The right Shopify development agency depends on your stage, budget, and build type. Platinum partners Absolute Web, Barrel, and Solo Media Group suit brands funding $20K+ builds, Novatize and Fyresite lead on B2B, and Realm, Shugert, and OptiWeb Marketing fit smaller budgets.
A Platinum badge tells you how much revenue an agency has already moved through Shopify. It does not tell you whether that agency wants your store as a client, or whether your project will get its senior people.
Shopify makes launching a store easy enough that a first-time founder can take orders by the weekend. What it does not make easy is the second and third version of that store: the replatform that has to keep ten years of SEO equity intact, the B2B portal that needs customer-specific pricing from an ERP, the retail rollout that puts POS in 50 locations. That is the work Shopify development agencies are hired for, and the gap between a good hire and a bad one is usually measured in months of lost revenue.
This list covers ten agencies we consider credible, with a clear view of who each one serves. It is written for merchants from roughly $250K a year through eight figures, with stage markers throughout. The agencies appear in the order below by editorial arrangement, not by rank: none is positioned as number one, and the comparison grid plus the Best For section are built to help you find the two or three that fit your situation.
During my years as a Shopify Merchant Success Manager, the agency decisions that went wrong rarely failed on talent. They failed on fit: a $600K brand signing with a partner whose real client base sat at $30M, then wondering why its project kept sliding behind bigger accounts. If you want a broader primer before reading the profiles, our guide on how to choose a Shopify development agency walks through portfolio, process, and pricing model questions.
Every agency here builds on Shopify as a core service and was evaluated against the same five criteria. The first is a verified status in the Shopify Partner Directory, checked in September 2026 rather than taken from agency marketing. The second is published proof of outcomes: named clients and, where available, numbered case study results. The third is public pricing signals, including Clutch minimum project size and hourly rate. The fourth is independent review volume on Clutch, Shopify, or Trustpilot. The fifth is stage fit, meaning which revenue band the agency’s pricing and client base actually serve. Where an agency’s own claims could not be matched to a public source, we either reworded them to what could be confirmed or left them out. Generalist web shops that list Shopify alongside a dozen other platforms but show no Shopify case studies were considered and excluded, as were freelancers and marketplace developers, which are a different buying decision. Some agencies on this list have commercial relationships with eCommerce Fastlane; see the site footer disclosures.
The grid below is the quickest way to narrow the list. Partner tiers were checked against the Shopify Partner Directory and minimum project sizes against Clutch profiles, both as of September 2026. Several agencies publish their own entry prices that differ from Clutch, and those are covered in each profile.
A note on tiers before the profiles. Shopify’s Q3 2026 partner tiering guide sets Select at $100,000 in new referral revenue and $500,000 in existing merchant revenue, while Platinum requires $5M in new referral revenue, $25M in existing merchant revenue, and six Plus or enterprise merchants. Shopify’s own explanation of partner tiers describes Select as best for small and medium businesses and Platinum as tailored for global enterprise. In plain terms, the tier tells you who the agency is built to serve, which is exactly why a Platinum badge can be the wrong signal for a $500K brand.
Absolute Web is a Miami-based Shopify Platinum Partner that has been building ecommerce sites since 1999 and focuses on mid-market and enterprise replatforms and long-term development partnerships.
Absolute Web earned Platinum status in October 2025 and runs a team of more than 85 people across offices in Miami, Los Angeles, and Lisbon. Its Shopify work centers on Shopify Plus builds, headless storefronts, and migrations from Magento, BigCommerce, WooCommerce, and Salesforce Commerce, with integration experience across Recharge, Signifyd, Narvar, and Bloomreach. The client list includes Open Farm, Summer Fridays, Lashify, Cracker Barrel, Swanson Vitamins, and Capezio. The agency positions itself as an extension of the client team, providing strategic guidance and proactive support well beyond launch rather than handing over a site and moving on.
As of September 2026, Absolute Web lists a $10,000 minimum project and $100 to $149 per hour on Clutch, while its Shopify Partner Directory listing shows store builds starting at $30,000 and migrations starting at $50,000.
