Subscriptions let customers receive products on a recurring schedule instead of placing the same order manually each time. For merchants, this can support more predictable revenue, stronger customer relationships, and easier product replenishment.
Shopify stores can use the free first-party Shopify Subscriptions app or a compatible third-party subscription app. The right choice depends on your products, required features, customer experience, integrations, and plans for future growth. (Shopify Help Center)
This guide explains how to set up subscriptions on Shopify, add plans to existing products, configure the storefront experience, test the full purchasing flow, and manage subscribers after launch.
How Do You Add Subscriptions to Shopify?
To add subscriptions to Shopify:
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Choose and install a compatible subscription app.
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Create a subscription plan.
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Set the delivery frequency, pricing, and discount.
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Assign the plan to eligible products.
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Add the subscription widget to your product template.
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Enable customer subscription management.
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Review your subscription policy and notifications.
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Test checkout, payments, renewals, and account controls before launch.
A basic replenishment offer may work well with Shopify’s native app. Stores that need advanced bundles, detailed retention tools, complex migrations, or custom subscription experiences may need a third-party app or additional development.
Can You Offer Subscriptions on Shopify?
Yes. Shopify supports recurring product purchases through its first-party Shopify Subscriptions app and compatible apps from the Shopify App Store.
The native app lets merchants create and manage subscription plans and contracts through Shopify. Subscription information can appear on product, cart, checkout, and thank-you pages. (Shopify Help Center)
Depending on the app and store configuration, a product may be offered as:
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A one-time purchase
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A subscription purchase
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A choice between one-time and recurring purchasing
Shopify subscription products require a supported payment gateway. Payment availability and accelerated checkout options can vary by gateway, region, and store configuration. (Shopify Help Center)
Shopify Subscriptions App vs. Third-Party Apps
Shopify’s native app is a practical starting point for straightforward recurring-product plans. Third-party apps may be more suitable for businesses that need advanced functionality or more control over the subscriber experience.
| Business need | Shopify Subscriptions | Third-party app |
|---|---|---|
| Basic recurring product plans | Suitable | Suitable |
| Weekly, monthly, or yearly delivery | Supported | Commonly supported |
| Optional subscription discounts | Supported | Commonly supported |
| Customer self-service | Supported | Commonly supported |
| Advanced bundles or build-a-box | Not supported by the native app | Available in selected apps |
| Custom subscriber portal | Standard experience | Often more customizable |
| Advanced dunning and retention tools | Core retry controls | Often more extensive |
| Detailed subscription analytics | Core reporting | Varies by app |
| Migration from another subscription app | Requires assessment | Varies by provider |
| Custom integrations and workflows | May require development | Depends on app and API access |
Shopify’s native app currently supports optional discounts and weekly, monthly, or yearly delivery intervals. Shopify also states that bundles are not compatible with the first-party Shopify Subscriptions app. (Shopify Help Center)
App features, pricing, transaction fees, and limitations can change. Review the latest app documentation before making a final decision.
What to Compare Before Choosing an App
Focus on the requirements that affect your business:
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Products and subscription models supported
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Payment-gateway compatibility
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Theme and checkout compatibility
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Customer self-service options
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Failed-payment recovery
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Email and SMS integrations
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Reporting and retention features
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Migration support
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App pricing and transaction fees
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API and customization options
Choosing the cheapest app can create additional costs later if it cannot support your required workflows.
What to Decide Before Setting Up Subscriptions
A reliable subscription offer starts with business decisions, not app installation.
Choose Suitable Products
Subscriptions work best when customers naturally need or want the product again.
Common examples include:
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Food and beverages
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Personal-care products
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Pet supplies
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Household products
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Supplements
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Refill products
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Curated boxes
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Membership products
Review product margins, inventory availability, shipping costs, and average reorder frequency before adding a subscription option.
Set a Practical Delivery Frequency
Choose intervals based on how quickly customers normally use the product.
For example:
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Every two weeks
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Every four weeks
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Every two months
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Every three months
Start with one or two clear choices instead of offering every possible frequency. A simpler product page is easier to understand and provides cleaner performance data.
Decide How Customers Will Purchase
Your offer may be:
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Subscription only
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One-time purchase plus subscription
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Prepaid for a fixed term
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A recurring subscribe-and-save plan
Keeping both one-time and subscription options can make recurring purchasing easier to introduce without forcing every shopper into a commitment.
Define the Incentive
A subscription discount should encourage recurring purchases without damaging margins.
Possible incentives include:
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Percentage discount
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Fixed-dollar discount
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Free or reduced shipping
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Subscriber-only benefits
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Loyalty rewards
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Early access to products
The value should not depend only on price. Convenience, automatic replenishment, priority access, and easier account management can also motivate customers.
