Shopify is probably the best e-commerce platform when it comes to D2C business. Obviously, it’s a paid service that starts at $32 per month (or $39 if you are in the US). But you can also use it for free as a time-limited trial. In this article, we’ll explain step-by-step how to sign up for a free trial and create your own online store.
As of now, Shopify offers only a single trial length which is set to 3 days. The only period when Shopify offered 90 days was during the COVID-19 pandemic from October to June 2020. The goal was to help people to take their businesses online but the offer is no longer valid.
As Shopify staff member said:
“In March, we introduced 90 day free trials as a temporary relief effort to help businesses get online during the COVID-19 pandemic. As of June 1, this offer ended and we’ve returned to our standard 14-day free trial.”
Besides the 14 and 90 day trials, there were also some custom length trials including 21-day, 30-day, and 60-day free trials. But as far as we know, these are no longer available either.
In the summer of 2022, Shopify introduced the "pay only $1 for your first month" concept. In 2023 they made it even more interesting and offered $1 per month for first three months. However, this promotion has been terminated as part of February 2024 pricing and plan changes. In November 2024, Shopify reintroduced the 3 months for $1 concept again. Here's how to take advantage of the deal.
How to sign up for a free Shopify trial (tutorial)
Step 1 – To enroll in a free trial plan, simply go to www.shopify.com/free-trial and enter your e-mail. Then confirm by clicking the “Start free trial” button.
Step 2 – In the next step, you can fill in a short survey about yourself and your business, but you can simply skip it by clicking the “Skip All” button. There is no penalty for skipping it, so feel free to do so.
Step 3 – In the third step, you will be asked to select a country where your business will be located. The selection can be updated later from the store settings. Once done click the “Next” button to continue.
Step 4 – In the last step, you need to create your Shopify ID (account). You can enter your email or choose one of your existing Apple, Facebook, or Google accounts and connect it to Shopify.
Step 5 – Now you should be redirected to your own store. Congratulations! You can now start by adding products, choosing the store theme, and installing some of the apps.
By default, you will have 14 days of the free trial. During this period you can run the business without any limitations and generating your first sales.
Official video tutorial from Shopify
How to activate the trial
In order to activate the trial, you need to select one of the paid plans. You have basically three options.
- Basic Shopify for $39 / month – Gives you everything you need to run a successful online store including multi-currency and global payment methods. The only major drawback is a high transaction fee of 2.9% and no user accounts
- (Standard) Shopify for $105 / month – Basically same as Basic Shopify plan with advanced reporting tools, 5 user accounts, and a lower transaction fee of 2.6%
- Advanced Shopify for $399 / month – Gives you more of everything (15 staff accounts, better support) and lower transaction fee of only 2.4%. As the only plan (besides Shopify Plus) will also handle your duties and import taxes calculation
Please note the prices may be different (lower) depending on the region you are located in. If you're not sure, check out our comparison of Shopify plans.
Once you make up your mind, simply click on the “Choose” button and continue with the payment. You can pay either by Credit Card or PayPal. You need to do this within the 3-day trial period otherwise your store will be frozen (on hold).
Besides these three, there is also a Shopify Plus plan which starts at $2.000 per month and is available only per quote. And something called Shopify Lite (or “Buy Button”) which costs only $9 per month. It is basically a headless version that gives you capabilities to make a sale but you can’t build an online store on top of that.
Once you complete the free trial registration process, you have 3 days to pick the plan for your store.
Check our guide on setting up a Shopify store if you need assistance. And some other helpful reads for Shopify beginners:
- The guide to checkout optimization
- The ultimate SEO guide for Shopify
- The guide to cross-selling and upselling
Shopify free trial FAQs
How long is the Shopify free trial?
The Shopify free trial used to be 14 days. Since November 2022, the trial is only 3 days, but you will pay only $1 per month for your first month. There were special events in the past (i.e., the pandemic of COVID-19) during which Shopify offered extended trials for 90 days, but they are currently unavailable.
When does the Shopify free trial start?
The free trial starts when you finish the registration process (i.e., step 5 in the "How to signup for a free Shopify trial" section above). From that moment, you have precisely 3 days to activate it.
What happens when the Shopify trial ends?
That depends on whether you activated the free trial (chosen a paid plan) or not.
- If you didn't enter your payment information and haven't selected one of the paid plans, your Shopify store will be frozen. That means customers won't be able to access it, and you will no longer be able to log in to the store admin. In case you would like to retrieve some of the data/work done, you can contact Shopify support, and they can assist you with that. According to Lucy from the Shopify team, they hold the data for 30 days and close the store for good after 2 years.
- If you entered your payment information and selected one of the paid plans, your store will automatically upgrade from trial to active once the free trial period expires. That's also the date of your first billing.
How much is Shopify after a free trial?
That depends on the paid plan you will select. There are three you can choose from
- Basic Shopify for $39 per month – Best for new businesses but has the highest CC rates (2.9% + 30¢ USD) or 2.0% transaction fee if you won't use Shopify Payments gateway.
- Shopify for $105 per month – Best for larger stores with customers in multiple countries. Slightly lower CC rates (2.6% + 30¢ USD) or 1.0% transaction fee. Adds additional functionality like reporting and multi-currency.
- Advanced Shopify for $399 per month – For global online businesses. Lowest CC rates (2.4% + 30¢ USD) and only 0.5% transaction fee. All features except checkout customizations (available on Shopify Plus only).
We recommend starting with the Basic Shopify plan and upgrading only when your business grows. Hence, it makes sense financially due to lower fees or needing specific functionality from the higher tiers.
How to get Shopify 90-day (3 months) free trial?
We are really sorry, but this is currently not possible. The Shopify free trial is always 3 days. There were special events in the past (i.e., the pandemic of COVID-19) during which Shopify offered extended trials for 90 days (3 months), but they are currently unavailable. However, there is even a better promotion which is currently active. If you sign up to trial now, you will pay only $1 for your first three months.
How to get Shopify 3 months free trial for $1 per month?
There was a special promotion during 2023 during which you could get the first three months of Shopify for $1, but that has already ended. The current promotion running from February 2024 is $1 per month for the first month.
How to extend the Shopify free trial?
Unfortunately, extending or prolonging the free trial is impossible – it's always 3 days. There were special events in the past (i.e., the pandemic of COVID-19) during which Shopify offered extended trials for 90 days, but they are currently unavailable.
Are there any limitations while on the Shopify free trial?
There are no limitations during your Shopify free trial period. You can customize the store and add as many products as you want. You are also getting access to all the features included in the Advanced Shopify plan. And, of course, you can generate your first sales.
Can you make money (sales) with the Shopify free trial?
For sure! There are no limitations during your Shopify free trial period. You can generate as many sales as possible. However, we are still unclear what is the actual transaction fee used and whether it's also applied retrospectively when you move to the paid plan.
How to close/cancel/delete the Shopify free trial without paying?
If you didn't enter your payment information (i.e., your credit card or PayPal account) and haven't selected the paid plan, you don't need to do anything. The free trial simply expires, and the store will be automatically closed.
However, if you entered the credit card, you need to close the store manually to avoid the billing. You can close the store by going to Settings > Plan > Cancel subscription (or Pause or deactivate store).
If you miss this, Shopify's Terms of Service are pretty strict about refunds – "Shopify does not provide refunds."
