Conversion
Timesact pricing: the real cost per month on Shopify
Timesact's pricing pages disagree on the same plans. With cart abandonment at 70.19%, here is the usage-based math for your real Timesact cost per month.
Timesact Preorder Conversion
The short answer: Timesact doesn't have one reliable cost per month. Its own pages list the same plans at different dollar amounts. Flexible CORE appears "from $1" on the vendor's blog and "from $5" on the App Store listing. The Fixed plan reads $19 per month on the blog and from $23 on the pricing page, according to Timesact's own surfaces checked September 1, 2026. The actual bill is usage-based: the order band you pick, per-order charges past it, and SMS sends. For a store doing 300 pre-orders and 1,000 restock emails, the honest answer is a range across Free, Flexible, and Fixed — not a single sticker price.
Timesact Preorder is a single Shopify app covering pre-orders, back-in-stock alerts, coming-soon pages, low-stock notifications, and notify-me forms. If you're setting up your first store, our how to start a Shopify store guide walks through the full setup. The question here is narrower: what will this one app charge you each month?
The United States Census Bureau reported that US retail e-commerce sales totaled $340.2 billion in the second quarter of 2026, or 17.1% of total retail sales. Statista, 2025 counted 1,035,000 Shopify online stores in the US as of September 2025. That's a lot of stores competing for the same shoppers, and every app on your bill needs to justify its line item.
The Baymard Institute found that the global average cart abandonment rate sits at 70.19%. Pre-order and restock-alert apps exist to recover some of that lost demand. But only if the math works. The rest of this page runs the numbers so you can decide whether it does for your store.
What Timesact really costs per month
The plan price is the number Timesact advertises. It is almost never the whole bill.
The App Store listing, checked September 1, 2026, shows a free "New Users" plan limited to 20 orders per month with unlimited products. The vendor's blog splits that as the first 10 pre-sale orders and the first 10 normal orders, plus the first 50 restock emails. Above that volume, you move to paid plans.
Paid plans come in two shapes. Flexible plans are usage-based: you pick a monthly order band, and a small per-order amount applies past it. Fixed plans charge a flat monthly rate for unlimited orders. The listing uses CORE and PRO naming for feature tiers inside each shape.
No transaction fees appear on any plan. Both the listing and the pricing page say so. But "no transaction fees" means no percentage of your sale — not no cost. The per-order amount past your band is the line that scales, because it grows with volume while the sticker price doesn't.
Billing runs through Shopify, appears on your regular Shopify invoice, and cycles every 30 days in USD. For a broader view of what all your apps add up to, our Shopify apps cost guide breaks down the pattern.
Why Timesact's own pages disagree
Here's the problem. Timesact's own surfaces don't carry the same starting numbers.
The App Store listing shows CORE Flex "from $5" per month and PRO Flex "from $7". The vendor's blog, on the same company's domain, presents a Flexible plan "from $1" per month with a small included band. For the Fixed plan, the blog says $19 per month. The pricing page and the listing instead start fixed pricing at $23 for a store on the smallest Shopify plan, rising to $117 on Plus. The listing does not explain the gap.
Two honest readings exist. The cheapest blog numbers may describe entry bands or an earlier price sheet; the listing may show what new subscribers see today. Nothing in either source resolves it.
The approach that survives both readings: treat every Timesact price as a starting point, not a quote. Verify the current figure on the App Store listing before you commit. Prices change, and the listing is the surface you buy through.
The Free plan's restock-email conflict
One conflict directly affects your bill. Does the Free plan cap restock emails at 50, or leave them unlimited?
The App Store listing's Free card says "UNLIMITED email sending & Klaviyo," alongside 20 orders per month. The blog's Free plan lists "first 50 restock emails." The pricing page's Free card mentions restock functionality without stating a cap. All three are Timesact surfaces, checked September 1, 2026.
If the listing's "unlimited" governs, a store with zero pre-orders but heavy restock-alert volume could run the app for $0. If the blog's 50-email cap governs, that same store hits a wall quickly.
The safe assumption: the Free plan covers testing volume, not production volume. Once you're sending restock emails to real customers at scale, expect to pay. Read the current Free plan terms on the listing before relying on it for a launch.
Calculate your real Timesact cost per month
Here's the structure. Base fee, plus the per-order amount past your band, plus SMS if you use it.
Your monthly bill adds up in three parts:
- Base fee: $0 Free, $5 Flexible CORE, or $7 Flexible PRO on the listing.
- Orders past your band: $0.20 per order on CORE, $0.30 on PRO, per the listing's plan cards.
- SMS alerts: starting at $0.02 per US number, "only if you use it," per the listing and the pricing page.
The pricing page lets you set an expected volume from 10 up to 1,000 orders per month, and the Flexible prices move with your choice. So the real number is your band's price plus overage math.
Run the central scenario: 300 pre-orders and 1,000 restock emails per month.
Free can't serve it — the 20-order cap rules out 300 pre-orders.
On Flexible CORE at $5, pick the band and do the subtraction. If you set the 100-order band, the overage side is 200 orders past it. At the listing's $0.20 rate, that's $40 extra, for about $45 before any SMS. A larger band costs more up front but moves the per-order math.
On Fixed at $19 to $23 depending on which page you trust, there are no per-order extras at all. Fixed pricing also scales by your Shopify plan — $23 on Basic up to $117 on Plus on the listing — and drops with yearly billing. Timesact's own FAQ says that above roughly a hundred orders a month, Fixed usually works out cheaper.
Add 2,000 SMS sends and the picture changes again. At $0.02 per US message, that's $40 on top — SMS is a real budget line for alert-heavy stores, not a rounding error.
A plug-in sheet for your own numbers:
Your Timesact bill: base fee, plus (orders minus band) times the per-order rate, plus SMS times the per-message rate.
