Guide · 2026
How to sell subscriptions on Shopify.
Recurring revenue is the most predictable revenue a store can have. Here’s the whole path — from picking products to keeping churn low — in seven steps, plus what actually matters when you choose an app.
Decide what to sell on subscription
Subscriptions work best for consumables and replenishables — coffee, supplements, skincare, pet food, household staples — anything a customer runs out of on a predictable cycle. Start with one or two hero products rather than your whole catalogue; you can expand once the flow is proven.
Install a subscriptions app
Shopify handles subscription contracts natively, but you need an app to create the plans, show the subscribe option on your storefront, and give customers a place to manage their orders. Choose on fee model first — a percentage of every order compounds as you grow, while flat pricing stays predictable.
Create your first selling plan
A selling plan defines how customers subscribe: the delivery cadence (every 2 weeks, monthly, every 3 months) and any subscribe-and-save discount. Attach it to the products you chose in step one. Keep the first plan simple — one cadence, one sensible discount — and refine later.
Add the subscribe widget to your product page
In your theme editor, add the subscriptions app block to your product template so shoppers see a one-time vs subscribe-and-save choice near the buy button. A good widget inherits your theme’s fonts and colours so it looks native, not bolted on.
Set up the customer portal and emails
Shoppers will want to skip, pause, change delivery, or swap a payment method themselves. A native in-account portal (no separate login) does this without support tickets. Configure your lifecycle emails too — created, upcoming charge, payment failed — ideally in your customer’s language if you sell internationally.
Keep churn low
Two levers matter most. Dunning retries failed payments on a schedule so you don’t lose subscribers to an expired card. Save offers — a pause or skip presented in the cancel flow — turn “cancel” into “pause” for a meaningful share of customers. Track save rate and cancellation reasons to see what’s working.
Migrating from another app? Import, don’t rebuild
If you already run subscriptions elsewhere, you don’t start from zero. Export your subscribers to CSV and import them with billing dates intact, so existing customers keep their schedules and you don’t have to re-collect payment details.
The one decision that compounds: fees.
Most subscription apps take a percentage of every recurring order, forever. At small scale it’s easy to ignore; at €40k/month in subscription revenue, a 1.5% cut is €600 a month — more than most apps’ flat fee. Pick a pricing model you’ll still be happy with once subscriptions are working.