Best gift card apps for Shopify in 2027: fees per order vs flat price
What Shopify already does for free, what the six best-known gift card apps charge, and what one busy December would cost on each. Prices taken from the App Store listings, with the maths shown.
In this guide
- Does Shopify have gift cards? What you get without an app
- The six Shopify gift card apps compared
- Shopify gift card fees: what each app costs in a busy December
- How to choose the best gift card app for Shopify
- Why app maintenance matters for 2027
- If you are looking for a Rise.ai alternative
- Frequently asked questions
If you are looking for the best gift card app for Shopify, the first question is not which app has the most features. It is how the app charges you. Some take a flat monthly price, some charge for every order in your store, and some take a percentage of every gift card you sell. In December the difference can be hundreds of dollars.
This guide covers what Shopify does on its own, compares six apps, and works through one December for a store selling 300 gift cards.
Does Shopify have gift cards? What you get without an app
Yes. Shopify says gift cards are available on all Shopify subscription plans. Here is how Shopify gift cards work without any app:
- You sell a gift card product. Each amount (25, 50, 100) is a variant. Shopify creates a code on purchase and emails it. Gift card products support values up to 10,000 USD; cards you create by hand in the admin are capped at 2,000 USD by default.
- The buyer can send it to someone else. On Dawn, the Horizon themes and other free themes from version 9.0.0, the buyer can enter a recipient's email, a name, a message and a send date (Shopify help). Scheduled cards go out roughly between 4:00 and 10:00 in the buyer's timezone.
- The email can carry your logo and colours, like your other customer notifications.
The gaps are what gift card apps fill:
| Missing in native Shopify | Source |
|---|---|
| Changing a balance: "Gift card balances can't be edited directly from the Shopify admin" | Shopify help |
| Undoing a deactivation: a deactivated card "can't be reactivated, reloaded, or refunded onto" | Same page |
| Scheduling more than 90 days ahead, or messages over 200 characters | shopify.dev |
| Accelerated checkout buttons (Shop Pay, Apple Pay) with the recipient form | Same page |
| A choice of card designs, any-amount cards, a balance check on your storefront, reminders | Not offered natively |
If a fixed-amount card emailed to a recipient is all you need, native Shopify may be enough. The gift card vs store credit guide covers the native setup in more detail.
The six Shopify gift card apps compared
| App | Rating (reviews) | Plans per month | Variable charges |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rise | 4.7 (759) | $19.99 / $59.99 / $199.99 | $0.20 / $0.15 / $0.10 per store order above 100 / 400 / 2,000 |
| Gift Card Hero | 4.9 (174) | Pay as you go, PRO $19.99, Shopify Plus $39.99 | Pay as you go: 2% of card value, min $9.99, max $49.99 |
| Vify | 4.9 (138) | Free, $9.99 / $16.99 / $29.99 by Shopify plan | None |
| Gift Card Factory | 5.0 (65) | Trial, $19.99 / $49.99 / $99.99 | Monthly caps on emails, bulk actions and Flow credits |
| Govalo | 4.3 (26) | Free, $79, $399 | 2.9% / 2.25% / 1.5% of card value |
| Giftmint (ours) | New, no reviews yet | Free (50 cards), $9.99, $29.99 | None |
Rise: the most complete, priced by store orders
Rise's listing combines gift cards, store credit, loyalty, cashback, referrals and refunds in one customer wallet, and it works with POS, Flow, Klaviyo, Gorgias and Loop Returns. If you want a loyalty programme and gift cards from one vendor, nothing else here does as much, and it has by far the most reviews.
The catch is how it counts. Each plan includes a number of "Monthly Total Store Orders", and every order above that is billed. That means all orders in your store, not just gift card orders, so a strong sales month raises your Rise bill even if gift card sales are flat.
