Requirements for apps in the Shopify App Store

The following app types aren't permitted on the Shopify App Store:

1. Apps that are pieces of standalone software that need to be downloaded to a computer - The Shopify App Store's distribution method is through the use of web applications. There currently isn't an infrastructure to distribute any other type of app safely and securely to our merchants.
2. Apps that mostly rely on merchant or Partner interaction to operate - Apps that rely on mainly person-to-person interactions should consider listing as a service in our Experts Marketplace.
3. Apps that make little or no use of Shopify's APIs - Apps submitting to the Shopify App Store must make efficient use of Shopify APIs in order to function. This is to make the merchant experience better by using direct shop data and mitigate user error.
4. Apps that falsify data to deceive merchants or buyers - These apps violate part C - Section 2.3 of our Partner Program Agreement as well as Section 7 of our Acceptable Use Policy.
5. Apps that process payments outside of Shopify's checkout - Shopify can't guarantee the safety or security of an order that has been placed through an offsite or third party checkout. Apps that bypass checkout or payment processing, or register any transactions through the Shopify API in connection with such activity, are prohibited.
6. Multiple apps with overlapping functionality created by the same Partner - If you want to list more than one app on the Shopify App Store, then each app must be clearly different from other apps that you've already listed. In some cases, you can combine multiple apps into one. See section C.2.4 of our Partner Program Agreement.
7. Apps that host marketplaces on Shopify - Apps that connect merchants to marketplaces can't host those marketplaces on Shopify. Apps also can't let merchants turn their stores into marketplaces.
8. Apps that offer capital loans - These types of services are difficult to effectively monitor on an ongoing basis in a manner that ensures merchants are protected from unsound lending practices. In order to protect merchants from unintended risk, apps that lend capital to merchants are not able to be distributed through the Shopify App Store. Apps that directly or indirectly promote capital loans are also prohibited.
9. Apps with restricted beta API scopes enabled - If your app has been granted access to beta testing API scopes, then you can't submit your app to the Shopify App Store. For announcements about when betas become publicly available, visit the Shopify Community forums Shopify Community forums.
10. Apps that primarily function to share or provide merchant data to third parties - Apps that primarily function to share or provide merchant data to one or more third parties must have prior written consent from Shopify and must comply with our API Terms. Otherwise, they aren't eligible to be listed on the Shopify App Store. Each third party that receives merchant data using the app must agree to Shopify’s API Terms.
11. Apps that connect merchants to external developers - If your app connects merchants to external agencies and freelancers, then your app isn't eligible to be distributed on the Shopify App Store.
12. Embedded apps that don't use session tokens - Embedded apps submitting to the Shopify App Store must use session tokens to authenticate. Session tokens offer a better merchant experience and avoid service disruptions caused by third party cookies.
13. Apps that require a browser extension to function - Apps that require a browser extension to function aren't permitted on the Shopify App Store. Apps can use a browser extension as an optional feature, but must fully function without it.
14. Apps that provide refunds - Apps that offer alternative methods for processing refunds aren't permitted on the Shopify App Store. Refunds must be processed through the original payment processor.
15. Apps that connect to an established payments gateway - Apps that connect to established payments gateways to provide services that aren't related to processing payments aren't permitted on the Shopify App Store.

The following app type must remain unlisted on the Shopify App Store:

• Apps that are designed for and marketed to developers: Apps that contain core functionality intended for other developers can be approved, but can't be listed.

1. When a merchant clicks Add App from your app's listing, your app must immediately authenticate using OAuth before any other steps occur, even if the merchant has previously installed and then uninstalled your app.

   

Permissions are the levels of access that your app has to a merchant's store through the API. The permissions that you request are shown to the merchant on the OAuth handshake page, where the merchant can either grant or decline them.

1. Merchants must be redirected to your app's user interface (UI) after they accept permissions access on the OAuth handshake page.
2. Your app should request only the permissions that are necessary for it to function.

1. Any connection that your app makes from its UI to either link to another shop or install other apps must go through the Shopify App Store listing first.

2. For merchant security, your app must not use pop-up windows for essential app functionality, like running OAuth or approving app charges. Avoiding the use of pop-up windows also protects your app from being compromised by pop-up blockers.

3. If your app adds secondary payments to customer orders, because of post-purchase upsells or other order edits, then you need to tell merchants that orders might have multiple payments associated with them. Include a note in your Shopify App Store listing and in the in-app setup instructions to tell merchants that if they're capturing payments manually, then they might need to capture more than one payment for a single order.

By offering a great user interface, you can make it easier for merchants to use your app to grow their businesses. Your app's user interface must meet the following requirements:

1. Your app must have a user interface, including buttons, controls, setup or onboarding instructions, and features for merchants to interact with.

Shopify has an API-based billing system that supports different types of app charges. It bills merchants through the same system that's used for their Shopify subscription, and makes it easier for them to keep track their payments.

1. All charges associated with your app must go through the Billing API. You aren't permitted to use other payment methods or systems, unless you've been notified otherwise by Shopify. Contact us if you have any questions or concerns.

2. If your app has multiple pricing plans, then merchants must be able to upgrade and downgrade their plan without having to delete the app or contact support.

3. Enterprise-level pricing plans must be referenced in the Description of additional charges section of the pricing section of the app's listing.

4. Your app must not have billing cancelation errors. If a merchant initially declines a charge, then the billing modal must prompt the merchant to confirm the cancelation again. If a merchant declines a plan selection, then previously accepted plans must not be canceled.

Merchants are busy, and every minute matters when running their businesses. By making sure that your app performs well, you can help merchants achieve their goals faster and spend more time on the problems that need their attention the most.

1. Your app must be a stable, finished product when you submit it to the Shopify App Store. It shouldn't be in beta or an otherwise unfinished state. If your app is broken or has bugs, then it can discourage merchants from using it, and in some cases it might even interfere with their businesses.

2. Apps that no longer reflect the original core functionality submitted to the App Store will be re-evaluated and will need to be resubmitted for a full App review.

1. To be published in the Shopify App Store, your app must not reduce Lighthouse performance scores by more than 10 points. Submissions are evaluated based on this criteria, using the testing methodology outlined in the section below.
2. Test your app's impact on Lighthouse performance scores using the steps outlined in Testing storefront performance. The impact that you’ve calculated should be included in section I. App review instructions in your submission form. Please provide a screenshot of your results. This information must be provided to our App Review Specialist prior to the review process.

