Best Shopify Pre-order Apps in 2026: Picks by Use Case
Picking the best pre order app for Shopify is harder than it looks. Most round-ups treat every Shopify pre-order app like an interchangeable button replacement, then rank them by App Store stars. That’s how merchants end up with a tool that fits the demo but breaks when stock arrives, when a deposit needs to clear, or when a 3PL ships an order it shouldn’t have.
Prefer a video? Watch Oli talk through the best Shopify pre-order apps below.
We’ve watched over $85 million in pre-orders flow through PreProduct, drawn from our One Million Pre-orders report. What we’ve learned: the best pre-order app for Shopify depends on what you’re trying to do. A brand running deposit-based capsule drops needs something different from a brand running coming-soon pages on twenty SKUs at once.
This guide ranks the top pre-order apps for Shopify by use case, not by one overall score. You’ll see picks for pre-orders at scale, bundled pre-order plus back-in-stock workflows, deposits, simple button replacement, fulfillment control and free plans. PreProduct is our own app, so we’ve kept this fair by handing competitors the categories where they’re stronger. Some merchants spell it “preorder” and others “pre-order”; both spellings bring you to the same set of tools. Selling past zero on a restock rather than a new release? See our pick of the best Shopify backorder apps. Here’s how to do pre-orders on Shopify the right way, and which app fits which job.
TL;DR: Our 2026 Picks at a Glance
Here’s the short version of the best preorder app for Shopify in each category. We’ll go deep on each pick below.
-
01
Pre-orders at scale
App:
PreProduct- Free Plan
- Yes (5% commission)
- Pricing From
- $59.99/mo
- Specialist or Bundled
- Specialist
-
02
All-in-one (pre-order plus back-in-stock plus waitlist)
App:
STOQ- Free Plan
- Yes
- Pricing From
- $10/mo
- Specialist or Bundled
- Bundled
-
03
Deposits and partial payments
App:
PreProduct- Free Plan
- Yes (5% commission)
- Pricing From
- $59.99/mo
- Specialist or Bundled
- Specialist
-
04
Simple button replacement
App:
Globo- Free Plan
- Yes (first 20 pre-orders)
- Pricing From
- $9.90/mo
- Specialist or Bundled
- Specialist (basic)
-
05
Controlling fulfillment
App:
PreProduct- Free Plan
- Yes (5% commission)
- Pricing From
- $59.99/mo
- Specialist or Bundled
- Specialist
If you’re not sure where you land, the “How to Choose” section further down has a quick decision framework.
How We Evaluated Shopify Pre-order Apps
Most pre-order app round-ups stop at “supports partial payments, yes or no.” That misses where the real friction lives. Here are the five things we looked at, in the order they matter for actual operations. For the long version of this framework, see our guide on how to choose a Shopify pre-order app.
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01
Payment-Model Depth
Pre-orders work best when the charge model matches the lead time. Short lead times: charge upfront. Long lead times: charge later, or take a deposit and capture the balance closer to ship. Multi-step plans suit higher-ticket launches.
Across more than one million pre-orders, 43.8% used charge-later, 28.7% used capture-only, 14.9% upfront, and 12.6% deposit-upfront. An app that supports two of those five models will limit you on most launches. For a deeper read on which model fits which scenario, see our pre-order payment models guide.
-
02
Fulfillment Integration
Pre-order items can’t ship with the regular order flow. They need a fulfillment hold that prevents the 3PL or warehouse picking the order until stock lands. Apps that don’t handle this turn into incident reports.
For Shopify, look for apps that set Shopify’s native fulfillment hold status. For Shopify Flow users, the depth of pre-order specific triggers and actions matters; PreProduct exposes 15 Flow actions and 16 triggers, more than most.
-
03
Cart Behavior
Some merchants want isolated pre-order carts so customers can’t combine a pre-order and an in-stock item in one order. Others want mixed carts to push average order value up. Across the dataset, 62.1% of stores do not allow mixed carts; both options should be available, with redirect handling on the front end. Your 3PL, ERP or ops team will usually have a firm view here. If your fulfillment setup can split an order, a mixed cart is fine: the in-stock items ship today and the pre-order line waits. If it can’t, a mixed order either sits until the pre-order lands or ships as two parcels you pay postage on twice. Choose an app that lets you set how pre-orders flow, rather than one that decides for you. A redirect or a warning keeps most shoppers on track, but express checkouts can skip them. A Shopify checkout validation is the only rule that can’t be got around.
