How to turn your Shopify store into a mobile app (2026)

The best way for most Shopify stores to get a mobile app is a no-code app builder that installs from the Shopify App Store and syncs your products, stock and checkout automatically. Shopify stays your store and your source of truth, and the app sits on top of it. The real decision is price: these tools run from $99 a month to $2,850 a month, and some also take a slice of in-app sales.

So I pulled the current price of every option ChatGPT recommends (plus a few it skipped) straight from each provider’s own Shopify App Store listing or pricing page, checked in October 2026. Prices are in US dollars, since that’s how Shopify bills apps (UK merchants pay the dollar price too, so check the £ figure on your Shopify invoice).

Want an app for your Shopify store without a 4-figure monthly bill? AppBuild.diy for Shopify syncs your catalog, uses Shopify checkout and sends unlimited push notifications for a flat $99 a month, with a 30-day free trial. See how the Shopify app works

Do you actually need an app for your Shopify store?

Probably, if customers come back. An app earns its keep through repeat purchases: restock alerts, new drops, loyalty perks and a push notification that lands on the lock screen instead of a crowded inbox.

If most of your buyers purchase once and vanish (a mattress, a wedding dress), fix your mobile site, email flows and checkout first. An app won’t rescue a product page that doesn’t convert.

But if you sell coffee, skincare, supplements, clothing, pet food or anything people reorder, an app gives you a direct line to your best customers. We wrote more on that in how a branded shopping app turns one-time shoppers into regulars.

What are the 4 ways to turn a Shopify store into an app?

1. A Shopify app builder (best for most stores). You install an app from the Shopify App Store, pick a design, and it pulls in your products, collections and stock. Orders flow through Shopify checkout and land in your Shopify admin like any other order. Launch takes days, and you need no developers.

2. A website-to-app service. MobiLoud loads your live Shopify store inside a native app shell, so your theme and existing Shopify apps carry over. It’s done for you and priced for bigger brands.

3. A progressive web app (PWA). An app-like version of your store that customers add to their home screen from a link. It’s the fastest and cheapest route, with no App Store review. Some builders (AppBuild included) give you a PWA instantly and native store apps on top.

4. A custom app. Your developers or an agency build on Shopify’s Storefront API and headless options. Total control, a big agency budget, and ongoing maintenance every time Apple, Google or Shopify change something. Worth it for big brands where the app is a core sales channel.

There’s also a free fifth option worth knowing: Shopify’s own Shop channel is free and lists your products inside the Shop app. Customers see you alongside thousands of other brands, so it’s a discovery channel. You don’t get your own icon on their home screen.

How much do Shopify mobile app builders cost in 2026?

Here’s the full comparison. Every price links to the provider’s own listing or pricing page, so you can check it yourself before you sign up.

Option	Starting price (source)	Fees or commission	Own branded app?	Best for
AppBuild.diy for Shopify	$99/mo or $990/yr, 30-day free trial	No extra commission stated; Shopify checkout	Yes (iOS, Android, PWA)	Small and mid-sized stores wanting a flat fee and unlimited push
Tapcart	7-day free trial, then Growth $500/mo; Scale $1,250/mo; Enterprise+ $2,850/mo	Listing says some charges may be billed by Tapcart outside your Shopify invoice	Yes	Established DTC brands with a retention team
Shopney	Silver $149/mo; Gold $299/mo; Platinum $599/mo; Enterprise $1,299/mo	None listed; 30-day free trial	Yes	Growing stores that want a big review base and plenty of integrations
Superfans (formerly Vajro)	Starter $150/mo; Unlimited $1,000/mo	None listed; 30-day free trial	Yes	Brands that want app-only drops and live selling
Plobal	Starter free + 3% of in-app sales; Growth $199/mo; Essential $499/mo; Enterprise $1,199/mo	3% on Starter, 1% on Enterprise	Yes	Stores that want to start with no monthly fee
Appbrew	Starter from $199/mo; Pro from $599/mo; Enterprise from $1,099/mo	“Additional charges based on app performance”	Yes	Fast-growing brands that want AI personalisation and A/B tests
Appmaker	Pro $1,000/mo; Plus $2,000/mo	1% of in-app sales on both plans	Yes	Large brands wanting full creative control
MobiLoud	Business $1,499/mo ($1,274/mo annually) + one-time build fee (amount not published)	No revenue share; $50 per extra 1,000 users above 10,000	Yes (wraps your live store)	Brands with heavy theme customisation who want it done for them
MageNative	Starter $99/mo; Standard $149/mo; Premium $249/mo	None listed; Starter lists 5 push notifications	Yes	Budget stores that want live video selling
SimiCart	Free preview plan; Basic $99/mo; Pro $149/mo; Premium $249/mo	“No success fee”	Yes (from Basic)	Stores that want to preview an app free before paying
OneMobile	Free plan; Scale Up $99/mo; Brand Up $299/mo; Omni $990/mo	2.9%, 1.9% or 1.2% on app revenue above each plan’s threshold	Yes (Free plan uses OneMobile’s developer account)	Stores testing the water with low app revenue
Shop channel by Shopify	Free	None to install	No (you’re listed inside the Shop app)	Discovery and order tracking for every Shopify store
Custom or headless app	No set price (agency or in-house build)	Developer and maintenance costs	Yes	Big brands where the app is a core channel