Shopify tests performance of merchant stores using Lighthouse, an open-source, automated tool for improving the quality of web pages. A hosted version is available on PageSpeed Insights. For apps that affect storefronts directly, Shopify tests the app's effect on store performance by measuring the Lighthouse score before and after installation of the app. We calculate a weighted average of score impact from the following pages:

The difference in the score before and after the app is installed indicates whether the app improves or worsens store performance. To meet Shopify App Store requirements, your app must demonstrate low or no impact on store performance consistently across actual merchant stores over time.

The app listing is your first point of contact with a merchant, and it's where they'll go to determine whether your app is right for them. All approved public apps have a listing on the Shopify App Store, regardless of whether you choose to make it listed or unlisted.

The listing is often your biggest marketing tool — an effective app listing encourages Shopify merchants to try your app for themselves. Make sure that your app listing is clear, and that it answers the questions that a potential user might have.

To create a Shopify App Store listing, you first need to select Shopify App Store as the distribution method for your app.

The app listing submission form lets you do the following:

• highlight app features so merchants can easily see what your app can do for them
• provide clear pricing information
• specify which merchants can install your app

Follow these requirements and guidelines when you're filling out the app submission form to make sure that merchants can easily find your app, understand what they can use it for, and see how much it costs.

The following image shows an example app listing, and shows where some of the fields in the app submission form are used in the app listing.

If your app is available in multiple languages, then you can also make your app listing available in those languages to help your app reach a wider audience. You can add and delete translated app listings for any of the supported languages on the Shopify App Store.

Certain listing details can be managed only on your primary listing. If you have created translated listings for your app, then you can choose which one to set as your primary listing.

1. Log in to your Partner Dashboard.
2. Click Apps.
3. Click the name of your app.
4. Click Distribution.
5. Click Create listing or Manage listing.
6. Click Add translated listing.
7. Return to the App listings page and click Update app.

You can use this form to edit the translated listing for your app in the language you chose. To change which listing you're editing, go back to the App listings page and choose another listing.

Before you can submit your app for review, you need to make sure there are no issues with any translated listings you've added. When there are no issues, you can submit all your translated listings by clicking Submit app.

1. Log in to your Partner Dashboard.
2. Click Apps.
3. Click the name of your app.
4. Click Distribution.
5. Click Manage listing.
6. Click the listing you want to delete.
7. In the More actions drop-down list, click Delete listing.

Your app name is an important part of how you brand yourself to merchants, and how they refer to your app. Follow these requirements when deciding on an app name:

1. The app name can't include the word "Shopify."
2. The app name must be 30 characters or fewer.
3. The app name can't be a generic description of your app's functionality, such as "Banner Slider." Your app name should be short and distinct.
4. The app name can't end with the name of your Shopify Partner account. For example, your app name can't be "App name by Shopify Partner account name".

You can add and update your app icon from the app submission form. When making your app icon, follow these guidelines:

1. Use JPEG or PNG format for the image.
2. The app icon's dimensions should be 1200px by 1200px.
3. Don't include text in your app icon.
4. Don't include screenshots or photographs in your app icon.
5. Use padding around your app icon. Your logo shouldn't touch the edge of the image.
6. Keep the corners square. The image's corners are automatically rounded when it's displayed.
7. Use bold colors and recognizable patterns.
8. Make it simple and focus on one or two elements. Visual clutter can make an image less effective.
9. Don't include seasonal promotions in the app icon. For example, you shouldn't promote BFCM discounts in the app icon.

Download image templates

When merchants visit the Shopify App Store, they can search for apps by using categories, subcategories, and tags.

The tags impact your store's discoverability on the App Store. In this field, you must select a primary tag that best describes your apps' core functionality. You can add an additional secondary tag if your app has other core functionality that isn't described by the primary tag.

Changes to this field will trigger a review by the Shopify app review team.

If your app capabilities change and you want to change how your app is categorized, then you can submit an appeal to change the app categorization by using the link in the app submission form. After the Shopify app review team completes their review, they'll send a response, whether it's approved or rejected.

In this section, you can enter all languages supported by your app. We recommend using translated app listings for any languages supported by Shopify, but you can use this field to enter both languages that are supported or unsupported by the Shopify App Store.

Your app store listing content should describe your app's features at a high level. When creating your app store listing content, don't reference your other apps and services in your app store listing content.

The app introduction field gives you 100 characters to explain your app's purpose and main benefit to merchants. The app introduction appears as prominently displayed text on your app store listing.

Follow these guidelines when writing your app introduction:

• Clearly highlight the benefits that merchants can expect from your app. For example, "[App Name] makes personalized advertising campaigns simple, and helps you find new customers."
• Don't add keywords to the app introduction with the intent of improving search performance.
• Don't use personal merchant information without consent from the merchant.
• Don't include data or statistics. You can feel free to share this information on your website and landing pages.

The following table shows some good examples and bad examples of app introductions:

The app details field gives you 500 characters to expand on your app's main benefits. In this field, you should let the merchant know what makes your app unique. The app details should be concise, but informative.

Follow these guidelines when writing your app details:

• Focus on functional elements of your app in your app details, and avoid excessive marketing language.
• Don't only list features in the app details. Use the Feature list field for listing features instead.
• Don't include support information such as emails and phone numbers in the app details. Use the Support fields to enter your support information instead.
• Don't include links and URLs in the app details. The submission form lets you provide links to your website's homepage, your FAQ page, and your pricing information, where you can host whatever additional information.
• Don't include testimonials in the app details.
• Don't add keywords to the app details with the intent of improving search performance.
• Don't include any data or statistics in your app details. Feel free to share this information on your website and landing pages.

The feature list should include a list of the functional features of your app. The content for each listed feature should be short so that merchants can easily scan the list to understand what your app offers. You can use up to 80 characters per feature.

When writing your feature list, you should describe the functionality, not the mechanics behind each feature. The following table shows some good examples and bad examples for features:

Provide a link to a demo store that showcases your app so merchants can see a live demonstration of how the app works. This lets the merchant get a sense of how your app can benefit them.

