Search for help with Shopify Plus and the same agencies appear as Plus partners, Plus agencies, Plus experts and Plus consultants. The words are used interchangeably, but only one of them is something Shopify grants. Knowing the difference saves you from choosing on a logo — and the questions further down matter more than any badge.
Partner, Plus partner, Plus expert: what each label means
- Shopify Partner — anyone can join Shopify's partner programme for free. It gives access to development stores and a partner dashboard. It says nothing about experience.
- Shopify Plus partner — an agency Shopify has approved to work on Plus projects. The status is listed in the Shopify Partner Directory, which is where to verify it.
- Plus agency, Plus expert, Plus consultant — descriptions an agency gives itself. They may describe a Plus partner, or a team that has simply worked on Plus stores before.
What the status changes in practice
Honestly: most Plus work can be done by any strong Shopify developer with the right access. The practical difference is the relationship with Shopify. On our Plus projects, Shopify assigns a launch manager to the migration and support issues can be escalated with priority — useful when something blocks a launch date. The status does not make an agency better at checkout logic or ERP integrations. Only their past work tells you that.
What Plus is actually bought for
Plus is not a bigger Shopify; it is a different permission model. In the UK it starts at £1,800 a month on Shopify's pricing page, so the agency you choose should be strong in the reasons you are paying for it:
- Checkout extensibility: custom fields, logic and interface blocks in the checkout through checkout UI extensions.
- Shopify Functions: discount, shipping and payment logic. Shopify Scripts stopped running on 30 June 2026, so any Scripts logic must already have been rebuilt.
- B2B without a ceiling: every plan has had B2B since April 2026, limited to three catalogues; Plus allows unlimited catalogues, direct assignment to companies and deposits.
- Expansion stores: separate storefronts for markets that differ in catalogue, warehouse or legal regime.
- Launchpad and higher API limits for scheduled campaigns and heavier integrations.
If none of these is a real constraint for you today, Plus is probably early — is Shopify Plus worth it? works through the numbers.
Eight questions to ask any Plus agency
- Which Plus stores did you build or migrate yourselves, and what exactly did you build in the checkout?
- How did you rebuild Shopify Scripts logic as Functions — for which stores?
- Who will work on my project, by name and role, and are they employees or subcontractors?
- How will B2B prices and permissions come from our ERP, and who owns that integration?
- Expansion store or Shopify Markets for our second country — how do you decide?
- What does the migration plan look like, who builds the redirect map and who signs off before launch?
- What happens after launch: response times, monthly hours, and what it costs?
- What would you advise us not to build?
The last question is the most revealing. A good Plus agency removes scope as often as it adds it.
Red flags
- Recommending Plus because of your revenue alone, without naming a feature you need.
- Not being able to explain the difference between checkout extensions and Functions.
- A fixed 'Plus package' price before anyone has looked at your store.
- No written scope, or a scope that lists features instead of deliverables.
- A Plus badge on the website but no Plus project they can show you.
Where we stand
We are a Shopify Plus partner and work on Plus migrations, B2B, multi-store set-ups and checkout logic for brands across Europe — the detail is on our Shopify Plus agency page and Plus projects start from £15,000 on our pricing page. We will also tell you when Plus is premature. For the broader agency checklist, see how to choose a Shopify agency.