Amai PreOrder Manager Alternative: Pre-Orders Charged and Fulfilled When You Say So
Three Reasons Stores Are Switching From Amai
Amai's payment, fulfilment and integration model stops short for brands whose orders flow straight into a 3PL or ERP.
Deposit Balances Collected One Order at a Time
Amai's partial payment takes a deposit at checkout, but the balance isn't charged automatically.
- Amai's help centre says deposits work with Shopify Payments only
- When the balance is due, merchants open each "Partially paid" order in Shopify admin and collect it by hand
- Amai's help centre says there's no way to collect balances in bulk
- A charge-later option (card saved at checkout, charged at dispatch) isn't documented in Amai's help centre
No Order Splitting or Documented Fulfilment Holds
Amai lets pre-order and in-stock items share a cart, but can't split them into separate orders.
- Amai's help centre says the app is unable to split pre-order and non-pre-order items
- Fulfilment holds on pre-order lines aren't documented in Amai's help centre
- For a store whose 3PL or ERP takes orders the moment they're placed, an unheld pre-order line can ship early or error in the warehouse
Limited Integrations and No API
Amai lists integrations on its App Store page, but its help centre documents only a Stocky sync.
- Amai doesn't offer an API for external systems, per its help centre
- Shopify Flow is listed under "Works with", with no documented triggers or actions
- Amai's help centre says its Notify Me emails aren't connected to Klaviyo or Mailchimp
Amai PreOrder Manager vs PreProduct
Side by side, from Amai's help centre and its last App Store listing. Where Amai is stronger, we say so.
Shopify App Rating
Live review count from the Shopify App Store
532 reviews on its listing (April 2026 snapshot)
Checkout
Shop Pay, discounts, shipping profiles and checkout extensions keep working
Uses Shopify's checkout with "Continue selling when out of stock" switched on
Charge-Later
Card saved at checkout and charged when you trigger it: by hand on all plans, or on automation (Scale and up)
Amai's help centre covers paying in full or a two-part deposit only
Deposits
Charge balances by hand or on automation, line by line or in bulk, never early or twice
Shopify Payments only, per Amai's help centre; each balance collected one order at a time, no bulk option
Fulfilment Holds
Your 3PL or ERP ships only what's ready; holds release when you charge or when stock arrives. All plans
No help-centre article covers holding pre-order lines from fulfilment
Cart Control
Four front-end redirect settings plus Shopify checkout validation; charge-upfront orders can be split after checkout
Pre-order and in-stock items share one order; the app can't split them
Customer Portal
Customers check their pre-order, update payment details and cancel without emailing you
Self-serve cancellation of pre-order lines with full or partial refunds
Automation
Pre-orders list as stock runs out and charge as stock lands (Scale and up); Flow actions (Scale and up), Flow triggers and API (Scale Plus)
Start/end dates and pre-order limits; Shopify Flow listed under "Works with" with no documented triggers or actions; no API
Klaviyo
Pre-order events in Klaviyo (Scale and up)
Listed under "Works with"; Amai's help centre says Notify Me isn't connected to Klaviyo or Mailchimp
Back-in-Stock Alerts
PreProduct sells pre-orders, not waitlists: sold-out products keep selling, charged when stock arrives
Notify Me restock emails (English only)
Pricing
Starter: free + 5% of paid pre-order revenue. Scale: $59.99/month, 0% on the first $5,000 then 0.5%. Scale Plus: $259.99/month, 0%
Priced by Shopify plan, no commission, 14-day trial (as last listed)
Pre-Orders Charged and Fulfilled When You Say So
Built for brands running pre-orders at scale, with a 3PL or ERP taking orders automatically and a checkout wired into Shop Pay and Klaviyo.
Charged When You Say So
Choose per product whether customers pay upfront, later on a vaulted card, or by deposit, whichever fits your lead time. Then trigger charges by hand for a single launch, or automate them when pre-orders run all year.
- Charge-later and deposits on a saved card, charged when you trigger it
- Charge line by line or in bulk, never early or twice
- Auto-charge as stock lands (Scale and up)
- Multi-step payment plans and pay-early (Scale Plus)
Fulfilled When You Say So
Pre-order lines wait in Shopify until stock lands, so your 3PL or ERP ships only what's ready. Confirm your 3PL or ERP respects Shopify fulfilment holds when you test.
- Fulfilment holds on every plan
- Release holds when you charge or when stock arrives
- In-stock lines in the same order ship straight away
Cart Control for Your 3PL or ERP
Decide whether pre-orders share a cart with in-stock items, sit with other pre-orders, or check out on their own, so orders reach the warehouse in the shape your ops team wants.
- Four front-end redirect settings
- Shopify checkout validation catches upsell apps and cart links
- Split charge-upfront orders after checkout
Native Shopify Checkout
Pre-orders go through your own Shopify checkout, so everything already wired into it keeps working.
- Shop Pay and your payment methods
- Discount codes and automatic discounts
- Shipping profiles and checkout extensions
- Orders in your Shopify admin like any other
Customer Portal for Every Pre-Order
Customers check status, estimated ship date and payment schedule themselves, which cuts the "when will mine ship?" emails during a launch.
- Order status and ETA
- Payment schedule and receipts
- Update payment details
- Self-serve cancellations and pay-early
Automation for Large Catalogues
When hundreds of SKUs cycle through pre-order, the listing manager opens and closes listings from Shopify stock, and Shopify Flow and Klaviyo pick up every pre-order event.