As a Shopify Partner, you can use a free development store as your demo store. If you use a development store, then the store must be owned by the Partner account that you're submitting your app with.

Follow these guidelines when providing a demo URL:

• Use a Shopify store: Use a Shopify development store, or a live store that you own, rather than a marketing page or video. Merchants want to be able to explore how an app functions in a store.
• Thoughtfully design your demo store: If your demo store is poorly designed, then merchants might negatively associate the design of the store with the quality or aesthetics of your app.
• Link to the relevant part of the store: Consider linking to a page in your demo store that best demonstrates your app's functionality. For example, if your app impacts only the product page of a store, then link directly to a product page.
• Provide contextual instructions: Make it easy for merchants to know exactly what your app is impacting within the demo store. If your app is complex, then add text to the demo store to guide merchants through the experience.

You must add a feature image or video for the listing header. A feature image or video is a required part of the app listing. It shows merchants more about your app in a highly visible part of your listing.

A short video is the best way to showcase the impact of the app on the business and how customers experience the app. If you don't have a video, then you can use a static image instead.

A feature video should promote the core features and functionality of your app and how it interacts with Shopify. Merchants want to understand what to expect from your app and how it will help them run their businesses. An effective promotional video will encourage the merchant to take a deeper look through your app listing to learn more about the features that were introduced in the video.

Follow these guidelines when making your feature video:

• The video should be no longer than 2-3 minutes.
• Don't include long screencasts of someone using the application. Up to 25% of the video can use screencasts for demoing features, but the video should be promotional, not instructional.
• Be mindful of any third-party logos or elements that you include in the feature video to avoid potential trademark issues.
• Choose an eye-catching thumbnail that will make merchants want to watch the video to learn more.

If you don't have a video, then use a static image to highlight your app. Your image should convey the benefit, functionality, or unique value of your app. For example, the image might show the customer experience on the storefront, or how the merchant's workflow or business results are impacted.

Follow these guidelines when you're preparing your feature image:

• Use JPEG or PNG format for the image.
• The image's dimensions must be 1600px by 900px (16:9).
• Leave a margin of 100px around the outside edges of the image.
• Provide alt text for your image. This text appears if your image fails to load and can help people who use assistive devices like screen readers. It also helps with search engine optimization.
• If you're using text in your image:
  • Localize and translate text for every language that your app listing is available in.
  • Keep the text short, simple, and scannable for both desktop and mobile devices.
  • Don't repeat your app card subtitle in the image.
• Don’t use the Shopify logo in your image.
• Avoid using heavily patterned or textured background images. Instead, use one or two colors for the background.
• Ensure that there is enough contrast between the background and any text. A 4.5:1 contrast ratio is recommended.
• Make your image simple. An image should have a single point of focus, and use only a few elements. Visual clutter can make an image less effective.
• Avoid using screenshots of your application that contain many small elements or a lot of text. Crop or simplify screenshots where possible.

Download image templates

Here are some examples of feature images:

In the Screenshots section, you must provide screenshots to show what your user interface looks like in action. Screenshots provide an opportunity to visually share what your app does in the storefront or the Shopify admin.

Follow these guidelines when you're preparing screenshots:

• Provide alt text for all images for accessibility and to improve SEO.
• Don't use a merchant's personal information without consent in the images. This includes information like store names, phone numbers, and .myshopify.com URLs.
• Add annotations or highlighting to draw attention to important elements, such as any links that your app inserts in the Shopify admin.
• If you add text annotations, then localize and translate the text for every language that your app listing is available in.

• Each screenshot's dimensions should be 1600px by 900px (16:9) for desktop.
• Include between 3-6 screenshots of your app on desktop.
• Include at least one screenshot of your app's user interface.
• Provide alt text for all images for accessibility and to improve SEO.
• Don't include desktop backgrounds and browser windows in your screenshots. Crop them so your images aren't cluttered and don't distract merchants from your app.
• If your app is embedded, then don't include Shopify admin header content in your screenshots, such as the store name, the search bar, or any user information. You can include the left-hand navigation.

• Each screenshot's dimensions should be 1600px by 900px (16:9).
• If your app is mobile responsive on the storefront, then include screenshots that show your app's mobile functionality. This helps merchants visualize how your app will look to a customer on their storefront.
• Your mobile screenshots shouldn't be duplicates of your desktop screenshots. This means they must display the responsiveness of your user interface when viewed on a mobile device.

• Each screenshot's dimensions should be 1600px by 900px (16:9).
• If your app is for Shopify Point of Sale or has features that work with it, then you must include a screenshot showing this. This helps merchants specifically looking for point of sale apps understand that yours integrates with it.

The Integrations field lets you list a maximum of six integrations. If your app has more than six integrations, then list the ones that merchants will be most interested in.

Don't include the following in your list of supported integrations:

1. Shopify
2. other shopping carts, unless you provide synchronization or cross-platform compatibility
3. other apps in the Shopify App Store, unless your app directly integrates with them

Data and user privacy are extremely important to merchants, and they value Partners who take security seriously. You need to include a privacy policy for your app.

Having a website that gives more information about your app can help merchants to decide if they want to install it. This URL needs to be set to the landing page of your developer website. If the URL goes to a special promotional page, then you'll be asked to change it.

This is a great opportunity to answer frequently asked questions in detail to merchants. This URL must redirect the merchant to a dedicated FAQ page on your website. If the URL redirects to a cloud document or PDF, then you'll be asked to change it.

A changelog is a great way to show merchants what's new with your app, and show that you're actively supporting and updating your app. The URL must redirect the merchant to a dedicated changelog page on your website.

You can provide a link directly to your support portal to give merchants a more complete view of the support services that you offer.

In order to set merchants up for success, you can provide a link to a relevant tutorial or other onboarding guidance.

In this field, you can provide a link to any other additional documentation that would be helpful and relevant to merchants using your app.

The pricing section lets you clarify app pricing information for merchants. You're required to provide names for all plan names.

Select your app's primary billing method. There are three primary billing methods that you can use for your app:

You can have a maximum of one free plan. If your app has only one plan for the entire app, and that plan is free, then that plan can't be listed as a recurring charge. For this type of a pricing model (with or without additional charges), select Free to install as your primary billing method.

