Best Free Shopify Apps to Start With
By DTCStack · Updated 2026-06-12
When you are launching a Shopify store, your budget is better spent on product and ads than on software you have not proven you need. The good news is that the core jobs - email, reviews, customer support, and shipping - all have apps with genuinely free plans, not just trials. This guide rounds up the best of them by category, with exactly what each free plan includes, where the limits bite, and when it makes sense to pay. Free-plan terms and pricing change often, so verify the current limits on each app's listing before relying on them (figures below are as of June 2026).
Email marketing
Email is the highest-ROI channel most stores have, so it is the first free app worth installing.
Omnisend - best free plan for ecommerce features
Omnisend's free plan is unusual in that it unlocks the full platform, just with send-volume limits. You get up to 250 contacts and 500 emails/month, plus 500 web push notifications, all the ecommerce automation workflows (abandoned cart, welcome, post-purchase), the product picker that pulls live Shopify catalog data, and 24/7 live chat support even on free. That last point is rare at this price. The limit is volume, not capability, so it is a strong way to validate email before paying.
Upgrade when: your list passes 250 contacts or you need to send more than 500 emails/month. The Standard plan starts around $16 to $20/month and scales with contacts.
Brevo - best free plan for send volume
Brevo prices on emails sent rather than contacts, which makes its free plan generous in a different way: unlimited contact storage (up to 100,000) and around 300 emails/day (roughly 9,000/month if you send daily). It also includes transactional email on the free plan, useful for order confirmations. The catch is Brevo branding on every email, a daily send cap (unused sends do not roll over), and shallower ecommerce segmentation than Omnisend. Some users have also reported occasional account suspensions tied to list-hygiene enforcement, so keep your list clean.
Upgrade when: you want to remove Brevo branding, exceed the daily send cap, or need marketing automation and A/B testing. Paid plans start around $9/month for about 5,000 emails (verify current rates).
Reviews and UGC
Reviews build the trust that converts first-time visitors, and you can collect them for free from day one.
Judge.me - best free reviews app with no order cap
Judge.me's free plan is one of the most genuinely useful in this entire roundup. It includes unlimited review requests and unlimited photo and video reviews with no order-volume cap, plus a star-rating badge, carousels, Google Rich Snippets, and sync to the Shop app and marketplaces. The main limits: a "Powered by Judge.me" badge on widgets, and no AI features, Q&A widget, or Google Shopping feed. For a new store, free here genuinely means free at scale.
Upgrade when: you want to remove the badge or need AI replies and summaries, a Q&A widget, a Google Shopping feed, or 130+ integrations like Klaviyo. The flat Awesome plan is around $15/month with no overages at any order volume.
Loox - best for visual-first brands (limited free tier)
Loox is built around photo and video reviews and is excellent for visual product categories like fashion, beauty, and home. Its free entry tier (shown as $0/month on the Shopify App Store) is more limited than Judge.me's: it caps monthly review-request emails and total orders, offers basic widgets and SEO snippets, and does not include video reviews or branding removal. Source listings conflict on whether this is a permanent free plan or a low-cost entry tier, so check the current listing before relying on it.
Upgrade when: you outgrow the order cap, want video reviews, or want the bundled referral program. The Convert plan starts around $49.99/month and adds per-block overage as orders grow, so model your peak-season cost.
Customer support and live chat
A live chat widget lets a one-person team answer pre-sale questions and recover carts, and you can start free.
Tidio - best free live chat for new stores
Tidio has the most accessible free tier for stores adding live chat for the first time. The free plan is $0/month with around 50 billable conversations/month, multiple seats, basic live chat, ticketing, and a limited version of its Flows chatbot builder. It installs from the Shopify App Store and most teams are live in under 30 minutes. Note the free plan does not include Lyro AI conversations (Tidio's AI assistant), which are metered separately.
Upgrade when: you exceed the conversation cap, want native Shopify actions (view carts, issue refunds inside the chat), or want Lyro AI. Paid plans start around $24/month and scale on conversation volume, so a busy season can drive overages - watch the meter.
Shipping and post-purchase tracking
Once orders start flowing, branded tracking turns the post-purchase wait into a retention touchpoint, and there is a free tier to begin with.
AfterShip - best free post-purchase tracking
AfterShip owns the post-purchase tracking experience, and its Tracking product has a free plan covering up to 50 tracked shipments/month, a branded tracking page, access to a large carrier network, and a shipment-visibility dashboard. This is the best way to add polished, branded tracking to a new store without paying. One caveat to set expectations: AfterShip is a suite of separate products, so the free Tracking tier does not include label printing or checkout rates - those are separate AfterShip products with their own pricing.
