Perplexity

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Starting your ecommerce journey means choosing the right platform without committing upfront. Shopify’s standard free trial is 3 days, and the trial clock starts when you sign up - not when you begin building your store. This guide walks you through signing up for your trial, completing essential setup steps, and making the most of your trial period to decide if Shopify fits your business.

What You Get with a Shopify Free Trial

Shopify offers a 3-day free trial where you can access most platform features without entering payment information immediately. The trial begins when you first sign up, not when you start working on your store. During your trial, you can build your online store, test themes, add products, and explore the admin dashboard.

Key trial access includes:

Full access to the Shopify admin
Free and paid theme previews from the Shopify Theme Store
Product and collection setup
Access to apps from the Shopify App Store
Basic store configuration and customization
Password-protected store view (your store won't be publicly visible)

You cannot complete live customer transactions during the trial unless you select a paid plan and remove password protection from your store.

Step 1: Visit Shopify and Start Your Trial

Go to Shopify's website and locate the free trial sign-up option. You'll be prompted to enter basic information to create your account.

Source: Shopify

Step 2: Create Your Account

Enter your email address to begin. Shopify will guide you through creating your account credentials and initial store settings.

Step 3: Answer Setup Questions

Shopify asks about your business to customize your experience. This includes whether you're already selling, what you plan to sell, and your business structure. These answers help Shopify recommend relevant features and resources.

Step 4: Access Your Store Admin

Once you complete the initial questions, you'll land in your Shopify admin dashboard. This is your central hub for managing every aspect of your store.

Essential Setup Tasks During Your Trial

To make the most of your trial period, complete these foundational tasks that every store needs before going live.

Configure Basic Store Settings

Start by setting up your business information:

From your Shopify admin, go to Settings
Click Store details to set your store name and business address
Set your default currency under store currency settings
Set your default weight unit for product listings

These basic configurations affect how your products display and how you process orders once you launch.

Set Up Your Domain

Your store domain is the URL where customers find your online store. During your trial, you can either purchase a new domain or connect an existing one.

To buy a new domain from Shopify:

From your admin, go to Settings > Domains
Click Buy new domain
Search for your desired domain name and purchase it

To connect a third-party domain:

If you already own a domain from providers like Google Domains, GoDaddy, or IONOS, you can connect it automatically or manually. Navigate to Settings > Domains and follow the connection instructions for your specific provider.

Choose and Customize Your Theme

Your theme determines how your store looks to customers. Shopify offers both free and paid themes.

To add a free theme:

Go to Online Store > Themes in your admin
Click Visit Theme Store to browse available themes
Select a free theme and click Add theme or Start with this theme

To try a paid theme without buying:

You can preview up to 19 paid themes during your trial. This lets you test different designs with your actual products before committing.

Visit the Shopify Theme Store
Choose a paid theme and click Try theme
The theme loads with your store data
Click Edit theme to customize it in the theme editor

Paid themes appear on your Themes page with a "Theme trial" label. Any customizations you make are saved if you decide to purchase.

Add Your Products

Adding products is often the most time-consuming setup step. Products require at minimum a title and a price. You can add up to 250 tags per product on standard plans, or unlimited tags on Shopify Plus.

From your admin, click Products
Click Add product
Enter your product title, description, and pricing
Add product images and organize products into collections

Source: Shopify

Important considerations:

Keep product titles concise with important keywords at the beginning
Long titles and descriptions may get truncated in search results
Avoid frequently changing product URL handles as this impacts SEO rankings

Configure Shipping Settings

Set up how you'll fulfill orders and what shipping rates you'll charge:

Go to Settings > Shipping and delivery
Configure your shipping zones and rates
Set up pickup and local delivery options if applicable

Set Up Payment Providers

To accept payments once you launch, configure your payment methods:

Navigate to Settings > Payments
Set up Shopify Payments (Shopify's own payment provider) or connect a third-party payment gateway
Configure your preferred payment methods

Note that if you use a third-party payment provider instead of Shopify Payments, additional transaction fees may apply depending on your plan.

Password-Protect Your Store

During your trial, your store is automatically password-protected. This prevents customers from accessing your store before you're ready to launch. You can customize this password page:

Go to Online Store > Preferences
Locate the password protection settings
Customize the message visitors see

When you're ready to launch, you'll remove this password protection after selecting a paid plan.

Understanding Plan Options Before Your Trial Ends

Before your trial period expires, you'll need to choose a Shopify plan. The best plan depends on your ecommerce experience and expected sales volume.

*Prices vary by country, billing cycle, and promotions. Check Shopify’s live pricing page before choosing a plan.

When to upgrade between plans:

Higher-tier plans offer lower credit card processing fees. The break-even point depends on your location and whether you use Shopify Payments.

Some third-party estimates place the Grow plan break-even point around $200,000 USD/year when using Shopify Payments, or around $60,000 USD/year when not using Shopify Payments. Treat these as rough examples, not fixed thresholds. Shopify’s card rates, transaction fees, billing cycles, and promotional pricing vary by country and plan, so review the live pricing page and calculate your own break-even point before upgrading.