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04
Customer Communication
Lead times slip. Stock dates change. The apps that hold up are the ones with a customer-facing portal where buyers can self-serve cancellations, see payment schedules, and pull up their order status. Email templates and automated dunning for failed deferred charges round out the picture.
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05
Pricing Model Fairness
Commission-based pricing aligns the app with your revenue. Fixed monthly fees are predictable but can hurt low-volume stores or punish high-volume ones, depending on the cap. Worth checking the App Store reviews specifically for how each app handles outliers, like a 6-figure launch on a $19 per month plan.
Best Shopify Pre-order Apps by Use Case
This is where most round-ups stop being useful. One app rarely wins overall. Here are five categories where one app is clearly the right pick.
Best for Pre-orders at Scale: PreProduct
Scale means the size of the business and the operation behind it: an established brand with a 3PL or ERP that picks up orders the moment they’re placed, a checkout wired into Shop Pay, Klaviyo and checkout extensions, and a team whose names are on the launch. Often it means a big catalogue too, with thousands of SKUs moving on and off pre-order alongside in-stock items. The app has to run all of that in one store without breaking checkout or charging anyone at the wrong time.
PreProduct runs pre-orders through the native Shopify checkout, in mixed or pre-order-only carts. Deferred charges sit on a vaulted card with Shopify or Stripe, so there’s no authorization expiry. You trigger them by hand or on automation as stock is added, line by line (on Shopify Plus) or in bulk, never early or twice. The Listing Manager lets you set rules for how listings appear when product tags or stock levels change, so thousands of SKUs can move on and off pre-order without a manual pass. It also runs on BigCommerce and WooCommerce, with 15 Shopify Flow actions (Scale and up) and 16 triggers (Scale Plus) for automating the rest.
Best All-in-One (Pre-order Plus Back-in-Stock Plus Waitlist): STOQ
If you want one app to handle pre-orders, back-in-stock notifications, and waitlists, STOQ is the strongest single pick. It carries a “Built for Shopify” badge and one of the largest review counts in the category. The trade-off: development focus is split across three product areas. If pre-order depth is your priority, a specialist will beat a bundled app on payment models and edge cases. If breadth matters more than depth, STOQ wins.
Best for Deposits and Partial Payments: PreProduct
Deposits are pre-orders’ best-kept secret for higher-ticket items. Take a deposit upfront to lock in commitment, then charge the balance on the vaulted card when stock lands, by hand or automatically. PreProduct supports fixed and percentage deposits, with dunning flows for failed balance charges. The deposit-upfront model represents 12.6% of all pre-orders in our dataset and a much higher share of revenue per order on premium SKUs. For a deeper look at deposit mechanics, see our Shopify deposit pre-orders guide.
Best for Simple Button Replacement: Globo
If all you need is “swap the buy button for a pre-order button on a few SKUs,” Globo does that simply. The free plan covers your first 20 pre-orders, and paid plans from $9.90 a month raise the limit and add partial payments. It’s less suited for multi-step payments or fulfillment holds at scale. For a basic restock flow, fine. For anything operationally complex, look elsewhere. See our Globo Pre-order comparison for the full picture.
Best for Controlling Fulfillment: PreProduct
Selling past zero is the easy part. The risk is what happens next: a pre-order lands in the same pipeline as your in-stock orders and gets picked before the stock exists. The app needs to hold those lines and stop the campaign at the number you can ship.
PreProduct puts pre-order lines on Shopify’s native fulfillment hold until stock lands, then releases them by listing, by customer or automatically once a deferred charge goes through as stock is added. Four front-end redirect settings let you match how your ops team wants orders to flow: mixed carts where the in-stock lines ship while the pre-order lines wait, a pre-order-only cart or sending each pre-order straight to checkout as its own order. Charge-upfront orders can also be split into two orders after checkout. Shopify checkout validation rules (all plans, opt-in) back that up with rules nobody can get around: block mixed carts, block a pre-order bought without its pre-order option and block checkout when quantities go over your variant, location or per-customer limits. Controlled overselling covers the rest: pre-order limits per variant and per customer plus location-aware pre-orders (Scale Plus) that show pre-order only in countries where stock is out. Test how your 3PL or ERP treats the hold before going wide.
App Cards: Full Breakdown
Quick reference on each named app. Where data wasn’t available or moves often (review counts, pricing tiers), check the live App Store listing before installing.
