The Shopify free trial: what you get and what happens after

Shopify's current signup offer, shown on its own pricing page, is "Try 3 days free, then $1/month for 3 months" - but Shopify's help center is explicit that trial length "can vary based on different factors," so treat that as the current offer rather than a fixed rule and check the live signup page before you rely on it. During the trial itself, your store is real and usable, but it starts in private mode with checkout inactive until you choose a paid plan. Here's what you can build, what's blocked, and what happens when the trial ends, sourced from Shopify's pricing page and Shopify's help center, checked September 2026.

How long does a Shopify trial actually last?

Shopify's help center doesn't print one fixed number for every signup. It states plainly: "The length of your free trial can vary based on different factors." To see the current trial length and any promotional offer, it points you to shopify.com/free-trial. Separately, Shopify's pricing page currently advertises "Try 3 days free, then $1/month for 3 months" as its signup offer - a promotional structure rather than a plain trial-then-full-price sequence. There's one documented exception: "If your store was created with an AI tool, such as the Stripe Projects CLI, or with a vibe code partner, then your store starts with a free trial, currently 4 months." Whichever path applies to you, Shopify's own signup page is the place to confirm the number before you commit to anything.

What can I actually build during the trial?

You get the real store-building tools, not a stripped-down demo. Shopify's help center describes the trial period as time to "set up your store and explore its features" - adding products, creating collections, configuring settings for tax and shipping, setting up a payment provider, and browsing the Theme Store and App Store. Your free trial also lets you test any of Shopify's public plans: "The free trial allows you to test out various Shopify plans, including Basic, Grow, and Advanced." Nothing you build is thrown away later - "You won't lose any work completed on your store during the free trial when you select a paid plan," and progress including "products added, designs made, and settings adjusted are retained when you choose a paid plan."

What can't I do until I pick a plan?

This is the trial's real boundary, and it's about visibility and selling, not the editor itself. Per Shopify's help center: "When you open a store on a free trial, your store is initially in private mode, or its checkout is inactive." To actually sell during the trial, "you can either deactivate private mode, or you can activate your online store checkout, and POS in-person sales if applicable, by choosing a paid plan," and you separately "need to set up a payment provider" to accept orders at all. In plain terms: a trial store isn't automatically live to the public with working checkout the way a paid store is - you either flip it out of private mode yourself or activate it by selecting a plan.

A few other trial mechanics worth knowing before you start:

• Switching plans is free during the trial. "You can switch between Shopify plans during your free trial. The new plan takes effect immediately, but you aren't charged until your free trial period ends."
• App charges still accrue. "If you add apps to your Shopify store during your free trial period, then any app-related charges are included on your next invoice" - the trial covers the Shopify subscription, not third-party app fees.
• A saved card can speed up checkout. If you've used the same Shopify account for another store, you "might be able to use a saved payment method when you choose a paid plan," though Shopify notes you may need to re-enter the card's security code first.

What happens when the trial ends without picking a plan?

Your store doesn't disappear, but it stops being usable until you act. Shopify's help center states the consequence directly: "If your free trial period ends before you upgrade to a paid plan, then you're prompted to pick a plan. Your store is paused until you choose a paid plan." If you'd rather walk away than pick a plan, that's also covered: "If you decide to cancel your Shopify account during the free trial without selecting a pricing plan, then no action is required, and your account is frozen." The one thing you can't do is stretch the clock - Shopify's help center says plainly, "It's not possible to extend the duration of your free trial period."

If you already chose a paid plan before the trial ended and then decide you don't want to continue, the process is different from simply letting the trial lapse: "If you choose a pricing plan before the end of your free trial, then you need to manually pause or deactivate your store to cancel your account," since a chosen plan will otherwise start billing once the trial period is over.

What should I do before my trial runs out?

• Decide on a plan with time to spare, especially if the current promotional pricing (like the discounted months after the initial trial) matters to your budget - check Shopify's pricing page for the live offer rather than assuming a number from an earlier visit. Our full breakdown of Shopify's plans and fees covers what Basic, Grow, Advanced, and Plus each unlock once you're ready to pick one.
• Set up a payment provider early, since you can't accept real orders without one regardless of which plan you eventually choose.
• Don't assume a private trial store is invisible by accident - private mode and an inactive checkout are documented default behavior, not something broken that needs fixing.
• If you're testing an AI-created store's longer trial window, confirm your plan and trial status from Settings > Plan in your Shopify admin rather than assuming the standard offer applies.

Where does Figment fit in?

Nowhere directly - Figment isn't a Shopify alternative in the trial-and-plan sense above. Figment publishes a website from a Figma design you've already built, through its Figma plugin; it has its own free tier (unlimited sites on figment.so, with a badge) rather than a time-limited commerce trial that pauses a live store. If you're specifically weighing Shopify's plan structure once your trial is over, that decision is what our pricing breakdown is meant to help with.

Bottom line: a Shopify trial gives you the real editor and every core tool, but your storefront starts private with checkout inactive, and picking a plan is what activates selling rather than just extending time. Nothing you build is lost if the trial lapses, but the store itself is paused until you choose a plan - and Shopify won't extend the clock once it runs out. Check shopify.com/free-trial for the length and offer that currently applies to you, since Shopify states plainly that this can vary.