Last updated: October 3, 2026
A Shopify app costs anywhere from about $500 for a simple private automation to $100,000 or more for a multi-feature public app on the Shopify App Store. Most custom apps built for a single store land between $3,000 and $15,000. Most public app MVPs land between $15,000 and $40,000. 7SEA Marketing builds its own public Shopify apps and scopes custom apps for D2C clients, so the prices below are what the work actually costs in 2026, not what a pricing page says. The 12-type cost table and the estimator further down let you price your own app before you ask anyone for a quote.
According to 7SEA Marketing's 2026 scoping data, a single-feature custom Shopify app typically takes 60 to 150 development hours, and a public App Store app with billing, onboarding and review compliance takes 300 to 800 hours. Hours multiplied by the hourly rate of whoever builds it is the whole cost model. Everything else in this guide explains what moves those two numbers.
What decides the cost of a Shopify app?
Five things, in order of impact:
1. Public or private. A public app has to pass Shopify's App Store review, which means embedded admin UI, OAuth, session tokens, the Billing API, mandatory GDPR webhooks and the Built for Shopify quality bar. A custom app for one store skips most of that. The same feature can cost three times more as a public app.
2. Which surfaces it touches. Admin only is cheapest. Storefront (theme app extensions) adds front-end work. Checkout (UI extensions, Plus only) and POS add their own frameworks and testing.
3. Data and integrations. An app that reads products is simple. An app that syncs orders two ways with an ERP, handles retries and reconciles failures is a different project.
4. Shopify Functions. Custom discount, shipping or payment logic now runs through Functions. They are powerful, but they are written in a constrained environment and need their own testing.
5. Who builds it. Hourly rates range from $30 to $250 depending on geography and whether it is a freelancer or an agency. Covered below.
Shopify app development cost by type (2026)
| App type | Typical cost | Timeline | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flow-based automation with one webhook or script | $500 to $2,500 | 1 to 2 weeks | Often no "app" at all, Shopify Flow plus a small serverless function |
| Private admin app, one function (bulk edit, report, sync) | $2,000 to $8,000 | 2 to 4 weeks | Custom app installed on one store, no App Store review |
| Theme app extension (storefront widget or block) | $3,000 to $12,000 | 3 to 6 weeks | Size guide, badges, upsell block, custom section injected into any theme |
| Shopify Function (discount, shipping or payment customization) | $2,500 to $10,000 | 2 to 5 weeks | Tiered pricing, hide shipping rates, cart validation |
| Checkout UI extension (Plus) | $4,000 to $15,000 | 3 to 6 weeks | Custom fields, trust blocks, upsells in checkout |
| Customer account or post-purchase extension | $3,000 to $12,000 | 3 to 6 weeks | Order tracking widgets, post-purchase offers |
| POS UI extension | $8,000 to $30,000 | 5 to 10 weeks | In-store workflows, loyalty at the till |
| Integration app (3PL, ERP, CRM, marketplace) | $10,000 to $60,000 | 6 to 16 weeks | Two-way sync, error handling and reconciliation drive the range |
| Public app MVP for the App Store (one core feature) | $15,000 to $40,000 | 8 to 14 weeks | Embedded UI, billing, onboarding, GDPR webhooks, review |
| Public app, multi-feature with Functions and extensions | $40,000 to $100,000 | 14 to 26 weeks | Built for Shopify badge usually targeted |
| Complex SaaS-style app (subscriptions, loyalty, reviews) | $60,000 to $150,000+ | 20 to 40 weeks | Competes with funded apps, needs ongoing team |
| Headless or custom storefront app (Hydrogen) | $60,000 to $250,000+ | 16 to 32 weeks | A storefront project, not an app project, priced here for comparison |
Ranges assume an experienced Shopify developer or agency. A low-rate offshore developer can quote below these numbers, and a US enterprise agency can quote above them for the same scope. If a quote lands far outside the range for its row, ask what is different about the scope.
Why does a public app cost three times more than a custom one?
The feature is the same. The wrapper is not. A public app on the Shopify App Store needs:
Embedded admin interface built with Shopify's app framework and Polaris components, so it looks and behaves like the Shopify admin. OAuth install flow and session tokens that pass review. Billing API integration with plans, trials and usage charges. Mandatory GDPR webhooks for customer data requests and erasure, plus app uninstall handling. Onboarding, empty states, error states and help docs, because merchants you have never met will install it. Hosting, monitoring and uptime, since the app is live for everyone, all the time. App Store listing: screenshots, demo video, copy. Review cycles: Shopify's app review returns changes, and each round costs development time.
A custom app for your own store needs almost none of that. It installs through a custom app token, the UI can be minimal, billing does not exist, and the only user is your team. That is why a $5,000 custom app becomes a $20,000 public app with no change in what it does.
Cost by who builds it
| Who | Hourly rate (2026) | Best for | Risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Freelancer, India or Eastern Europe | $30 to $80 | Private apps, Functions, small extensions | Availability, handover if they move on |
| Freelancer, US, UK or Australia | $80 to $150 | Well-defined custom apps | Single point of failure |
| Offshore agency with Shopify focus | $40 to $90 | Public apps, integrations, ongoing maintenance | Check that Shopify work is their core, not a side line |
| US, UK or EU Shopify agency | $100 to $250 | Plus merchants, enterprise integrations, Built for Shopify apps | Cost |
| In-house developer | $6,000 to $15,000 per month loaded | Brands shipping apps continuously | Only pays off with a steady roadmap |
Rate is not the only variable. A $60 per hour developer who has shipped public apps will finish in half the hours a $40 per hour generalist needs, because the generalist will learn the Billing API and the review process on your budget. Ask for Shopify-specific work samples before comparing rates. Our guide to developer vs agency vs freelancer covers how to choose.
