Shopify 3 Months for $1: How the Deal Works and What to Expect

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Bogdan Rancea

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If you’ve been thinking about launching a Shopify store but aren’t ready to commit to full monthly pricing, there’s a deal worth knowing about.

Shopify currently offers new users 3 months of access for just $1 per month, giving you a solid runway to build, test, and make your first sales before spending anywhere close to full price.

This guide breaks down exactly how the offer works, who qualifies, what it costs after the promo ends, and how to make the most of your 90-day window.

What Is the Shopify $1 for 3 Months Deal?

The offer is straightforward: sign up as a new Shopify customer, start a 3-day free trial, then pay just $1 per month for the next three months. In total, you’re getting roughly 93 days of Shopify access for $3.

To put that in context, three months on Shopify’s Basic plan at regular pricing would normally run you somewhere around $75 to $117, depending on your region and billing cycle. The promotional deal makes it dramatically cheaper to test the platform before you’re locked into full pricing.

Start 3-month trial now >

After the three-month promo period ends, your account automatically rolls over to standard monthly pricing for whichever plan you chose. If you decide it’s not for you, you can cancel before that happens.

Who Qualifies for the Offer?

The $1 for 3 months deal is for new Shopify customers only. If you’ve previously had a paid Shopify subscription tied to the same email address or store, you likely won’t see the promotional pricing option at checkout.

If you don’t see the offer when signing up, some guides suggest starting a fresh trial store with a different email. The promotion is typically available globally, showing up in local currency — so EU-based users might see it displayed as €1/month, for example, but the mechanics are identical.

The promo applies to Shopify’s main subscription tiers: Basic, the core Shopify plan, and Advanced. It does not typically apply to Shopify Plus.

How to Access the $1 Promotional Offer

There are two main ways to find the deal:

Through Shopify’s Own Pricing Page

shopify pricing

Go to Shopify’s pricing page, click “Start free trial,” and create a new store. After the 3-day free trial, you’ll be prompted to choose a plan, if the promo is active for your account, you’ll see the $1/month for 3 months option when you go to select a subscription.

Through Partner or Affiliate Links

Many ecommerce agencies, app developers, and content creators maintain links that lead to the same promotional offer. These links sometimes make the $1 deal more visible upfront rather than waiting until the plan selection step. The underlying promotion is the same, it’s just a different entry point. You can use our link below.

Start 3-month trial now >

Key Conditions to Know Before You Sign Up

A few things are worth understanding before you treat this as a completely no-risk trial:

You need to choose a plan after the 3-day free trial. If you don’t select a paid plan at the end of your free trial, your store gets paused or deactivated. You won’t be charged, and your content is typically saved for a period so you can return and reactivate, but the clock stops on building your store.

You can switch plans during the 3-month window. If you start on Basic and decide you need more features, you can upgrade to a higher plan. Your $1/month promotional billing continues through the 90-day promo period regardless of which eligible plan you’re on, then switches to that plan’s full price.

Auto-renewal kicks in automatically. The transition to full pricing happens without a reminder, so if you’re just testing the waters, mark your calendar for when the three months are up.

The offer has been running consistently. While Shopify and partners often describe it as a “limited-time” promotion, multiple sources from late 2024 and into 2025 confirm it’s been an ongoing offer for new stores. That said, promotional terms can change, so it’s worth verifying when you sign up.

What Does Shopify Cost After the Promo?

Once your three months are up, you’ll be billed at standard monthly rates. Here’s a rough breakdown of what to expect based on current pricing ranges:

PlanRegular Monthly Price (approx.)Best For
Starter~$5/monthSelling via social or existing sites
Basic~$25–$39/monthNew stores, solo sellers
Grow~$65–$79/monthGrowing stores with a small team
Advanced~$299–$399/monthScaling businesses, advanced reporting
PlusFrom ~$2,000/monthEnterprise-level operations

Starter is a stripped-down plan designed for selling through social media profiles, messaging apps, or an existing website rather than a standalone storefront. You don’t get a full online store, but it’s a low-cost way to add buy buttons or checkout links to content you’re already publishing.

Basic is where most new store owners land after the promo. It covers everything you need to run a functional online store: unlimited products, a website and blog, discount codes, and abandoned cart recovery, though you’re limited to two staff accounts and the transaction fees are higher than on pricier plans.

Grow bumps you to five staff accounts, adds standard reporting, and drops transaction fees compared to Basic. It’s a reasonable step up once you’re generating consistent revenue and need a bit more operational visibility into what’s working in your store.

Advanced is built for stores that have scaled past the point where basic reporting cuts it. You get custom report building, the lowest transaction fees of the standard tiers, and up to 15 staff accounts, useful if you’re running a larger team or need tighter margin control across a high-volume catalog.

Plus is Shopify’s enterprise offering and sits well outside the promo’s scope. It’s priced for high-revenue businesses that need custom checkout experiences, dedicated support, and the ability to handle significant traffic spikes without performance issues.

Pricing can vary by region and whether you’re billed monthly or annually. Annual billing typically works out cheaper per month, so if you decide to stick with Shopify after your promo window, it’s worth comparing both options.

How to Make the Most of Your 90 Days

Three months is a meaningful amount of time to validate whether Shopify is the right fit for your business, if you use it well. Here’s a rough framework for thinking about the window:

Month 1: Build and Launch

Use the first month to get your store set up properly. This means choosing a theme, loading your products, configuring shipping and payments, and connecting your domain. Don’t spend the whole month perfecting design detail, get something live so you can start collecting real data.

Month 2: Drive Traffic and Make Sales

The promo window is a low-cost opportunity to test your product-market fit. Run some targeted ads, publish content, or push your store to your existing audience. The goal isn’t to become profitable in month two, it’s to find out whether people will actually buy what you’re selling at the price you need to charge.

Month 3: Decide and Optimize

By month three, you should have enough data to make a clear-eyed decision. If you’re getting traction, now’s the time to identify what’s working and double down. If you’re not, you can troubleshoot before full pricing kicks in, or cut your losses at $3 total spent.

Is the Shopify $1 Deal Worth It?

For anyone seriously considering Shopify, yes. The offer dramatically reduces the cost of testing the platform, $3 for three months versus $75 to $400 or more at full price. That’s a low barrier to find out whether Shopify fits your workflow, your product type, and your growth plans.

The main thing to watch is the automatic rollover. If you’re not ready to commit to full pricing after 90 days, set a reminder and cancel before your trial ends. Otherwise, you’ll be charged for the next month at standard rates without warning.

For new ecommerce entrepreneurs especially, it’s one of the more sensible ways to get hands-on time with one of the most capable selling platforms available, without a significant financial commitment upfront.

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