Gift Card Hero: joint highest-rated of the larger apps
Gift Card Hero carries the Built for Shopify badge and a 4.9 rating from 174 reviews. Features include scheduled sending, video greetings, balance top-ups, a balance check widget, reminders and POS tools. Its pay-as-you-go plan takes 2% of gift card value with a $49.99 monthly cap. The PRO plan at $19.99 (shown as $10 off $29.99) is a flat fee and adds reloads, reminders and POS.
Vify: low flat price, priced by your Shopify plan
Vify also has the Built for Shopify badge and a 4.9 rating. It offers balance adjustment, custom amounts, expiry reminders, a balance page and emails in the customer's language. Paid plans are flat, but the one you need depends on your Shopify plan: $9.99 for Basic, $16.99 for Shopify and Advanced, $29.99 for Plus. The listing names Shopify Flow as an integration but not POS.
Gift Card Factory: bulk and migration work
Gift Card Factory is built for bulk work, such as generating or importing thousands of cards, editing any card's balance or expiry, and refunding orders onto gift cards. It works with POS, Flow and Klaviyo and has a 5.0 rating from 65 reviews. Plans are flat, with monthly limits on app emails (1,000 on Bronze).
Govalo: gifting beyond gift cards
Govalo describes itself as Shopify Plus Certified and carries the Built for Shopify badge. Its strengths are gifting features the others don't list, such as giftable Recharge and Bold subscriptions and a gift card offer when a product sells out. Emails go through Klaviyo, Omnisend or Drip. Every plan takes a percentage of gift card value, from 2.9% on the free plan to 1.5% on Enterprise. Its rating is 4.3 from 26 reviews, with 6 one-star reviews.
Giftmint: flat price, new (and ours)
We build Shopify apps at Consensus, and Giftmint is ours, so read this as the maker's description. It creates native Shopify gift cards. Buyers pick one of 20 designs, write a message and choose a delivery day up to a year ahead, and the card is emailed with your logo at 9:00 on that day, in 31 languages. It adds a storefront balance check, balance adjustments with a reason, store credit, and POS and Shopify Flow on the Pro plan. Pricing is free for 50 cards a month, then $9.99 or $29.99, with no fee per order or percentage on any plan. It does not do loyalty, cashback or printed cards. It is new, so there are no reviews to judge it by yet.
Shopify gift card fees: what each app costs in a busy December
For the worked example, take a store that sells 300 gift cards averaging $50 in December, which is $15,000 of gift card value, and takes 2,000 orders in total that month (gift card orders included).
We assume the store is on the Shopify (middle) plan, not Plus, and sends one email per card. Prices are the listing prices in USD, billed monthly. Card payment processing fees are left out, because they are the same whichever app you use.
| App | Plan | Maths | December cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Native Shopify | None | No app | $0 |
| Rise | Starter | $19.99 + (2,000 − 100) × $0.20 | $399.99 |
| Rise | Small-Business | $59.99 + (2,000 − 400) × $0.15 | $299.99 |
| Rise | Pro | $199.99, 2,000 orders included | $199.99 |
| Gift Card Hero | Pay as you go | 2% × $15,000 = $300, capped | $49.99 |
| Gift Card Hero | PRO | Flat | $19.99 |
| Vify | Premium (for the Shopify plan) | Flat | $16.99 |
| Gift Card Factory | Bronze | Flat, 300 emails within 1,000 | $19.99 |
| Govalo | Essential | 2.9% × $15,000 | $435.00 |
| Govalo | Premium | $79 + 2.25% × $15,000 | $416.50 |
| Giftmint | Pro | Flat, 300 cards within 1,000 | $9.99 |
Rise's cost is driven by the 2,000 total orders, not by the 300 gift cards, so the right Rise plan depends on your whole store's volume. Percentage pricing grows with every card sold.
The picture shifts in a quiet month. Take March with 20 cards ($1,000) and 800 orders. Rise's cheapest option becomes Small-Business at $59.99 + 400 × $0.15 = $119.99, Gift Card Hero's pay-as-you-go plan charges $20 (2% of $1,000, above the $9.99 minimum), Govalo Essential charges $29, and the flat plans stay where they were. Percentage plans suit small, steady gift card sales; flat pricing usually wins when December is your big month.