If you have more than one plan and one of them is free, select Recurring charge as your primary billing method, then specify one of your plans as Free in the Plan pricing section. When your app appears in search results, it will be flagged as Free plan available.

To describe how merchants will be charged for using your app:

1. Enter the length of the free trial period, after which you will begin to charge for the app. If the free trial length is 0 days, then charges begin immediately. When you choose the length of the free trial period, make sure that it's enough time (at least 14 days) for the merchant to try your app.

2. Enter the details of your recurring plans. For each plan, specify whether it is free, billed monthly, or billed yearly:

   1. If your app charges the merchant monthly, then select Monthly charge and enter the amount that the merchant will be charged every 30-day billing cycle.

   2. If you offer a monthly plan that also has a discount option for the merchant to make a one-time yearly payment, then select Monthly charge and enter both the regular monthly charge and the discounted yearly charge. For example, if you have a plan that is $150 per month and you offer a yearly discounted price of $1200 a year, then enter $150 for the amount billed every 30 days and $1200 for the amount billed as one charge per year:

      

   3. If you offer a plan with a recurring charge that has only a yearly charge option, then select Yearly charge and enter the total charge per year. For example, if you have a yearly plan that is $1200, then enter $1200 for the amount billed as one charge per year.

   4. Select whether your plan has additional charges, such as usage fees or commissions. Provide a detailed description of these fees so that the merchant can understand how the charges are calculated. Do not enter yearly plan information in this field. Instead, enter yearly plan information either as a yearly charge or a yearly discounted price.

   5. Optional: In the Plan details section, enter a name for the plan and a list of features that it includes. Enter each feature on a separate line, without any bullet points or leading characters. Bullet points will be added when the feature list is rendered in the app listing.

   6. If you want to add another plan, then click Add another plan.

Plans will be displayed from lowest price to highest price in your app listing, regardless of the order in which you specify the plans.

All app charges must go through the Shopify Billing API unless you have prior approval from Shopify. If you've received approval from Shopify, then select I have approval to charge merchants outside of the Shopify Billing API and provide a link so that merchants can read about the external charges and sign up for any external services that are required.

Here's an example of how the pricing details for your app might be presented in your app listing:

Desktop view Mobile view

App discovery refers to how merchants discover your app on the Shopify App Store and other Shopify surfaces. This section helps merchants to better understand the value of your app when compared to other apps.

The app card subtitle should summarize your app in a concise phrase, and explain the value of your app. The subtitle should help merchants to quickly understand what your app does, and what sets it apart from others.

Follow these guidelines when writing your app card subtitle:

• Don't add keywords to your subtitle with the intent of improving search performance.
• Don't use personal merchant information without consent from the merchant.
• Don't include any data or statistics. Feel free to share this information on your website and landing pages.

The following table shows some good examples and bad examples for app card subtitles:

The Search terms field lets you enter a maximum of five search terms for your app. To help merchants discover your app, include only relevant terms that you want to rank higher when merchants search the Shopify App Store. You must enter at least one search term.

Follow these guidelines when picking your search terms:

1. Use complete words. For example, use "dropshipping" instead of "dropshi" or another partial form of the word.
2. Include the single, complete form of a term instead of several versions of the same term. For example, if you include "dropshipping" as a search term, then you don't need to include other terms such as "dropship", "shipping," or "drop ship."
3. Don't include "Shopify" in any of your search terms.
4. Don't convey more than one idea in a single search term. For example, "email marketing" is appropriate, but "email marketing for leads" is not.

In this section, you can input a title tag and meta description for your app store listing.

The title tag is used by search engines such as Google as the main heading for a search result. The title tag provides important information about where the link will send the user who clicks on the link. It's often the primary piece of information that users read on your search results, so you should make sure to follow best practices for writing influential title tags.

The meta description is a quick summary of the app store listing's content. Search engines show it in search results under the title tag. Along with the title tag, the meta description can influence whether users decide to click through to your app store listing. For tips on how to write an effective meta description, you can refer to our blog post about writing an effective meta description.

The following image is an example of how the title tag and meta description would appear in Google's search results for your app store listing.

You can specify which merchants can install your app by setting the install requirements in the app submission form. By adding install requirements in the app submission form, you can reduce the number of uninstalls and negative reviews related to merchant eligibility for your app.

For example, when a merchant installs an app that they can't use, such as a free shipping app that doesn't work in their country, they will uninstall your app shortly after installing it. They may also be frustrated about the experience and leave a negative review. Both uninstalls and negative reviews affect your ranking in the Shopify App Store.

If your app embeds features in a particular sales channel, then you only want merchants who use that sales channel to install your app. For example, if a merchant doesn't have an online store, then you want to prevent them from installing your app if it changes the merchant's online store.

If your app embeds features in a merchant's online store, then select Merchant must have online store. If your app embeds features in the Shopify Point of Sale (POS) app, then select Merchant must have Shopify Point of Sale.

Set the geography requirements to make your app available only to merchants who meet specific geographic criteria. For example, if your app is a tax app that helps merchants in Germany file their taxes, then you should specify that only merchants with a business address in Germany can install your app. You can restrict the installation of your app to merchants who:

• have a business address in a specific country or countries
• ship to a specific country or countries
• accept a specific currency or currencies.

For each requirement, you can specify a list of countries or currencies that meet the requirement. For example, if your app works for stores who accept any of USD, CAD or GBP, then you can specify all three acceptable currencies.

Within your app, use endpoints and webhooks to check if a merchant changes their store settings after installation. If a merchant does change their settings, then you can notify them within the app or by email.

You can track your app listing traffic by entering a Google Analytics or Facebook pixel code for your app listing. You can also retarget merchants who view your app listing by adding a Google remarketing code or an AdRoll retargeting code.

Contact information is an important part of your app listing. The information that you enter here helps merchants learn more about your app and contact you with questions or issues. Shopify also uses this information to contact you about your app submission.

This email is used to notify you when a merchant has left a review on your app. The notification email includes the star rating that the merchant left, the comment that they left in their review, and the name of the merchant's store.

This is the email we use to contact you about your app submission to the Shopify App Store. You should enter the email of the person that will be the primary point of contact for making any necessary changes to your app submission.