Statista reported that Shopify held a 10.8% share of the global e-commerce technology market in 2026, and counted Shopify's annual revenue at $11.56 billion for fiscal year 2025. A lot of merchants sit inside this ecosystem, which is why pricing transparency on the listing matters more than the blog number. If you want the platform baseline first, our how much does Shopify cost guide covers the tiers.
Free vs Flexible vs Fixed at your order volume
The comparison at 300 pre-orders and 1,000 restock emails:
| Plan | Base fee | Included volume | Past the band | Total/mo, no SMS | Where it fits |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 20 orders | not available | can't serve 300 | testing only |
| Flexible CORE | from $5 | your chosen band | $0.20 per order | about $45 at a 100-order band | under about 100 orders/mo |
| Flexible PRO | from $7 | your chosen band | $0.30 per order | about $67 at a 100-order band | targeting features needed |
| Fixed | from $23 ($19 on the blog) | unlimited orders | $0 | $23 on the smallest Shopify plan | over about 100 orders/mo |
The vendor's own FAQ frames the same break-even: more than roughly a hundred orders a month pushes you toward Fixed. Fixed is also a limited-time offer for new subscribers on the listing, with branding removal on the paid cards.
What PRO adds over CORE
PRO costs $2 more than CORE per month on the listing. What does it buy?
The pricing page and listing agree: PRO adds market and location targeting, storewide automatic low-stock and back-in-stock rules, charge-on-fulfillment for pre-orders, and reporting without a 30-day window. CORE carries the standard set — pre-order, back-in-stock, coming soon, low stock, deposits, and split payments — with analytics limited to 30 days.
Branding removal is not the differentiator. Both paid CORE and PRO cards on the listing include it.
One pricing knock-on: PRO's storewide automation can send more restock alerts, and every SMS alert is $0.02 per US number on both tiers.
When not to install Timesact
Not every store needs a pre-order app. Here's when to skip it.
If you sell only in-stock products with reliable supply, pre-order and back-in-stock alerts add complexity without revenue. Your money is better spent on understanding what Shopify is and getting your core store running.
If your pre-order promise involves a shipping date, US federal rules apply. The Federal Trade Commission's Mail Order Rule requires you to ship within the time promised or notify the customer of the delay and offer a refund. This isn't legal advice. It's the regulation to read on the FTC's website before offering pre-orders.
If your average order value is low, the per-order amount on Flexible plans can eat the margin. At $0.20 per order past your band, a $15 pre-order gives up about 1.3% of revenue on the overage alone. Under about a hundred orders a month that's noise; above it, the vendor's own guidance sends you to Fixed anyway.
B2B, Flow, and Markets: what the listing actually says
Three platform surfaces change the math, and the listing documents all three.
Shopify B2B: the listing advertises D2C and B2B pre-orders, so wholesale pre-orders are in scope. The listing's description doesn't detail how B2B billing interacts with the per-order amount, so confirm that with support before budgeting.
Shopify Flow: the listing's "Works with" line includes Shopify Flow. Tag-based automations can run on order events, which affects how you manage pre-order fulfillment without extra apps.
Shopify Markets: Eurostat, 2024 reported that 23.59% of EU enterprises made e-sales in 2024. PRO's market and location targeting exists for exactly this case; CORE has no market targeting, so a multi-market store compares differently than the single-store math above.
For a broader look at how the platform handles multi-channel selling, our how does Shopify work guide covers the architecture.
Frequently asked questions
Does Timesact charge transaction fees on top of the monthly plan?
No. The listing and the pricing page both state there are no percentage-of-sale charges on any plan. The cost that surprises merchants is the per-order amount on Flexible plans: $0.20 past your band on CORE, $0.30 on PRO, per the listing.
Can I switch between Timesact plans mid-cycle?
Yes — the vendor's pages say you can change plans inside the app at any time, and uninstalling stops billing. Billing runs through Shopify, so the switch lands on your next Shopify invoice. How the current cycle is prorated is not published on the listing.
Does the Free plan include SMS restock alerts?
The Free card lists unlimited email sending and the SMS option on the paid cards. SMS pricing is published — from $0.02 per US number — but the listing doesn't say whether Free accounts can turn SMS on. Ask support before you build an SMS alert flow on the assumption of $0.
What happens if I exceed my Free plan order limit?
The Free card covers 20 orders a month, and the blog describes that as the first 10 pre-sale plus the first 10 normal orders. Once you pass the covered band you move up to a Flexible or Fixed plan to keep taking orders; the listing doesn't publish what happens to orders past the cap.
Sources
- Shopify App Store, "Timesact: Pre-order, Discount, Back in Stock". https://apps.shopify.com/timesact-discount-pre-order — checked on September 1, 2026
- Timesact, "Pricing". https://timesact.com/pricing/ — checked on September 1, 2026
- Timesact, "How to Choose the Right Timesact Plan". https://timesact.com/blog/how-to-choose-the-right-timesact-plan/ — checked on September 1, 2026
- Federal Trade Commission, "A Businessperson's Guide to the Mail Order Rule". https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/resources/business-persons-guide-mail-order-internet-order-rule — checked on September 1, 2026
- United States Census Bureau, "Monthly Retail Trade - Quarterly Retail E-Commerce Sales Report". https://www.census.gov/retail/ecommerce.html — checked on September 1, 2026
- Statista, "Shopify - statistics & facts". https://www.statista.com/topics/10315/shopify/ — checked on September 1, 2026
- Eurostat, "E-commerce statistics". https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=E-commerce_statistics — checked on September 1, 2026
- Baymard Institute, "E-Commerce Cart & Checkout Usability Research". https://baymard.com/research/checkout-usability — checked on September 1, 2026
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