Shopify Landing Pages: Theme Editor or Page Builder?
For Shopify landing pages, start in the theme editor: a modern theme lets you build a campaign page from sections and blocks on its own template, with no app and no extra script on the page. Use a page builder such as PageFly when you need layouts your theme’s sections cannot make, or you build many landing pages a month and want a library of templates. The trade is a monthly fee, extra code on the pages, and pages that depend on the builder staying installed.
What the theme editor can do now
Shopify’s theme editor page, read on October 23, 2026, describes it as the place to change your store’s content, layout, typography and colors without code, through the sections and settings each theme provides, with a live preview. In practice, for a landing page that means:
- A page or collection template of its own, so the campaign layout does not change your other pages; the steps are in seasonal campaign pages.
- Sections and blocks for the usual landing page parts: a hero with a headline and button, image with text, a featured collection, testimonials, an FAQ, a newsletter signup.
- App blocks from installed apps, such as reviews or a countdown to a real end date, placed like any other block.
- Scheduling and testing: Rollouts, which Shopify’s Fall ’26 Edition describes as scheduled launches, events or experiments that include your theme, can publish a theme change at a set time or, on Grow and higher plans, test it against your current theme.
How far you can go depends on the theme. Shopify’s own Online Store 2.0 and Horizon themes are built on sections and blocks; older or third-party themes vary. A typical campaign page fits inside those parts and uses the theme’s own code instead of an app’s. If your store has Canvas, a theme with the Canvas badge opens only in Canvas, a separate editor, and cannot be edited in the theme editor. What else the editor does without code is in customize without code.
What a page builder adds
A builder gives you a drag-and-drop canvas with elements the theme does not have, a library of page templates, and control over the layout at each screen width. Builders also let marketers make pages without waiting for theme changes. PageFly is one widely used example; as its App Store listing showed it on October 31, 2026, it is rated 4.9 from 5,916 reviews and priced by published pages:
| PageFly plan | Price | Published pages or sections |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 1 (one page or one section), 10 AI credits a month |
| Builder | $24 a month | From 5, then $5 for each extra 5; 80 AI credits |
| Accelerate | $99 a month ($990 a year) | Unlimited |
| Enterprise | $299 a month | Unlimited, 1,600 AI credits |
The listing did not show the Built for Shopify badge that day. That badge matters for landing pages, because one of its requirements, per Shopify’s app selection guide, is that an app cannot lower your storefront’s speed by more than 10 performance points. Check the badge on any builder you consider, since landing pages are where paid traffic lands.
Decision table
| Your situation | Theme editor | Page builder |
|---|---|---|
| A few campaign pages a year | Enough | Not needed |
| Layouts your theme’s sections cannot make | Needs a developer | Fits |
| A marketing team shipping several pages a month | Possible but slow | Fits |
| Pages that must load as fast as possible for paid traffic | Fits | Check the speed and the Built for Shopify badge |
| One-off page, no budget | Fits | The free plan’s single published page |
| Pages that must keep working for years | Fits | Depends on the app staying installed |
Costs, speed and lock-in
Cost grows with pages: PageFly’s Builder plan starts at five published pages, so a store with fifteen campaign pages live pays for the extra slots or moves to Accelerate. Speed is the second cost; a builder can add its own code to the pages it builds, so compare your Web Performance numbers with the builder’s pages switched on and off before you commit. Lock-in is the third: the PageFly listing does not say what happens to published pages when the app is uninstalled, so ask the developer before you build pages you plan to keep, and keep important evergreen pages, such as your About or shipping pages, in the theme. Speed work in general is covered in Shopify speed optimization, and other store guides in the running a store hub.
Frequently asked questions
Is PageFly free? PageFly has a free plan with one published page or section and 10 AI credits a month, as its listing showed on October 31, 2026. Paid plans start at $24 a month for five published pages.
Do page builders slow down Shopify? A builder adds its own code to the pages it builds, so it can. Shopify’s Built for Shopify badge requires that an app not lower storefront speed by more than 10 performance points, which makes the badge a useful first filter.
What happens if I uninstall a page builder? The PageFly listing does not say, and builders differ, so ask the developer before you rely on it. Pages built in the theme editor stay with the theme when you remove apps, apart from the app blocks of the removed app.