If you've added a translated listing to your app listing, then you need to indicate whether you offer phone or email support in the language of the translated listing. You aren't required to offer support in the language of the translated listing, but you must indicate in the listing whether that support is available.

This is the email that merchants will use to contact you if they have support questions.

Having phone support can boost merchant confidence when selecting your app. If you want to offer phone support for your app, then you need to include a functioning phone number that a merchant can call to get phone support. We'll call this phone number during your app review to make sure it can be reached. If the number can't be reached, then you must remove or update the phone number.

In this section, you can provide instructions on how to test your app during your app review. You also need to include your app's performance ratio. To calculate your app's performance ratio, refer to B. Testing methodology in section 4. App performance of this document.

Including instructions on how your app should be used lets us give you valuable feedback if we encounter issues while testing.

If your app connects to other services, then you must include test accounts. For example, if your app requires account access to a marketplace, then you must include credentials for a test account on that marketplace. If testing your app requires a test account and you don't provide one, then your app submission will be rejected.

1. Your app must not collect Shopify user credentials. As explained in Shopify API Authentication, public apps must use OAuth and public embedded apps must use session tokens and OAuth.

2. If your app stores its own credentials, then it must only store salted password hashes instead of actual passwords, as described on the Open Web Application Security Project website.

3. Your app must be protected against common web security vulnerabilities.

4. The app must be served over HTTPS using a valid TLS certificate.

5. Your app must protect iFrames and prevent domains other than the shop domain from using the app in an iFrame.

6. Your app must not expose network services unnecessarily.

7. Your app must subscribe to mandatory GDPR webhooks.

8. Your app must not expose its shared secret. If your secret is inadvertently exposed, then you must rotate the secret immediately.

9. If your app uses offline tokens, then your app must not expose a shop's offline access token

10. Your app must generate secure tokens, including expirations and search indexing protections, where applicable.

11. Your app must not process payments or orders outside of Shopify's checkout.

12. Your app must not alter or modify Shopify's checkout, except through the APIs and components that Shopify provides for that purpose.

13. Apps using the Admin APIs to capture payments must subscribe to the REST API orders/edited webhook topic, or the GraphQL ORDERS_EDITED webhook topic, to be notified when an order is edited and a secondary payment needs to be captured. When capturing payments using the REST Admin API, your app must include either the parent_id or authorization properties.

14. If your app uses app proxies, then it must verify the authenticity of requests.

1. If your app is used by merchants based in Europe, or merchants with buyers based in Europe, then it's your responsibility to make sure that your app is GDPR compliant.

2. You must include a link to a privacy policy in your app listing to communicate how your app uses data, and to help build trust with merchants.

3. If your app handles a significant amount of customer data, then it should have a system in place to manage that data properly, including secure storage and the ability to erase data at the user's request as per the data rights of individuals.

4. If your app runs marketing or advertising campaigns that require personal information, then it must have a system for allowing users to provide data consent for marketing promotions.

5. All public apps must subscribe to mandatory webhooks so that you can receive any data deletion requests that are issued by merchants.

6. Customer data collected by your app through a Shopify hosted service using the Online Store/Point of Sale channels must be returned to the Shopify admin and be made accessible to merchants. More information can be found in the Shopify API License and Terms of Use under section 2.3.17. See Storing customer data for information regarding which customer data must be sent back to the merchant.

7. If your app has an ECCN number other than EAR99, then you must enter its ECCN number in the app setup.

8. If your app processes any protected customer data, starting with the API version 2022-10, you must implement and attest to all protected customer data requirements, including:

   1. Declare the app’s specific uses of protected customer data. Declared uses and access to protected customer data are subject to review and approval , based on the intended app functionality, by Shopify before production data access is granted. Non-approved data will be forbidden/redacted from production API replies and webhooks.
   2. Submit data protection details about your compliance with the protected customer data requirements.
   3. As required by Shopify, participate in data protection reviews to verify your data protection details.

1. You must have an email address that merchants can use to contact you if they need help with setting up or using your app. Providing great customer support is an important part of Shopify's own business, and you're expected to provide prompt support to the merchants who use your app as well.

2. Your support contact information and content should be easy to find, and it should include clear instructions that are specific to how your app integrates with Shopify. To learn more about writing effective help documentation, refer to Help documentation in Shopify Polaris.

3. Your Partner Dashboard must have up to date emergency developer contact information in the case that you need to be contacted regarding your app.

1. If your app interacts with a merchant's theme, then you need to use theme app extension app blocks and app embed blocks so that the merchant doesn't need to change their theme's code.

   To support vintage themes, consider alternative integration methods, such as sharing instructions with merchants that detail how to add and remove your app features in their theme.

2. If you want to forward requests made to a route on an online store's origin to an external origin to display data on a store page, then you need to use app proxies.

3. If your app adds a visible element to a merchant’s storefront, then you must allow the merchant to preview edits before saving and publishing changes to your app’s visual storefront components.

4. If your app includes app blocks, then your app must allow merchant to add, reposition, or remove app blocks in the theme editor.

5. App blocks must be responsive to the size of the section that they're added to.

6. App blocks must inherit styling properties from the theme, such as typography and colors.

7. If your app interacts with a merchant's theme, then you need to ensure that the app also works in the theme editor environment. If necessary, you can set your app to detect the theme editor so that you can adjust your app to work in that environment.

8. If your app includes app blocks or app embed blocks, then include detailed setup instructions within the user interface of your app. Include the following content:

   • An overview of the app blocks and app embed blocks that are in your app, and their purpose
   • How to configure functional settings for the app blocks and app embed blocks
   • Which templates app blocks and app embed blocks can be added to
   • How to add, remove, and reorder app blocks
   • How to activate and deactivate app embed blocks

1. If your app uses embedded app methods, then it must do so consistently. This means that it must provide a consistent embedded user interface experience that begins after authentication.

2. The embedded app must have a navigation icon that meets the following requirements:

   1. The icon must include a 16px by 16px navigation icon in SVG format, uploaded through the Partner Dashboard.
   2. The icon must be a single color with a transparent background.
   3. The icon's SVG file should be less than 2KB.
   4. The icon's SVG file can contain only the following permitted tags: circle, ellipse, g, line, path, rect, svg, title.
   5. The icon's SVG file can contain only the following permitted attributes: cx, cy, d, height, opacity, pathLength, points, r, rx, ry, version, viewBox, width, x1, x2, xmlns, y1, y2, fill-rule, clip-rule.