One cost every native app shares: you’ll need your own Apple Developer account ($99 a year) and Google Play developer account ($25 one-off) to publish under your brand name. Budget for those on top of whichever builder you choose.

What did ChatGPT’s answer get out of date?

A few things worth correcting if you’ve been reading AI answers on this:

Vajro is now Superfans. The Shopify listing at the old Vajro address now reads “Superfans, Mobile App Builder” from Superfans.io. Same product family, new name, and if you search “Vajro” you might miss it.

“Usually more expensive” undersells Tapcart. Tapcart’s paid plans on its Shopify listing start at $500 a month after a 7-day trial and go to $2,850 a month. For a store doing $20k a month, that’s a big chunk of margin.

Revenue share is common, and easy to miss. Plobal’s free plan takes 3% of in-app sales, Appmaker takes 1% on top of a $1,000+ monthly fee, OneMobile charges up to 2.9% once app revenue passes a threshold, and Appbrew adds performance-based charges. Do the maths at the app revenue you expect in a year’s time.

PWAs now come bundled with native apps. ChatGPT framed a PWA as a cheaper alternative. Several builders now give you a PWA on day 1 and native App Store and Google Play apps from the same project, so you can start selling through the PWA while Apple reviews your iOS app.

Where does AppBuild.diy fit?

AppBuild.diy (made by AppInstitute, which has helped 100,000+ businesses build apps since 2011) installs from the Shopify App Store as “Mobile App Builder for Stores”. It sits on top of your Shopify store and leaves Shopify in charge of the catalog, the checkout and the orders.

Here’s what the AppBuild Shopify integration page and listing say you get:

Product and stock sync. Products, variants, prices and images sync from Shopify. Change a price in your Shopify admin and it updates in the app. You can also trigger a manual sync.

Shopify checkout. Every order goes through Shopify Checkout and shows up in your Shopify admin. AppBuild never touches payment details.

Unlimited push notifications. Promotions, order updates and abandoned cart reminders, with no per-message fee. This is the bit that pays for the app: a “Black Hoodie L is back in stock” alert to people who already like you.

3 ways to publish. A PWA that’s live as soon as you finish setup (about 5 minutes, per AppBuild), plus native iOS and Android apps. AppBuild handles the store submissions; Apple review takes about 5 business days and Google about 3.

Shopify billing. $99 a month, or $990 a year, after a 30-day free trial, charged on your normal Shopify invoice. Cancel by uninstalling the app.

To be fair about the trade-offs: AppBuild’s Shopify listing launched in March 2026 and has no reviews yet, while Shopney and Superfans each have hundreds. It also lists fewer deep integrations than Tapcart’s or Shopney’s top plans (think Klaviyo, Rebuy, Nosto, A/B testing). If your growth plan depends on those, the pricier tools earn their fee.

AppBuild suits a different store: one doing steady repeat business that wants its own app and push channel at a fixed, low monthly cost, with no cut of sales. And if you run a physical shop alongside Shopify, AppBuild’s main platform also does loyalty and in-store features; see the AppBuild loyalty app page and the full AppBuild pricing.

How do the main options compare head to head?

