Shopify Plus automation usually starts with Shopify Flow, Shopify's free, built-in workflow tool. Flow watches your store for events such as a new order, a stock change or a new B2B company, checks the conditions you set, and then takes actions like tagging, holding, notifying or sending data to another system. Add Zapier or Make for apps Flow cannot reach, and a custom app when the logic or data volume outgrows both.
We are a certified Shopify Plus Partner based in Perrysburg, Ohio, and have delivered 500+ Shopify projects since 2018. Below: which Flow features are Plus-only, 10 workflows to build first, Flow vs Zapier, Make and custom apps, Launchpad, and when to bring in a developer.
Key Takeaways
- Shopify Flow is no longer Plus-only. Shopify's Help Center lists it as a free app on the Basic, Grow, Advanced and Plus plans.
- Plus-only Flow advantages include tasks from custom partner apps, direct B2B catalog assignment to companies and the highest API limits. Send HTTP request works on Grow, Advanced and Plus.
- Good first workflows: low-stock alerts, out-of-stock hiding, priority order tagging, high-risk order holds, VIP tagging and a daily unfulfilled-orders report.
- Use Flow inside Shopify, Zapier or Make for quick SaaS connections, and custom apps for high-volume, critical integrations.
- Launchpad is still listed as a Plus-only app, but its script scheduling no longer applies because Shopify Scripts stopped running on June 30, 2026.
What is Shopify Flow and how does it work?
Shopify Flow is an automation app made by Shopify that runs inside your admin. Every workflow has three parts:
- Trigger: the event that starts the workflow, such as Order created, Order risk analyzed, Product variant out of stock, Customer joined segment or Company created.
- Condition: the rule that decides what happens next, such as "order total is over $1,000" or "shipping method contains Express".
- Action: what Flow does, such as add tags, hold a fulfillment order, send an internal email, post to Slack, add a row to Google Sheets or call an external URL.
According to Shopify's Help Center, a Scheduled time trigger can start workflows on a schedule (as often as every 10 minutes), Get data actions pull lists of up to 100 orders, customers or products, and a Run code action lets you transform data with JavaScript. You can also ask Sidekick, Shopify's AI assistant, to draft a workflow from a plain-English request. Ready-made templates are also available.
Is Shopify Flow only available on Shopify Plus?
No. Shopify's Help Center states that Flow is a free app on the Basic, Grow, Advanced and Plus plans, and that most features work on all of them. The differences that matter:
| Capability | Basic | Grow / Advanced | Plus |
|---|---|---|---|
| Core triggers, conditions and actions | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Scheduled workflows, Get data, Run code | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Send HTTP request (call external systems) | No | Yes | Yes |
| Tasks created by custom partner apps | No | No | Yes |
| B2B workflows (companies, payment terms, up to 3 market catalogs) | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Assign catalogs directly to companies or locations | No | No | Yes |
| Usage limits | Tied to each plan's API limits. Plus stores get the highest limits. | ||
So "Shopify Plus Flow" is less about access and more about scale. Plus merchants can use triggers and actions from custom apps built for their store, automate customer-specific B2B pricing and handle more volume. Shopify does not publish a fixed monthly run cap for Flow.
What are the 10 best Shopify Flow workflows for Shopify Plus?
These are the workflows we set up most often. Each replaces a task someone does by hand today.
- Low-stock alerts. Trigger: Product variant inventory quantity changed. Condition: available quantity drops below your reorder point. Action: post to a purchasing Slack channel or email your buyer with the SKU and location.
- Hide sold-out products and bring them back. Use the Product variant out of stock trigger to unpublish a product or move it to the end of a collection, and the Product variant back in stock trigger to reverse it.
- Priority order tagging. When an order is created with an expedited shipping method, a high order value or a specific product, tag it (for example "PRIORITY") so the warehouse sees it first.
- High-risk order holds. Trigger: Order risk analyzed. If Shopify flags the order as high risk, hold the fulfillment order, tag it for review and notify the person who handles fraud. Nothing ships until a person checks it.
- VIP customer tagging. When an order is paid, check the customer's total spend or order count. If it passes your threshold, add a VIP tag. Your email, loyalty and support tools can then use that tag.
- Lapsed customer win-back. Use a customer segment of buyers who haven't ordered in, say, 180 days, and the Customer joined segment trigger to tag them or send them to your email tool for a win-back campaign.
- Campaign and affiliate attribution. Tag orders that use a specific discount code or referral source, so affiliate reporting does not depend on month-end exports.
- Scheduled launches and sales. Use the Scheduled time trigger to publish products, add them to a sale collection or apply tags at a set time, then reverse the changes when the event ends. This covers much of what merchants used Launchpad for.
- Daily unfulfilled-orders report. Every morning, a scheduled workflow gets orders that are still unfulfilled after two days and emails a summary to operations. It catches problems before customers complain.
- Send orders or events to another system. With Send HTTP request, Flow can post order, customer or inventory data to an ERP, 3PL, CRM or internal tool. Flow waits up to 30 seconds for a response and can retry errors for up to 24 hours, per Shopify's documentation. Heavy two-way syncs belong in a dedicated integration.
How can Shopify Flow help with B2B and wholesale?
