Building and monetizing apps with Shopify's APIs

Shopify's APIs allow you to integrate the Shopify platform with third-party software. With your skills, you can create applications for Shopify merchants and generate revenue.

App distribution

The following are two ways to distribute your app depending on its purpose and your audience:

Custom: Build and sell a custom app tailored to a specific client's needs. You can create custom apps from the Shopify admin for a single store and you can generate an install link for your custom app from your Partner Dashboard to share your custom app with your client and allow installation on multiple Plus stores in an organization. Learn more about selecting a distribution method and installing a custom app on multiple stores. You can use the Shopify API to enhance your client's store with additional features and functionality. You can't use the Billing API to charge merchants for custom apps.
Public: Develop a public app and list it in the Shopify App Store for a broader audience. You can set your app listing visibility to fully visible, or limit the visibility. You can use Shopify App Pricing to charge merchants for your public app. Learn more about the Shopify App Store review process. Only fully visible apps are indexed and appear in the following places:
- Relevant category pages
- Shopify App Store search results
- Third-party search engine results

Getting started with app building

The Dev Dashboard is your central hub for creating and managing Shopify apps. You can create apps in the following ways:

Shopify CLI (recommended): Use Shopify CLI to scaffold a complete project with built-in local development and deployment workflows. CLI projects support custom admin features, checkout blocks, and embedded UIs.
Dev Dashboard: For backend automation, data sync, or API-only integrations that don't need an interface in the Shopify admin, you can create and configure an app directly in the Dev Dashboard.

When you create any app, whether custom or public, you can also set the API scopes for the app. Learn more about Shopify API access scopes.

Dev stores for app testing

Dev stores are dedicated testing environments that you create from the Dev Dashboard. Dev stores let you install and test your apps in realistic Shopify conditions on any plan without risk to a live store. You can connect directly to a dev store from Shopify CLI using the shopify app dev command.

Dev stores are different from client transfer stores. Dev stores are for app development and testing, while client transfer stores are for building a store to hand off to a client.

Learn more about creating dev stores.

Monitoring and logs

You can monitor your apps from the Dev Dashboard, and use what you find there to troubleshoot issues.

Your apps are listed together, and you can sort the list by revenue, installs, and active alerts. Each app has its own page that covers the app's revenue, its active installs, its API error rates for both GraphQL and REST, its function success rates, and the health of its webhooks. Admin performance uses the same Core Web Vitals as Built for Shopify status. For Built for Shopify, those vitals are assessed over a separate 28-day window with a minimum number of measurements, so your admin performance score in the Dev Dashboard isn't your Built for Shopify status.

Logs bring together every API request, webhook delivery, and app event from across the stores that installed your app, with errors flagged in the stream. You can filter the stream by type, status, or shop, and you can narrow it further by entering an endpoint or a webhook topic. From an API error rate chart, you can open the logs already filtered to that API.

Learn more about monitoring and logs in the Dev Dashboard.

User permissions

Before creating apps and dev stores, you need to configure user permissions for the Dev Dashboard. Partner staff members need the Build and manage apps permission to create apps, and the Development stores permission to create dev stores.

Migrating from the Partner Dashboard

The Dev Dashboard replaces the Partner Dashboard for app development. If you previously managed apps through the Partner Dashboard, then refer to the migration guide for details on what's changed and what steps to take for apps with extensions.

Registering for the Shopify App Store

As an app developer, you can register for a reduced revenue share plan when selling through the Shopify App Store. Key benefits of this plan include the following:

15% revenue share: Shopify collects a reduced rate of 15% on annual gross app revenue, down from the standard 20%.
0% revenue share on initial revenue: Developers who meet eligibility criteria benefit from a 0% revenue share on the first $1,000,000 USD in annual gross app revenue earned through the Shopify App Store starting January 1, 2025.

To learn more about how to sign up, review the registration process.

Submitting your app for Shopify App Store approval

Your app must meet Shopify App Store requirements before you can sell it in the Shopify App Store. During the review process your app changes status: Draft, Submitted, Reviewed, and Published. The app submission email that you provided in the Contact information section of your listing form is where you'll receive emails during review. Learn more about the app review process and submitting your app for review.

Monetizing your public app

Shopify App Pricing is the default for new public apps and the recommended path for existing apps with supported pricing models. You define your plans in the app submission form, and Shopify handles plan selection, charge approvals, metering, and invoicing. Shopify App Pricing supports fixed recurring subscriptions, usage-based billing, and combined plans. Your app's pricing is managed in the Partner Dashboard, even if your organization uses the Dev Dashboard for app development.

Shopify App Pricing doesn't support one-time purchase charges. If your app needs one-time purchases, then use Manual Pricing with the Billing API. Manual Pricing is legacy but still supported.

If your app uses the Billing API, then you can switch to Shopify App Pricing and move your existing subscriptions in the Partner Dashboard or with Shopify CLI. Learn more about Shopify App Pricing, Manual Pricing, and migrating to Shopify App Pricing.

You can access detailed revenue and installation metrics for each of your apps in the Dev Dashboard.

Marketing and managing your public app

After your app is approved, enhance your launch using the Go-to-market success guide. You can market your app in many ways to promote and grow your business. Learn more about marketing your app and review case studies to help you grow your business and using Shopify App Store ads.

You can track your Shopify App Store traffic in your Partner Dashboard with Google Analytics 4 or Facebook Pixel. Learn more about tracking your listing traffic.

After a merchant installs your app, they can review it on the Shopify App Store. The overall rating for your app is based on reviews that merchants have left. The overall rating is weighted to prioritize recent, useful, and trustworthy reviews. Positive reviews make your app appear higher in the Shopify App Store search results and category pages. Learn more about managing app reviews in the Shopify App Store.

Performance is an important factor for users when they choose apps. When you build an app, you should build with performance in mind. If your app performance declines, then your app ranking might be affected. Learn more about app performance optimization.

You can also consider working toward Built for Shopify status.

App audit process

Your app might be selected for an audit. If your app is chosen to be audited, then you'll receive an email notification with further instructions to the email that you added as the App submission contact email in your app listing. The required changes are always based on the Shopify App Store requirements.