3. If your app uses bulk action links, then they must be complete, functional, and relevant to their locations in the Shopify admin. You must also make sure that for each bulk action link, the related action is applied to all items that have been selected.

4. Your app must use Shopify App Bridge. If your app is currently using the Embedded App SDK (EASDK), then you need to migrate to Shopify App Bridge.

5. If your app uses full screen mode, then it must not launch full screen mode without a merchant's interaction. Full screen mode can't be launched from the app navigation menu.

6. Full screen mode is intended to be used for complex editors or other complex use cases. Full screen mode should be used to improve user experience when launched.

1. If your app embeds into the Shopify POS app, then any POS actions that it uses (such as cart actions or checkout actions) must be complete, fully functional, and relevant to the Shopify POS app's capabilities.

   

2. If your app embeds into the Shopify POS app, then your app's user interface must be functioning and accessible from the POS Apps Admin Dashboard.

   

1. Product sourcing apps are exempt from using the Billing API for the sale of goods to their merchants, and can instead use a PCI compliant gateway. However, any other costs associated with the app must be charged using the Billing API.

2. If your app fulfills product orders on behalf of a merchant, then it must not automatically fulfill orders that are in the pending payment state.

3. Your app must add the cost of goods to the Cost field on the product page of the merchant's Shopify admin.

When reviewing your app, we test both the mobile app builder and the apps it makes to verify that all requirements are met.

1. The app builder must be converted into a Sales Channel from the App Settings area of the Partner Dashboard. This lets mobile apps that it builds create a checkout.

2. Your app must use Shopify App Bridge version 2.0. If your app is currently using the Embedded App SDK (EASDK), then you need to migrate to use Shopify App Bridge.

3. The app builder must use the Shopify web checkout to process payments. No other payment methods are permitted.

4. The app builder must have either a customizable theme builder or include preset themes for merchants to choose from.

5. The app builder must provide detailed instructions on how to create a developer account for either the Apple App Store or the Google Play store.

6. The app builder must include information about the app marketplace submission process for either the Apple App Store or the Google Play store to inform the merchant of wait times and app requirements.

7. Apps made by the app builder must not make any requests to the authenticated Shopify Admin API. The app's client secret and API access token must be stored on a secure web server and not on the mobile device.

8. Apps made by the app builder must not include the OAuth access token. All calls to the Shopify Admin API must be made through a secure web server.

For a diagram that shows the lifecycle of a sales channel from the merchant's perspective, refer to Building Shopify channels.

The key features of a sales channel app are as follows:

• Onboarding and account connection: Get permission from merchants to install your app, and then connect them to your channel.
• Product publishing: Import products into your channel, manage product errors, and stay in sync with merchants' product catalogs.
• Payments and order management: Generate orders for merchants by accepting payments from buyers on your channel.

1. Merchants must install sales channel apps using OAuth, and sales channels must embed in the Shopify admin using Shopify App Bridge.

2. After the merchant installs the sales channel app via OAuth, they must be redirected to the account section's account connection component. Connecting to the sales channel account must be done in a modal window in the app's UI and occur outside of Shopify. This process returns the merchant to the channel upon completion.

3. If the sales channel has any qualifying steps, eligibility requirements, or additional onboarding requirements, then these must be included in the account connection form.

1. The sales channel must have an account section where the account connection component is always visible (labelled with your channel name, such as "Sample channel").

2. The account section for the sales channel must let merchants disconnect their account.

3. If there is an approval process for creating an account for the sales channel, then this must be communicated to merchants using the banner component. The app must stay in the pending state while the merchant awaits approval from the channel.

   

4. Approval or rejection for the sales channel must be communicated to merchants by using a success or warning banner component.

5. The commission section for the sales channel must be created using the card component and the annotated layout. The commission section must state the commission rate. The commission section must state how and when merchants are charged.

6. The sales channel must include a terms and conditions section. Any links in that section must open in a new window.

7. The sales channel must have a help footer that links to a support page in a new window. The support page must include links to documentation and support contact information. The help footer must be visible on every page of the sales channel within Shopify admin.

1. The sales channel's publishing section must be created by using a card component and the layout shown in the following publishing example:

   

2. The sales channel's publishing section must show the number of products currently published, and provide links to the Shopify bulk editor to view and manage those products.

3. The sales channel's publishing section must report any products with errors that prevent them from being published on the sales channel:

   

4. Product issues with the sales channel must be communicated to the merchant using a feedback message banner component and the ResourceFeedback resource.

5. The sales channel must use the ProductListing resource to retrieve products set for publication by the merchant.

Shopify supports a variety of ways of building sales channels. The way that you decide to build can determine who is responsible for payment processing, order fulfillment, and refunds.

When you build a sales channel with cart permalinks, you direct customers who want to buy a specific product from the sales channel directly to a merchant's store checkout to complete the purchase.

1. Take customers to Shopify's checkout with items pre-loaded in the cart.

2. Use the Billing API. For sales attribution, you can use a storefront access token.

1. The sales channel must include a 16px by 16px navigation icon in SVG format, uploaded through the Partner Dashboard.

2. The icon must be a single color with a transparent background.

3. The icon's SVG file should be less than 2KB.

4. The icon's SVG file can contain only the following permitted tags: circle, ellipse, g, line, path, rect, svg, title.

5. The icon's SVG file can contain only the following permitted attributes: cx, cy, d, height, opacity, pathLength, points, r, rx, ry, version, viewBox, width, x1, x2, xmlns, y1, y2, fill-rule, clip-rule.

