Four Shopify deadlines land before January 1, 2027. Script tags stop accepting creates and updates on October 1, 2026, and API version 2025-10 stops being accessible on October 16. Returns and subscription apps need Customer Account API sign-in by December 1 to keep Built for Shopify status, and every public app needs expiring offline access tokens by January 1, 2027.
- On March 1, 2027 script tags stop running on storefronts entirely, and pinning an older API version does not defer it.
- For most app teams the working deadline is the start of their BFCM code freeze, which comes weeks before the December 1 and January 1 dates.
- Shopify App Pricing has no forced migration date yet. The migration tool is in early access, which is the window to decide what you want to charge.
- Sep '26Private plans uncapped
- Aug '26Script tags deprecated
- Aug '26BFS fulfillment thresholds eased
- Jul '26API 2026-10 tax change
- Jul '26App Pricing migration tool
Shopify's developer changelog logged 791 entries in the two years to September 2026, and 153 of them carried the action-required tag. That is one forced change roughly every five days, filed in the same feed as routine additions.
This tracker pulls out the changes with a date attached, the ones where doing nothing has a cost, and translates each into the questions a founder asks: who it hits, what breaks, and what to decide by when. Shopify documents how to make each change. It rarely says what the change does to your onboarding, your support queue or your pricing.
Every row links to the changelog entry or documentation page it came from. The dates are Shopify's. The impact and action columns are my read, as someone who helped build the Shopify Partner Program and later built and sold an app in this ecosystem.
A platform deadline is a roadmap decision with a date on it. If one of these touches your onboarding, billing or App Store placement, I can help you size it and sequence it around peak season.
The dated changes
between now and
March 2027, in order.
Read the date, then the "who it hits" column. If your app is not in that column, skip the row. The two API-version rows repeat every quarter; the rest are one-offs.
| Date | Change | Who it hits | If you do nothing | What to do |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 1, 2026 | Script tag create and update blocked, on every API version | Apps that load storefront JavaScript through script tags | New installs cannot receive your script, so onboarding breaks for every merchant who installs from this date | Replace each script tag with an app embed block in a theme app extension; move pure analytics to a web pixel |
| Oct 1, 2026 | API 2026-10 released; editing an unfulfilled order's shipping address now recalculates taxes | OMS, address-validation and support apps that call orderUpdate | Nothing until you adopt 2026-10, then order totals change after your call | When you move to 2026-10, re-read taxLines and totals after an address update |
| Oct 16, 2026 | API version 2025-10 stops being accessible | Apps still pinned to 2025-10 | Requests fall forward to the oldest supported version, so responses can change shape without an error | Move to 2026-07 or later and regression-test |
| Dec 1, 2026 | Built for Shopify: returns and subscription apps with buyer self-service must sign buyers in with the Customer Account API | Returns, exchanges and subscription apps that hold or want Built for Shopify status | At risk of losing Built for Shopify status | Integrate the Customer Account API in every buyer-facing flow |
| Jan 1, 2027 | Expiring offline access tokens required for all public apps | Every public app still on non-expiring offline tokens, including apps created before April 1, 2026 | Admin API calls return authentication errors, so the app stops working for its merchants | Migrate to expiring offline tokens and build the refresh flow |
| Jan 16, 2027 | API version 2026-01 stops being accessible | Apps still pinned to 2026-01 | Same fall-forward behaviour as the 2025-10 row | Stay within the two newest stable versions |
| Mar 1, 2027 | Shopify stops injecting script tags into storefronts | Merchants running older apps, and the apps themselves | Widgets and tracking loaded by script tags stop appearing, with no error on the storefront | Merchants: ask each app vendor whether it still uses script tags. Apps: finish the app embed migration |
| No date yet | Billing API apps move to Shopify App Pricing | Apps billing merchants through the Billing API with manual plans | Nothing today; Shopify has not announced a forced migration date | Decide your plan structure while the migration tool is in early access |
The API rows come from Shopify's API versioning page, which lists every stable version with its release date and the date it stops being accessible. The rest link to their own changelog entries.
The changes that
already landed
in 2026.
These dates have passed, but most of them still shape a decision. The Scripts deprecation is the one merchants noticed; the uninstall-reason change is the one founders should be reading every month, because it turned app churn into a labelled dataset.
| Date | Change | Who it hit | Where it leaves you |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 1, 2026 | New public apps must use expiring offline access tokens | Apps created on or after that date | The January 1, 2027 deadline extends the same rule to every public app |
| Apr 15, 2026 | Shopify Scripts editing and publishing frozen ahead of the June 30 deprecation | Shopify Plus merchants on Scripts, and the agencies that wrote them | Discount, shipping and payment logic has to run as Shopify Functions or a public app |
| Apr 29, 2026 | Merchants must choose an uninstall reason before removing an app | Every App Store app | A new churn dataset in the Partner Dashboard; "Too expensive" and "Not working properly with store" are two of the eight options |
| May 12, 2026 | Shopify App Pricing launched: usage, recurring subscriptions, or both | Apps that bill through Shopify | The pricing surface every future billing migration moves toward |
| Jun 30, 2026 | Shopify Scripts deprecated | Plus merchants still relying on Scripts | Anything not moved to Functions or an app no longer runs |
| Jul 9, 2026 | Identity verification for Shopify Partners | Partners who request collaborator access to merchant stores | Optional at launch; Shopify said it becomes mandatory before new collaborator requests |
| Jul 15, 2026 | App Store requirement 4.1.2: use a unique name for your app | Apps with identical or copycat names | Enforced in audit waves, each with a set window to comply |
What "do nothing"
costs, sorted by how
loudly it fails.
