App guide
Shopify Collabs for brands: limits, alternatives and how to fill it
Shopify Collabs is Shopify's free app for working with creators. It caps invites at 100 creators in any 7-day period and isn't taking new creator sign-ups. So most brands also need a way to find people outside it.
These guides answer what brands ask once a Collabs programme is live. Every fact about an app comes from that company's own pages or its Shopify App Store listing. We give the date we read each one.
What is Shopify Collabs?
Collabs lets a Shopify store work with creators. A creator is someone with an audience on Instagram, TikTok or YouTube. Shopify says brands can use it to (Shopify Help Center, checked 22 October 2026):
- recruit creators by direct invite, an open offer, or an application page on the store
- send gifts or discount codes
- track affiliate sales and pay commission
Commission is the cut of each sale you pay the person who sent the buyer. An affiliate is anyone paid that way. That includes blogs and newsletters, not just creators.
What does Shopify Collabs cost?
The app is free to install. Shopify adds a 2.9% fee to each automatic commission payment. It shows on your Shopify bill (Shopify Help Center, checked 22 October 2026). It works on all Shopify plans except Starter and Retail (Shopify Help Center, checked 22 October 2026).
What are the limits?
| Limit | What Shopify says |
|---|---|
| Invites | Up to 100 creators in any 7-day period |
| Invite expiry | 30 days |
| New creators | "Collabs isn't accepting new creator signups at this time" |
| Holding period | 30 days by default before a commission is paid. You can change it in Collabs settings |
All four come from Shopify's help pages, listed at the foot of this page and checked 22 October 2026. A new creator can still make an account if a brand invites them or they apply (Shopify Help Center, checked 22 October 2026). Read what to do about the invite limit and paused sign-ups for workarounds.
The guides in this hub
| Guide | The question it answers |
|---|---|
| Collabs alternatives | Which apps and tools can replace or add to Collabs, with dated prices? |
| Invite limit and paused sign-ups | What do I do when I hit 100 invites or a creator can't join? |
| How to find creators for Collabs | Where do I find good people beyond the Collabs search? |
| Collabs vs UpPromote | Should I move to UpPromote, and what would it cost? |
| Who promotes Shopify brands | Our 30-brand scan: method, counts and limits. |
Why is my Collabs programme empty?
Each route into Collabs needs someone to act first. Creators have to find you. Or you find them in a search that only shows existing profiles.
Our view, not Shopify's: the fix is outreach, not a different tracker. Go out to the blogs, review sites and podcasts that cover shops like yours. In our scan, 64% of people shown had a review or roundup page as their best evidence, 20% a blog page and 14% a podcast. We did not check who earns commission. Here's what our scanner found on 30 public Shopify brands.
We ran this · 22 October 2026
A first scan showed a median of 92 people per Shopify brand.
- Median 92 people shown per brand, from 35 to 188.
- In all, 916 of 2,924 people (31%) had an email address on record.
- 1,877 of 2,924 (64%) had a review, roundup or comparison page as their best evidence.
A first search for a brand, 22 Oct 2026, 30 public Shopify brands in all. It stopped at finding addresses and ran no email checks, which the product runs when a campaign starts (what each result means). In a 30-row check, 9 were not promoters (likely 17% to 48%). Full method and limits.
How does RecruitAffiliates.ai work with Collabs?
It works alongside Collabs, with no integration. You type your website. It finds websites, blogs, review sites, newsletters, podcasts, YouTube channels, and Instagram and TikTok creators who promote your rivals. It gets the email found for each person and sends a personal outreach sequence from your inbox. All you do is reply.
Every email carries your own sign-up link. Send creators to your Collabs application page, which Shopify describes as for "creators and brand fans". Send bloggers, review sites and newsletter writers to an affiliate sign-up link instead. We haven't tested whether non-creators can apply through Collabs. Launch costs $79 a month, and you can try it free for 7 days with no card.
Questions people ask
Is Shopify Collabs free?
Yes, it's free to install. Shopify adds a 2.9% fee to each automatic commission payment.
Can any creator join Shopify Collabs?
Not on their own. Shopify has paused open creator sign-ups. A new creator can still make an account when a brand invites them or accepts their application.
How many creators can I invite on Collabs?
Up to 100 in any 7-day period. Invites expire after 30 days. Some stores get a short boost to 1,000 a week for bulk imports. Shopify switches it on itself.
What's the best alternative to Shopify Collabs?
It depends on the job. UpPromote, GoAffPro, Social Snowball and Refersion can track and pay instead of it. Modash and RecruitAffiliates.ai help you find people to fill it. Our alternatives page compares all six.
Sources
All checked on 22 October 2026.
- Shopify Help Center, Shopify Collabs, features, creator sign-ups not accepted.
- Shopify Help Center, Collabs payments, 2.9% processing fee, 30-day holding period.
- Shopify Help Center, Collabs for merchants, plan eligibility.
- Shopify Help Center, creator setup, new accounts by invite or application only.
- Shopify Help Center, migrating creators, the 1,000-a-week import boost.
- Shopify Help Center, recruiting creators, 100 in any 7 days, 30-day expiry.