Want to try Shopify without paying the regular monthly price right away?
Shopify's standard public offer currently gives new merchants 3 days free, followed by 3 months at $1/month on most plans.
That gives you a short free window to build, then a much longer low-cost period if you decide Shopify is worth testing with real customers.
Quick Answer: What is the best Shopify trial in October 2026?For most new merchants, Shopify currently offers 3 days free, followed by 3 months at $1/month on most plans. You don't need a credit card to start the free trial, but you must choose a paid plan and set up payments before you can accept live orders.If you're an eligible student or 1MBB participant, check those special offers before using the standard route because they can give you more time at a free or discounted price.
Below, we'll compare the live options and explain what you can do during each one. We'll also show you which old Shopify trial offers you can stop chasing.
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Shopify free trial: Every option at a glance
Here are the Shopify trial and discounted-access routes worth knowing about in October 2026:
| Shopify trial deal | Length | Cost | Can you sell? | Live in October 2026? |
| Standard free trial | 3 days | $0 | No, checkout stays inactive until you choose a paid plan and set up payments | ✔ |
| 3-day trial + 3 months for $1/month | 3 free days + 3 promotional months | $3 across the 3 promotional months | Yes, after choosing an eligible paid plan and setting up payments | ✔ If offered to your account |
| Shopify student offer | Up to 4 free months, then 3 months at $1/month | $0 while building, then $1/month during the promotional period | Yes, after activating the $1/month offer and setting up payments | ✔ Eligible students at 500+ US and Canada schools |
| Shopify 1MBB program | 6 months at $1/month | $6 across 6 months | Yes, after activating Shopify and setting up payments | ✔ Eligible 1MBB participants in the US |
| Shopify development store | Open-ended for development and testing | $0 | No real transactions | ✔ For app development and testing |
| Shopify's Covid-19 response (90-day free trial) | 90 days | $0 | Previously, not current | ✖ Ended |
| 30-day free trial offers | 30 days | $0 | Not a current public offer | ✖ Not current |
| 14-day free trial | 14 days | $0 | Previously, not current | ✖ Ended |
For most new merchants, the standard 3-day trial followed by 3 months at $1/month is the first route to check.
If you qualify for the student or 1MBB offer, check that option before signing up through the standard route so you do not miss a longer eligibility-based deal.
Does Shopify have a free trial? (And how long is it?)
Yes. Shopify currently offers a 3-day free trial that you can start without entering a credit card.
The exact trial length and promotional pricing can vary by country or account. Timing can affect the offer too, so check what Shopify shows when you sign up.
The trial clock starts on the day you sign up at shopify.com, not when you first start working on the store.
During those 3 days, you can add products and customize your theme. You can also install apps and work through your store settings.
The main limitation is checkout. You need to choose a paid plan and set up a payment provider before customers can place live orders.
Three days is not much time if you're starting with nothing prepared.
That's where Shopify's current promotional pricing helps: most plans currently start at $1/month for the first 3 months after the free trial.
Shopify's 3 months for $1/month deal
For most new merchants, this is Shopify's main public promotion: 3 days free, followed by 3 months at $1/month on most plans.
If the offer appears for your account, your Shopify subscription costs $3 across those 3 promotional months.
The regular Basic plan is currently $39/month in the US when paid monthly. Three regular months would cost $117, compared with $3 during the promotion.
That is a $114 difference before other costs such as apps, domains, or payment processing.
Shopify currently advertises the promotion alongside Basic, Grow, and Advanced. Shopify Plus uses a separate trial and pricing structure.
Check the price shown in your own Shopify signup flow before subscribing because promotional availability can vary by store location and account.
Once you activate an eligible paid plan and set up a payment provider, you can turn on checkout and accept real orders.
If you want to find out whether customers will actually buy from your store, that distinction matters. The free period is mainly for building; the paid promotional period is for live selling.
Some new merchants can also earn subscription credits through Shopify's Rewards Promotion.
