Shopify Upsell and Cross-Sell Apps: Native vs Paid (2026)
Shopify upsell apps add offers where Shopify itself shows none: in the cart drawer, inside checkout, and on the page right after payment. On the product page and in the Shop app, Shopify already covers the basics for free with complementary and related product recommendations and a post-purchase discount offer. So start with the placement you need that your theme and Shopify do not already give you, and only then compare apps.
Native features come from the Shopify Help Center pages on product recommendations, Shop post-purchase offers and checkout apps (read October 23, 2026). App prices, limits and ratings are as their Shopify App Store listings showed them on October 23, 2026; none of the links below are affiliate links, and MITS does not sell an upsell app.
Placements and what Shopify covers
| Placement | Native option | Notes | When an app adds something |
|---|---|---|---|
| Product page | Complementary products and related products sections in your theme, customized in the free Search & Discovery app | Complementary products need stock above 0; related products are generated from what is bought together, similar descriptions and related collections | Bundles with a price, “frequently bought together” with one-click add |
| Cart and cart drawer | Depends on your theme; Shopify has no native cart upsell | Add-on offers, progress bars to free shipping, quantity breaks | |
| Checkout (information, shipping, payment steps) | None | Apps that change these steps work only on Shopify Plus | One-click add-ons in checkout, Plus only |
| Thank you and order status pages | None, but Basic and higher can install apps with blocks for these pages | Added through the checkout and accounts editor | Product offers on the thank you page |
| Post-purchase page (between payment and thank you) | None | Apps built with post-purchase extensions work from the Basic plan | One-click upsell without re-entering card details |
| Shop app | Post-purchase offer: an in-app discount for returning customers, 1 active at a time | Free shipping, fixed amount or percentage; cannot be limited to products or customers | |
| Email after the order | Shopify Messaging templates Upsell customers after their first purchase and Thank customers after they purchase | Marketing consent required | Product-specific follow-up sequences |
Two plan limits matter most. Any app that adds offers inside the checkout steps themselves needs Shopify Plus. Post-purchase pages and thank-you page blocks work from Basic, which is why most of the apps below sell those placements to non-Plus stores.
For setting up the native product-page sections, see Shopify product recommendations; for upsell tactics without an app, see how to upsell on Shopify.
Upsell apps compared
We picked apps with large review counts in the App Store’s upsell category and read each listing on October 23, 2026. ReConvert, often listed in comparison posts, showed “not currently available on the Shopify App Store” on that date, so it is not in the table.
| App | Placements listed | Free option | Paid plans | Price grows with | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Essential Upsell & Cross Sell | Product page, cart (higher plans), post-purchase | Free plan (up to $100 of extra revenue generated) | $9.99, $19.99, $39.99 a month; 14-day trial | Extra revenue the app generates ($500, $1,000, unlimited) | 5.0 (2,439 reviews) |
| Candy Rack | Product page, cart, checkout, post-purchase, thank you page | Free for trial and development stores only | $29.99, $39.99, $59.99 a month; 8-day trial | Your store’s online orders per month (0–50, 51–200, 201–500) | 4.9 (265) |
| Honeycomb Upsell & Cross Sell | Product page, cart, in-checkout (Plus), thank you page, post-purchase | Free plan (100 funnel views a month) | $54.99, $109.99, $169.99 a month; 7-day trial | Funnel views per month (2,000, 5,000, 10,000) | 4.7 (160) |
| Bold AI Upsell & Cross-Sell | Product page, cart, checkout, thank you page, post-purchase | 7-day trial | $4.99 on Basic, $24.99 on Grow, $74.99 on Advanced, $399.99 on Plus | Your Shopify plan | 4.4 (596) |
The pricing unit is where these apps differ most, and it decides what you pay as you grow:
- Revenue-based (Essential): cheap while upsells bring little, and the bill rises only when they work. Check how “additional revenue generated” is counted.
- Order-based (Candy Rack): you pay for all your store’s orders, whether or not they include an upsell.
- View-based (Honeycomb): every time an offer is shown counts, so a busy store with a low take rate can outgrow a tier fast.
- Plan-based (Bold): flat for your Shopify plan, with a large step to Plus.
A worked example: a store on Grow with 300 orders a month and about 3,000 offer views would pay $59.99 on Candy Rack (201–500 orders), $109.99 on Honeycomb (up to 5,000 views), $24.99 on Bold, and on Essential between $9.99 and $39.99 depending on the extra revenue the offers generate.
How to choose
- Turn on what is free first. Add complementary products to your top 20 product pages in Search & Discovery, and set up the Shop app post-purchase offer if you sell through Shop. Measure add-to-cart from those sections for a few weeks.
- Pick one placement to add. If carts are often one item, a cart drawer offer is the obvious gap. If you have a strong cheap add-on (batteries, refills, care kits), a post-purchase one-click offer suits it, because the customer does not re-enter card details.
- Choose the pricing unit that fits your numbers. Use the example above with your own order count and traffic.
- Keep offers cheaper than the main item. Shopify’s own advice for complementary products is to choose add-ons that cost the same or less than the original product.
- Install one app at a time. Two upsell apps in one cart or checkout show competing offers and each loads its own code; remove the first before you trial the second, including any theme code it left.
- Read the one-star reviews and the trial terms on the listing before you install, so a charge after the trial does not surprise you.
After the order, email can do the cross-sell for you: see post-purchase emails. Discounts, bundles and pricing are collected in the pricing and sales hub.
FAQ
Does Shopify have built-in upsells? Shopify shows complementary and related products on product pages through your theme and the free Search & Discovery app, and offers a post-purchase discount in the Shop app. Cart, checkout and post-purchase page offers need an app.
Can I add upsells to the Shopify checkout without Plus? Apps that change the information, shipping and payment steps of checkout need Shopify Plus. On Basic and higher, apps can add offers to the post-purchase page and the thank you and order status pages.
What is the difference between an upsell and a cross-sell? An upsell offers a better or larger version of the product the customer is buying. A cross-sell offers a different product that goes with it, such as a case with a phone.
Are there free Shopify upsell apps? Essential Upsell & Cross Sell and Honeycomb list free plans with limits (revenue generated or monthly funnel views). Shopify’s own recommendations and the Shop app offer are free.