Hire a Shopify specialist for the first build, and test generalists on Shopify-specific work. At around $60,000, the largest risks are not hourly rates. They are rework from missed Shopify rules, delays from App Store review and a handover that leaves you without the code. Agencies carry the least risk on a first app. Freelancers suit tightly scoped builds. General dev shops can work if they show shipped Shopify apps.
Our Shopify app development service covers custom and public apps. Use the checklist below to vet any team, ours included. Our app cost guide and code ownership answer cover budget and handover in more depth.
What Shopify-specific expertise means
Ask for evidence on each one.
- App Bridge and Polaris for embedded admin interfaces.
- The Billing API and Shopify’s rules on charging for apps.
- Webhook reliability, signature checks and retries.
- Mandatory privacy webhooks: customers/data_request, customers/redact and shop/redact.
- Theme app extensions instead of editing themes or script tags.
- GraphQL rate limits, bulk operations and API version upgrades.
The three options at $60,000
Compared on risk, not price alone.
| Option | Strength | Risk at this budget | Best for |
| Shopify specialist agency | Shipped apps, review experience, team depth | Higher day rate, so scope must be firm | A first public app or a business-critical custom app |
| General dev shop | Strong engineering and delivery process | Learns Shopify rules on your budget | A custom app with simple needs, or work that mixes web and mobile |
| Freelancer | Lowest cost and direct contact | Single point of failure, bus factor | A small, well-defined build with a clear spec |
Budget fit comes from third-party 2026 estimates of $25,000 to $60,000 for feature-rich apps.
What a general dev shop gets wrong on Shopify
Five misses we see in code reviews.
It burns API quota and breaks at peak.
Script tags on storefronts stop running on March 1, 2027, so new work should use theme app extensions.
Paid apps must bill through Shopify.
App Store review checks them.
Shopify releases quarterly and retires old versions.
Vetting questions
Ask these before you sign.
- Which Shopify apps have you shipped, and are any live on the App Store?
- Who exactly will build and support this, and are they staff or contractors?
- How do you handle review feedback and resubmission?
- How do you monitor errors, webhooks and rate limits?
- What happens when Shopify releases a new API version?
- Can I speak to a past client with a similar app?
Ownership and handover terms
Insist on all of these in writing.
Rule of thumb: if you cannot rebuild from what you hold, you do not own the app.
Our app work
We report more than 50 delivered Shopify apps. Examples include a webhook-based order sync for Fanbase and a Shopify app for ColDesi Clickwear distributed through the Shopify App Store. We do not list App Store status for every app on our site, so ask us for current listings.
Read more: our Shopify app development service
Share your scope and the $60,000 budget, and our Shopify app development team will tell you what fits and where the risk is.
Frequently Asked Questions
It can be for a feature-rich custom or small public app. Third-party 2026 estimates put feature-rich builds at $25,000 to $60,000, so the budget leaves little for surprises unless scope is firm.
A Shopify-specialist agency is usually the lowest-risk choice for a first public app. A freelancer can fit a small, well-defined build. A general dev shop needs proof of Shopify-specific work.
Ask about App Bridge and Polaris, the Billing API, webhook reliability, privacy webhooks, theme app extensions and a recent app they shipped through review.
Common misses are polling instead of webhooks, ignoring rate limits, injecting scripts into themes, skipping privacy webhooks and building billing outside Shopify’s rules.
Code in a repository you own, hosting and Partner account access in your name, written IP assignment, documentation and a handover period. Never accept a closed black box. See what to do if you already lost the code.