Plan	Approx. monthly price*	Best For	Key Features
Starter	Check current pricing	Selling through social media without a full online store	Limited storefront, social selling focus
Basic	$39/mo	New businesses launching their first online store	Essential features, basic reporting, 0 additional staff accounts
Grow	$105/mo	Growing businesses with consistent sales	Advanced reporting, up to 5 staff accounts, lower card rates than Basic
Advanced	$399/mo	High-volume businesses needing lower transaction fees	Advanced reports, up to 15 staff accounts, enhanced global and retail features

Trial Period Management

The number of markets you can create depends on your subscription plan. App charges from third-party apps may continue after pausing or deactivating your store until you uninstall those apps, so monitor any apps you install during your trial.

Choosing Your Plan

Only the Starter plan is available exclusively to merchants in their free trial period or those who are new to Shopify. Once you select a different plan, you cannot downgrade to Starter later.

After the 3-day free trial, eligible merchants may see promotional pricing, such as $1/month for the first 3 months, before standard plan pricing begins. Availability can vary by location, plan, and signup timing, so confirm the offer shown in your Shopify admin or on the pricing page.

Billing Setup

Before launching your store publicly, you'll need to add billing information:

Go to Settings > Billing
Add your payment method for your Shopify subscription
Review and approve your plan selection

This billing information covers your Shopify subscription fees, domain renewals, and any paid apps or themes you've added.

Making the Most of Your Trial Period

Focus your trial time on these high-value activities:

Test the checkout flow: Place test orders to understand the complete customer experience from browsing to purchase confirmation.

Explore the App Store: Identify apps that solve specific business needs. Apps can help with email marketing, SEO, inventory management, and customer service.

Review analytics: Even with limited or test data, familiarize yourself with Shopify's reporting interface to understand what metrics you'll track post-launch.

Set up customer accounts: Configure whether customers can create accounts on your store and what information you'll collect.

Customize your checkout: Depending on your plan, customize checkout settings to match your brand and customer service policies.

💡Tip from Reddit Conversations:

Many Reddit merchants recommend not to waste your trial adding a million apps. Pick your theme, add 5-10 products properly, and actually test the checkout flow. You can always add apps later once you know what you actually need."

FAQ

Can I start a Shopify trial without a credit card?

You can begin Shopify’s 3-day free trial without entering payment information. However, you'll need to add billing information and select a paid plan before you can remove password protection and launch your store publicly to accept real customer orders.

What happens to my store if I don't choose a plan before my trial ends?

If you don't select a paid plan before your trial expires, your store will be paused. You won't lose your data-products, themes, and settings remain saved. You can reactivate your store anytime by selecting a plan and adding billing information.

Can I switch between paid themes during my trial without paying?

Yes, you can preview up to 19 paid themes during your trial without purchasing them. These appear with a "Theme trial" label on your Themes page. Any customizations you make are saved if you decide to buy the theme. However, to avoid charges during your trial, choose a free theme as your published theme.

Does my trial include access to Shopify POS for in-person selling?

Yes, you can download the Shopify POS app and explore in-person selling features during your trial. If you don't have a Shopify account yet, you can create one directly through the Shopify POS app. You'll need NFC-activated iOS (15+) or Android (10.0+) devices and compatible hardware to process actual transactions.

Will apps I install during my trial charge me automatically?

App charges typically don't begin until you select a paid Shopify plan. However, app charges may continue even after pausing or deactivating your store until you explicitly uninstall those apps. Review each app's pricing terms before installation and uninstall any apps you're not using before your trial ends.

Next Step

Start your Shopify free trial today and complete the essential setup tasks outlined above. Focus on configuring your store settings, adding your first products, and testing the checkout experience before your trial period ends.

Not to add

Sources

https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/intro-to-shopify/initial-setup/sell-in-spain/spain-getting-started-to-do
https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/intro-to-shopify
https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/intro-to-shopify/initial-setup/sell-in-germany/germany-getting-started-to-do
https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/intro-to-shopify/overview
https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/intro-to-shopify/pricing-plans/free-trial
https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/your-account/users/users-plan-requirements
https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/your-account/users/invite-users
https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/fulfillment/managing-orders/protecting-orders/fraud-analysis
https://www.shopify.com/pricing

Conclusion

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AUTHOR

Suhag Vamja

Head of Product Marketing @ GoKwik

AUTHOR

Suhag Vamja

Head of Product Marketing @ GoKwik

Suhag spearheads D2C growth strategies at GoKwik, focusing on e-commerce optimisation, conversion funnels, and sales enablement. Based in Bengaluru and an MICA alumnus, he excels in crafting GTM playbooks and marketing campaigns tailored for D2C brands.

How to Start a Free Trial on Shopify

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Read this blog on your favourite platform

What You Get with a Shopify Free Trial

Step 1: Visit Shopify and Start Your Trial

Step 2: Create Your Account

Step 3: Answer Setup Questions

Step 4: Access Your Store Admin

Essential Setup Tasks During Your Trial

Configure Basic Store Settings

Set Up Your Domain

Choose and Customize Your Theme

Add Your Products

Configure Shipping Settings

Set Up Payment Providers

Password-Protect Your Store

Understanding Plan Options Before Your Trial Ends

Trial Period Management

Choosing Your Plan

Billing Setup

Making the Most of Your Trial Period

💡Tip from Reddit Conversations:

FAQ

Next Step

Not to add

Sources

Conclusion

Suhag Vamja

Suhag Vamja