Best Shopify Apps for E-Commerce Startup Store in 2026

The best Shopify apps really come down to what your store needs, but some standout picks across categories include Klaviyo for email marketing, Tidio for customer support; Loox, and Judge.me for reviews, iCart and AfterSell for upsells, Shogun and PageFly for design, Stellar for order delivery, and LoyaltyLion for retention.

By leveraging the top Shopify apps, your e-commerce store has the potential to transform from ordinary to extraordinary.

Integrating these great Shopify apps is an effective strategy to boost revenue, streamline customer support, and enhance the overall purchasing experience for your customers.

A Quick Overview of the Best Shopify Apps Across Categories

A List of Top Must Have Shopify Apps

1. iCart Cart Drawer Cart Upsell

Elevate your customers' shopping experience by offering targeted upsells right from the cart drawer, cart popup or cart page. With iCart, you can show upsell, cross-sell, bundle, progress bar, discount, free gift, etc. You can customize the cart based on your needs. With iCart, you can increase sales and AOV easily.

Pricing: Free / $12.99 / $19.99 / $29.99

Category: Upsell and cross-sell

Features:

• Create tailor-made upselling and cross-selling offers to increase AOV.
• Drag and drop customizable cart drawer, cart popup and cart page builder that fit your theme.
• Prompt users with a cart progress bar with free gift, a discount cart, and free shipping.
• Offer bundle products with discounts and double profit.
• Advanced analytics to check the performance of iCart in your store.

2. Stellar Delivery Date & Pickup

Stellar Delivery Date & Pickup app is one of the must have Shopify apps for businesses offering local delivery, in-store pickup, and shipping options. It features a customizable delivery date picker that allows customers to choose precise delivery dates and times.

Like other great Shopify apps, this one improves the customer experience by showing estimated delivery dates directly on product pages and Integrating with POS solutions for growth. It's a great choice for food stores, florists, and grocery shops, making it an essential tool for any e-commerce startup looking to streamline operations.

Category: Local delivery and pickup

Pricing: Free/ Store Pickup $14.99 / Product Delivery $29.99 / unlimited location $29.99

Key Features:

• The local delivery date picker is displayed on the checkout page for Shopify Plus stores.
• The app enables location-specific delivery dates and times for store pickup and local delivery and allows customers to reschedule orders via the thank you page.
• Fraud prevention for store pickups with delivery date validation.
• Day-wise shipping rates are based on the selected delivery date, ensuring accurate pricing.
• Rescheduling options directly from the thank you page, enhancing flexibility.

3. Pagefly: Landing Page Builder

PageFly is a drag-and-drop page builder that lets you create conversion-focused landing pages, product pages, FAQs, and more without touching code, while still working alongside your theme.

Category: Page builder

Key features:

• 100+ CRO templates and pre-made sections
• Flexible drag, group, and alignment controls for layouts
• A/B testing to compare page variations
• Sales widgets like countdowns, upsell elements, and trust badges
• Works with 130+ integrations

Pricing:

• Free: 1 published slot (page/section)
• Pay as you go: $18/month (from 3 published slots)
• Unlimited: $99/month

4. Klaviyo: Email Marketing & SMS

Klaviyo is an AI-powered email and SMS marketing platform that syncs Shopify customer and store data quickly so you can send more personalized campaigns and automations across email, SMS, and more.

Category: Email marketing and SMS

Key features:

• Real-time Shopify data sync + 350+ integrations
• AI-powered segmentation and automated flows
• Personalized email, SMS, WhatsApp, push, pop-ups
• A/B testing and analytics
• Customer Hub/Agent to connect service and marketing moments

Pricing:

• Free to install: email free up to 250 contacts + limited SMS credits
• SMS: starts at $15/month
• Email: starts at $20/month (251–500 contacts)

5. Loox - Visual Product Reviews

Loox helps you collect and showcase photo/video reviews and referrals, so you can build trust and increase conversions with on-brand review widgets that don’t slow down your store.

Category: Product reviews

Key features:

• Automated review request emails + customizable review form
• Photo and video reviews, plus rewards for photo reviews/referrals
• Multiple widgets (carousels, pop-ups, badges) and SEO-rich snippets
• Sync to Shop App, Google Shopping, Meta Shops
• Import reviews from other platforms (like Judge.me, Yotpo, etc.)

Pricing:

• Beginner: $12.99/month (7-day free trial)
• Scale: $39.99/month (14-day free trial)
• Convert: $99.99/month (14-day free trial)
• Unlimited: $299.99/month (14-day free trial)

6. Tidio - Live Chat & AI Chatbot

Tidio combines live chat, chatbot automation, and an AI agent in one help desk, so you can support shoppers in real time and also drive upsells with product recommendations and targeted offers.

Category: AI Chatbot

Key features:

• Live chat with proactive messages + real-time shopper context
• Chatbot flows for 24/7 automation
• AI agent (Lyro) to resolve common support questions
• Unified help desk (ticketing + inbox)
• Analytics, operating hours, and AI reply assistant (plan-dependent)

Pricing:

• Free: live chat conversations with 50 users + basic flows/ticketing
• Customer Service: starts at $29/month (7-day free trial)

7. LoyaltyLion: Rewards & Loyalty

LoyaltyLion lets you build a branded loyalty program with points and rewards, so you can turn first-time buyers into repeat customers and reduce acquisition costs through referrals and engagement incentives.

