Choose a Shopify agency by verifying claims rather than comparing pitches. Confirm their tier on Shopify's own Partner Directory, not the badge on their site. Match the agency type to your job before shortlisting. Ask questions with checkable answers, such as which API version their live client apps run. And call two references with a prepared script rather than asking whether they were happy.
On this page: Match type to job · Verify credentials · Questions to ask · Case studies · Reference call script · Trust signals · Cost · Red flags · Run this on us
We publish this and we are a Shopify agency, so we are not a neutral party. The whole point of the method below is that it does not require you to trust us. Every step is something you can check yourself, and the last section runs the checklist on our own firm so you can see what the answers look like when someone has to give them.
What kind of Shopify agency does my job need?
Match the agency type to the shape of your work before you shortlist anyone. Ongoing complexity where the same team builds and maintains suits an embedded retainer partner. A defined build with a launch date suits a full-service shop. A hard single-axis problem suits a specialist. A small specified task suits a freelancer. Getting this wrong costs more than picking the wrong firm within the right category.
Most buyers do this backwards. They collect five agency names, take five calls, then try to compare pitches that are not comparable because the firms are built for different jobs. A specialist built for enterprise checkout logic will lose a pitch for a brand-led storefront rebuild, and should.
Work out the shape first:
| Your situation | Agency type |
|---|---|
| Complexity keeps growing after launch | Embedded retainer partner |
| One large build or replatform with an end date | Full-service brand and build shop |
| One hard, well-bounded technical problem | Specialist or systems shop |
| Small, single-discipline task | Freelancer |
| Continuous product work at real volume | In-house, often with an agency alongside |
Our comparison of the six agency archetypes goes through each in detail, including which one wins which job. That page ranks our own archetype first and says so, so read it with that in mind.
How do I verify a Shopify agency's credentials?
This single check filters more effectively than anything else you can do in five minutes, and most buyers never do it.
Where to look: shopify.com/partners/directory, filterable by service, location and technology. Listing there is tied to tier, with Plus, Premier and Platinum partners invited on an ongoing basis. If the tier an agency claims does not match what Shopify shows, that gap is your answer.
What the tiers mean in practice. They measure delivered track record, not fit. A Platinum agency built for enterprise B2B is the wrong choice for a brand-led rebuild. Tier tells you an agency is real. Everything below tells you whether it is right.
One term to watch. Shopify sunset the standalone "Plus Partner" program brand in December 2024. An agency still leading with that phrasing in 2026 is either using a retired brand or has not updated its site in two years, and either way it is worth asking which.
What questions should I ask a Shopify agency?
Ask questions with checkable answers rather than questions about approach. "What is your process" invites a rehearsed answer. "Which API version are your current live client apps running" does not, and the response tells you whether they maintain what they build.
Six questions, each with what a strong answer sounds like and what should worry you.
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Which API version are your live client apps running?
Strong: a current or recent version, with a stated policy for Shopify's quarterly releases. Red flag: they do not know, or they name a version more than a year old. Shopify deprecates on a schedule, so an agency that does not track this is shipping future outages. -
What is the largest number of live POS locations you have deployed?
Strong: a specific number they can name. Red flag: vagueness, if retail matters to you. Most Shopify agencies have never taken POS past a handful of locations because most of their clients are DTC only. -
How many migrations have you run from my current platform specifically?
Strong: a number, plus the hardest part of that particular migration named unprompted. Red flag: "we have done lots of migrations." Magento, WooCommerce, BigCommerce and Squarespace each fail differently, and an agency that cannot name the failure mode has not run enough of them. -
What went wrong on your last project, and what did you change?
Strong: a specific, slightly uncomfortable answer. Red flag: "nothing really." Every project has a problem. An agency that cannot name one is either new or not being straight with you. -
Who writes the code, and did they write the code on the project you just showed me?
Strong: named people, in-house, on your project. Red flag: the principals who ran the sales call are not the people who will build it, and nobody says so until week three. -
What happens after launch, and is it written into the agreement?
Strong: a defined support window, a named contact, response commitments, and a clear path to retainer. Red flag: "we hand over documentation and you take it from there," particularly on a complex build with custom integrations.
Ask the last one early. Go-live is not the finish line, and the agency that built the store has the most context for supporting it.
What to look for in Shopify agency case studies
Four things: a starting point, what specifically changed, a measured outcome, and a timeframe. Most agency case studies, ours included, describe what was built and skip what happened. A case study without a before-and-after number is a portfolio piece rather than evidence.
