Can You Customise Shopify Checkout? Options, Limitations and What Merchants Should Know

You can customise Shopify checkout on every plan from Basic upward, but only within the layers Shopify provides: the checkout and accounts editor for branding and settings, App Store apps that use Shopify Functions, pixels for tracking, and app extensions on the thank you, order status and customer account pages. Adding fields or content to the information, shipping and payment steps, using the Checkout Branding API and running your own custom Function apps all need Shopify Plus. Nobody, on any plan, can edit the checkout's code directly any more.

Shopify's help centre puts it simply: standard customisations are available on Basic or higher, and "advanced checkout customization features are available only on the Shopify Plus plan" (Shopify Help Center: checkout extensibility). This guide sets out exactly where that line sits, what no plan can change, and how to match a specific requirement to the right approach. If your goal is more completed orders rather than a new feature, start with how to optimise Shopify checkout for conversion.

Shopify hosts the checkout for every store. Instead of editing templates, you work through a set of tools, each with a different job. Knowing which tool a request needs is most of the battle, because the tool decides the plan.

This matrix combines Shopify's checkout apps plan table with two later changelog updates. Where the help centre and the changelog disagree, the newer changelog entry is used and noted. Shopify's documentation describes plans as "Basic or higher" and does not list Starter. Plan features change, so check the linked pages before you commit to a build.

Shopify Functions are the main way to change checkout logic, and their plan rule depends on how the app is distributed. Shopify's developer documentation says "stores on any plan can use public apps that are distributed through the Shopify App Store and contain functions", while "only stores on a Shopify Plus plan can use custom apps that contain Shopify Function APIs" (shopify.dev: Shopify Functions).

In practice, if an App Store app already does what you need, such as hiding a payment method above an order value, you can usually use it on Basic. If you want logic written only for your store, built as a custom app, you need Plus. A third route is a public app built for your requirement and listed on the App Store, which is a much bigger commitment because public apps go through Shopify's App Store review.

One further limit: Functions normally work only with the data Shopify passes to them. Calling your own server from a Function (network access) is, in Shopify's words, "limited to custom apps installed on Enterprise stores", and must be requested. If a requirement depends on live data from an ERP or pricing service at checkout, check this early.

Some limits apply even on Plus. Knowing them saves time spent on requirements that cannot be built.

Shopify's default layout is a one-page checkout, and you can switch to three pages (information, shipping, payment) in the checkout and accounts editor. The layout switch is listed among the editor settings available on all plans, and Shopify says existing customisations keep working when you switch, although the header layout differs, so check images and logo placement (Shopify Help Center: one-page checkout).

The plan rule for the information, shipping and payment steps still applies on one-page checkout: those areas are part of the page on one-page checkout, but adding UI extensions to them remains Plus only. Choose a layout based on your own data, not on a general rule. If you switch, measure checkout completion before and after, by device.

Many older customisations stopped working over the last two years. If a feature disappeared from your checkout, or tracking broke on the thank you page, one of these dates is the likely reason.

Use this table when a stakeholder asks for a checkout change. Find the closest requirement, then check the approach and the minimum plan. "Public app" means an existing Shopify App Store app; "custom app" means one built only for your store.

Hypothetical example: a skincare brand on the Grow plan wants four changes: hide cash on delivery for orders above a set value, ask for a gift message, offer a refill after purchase, and fix purchase tracking that stopped when its additional scripts were retired.

Using the lookup table, cash on delivery can be hidden with an App Store app built on the Payment Customization Function. Purchase tracking moves to the analytics provider's app pixel or a custom pixel. The refill offer could use a post-purchase extension once access is granted, but it will not show for wallet payments or some international orders, so a thank you page extension is the more predictable first step. The gift message is the only Plus-level request: on Grow, the brand would add an optional gift message field to the cart page through its theme. None of these changes alone justifies Plus; a growing list of in-checkout requirements might.

Checkout is rarely the only reason to move to Plus, but it is a common trigger. For the full comparison, see Shopify Plus vs Shopify. Check Shopify's current pricing page for Plus costs.

Checkout changes affect revenue immediately, and a misconfigured validation or payment rule can stop orders completely. Test before release and watch closely after.

Shopify changes checkout features often, and two of the sources used here disagreed when checked (the Checkout Blocks help page and the April 2026 changelog). Treat this guide as a map, and confirm each requirement against the current documentation before you scope work. The guide does not cover headless storefronts in depth or Shopify's B2B checkout rules beyond a pointer; for wholesale, see whether Shopify suits B2B ecommerce. If your store needs wider theme or platform changes alongside checkout, choosing between a Shopify redesign and a rebuild covers that decision.

Plans and capabilities: Shopify Help Center: checkout extensibility; Shopify Help Center: checkout apps; shopify.dev: checkout UI extensions (API 2026-07); shopify.dev: Shopify Functions; Shopify Help Center: Checkout Blocks; Shopify Help Center: Markets requirements and considerations.

Changelog: order value limits on all plans (13 Apr 2026); checkout and accounts by market (16 Mar 2026); Shopify Scripts deprecation; online store script tags deprecation; checkout.liquid deprecation.

Features and limits: shopify.dev: post-purchase extensions; Shopify Help Center: pixels; Shopify Help Center: checkout style; Shopify Help Center: one-page checkout; shopify.dev: checkout.liquid; Shopify Help Center: checkout upgrade.

Accessed 14 October 2026. Shopify plan features and deadlines change; check the current documentation before planning work.

Shopify checkout is customisable on every plan from Basic, but in layers: branding and settings in the editor, rules through Function apps, tracking through pixels and content after the order. The information, shipping and payment steps, the Branding API and custom Function apps remain Plus territory, and per-market settings start at Advanced. List your requirements, map each one with the lookup table, test every change on a development store and with edge cases, and only then decide whether a plan change is justified.