The rows fall into three kinds of failure, and they deserve different urgency.
Breaks. The script tag and offline token rows stop your app working for real merchants. That shows up as support tickets first and uninstalls second. Since April every uninstall carries a reason, so "Not working properly with store" will tell you which deadline you missed.
Drifts. The API-version rows fail quietly. A retired version is answered by the oldest supported one, so nothing errors; a field changes shape, or a total recalculates, and you find out from a reconciliation that does not add up.
Demotes. The Built for Shopify row does not break anything. It puts the badge at risk, and the badge is how Shopify decides which apps get featured placement in the App Store. For an app that acquires most installs through the store, losing it is a distribution problem. I wrote up what the badge is worth and what it costs to keep.
Three decisions to
make before your
BFCM code freeze.
1. Find every script tag call this week. Search your codebase for scriptTagCreate, scriptTagUpdate and the REST ScriptTag resource. From October 1 those calls fail for new installs, so a merchant who installs your app that day gets an app that half works. Existing installs keep running until March 1, 2027, which is why this one is easy to under-prioritise.
2. Put the token migration on the calendar before the freeze, not after it. The January 1, 2027 date lands right after peak season. If your team freezes deploys from early November, the migration has to be built, tested and shipped in October.
3. Decide your pricing before Shopify decides the migration date. Moving to Shopify App Pricing standardises how your plans are shown and billed. The early-access window is the time to fix a plan structure you would not choose again. My app pricing benchmarks and the pricing model tool are where I would start.
For merchants: find
the apps still loading
through script tags.
Script tags are how older apps add a reviews widget, a popup, chat or a tracking pixel without touching your theme code. After March 1, 2027 anything still loaded that way stops appearing, and nothing on the storefront will tell you. The replacement, an app embed, shows up in the theme editor under App embeds, where you switch it on.
The practical check: list the apps that put something visible or measurable on your storefront, and ask each vendor whether it still uses script tags. If the answer is yes and there is no migration date, that is a vendor risk worth pricing into your renewal. If you ran Shopify Scripts on Plus, the Scripts sunset guide covers what replaced them.
What gets a row,
and where every
date comes from.
A change gets a row when it has a date and doing nothing has a consequence: something stops working, a status is at risk, or a decision gets made for you. New optional features do not get a row, however useful. Every date is taken from Shopify's own changelog or documentation and linked; nothing comes from secondhand coverage.
It is refreshed monthly against the changelog's action-required filter, and sooner when Shopify posts a dated change. It sits alongside the other trackers in The Index, including the Shopify app acquisitions tracker, and the wider ecosystem numbers live on the benchmarks page.
Questions app teams
ask about Shopify
platform deadlines.
When do Shopify script tags stop working?
In two steps. From October 1, 2026, the scriptTagCreate and scriptTagUpdate mutations return an error and the REST ScriptTag resource rejects POST and PUT, on every API version. On March 1, 2027, Shopify stops injecting script tags into storefronts, so any JavaScript still loaded that way stops running. Shopify's replacement is an app embed block in a theme app extension.
Does pinning an older API version delay the script tag deprecation?
No. Shopify's changelog says the deprecation applies to all API versions, including older ones, so pinning will not defer it.
When do Shopify API versions stop working?
Shopify releases a version each quarter and supports each one for at least 12 months. Version 2025-10 is accessible until October 16, 2026 and 2026-01 until January 16, 2027. A request to a retired version is answered by the oldest supported version instead, so the response can change without an error.
What happens if my Shopify app still uses non-expiring offline access tokens after January 1, 2027?
Public apps still using non-expiring offline tokens will get authentication errors on Admin API calls from January 1, 2027. Custom apps and apps a merchant creates in the Dev Dashboard or admin are not affected.
Do I have to migrate my app to Shopify App Pricing?
Not yet. As of September 26, 2026 Shopify has not announced a forced migration date. The migration tool for Billing API apps is in early access, which is the time to decide what you want to charge rather than letting the migration decide it for you.
Which of these deadlines touches your roadmap?
I helped build the Shopify Partner Program and later sold my own app. If a platform change is about to hit your onboarding, your billing or your App Store placement, I can help you size it and sequence the work around peak season.
Start a conversation Model your app pricing →