app-billing

Shopify App Billing

Shopify apps can charge merchants through Shopify's billing system. Charges are collected via the merchant's Shopify payment method and appear on their bill. Three models are supported: recurring (fixed monthly/annual), usage-based (pay-per-action), and one-time (one-off charges). You can also combine them (hybrid).

Revenue Share Model

For developers eligible for Shopify's standard rates:

• You keep 100% of the first $1,000,000 USD in lifetime gross app revenue earned from January 1, 2025.
• Above that threshold, Shopify's revenue share is 15%, so you keep 85% before other fees and taxes.
• All billing is separately subject to a 2.9% processing fee, applicable sales tax, and potentially regional regulatory fees.
• Shopify applies special eligibility rules to very large developers and aggregates revenue across associated developer accounts. Verify the current policy before financial modeling.

This means your pricing directly affects what you keep:

App charges $10 while eligible for the 0% revenue-share tier
├─ Merchant pays: $10.00
├─ Processing fee: $0.29, before tax or regional fees
└─ Developer amount before tax/regional fees: $9.71

App charges $100 above the $1M lifetime threshold
├─ Merchant pays: $100.00
├─ Revenue share: $15.00
├─ Processing fee: $2.90, before tax or regional fees
└─ Developer amount before tax/regional fees: $82.10

Planning rule: Model revenue share, processing fees, taxes, refunds, and cost to serve separately; don't assume gross charges equal payout.

Billing Models

1. Recurring (Fixed Interval)

Use Case: Subscription model (e.g., "Pro plan $99/month") Charging: First charge immediate on approval; subsequent charges on anniversary date Cancellation: Merchant can cancel anytime; charged through current period end

appSubscriptionCreate Mutation:

mutation CreateRecurringSubscription {
  appSubscriptionCreate(
    input: {
      trialDays: 7
      lineItems: [
        {
          plan: {
            appRecurringPricingDetails: {
              interval: MONTHLY  # or ANNUAL
              price: { amount: "9.99", currencyCode: "USD" }
            }
          }
        }
      ]
      returnUrl: "https://your-app.com/billing/confirm"
    }
  ) {
    appSubscription {
      id
      confirmationUrl  # Merchant must visit this URL to approve
      lineItems {
        id
        plan {
          pricingDetails {
            ... on AppRecurringPricingDetails {
              interval
              price { amount currencyCode }
            }
          }
        }
      }
      status  # PENDING, ACTIVE, DECLINED, EXPIRED, FROZEN, CANCELLED
      currentPeriodEnd
      trialDays
      trialEndsOn
    }
    userErrors {
      field
      message
    }
  }
}