GiftmintGift cards with emails that carry your logo, delivery on the day the buyer picks and a balance check in your store.See how it works
How to choose the best gift card app for Shopify
Ask these questions before installing anything:
- Does it charge per store order? If yes, find your highest monthly order count, including December, and do the maths above with your numbers.
- Does it take a percentage of card value? Multiply by your gift card revenue for the year, not one month.
- Are the cards native Shopify gift cards? If they are, codes keep working at checkout if you uninstall. Rise, for example, creates its cards in Shopify. An app that holds balances on its own servers can leave you migrating codes later.
- What happens on uninstall? Ask which features stop and whether you can export every card first.
- Can you brand the email and choose designs? Check on the plan you would actually pay for, not the top tier.
- Can buyers schedule delivery, and how far ahead? Native Shopify stops at 90 days.
- Is there a balance check customers can use without the original email?
- Can you adjust a balance with a note? This is the most common support request the Shopify admin can't handle.
- Does it work with POS if you also sell in person, and with Shopify Flow or Klaviyo if you automate emails?
Legal rules also affect setup. If you sell in the US, read up on gift card expiration laws and, for California customers, the cash-out rule for small balances before you switch on expiry dates in any app.
Why app maintenance matters for 2027
Two Shopify deadlines fall right after the holiday season. From 1 January 2027, public apps must use expiring offline access tokens or they get authentication errors. On 1 March 2027, Shopify stops loading script tags on storefronts. Both are explained, with Shopify's sources, in our Shopify deprecations 2026 and 2027 guide.
An app that hasn't been updated in a long time is the one most likely to break on those dates. Before December, look for its widget under App embeds in your theme editor and ask support whether it is ready for both dates.
If you are looking for a Rise.ai alternative
If the per-order overage is why you are looking for a Rise.ai alternative, first check which Rise features you use. Loyalty, cashback and the wallet have no equivalent in the flat-priced apps above. If you mainly use Rise for gift cards, switching is simpler, because the cards Rise sold are Shopify gift cards and keep working at checkout. Our guide on moving from Rise lists what carries over and the order of steps, and most of it applies whichever app you move to.
Whatever you pick, set it up before November, test a purchase with a scheduled date, and check the email on a phone.
Frequently asked questions
Does Shopify have gift cards?
Yes. Shopify says gift cards are available on all subscription plans. You add a gift card product with each amount as a variant, and Shopify emails a code to the buyer or, on recent themes, to a recipient on a chosen date up to 90 days ahead.
How do Shopify gift cards work?
When someone buys a gift card product, Shopify creates a card with a unique code and emails it. The holder enters the code at checkout and the balance pays for the order, including tax and shipping. Balances can't be edited from the admin, and a deactivated card can't be reactivated.
What fees do Shopify gift card apps charge?
It depends on the pricing model. Rise charges a monthly plan plus $0.10 to $0.20 for every store order above the plan's limit, Govalo takes 1.5% to 2.9% of gift card value, Gift Card Hero's pay-as-you-go plan takes 2% with a cap, and Vify, Gift Card Factory and Giftmint charge a flat monthly price.
What is the best gift card app for Shopify?
There is no single best one. For loyalty, cashback and a store credit wallet, Rise is the most complete. Gift Card Hero and Vify share the top rating (4.9) among apps with over 100 reviews. For a store that only wants to sell branded gift cards, a flat-priced app is usually cheapest in a busy month.
What is a good Rise.ai alternative?
If you mainly use Rise for gift cards rather than loyalty, look at flat-priced apps such as Gift Card Hero PRO, Vify or Giftmint. Rise issues Shopify gift cards, so cards already sold keep working at checkout after you switch.
What happens to my gift cards if I uninstall a gift card app?
If the app creates native Shopify gift cards, the codes keep working at checkout because they live in Shopify. You lose the app's extras, such as its emails, balance page and reminders. Ask any app this question in writing before you install it.