Shopify App Development

A custom app uses custom distribution: it installs on one store, or on the stores in one Shopify Plus organisation, through an install link, with no App Store review, and it cannot charge through Shopify billing. A public app is listed on the Shopify App Store, passes Shopify's app review and can bill merchants through the Billing API. The choice cannot be changed later.

No. Shopify no longer lets you create new custom apps in the admin. Existing admin-created apps keep working, but they cannot use App Bridge or app extensions. New custom apps are built as Shopify apps with Shopify CLI and set to custom distribution in the Dev Dashboard, which is how we build them.

Not for most apps. Custom apps run on any plan. The exception is Shopify Functions: a custom app that contains Function APIs only runs on Shopify Plus, while App Store apps with Functions work on any plan. Checkout UI extensions on the information, shipping and payment steps are also Plus only. We check this against your plan before we design anything.

We design for them from the start. The GraphQL Admin API allows 100 points per second on standard plans, 200 on Advanced and 1,000 on Plus, measured by query cost. We batch work, request only the fields we need, use bulk operations for large exports and webhooks instead of polling, so integrations stay inside the limit during peak trading.

Yes. Functions handle custom discount, delivery and payment logic that runs inside Shopify's checkout. Checkout UI extensions add content and fields to checkout, the Thank you page and the Order status page. We build both as part of the same app, versioned and released together.

Yes. We are in the Shopify Partner Program because we build apps, including our own loyalty app, Anchor Loyalty. For a public app we cover the review requirements, onboarding, the Billing API and the support load a listed app brings, so you know what running an App Store app involves before you commit to it.

Shopify releases new stable API versions on a schedule and supports each one for at least 12 months. We track the version each app uses, test against new versions before the old one leaves support, and ship the upgrade as a normal release. Maintenance can be a retainer or scoped upgrades.

Use an App Store app when one covers your workflow, because someone else maintains it. Build a custom app when the workflow is specific to your business, when several apps would be needed to cover it, or when the data must move in a way no app supports. We check the App Store first and tell you if a custom build is not needed.

Yes. We review the code, the API version it uses, its permissions and its hosting, then fix what is urgent and plan the rest. Apps created in the Shopify admin keep working but cannot use App Bridge or app extensions, so some need rebuilding as a Shopify CLI app to add features.

Any system with an API: ERP, warehouse and fulfilment, PIM, accounting, CRM and marketplaces. Shopify sends changes through webhooks, and large data moves use bulk operations, so the app reacts to orders, inventory and customer changes without constantly polling the store.

As a fixed scope, quoted in writing after a scoping call. The quote depends on the workflow, the data the app touches, the number of integrations and whether it is a custom or public app. We do not start building until the brief is agreed and signed off.