The costs that show up after launch
The build is the visible number. These are the ones that surprise people in year one:
| Cost | Typical range |
|---|---|
| Hosting and database | $20 to $300 per month, more for high-volume integration apps |
| Shopify API version updates | Quarterly releases, budget 4 to 16 hours per quarter |
| Maintenance and bug fixes | 15 to 25 percent of build cost per year |
| Merchant support (public apps) | 2 to 10 hours per week once you have a few hundred installs |
| App Store review changes | Each review round can cost 5 to 20 hours of rework |
| Shopify revenue share (public apps) | 0 percent on the first $1M in annual App Store revenue, 15 percent after that, for registered developers |
| Monitoring and error tracking | $0 to $100 per month |
A $25,000 public app realistically costs $30,000 to $35,000 by the end of its first year. Budget for it up front rather than discovering it in month four.
Estimate your own Shopify app cost
Add up the hours for the components you need, then multiply by the hourly rate of whoever will build it. These hour ranges are what we use when scoping.
| Component | Hours |
|---|---|
| Discovery, technical spec and data model | 8 to 30 |
| Custom app install and auth (private) | 4 to 10 |
| OAuth, session tokens and embedded app shell (public) | 20 to 40 |
| Core feature, per feature | 30 to 120 |
| Admin UI with Polaris, per screen | 8 to 24 |
| Theme app extension or storefront block | 20 to 60 |
| Shopify Function, per function | 16 to 50 |
| Checkout UI extension | 24 to 80 |
| Webhooks and background jobs | 10 to 40 |
| Third-party integration, per system | 40 to 200 |
| Billing API with plans and trials (public) | 16 to 40 |
| GDPR webhooks and uninstall cleanup (public) | 6 to 16 |
| Onboarding, empty and error states (public) | 16 to 40 |
| Testing and QA across themes or plans | 15 to 25 percent of the total above |
| App Store listing and review cycles (public) | 16 to 50 |
Worked example 1: private app. A custom admin app that pulls low-stock variants and emails a reorder sheet every morning. Spec 10 hours, install 5, one core feature 40, one admin screen 10, background job 10, QA 15. Total about 90 hours. At $60 per hour, $5,400. At $150 per hour, $13,500.
Worked example 2: public app MVP. A size guide app with one storefront block and a settings screen. Spec 20, OAuth and app shell 30, core feature 60, two admin screens 30, theme app extension 40, billing 25, GDPR 10, onboarding 25, QA 50, listing and review 30. Total about 320 hours. At $60 per hour, $19,200. At $150 per hour, $48,000.
Those two examples are the same amount of actual product. The difference is entirely the public app wrapper.
Should you build an app at all?
Before paying for development, check whether one of these solves it for a fraction of the cost:
Shopify Flow. Tagging, notifications, inventory alerts and many order workflows need no code. Metafields and metaobjects. Most "we need a custom field" requests are a metafield definition, not an app. An existing app. If a $29 per month app does 80 percent of what you need, the remaining 20 percent rarely justifies $15,000. Shopify Functions. Custom discount and shipping logic no longer needs a full app around it. Theme code. A storefront feature that only your store needs can live in your theme, with the trade-off that it does not survive a theme change (see our theme change checklist).
Build an app when the logic has to run outside the storefront, when it has to work across multiple stores or themes, when it needs its own database, or when you plan to sell it.
How to get an accurate quote
Vague briefs get wide ranges. Send a developer or agency these six things and you will get a number you can trust:
1. What the app does, in three sentences, from the merchant's point of view. 2. Private or public. 3. Which surfaces: admin, storefront, checkout, POS. 4. Which external systems it talks to, with API documentation links. 5. Expected order or product volume, so background jobs are sized correctly. 6. Whether you need it to survive theme changes and future Shopify API versions, which it should.
Ask for the estimate as hours by component, not one lump sum. It makes the quote comparable across vendors and shows you where the money goes. For broader build pricing, see our guides on what a Shopify agency costs and Shopify Plus cost, where checkout extensions fit in.
Need an app scoped?
7SEA Marketing builds Shopify apps for its own App Store listings and custom apps for D2C clients, so our quotes come from shipped work rather than guesswork. If you have a brief, we will return an hours-by-component estimate. See our Shopify development service.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to build a Shopify app?
Between about $500 for a simple Flow-based automation and $100,000 or more for a multi-feature public app. Most custom apps for one store cost $3,000 to $15,000. Most public App Store MVPs cost $15,000 to $40,000. The price is development hours multiplied by the builder's hourly rate.
How much does a Shopify app developer charge per hour?
Freelancers in India or Eastern Europe charge $30 to $80 per hour, freelancers in the US, UK or Australia $80 to $150, offshore Shopify agencies $40 to $90, and US, UK or EU agencies $100 to $250. Experienced Shopify developers usually finish in fewer hours, so the cheapest rate is not always the cheapest project.
Why is a public Shopify app more expensive than a custom app?
A public app needs an embedded admin UI, OAuth and session tokens, the Billing API, GDPR webhooks, onboarding, hosting and App Store review, none of which a custom app for one store requires. The same feature often costs three times more as a public app.
How long does it take to build a Shopify app?
A private single-function app takes two to four weeks. A public app MVP takes eight to fourteen weeks including App Store review. Complex integration or multi-feature apps take four to nine months.
What does it cost to maintain a Shopify app?
Budget 15 to 25 percent of the build cost per year for maintenance, plus hosting of $20 to $300 per month, quarterly Shopify API version updates, and merchant support for public apps. Shopify takes no revenue share on the first $1M in annual App Store revenue for registered developers, then 15 percent.
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