1. The purchase option app's customer flow must properly display on both desktop and mobile devices.
2. The purchase option app must be compatible with all supported browser versions specified for the Shopify Theme Store.
3. The purchase option app must support multi-currency so that pricing and discounts shown to customers reflect the correct currency and price rounding rules.
4. The purchase option app must automate theme modifications.
5. The purchase option app must assign the correct purchase option category for each selling plan. If you want to offer a purchase option that doesn't match any of the supported use cases, then set the category field to OTHER and fill out our request form, where we'll review your request for a new purchase option.
6. The purchase option app must use the correct API scopes to reflect functionality. For more information, refer to the purchase option overview.
7. You must provide screenshots or screencasts of your purchase option app functioning on each of the supported browsers.
8. The purchase option app must include an in-product mechanism to allow a merchant's customers to cancel or discontinue their purchase option.
9. Apps that offer pre-orders must communicate to a merchant's customers when there's a delay in the stated shipment time.
10. Apps that offer pre-orders obtain customer consent to delays that exceed 30 days if no shipping time is stated and include a mechanism to return the funds in case customer consent is not obtained.

1. The purchase option app must clearly show a merchant's customers the price of the purchase option and when the customer will be charged. We recommend that this is done through a standalone widget, as described in the subscription UX guidelines and deferred purchase option UX guidelines.

2. Apps that offer subscriptions must clearly disclose to a merchant's customers the amount charged, the length of the subscription term, the price per delivery, and the unit price for pre-paid items. We recommend that this is done through a standalone widget, as described in the subscription UX guidelines.

The purchase option app must display the selling plan name in the cart page, if the store's codebase is not already doing so.

Apps that offer subscriptions must include navigation to a customer portal, both on the order status page and through a post-purchase email to a merchant's customers so that they're able to manage their subscription.

1. The customer portal must give each customer a single login to access subscriptions and their order history.
2. The customer portal must display to each customer all of their purchased subscriptions. Details must include the associated products, delivery frequency, price, and order schedule.
3. The customer portal must include an option for a merchant's customers to cancel their subscription. The subscription app must allow the merchant to clearly communicate conditions of purchase on their storefront's product page and customer portal.
4. The customer portal must provide a merchant's customers with the option to modify the payment method associated with their subscriptions.

1. The purchase option app must use the app extension on the product page. Changes that are made to purchase options from the Shopify admin must be reflected in the app.
2. Merchants need to be able to create and manage purchase options in the Shopify admin using the app extension. This includes letting merchants remove products from a selling plan.
3. Apps that offer subscriptions must include a direct link to orders and customers in the Shopify admin from the purchase option.
4. Links to the subscription app from the orders and customers pages in the Shopify admin must go to the correct subscription resource.

1. The donation distribution app must use the Billing API or a PCI-compliant third-party gateway when collecting donation funds from merchants through the app’s user interface.
2. If the donation distribution app allows merchants to collect charity donation funds from their customers, then you must provide proof of charitable status in the app's user interface.
3. The donation distribution app must provide proof to a merchant that the funds collected from a merchant's customers are donated to a registered charitable organization. You can't use a tax receipt as proof.
4. The donation distribution app must collect funds from a merchant's customers only through the Shopify checkout.
5. Donation products created by the app must be hidden by default from the merchant's online storefront.

Third-party payments apps must meet the minimum product requirements in addition to the following requirements:

1. Minimum support requirements: Payments apps must at a minimum be operational and available on a twenty-four-hour, seven days a week (24x7) basis at least 99.95% of the time in any measurement period. In the event of outages or issues, the app must respond within 2 hours. Payments apps must provide servicing support to all merchants.
2. API versioning: You need to implement a supported version of Shopify’s Payment Processing APIs. You can configure the API version that their payments app will use for receiving webhooks, but you need to use the same API version for sending GraphQL requests. API versions will be updated in accordance with Shopify’s general API versioning timelines.
3. Review and approvals: Any updates or changes to an existing payments app, including the addition of new product features or new payment methods, must be submitted for review and approval.
4. Legal and regulatory compliance: You need to comply with any terms, guidelines, or approval processes required pursuant to any card network rules, and applicable laws or regulations.
5. Standalone app functionality: Your payment app must function as a standalone and not require the use of a companion app to collect data.
6. Cancelling payments: Your app must allow buyers to cancel or abandon the payment and be redirected back to Shopify’s checkout.
7. Buyer flow redirections: You must update your app’s buyer flow on desktop and mobile devices to redirect from Shopify’s checkout to your app’s payment flow, and then back to Shopify’s order confirmation page.
8. Redirection after install: Your payments app must redirect back to the Shopify admin (https://{shop}.myshopify.com/services/payments_partners/gateways/${api_key}/settings) after it's installed. After redirecting to that page, the merchant will then immediately be redirected to the payments app's corresponding page in the Shopify admin.

When you submit your payments app to the Shopify App Store for review, you need to fill out Part I. App review instructions on the app listing with the following testing details:

1. A test store with the payments app installed
2. The required credentials to enable installing the payments app for testing (for example, activation codes and login credentials)
3. Instructions on how to process a test payment and refund
4. A description of specific testing scenarios including installments / deferred payments and 3D Secure authentication (if applicable)
5. A screencast of how the payments app / payment flow will work on each of the supported browsers

Payments apps aren't permitted to do any of the following:

1. Use any Shopify APIs (including the Checkout API, Admin API, or Subscription APIs) other than the Payments Apps APIs.
2. Store payment credentials for unapproved purposes. You can only use credentials for the original transaction or services approved by Shopify.
3. Redistribute, share, transfer, sell unauthorized access to Shopify’s Payments Platform without Shopify’s approval. Access to Shopify’s payments ecosystem is strictly provided to the approved Payments Partner only.
4. Create fake or fraudulent merchants, orders, or sales.
5. Process payment methods that include, but aren't limited to, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Shop Pay, PayPal, and Alipay. Shopify has a direct connection with providers that improves performance and checkout conversion for merchants.

To make choosing additional payment methods as straightforward as possible for merchants, you should adhere to the following rules when naming your payments app:

1. The name of the payments app can't contain marketing text: For example, the name “World's Best Provider: Get 50 payment methods” isn't allowed. This is because merchants won't see the name of the payments app until they have chosen the payment method they wish to add to their store.

2. The name of the payment app can't be used by partners to gain a higher listing: There isn't a general alphabetized directory of payments apps for merchants to navigate. Instead merchants will discover payments apps using the payment methods they want to add.

   You should make sure that the payment methods and locations offered are accurate because this is the only information that's used to surface the app to merchants. If a name appears to have been created with the purpose of gaining a higher listing on an alphabetized list, then it will not be allowed.

