How to Hire a Shopify Expert: Directory, Brief, Price

To hire a Shopify expert, search the Shopify Partner Directory with its filters, send the shortlisted partners a written brief with your budget and deadline, compare quotes on scope rather than hourly rate, and give the one you hire a collaborator account, never your own login. The Partner Directory is where Shopify sends merchants now: the older Shopify Experts Marketplace, with its job posts and automatic matching, was fully shut down in 2023, as Shopify Support told partners in a message quoted on the Shopify Community on November 3, 2023.

Do you need one?

Many jobs that look like developer work are settings. Before you pay anyone, check three things:

• Can the theme editor do it? Sections, blocks, colors, fonts, menus and most layout changes are no-code work in a modern theme; see Shopify theme vs custom build for where the line sits.
• Does an app already do it? A review widget, a size chart, a bundle offer or a popup is usually an app install.
• Is it ongoing admin work rather than a build? Product uploads, order tagging and customer emails suit a Shopify virtual assistant better than a developer.

Hire a partner for custom theme code, an integration with another system, a migration, a custom app, or a store build you do not have time for.

Find partners in the Partner Directory

Shopify’s hiring help page, read on October 23, 2026, describes the flow:

1. Open the Partner Directory and browse the services.
2. Filter by acceptance of new clients, price range in USD, services offered, location, industry and languages spoken.
3. Sort the results by average rating or by service price.
4. Open a profile and click Contact. You must be logged in to your Shopify account, and the form asks for your contact details, store information, service details, budget and a description of the problem.
5. Your request goes to the partner by email. Contacting a partner does not commit you to hiring them.

Shortlist three. Read each partner’s reviews for work like yours, not only the star rating: a partner with strong reviews for theme work may never have built an integration. Directory reviews come from eligible merchants on paid plans who had the partner, listed in the directory, as a collaborator on their store for at least a week, which makes them harder to fake than testimonials on a website.

Write the brief

Shopify’s page asks you to define budget, timeline and expected outcomes in detail so a partner can quote accurately. A brief that fits on one page:

1. The store: URL, plan, theme name and version, and the apps involved.
2. The problem in one sentence, followed by what “done” looks like: “Variant swatches show the color name on hover on mobile and desktop, on the product page and in quick view.”
3. Examples: a screenshot of the current state, and a link to a store that does what you want.
4. Limits: what must not change, such as checkout, page speed or the existing URLs.
5. Budget and deadline, as a range and a date.
6. Who approves the work, and how many rounds of changes you expect.

A partner who quotes without asking a single question about this brief has not read it.

What it costs

Shopify does not publish rates, and partners set their own. First Pier, a Shopify agency, gives these ranges in its hiring guide (updated August 31, 2026):

These are one agency’s ranges; the directory’s own price filter will show you what the partners in your shortlist charge. The partner bills you directly, and the charges do not appear on your Shopify bill. Agree in writing whether the price is fixed for the scope or billed by the hour, and what happens when the scope changes.

Access and red flags

Give access only through a collaborator account. A partner sends a collaborator request from their own Partner account using a request code you give them, you review and edit the permissions before accepting, and you can remove the account when the work is done; a collaborator that has not logged in for 90 days loses access automatically. Shopify’s security guidance is to give staff and collaborators access only to the areas they need. A developer who needs to install a custom app for you needs the Manage and install apps and channels permission and Approve app charges as well, so grant those only for that job.

Never share your owner login or your two-step authentication codes, whoever asks.

First Pier’s list of red flags matches what we would warn about:

• guaranteed rankings or revenue,
• a quote before any questions,
• the store, theme code or ad accounts not in your name,
• no written scope,
• vagueness about who does the work, including undisclosed subcontracting,
• pressure to sign quickly.

Once the work is finished and the collaborator has had access for at least a week, Shopify sends you a review request; leaving an honest review helps the next merchant. How the Partner Program works from the partner’s side is in the Shopify Partner Program, and other operations guides are in the running a store hub.

Frequently asked questions

What happened to Shopify Experts? The Shopify Experts Marketplace, with its job posts and automatic matching, was shut down in 2023, and Shopify now sends merchants to the Partner Directory. You search and contact partners there yourself.

How much does a Shopify developer cost? First Pier’s 2026 guide quotes about $50 to $250 an hour for freelancers depending on seniority, and about $125 to $300 for agencies, with small fixes from $300. Your shortlist’s prices are visible through the directory’s price filter.

Are Shopify Partners vetted? The directory lists partners of the Shopify Partner Program, and its reviews come from eligible merchants who gave the partner collaborator access for at least a week. That is a useful filter, but it is not a guarantee of fit, so check work similar to yours and agree a written scope.