If you wish to start your online business, or you are selling products online already but wish to switch to another e-commerce platform, you may consider Shopify as a potential starting point.

Shopify is a very popular global e-commerce platform that has received tons of positive feedback.

Before you start your business on Shopify, why not make the best use of Shopify’s free trial first?

This page will tell you everything you may want to know and need to know about the free trial on Shopify. Read this page and let us start the adventure in the e-commerce industry.

How long is the Shopify free trial?

Shopify always offers free trials but with different lengths. Since October 2023, Shopify has replaced the two-week free trial, followed by a monthly fee of $39 for the basic Shopify plan, with the current 3-day free trial and only $1 for each of the following three months.

There was a time when Shopify offered free trials with longer terms

If we trace back to 2019, we can find out that Shopify used to offer a free trial that lasts for 30 days for new sign-ups. The free trial starts from the day the customer signs up for a new Shopify account.

Sometimes, you can still receive special discounts and promotions that lead to a longer free trial period and extra assistance from Shopify.

In 2019, Shopify also gave out a 60-day free trial to a selected group of partners for marketing purposes.

Moreover, these selected partners were able to share exclusive deals with their clients. When Covid broke out, the Shopify free trial was extended to 90 days as physical stores all over the world were struggling.

At that time, Shopify supported many businesses to go online, starting with the 90-day trials.

How to get the Shopify free trial?

Please follow the step-by-step Shopify free trial guide in less than ten minutes.

Step 1: Register a new Shopify account

Only new sign-ups can enjoy the free trial on Shopify, hence, make sure that you have not registered an account with your email before.

It is very simple and straightforward, just go to the website www.shopify.com/free-trial and type your email address in.

After doing so, you need to click the “Start free trial” button on the right.

Step 2: Complete the brief survey

Once you have moved to the next step, Shopify will ask you some questions about your experience and business to get to know you more.

For example, which of these best describes you? You can choose between “I am just starting” and “I am already selling online or in person”.

This question gives Shopify a very brief idea of your selling experience, and it would categorize you into a suitable group.

Alternatively, if you do not wish to answer those questions, you can simply hit the “Skip all” button. Feel free to do so as you will not be punished for that.

Step 3: Location setting

In the third step, Shopify will ask you in which country your business is located. Shopify will set up your default shipping rates, recommendations and more based on the location. 

You can not skip this step but do not worry if you did it wrong because you can always update your location in the store settings.

Step 4: Create a Shopify ID

The next step is to create your own Shopify ID. There are many ways to create a Shopify ID. You can continue using your email as your Shopify ID, which is a very popular option.

Apart from that, you can also choose to continue with Apple, Facebook or Google, which is also very convenient and popular. Just log in the way that you are most familiar with, in case you forget your password in the future.

Step 5: Congratulations! You are in!

Once you have followed the Shopify free trial steps, you can start the Shopify free trial and should be able to see the Shopify interface, where you can look at all the features and settings.

Please seize the three days to explore Shopify as deeply as possible and make the best out of it. 

How to cancel the Shopify free trial?

Step 1: Go to your Shopify account settings

To cancel your Shopify free trial, you need to change your account settings.

To start with, go to the settings and find “Plan” on the left-hand side. You will see the basic information about your current account and also details of the free trial.

Step 2: Deactivate your free trial

In the “Plan” page, if you scroll down, you will see the plan details, which will suggest that your current status is during a free trial.

This section also tells you how many days of your free trial are left. If you wish to deactivate your free trial, remember to cancel the free trial before it ends to avoid unnecessary expenses.

At the bottom of the page, you will find “Deactivate trial”, click the button.

Step 3: Click on cancel subscription

Once you click the “deactivate” button in the previous step, a window will pop up to ask you to confirm the cancellation.

If you are determined to cancel your Shopify free trial, click the “Cancel Subscription and Deactivate Stores”.

Step 4: Fill out the “reasons”

As usual, Shopify would ask you why you wish to cancel the subscription and deactivate your store.

There is a list of common reasons for the cancellation that you can choose. However, you can also explain a bit more about your reason by clicking “Other reason” and elaborating a bit. 