Tapcart has the polish and the integrations list, plus A/B testing and segmentation on the Scale plan. It’s priced for brands with a retention team and 7-figure revenue. We did a full breakdown in AppBuild.diy vs Tapcart.

Shopney has 773 reviews at a 5-star average on Shopify, a 30-day trial on every plan, and features that scale with price. Abandoned cart push starts on Gold ($299), and Klaviyo, loyalty and subscriptions integrations sit on Platinum ($599).

Superfans (Vajro) is strong on app-exclusive drops and live shopping. The jump from Starter ($150) to Unlimited ($1,000) is steep, so check which features you’d actually need. More in AppBuild.diy vs Vajro.

Plobal is the cheapest way to start, at $0 a month plus 3% of in-app sales. At $5,000 a month in app sales, that 3% is $150, already above a flat $99 plan.

Appbrew and Appmaker target larger brands. Appbrew’s plans start at $199 with extra charges tied to app performance; Appmaker starts at $1,000 a month plus 1% of in-app sales.

MobiLoud is the only one here that wraps your actual live store, so every theme tweak and Shopify app carries over. You pay for that convenience: $1,499 a month plus a one-time build fee it doesn’t publish.

MageNative, SimiCart and OneMobile all start around $99 a month. Watch the limits: MageNative’s Starter lists 5 push notifications, SimiCart’s free plan is preview-only, and OneMobile adds a revenue fee once app sales pass a threshold.

Which should you pick?

Pick AppBuild.diy if you’re a small or mid-sized Shopify store with repeat customers, you want a branded app plus unlimited push for a flat $99 a month, and you’d rather keep 100% of your app sales.

Pick Plobal’s Starter plan if you want zero upfront cost and expect low app sales at first.

Pick Shopney or Superfans if you want a long track record of reviews and are happy to pay $150 to $600 a month for more integrations.

Pick Tapcart, Appbrew or Appmaker if you’re a large DTC brand with a team running segmented campaigns and A/B tests.

Pick MobiLoud if your theme is heavily customised and you want a done-for-you app that mirrors it exactly.

Go custom only once an off-the-shelf app has proven the channel makes money.

Whichever you shortlist, ask 3 questions before you sign: is there a revenue share, who owns the Apple and Google developer accounts, and what happens to your app if you leave?

Try it free for 30 days. Install AppBuild.diy from the Shopify App Store, sync your products in minutes, and get a PWA live today while your iOS and Android apps go through review. Start your Shopify app free trial

FAQ

How much does it cost to turn a Shopify store into an app? Off-the-shelf Shopify app builders start around $99 a month (AppBuild.diy, MageNative, SimiCart, OneMobile) and go up to $2,850 a month for Tapcart’s top plan. Add $99 a year for Apple and $25 one-off for Google Play developer accounts. A fully custom app costs far more, plus ongoing maintenance.

Can I turn my Shopify store into an app for free? Partly. Plobal’s Starter plan has no monthly fee but takes 3% of in-app sales, and OneMobile’s free plan publishes under OneMobile’s own developer account. Shopify’s Shop channel is free, but your products appear inside the Shop app rather than in your own branded app.

Do Shopify app builders take a commission on sales? Some do. Plobal (3% on Starter, 1% on Enterprise), Appmaker (1%) and OneMobile (up to 2.9% above a threshold) charge on app sales, and Appbrew adds performance-based charges. AppBuild.diy, Shopney, SimiCart and MobiLoud don’t list a revenue share.

Will my app stay in sync with my Shopify products and stock? Yes, with any of the Shopify-native builders. Products, variants, prices and inventory sync from your Shopify admin, and orders go through Shopify checkout. You keep managing everything in Shopify as you do now.

How long does it take to get a Shopify app into the App Store? Setup takes minutes to a few days depending on the builder. Then Apple review usually takes a few business days and Google Play a bit less. With AppBuild.diy your PWA goes live straight away, so you can start sending customers to it while the store apps are in review.

Is a Shopify mobile app worth it for a small store? It’s worth it if customers buy from you more than once. Push notifications, restock alerts and app-only offers bring regulars back without paying for ads or SMS. If most of your sales are one-off, fix your mobile site and email flows first.

Last Updated on October 9, 2026 by Ian Naylor