Building or testing on a development or staging store? Good news: Checkout Plus and Discount Plus are both free on those stores, so you can set everything up and test it before you pay a cent on your live store.
On Checkout Plus the free plan is called Staging & Dev, and on Discount Plus it's called Staging & Testing. There's no button for it on the Checkout Plus plan page because our team switches it on for you, and the same quick chat message works for Discount Plus too. This guide walks you through it.
Before you start
A Shopify development, staging, or sandbox store (not the store that takes real orders)
Checkout Plus or Discount Plus installed on that store
Your store's
.myshopify.comaddress (you'll find it in Shopify admin under Settings → Domains)
Step 1: Install the app on your staging or dev store
Install Checkout Plus or Discount Plus from the Shopify App Store on your staging or dev store.
If the app asks you to pick a plan, hold off for a sec and message us first (Step 2). That way you don't start a paid subscription on a store that qualifies for free.
Step 2: Send us a message from inside the app
In Checkout Plus: open Apps → Checkout Plus, scroll to Help and Resources at the bottom of the home page, and click live chat.
In Discount Plus: open Apps → Discount Plus, and under Discount Types click Contact us.
Step 3: Tell us which store to switch over
To get you set up fast, include these in your message:
Your store's
.myshopify.comaddressThat it's a development, staging, or sandbox store
Which app you want the free plan on (or both!)
Your live store's name, if you have one, so we know where you're headed
Something like this works great:
Hi! Can you turn on the free plan for my staging store? It's my-store-staging.myshopify.com.
Step 4: Refresh the app
We're a small team and usually reply within an hour.
Once we confirm the free plan is on, refresh the app page.
That's it! You should now have full access on that store.
Step 5: Build, test, then go live
Set up your customizations or discounts on the staging store and test them in a real checkout. The editor preview can look a little different from the real thing, so always do a test run.
When you're ready to launch, install the app on your live store and choose a paid plan. Every paid plan comes with a 7-day free trial.
Checkout Plus customizations can be exported from your staging store and imported on your live store, so you only build them once. Not sure how? Ask us in chat and we'll walk you through it.
Paid plans for your live store:
Checkout Plus: Basic $19/mo, Plus $49/mo, or Advanced $99/mo. Plus and Advanced require Shopify Plus, and checkout upsells are on Advanced. See How to Choose the Right Checkout Plus Plan.
Discount Plus: Standard $14.99/mo, and it works on all Shopify plans.
Tips
The free plans are for testing only. A store that takes real orders needs a paid plan (with the 7-day free trial to start).
The free plan unlocks the app, but some Checkout Plus features still depend on your store's Shopify plan. For example, blocks on the Information, Shipping, and Payment steps need Shopify Plus, while the Thank you and Order status pages work on every plan. See Which Checkout Plus Features Require Shopify Plus?.
Using both apps? Ask for both in the same message and we'll switch them over together.
Troubleshooting
I don't see a free plan on the plan page: That's expected on Checkout Plus. The Staging & Dev plan is turned on by our team (the App Store listing says Contact us to use), so just send us a message from the app. Same goes for Discount Plus.
The app is still locked after you turned it on: Refresh the page, or close the app and open it again. Still stuck? Reply in the same chat and we'll take a look.
I already picked a paid plan on my staging store: No worries. Message us with your
.myshopify.comaddress and we'll help sort it out.Can I use the free plan on my live store? The free plans are only for development and staging stores. For your live store, start a paid plan with the 7-day free trial. Billing questions? See How Does Checkout Plus Billing Work? or How Does Discount Plus Billing Work?.
Need help? Message us from the app (live chat in Checkout Plus, Contact us in Discount Plus) and include your store's .myshopify.com address.
Ready to try it? Install Checkout Plus or Install Discount Plus from the Shopify App Store.