- Listing manager automation (Scale and up)
- Shopify Flow actions (Scale and up), triggers (Scale Plus)
- Klaviyo pre-order events (Scale and up)
- API access (Scale Plus)
Why brands love PreProduct
Real reviews from verified Shopify merchants.
"Game changer for us. PreProduct has transformed the way our small team is able to manage pre-orders. It's been a massive operational unlock. The app itself is intuitive, fast to implement, and fits seamlessly into our existing workflows."
"Run, don't walk and install PreProduct! We've been a very long time looking for the perfect pre-order app and can happily report we've found it! The deferred payment options and flexibility are absolute game changers."
"Glad I went for this pre-order app. Very flexible and well thought out functionality. Also the customer service is some of the best I've experienced - friendly and highly responsive."
"This app has enabled us to integrate Shopify preorders with our legacy ERP. The ability to defer charging customers for preordered items until we are ready to ship is an amazing feature. We also love the feature that allows customers to manage their order's preorders themselves. Another great feature of this app is the ability to prevent preorder items from being mixed into carts with non- ..."
"Brilliant app that changes the game for out of stock items, really love the usability of this and it works like a charm. Oli is extremely responsive and helpful for support, 100% would recommend!"
Common questions
Is Amai PreOrder Manager Still on the Shopify App Store?
When we checked in late October 2026, its listing read "This app is not currently available on the Shopify App Store. If you have support questions, contact Amai directly." Amai is still trading and still describes the app on amai.com, and hadn't published a statement about the listing. Listings can come back, so check apps.shopify.com/pre-order for its current status.
What Happens to My Existing Pre-Orders If I Switch From Amai?
Amai's help centre says orders keep their pre-order tag after you uninstall, so you can bring them straight into PreProduct. Enter that tag in PreProduct's Migrate card and it imports every order with unfulfilled items, keeping its payment state: paid orders as paid pre-orders, and "Partially paid" deposit orders as deposits with the amount already taken recorded, so you collect the balance from PreProduct instead of chasing it with Shopify's Collect payment. Unpaid orders only import if a payment method was saved. Nothing changes on Shopify and no customers are emailed. Amai doesn't tag draft orders or PayPal Express orders, so tag those by hand before importing. See the migration guide.
How Do I Remove Amai Without Leaving Products on Pre-Order?
Turn pre-order off on every product first, so Shopify's "Continue selling when out of stock" box is unticked; otherwise sold-out items stay buyable. Turn off pre-order badges, then use Amai's in-app uninstall before deleting the app. Finally remove its theme app block, any Liquid snippet you pasted into the order confirmation email, and the spo-enabled and spo-disabled product tags. Place a test order in a private window afterwards.
Does PreProduct Send Back-in-Stock Alerts Like Amai's Notify Me?
No. PreProduct sells pre-orders, not waitlists. Instead of collecting emails for a restock, a sold-out product keeps selling as a pre-order: the card is saved at checkout and charged when stock arrives, so you have the order rather than a list of people who might come back.
Is PreProduct More Expensive Than Amai?
On the subscription, often yes. Amai was $12.95 to $89.95 a month depending on your Shopify plan, with no commission. PreProduct's Starter plan is free plus 5% of paid pre-order revenue, Scale is $59.99 a month with 0% on the first $5,000 of monthly paid pre-order revenue and 0.5% after, and Scale Plus is $259.99 a month with 0% commission. What you pay for is deferred charges on a vaulted card, fulfilment holds, cart control and a customer portal.
Can I Move My Amai Listings to PreProduct Automatically?
Partly. When PreProduct migrates your Amai orders by their tag (see the migration guide), any product in them that isn't listed yet gets a listing created automatically, which you can reactivate to keep selling. Amai doesn't document a settings export, so dates, deposit amounts and button wording are set again; templates let you do that across many products in bulk, and the listing manager (Scale and up) can put products on pre-order as they sell out. If you're moving a large catalogue, email us and we'll check the setup with you before go-live.
Comparing Amai PreOrder Manager with more than one app? See our Shopify pre-order app round-up for 2026 picks by use case.
Ready to Move Your Pre-Orders Off Amai?
Start free on the Starter plan, or try Scale or Scale Plus free for 7 days on the Shopify App Store.
Scale Plus
For brands running pre-orders for scale. 0% commission
$259.99
USD / month
+0% commission
Everything in Scale
0% commission
16 Shopify Flow triggers
API access
Multi-step payment plans and pay-early
Setup check with a developer before go-live (Zoom)
Scale
For brands running pre-orders alongside in-stock products
$59.99
USD / month
+0% commission on up to 5k of monthly paid pre-order revenue, then 0.5% afterwards.
Take me to the Shopify app - 7 day free trial
Everything in Starter
Listing Manager automation access
15x Shopify Flow actions
10+ Klaviyo events
Developer support
Starter
For your first pre-order campaign
$0.00
USD / month
+5% of paid pre-order revenue
Take me to the Shopify app
Take pre-orders from your e-commerce/Shopify storefront
Unlimited pre-order listings
Charge customers upfront, later or via deposit
Customise pre-order front-end & email campaign
Customer portals
Pre-ship upsells add-on available
Email support