To bring a SaaS product to the Shopify App Store, you build a real Shopify app around it: an embedded experience in the Shopify admin, Shopify’s billing for merchants who install from the App Store, the mandatory compliance webhooks, and an install that starts with OAuth.
Your existing customers can stay on your own billing, but the two paths must be kept completely separate. Then you price for Shopify merchants, pass review, and do the work that gets installs: the listing, Shopify Ads from week one, and outreach.
I’m Boaz Lantsman, founder of Convert2x. We’ve grown 100+ Shopify apps since 2018, and software companies bringing an existing product to Shopify are exactly who our Shopify app launch is for.
Distribution. Merchants look for apps in the Shopify App Store, and Shopify says 60% of App Store installs come from searches (Shopify). The ecosystem is large and growing: Shopify paid developers more than $1.3 billion in 2025, lists more than 21,000 apps, and active app installs grew nearly 20% (Shopify). For a company that already has a product, Shopify is a new channel to merchants who search for exactly what it does.
| Area | What Shopify requires | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Embedded experience | The app lives in the Shopify admin with the latest App Bridge; authentication uses ID tokens, because third-party cookies aren’t reliable inside the admin | ID tokens |
| Billing | App Store apps use a Shopify-provided billing solution, and merchants change plans without contacting support | Billing |
| Data and privacy | The three compliance webhooks for every app; a protected customer data request if you need customer data | Privacy compliance, Protected data |
| Install | OAuth starts immediately on install; no asking the merchant to type a myshopify.com URL; onboarding links the store to the merchant’s existing account | App Store requirements |
Shopify’s guidance is that primary workflows should be completable inside the admin (Shopify). Large products don’t have to move everything in, but they need at least a simplified version of monitoring and reporting there.
Shopify staff were concrete in May 2026: a “minimal embedded” shell that only handles OAuth and billing won’t pass. The embedded app needs setup and configuration, a status dashboard (connection health, key metrics, errors), and controls for anything that touches Shopify data (community.shopify.dev).
This is where SaaS apps most often get stuck.
| Situation | What to do |
|---|---|
| Merchant installs from the Shopify App Store | Charge through Shopify App Pricing or the Billing API |
| Existing customer who signed up on your site | Can stay on your own billing |
| Both paths in one product | Keep them completely separate, so an App Store install can never reach your own billing flow |
Shopify staff said in July 2026 that you don’t need permission to keep existing customers on your own billing, but that an app “can fail review if it’s possible for a shopify merchant to install your app in the app store” and reach your own billing flow (community.shopify.dev). In one September 2026 case, an app was suspended after a reviewer created a fresh account and was sent to a Stripe checkout (community.shopify.dev).
Shopify App Pricing is the default for new public apps: up to 8 public plans, prices in USD, usage-based charges with meters, and a plan selection page hosted by Shopify. One-time purchases go through the Billing API instead.
Pricing shapes conversion twice, on the app store page and at the end of the trial. For most apps, go opt-out: the merchant subscribes to a paid plan to start the trial, with the max fee in the subscription if usage-based, and development stores free. Map tiers to your merchant segments, with one pricing metric. And plans are set at submission, so decide them before you submit. More in Shopify app pricing and monetization best practices.
The revenue share: you keep 100% of your first $1M in lifetime gross app revenue and 85% above that, after a one-time $19 registration (Shopify).
The two reasons SaaS apps get sent back most are billing and a thin embedded experience. Before you submit, check every item in the Shopify app launch checklist, test install, uninstall and re-install on a clean development store, and give the reviewer a working test account and an English demo screencast. Shopify gives no review timeframe, and developers reported waits of about a month or more in 2026.
Approval brings no merchants by itself, even for a known product. What works from week one:
We launch in three steps: a market assessment before you build, the Shopify app launch package before you submit (App Store SEO and AEO, visuals, funnel and onboarding, trigger emails and pricing), and Shopify Ads with growth support after launch. First, check whether a Shopify app is worth building for your product.
Your existing customers can stay on your own billing, but merchants who install from the Shopify App Store must pay through Shopify's billing. Shopify staff advise keeping the two paths completely separate: an app can fail review if a merchant who installs from the App Store can reach your own billing flow.
Yes. App Store apps must give a consistent embedded experience. Shopify staff said in 2026 that a minimal embedded shell that only handles OAuth and billing won't pass: the embedded app needs setup and configuration, a status dashboard, and controls for anything that touches Shopify data.
Not for everything. The primary workflows should work inside the Shopify admin. Large products don't have to move every feature in, but they must include at least a simplified version of monitoring and reporting inside the admin.
Developers keep 100% of their first $1,000,000 in lifetime gross app revenue (counted from January 1, 2025) and 85% above that, after a one-time $19 registration per Partner account. The share applies to app revenue billed through Shopify.
The three mandatory compliance webhooks (customers/data_request, customers/redact, shop/redact) for every app, and, if you need customer data, an approved request for protected customer data, with stronger safeguards for names, emails, phones and addresses.
Shopify gives no timeframe. Developers reported waits of about a month or more in 2026, and SaaS apps are often sent back for billing or for a thin embedded experience. Get both right before you submit.
Convert2x has grown 100+ Shopify apps, and only Shopify apps, since 2018.
See the Shopify app launch package →