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Implement your app business model with the Billing API

All Tutorials

Implement your app business model with the Billing API

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Implement your app business model with the Billing API

You can implement your billing model using the AppPurchaseOneTime, AppSubscription, and AppCredit resources. To use any of these resources, you'll also need to implement a merchant trigger for the charge, such as app installation, service plan upgrade, or individual purchase.

Implement the AppPurchaseOneTime resource

The AppPurchaseOneTime resource supports two billing models:

  • Pay one time
  • Pay as you go

Pay one time

You can create the charge by using the appPurchaseOneTimeCreate mutation. Provide the name, price and returnUrl for the one-time purchase. The only possible currencyCode is USD. The returnUrl is where the merchant is redirected after accepting the charge and also includes the charge ID.

POST /admin/api/unstable/graphql.json

mutation {
  appPurchaseOneTimeCreate(
    name: "Email template"
    price: { amount: 100.00, currencyCode: USD}
    returnUrl: "http://super-duper.shopifyapps.com"
  ) {
    userErrors {
      field
      message
    }
    confirmationUrl
    appPurchaseOneTime {
      id
    }
  }
}

View response

JSON response:

{
  "data": {
    "appPurchaseOneTimeCreate": {
      "userErrors": [],
      "confirmationUrl": "https://domain.myshopify.com/admin/charges/406454328/confirm_application_charge?signature=BAh7BzoHaWRpBDgAOhg6EmF1dG9fYWN0aXZhdGVU--59c04b2c6b0f73f10f97ae24af2f248c5831a3e8",
      "appPurchaseOneTime": {
        "id": "gid://shopify/AppPurchaseOneTime/406454328"
      }
    }
  },
  ...
}

Pay as you go

You can use the appPurchaseOneTimeCreate mutation to create many charges:

POST /admin/api/unstable/graphql.json

mutation {
  appPurchaseOneTimeCreate(
    name: "100 emails for $1"
    price: { amount: 1.00, currencyCode: USD}
    returnUrl: "http://super-duper.shopifyapps.com"
  ) {
    userErrors {
      field
      message
    }
    confirmationUrl
    appPurchaseOneTime {
      id
    }
  }
}

View response

JSON response:

{
  "data": {
    "appPurchaseOneTimeCreate": {
      "userErrors": [],
      "confirmationUrl": "https://domain.myshopify.com/admin/charges/406454328/confirm_application_charge?signature=BAh7BzoHaWRpBDgAOhg6EmF1dG9fYWN0aXZhdGVU--59c04b2c6b0f73f10f97ae24af2f248c5831a3e8",
      "appPurchaseOneTime": {
        "id": "gid://shopify/AppPurchaseOneTime/406454328"
      }
    }
  },
  ...
}

Implement the AppSubscription resource

The AppPurchaseOneTime resource supports two billing models:

  • Recurring billing
  • Usage billing

Recurring billing

You can use the appSubscriptionCreate mutation to create a recurring charge. You can specify the details of the plan by using the apprecurringPricingDetails field on the line item's plan. Provide the name, price, and returnUrl. The only supported currencyCode input is USD. The returnUrl is where the merchant is redirected after accepting the charge and also includes the charge ID.

mutation {
  appSubscriptionCreate(
    name: "Super Duper Recurring Plan"
    returnUrl: "http://super-duper.shopifyapps.com"
    lineItems: [{
      plan: {
        appRecurringPricingDetails: {
            price: { amount: 10.00, currencyCode: USD }
        }
      }
    }]
  ) {
    userErrors {
      field
      message
    }
    confirmationUrl
    appSubscription {
      id
    }
  }
}

View response

JSON response:

The mutation returns the app subscription ID.

{
  "data": {
    "appSubscriptionCreate": {
      "userErrors": [],
      "confirmationUrl": "https://domain.myshopify.com/admin/charges/4019552312/confirm_recurring_application_charge?signature=BAh7BzoHaWRsKwc4gJXvOhJhdXRvX2FjdGl2YXRlVA%3D%3D--74e39487ff00313ca4409dea7ab00081001c45d5",
      "appSubscription": {
        "id": "gid://shopify/AppSubscription/4019552312"
      }
    }
  },
  ...
}

Usage billing

Setting up usage based billing requires two steps:

  • Create a usage pricing plan with appSubscriptionCreate mutation.
  • Create a usage record.