Review Policies and Operations
Before launch, confirm:
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Renewal terms
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Cancellation rules
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Pause and skip options
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Refund policy
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Shipping expectations
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Inventory planning
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Failed-payment handling
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Customer-support responsibilities
Shopify automatically adds a purchase-options cancellation policy when a subscription is configured. Merchants should review and customize the policy so it reflects the actual offer. Customers must agree to those terms during checkout. (Shopify Help Center)
How to Set Up Subscriptions on Shopify
The exact interface depends on the app, but the overall setup process is similar.
Step 1: Install a Subscription App
Open the Shopify App Store and install Shopify Subscriptions or another checkout-compatible subscription app.
Before installation, confirm:
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Your payment gateway is supported
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The app supports your subscription model
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Your theme is compatible
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The customer portal meets your needs
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Required integrations are available
For the native app, your theme must support sections and blocks to display subscription products correctly. Shopify-supported Online Store 2.0 themes meet this requirement. (Shopify Help Center)
Step 2: Create a Subscription Plan
A subscription plan defines the recurring purchase option shown to customers.
Set:
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Customer-facing plan name
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Internal description
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Delivery frequency
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Delivery interval
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Subscription discount
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Eligible products
Use clear names such as:
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Deliver Every Month
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Subscribe and Save 10%
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Refill Every Eight Weeks
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Quarterly Delivery
Avoid internal or technical labels that customers may not understand.
In Shopify Subscriptions, plans can be created from the app or directly from the product’s Purchase options section. (Shopify Help Center)
Step 3: Assign the Plan to Products
Choose the products or variants customers can subscribe to.
Check:
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Product and variant eligibility
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Subscription price
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Discount calculation
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Inventory settings
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Shipping requirements
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Whether one-time purchasing should remain available
Do not add subscriptions to an entire catalog without reviewing how often customers actually repurchase each product.
Step 4: Add the Subscription Widget
The widget displays the subscription option on the product page.
For an Online Store 2.0 theme using Shopify Subscriptions:
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Go to Online Store → Themes.
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Select Edit theme.
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Open the relevant product template.
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Under Product information, select Add block.
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Add the Subscription widget.
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Adjust its placement and appearance.
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Save and preview the product page.
Shopify documents this widget as a theme block, and subscription information can also appear on cart and thank-you pages. (Shopify Help Center)
The product page should clearly communicate:
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One-time price
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Subscription price
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Available savings
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Delivery frequency
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Renewal terms
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Currently selected purchase option
Check the widget on both desktop and mobile. It should not hide pricing, overlap the add-to-cart button, or make the selected option unclear.
Step 5: Configure Customer Management
Customers should have a clear way to manage their subscriptions after purchasing.
With Shopify Subscriptions, customers can use their account to:
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View subscription details
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Update payment information
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Change their shipping address
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Skip an upcoming order
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Pause or resume a subscription
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Cancel a subscription
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Review past orders
These controls reduce support requests and give customers more confidence before subscribing. (Shopify Help Center)
Shopify also lets merchants add subscription-management blocks to customer accounts, order pages, order-status pages, and the thank-you page. (Shopify Help Center)
Make the management page easy to find through account navigation and subscription emails.
Step 6: Review Notifications
Check the messages customers receive for events such as:
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Subscription confirmation
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Upcoming order
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Payment failure
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Payment-method update
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Paused subscription
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Canceled subscription
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Order confirmation
Shopify Subscriptions includes subscription email notifications, which can be managed through the store’s notification settings. (Shopify Help Center)
Keep notification language clear and explain what the customer needs to do next.
Step 7: Test the Complete Subscription Experience
Do not launch after checking only that the widget appears.
Test:
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One-time purchase selection
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Subscription selection
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Prices and discounts
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Delivery frequency
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Shipping charges
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Checkout messaging
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Payment processing
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Confirmation emails
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Customer-account access
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Skip, pause, resume, and cancel controls
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Payment-method updates
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Mobile product pages
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Analytics and conversion tracking
Also test what happens when a payment fails or an item is out of stock.
Step 8: Publish and Monitor
After testing, publish the plan and monitor:
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Subscription conversion rate
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One-time versus subscription selection
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Renewal rate
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Failed payments
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Skipped orders
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Paused subscriptions
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Cancellation rate
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Customer-support questions
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Inventory availability
Use early customer questions to improve product-page messaging, policies, emails, and account navigation.
How to Add a Subscription to an Existing Shopify Product
To add a subscription to a product already in your Shopify catalog:
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Open the product in Shopify admin.
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Find the Purchase options section.
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Select Subscriptions.
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Choose an existing plan or create a new one.
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Set the delivery frequency and discount.
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Save the plan.
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Confirm that the subscription widget appears on the correct product template.
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Place a test order.
Shopify allows subscription plans to be created and managed directly from a product’s Purchase options section. (Shopify Help Center)
If the option does not appear on the storefront, review the product-template assignment, theme block, app permissions, and product eligibility.
How to Manage Shopify Subscriptions
Subscription management continues after launch. Your team must monitor customer contracts, upcoming orders, payment issues, and inventory.