PreProduct
Strengths: Built for brands and stores running pre-orders at scale that want to be in charge of when customers are charged and when orders ship. Five payment models (charge-upfront, charge-later, deposit, capture-only, multi-step plans for Shopify Plus stores). Vaulted card means no authorization expiry on deferred charges. Charges fire by hand or on automation, line by line (on Shopify Plus) or in bulk, never early or twice. Fulfillment holds keep pre-order lines back until stock lands. 15 Shopify Flow actions and 16 triggers. Multi-platform (Shopify, BigCommerce, WooCommerce). Mixed and isolated cart options. Customer portal for self-serve cancellations and pay-early (Shopify Plus, Scale Plus).
Weaknesses: Specialist focus means no built-in back-in-stock notifications or waitlist features. If you need those bundled in, a bundled app covers that ground.
Pricing: Starter free plus 5% commission on paid pre-order revenue. Scale plan $59.99 per month with 0% commission up to $5,000 monthly pre-order revenue, then 0.5% afterwards. Scale Plus $259.99 per month with 0% commission.
STOQ
STOQ bundles pre-orders, back-in-stock notifications, and waitlists in a single app. It carries Shopify’s “Built for Shopify” badge and one of the largest App Store review counts of any pre-order app for Shopify. It supports pay-now and partial-payment pre-order flows alongside notify-me waitlists, with native integrations to Shopify POS and Flow.
Strongest for merchants who want one app for the full out-of-stock-to-back-in-stock-to-pre-order lifecycle. Where specialists pull ahead: deposit handling, multi-step plans, dunning depth on deferred charges, and platform support beyond Shopify.
Timesact
Timesact is an established Shopify-only pre-order app that bundles pre-orders, back-in-stock alerts, and coming-soon pages. Lower entry price point, with a free plan for 20 orders a month, usage-based plans from $5 a month and unlimited-order plans from $23 to $117 a month depending on your Shopify plan. It works for merchants with simple pre-order needs. Limitations sit around deposit flexibility, multi-step payments, and Shopify Flow automation depth. See our full Timesact vs PreProduct comparison for a feature-by-feature breakdown.
PreOrder Now (WOD)
PreOrder Now is no longer available on the Shopify App Store. It was a long-standing pre-order app focused on button replacement and basic pre-order setups, for merchants who needed to swap “sold out” for “pre-order” on a small set of SKUs without complex payment requirements. If you’re moving off it, see our WOD PreOrder Now alternative page.
Globo Pre-order
Globo pairs a simple pre-order button with back-in-stock alerts. The free plan covers your first 20 pre-orders, which suits merchants testing pre-orders or wanting better than Shopify’s native “continue selling when out of stock” toggle. Partial payments, discounts and higher pre-order and restock-email limits sit on the paid plans ($9.90 and $19.90 per month). See our Globo PreOrder alternative page for the full comparison.
Purple Dot
An enterprise pre-order app with a hosted checkout and venture capital backing. Purple Dot currently sells directly to brands rather than through the Shopify App Store. The hosted-checkout model adds a layer outside Shopify’s native flow, which is a trade-off; checkout consistency for added control. See our Purple Dot alternative page for the specifics.
Appikon Back In Stock
Appikon Back In Stock is a back-in-stock and waitlist app rather than a pre-order app. It sends restock alerts by email and SMS and builds waitlists for sold-out products. Worth a look if you want to capture demand on sold-out variants without taking pre-orders.
Notify Me!
A back-in-stock and waitlist app that also covers pre-orders, wishlists and low-stock alerts in one install. Strongest for merchants who lead with waitlist or notify-me workflows and want a pre-order option attached.
Full Feature Comparison
Quick reference. Where data wasn’t available or rapidly changing, we’ve left a dash; check the App Store listing for the live version before installing.
| Feature | PreProduct |
STOQ |
Timesact |
Globo |
Purple Dot |
Appikon |
 Amai PreOrder |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100% Charge-later (vaulted card) | Yes | Limited | Yes | No | Yes | No | Limited |
| Deposits (vaulted card) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Partial |
| Multi-step payment plans | Yes (Shopify Plus) | No | No | No | Yes | No | No |
| Fulfillment holds | Yes | – | Basic | Basic | Yes | No | Basic |
| Shopify Flow integration | 15 actions, 16 triggers | Yes | Limited | Basic | No | No | No |
| Native Shopify checkout | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | Yes | Yes |
| Pre-order-only or one-per-order carts | Yes | Partial | No | No | Yes (own cart) | No | No |
| Shopify checkout validation | Mixed carts, limits, purchase option | No | Mixed carts | No | N/A (hosted) | No | No |
| Back-in-stock alerts | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| Customer portal | Yes | – | – | No | Yes | No | No |
App Store ratings and review counts move; check the live listing before deciding.
