checkout. Whether that's worth paying for depends on how much of the technical work you want to own.

How to keep your Shopify free trial from turning into a surprise bill

The trial is three days. The $1/month period is three months. Both end. Here's how to make sure the ending isn't a surprise.

Suggested trial checklist — copy this:

1. Sign up with an email you check daily. The trial clock starts immediately, and Shopify sends the plan-picking reminder before the trial ends.
2. Spend day one on products and day two on theme and pages. Day three is for shipping, taxes, and payment settings.
3. Install only the apps you're certain you need. Every paid app trial you start is a billing clock that begins when you pick a plan.
4. Don't add a custom domain until you've decided to launch. The .myshopify.com URL works fine for setup.
5. Pick a plan before the three days end. If you don't, the store freezes and you lose the $1/month promo window.
6. After the three $1 months, decide: keep going, pause the store, or move to annual billing for the 25% discount.
7. Cancel any paid app you installed during the trial that you're not using. App charges appear on your Shopify invoice, and they stack quietly.

The FTC's 2025 enforcement actions include $60 million from Instacart, $27.6 million returned to consumers, and $5 million from Paddle. These all stem from the same failure mode: recurring charges the customer didn't expect. Shopify's billing is more transparent than the companies in those cases, but the principle is identical. Read what you're agreeing to, track what renews, and cancel what you don't use.

Frequently asked questions

Can I use the $1/month offer if I've already used a Shopify free trial before?

The $1/month promo is limited to new Shopify accounts, one offer per account. Creating a second account with a different email to claim another trial violates Shopify's terms of service and risks both accounts being closed. If you've used a trial before, you'll start on standard pricing when you pick a plan.

Do paid apps installed during the trial charge me during the trial itself?

Most app developers align their billing with Shopify's billing cycle, which means charges appear on your first Shopify invoice after you choose a plan, not during the trial itself. Some apps with independent billing systems may charge separately. Check each app's billing details in the App Store listing before installing.

Is the Shopify free trial 3 days in every country?

The 3-day trial is the standard offer on Shopify's pricing page as of August 2026, replacing older 14-day and 90-day trials that previous versions offered. The trial length appears consistent across regions, but the $1/month promotional pricing that follows it varies by country and is not available everywhere. Check the pricing page for your region to confirm.

What happens to my custom domain if I cancel my Shopify store?

Domains purchased through Shopify remain registered to you for the period you paid for, even after the store is deactivated. You can transfer the domain to another registrar or repoint its DNS to a new host. Shopify doesn't hold domains hostage when you leave, but the transfer process can take up to seven days.

Can I sell during the free trial?

No. Checkout is inactive during the trial, and your store stays password-protected. You can simulate a transaction using Shopify's Bogus Gateway, a test payment provider that walks through checkout without processing real money. Real orders require a paid plan and an active payment provider.

Sources

1. Shopify Inc., "Shopify Pricing: Find the Right Plan for Your Business." https://www.shopify.com/pricing — checked August 26, 2026.
2. Shopify Inc., "Shopify App Store." https://apps.shopify.com/ — checked August 26, 2026.
3. Federal Trade Commission, "Free Trials | Federal Trade Commission." https://www.ftc.gov/free-trials — checked August 26, 2026.