To get Shopify app reviews, get installs first: a new Shopify app gets its first installs from outside its listing, and its first reviews from the installs. Start Shopify Ads from week one, put niche keywords a new app can rank for into the listing, and hustle: email and social outreach, partnerships with Shopify agencies, affiliates and forums.
Then ask for reviews the way Shopify allows: after a merchant has had a real success or a support call, in neutral words, never for an incentive. Fast support and quick handling of every unhappy merchant protect the reviews you get.
I’m Boaz Lantsman, founder of Convert2x. We’ve grown 100+ Shopify apps since 2018, and getting a new app from zero to its first installs and reviews is where most of them start.
Being approved doesn’t bring merchants. Developers on the Shopify forums report it again and again: an app approved weeks ago, a handful of installs, zero reviews (community.shopify.dev). Before you buy traffic, check the basics:
| Check | What to look for |
|---|---|
| Keywords | Is the listing on niche keywords a new app can rank for, in the name and introduction? |
| Listing | Does it say what the app does, its value and what makes it unique, in the words merchants search? |
| Pricing | Is there a way for the first merchants to try it? A new app can go free for a while to build reviews. |
| Install flow | Do installs complete? Strict install requirements can block merchants. |
| Install count | Do your numbers include test and development stores? |
Then bring merchants in yourself. Reviews, rankings and revenue follow the installs.
Shopify Ads from week one. Any published app can advertise on the Shopify App Store, with no review or install minimum. Ads show on search results, category pages and the homepage; you pay per click in a first-price auction, from $5 a day. Shopify itself calls ads especially powerful for new apps that need traction to rank organically (Shopify Partners). Pair exact and broad match, read the search terms weekly, and bid by visitor value.
Niche keywords first. The big keywords belong to apps with hundreds of reviews. A new app wins the narrower searches first, and Shopify’s search also boosts high-quality apps that are gaining traction (Shopify Partners).
Hustle: do everything.
One warning from the same threads: offers of paid installs and paid reviews come quickly to new apps. Turn them down. They break Shopify’s rules.
Shopify tightened review rules in 2026. In July, the ban on incentives became its own App Store requirement (1.3), defined as “offering, unlocking, or withholding app features in exchange for a merchant leaving a review” (Shopify changelog). Apps caught lose a significant portion of their reviews, and Shopify is unpublishing reviews it doesn’t trust (Shopify changelog).
| Rule | What it means for you |
|---|---|
| No incentives | No discounts, free months, unlocked features or free setup in exchange for a review |
| Neutral wording | Ask for an honest review, never a positive one |
| Not during onboarding | Don’t ask at install or during setup |
| No unsolicited review emails | Ask in context, for example after support |
| One ask, then an opt-out | Offer an opt-out after the first request |
| Who can review | Merchants with the app installed, or up to 45 days after uninstalling |
| No reviews on trials | Since December 2024, merchants on any trial plan can’t review |
| Weighted rating | The rating prioritizes recent, useful and trustworthy reviews |
Sources: Shopify’s app review guidance and App Store requirements.
Get installs first, then ask. No installs, no reviews.
Ask at the right moment. After a support call, or after the merchant completes a successful workflow in the app. Shopify’s Reviews API enforces the timing: no prompt in the first 24 hours after install, then at most once every 60 days and three times a year. So save your asks for the moments that count.
Give fast support, especially early. Prompt for a review after each support call, and reward your support reps for the reviews they bring in.
Deal quickly with every unhappy merchant. Reach out to the shop first, then reply publicly if that doesn’t solve it. A 1-star review 30 minutes after install can hurt for some time.
Consider going free for a while. A new app can drop the price, even to zero, to build a base of positive reviews. Remember that merchants on a trial plan can’t review, so a free plan or a short free period works where a trial doesn’t.
Built for Shopify apps rank higher in App Store search and become eligible for promotion on the homepage and in category pages (Shopify). The badge needs at least 50 net installs from active shops on paid plans and at least 5 reviews, plus a minimum recent rating and Shopify’s performance and design criteria (requirements). For a new app, that makes 50 installs and 5 reviews the first real milestone. More in is the Built for Shopify badge worth it?.
| When | Focus | Milestone |
|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | Listing on niche keywords; Shopify Ads live; outreach to fitting stores | First installs |
| Weeks 2 to 6 | Hands-on onboarding, fast support, review asks after real successes | First 5 reviews |
| Weeks 6 to 12 | Shopify Ads on the keywords that bring paying merchants; partnerships, affiliates, forums | 50 net installs, Built for Shopify eligibility |
Through all of it, measure each source by installs, subscribers and revenue. Shopify can report where installs came from (search, ads, homepage, category) through its listing traffic tracking.
We manage Shopify Ads from week one, keep the listing on niche keywords a new app can win, and support the rest of the growth work, from the funnel to outreach. See new Shopify app marketing. Not launched yet? Start with the Shopify app launch package. The full channel picture is in Shopify app marketing in 2026.
Get installs first, then ask. Give fast support, especially early, and ask for a review after a support call or after the merchant completes a successful workflow, in neutral words. Deal quickly with every unhappy merchant. A new app can go free for a while to build its first reviews.
No. Shopify forbids offering, unlocking or withholding app features in exchange for a review. Since July 2026 this is its own App Store requirement, and apps caught incentivizing lose a significant portion of their reviews.
Shopify's Reviews API won't show the review prompt to a merchant who installed less than 24 hours ago, then allows it once every 60 days and at most three times a year. Merchants on a trial plan can't leave a review at all.
No. Since December 11, 2024, merchants on any trial plan, including paid trials, can't leave a review on the Shopify App Store.
A new app with zero reviews barely shows in App Store search. Check that the listing targets niche keywords a new app can rank for, that pricing doesn't block the first merchants, and that installs aren't failing. Then bring merchants in yourself: Shopify Ads from week one, email and social outreach, partnerships with Shopify agencies, affiliates and forums.
Yes. Any published app can advertise; Shopify sets no review or install minimum. Ads are pay per click with a $5 a day minimum budget. We start them from week one.
At least 5, together with at least 50 net installs from active shops on paid plans, a minimum recent rating, and Shopify's performance and design criteria.
Convert2x has grown 100+ Shopify apps, and only Shopify apps, since 2018.
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