Shopify says the promotion runs during your first 6 months after you sign up for a plan and pay your first invoice, or until you reach your plan's maximum credit amount.
In Shopify's USD example, Basic can earn up to $5,000 in credits. The cap rises to $7,500 for Grow and $10,000 for Advanced.
You can earn 1% back in subscription credits on transactions processed through Shopify Payments and 0.5% on transactions processed through other payment providers, up to your plan's cap (Shopify Help Center).
Start Shopify's 3-day free trial and see whether the 3-month $1 offer is available for your store.
You do not need a credit card to start the free trial.
Tip: Want to check the details before signing up? Read our full Shopify 3 Months for $1/Month deal breakdown.
Shopify student trial: Four free months for eligible students
If you're a student, check Shopify's student offer before starting the standard trial.
Shopify currently gives eligible students at more than 500 colleges and universities in the US and Canada up to four free months to build a store.
You need to sign up with the school-issued email address linked to a qualifying institution.
During the free period, you can build and customize the store, but you need to activate Shopify's $1/month promotional offer before you can start accepting real orders.
Activating that offer starts three promotional months on top of the student trial time you have already used.
If your school qualifies and you want more time to prepare before turning checkout on, use the student route rather than creating a standard trial first.
Check whether your school is eligible for Shopify's student offer.
Shopify 1MBB: A discounted route for eligible Black-owned businesses
Another special route is the 1 Million Black Businesses (1MBB) initiative, a partnership between Shopify and Operation HOPE.
Older articles may describe 1MBB as a 120-day Shopify trial, but that is not how Operation HOPE currently presents the offer.
Operation HOPE now says 1MBB participants can get Shopify for $1/month for 6 months.
To access the current deal, Operation HOPE says you first register through its free HOPE portal and then select the 'Get on Shopify' option inside your 1MBB dashboard.
1MBB is a US initiative focused on supporting Black-owned businesses, with a goal of supporting one million Black-owned businesses by 2030.
The program also includes coaching, business tools, and courses. You can also access webinars, so the Shopify discount is only one part of the support available.
Check the current Shopify 1MBB program page.
Can you extend your Shopify free trial?
No. Shopify says it does not extend or reset free trials or promotional pricing periods.
That is different from older advice you may still find online about asking Shopify Support for extra trial time.
If your 3-day free trial ends before you choose a paid plan, Shopify pauses your store until you select one.
Shopify keeps the progress you made during the trial, including your products and designs. Your settings are saved too, so you can continue after you choose a plan.
If you need more time, use the $1/month promotion if it is available or leave the store paused until you're ready to choose a plan.
Pause and Build is another option later, but your store must already be past its free trial and on a paid plan before you can use it. Checkout is disabled while the store is paused.
Can you get a Shopify free trial for 30 days?
No, not through Shopify's current public offer.
You may still find older articles, videos, or promotional pages mentioning a 30-day or 60-day Shopify trial.
Do not assume the number in an old headline is still available. Check the offer Shopify shows when you reach the current signup page.
Right now, Shopify's public offer is 3 days free followed by 3 months at $1/month on most plans.
Can you get a Shopify free trial for 90 days?
Not as a current 90-day free offer.
Shopify's $1/month promotion gives you three discounted months after the free trial, but those months are not free.
A real 90-day free trial did exist briefly in 2020. After Covid-19 disrupted small businesses, Shopify announced a free 90-day trial for new merchants moving online.
That promotion ended in 2020 and never became Shopify's standard free trial.
If you see a current page calling Shopify's three-month $1 promotion a 'free 90-day trial,' check the terms carefully. Paying $1/month is still a paid promotional plan.
Shopify pricing after the trial
Once your free trial and promotional pricing end, Shopify moves you to standard pricing for the plan and billing cycle you select.
Here are Shopify's current US prices for the main plans available to new stores:
- Basic: $39/month when billed monthly, or $29/month when billed yearly
- Grow: $105/month when billed monthly, or $79/month when billed yearly
- Advanced: $399/month when billed monthly, or $299/month when billed yearly
- Shopify Plus: From $2,300/month on a 3-year term, or $2,500/month on a 1-year term for standard setups
Shopify Starter used to be another $5/month route, but Shopify's current Help Center says Starter is no longer available to new stores.
