Shopify App Development
HelloDevs builds custom Shopify apps — for the App Store or for a single store. We publish our own, so you can try our work before you commit.
- Six years on Shopify
- Five apps built
- Shopify app developers who ship their own products
Most agencies learn Shopify app development on your project. HelloDevs learned it on ours — then shipped them.
Do you actually need an app?
Do you actually need an app?
An agency that sells apps will always tell you that you need one. Here is the honest version from HelloDevs, because the wrong answer costs months. Send us the problem before you send us the spec — about one in five conversations ends with us telling someone they do not need what they asked for.
| Your situation | What you probably need |
|---|---|
| A public app already does 80% of this | Install it. Pay us to configure it properly. |
| A public app does 80%, but the last 20% breaks your workflow | A custom app, or an extension to the one you already run. |
| You need Shopify to talk to your ERP, CRM, warehouse or accounting system | A custom app. This is the case we build most often. |
| You need something only on your storefront — not in admin | Theme work, not an app. We will point you at the right service. |
| You want to sell this to other merchants | A public App Store app, reviewed by Shopify and billed through it. |
| You need three separate apps to stop conflicting | Usually one custom app replacing all three, for less than the three cost you. |
Three kinds of Shopify app development
Merchants say “an app” and mean three different things. HelloDevs builds all three, and the difference matters before you pay for any of them.
Why Shopify rejects apps
- The app has to install cleanly on a fresh development store, with no manual steps. This is the most common rejection and the easiest to avoid.
- Charging outside Shopify's Billing API for anything Shopify covers gets rejected immediately.
- Requesting access to customer data an app does not need is a fast rejection. Scopes have to be minimal and justified.
- Screenshots and descriptions must match what the app does. Claims you cannot demonstrate get flagged.
- Anything that noticeably slows a store is a problem, and the bar has risen every year.
- Reviewers need to see the app running. A login that does not work restarts the clock.
Almost every app is rejected at least once.
HelloDevs has been through it with our own apps, so we build to these from the first commit rather than discovering them at submission. When a rejection does come, we handle the response — it does not become your problem or your delay.
Apps we built ourselves
The fastest way to judge a developer is to use something they made. ShopFlex, built and maintained by HelloDevs, is live on the Shopify App Store — install it and see what our work feels like.
ShopFlex
Social icons and floating widgets for your storefront — ten widget types, 250+ icons, nine positions, and no code needed. Install it and judge our work before you commit to anything.
What you get
What every HelloDevs app quote covers
Every HelloDevs quote covers all of this. If an agency leaves any of it out, the cost reappears later as a change request.
- Scoping documentWhat gets built and what does not, agreed before any code is written.
- The app itselfEmbedded in Shopify admin and built to Shopify's current standards, not the ones that applied when the agency last shipped.
- Billing setupShopify Billing API, with plans and trials configured. Charging outside it for anything Shopify covers is an instant rejection.
- App Store submissionWe handle the review process and the rejections. Almost every app is rejected at least once, and the back-and-forth does not become your delay.
- Listing assetsScreenshots, description and keywords written for App Store search rather than for you.
- DocumentationSo you are not dependent on us to understand your own product.
- Source codeYours, in your repository, from day one. If you stop working with us, nothing about your product depends on us.
- 30 days of post-launch fixesIncluded, not billed. After that, a maintenance retainer if you want one, and no hard feelings if you do not.
How our Shopify app developers work
Five steps, and you see working software in every one
No hourly estimate that grows, and no demo at the end standing in for progress. You change your mind early and it costs nothing.
- Scope callWe work out what you actually need, which is often smaller than what you asked for. If a public app already does it, we will tell you and save you the money.
- Fixed quoteA written scope, a timeline, and a price. Not an hourly estimate that grows.
- Build in weekly cyclesYou see working software every week, not a demo at the end. Change your mind early and it costs nothing.
- SubmissionWe handle Shopify's review and any rejections that come with it.
- Launch and supportThirty days of fixes are included. After that, a maintenance retainer if you want one, and no hard feelings if you do not.
Our stack
Pure-play Shopify developers
We develop only for Shopify. No bloated frameworks, no visual page builders that degrade site performance, and no subcontracting. Just clean, hand-crafted code.
The Full Stack
Included because technical buyers ask, and because a vague answer here usually means the agency subcontracts the work. We choose boring where boring works. A stack your next developer already knows is worth more than one that impresses us.
- Next.js
- React
- TypeScript
- Node.js
- PostgreSQL
- Redis
- Stripe
- src/api/routes.ts01
- db/schema/tenants.sql02
- lib/billing/stripe.ts03
- services/socket/presence.ts04
Boring Works
Next.js, React, TypeScript, Node.js, REST and GraphQL APIs. PostgreSQL for anything relational, Supabase where it saves weeks, Redis for caching and sessions.
const query = async (tenant) => {
return pool.query(sql, [tenant.id]);
};No Subcontracting
We do not subcontract. The people on the scope call are the people writing the code. No offshore handoffs, no white-label partners, no surprise faces on the next standup.
outsource_handoff.zip
Live & Native
Socket.io for live updates, presence and notifications. Flutter where the product needs an app alongside the web product. Stripe for subscriptions, trials, proration and dunning.
ScopeShipping
Shopify app development questions
- A HelloDevs custom app for one store usually takes four to eight weeks; a public App Store app takes eight to sixteen, including Shopify's review. The review adds one to three weeks and often needs a second submission. We build that into the timeline rather than surprising you with it.
- A public app is listed on the Shopify App Store and any merchant can install it; a custom app is built for one store and never listed. Custom apps skip Shopify's review, so they ship faster and keep your logic out of public view. Public apps take longer but give you a sales channel.
- Not under that name — Shopify deprecated private apps in January 2022 and converted the existing ones to custom apps in 2023. What people mean by “private app” is now a custom app, and HelloDevs builds those. If you are still running a legacy private app, we can migrate it.
- Yes, completely. Your code lives in your repository from the first commit, not ours. If you stop working with us, nothing about your product depends on us.
- Most apps are rejected at least once, and that is normal rather than a warning sign. We have been through the process with our own apps, so we build to the current requirements from the start and handle the back-and-forth ourselves.
- Often yes, but we look at the code first and tell you honestly whether continuing is worth it, or a rebuild is faster. Sometimes it is a rebuild. You get that answer before you pay us anything.
- Yes, before the first call if you want one. HelloDevs also builds apps that compete with nothing we own — we will tell you upfront if your idea overlaps with one of our own products, rather than finding out later. Your code, your idea and your App Store listing stay yours.
- Thirty days of fixes are included. After that you can take a maintenance retainer or manage it yourself — you have the code and the documentation either way. Our own apps need weekly attention, so we know what real maintenance involves.
Didn't Got your answer?
Send the problem, not the spec. A developer at HelloDevs will read it and reply with an honest assessment and a rough number, usually within one business day. No sales call required.
Our talk
Tell us what you need
Send the problem, not the spec. A developer at HelloDevs will read it and reply with an honest assessment and a rough number, usually within one business day.