Manage Subscription Contracts
Depending on the app, merchants may be able to update:
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Products and quantities
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Delivery frequency
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Customer contact information
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Shipping address
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Payment methods
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Upcoming orders
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Contract status
The Shopify Subscriptions app allows merchants to edit contract products and delivery frequency, skip upcoming orders, and pause, resume, or cancel contracts. (Shopify Help Center)
Handle Failed Payments
Recurring charges can fail because of expired cards, insufficient funds, bank declines, or payment-method changes.
Configure:
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Number of retry attempts
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Time between retries
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Customer notifications
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Final action after retries fail
Shopify Subscriptions lets merchants define retry behavior for payment and inventory failures and choose whether to skip, pause, or cancel a subscription after unsuccessful attempts. (Shopify Help Center)
Monitor Subscription Inventory
A subscription contract creates future demand but does not guarantee that stock will be available.
Monitor:
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Upcoming subscription orders
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Low-stock products
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Product discontinuations
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Seasonal inventory
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Variant changes
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Replacement-product workflows
With Shopify Subscriptions, an order might not be created when tracked inventory is insufficient and overselling is disabled. The affected contract can then be reviewed inside the app. (Shopify Help Center)
Measure Retention, Not Just Sign-Ups
New subscriber count is only one performance indicator.
Track:
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Renewal rate
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Cancellation rate
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Pause and skip frequency
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Failed-payment recovery
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Subscriber lifetime value
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Subscription conversion rate
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Cancellation reasons
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Retention by product and plan
These insights can help improve plan frequency, product selection, pricing, and customer communication.
Common Shopify Subscription Setup Mistakes
Offering Too Many Choices
Too many frequencies and plans can make product pages difficult to understand. Start with a focused offer and expand after reviewing customer behavior.
Choosing an App Only by Price
A low-cost app may not support the integrations, migrations, reporting, or customer experience your store needs.
Hiding Renewal or Cancellation Terms
Customers should understand how often they will be charged and how to pause, skip, or cancel before completing checkout.
Ignoring Mobile Usability
A subscription widget may work on desktop but become difficult to use on a smaller screen. Test pricing, selectors, buttons, and product variants on mobile devices.
Skipping Payment and Inventory Testing
The initial checkout is only one part of the subscription journey. Test recurring billing behavior, failed-payment recovery, inventory errors, and customer notifications.
Making Account Management Difficult
Customers should not need to contact support for every address change, skipped order, or payment update. Make the management page easy to locate.
When Should You Hire a Shopify Subscription Expert?
A straightforward subscription offer can often be configured internally.
Professional help may be useful when your store requires:
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Custom widget design
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Theme troubleshooting
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Build-a-box subscriptions
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Advanced product bundles
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Subscription-app migration
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Custom billing or delivery logic
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Customer-portal customization
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ERP, CRM, or fulfillment integrations
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Shopify Plus requirements
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Complex analytics or tracking
Ecomheroes provides Shopify subscription setup services for merchants who need assistance selecting, configuring, customizing, testing, or improving their subscription system.
Get Help With Your Subscription Setup
Shopify Subscription FAQs
Does Shopify support subscriptions?
Yes. Shopify supports recurring product purchases through the free first-party Shopify Subscriptions app and compatible third-party apps. (Shopify Help Center)
Is Shopify Subscriptions free?
Shopify identifies Shopify Subscriptions as its free first-party subscription app. Your Shopify plan, payment processing, custom development, and connected apps may have separate costs. (Shopify Help Center)
Can I add a subscription to an existing product?
Yes. You can assign an existing subscription plan or create a new one from the Purchase options section of an eligible product. (Shopify Help Center)
Can customers choose between one-time and subscription purchases?
A subscription can be added as a purchase option. Whether customers can also choose a one-time purchase depends on how the product and subscription app are configured.
Can customers manage their own subscriptions?
With Shopify Subscriptions, customers can update payment and shipping details, skip orders, pause or resume a plan, and cancel from their customer account. (Shopify Help Center)
Do subscriptions work with every payment gateway?
No. Subscription products require a supported payment gateway, and availability varies by region and provider. Confirm compatibility before installing an app. (Shopify Help Center)
Can I sell subscription products through Shopify POS?
Yes. Shopify supports in-store subscription sales through Shopify POS when the required app, Shopify Payments, product setup, policy, and compatible POS version are in place. (Shopify Help Center)
Can existing subscribers be moved to another app?
Possibly. Migration feasibility depends on the current app, destination app, payment methods, subscription contracts, available export tools, and provider requirements. Review the migration process before uninstalling or replacing the current app.
Start Building Your Shopify Subscription Offer
A successful subscription program requires more than installing an app. Your store needs suitable products, clear terms, reliable payments, customer self-service, inventory planning, and careful testing.
Start with a simple offer that customers can understand. Once the core experience is working reliably, use subscription performance and customer feedback to improve it.
Need help selecting, configuring, or customizing your subscription system?