Pricing can vary by country, currency, and billing cycle. Active promotions can change too, so check Shopify's pricing page before choosing a plan.
If you're not sure which plan fits your store, our Shopify pricing plans guide compares the differences in more detail.
How to make the most of your Shopify trial
Three days go quickly if you spend the first day deciding what your store is supposed to sell.
Do as much of the basic preparation as you can before starting the trial.
Here is what we would have ready:
- Choose the products or collection you want to test, and prepare the first product information you will upload.
- Pick your store name and domain.
- Prepare your basic branding. Have your logo, colors, and main value proposition ready.
- Have your product images ready or know where they will come from.
- Check which payment providers are available in your country and whether you can use Shopify Payments.
- Think through your shipping and return setup before customers can place orders.
- Choose a Shopify theme or narrow your options down before you start customizing.
Once those decisions are out of the way, you can spend more of the trial actually building the store.
Keep app costs in mind too. Paid apps can still show up on your Shopify bill, so check an app's billing terms before installing it.
You can also use Shopify's built-in AI tools to speed up some of the setup work.
Shopify Magic can help with product descriptions and other store content. Sidekick can answer questions and help with tasks inside your Shopify admin.
Review anything those tools generate before publishing it, especially product claims and other factual information.
For the full setup process, follow our guide to starting a Shopify store from scratch.
It covers:
- Coming up with your product idea
- Choosing a fulfillment method
- Picking a Shopify plan
- Finding a supplier
- Defining your ideal target audience
- Designing and branding your store
- Installing the right Shopify apps
- Setting up your payment gateways
- Picking a marketing channel and deciding when to launch
Have the basics ready? Start the 3-day Shopify trial.
What happens when the Shopify trial ends?
What happens next depends on whether you selected a paid plan.
If you did not choose a paid plan before the free trial ends, Shopify pauses the store until you select one.
Shopify retains your products, designs, and settings. Customers cannot use checkout while the store is paused.
If you selected a paid plan during the free trial, charges for that plan start after the free trial ends.
If promotional pricing applies to your account, Shopify charges the promotional rate for the promotional period.
After that period, Shopify says you need to select a standard-rate plan to continue. If you do not, your store might be frozen until you choose one.
If you deactivate the store, Shopify guarantees that its information will remain available for 2 years in case you decide to reopen it.
So letting the free trial expire does not mean Shopify immediately deletes everything you built.
For the full breakdown, read our guide to what happens when your Shopify trial ends.
Shopify trial vs other ecommerce platform trials
Shopify's offer is inexpensive once the $1/month promotion starts, but it is not the longest free ecommerce trial.
Here is how the major ecommerce platforms compare:
| Platform | Trial or starter option | Card required? | Sell during trial? | Regular plan pricing |
| Shopify | 3-day free trial, then 3 months at $1/month on most plans | No for the free trial | No during the free trial, yes after choosing a paid plan and setting up payments | Basic is $39/month in the US when billed monthly |
| BigCommerce | 15-day fully functional free trial | No | Yes, after connecting a payment provider | Core starts at $39/month |
| Wix | Free site builder, then a 14-day money-back guarantee on paid plans | Yes for a paid ecommerce plan | No on the free plan; selling requires an eligible paid plan | Varies by plan, country, and billing cycle |
| Squarespace | 14-day free website trial | No | No, trial sites cannot accept payments | Varies by plan, country, and billing cycle |
| WooCommerce | No hosted trial, free open-source plugin | N/A | Yes, once hosting and payments are set up | $0 plugin, but hosting and other costs apply |
| Ecwid | Starter plan available | Depends on the plan | Yes, within the plan's limits | Starter is $5/month in markets where that pricing applies |
If your priority is the longest fully functional free trial, BigCommerce currently gives you more free selling time than Shopify.