The strongest proof point is public and specific. Absolute Web’s Capezio migration is published as an official Shopify case study reporting a 144% lift in conversion rate, 81% longer average engagement time, and 90% faster deployments across US, EU, and UK stores, including an ERP rebuild and Shopify POS. Review volume is also unusually deep, with a 4.9 rating across 83 Clutch reviews and 4.9 across 38 Shopify reviews.
Two limitations matter. Absolute Web is a multi-platform agency, and Clutch shows Magento at roughly half its platform mix, so ask who on the team is Shopify-first. And with builds from $30,000 and migrations from $50,000 as of September 2026, it is priced above what most stores under $1M can justify.
Best fit: Brands between $5M and $100M replatforming from Magento or a custom stack, especially with international stores or retail POS in scope.
Skip if: You are under $1M in revenue or need a theme refresh rather than a replatform.
Fyresite is an Arizona-based Shopify Premier Partner built for B2B, automotive, and industrial brands that need complex catalogs, integrations, and custom Shopify functionality.
Based in Tempe with teams in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Denver, Fyresite reached Shopify Premier status in April 2026, which the agency says makes it one of 46 Premier partners in the United States. Fyresite reports more than 20 completed Shopify B2B certifications, including the B2B foundations and B2B launch and customization credentials, and its migration work spans BigCommerce, WooCommerce, and Magento. The automotive specialty is real and visible: Fyresite built a seat customizer and year, make, and model fitment tool for Corbeau USA and a custom ERP connector for Pooltables.com, and moved NIS America from Magento to Shopify Plus with NetSuite.
As of September 2026, Fyresite lists a $5,000 minimum project and $150 to $199 per hour on Clutch, and its own Shopify Plus page states typical project budgets between $40,000 and $200,000, with ongoing site management from $1,800.
Fyresite publishes numbered outcomes on its homepage, including a 40% revenue increase and 95% lower maintenance effort for Clé Tile after leaving Magento, and a 70% revenue increase with 30% lower bounce rate for Chassis Unlimited. It holds a 5.0 rating across 38 Clutch reviews.
The limitations are about scale and focus. Clutch lists Fyresite at 10 to 49 people, so capacity for several large concurrent builds is finite. A DTC beauty or apparel brand will find more relevant portfolio depth elsewhere on this list.
Best fit: B2B and hybrid brands between $2M and $50M, particularly automotive, industrial, and parts sellers with fitment data or ERP dependencies.
Skip if: You are a pure DTC lifestyle brand under $1M or want a design-led theme build.
Novatize is a Quebec City based Shopify Plus Partner that builds, migrates, and scales complex commerce ecosystems for manufacturers, distributors, and retailers across Canada and the United States.
Founded in 2014, Novatize has about 55 specialists across Quebec City, Montreal, and New York, is a certified B Corp, and reports more than 300 ecommerce projects delivered. Clients include Michelin, Simons, Via Rail, Nespresso, Garant, Guillevin, and Exceldor. Its services cover Shopify Plus implementation, platform migration, systems integration, CX and UX strategy, unified commerce, and B2B. In November 2025, Novatize was named B2B Agency of the Year in the mid and small system integrator category at the B2B eCommerce Industry Awards, presented by the B2B eCommerce Association at B2B eCommerce World Americas.
As of September 2026, Novatize lists a $50,000 minimum project and $100 to $149 per hour on Clutch, and its Shopify directory listing is contact for pricing.
The standout is SPINE, a Shopify B2B accelerator launched in September 2025 that adds ERP-connected real-time pricing, company users with role permissions, approval workflows, quick order, and shopping lists on top of Shopify’s native B2B capabilities, with connectors for Oracle, SAP, Dynamics, NetSuite, and Epicor. Novatize delivered two B2B portals for Exceldor in under 11 weeks, and its headless Hydrogen migration for ATTITUDE produced a 15% lift in average revenue per user.
The limitations: public client reviews are thin, with three on Shopify and none on Clutch, and Shopify is roughly 40% of Novatize’s platform work alongside Adobe Commerce. The $50,000 Clutch minimum (September 2026) also places it well outside most DTC budgets.
Best fit: Manufacturers and distributors between $10M and $500M modernizing B2B ordering with ERP pricing, especially bilingual Canadian businesses.
Skip if: You are a DTC-only brand under $5M with no ERP or wholesale channel.
