How to Customize Shopify Checkout in 2026

Checkout is the last step before a sale, and for years it was the hardest part of a Shopify store to change. Shopify Plus stores edited a file called checkout.liquid, and everyone else had to accept the checkout as it came.

That has changed. Today every Shopify store can customize checkout to some degree, with tools that keep working when Shopify updates its checkout. This guide explains what you can change on any plan, what needs Shopify Plus, and how the most common checkout customizations are built.

What changed: Checkout Extensibility

Shopify replaced checkout.liquid with a set of tools it calls Checkout Extensibility. Instead of editing the checkout's code, you customize it through four building blocks:

• The checkout editor, for branding: your logo, colors and fonts.
• Checkout UI extensions, which add blocks such as banners, custom fields and upsells to checkout pages.
• Shopify Functions, small pieces of custom logic that run inside Shopify's checkout, for discounts and payment and delivery rules. They also replace Shopify Scripts, the Ruby scripts Plus stores used for the same jobs.
• Customer events, where tracking pixels now live instead of the old "additional scripts" box.

The big advantage is that these customizations are upgrade-safe. When Shopify adds a payment method or improves its checkout, your customizations keep working.

What you can customize on any Shopify plan

Branding in the checkout editor

In your Shopify admin, go to Settings → Checkout and click Customize. The checkout editor lets you add your logo and set your colors and fonts, so checkout looks like the rest of your store.

Checkout settings

On the same settings page you choose how customers are contacted, which fields they fill in, such as company name, address line 2 and phone number, whether they can leave a tip, and how marketing consent is collected.

Payment and delivery rules

Apps from the Shopify App Store that are built on Shopify Functions can hide, rename and reorder payment and delivery methods on any plan. For example, you can hide cash on delivery above a certain order total, or rename a shipping method to show its delivery time.

Custom discounts

Shopify's own discounts cover the basics. Apps built on Shopify Functions add discounts that go further, such as volume discounts, tiered order discounts and discounts that only apply under certain conditions.

The Thank you and Order status pages

Checkout UI extensions can add blocks to the Thank you and Order status pages on every plan, such as a survey, a message or a product recommendation.

What needs Shopify Plus

Two things are only available to Shopify Plus stores:

• Blocks inside the checkout steps. Checkout UI extensions on the information, shipping and payment steps, such as custom fields, trust badges, banners and upsell blocks, need Shopify Plus. This applies to blocks from any app.
• Custom apps with Shopify Functions. Any store can use App Store apps built on Functions, but only Plus stores can run a custom app built just for them, with logic unique to their business.

How to customize Shopify checkout, step by step

1. List what you want to change and why. Each change should solve a real problem, such as failed cash-on-delivery orders or a low average order value.
2. Start with the settings and the checkout editor. Many changes, including branding and form fields, need no app at all.
3. Use an App Store app for rules and discounts. Look for apps built on Shopify Functions, so the rules run natively inside checkout.
4. On Shopify Plus, add blocks where they help. Add app blocks in the checkout editor, or have a developer build custom UI extensions and Functions.
5. Test before customers see it. Place test orders on a phone and a desktop, with your discounts, shipping zones and payment methods. Our BFCM checklist includes a full checkout test.

Common checkout customizations and how to build them

On plans without Shopify Plus, you can still collect extra details such as a gift message on the cart page, before shoppers reach checkout.

Checkout Engine, our checkout rules app, covers the first three rows without code, plus upsell and trust blocks for Shopify Plus stores. It's built entirely on Shopify Functions and Checkout UI Extensions.

Checkout Engine5.0★ from 1 review · Free sandbox plan

Install free

Moving from checkout.liquid or Shopify Scripts

If your store used checkout.liquid, additional scripts or Shopify Scripts, each customization needs a new home:

• Discounts and payment and shipping rules from Scripts become Shopify Functions.
• Content and fields added to checkout.liquid become checkout UI extensions.
• Tracking code from additional scripts moves to customer events.

Start with an audit of what runs today, then rebuild each piece and test it before you switch. Our Shopify Plus development service does exactly this, from the team that built Checkout Engine on Shopify Functions.

When to bring in a developer

An app is the fastest route when it does what you need. A developer is worth it when:

• your rules depend on data only your business has, such as customer tiers from an ERP;
• several rules interact, and you need them tested together;
• you're on Shopify Plus and want a custom app with Functions built just for your store.

Our custom Shopify app development team builds checkout logic, discounts and integrations like these. Book a free strategy call to talk through what your checkout needs.

Frequently asked questions