How To Cancel Shopify Subscription (Step By Step Guide)

While Shopify is great, it also comes with many challenges, which is why only 10% of store owners claim to be successful on the platform. This is also the reason why many store owners look forward to canceling their Shopify subscriptions.

Regardless of the reason, canceling your Shopify subscription is very easy, but there are considerations before and afterward that you must be aware of. 

In this guide, I will share an easy-to-follow guide for canceling your Shopify subscription and common concerns that you should know about canceling your account. 

Things To Know Before Cancelling A Shopify Subscription

Though there are 4.5 million active Shopify stores, not all of them are successful. God forbid you might not be one of them looking to cancel the subscription for this reason.  

Whatever the reason is, you don’t want to lose your previous work and customers, do you?

Follow these steps diligently to avoid further complexities:

1. Backup Your Data

First things first: backup your data. Whether you’re moving platforms or just want to wrap up your online business, you must gather your customer data, analytical details, product information, etc.

2. Cancel Subscriptions And Settle Debts

If you are using any exclusive tools/apps/themes for your Shopify store, then you should check for their payment cycle and strike off from being a user.

It is important to cancel your subscription from any existing Shopify app, as some of them will continue charging bills even after deactivating your online store. 

Clear off any pending amount that you are to give Shopify, as without this, you won’t be able to cancel your Shopify subscription.

3. Domain-Related

If you have got your domain from a third-party provider, then make sure to remove it from your store using the Shopify admin. Failing to do this, your old domain may not be used further. 

But, if you’ve got your custom domain via Shopify, you need not worry about this step, as transferring it to another service provider is very easy. 

4. Let Your Customers Know

It’s essential to inform your customers about your business updates.  If you haven’t already, you should let your customers know about the status of your Shopify store services. 

Customers should be in the loop whether you’re closing down, migrating, selling, or pausing your Shopify store.

What Happens When You Cancel A Shopify Subscription?

You can deactivate your store whenever you wish to, but remember, after you cancel your Shopify subscription, you will no longer have access to the store you’ve built with so much effort.

Though you can reactivate the store with a new paid subscription up to 2 years after canceling, you won’t be able to use your old domain name!

Hence, think twice before you deactivate your Shopify subscription!

How To Cancel A Shopify Subscription (Step By Step Guide)

Now that you’ve taken care of the essentials before canceling your Shopify subscription, let’s move ahead. But before we do that, ensure you are fully aware of the effects of canceling your subscription. 

Step 1: Log In To Your Shopify Store

To begin with, deactivating your Shopify subscription, you need to log in to your Shopify store with an active paid plan.  

Step 2: Go To Settings, And Then Click Plan

Once logged in from your dashboard, reach the settings by clicking the button on the bottom left of your screen as directed in the image below. 

Step 3: Deactivate Your Shopify Store

Next, in the “Plan” section, you’ll see an option to “Deactivate Store” highlighted in red. Click on the button to proceed. 

Further, Shopify will ensure that you really want to deactivate your store and give you an option to sell it, too. 

Step 4: Provide A Reason For You To Leave Shopify

In this step, you will need to provide Shopify with a reason for closing down your store to proceed with the deactivation. 

Step 5: Enter Password And Confirm Cancellation

In this final step, Shopify gives a disclaimer once again about the effects of discontinuing Shopify.

Finally, enter your Shopify password to confirm canceling the subscription and click on “Deactivate now” to complete the process. 

Thus, you have successfully canceled your Shopify subscription. You will receive an official email from Shopify confirming the cancellation. 

Note: Shopify stores your store information for up to 2 years just in case you change your mind about getting back on the platform.

Also, contact Shopify support if you encounter any difficulties during the process. But remember, the support team cannot cancel the subscription for you; you will have to do it yourself.  

How To Pause A Shopify Store Subscription?

If your reason for canceling your Shopify store subscription is not dissatisfaction but something else, you can also consider pausing your store. 

To be eligible, your store should be 60 days old after the trial, deactivate third-party apps, and not have a Shopify Plus subscription.

To pause a Shopify store:

1. Log in to your Shopify account.
2. Click on settings → Plan.
3. Click Deactivate Store → Pause and Build Plan. 
4. Review the details and switch to the plan. 

The pause and build plan is an option offered by Shopify to stop your store’s sales operations. You can still work and develop your store while only paying $9 monthly. 

This plan is a much better option than deactivating when you’re either not getting the required response, want to enhance your store or have some supplier or distributor crisis. 

Thus, you can take a step back, pause, and resume your full-fledged operations when you are ready again. But if you are utterly unhappy with Shopify and desperately seek another solution, I’ve got you covered. 

How To Reactivate Your Shopify Account?

You can reactivate your Shopify store if you have deactivated or paused it within minutes. 

Step 1. Log into your Shopify admin using your login credentials.

Step 2. If you have paused your subscription, it will pop up with dues or missing bills. You must pay these outstanding bills to log in.

Step 3. If you have paused your subscription for more than 30 days, you will need to re-pick your subscription to continue. 

Step 4. Complete your payment, and you will successfully reactivate your Shopify account with all the information, settings, and products intact. 

These steps don’t apply to deleted Shopify accounts for over 2 years. 

Best Shopify Alternatives To Check

These closest alternatives to Shopify may provide you with a different or even better experience than Shopify. Have a glance:

Features	Shopify	Squarespace	WooCommerce	BigCommerce
Price	$39/mo	$23/mo	$25/mo	$39/mo
Free Trial	3 days	14 days	14 days	15 days
Products to sell	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited
Transaction fees	✔️	✔️	✔️	❌

Don’t give up on your e-commerce journey as of yet; try switching to the above platforms to keep it going. 

Demandsage Bonus: To learn more about other reliable e-commerce platforms, follow this list of the most profitable e-commerce platforms I covered. 

Conclusion: Use 5 Steps To Cancel Shopify Subscription Easily

You can cancel your Shopify subscription at any time, but you must follow all the pre- and post-cancellation steps mentioned above. 

I know you might have reasons to eliminate Shopify or your e-commerce business. But there are other options that you can consider: selling your store and pausing your store. 

Even if you’ve decided to cancel your Shopify subscription, you can do that easily in the 5 quick and easy steps explained above! 

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