Barrel is a New York based Shopify Platinum Partner that works exclusively with consumer packaged goods brands selling across DTC, Amazon, and retail at the same time.
Founded in 2006, Barrel has worked with Shopify since 2009 and has been a Shopify Plus partner since 2017. Its client roster runs from founder-led brands to category leaders: McCormick (including Frank’s RedHot and Cholula), Cabot Creamery, Sweet Loren’s, Bobo’s, OneSkin, and Once Upon a Farm. Services span Shopify Plus builds, audits and roadmaps, migrations, conversion and average order value work, retention marketing, POS, and B2B and Markets. Barrel also maintains an open source Shopify Vite plugin with more than 9,000 downloads, a useful signal of engineering depth.
As of September 2026, Barrel lists a $50,000 minimum project and $150 to $199 per hour on Clutch, and its Shopify directory listing is contact for pricing.
Barrel’s clearest published result is Once Upon a Farm: a Shopify Plus redesign with a build-a-box subscription flow and product quiz that lifted DTC sales 80% and doubled conversion rate. For a CPG brand, the deeper value is that Barrel understands why a DTC site for a grocery brand has a different job than one for an apparel label, and plans the site around retail and Amazon rather than against them.
Two limitations stand out. Barrel has no public client reviews on Clutch or Shopify, so you will need to lean on reference calls. And the CPG-only focus is a genuine exclusion: brands outside food, beverage, beauty, and wellness should look elsewhere.
Best fit: CPG brands between $5M and $500M selling DTC alongside retail and Amazon.
Skip if: You are outside CPG or cannot budget at least $50,000 for the first engagement.
Realm is a Shopify-only design studio that has built stores since 2007 and focuses on design-led builds and redesigns for small and growing brands across the United States.
Realm became a 100% Shopify agency in 2012 and says its founder was among the first handful of designers listed in the Shopify Experts directory in 2013. It is a boutique studio of two to nine people working remotely, and reports helping 259 Shopify stores. Services include custom themes, redesigns, migrations, branding, B2B and wholesale portals, SEO, and app setup. Verified clients include Byers’ Choice, Rebel Wax, zkano (a partnership now over ten years), Sunrise Flour Mill, FreeWaters, and SYLTBAR, which Realm built on Shopify Plus with subscriptions.
As of September 2026, Realm’s Shopify directory listing shows projects starting from $2,500, while its Clutch profile lists a $25,000 minimum and $100 to $149 per hour. Confirm the scope that fits your budget on a discovery call.
Realm’s strength is reputation at the small-brand end of the market: a 5.0 rating across 80 Shopify directory reviews and 4.9 across 30 on Clutch, plus long client relationships such as zkano. Buyers consistently describe a direct line to the person designing their store, which larger agencies rarely offer.
The limitations follow from the size. A two to nine person studio has limited capacity for concurrent large projects, and Realm publishes few numbered outcomes, so ask for before and after metrics from a comparable client. There is also no public evidence of enterprise integration or headless work, and Realm is listed as a Select tier partner.
Best fit: Brands between $250K and $5M that want a polished, custom-designed store and a close working relationship.
Skip if: You need complex ERP integration, headless architecture, or a large team on a fixed launch date.
Solo Media Group is a full-service Shopify Platinum Partner headquartered in New York City, with teams in Los Angeles, Miami, San Francisco, and Chicago, that builds and grows Shopify and Shopify Plus stores.
Founded in 2018, Solo Media Group reports more than 500 merchants served and 75 replatforms completed, with clients including Manukora, Medik8, Wild Planet Foods, and Los Angeles Apparel. Its services span the full ecommerce stack: custom theme design and development, platform migrations, custom app development, POS and multi-location retail setup, API and ERP integrations, wholesale and B2B builds, analytics and pixel tracking, conversion rate optimization, and Klaviyo email and SMS retention marketing. Its process is designed to keep builds moving to a fixed launch date without the usual agency back and forth.
As of September 2026, Solo Media Group quotes design and build projects from $20,000 and retainers from $3,000 per month on its own site, with typical builds taking 8 to 12 weeks. Clutch lists a $1,000 minimum and $100 to $149 per hour.