How to Choose the Right Shopify Pre-order App
Use this as a decision shortcut. Match the dominant use case to the right app, install it, run a small test launch (one or two SKUs) before going wide.
If You Sell Pre-Launch Products
You need vaulted-card deferred charges so authorization periods don’t expire on long lead times. You need fulfillment holds. PreProduct is the specialist pick.
If You Take Deposits
You need vaulted card deposit support and dunning for failed balance charges. Invoice-based “deposit” apps that send pay-later invoices break at scale; they’re a different workflow. PreProduct or Purple Dot.
If Your 3PL or ERP Ships Orders Automatically
You need fulfillment holds on the pre-order lines, released only when stock lands, plus pre-order limits so a campaign stops at what you can ship. Run a test order through your 3PL before going wide. PreProduct is the specialist pick.
If You Need Back-in-Stock notifications and Pre-order Together
You’re better served by a bundled preorder app for Shopify than by two separate specialists. STOQ or Timesact.
If You're on Shopify Plus
Multi-step payment plans and deeper Flow automation become available. PreProduct supports both: multi-step plans on Shopify Plus stores; Flow actions on Scale and up and Flow triggers on Scale Plus. Most other apps in this category don’t.
Common Mistakes When Picking a Pre-order App
Picking an Invoice-Based "Split Payments" App for Pre-orders
Some apps marketed as “deposits” or “split payments” use invoice-based flows that send pay-later invoices rather than capturing a vaulted card. Those don’t scale for pre-orders. Customers ignore invoices; deposits don’t clear. See our Shopify split payments guide for the vaulted card vs invoice distinction.
Underestimating Fulfillment Integration Cost
Pre-orders that ship early are an incident, not an inconvenience. An app without proper fulfillment holds means manual workarounds: tagging orders, training warehouse staff, building Flow logic to compensate. The hour-per-week cost of a half-built integration adds up fast.
Choosing on App Store Rating Alone
A 5.0 average across 50 reviews and a 5.0 across 2,000 reviews mean very different things. So does a 4.9 across thousands of reviews on a years-old app vs a recent burst of perfect scores. Look at review count, age, recency, and the kind of complaints in 3- and 4-star reviews. The signal is usually in the negative reviews.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Is the Best Shopify Pre-order App?
There isn’t one. The right pick depends on what you’re trying to do. For pre-orders at scale, deposits and fulfillment control, all charged and fulfilled when you say so, PreProduct. For bundled pre-order plus back-in-stock plus waitlist, STOQ. For a button-replacement on a small set of SKUs, Globo. See the use-case picks above.
Which Shopify Pre-order App Supports Deposits or Partial Payments?
PreProduct, Purple Dot, STOQ, Timesact and Globo all offer deposits or partial payments. PreProduct supports the widest range of deposit configurations, with vaulted card support and dunning for failed balance charges.
Are There Shopify Pre-order Apps With Installments?
Yes; PreProduct supports multi-step payment plans on Shopify Plus stores. Most other pre-order apps in this round-up don’t natively support installments, though some integrate with Shop Pay Installments for buy-now orders.
Is There a Free Preorder App for Shopify?
STOQ, Timesact and Globo all have free plans, each capped at a small number of pre-orders. PreProduct’s Starter plan is $0 per month with a 5% commission on paid pre-order revenue, which can work out cheaper than a monthly fee at low volume.
What’s the Difference Between a Pre-order App and a Waitlist App?
A pre-order captures the order and (usually) the payment commitment. A waitlist captures an email address. Pre-orders convert intent into revenue; waitlists convert intent into a future marketing touchpoint. See our back-in-stock notifications guide for when each is the right tool.
Final Pick: Start Where You Are
There isn’t a single best pre-order app for Shopify. There’s a best app for your specific launch type, payment model, and operational setup.
If you’re running pre-orders at scale, taking deposits or holding fulfillment until stock lands, start with PreProduct. If you want one app to cover pre-orders, back-in-stock alerts, and waitlists, start with STOQ. If you need the simplest possible button replacement, Globo will get you there.
The best move is to install the one that matches your dominant use case and run a small test launch before going wide. Pre-order tooling looks similar in a demo and differs sharply under load.
Charged and fulfilled when you say so. The Starter plan is free, with 5% commission only on revenue you collect.