We will be direct about this because it is the most common weakness in the category, and it applies to us. A case study reading "we redesigned their product pages and built a bundle builder" tells you an agency can build things. It does not tell you whether building them worked.
Demand instead:
- The before number. Conversion rate, page speed, order volume, processing time, whatever the project was meant to move.
- The specific change. Not "we optimised the funnel." Which page, which mechanism.
- The after number, with a date range. Ninety days is reasonable for conversion work.
- What did not work. An agency reporting only wins is reporting selectively.
If an agency cannot produce this for at least two clients, ask why. The honest answers are that nobody captured a baseline, or the client will not permit publication. Both are fair, and both are worth knowing before you sign.
What should I ask an agency's references?
Skip "were you happy with the work." Ask five specific questions instead: whether it shipped on time and on budget, what happened when something broke, whether the people who pitched did the work, what they would do differently, and whether they would hire the agency again for a different project. The fifth question produces the most honest answer, because it separates satisfaction from recommendation.
Any agency worth hiring can put you in touch with two or three past clients. Most buyers waste the call.
The script:
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"Did it ship on time and on budget? If not, by how much and why?"
Slippage is normal. Unexplained slippage is not. You are testing whether the agency communicated the reason. -
"What happened the first time something broke after launch?"
This is the most revealing question in the set. Response time, whether anyone took ownership, whether there was an argument about scope. -
"Were the people who pitched you the people who did the work?"
Ask this even if the agency already answered it. The reference is the only person who actually knows. -
"What would you do differently if you started again?"
Frame it as their decision rather than the agency's performance, and people answer honestly. You will usually learn what the agency is weak at without them criticising anyone. -
"Would you hire them again for a different project?"
Not "would you recommend them," which people say to be polite. A hesitation here means more than anything on the call.
Then one more, to the agency: ask for a reference from a project that went badly. Most will decline. The ones who do not are worth a second look.
What makes a Shopify agency trustworthy?
Five checkable signals: a tier you can verify on Shopify's directory rather than a badge on their site, published rates instead of "contact us for pricing," named clients you are allowed to call, a stated view on when not to hire them, and disclosed bias on any list or comparison they publish.
None of these are about talent. They are about whether the claims can be checked, which is the only thing you can assess before you have worked with someone.
The inverse is more useful as a filter. A tier claim that does not match the directory. Rates revealed only after two calls. Case studies with no numbers. An agency that has never told a prospect not to hire them. A "best agencies" list ranking the publisher first without saying so.
How much should a Shopify agency cost?
No neutral body publishes Shopify agency rates, so every figure available traces to an agency's own pricing page. Directional ranges put retainers from roughly $1,500 to $6,000 a month for a freelancer up to $15,000 to $50,000 for a certified Plus partner, with projects from around $5,000 for a simple migration to $100,000 for a full Plus implementation. Builds commonly exceed budget by 20% to 40% where scope was not itemised.
The more useful question is not the rate but the structure.
Always ask for a line-item estimate. A lump sum hides what you could cut. Line items let you drop scope you do not need and keep what you do. An estimate arriving without explanation, or a firm number quoted before anyone asked about your business, is a red flag rather than efficiency.
Ask what happens when scope changes, because that is where budgets break.
Ask who owns the code and design assets after the project. The answer should be you.
And treat the lowest bid carefully. Some firms estimate that rework and coordination overhead can add 50% to 100% to total project cost, though those figures come from agencies competing with cheaper offshore shops and should be weighed as interested. The direction is well attested even if the magnitude is disputed.
For what it is worth, ours are published: $150 per hour, hour blocks from 10 hours at $1,500, retainers from 20 hours at $3,000 a month, and projects from around $20,000 as a line-item estimate. Full breakdown including Shopify's own platform fees: Shopify Plus cost.
What are the red flags when hiring a Shopify agency?
The clearest signals are a tier claim that does not match Shopify's directory, a lump-sum quote with no line items, a firm price given before any questions about your business, no named post-launch owner, case studies without numbers, and an agency that cannot name anything that went wrong on a previous project.
Two more that are easy to miss.
Pricing that ignores apps and integrations. If a quote does not mention app subscriptions or integration costs, you will meet them later as surprises. Integration work is where most complex Shopify projects run into trouble.