The published results are concrete. Its Manukora case study reports a 32% increase in subscription conversions and a 20% lift in returning customer rate, and its retail work includes Shopify POS across 59 locations for HUK Gear. Ratings are strong at 5.0 across 38 Shopify reviews and 4.9 across 48 on Clutch.
Two limitations are worth weighing. Most Clutch-reviewed projects sit under $10,000, so confirm the senior team you will get on a larger build, and one Clutch reviewer cited missed deadlines and communication gaps. The agency also runs many city landing pages, so verify which office will actually staff your project.
Best fit: Brands between $1M and $50M that want one partner covering build, retail POS, integrations, and retention marketing.
Skip if: You only need a single specialist service, or you want an agency focused exclusively on B2B manufacturing.
Shugert is a Shopify and Shopify Plus development and growth agency specializing in complex migrations, custom theme development, technical SEO, conversion optimization, and ongoing ecommerce engineering for established DTC brands.
A Shopify Partner since 2015, Shugert delivers from offices in Hermosillo, New York, and Barcelona with a bilingual English and Spanish team of 10 to 49 people. It works primarily with brands above $500K in revenue that need more than a standard Shopify implementation, combining development, SEO, analytics, and CRO in one team. The migration portfolio is the strongest in its class: Petwell moved 10,000 SKUs from Magento to Shopify Plus in eight weeks, and FashionableCanes.com moved more than 15,000 SKUs and recovered its organic search traffic within 60 days. Its engineering work covers Shopify Functions, checkout extensibility, Markets, and ERP, PIM, and 3PL integrations.
As of September 2026, Shugert prices diagnostics from $2,500, fixed-scope builds typically between $15,000 and $75,000, and Shopify Plus engineering retainers from $9,000 per month, with small fixes from $90. Clutch lists a $1,000 minimum.
Review volume is the headline: a 4.9 rating across 172 Shopify directory reviews, one of the deepest review bases on this list. The pairing of migration engineering with technical SEO matters, because protecting search equity is where most replatforms quietly lose revenue. Shugert’s emphasis on speed also aligns with setting a performance budget before your agency starts designing.
The limitations: Shugert is a Select tier partner despite marketing a premium Shopify Plus practice, and its published pricing differs across sources, so get scope and price in writing. Clients who need same-hour responses in US time zones should confirm coverage.
Best fit: Brands between $500K and $20M migrating large catalogs or fixing speed and SEO on an existing Shopify store.
Skip if: You need a brand-led creative redesign or a large enterprise team.
OptiWeb Marketing is a Montreal area Shopify Partner that combines Shopify store builds with SEO and AI search optimization for small and mid-size merchants, including bilingual English and French stores.
Founded in 2010 and based in Mont-Royal, Quebec, OptiWeb Marketing has been a Shopify partner since June 2020 and builds stores on free, premium, and fully custom themes, alongside migrations, maintenance, and bilingual storefronts. Its differentiator is search. OptiWeb Marketing publishes an AI search optimization guide covering ChatGPT, Google AI Mode, Perplexity, and Gemini, and builds stores with SEO structure in place from launch rather than bolted on later. For Quebec merchants, native bilingual delivery is a practical advantage.
As of September 2026, OptiWeb Marketing’s Shopify directory listing starts at $1,500, and Clutch lists a $5,000 minimum and $100 to $149 per hour.
The published results are SEO results. Jigsaw Jungle saw a 130% increase in organic revenue and a PageSpeed improvement from 50 to 95 on desktop, and Destination Maternity also recorded 130% growth in organic revenue. OptiWeb Marketing holds a 4.8 rating across six Clutch reviews.
The limitations are important for anyone buying development specifically. OptiWeb Marketing is an SEO-led agency listed as a registered service partner without a Shopify tier, its Shopify review base is small, and it has no published Shopify Plus or enterprise build case studies. If AI visibility is your main goal, compare it against the specialists in our field guide to AI SEO agencies for Shopify brands.
Best fit: Merchants between $100K and $3M who want a new or rebuilt store with organic and AI search growth built in, especially bilingual Canadian brands.
Skip if: You need Shopify Plus engineering, ERP integration, or headless architecture.
Courageous is an award-winning Manchester based Shopify Partner that helps established and growing UK businesses design, build, and migrate ecommerce stores, particularly away from Magento and WooCommerce.
