Eva Answers / Shopify

What Is a Shopify Plus Partner, and How Do You Check an Agency Is One?

Answered by Hai Mag, Founder & CEO, Eva Commerce, with 20+ years in eCommerce transformation, marketplace optimization, and AI-driven automation.

Last reviewed: November 11, 2026

Short answer: A Shopify Plus partner is an agency in the Plus tier of the Shopify Partner Program. The name describes the agency’s tier, not the Shopify Plus plan, which Shopify says confused merchants. On January 1, 2027 Shopify retires the Select, Plus and Premier tiers for Silver, Gold, Platinum and Diamond, earned from attributed GMV and shops.

What the Plus partner label means

Shopify runs a tiered Partner Program for agencies, consultancies and systems integrators. In its January 2025 program update, Shopify split the program into a Service track with five tiers (Registered, Select, Plus, Premier and Platinum) and a Technology track for app and software companies. Placement was based on measures such as partner attributed revenue, a minimum number of deals and Shopify Verified Skills credentials.

So “Shopify Plus partner” describes where an agency sits in Shopify’s program. It is not a separate certificate for the Shopify Plus plan. Shopify said so directly in its November 4, 2026 announcement: the “Plus Partner” name “often led merchants to think it was tied to our Shopify Plus plan.”

What changes on January 1, 2027

Shopify’s Partner Program page says the Select, Plus and Premier tiers retire on January 1, 2027. Until then, current tiers and benefits stay the same. After that date, service partners are placed in these tiers, and each one requires both numbers:

Tier (from Jan 1, 2027)	Attributed GMV	Attributed shops	Measured over	What Shopify adds
Registered	No minimum	No minimum	Not applicable	Partner tools
Silver	$25K	1	1 year	Tier badge, Partner Directory eligibility, advisory partner management
Gold	$5M	5	4 years	Same as Silver, plus co-marketing funds
Platinum	$50M	20	4 years	Strategic partner management, larger co-marketing funds
Diamond	$500M	25	4 years	Embedded partner management, largest co-marketing funds

Shopify defines attributed shops as shops the partner launched or transferred to a merchant, on any Shopify plan. Development, test, staff and sandbox stores do not count, and collaborator access or a referral on its own does not count. Tiers update daily from January 1, and a partner keeps a new tier for at least six months.

How to check an agency’s Shopify partner status

Search the Shopify Partner Directory. Shopify says partners in the Select tier or above are invited to the Partner Directory, and from January 1, 2027 the directory is open to Silver and above. Shopify said the directory would relaunch on November 9, 2026, showing each partner’s current tier until the new tier applies on January 1.
Ask for the exact tier and track. A service agency should name its current tier. Through 2026 that is Registered, Select, Plus, Premier or Platinum; from 2027 it should be Silver, Gold, Platinum or Diamond. Shopify has shown partners their projected 2027 tier in the Dev Dashboard since November 4, 2026, so an agency can tell you now.
Ask what the agency launched, not only its badge. Tiers measure attributed GMV and shops. Ask which stores like yours it launched, migrated or grew, and who on the team does the work.
Give access the safe way. Shopify lets you add collaborator accounts for Shopify Partners and use permissions to control which sections of your store they can open. Keep the store owner account with your company.
Check the rest of your channels. If you also sell on Amazon, Walmart or TikTok Shop, ask whether the same team runs those channels or hands them to someone else (how to choose an agency for Amazon, Shopify and Walmart).

Exceptions

Tier is not fit. A tier reflects attributed GMV and shop counts. It does not tell you whether an agency knows your category, your other channels or your margin targets.
App companies follow other rules. Shopify says these tiers apply to service and agency partners. App and theme partners take part through the Shopify App Store programs instead.
Old badges linger. After January 1, 2027, “Plus partner” is a retired tier name. If an agency still uses it, ask for its current tier.
Tier credit follows the launch. Shopify gives tier credit to the partner that launched or transferred the shop, so an agency that took over a store later may not show that store in its tier numbers even if it runs it well.

How Eva handles this

Eva Commerce is an official Shopify Partner and a Shopify Plus partner, and an official TikTok Shop Partner. Eva’s Shopify team designs, builds, migrates and grows Shopify stores and runs them alongside Amazon, Walmart and TikTok Shop when a brand sells on more than one channel. The Shopify roadmap runs in three phases: Foundation in days 0 to 30 (audit the store, listings, pricing and operations, optimize product pages, rebuild or migrate the store architecture, set a retention baseline), Acceleration in days 31 to 90 (SEO, paid acquisition, lifecycle and retention programs) and Scale in days 91 to 180. Questions about Eva’s Shopify partner status: call 858-315-2020.

Follow-up questions

Is a Shopify Plus partner the same as an agency that builds Shopify Plus stores?

Not necessarily. Plus is a tier name in the Shopify Partner Program. Shopify says the name often led merchants to think it was tied to the Shopify Plus plan, and that is one reason the tier is being renamed. Shopify also counts shops equally on every plan toward tiers, so ask an agency directly which Plus plan stores it has launched or migrated.

Does an agency pay to become a Shopify Plus partner?

Shopify’s Help Center says every partner starts on the Registered tier when they join and gets basic program benefits after accepting the Shopify Partner Program Agreement. Higher tiers are earned from results: from January 1, 2027, each tier needs both a minimum attributed GMV and a minimum number of attributed shops.

What happens to Plus partners on January 1, 2027?

Shopify retires the Select, Plus and Premier tiers on that date. Every partner moves to the Silver, Gold, Platinum or Diamond tier their attributed GMV and shops earn under the new rules, and keeps it for at least six months. Shopify says a tier can go up, go down or stay the same, so it is not a direct name swap.

Do I need a Plus partner to move my store to Shopify Plus?

No partner tier is required to change plans. Shopify lets the store owner or a staff member with the Manage plan permission upgrade from the admin. See how to upgrade to Shopify Plus for the steps and Shopify’s published prices.

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