A pitch that never mentions your platform's specific problems. If you are on Magento and nobody raises attribute sets or the .html URL suffix, or you are on WooCommerce and nobody mentions page builders or Yoast metadata, they have not thought about your project. Our platform guides cover what each one actually involves: Magento, WooCommerce, BigCommerce and Squarespace.
Run this checklist on us
Everything above is a test. Here are our answers, so you can see what the format looks like when someone has to fill it in, and so you can hold us to the same standard as anyone else you are talking to.
| Check | Our answer |
|---|---|
| Verified tier | Platinum, top of five tiers. Directory profile |
| Third-party rating | 5.0 from 37 reviews on Shopify's directory |
| Partner since | March 2018 |
| Published rates | $150/hr, $1,500 block, $3,000 retainer, $20,000 projects |
| Largest live POS deployment | 59 locations, one client |
| Merchants served | 500+, including 75+ replatforms |
| Named clients | Medik8, HUK Gear, Los Angeles Apparel, Elm Biosciences, Aspen Publishing, Lifelines |
| Who writes the code | In-house engineers. Same team through the project |
| Post-launch | 30-day support window on original scope, then retainer from $3,000 |
| When not to hire us | Full builds under $20,000, one-off ticket work, teams who cannot consolidate feedback |
| Case study numbers | Being added. We do not currently publish before-and-after metrics, which by our own standard above is a gap |
That last row is uncomfortable to publish and it is the honest state of things. If another agency shows you measured outcomes and we do not, weight that accordingly.
Our full service range is on the Shopify Plus development page.
Frequently asked questions
How do I choose a Shopify agency?
Verify rather than compare. Confirm their tier on Shopify's Partner Directory, match the agency type to the shape of your work, ask questions with checkable answers such as which API version their live apps run, and call two references with a prepared script. Comparing pitches without verifying claims is how most bad hires happen.
How do I choose a Shopify development agency?
Same method, with more weight on technical depth. Ask how many migrations they have run from your specific platform, what their API versioning policy is, whether they have built custom apps rather than only themes, and who writes the code. A development partner who cannot answer those precisely is a design shop with a developer.
How do I hire a Shopify development agency?
Shortlist by agency type rather than portfolio. Ask for two case studies with before-and-after numbers, references you can call, and a line-item estimate. Confirm who will actually do the work. Then ask what would make them decline the job, because an agency that will take anything has no filter.
How do I find a Shopify development agency?
Start with Shopify's Partner Directory, filtered by service, location and technology, since it shows verified tier and is the one source agencies do not control. Clutch and GoodFirms add third-party reviews. Referrals from brands at your stage are stronger than either, because they know what delivery actually felt like.
How do I evaluate a Shopify agency's experience?
Ask for specifics they cannot fake: largest live POS location count, which API version their current client apps run, how many migrations from your source platform, and what went wrong on the last one. Vague answers to specific questions are themselves the answer.
Where should I hire a Shopify agency for a store launch?
Start with the directory rather than a marketplace, because tier is visible and verifiable there. For a launch specifically, weight post-launch support heavily. The first fortnight after go-live is when problems surface, and an agency with no defined support arrangement is the wrong choice however good the build.
How do I find a reliable Shopify agency near me?
Filter the Partner Directory by location, then ask for local clients you can look up. Proximity matters less than proof, but an agency with people and clients in your city has work you can verify and can meet you in person if that matters to you.
What are the benefits of hiring a Shopify agency?
Breadth without headcount. A build spanning design, engineering, integrations and QA needs four skill sets, and hiring all four rarely makes sense below a certain volume. Agencies also carry pattern recognition from other stores, so the failure modes they have already seen are the ones you avoid repeating.
Is a Shopify Plus Partner the top certification?
No. The 2026 program has five tiers in order: Registered, Select, Plus, Premier, Platinum. Plus is mid-tier with two above it. Certification confirms an agency is real. It does not confirm fit for your job.
Should I hire an agency, a freelancer, or build in-house?
A single well-defined task suits a freelancer. A build spanning design, engineering, integrations and QA suits an agency, because coordinating four freelancers becomes a project management job you did not intend to take. Continuous product work at real volume eventually justifies in-house, usually with an agency alongside for specialist work.
If you want to test us
Bring your platform, your revenue range, and what is actually blocking you. We will tell you what the work involves, roughly what it costs as line items, and whether we are the right archetype for it. If we are not, we will say which one is.