Founded in 2015 as Digitl and renamed Courageous in 2022, the agency is led by founder Darren Ratcliffe, who has worked in digital since 1999. Courageous specializes in bespoke Shopify development, redesigns, and migrations, with work covering UX and UI design, responsive development, conversion optimization, ecommerce strategy, and marketplace management on eBay and Amazon. Its awards include Website of the Year at the UK eComm Awards 2022 and Best Website Design Agency in Manchester at the Northern Enterprise Awards 2022. Courageous focuses on the commercial performance of a store as well as its design, removing friction from the buying experience.
As of September 2026, Courageous does not publish Shopify pricing. It quotes template-based sites in about four weeks, and its BigCommerce directory listing shows builds from £7,500, a reasonable proxy for entry-level scope.
The best proof point is its Colour Ribbons migration, which merged two Magento 2 sites into one Shopify store and delivered a 25% year over year increase in net sales after launch. Trustpilot shows a 4.6 rating across 24 reviews. UK merchants leaving Magento, and those moving off WooCommerce (see our guide to migrating from WooCommerce to Shopify), get a partner in their own time zone who knows both platforms.
The limitations: Courageous is a multi-platform agency that also builds on BigCommerce, Magento, and WordPress, it has one numbered Shopify case study to date, and it did not appear in the Shopify Partner Directory when checked.
Best fit: UK brands between £250K and £10M migrating from Magento or WooCommerce.
Skip if: You are a North American brand wanting same time zone delivery, or you need Shopify Plus enterprise integrations.
Metajive is an Encinitas, California digital agency that builds high-performing Shopify and headless Shopify experiences for growing and enterprise brands, with a broader portfolio that includes Google, Nike, HP, Lyft, and Porsche.
Founded in 2003, Metajive has launched more than 350 digital projects with a team of about 48 people and joined Together Group in 2024. Its Shopify practice covers Shopify Plus, custom theme builds, headless builds on Hydrogen and React, API integrations, custom apps, Core Web Vitals performance work, and answer engine optimization. Shopify clients include Eliel Cycling, HyperX, and John Boos. Metajive reports more than 108 industry awards and honors, including recognition from The Webby Awards, Awwwards, FWA, and CSS Design Awards, and placed on the Inc. 5000 in 2024.
As of September 2026, Metajive lists a $100,000 minimum project and $150 to $199 per hour on Clutch, and its Shopify directory listing is contact for pricing.
The John Boos build shows the capability: a migration from WooCommerce to Shopify Plus on Hydrogen and Oxygen with a headless CMS, thousands of SKUs moved, 18 modular components built, and a zero-downtime cutover. Metajive holds a 4.9 rating across 30 Clutch reviews, and its design pedigree is the strongest on this list.
The limitations: at a $100,000 minimum as of September 2026, Metajive is out of reach for most merchants under $10M, and its Shopify case studies do not publish revenue or conversion figures. It is a broad digital product agency listed at Select tier on Shopify, so confirm the Shopify specialists assigned to your build.
Best fit: Enterprise and high-growth brands above $20M that want a headless or design-led Shopify build with award-level creative.
Skip if: Your budget is under $100,000 or you want a standard theme-based Shopify Plus build.
The right agency for your store is the one whose pricing and client base match your revenue stage and build type, not the one with the highest tier. Here is how the ten sort out in practice.
If you are between $250K and $1M, your agency budget is probably $2,500 to $25,000, and you need a clean, fast store more than custom architecture. Realm fits a design-first rebuild, Shugert fits speed, SEO, and targeted engineering fixes, and OptiWeb Marketing fits a build paired with organic and AI search growth. At this stage, the most common mistake I saw was brands buying a platform migration they did not need yet. Fix conversion first, using a stage-by-stage Shopify CRO playbook, before paying for a rebuild.
If you are between $1M and $10M and replatforming, the shortlist changes. Absolute Web, Solo Media Group, and Shugert all have documented migration track records, and the choice comes down to scope: Absolute Web for complex international or ERP-heavy moves, Solo Media Group when retail POS and retention marketing belong in the same contract, and Shugert when the catalog is large and protecting organic traffic is the top priority. UK brands in this band leaving Magento should add Courageous.