Cryptocurrency payments apps enable merchants to accept cryptocurrency as a form of payment. All cryptocurrency payments apps must be accepted into the blockchain app program. Reach out to blockchain-partners@shopify.com to begin the application process.

Given the evolving regulatory landscape in the crypto payment industry, partners are expected to stay up to date on the latest requirements for their payments app, in the markets where they operate. In order to operate a crypto payments gateway on Shopify, your app must have the following functionality:

1. Collect merchant information to meet up-to-date Know Your Customer (KYC) requirements in all applicable jurisdictions. Ensure that the app can be activated and begin to process payments only when KYC has been successful on a merchant. Your app must also refresh KYC on each merchant at regular intervals.
2. Enable transaction and wallet-monitoring programs that monitor for and identify potential illegal activity, including money laundering.
3. Conduct sanctions screenings on merchants and customers (including their wallet IDs) to ensure that such parties aren't sanctioned and aren't located or don't reside in comprehensively sanctioned jurisdictions under the sanctions laws of the United States, United Kingdom, Europe and other applicable jurisdictions.
4. Employ screening methods to prohibit transactions with wallets that are identified through analytics as higher risk, such as sanctions, known hacker group, exploitation, malware, or other potential risks.
5. Use IP blocking and other reasonable methods to block functionality in jurisdictions as necessary. For example, jurisdictions in which the necessary crypto licenses haven't been obtained or jurisdictions in which crypto transactions are prohibited, and comprehensively sanctioned jurisdictions. This functionality must block both merchants and customers from being able to successfully process a payment or transfer funds from one party to another.
6. Not support payment in any tokens that constitute securities. Your app must monitor regulatory guidance and enforcement actions with respect to the crypto being supported.

Crypto payment apps are excluded from being required to use Shopify’s automated refund functionality. If the refund session URL is blank in your payments app extension, then refunds are handled manually through the partner's software.

1. The app must redirect customers back to the order confirmation page after accepting a post-purchase request.
2. There can be a maximum of 2 post purchase offers/messages displayed to customers.
3. The app must have the ability for customers to accept or decline post purchase requests.
4. Displaying order tracking information or status functionality is not permitted.
5. The post purchase functionality cannot be used to display promotions or advertisements. An exception to this rule is promotions for the merchant’s own store.

1. Upsell offers must be transparent to customers that they are making a purchase.
2. Customers must be able to select between variants of an upsell product.
3. Upsell offers must be transparent about all costs associated with a customer’s purchase. The app must dynamically reflect any change in cost if the customer adjusts the product’s quantity or variants.
4. Upsell product offers must display the same price as the product in the merchant's store.
5. The app must define the upsell offer text. The app can offer different options for the merchant to select ("Take the deal" / "No thanks", "Buy" / "Decline offer"), but the merchant can not modify this text.

1. The extension must not request that customers input payment information using a checkout UI extension.

2. The extension can't be used to display promotions or advertisements, unless those promotions are for the merchant’s own store.

3. If the extension affects the order total in any way, such as adding additional products or charges, then the extension must get explicit customer consent before making the changes.

4. Upsell product offers must display the same price as the product in the merchant’s store.

5. Extensions must not add countdown timers to the checkout.

6. Extensions must not collect information, including personally identifiable information, that's already captured by a standard Shopify checkout form field.

7. Extensions must use only the documented APIs that Shopify provides for customizing checkout.

8. Extensions must use only the customer data and APIs that are necessary for app functionality.

9. Extensions must either request network access or use a metafield if they need to get data into checkout that they can't currently get from Shopify.

10. Extensions using network access must not negatively affect the performance of checkout.

11. Extensions using network access must keep response time to under one second. If the extension requires a response from a network call to render its components, then it must render skeleton components initially, to avoid blocking checkout rendering.

1. All blockchain app partners must be accepted into the blockchain app program. Reach out to blockchain-partners@shopify.com to begin the application process.
2. Apps must ensure that no personal data is written or stored on-chain.
3. Apps can't sell, transfer, or modify fungible tokens unless they are a payments partner that's been approved by the Shopify Payments team.
4. Apps are presently only able to support the primary sales of NFTs on Shopify. All secondary sales must be completed on a 3rd party platform, and must not be represented by products or hosted in the Shopify Admin. A gallery display of NFTs on a Shopify store that links out to an external marketplace is supported.
5. Apps should in no event facilitate the sale or marketing of NFTs that could be classified as one or more of the following:
   • Securities or other regulated financial instruments
   • Activities related to securities or other regulated financial instruments
   • Having secondary or non-creator royalties.

NFT minting apps enable merchants to create and sell NFTs on Shopify. NFT gifting apps enable merchants to distribute NFTs for free, and include free NFTs with purchase of a physical product, listing an NFT as a product at no cost, or retroactively airdropping to customers.

1. Blockchain apps must identify all NFT variants by automatically populating product metafields as outlined in the NFT distribution docs.
2. For each fulfilled NFT, blockchain apps must write the blockchain transaction ID to the order's Fulfillment tracking_number field, and a valid block scanner URL for the NFT fulfillment transaction to the order's Fulfillment tracking_url field. Optionally, the name of the blockchain, fork, or network can also be written to the order's Fulfillment tracking_company field, as necessary.
3. App partners must provide a way for customers to acquire a wallet, should they need one. Further, customers must be able to receive full self-custody of their NFTs without any post-purchase fees, unless the NFTs will be minted on a permissioned blockchain that prevents buyers from receiving full self-custody of their NFTs. In such a case, the inability to receive full self-custody must be clearly disclosed to customers before purchase and no post-purchase fees are permitted.
4. App partners must block stores from using any NFT distribution features while Shopify Payments is active, including but not limited to minting, gifting, creating or listing NFT products, until the shop is approved. To determine a shop's approval status, app partners must use the NFT Sales Eligibility API. For more information, refer to NFT distribution.

Tokengating apps on Shopify enable merchants to gate access to products, promotions, and content based on the contents of a customer’s Web3 wallet.

1. Any orders that contain line items which are either added or discounted as a result of a buyer successfully passing a gate-check must be identified using order metafields as outlined in the Tokengating docs.
2. Any products that contain one or more gated variants must be identified using product metafields as outlined in the Tokengating docs.