Step 5: Click the “Deactivate now” button

This is the last step of canceling a free Shopify trial. You will have to pass the preliminary security check.

To finally deactivate your store, you will be asked to enter the password for your Shopify account. Click the “Deactivate now” button once you finished entering your password. 

Please bear in mind that once you deactivate your Shopify account, you will no longer be able to access the Shopify free trial with the same login information again.

3 Benefits of using the Shopify free trial

If you are interested in using the Shopify free trial, you must have a business idea in mind already and wish to find the best e-commerce platform for your business.

There are many different aspects that you need to think about, including functionality, compatibility, flexibility and last but not least the price. That’s why you need to make the best use of the free trial period.

1. Get used to the interface

During the free trial period, you can access almost all the functionality on the website. You can explore the integrated tools and built-in features to customize your online store.

As known to many merchants, Shopify provides a wide range of themes for your online store, you can select the free themes to customize your store or pay for premium themes. 

Even during the free trial period, you can start adding your products to the website and creating collections for your products in the Shopify admin dashboard.

You are highly encouraged to go through all the tabs in the settings to see what you can change and get familiar with the settings.

2. Experience the apps and tools on Shopify

During the free trial period, you are able to test and experience almost all the built-in apps and tools on Shopify.

There is a wide range of apps that you can find helpful in many aspects of your operation in the Shopify app store. Some Apps and tools developed by third parties are compatible with Shopify.

Therefore, if you are already selling products on other platforms and wish to use the third-party tools that you have been using for a long time, don’t forget to check if they work on Shopify.

These apps and tools almost cover all aspects of your online business, including inventory management, parcel tracking, order management, customer relationship management, payment methods, checkout process and so on.

3. Try managing your operation

You can easily start managing your online business even during the free trial period.

Basic features that you need to pay for after the trial are also available to you, including setting up payment methods, and gateways, managing orders, inventory and customer information, promoting your store with marketing tools and so on. 

Data analysis is a very useful tool on Shopify, but since you don’t have any sales yet, you can not see the result.

However, you will have a brief idea of what the report will look like and what kind of information is the report going to inform you.

How much is Shopify per month after the trial?

Shopify is a subscription-based platform, and the subscription fees depend on the plan you choose, ranging from $33 to $2,300.

It’s worth noting that Shopify is promoting its three plans for only $1 in the first month. There are four plans that you can choose.

Basic Plan

The basic plan is designed to work for solo entrepreneurs, charging $33 per month, which is considered the most popular plan among all.

With this plan, you can have up to 10 inventory locations and three localised selling markets.

Additionally, the Shopify POS lite version is at your disposal for both online and in-person sales. Moreover, the 24/7 customer service team is available to you.

Shopify Plan

The Shopify Plan targets small teams that have a sizable business and seek more advanced functionalities.

This Shopify Plan will cost you $92 per month, which is almost triple the basic plan.

With the Shopify Plan, you will have 5 additional staff accounts for your online business, which is not necessarily for solo entrepreneurs. 

Advanced Plan

The advanced plan targets businesses that seek scalability, charging you $399 per month. With this price, you can unlock the custom reporting and analysis functionality. Another 10 staff accounts will be given to your store.

What’s more, you can add global selling markets for $59 per month.

Plus Plan

The plus plan is for complex businesses as it costs $2,300 per month on a 3-year term.

You have all the features mentioned above and you can have up to 200 inventory locations, 50 selling markets and 200 Shopify POS Pro locations.

Apart from those, you can even start your wholesale business on Shopify.

However, the subscription fee is not the only thing you pay because you are very likely to subscribe to some third-party applications integrated with Shopify to facilitate your operation.

Apart from that, Shopify also charges a 3% payment processing fee on every transaction.

What’s Next?

This page has provided detailed information about everything you need to start your business with a free trial on Shopify, including the duration of the free trial, the Shopify free trial benefits you can get, the fees for opening a store on Shopify, and so on. 

Undoubtedly, you are highly encouraged to experience the free trial. It certainly does not hurt anything, and you will be surprised by the various features on Shopify.

You are also highly recommended to use Channelwill, an all-in-one e-commerce platform. Channelwill has developed apps and tools that are perfectly compatible with Shopify with affordable prices and excellent customer service.