If B2B is the project, start with Novatize and Fyresite. Novatize suits manufacturers and distributors with ERP-driven pricing and approval workflows, while Fyresite suits hybrid DTC and wholesale sellers, especially automotive and industrial catalogs with fitment data.
If you are a CPG brand selling through retail and Amazon as well as DTC, Barrel is the specialist, and its narrow focus is the reason to hire it. If you are above $20M and want a headless or award-level creative build, Metajive belongs on the list, with the trade-off that its minimum excludes most brands below that line.
One trade-off applies everywhere: smaller studios give you direct access to senior people but limited capacity, while larger agencies bring process and bench depth but may assign your project to a junior team. Ask every agency who will work on your store week to week, not who appears in the pitch.
There is no single best Shopify development agency, which is why this list is not ranked. All ten agencies above do credible Shopify work, and each serves a different merchant. The right choice depends on your revenue stage, whether you are building, replatforming, or launching B2B, how many systems your store must connect to, and whether you want a boutique relationship or a larger team with more process. Use the comparison grid to cut the list to three based on budget, then read those profiles in full and ask each agency for a reference client at your stage and a numbered result from a comparable project. Before any agency starts design work, agree on speed and scope targets in writing, and if you are on Shopify Plus, factor the platform fee into the total cost, since Shopify Plus starts at $2,300 per month on a three-year term as of September 2026. The agency you hire will shape your store for the next three to five years, so a few extra weeks of evaluation is time well spent.
There is no single best agency at that stage, because the right partner depends on whether you need a build, a migration, or growth work. For stores under $1M, the realistic shortlist on this list is Realm, Shugert, and OptiWeb Marketing, which publish lower entry points (Realm lists projects from $2,500 in the Shopify Partner Directory and Shugert prices diagnostics from $2,500, both as of September 2026). Agencies with $50,000 Clutch minimums as of September 2026, such as Barrel and Novatize, are built for a different revenue band. Spend the savings on a clean theme, fast pages, and a checkout you never have to apologize for, then revisit a larger partner once revenue justifies a custom roadmap.
Shopify agency pricing in 2026 runs from a few thousand dollars for fixes and small builds to six figures for enterprise replatforms. Across this list as of September 2026, Clutch minimum project sizes range from $1,000 (Solo Media Group, Shugert) to $100,000 (Metajive). Solo Media Group quotes design and build projects from $20,000, Absolute Web lists store builds from $30,000 and migrations from $50,000 in the Shopify Partner Directory, and Fyresite says typical Shopify Plus budgets land between $40,000 and $200,000. Hourly rates on Clutch cluster between $100 and $199. Add the platform itself: as of September 2026, Shopify Plus starts at $2,300 a month on a three-year term.
A Platinum Partner has driven far more revenue through Shopify than a Select Partner, and Shopify designs each tier for a different size of client. Under Shopify’s Q3 2026 tiering guide, Select requires at least $100,000 in new referral revenue and $500,000 in existing merchant revenue, while Platinum requires at least $5M in new referral revenue, $25M in existing merchant revenue, and six Plus or enterprise merchants. Shopify describes Select as best for small and medium businesses and Platinum as tailored for global enterprise. The tier measures volume and track record on Shopify, not fit for your particular store, so a Select agency can be the better hire for a $400K brand.
On this list, Novatize and Fyresite are the two agencies built most directly around Shopify B2B work. Novatize won B2B Agency of the Year in the mid and small system integrator category at the B2B eCommerce Industry Awards in November 2025 and runs SPINE, a B2B accelerator with ERP-connected pricing and approval workflows. Fyresite reports more than 20 completed Shopify B2B certifications and builds year, make, and model fitment tools for automotive and industrial catalogs. Absolute Web, Solo Media Group, and Shugert also deliver B2B portals, but as one service among many rather than the core of their practice.
Move from a freelancer to an agency when the cost of a mistake on your store is larger than the cost of the agency. For most brands that point arrives somewhere between $1M and $3M in annual revenue, or earlier if you are replatforming thousands of SKUs, connecting an ERP, launching B2B, or running retail POS across locations. Those projects need a project manager, QA, and developers who have done the same migration many times. Below that threshold, a strong freelancer or a small studio like Realm usually delivers better value, and the money saved is better spent on inventory and acquisition.
