About apps

You can use apps to enhance your Shopify admin or add new features. Apps can either be public or custom.

There are two types of public apps: listed and unlisted. Both undergo Shopify's app review process and can be installed from the Shopify App Store.

Unlisted public apps aren't displayed in the Shopify App Store search results or categories. You can install an unlisted app when you are provided with a link to the app's Shopify App Store listing or directly from the developer's website.

Creating a custom app requires development knowledge and can be challenging. If you need help, then you can hire a Shopify Partner. Learn more about hiring a Shopify Partner.

On this page

• App charges
• Apps made by Shopify
• Built for Shopify badge
• Custom apps
• Unsupported apps

App charges

Most app charges are billed through Shopify and display on your Shopify bill. However, some third-party apps charge you directly outside of Shopify. These external charges don't display on your Shopify bill, so you need to manage them separately with the app developer.

Whether a public app is listed or unlisted doesn't affect how it charges you. If you're not sure how an app charges you, then review the app's pricing details in the Shopify App Store or contact the app developer.

Apps made by Shopify

Apps made by Shopify are usually free and supported by Shopify directly. You can review the full list on the Help Center in Apps made by Shopify or in the Shopify App Store.

Built for Shopify badge

The Built for Shopify badge displays on app listings that have passed Shopify's rigorous testing and meet our highest quality standards. When this badge displays, you know the app meets the following requirements in three areas to earn certification:

• Performance: Apps cannot decrease your storefront's speed by more than 10 performance points. This helps maintain fast store performance and protects your sales and search rankings.
• Design: Apps follow Shopify's design standards for reliable functionality and a consistent experience in your admin.
• Integration: Apps use Shopify's latest technology standards, ensuring full compatibility with the admin and core features, so your workflows remain seamless within your admin.

If an app stops meeting these requirements, then it loses the Built for Shopify status. Shopify reviews certifications annually to maintain quality standards.

Custom apps

Grow your business

If you need help creating custom apps for your store, then you can hire a Shopify Partner. Learn more about hiring a Shopify Partner.

A custom app is an app that you or a developer builds exclusively for your Shopify store, unlike a public app that's built for many stores to use. You can use custom apps to add features to your Shopify admin, access your store's data directly using Shopify's APIs, or extend your online store to other platforms using the Storefront API.

You create and manage custom apps using the Dev Dashboard. The Dev Dashboard lets you manage your apps, track performance with logs and health metrics, and test with development stores before deploying to your live store. For more information, refer to the Shopify Dev Docs - Dev Dashboard documentation.

To get started, refer to Creating a custom app using the Dev Dashboard. After creating your app, you can install it and set up API access. You can also update your app settings, uninstall, or delete a custom app at any time. If you have legacy custom apps created before January 1, 2026, you can manage them from your Shopify admin.

Required permissions for creating and managing custom apps

Store owners automatically have full access to create and manage custom apps. To give a staff member access to create, edit, or delete custom apps, assign your staff the App development > Develop permission. Collaborators can't access the Dev Dashboard because they don't have organizational-level permissions.

For more information about user permissions in the Dev Dashboard, refer to Shopify Dev Docs - User permissions.

Custom Level 2 PII apps

Permissions control what types of information from your store an app can access or modify for the functions it performs.

Personally identifiable information (PII) is information that alone or combined can uniquely identify an individual. Apps from the Shopify App Store can access different types of PII when they use information about your store, customers, orders, or other business data. To access Custom Level 2 PII apps, your store must be on the Grow plan or higher.

Caution

If you sign up for or downgrade your plan to the Basic plan, then you won't have access to Custom Level 2 Personally Identifiable Information (PII) apps.

Unsupported custom apps

When you create a custom app in the Shopify admin, you associate a staff or collaborator account with it. To make sure the developer is getting these warnings, you can view and update the account associated with the custom app on the custom app's App settings page.

When a custom app that you're using becomes unsupported, you should contact the developer of that app to request that they update it. You should also forward any warnings that you get to the app developer as soon as you get them.

Note

If you're a custom app developer, then read the documentation for custom app versioning extensions to learn more about how to keep your custom apps up to date.

If you don’t have a contact email for your developer, or you don't know who developed a custom app created in your Shopify admin, then contact Shopify Support. If you can't contact the original developer of the app, then you can hire a Shopify Partner to help you make the required changes.

Learn more about hiring a Shopify Partner.

If a custom app becomes unsupported, and you aren't using it or don’t plan to update it, then you can delete the app to dismiss the warning in your Shopify admin.

Unsupported apps

Some of the apps that you use on your store might stop working because of changes to Shopify's APIs. When an app in your store uses an unsupported API, a notification is shown in your Shopify admin. You can manage an unsupported app by contacting the app's developers or by finding a new app in the Shopify App Store to replace it.

If an app that you've already installed becomes incompatible with your store, then you'll get an app notification in the Shopify admin that explains what store settings are incompatible with the app.

Note

If you're an app developer, then read the documentation for API versioning and best practices to learn more about how to keep your apps up to date.

An app becomes unsupported if the app's developers don't keep it up to date with changes to Shopify's APIs. An API (application programming interface) is a system that allows apps to communicate with Shopify. The apps that you install on your store use Shopify APIs to get and update data on your store and help you run your business.

New versions of Shopify APIs are released every three months. These versions can introduce new features or change and remove existing features. Each version of a Shopify API continues to work for a year before app developers must update their apps to use a newer version.

If a certain version of a Shopify API introduces a change that breaks an app, then we notify the developer of that app, and they have 9 months to update it. After 9 months, if the developer doesn't make the required changes, then the app becomes unsupported and might stop working as expected.

Installing unsupported apps

If you try to install an app that's unsupported, then a warning might be displayed indicating that the app might not work properly, or that you won't be able to install it. You can contact the developer to ask them to update the app, or you can find other apps on the Shopify App Store.

Managing unsupported apps

The developer of an unsupported app is responsible for updating their app. There are different ways to reach out to the app developer that depends on the type of app you're using.

Shopify notifies the developers of public apps and custom apps about breaking changes early, so that they have time to update their apps before they become unsupported.

If an app that you're using becomes unsupported, then you can contact the developer and request that they update the app. You can also look for other apps on the Shopify App Store in case you can't reach the developer, or you need to replace the app that you're using.

Because these apps are maintained by third-party developers, Shopify can’t make any changes or update these apps for you.

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