++++ Plate 00 · App valuationCalculator
Free calculator · See your range with no signup

What is your Shopify app actually worth?

App buyers anchor on a multiple of trailing profit or ARR, then move it up or down for the things that decide whether it keeps running after you're gone: growth, churn, net revenue retention, customer concentration, and founder dependency. Answer six questions and get your adjusted multiple and a defensible value range.

6 inputs~60 secondsNo email to see your range
✓ See your multiple and value range instantly. No signup to view your result.
By Taylor Sicard · early Shopify, helped build and scale the Partner Program · sold his own app (Uptime) to Tiny, a publicly traded company · has helped Shopify apps raise hundreds of millions in venture funding
What a Shopify app is worth

A Shopify app in 2026 is valued on a multiple of trailing profit or ARR, depending on deal size: a profit multiple below roughly $5M of deal value, an ARR or EBITDA multiple above it. The median anchor is around 4.3x trailing-twelve-month profit or 4.5x ARR, with the realistic band running 3x to 7x ARR. Five things move you inside that band: growth rate, monthly churn, net revenue retention, merchant concentration, and how much of the business depends on the founder. An app at $500K ARR typically clears 3x to 5x, so roughly $1.5 million to $2.5 million, with realized prices skewing toward the lower half.

  • Basis: profit multiple below roughly $5M of deal value, ARR or EBITDA multiple above it.
  • Median anchor: about 4.3x trailing-twelve-month profit, or 4.5x ARR.
  • Realistic band: 3x to 7x ARR.
  • The five adjusters: growth, churn, net revenue retention, merchant concentration, founder dependency.
  • At $500K ARR that is roughly $1.5M to $2.5M, skewing to the lower half.
Source: Taylor Sicard, Taylor Sicard Consulting · Updated August 2026
The method behind the number
How buyers actually price a Shopify app.
Ecosystem Strategy
What is your Shopify app actually worth?
The profit or ARR multiple behind this tool, adjusted for growth, churn, NRR, and concentration.
Read post →
Ecosystem Strategy
How to value a Shopify app
Profit vs ARR multiples, and the five factors that move the number up or down.
Read post →
Ecosystem Strategy
What Shopify apps sell for in 2026
The current ranges, the active buyers, and the biggest valuation drivers.
Read post →
Ecosystem Strategy
Shopify app economics in one chart
The five metrics that decide whether an app is a real business: churn, NRR, and more.
Read post →
Method

How the app valuation is calculated

The calculator anchors at roughly 4.0x annual profit, or about 4.5x ARR for larger apps, then adjusts for the five factors buyers actually diligence: growth rate, monthly churn, net revenue retention, customer concentration, and founder dependency. The multiple is an output. Two apps with identical profit can sell for wildly different numbers on revenue quality alone.

What raises the multipleGrowth with net revenue retention over 100%, churn under 3%, a broad merchant base, and a business that runs without the founder in the loop.
What buyers discountSingle-channel acquisition, revenue concentrated in a few merchants, and profit that depends on the founder working for free.
What kills dealsChurn over 6%, undisclosed concentration, and books that cannot produce a clean monthly MRR schedule.

The anchors are directional and move with the market. The factor adjustments matter more than the headline multiple, and churn is the heaviest input, so price yours in the churn cost tool and check the growth engine behind it with the SaaS CAC payback calculator. All eleven free calculators share the same operator benchmarks.

Questions

Common questions

What multiple do Shopify apps sell for?
Directionally, smaller apps anchor around 4.0x trailing-12-month net profit and larger apps around 4.5x ARR, before adjustments. Growth, churn, net revenue retention, customer concentration, and founder dependency then move the number up or down. Multiples compressed through late 2025 into 2026, so realized prices skew to the lower half of any quoted range.
Should I value my app on profit or ARR?
Size decides. Apps under roughly $5M of value usually trade on a multiple of trailing-12-month net profit, and larger apps shift to an ARR multiple. If you sit near the line, run the calculator on both bases and treat the spread as your negotiating range.
What lowers a Shopify app's valuation?
Three drags hurt most: churn (above roughly 6% monthly reads as a product-fit problem), customer concentration (one account over 20% of revenue is the single biggest multiple-reducer), and founder dependency (a fully founder-run app gets discounted hard, because buyers fear growth leaves with you).
When should I start preparing my app for a sale?
12 to 24 months before you want to transact. Churn, concentration, and founder dependency all take time to change, and learning your number the week a buyer calls is too late.
What is SDE and why do buyers use it?
Seller's discretionary earnings: profit with the founder's salary and personal costs added back. Smaller app deals price on SDE because the buyer replaces the founder. Larger ones move to EBITDA or ARR multiples. Know which basis a buyer is quoting before comparing offers.
What do buyers ask for in diligence?
A clean monthly MRR schedule, churn cohorts, the partner-dashboard revenue export, concentration (your top ten merchants as a share of MRR), support load, and a list of what only the founder knows how to do. Apps that can produce those in a day trade at the top of their band.