If Shopify is already the platform you want to test, its $1/month promotion gives you much more low-cost time after the initial 3-day build period.
WooCommerce is a different trade-off again. The plugin is free, but you take on hosting and more of the setup yourself.
Shopify free trial FAQs
Here are the answers to the Shopify trial questions that tend to cause the most confusion:
How do you cancel the Shopify free trial?
If you have not chosen a paid plan, you do not need to do anything to avoid a Shopify subscription charge. If you want to close the trial manually, Shopify also gives you a Cancel trial option under Settings > Plan.
If you already selected a paid plan, you need to deactivate the store to stop future subscription billing. Pause and Build still has a reduced subscription fee.
What happened to the 14-day free Shopify trial?
Shopify previously offered a 14-day free trial, but that is no longer its standard public offer.
Shopify currently advertises 3 days free, followed by 3 months at $1/month on most plans.
Is there a free Shopify trial for 50 orders?
No. Shopify does not offer a merchant free trial based on reaching 50 live orders.
Shopify development stores are for app development and testing, and they cannot process real transactions. Shopify now uses client transfer stores when a Partner is building a store for a merchant.
Are there limitations to the free Shopify trial?
Yes. During the standard free trial, checkout stays inactive until you choose a paid plan and set up a payment provider.
You can still build the store and add products. You can also customize your theme, explore settings, and install apps. Check paid app billing terms before installing them so you know what you might still be charged for.
Can you get Shopify free for 4 or 6 months?
There are special offers, but they are not the standard public Shopify trial. Eligible students at 500+ colleges and universities in the US and Canada can get up to 4 free months to build before activating Shopify's $1/month promotional period.
Eligible participants in Operation HOPE's US-based 1MBB program can currently get Shopify for $1/month for 6 months.
Is there a special Shopify free trial for dropshipping?
No. Shopify doesn't offer a separate public trial just for dropshippers. Dropshippers use the same standard trial and promotional pricing as other new merchants.
You can install dropshipping apps such as DSers, Zendrop, and Spocket while setting up the store. The normal Shopify trial and billing rules still apply.
Does Shopify have a vacation mode?
Shopify does not call it vacation mode, but Pause and Build can serve a similar purpose for eligible paid stores.
Customers can still view your products while checkout is disabled. To use Pause and Build, your store must be past the free trial period and already on a paid plan.
Can I start selling on Shopify during my free trial?
Not on the free trial alone. Shopify keeps checkout inactive until you choose a paid plan and set up a payment provider.
If the $1/month promotion is available, you can start accepting live orders after you activate an eligible paid plan and configure payments.
Is there a Shopify unlimited free trial?
No. Shopify does not offer an unlimited merchant free trial.
Shopify development stores provide a free environment for app development and testing, but you can't use them as production stores or process real transactions.
Do I need a credit card to start the Shopify free trial?
No. Shopify says you can start its standard 3-day free trial without entering a credit card.
You need to add billing details when you choose a paid plan. That is also when you can set up payments and activate checkout for live orders.
Will my data be saved if I let the trial expire?
Yes. Shopify says it retains the progress you make during the free trial when you choose a paid plan later. That includes your products, designs, and settings.
If you deactivate a store, Shopify guarantees that its information will remain available for 2 years in case you decide to reopen it.
Conclusion
Shopify's standard public route in October 2026 is straightforward: 3 days free, followed by 3 months at $1/month on most plans.
For most new merchants, that is the first offer to check.
If you're an eligible student or 1MBB participant, compare the special offer available to you before using the standard route because you may get more time at a free or discounted price.
If you're still deciding whether Shopify is right for you, use the free period to build a basic version of the store and see whether you actually like working with the platform before committing to regular pricing.
Start Shopify's 3-day free trial and check the current $1/month offer.
No credit card is required to start the free trial.
Curious how a store can sell products without holding inventory? Read our beginner's guide to dropshipping.
Have a question we didn't cover? Drop it in the comments below.
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