Category: Loyalty & rewards

Key features:

• Points-based rewards + vouchers
• VIP tiers and memberships
• Referral incentives
• Rewards like store credit, free shipping, gift cards, exclusive access
• Analytics + integrations (Klaviyo, Gorgias, Shopify POS, etc.)

Pricing:

• Free to install: includes 400 monthly orders + points program
• Classic: $199/month (includes 1,000 orders; 14-day free trial)

8. Judge.me Product Reviews App

Judge.me is one of the top Shopify apps for product reviews, designed to help you boost online sales. Easily collect unlimited photo and video reviews through automated emails, and showcase user-generated content (UGC) with eye-catching widgets. Build trust by displaying ratings on social media and enhancing your SEO and PPC efforts with ratings visible on Google and Meta.

Category: Product reviews

Pricing: Free / $15

Key Features:

• You can engage customers using coupons and referrals to encourage repeat purchases.
• Plus, setup is super easy, and their 24/7 support team responds in just 50 seconds via chat.
• Collect and manage unlimited reviews with photo and video content.
• Display star ratings, store reviews, and review carousels or pop-ups.
• Send coupons and referrals to increase new and repeat sales.
• Import reviews from platforms like Amazon, Etsy, and other review apps like Loox and Yotpo.

9. Shogun ‑ Landing Page Builder

The ease with which anybody may start up a business is one of the several benefits of Shopify. Beyond the basic package, Shogun Landing Page Builder will boost your shop’s appearance and make it stand out.

Shogun is a powerful landing page builder with an intuitive drag-and-drop interface. It’s easy to learn and use. Whether you’re a design novice or an expert, this tool will help you create a landing page that looks great and loads fast.
Shogun considers the number of customers who use their mobile devices to make purchases while on the go. Because of this, they feature mobile-friendly page layouts.

Category: Page builder app

Pricing: Free / $15

Key Features:

• Effortless page builder with a library of drag-and-drop elements
  Designers with more experience may build their own components using JavaScript, CSS, and HTML/Liquid.
• Put your own spin on your blog articles, collections, and projects.

10. Aftersell Post Purchase Upsell

Aftersell helps you increase AOV with post-purchase one-click upsells/downsells, a customizable cart experience, and revenue-focused thank you pages. Shopify Plus stores can also add checkout upsells and social proof.

Category: Post-purchase upsell

Key features:

• One-click post-purchase upsells and downsells
• Targeting rules (product, cart value, tags, UTM, language, etc.)
• Thank you page customization (reviews, FAQs, cross-sells, Rokt Thanks)
• Checkout upsells + social proof (Shopify Plus)
• A/B testing + analytics

Pricing:

• Free: development/partner stores only
• 0–500 orders: $34.99/month (30-day free trial)
• 501–1000 orders: $54.99/month (30-day free trial)
• 1001–2000 orders: $99.99/month (30-day free trial)

How to Choose the Best Shopify Apps?

Picking the right Shopify apps helps your store run smoothly and scale without unnecessary complexity. Focus on quality, not quantity, and always test before committing.

• Check Reviews & Support: Look for apps with strong ratings and recent reviews. Reliable, responsive support matters a lot when an app affects sales, checkout, or customer experience.

• Test Free Trials: Use free trials to see if the app fits your workflow and works well with your theme. A quick test can show whether it truly adds value or just looks good on paper.

• Look for “Built for Shopify”: Apps with the “Built for Shopify” badge meet Shopify’s performance and integration standards. These apps are usually more stable and store-friendly.

• Don’t Overdo It: Installing too many apps can slow down your store and hurt performance. Try to stay under 10–15 apps and avoid tools with overlapping features.

Wrapping Up

Whether you need interactive pop-ups, website builders, email marketing tools, or drop-shipping services, the list of must-have Shopify apps provided above should be more than enough to fulfill your e-commerce company's needs. You can read descriptions or visit their Shopify sites to learn more about the apps and their potential advantages.

FAQs Best Shopify Apps

1. Can I manage email marketing through Shopify apps?

Yes, apps like Klaviyo and Omnisend integrate seamlessly with Shopify to automate email marketing campaigns.

2. Are these apps beginner-friendly for new Shopify users?

Absolutely! Most of these apps, including Judge.me, Stellar Delivery, and iCart are designed with user-friendly interfaces and offer great customer support.

3. Which Shopify apps are best for increasing conversions?

Apps like Judge.me (for reviews), iCart Cart Drawer Cart Upsell (for upselling), and Klaviyo (for email marketing) are excellent for increasing conversions. Reviews build trust, upsell apps increase average order value, and email marketing can re-engage customers and drive repeat purchases.

4. Can Shopify apps slow down my store?

While some apps can slow down a store, most well-designed apps minimize their impact on page load times. To avoid this issue, install only essential apps and check app reviews or performance metrics to make sure they don’t negatively affect your store’s speed.

5. What are the must-have Shopify apps?

Some must-have Shopify apps include Klaviyo for email and SMS marketing, Loox or Judge.me for social proof, and Tidio for live chat and customer support. To increase order value and retention, apps like iCart for upsells and LoyaltyLion for loyalty and rewards are also considered essential for most stores.

About the author

Sajini Annie John

Meet Sajini, a seasoned technical content writer with a passion for e-commerce and expertise in Shopify. She is committed to helping online businesses to thrive through the power of well-crafted content.