Since April 2026, Shopify's changelog confirms that core B2B features (company profiles, payment terms, volume pricing and up to 3 market catalogs) are available on Basic, Grow and Advanced too. Plus keeps unlimited catalogs, direct catalog assignment to companies and locations, deposits and partial payments. Flow works with this data on every plan:
- New company setup: when a company location is created, add tags, notify the account manager and, on Plus, assign the right customer-specific catalog.
- Wholesale application routing: tag applicants who meet your criteria and alert sales to approve them.
- Payment reminders: the Payment schedule is due trigger can alert finance when net-terms invoices come due.
Our comparison of Shopify B2B vs the old wholesale channel explains the setup options.
Shopify Flow vs Zapier vs Make vs custom apps: which should you use?
Most stores use more than one. The right tool depends on where the data lives, how much of it there is and what a failure would cost.
| Shopify Flow | Zapier / Make | Custom app or integration | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best for | Anything inside Shopify: orders, products, customers, inventory, B2B | Quick connections between Shopify and other SaaS tools | High-volume, two-way or business-critical syncs |
| Cost | Free with your Shopify plan | Zapier's free plan includes 100 tasks a month and paid plans start at $19.99 a month (Zapier pricing page). Make's free plan includes 1,000 credits a month (Make pricing page). Costs rise with volume. | One-time build cost plus maintenance. Integrations we see typically run $5,000 to $25,000+. |
| Setup | No code for most workflows | No code, visual builder | Developer required |
| Data access | Nearly all Shopify Admin API data, in real time | The fields each connector exposes | Anything both systems' APIs allow |
| Watch out for | Lists of up to 100 items per Get data action; limited reach outside Shopify | Per-task billing at high order volume; polling delays on lower plans | Higher upfront cost; needs ongoing support |
Rule of thumb: if the trigger and action both live in Shopify, use Flow. If you need to connect Shopify to a tool Flow does not support and volume is modest, Zapier or Make is usually faster and cheaper. If it syncs inventory, pricing or financial data across systems at volume, build a proper integration. Our guide to integrating third-party systems with Shopify Plus goes deeper, and the ERP integration blueprint covers NetSuite, Acumatica and similar systems.
Is Shopify Launchpad still available?
Yes, but it matters less than it used to. Launchpad is still listed in the Shopify App Store as a free, Plus-only app that schedules sales events: product visibility, prices, discounts, themes and inventory.
One of its main selling points was scheduling Shopify Scripts for checkout discounts. Shopify's changelog confirms that Scripts could no longer be edited after April 15, 2026 and stopped running entirely on June 30, 2026, so that part of Launchpad no longer applies. Shopify's documentation also notes limits such as no overlapping events.
For most stores today, we recommend scheduled discounts in the Shopify admin, Flow's Scheduled time trigger and, where needed, Shopify Functions for checkout logic. If you still have checkout customizations that relied on Scripts, our Shopify Plus checkout optimization guide covers the current options.
When should you bring in a Shopify developer for automation?
A developer pays off when a mistake would be expensive or the logic is hard to untangle later:
- Workflows conflict, for example two flows adding and removing the same tag.
- You need Send HTTP request or Send Admin API request calls with authentication, error handling and retries that someone has to maintain.
- The workflow needs a custom app trigger or action, which is a Plus-only feature.
- You are syncing orders, inventory or pricing with an ERP, WMS or 3PL and need both systems to agree.
- Your Zapier or Make bill is growing every month because volume has outgrown per-task pricing.
- You are replatforming and need to rebuild automations or Scripts.
A good developer starts with the business process, documents each workflow and builds in monitoring. For ongoing changes, many of our clients use a monthly retainer, which typically runs $1,500 to $5,000 a month.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Shopify Plus automation?
Shopify Plus automation means using tools like Shopify Flow, Zapier, Make or custom apps to handle repetitive store tasks automatically. Examples include tagging orders, holding high-risk orders, low-stock alerts and sending order data to an ERP or 3PL.
Is Shopify Flow only available on Shopify Plus?
No. Shopify's Help Center lists Flow as a free app on the Basic, Grow, Advanced and Plus plans. The Send HTTP request action requires Grow, Advanced or Plus, and tasks from custom partner apps are limited to Plus. Plus stores also get the highest usage limits.
Should I use Shopify Flow or Zapier?
Use Flow when the trigger and action both live in Shopify, because it is free, real-time and has deep access to store data. Use Zapier or Make when you need to connect Shopify to a tool Flow does not support.
Is Shopify Launchpad still available?
Launchpad is still listed in the Shopify App Store for Shopify Plus stores. Its Shopify Scripts scheduling no longer applies because Scripts stopped running on June 30, 2026, so many stores now use scheduled discounts and Flow's Scheduled time trigger instead.
Can Shopify Flow connect to my ERP or 3PL?
Flow can send data to external systems with the Send HTTP request action on Grow, Advanced and Plus. For two-way syncs of orders, inventory and pricing, a dedicated connector or custom integration is safer.
Do I need a developer to use Shopify Flow?
Not for most standard workflows. A developer helps when workflows call external APIs, use custom app triggers, conflict with other apps, or support business-critical processes like inventory and fulfillment.
Want help deciding what to automate first, or cleaning up workflows that have grown messy? We can review your store, apps and integrations and recommend where Flow is enough and where a custom solution makes sense. Book a consultation, or see our monthly Shopify retainer for ongoing automation and development support.
