Dev stores

A development store is a free Shopify account that comes with a few limitations. As a Shopify Partner, you can create an unlimited number of development stores.

You can use a development store to test any themes or apps that you create, or to set up a Shopify store for a client. Setting up a development store and transferring it to a client gives you a recurring commission.

In both cases, the process for creating a development store is the same. However, certain development store features, such as developer previews and installing custom or draft apps, prevent you from transferring the store to a client.

Anchor to PrerequisitesPrerequisites

To create or access a development store, you need app development permissions.

Anchor to Create a development store to test your appCreate a development store to test your app

1. From your Dev Dashboard, click Dev Stores.

2. Click Add dev store.

3. Enter a name for your store.

   The store name is used to create the store's myshopify.com URL.

4. Choose the Shopify plan that you want to use.

5. Recommended: Select Generate test data for store. This will populate your store with test data generated by Shopify.

6. Optional: Select Test a feature preview. You can choose a feature preview to test capabilities that aren't available to all stores yet.

7. Click Create store.

Anchor to Generated test dataGenerated test data

By default, Shopify stores are created empty, without any data. To speed up the development and testing process, you can create a dev store that's populated with test data generated by Shopify.

The generated test data set includes the most common commerce primitives and configurations that you need to test an app, theme, or custom storefront, including some Plus-specific features.

Learn about the contents of the generated test data set.

Anchor to Create a development store for a clientCreate a development store for a client

1. From your Partner Dashboard, click Stores.

2. Click Add store > Create a client transfer store.

3. In the Store name section, enter a name for the client's store.

   The store name is used to create the store's myshopify.com URL.

4. If you are creating a store with Plus features, select Enable Shopify Plus.

5. Click Create client transfer store.

When you're done working on a client transfer store, you can hand it off to a client or archive it.

Anchor to Sharing your development storeSharing your development store

Dev stores are always password protected. You can remove the password page after you transfer the store to a merchant or switch to a paid plan. Dev store password pages can't be customized.

Visitors can view dev stores in the following ways:

• By entering a password on the dev store password page
• By logging into the dev store’s Shopify admin
• Through a Shopify Theme Store or Shopify App Store demo link

Anchor to Viewing or setting the passwordViewing or setting the password

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Online Store > Preferences.
2. In the Password protection > Password field, enter a password. This is the password that you'll give to the visitors who you want to be able to access the online store. Don't use the same password that you use to log in to your admin.
3. Click Save.

Anchor to Viewing and editing the customizable password pageViewing and editing the customizable password page

The customizable password page isn't used to control access to your dev store, but you can view it after you log in and edit it from the Shopify admin.

To view the customizable password page, logged-in visitors can navigate to https://your-store-name.myshopify.com/password, where your-store-name is the name of the dev store.

You can edit the customizable password page using the theme editor, or by editing the theme's password.liquid file.

Anchor to Theme Store and App Store listingsTheme Store and App Store listings

You can use a dev store as a demo store in Shopify Theme Store or Shopify App Store listings. When a visitor clicks on the demo link in a listing, the dev store password page doesn't display. You don't need to change any settings in the dev store to enable this functionality.

Learn more about demo stores for the Shopify Theme Store.

Learn more about demo links for the Shopify App Store.

Anchor to Feature previewsFeature previews

When you create a dev store, you have the option to enable a feature preview. A feature preview gives you early access to changes to Shopify so that you can build and test your apps before the new features are released to merchants.

Anchor to Features and limitations of development storesFeatures and limitations of development stores

You can do the following tasks while building and testing a dev store:

• Process an unlimited number of test orders
• Create an unlimited number of unique products
• Create up to 10 custom apps
• Assign a custom domain

A dev store has the following limitations:

• You can only install free apps and Partner-friendly apps.
• You can only test orders using the Bogus Test gateway or by enabling test mode for your payment provider. You can't test orders using real transactions through active payment providers. Learn more about testing orders in dev stores.
• You can't remove the password page, or show a custom password page. You can still customize the password page and preview it.

A dev store with a feature preview enabled doesn't have access to domains.

Anchor to Next stepsNext steps

• Build a store for a merchant
• Prepare your app for the Shopify App Store

Looking for how to create and manage dev stores? See the canonical guide: /docs/apps/build/dev-dashboard/development-stores.