No Hidden Fees: What Your Shopify Checkout App Actually Costs

You installed a checkout app to increase conversions. Then you checked your bill.

The monthly subscription was $4.99. Reasonable. But there was also a line item for 0.75% of "revenue generated by the app." On $20,000 in monthly sales, that's an extra $150. On $100,000, it's $750. Every month. On top of the subscription.

This is how most checkout and upsell apps work. And it's the part they don't highlight on their pricing page.

The Three Hidden Costs of Checkout Apps

1. Percentage-Based Revenue Fees

Some apps charge a flat monthly rate plus a percentage of the revenue they help generate. In practice, it means your costs scale faster than your margins.

| Monthly Revenue | 0.75% Fee | Total Cost (with $9.99/mo base) |

|----------------|-----------|-------------------------------|

| $10,000 | $75 | $84.99 |

| $50,000 | $375 | $384.99 |

| $100,000 | $750 | $759.99 |

| $250,000 | $1,875 | $1,884.99 |

At $50K/month, you're paying nearly $385/month for an app that advertised a $9.99 starting price. Compare that to a flat-rate app at $25/month. Same features. Same revenue. $1,869 less per month.

The percentage model punishes you for growing.

2. Partner Offers You Never Approved

In early 2026, merchants started leaving reviews about discovering unauthorized ads on their checkout pages. Not their own promotions -- third-party affiliate offers that the app had enabled by default.

One merchant found ads for other brands on their checkout page. The app called it a "feature." Another reported affiliate offers appearing without consent, turned on automatically.

Your checkout page -- the most sensitive page on your entire store -- displaying ads for products you don't sell, without your knowledge. The revenue goes to the app developer. Your brand takes the hit.

3. Enterprise Pricing for Basic Features

Some platforms bundle checkout links into massive product suites at enterprise prices. One platform includes a checkout link feature buried inside a plan starting at $799/month.

If all you need is a link that sends customers to checkout with products and discounts pre-loaded, you don't need a $799/month platform.

How to Evaluate the Real Cost

Before you install any checkout or upsell app, ask these five questions:

1. Is there a percentage fee on top of the monthly price? Look for phrases like "plus X% of revenue generated" or tiered plans based on order volume. Calculate what you'd actually pay at your current volume.

2. Does the app place third-party content on your pages? Check your checkout page in an incognito browser after installing. Some apps enable partner offers by default.

3. What happens after the free trial? Look for reviews mentioning surprise charges.

4. What's included at your price tier? Analytics on the $4.99 plan might mean "we show you a number." Make sure the features you need are in the plan you're evaluating.

5. Is the app "Built for Shopify" certified? The badge means the app passed security, performance, and quality reviews.

What Flat-Rate Pricing Looks Like

Checkout Links uses flat-rate pricing:

| | Standard ($25/mo) | Plus ($25/mo) |

|--|-------------------|---------------|

| Checkout links | Unlimited | Unlimited |

| Analytics dashboard | Full | Full |

| A/B testing | Yes | Yes |

| Tiered promotions | Yes | Yes |

| QR codes | Yes | Yes |

| Klaviyo integration | Yes | Yes |

| Pre-checkout modal | -- | Yes |

| Checkout upsells | -- | Yes |

| Percentage fees | None | None |

| Partner ads | Never | Never |

| Built for Shopify | Yes | Yes |

$25/month at $10K in revenue. $25/month at $100K. $25/month at $1M. No revenue share. No partner offers. No surprises.

The Math for a Growing Store

Store doing $50,000/month, checkout links handling 30% of traffic:

Percentage-fee app (0.75% + $9.99/mo): $122.49/month ($1,469.88/year)

Checkout Links (flat rate): $25/month ($180/year)

Difference: $1,289.88 per year. At $100K/month, the gap exceeds $3,000/year.

Why We'll Never Add Percentage Fees

We believe the app should make money from providing value, not from taxing your growth. A flat subscription means our incentive is to build features that keep you using the app -- not to extract more revenue as your store scales.

Your checkout page is yours. We will never place third-party ads, affiliate offers, or partner content on your store. Full stop.

What to Do Next

Take five minutes today:

1. Check your last invoice. Look for percentage-based charges.
2. Visit your checkout page in incognito mode. Do you see content you didn't put there?
3. Read your app's terms of service. Look for mentions of partner offers or revenue sharing. If everything checks out, great. If not, you have options.

Try Checkout Links free -- 7-day trial, no percentage fees, ever ->