Create a usage pricing plan

You can use the appSubscriptionCreate mutation to create a usage pricing plan. You need to include the cappedAmount parameter, which indicates the maximum amount of usage the merchant is billed for within the Shopify 30-day billing cycle. You must also include the terms field, which is reviewed by the merchant when they accept your pricing plan. The app subscription ID and line item ID included in the payload are used later to create usage records.

mutation {
  appSubscriptionCreate(
    name: "Super Duper Capped Pricing Plan"
    returnUrl: "http://super-duper.shopifyapps.com"
    lineItems: [{
      plan: {
        appUsagePricingDetails: {
        terms: "$1 for 100 emails"
        cappedAmount: { amount: 20.00, currencyCode: USD }
        }
      }
    }]
  ){
    userErrors {
      field
      message
    }
    confirmationUrl
    appSubscription {
      id
      lineItems {
        id
        plan {
          pricingDetails {
            __typename
          }
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

View response

JSON response:

The mutation returns the app subscription ID and line item ID that you can use to create usage records.

{
  "data": {
    "appSubscriptionCreate": {
      "userErrors": [],
      "confirmationUrl": "https://domain.myshopify.com/admin/charges/4019585080/confirm_recurring_application_charge?signature=BAh7BzoHaWRsKwc4AJbvOhJhdXRvX2FjdGl2YXRlVA%3D%3D--924efed32be5c4af3c94c427ecbf380aef88f123",
      "appSubscription": {
        "id": "gid://shopify/AppSubscription/4019585080",
        "lineItems": [
          {
            "id": "gid://shopify/AppSubscriptionLineItem/4019585080?v=1&index=0",
            "plan": {
              "pricingDetails": {
                "__typename": "AppUsagePricing"
              }
            }
          }
        ]
      }
    }
  },
  ...
}

You can also create a recurring pricing plan and a usage pricing plan using a single mutation:

mutation {
  appSubscriptionCreate(
    name: "Super Duper Capped Pricing Plan",
    returnUrl: "http://super-duper.shopifyapps.com",
    lineItems: [{
      plan: {
        appUsagePricingDetails: {
          terms: "$1 for 100 emails"
          cappedAmount: { amount: 20.00, currencyCode: USD }
        }
      }
    },
    {
      plan: {
        appRecurringPricingDetails: {
          price: { amount: 10.00, currencyCode: USD }
        }
      }
    }]
  ){
    userErrors {
      field
      message
    }
    confirmationUrl
    appSubscription {
      id
      lineItems {
        id
        plan {
          pricingDetails {
            __typename
          }
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

View response

JSON response:

{
  "data": {
    "appSubscriptionCreate": {
      "userErrors": [],
      "confirmationUrl": "https://domain.myshopify.com/admin/charges/4028497976/confirm_recurring_application_charge?signature=BAh7BzoHaWRsKwc4AB7wOhJhdXRvX2FjdGl2YXRlVA%3D%3D--987b3537018fdd69c50f13d6cbd3fba468e0e9a6",
      "appSubscription": {
        "id": "gid://shopify/AppSubscription/4028497976",
        "lineItems": [
          {
            "id": "gid://shopify/AppSubscriptionLineItem/4028497976?v=1&index=0",
            "plan": {
              "pricingDetails": {
                "__typename": "AppRecurringPricing"
              }
            }
          },
          {
            "id": "gid://shopify/AppSubscriptionLineItem/4028497976?v=1&index=1",
            "plan": {
              "pricingDetails": {
                "__typename": "AppUsagePricing"
              }
            }
          }
        ]
      }
    }
  },
  ...
}

Create a usage record

After you've created the usage pricing plan and the merchant has accepted the plan, you can create a usage record. The usage record needs to include the line item ID of the app subscription returned by the appSubscriptionCreate mutation.

mutation {
  appUsageRecordCreate(
    subscriptionLineItemId: "gid://shopify/AppSubscriptionLineItem/4019585080?v=1&index=0"
    description: "Super Mega Plan 1000 emails",
    price:{ amount: 1.00, currencyCode: USD}
  ) {
    userErrors {
      field
      message
    }
    appUsageRecord {
      id
    }
  }
}

View response

JSON response:

The mutation returns the app usage record ID for the created usage record.

{
  "data": {
    "appUsageRecordCreate": {
      "userErrors": [],
      "appUsageRecord": {
        "id": "gid://shopify/AppUsageRecord/14518231"
      }
    }
  },
  ...
}

Implement the AppCredit resource

To create an app credit, you can use the appCreditCreate mutation:

mutation {
  appCreditCreate(
    description: "application credit"
    amount: { amount: 5.00, currencyCode: USD}
  ) {
    userErrors {
      field
      message
    }
    appCredit {
      id
    }
  }
}

View response

JSON response:

In the event that the credit exceeds the shop credit issue limit or pending receivable credit issue limit, then the appropriate error message is returned.

{
  "data": {
    "appCreditCreate": {
      "userErrors": [
        {
          "field": null,
          "message": "Amount exceeded 30 day shop credit issue limit and Amount exceeded pending receivable credit issue limit"
        }
      ],
      "appCredit": null
    }
  },
  ...
}

Where to go from here

Learn how to manage subscription-based billing.