When do Shopify app charges hit your bill, and do you get money back if you uninstall?

Summary

Thirty days is not a month

Shopify bills recurring app plans on "an independent, 30-day billing cycle" that starts when you approve the app. Over 365 days that is up to 13 charges. A store running three apps at $10, $25, and $50 every 30 days pays $85 a cycle, or $1,105 across 13 cycles, where a monthly budget of $85 × 12 would have allowed $1,020. Our article on why list price times twelve falls short covers the same gap for other software.

Charges are added when you install, then collected on your next 30-day Shopify bill or once you pass your billing threshold, whichever comes first.

Four kinds of charge

Recurring. A fixed amount every 30 days, included in your Shopify subscription bill. Shopify allows one active recurring charge per app.

Usage-based. Billed on what you used over 30 days and added to the next bill, so one app cycle can be split across two Shopify bills. Some of these apps have a spending limit, and once it is reached no further charges are allowed until the next cycle. You can raise that limit in the admin but not lower it; lowering it means contacting the developer.

One-time. Invoiced separately from the subscription bill.

External. Some developers bill you directly. Those charges never appear on your Shopify bill, and uninstalling the app does not cancel them.

Upgrading an app plan mid-cycle is prorated by the days left. Downgrading earns an application credit you can spend on future app purchases.

What uninstalling does and does not do

Uninstalling cancels future recurring charges, but "you might still be billed for the current billing cycle," even a few days after installing. Canceling inside the app or on the developer's site is not enough; the app has to be removed under Settings > Apps before Shopify stops billing. For a refund, Shopify points you to the developer, ideally before you uninstall, and notes that refund decisions are "at the app developer's discretion."

Export anything you need first. The help center says some apps keep data you cannot recover after removal, a reinstall may not bring your settings back, and code an app added to your theme can stay behind.

Pausing or closing the store

Apps that were active before you pause a store "might continue to incur charges." Closing the store works the other way: outstanding app amounts, including usage charges, are billed immediately, and every app is uninstalled. An invoice left unpaid for 28 days freezes the store, and reopening can mean paying two invoices at once.

Sources

• https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/your-account/manage-billing/billing-charges/types-of-charges/third-party-charges/app-charges
• https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/apps/uninstalling-apps
• https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/apps/managing-apps
• https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/your-account/manage-billing/billing-considerations-pause-deactivate-store

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