Upgrade when: you pass 50 tracked shipments/month or want SMS notifications, estimated delivery dates on product pages, or Klaviyo integration. Paid Tracking tiers start around $9 to $11/month (sources conflict; verify on AfterShip's pricing page before relying on a figure).
Free-plan summary table
| App | Category | Free-plan limit |
|---|---|---|
| Omnisend | Email marketing | 250 contacts, 500 emails/month, full features + 24/7 support |
| Brevo | Email marketing | ~300 emails/day, unlimited contacts, Brevo branding |
| Judge.me | Reviews & UGC | Unlimited reviews, no order cap, "Powered by" badge |
| Loox | Reviews & UGC | Capped review emails and orders, no video reviews (verify listing) |
| Tidio | Customer support | ~50 conversations/month, basic live chat, no Lyro AI |
| AfterShip | Shipping (tracking) | 50 tracked shipments/month, branded tracking page |
All limits are indicative and change often. Confirm the current free-plan terms on each app's listing before relying on them (as of June 2026).
How to choose your free starter stack
- Install one tool per job, not five. A new store rarely needs more than an email tool, a reviews app, a support widget, and tracking once orders begin. Extra apps add cost, complexity, and potential page-speed overhead.
- Match the free plan to your shape. For email, choose Omnisend if you want full ecommerce features within a small contact cap, or Brevo if you have a larger list sending occasionally.
- Watch the limit that will bite first. Email contact caps and tracking shipment caps tend to be reached fastest. Know your upgrade trigger before you hit it so a free plan never silently stops working mid-campaign.
- Upgrade only what earns it. When a tool is clearly driving revenue - email flows converting, reviews lifting product-page conversion - pay to lift its cap. Leave the rest on free until they prove out.
- Re-check pricing before you commit. Free-plan limits and paid prices shift frequently. Treat every figure here as a starting point and verify the live terms.
Final recommendation
A capable, genuinely free starter stack for a new Shopify store is Omnisend for email, Judge.me for reviews, Tidio for live chat, and AfterShip for branded tracking once orders flow. Each gives you real functionality at no cost, and each has a clear upgrade path when you outgrow it. For a deeper look at the paid tiers and comparisons, browse our email marketing, reviews and UGC, customer support, and shipping categories.
FAQ
- Are these Shopify apps really free?
- Yes, each one has a genuine free plan or free tier you can use indefinitely, not just a trial. The trade-off is volume and feature limits: caps on contacts, emails, conversations, tracked shipments, or branding. They are designed to get a new store running at no cost, and to nudge you to upgrade as you grow. Always check the current limits on each app's listing, because free-plan terms change.
- What is the best free email app for Shopify?
- It depends on your list shape. Omnisend gives full access to ecommerce features on its free plan (capped at 250 contacts and 500 emails/month) with 24/7 support, which is unusual at this price. Brevo is more generous on send volume - around 300 emails/day with unlimited contact storage - so it suits a larger list sending occasionally. Both are solid free starting points.
- Which free review app has no order limit?
- Judge.me. Its free plan includes unlimited review requests and unlimited photo and video reviews with no order cap, which is rare in this category. The main free-plan limit is a 'Powered by Judge.me' badge on widgets plus no AI features, Q&A, or Google Shopping feed. Loox also has a low-cost entry tier, but its free option is more limited.
- Will free plans slow down or limit my store?
- The apps themselves should not meaningfully slow your store on free plans, but the volume caps will eventually constrain you - for example a 250-contact email limit or a 50-shipment tracking cap. Free branding (like a 'Powered by' badge) is the other common limit. Treat free plans as a way to launch and validate, then upgrade the few tools that are driving revenue.
- How many apps should a new Shopify store install?
- Start lean. Most new stores only need a handful: one email tool, one reviews app, one live chat or support tool, and shipping or tracking once orders start flowing. Adding too many apps early adds cost, complexity, and potential page-speed overhead. Install one tool per job, learn it, and add more only when a clear need appears.
Related tools
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All-in-one email, SMS, CRM, and transactional platform priced by email volume - uniquely affordable for large lists with moderate send frequency.
Live chat and AI chatbot platform with a genuinely functional free plan - fastest setup in category, ideal for early-stage Shopify stores.
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Photo and video review app optimized for visual-first DTC brands, with a bundled referral program and conversion-focused widget designs.
The most generous free review app - unlimited review requests with no order cap on free, and a flat $15/mo paid plan at any order volume.