Can you add a subscription to a Shopify draft order?

How do you add a subscription to a draft order?

The product first needs a subscription purchase option, made in a subscriptions app such as the free Shopify Subscriptions app (compare alternatives).

Then, in Orders › Drafts, open a draft or click Create order, add the product, click ··· › Add purchase option and select the plan, as Shopify's steps say, then save.

In Shopify adminOpen in your store

1. Orders
2. Drafts
3. Create order

Zoom

Click Send invoice or share a checkout link; the order and the subscription are created when the customer completes checkout. Marking such a draft as paid and accepting a credit card in the admin are “coming soon” as of October 2026; until then, checkout is where the customer pays. Each route is explained in our guide to draft orders.

At checkout the customer can review the subscription terms and cancellation information; afterwards you manage it in the app.

What doesn't work with a subscription in a draft order?

A draft can mix subscriptions with one-time products, within these limits:

• No B2B company: adding one removes the subscriptions; see whether subscriptions work for B2B customers.
• No custom or locked price; an existing custom price is removed, but you can still apply discounts.
• First order only: payment terms, a deposit and the shipping rate you select. Later orders follow the subscription's billing terms and the lowest-cost shipping rate available.
• No product bundles or custom items.
• Recurring and prepaid plans only — no pre-order or try before you buy.
• The recurring subtotal, shown in the Payment section, excludes shipping, taxes, duties and discounts.
• Duplicate the draft, not an existing order that contains a subscription.

Why does Shopify's REST API reference still say no?

Shopify's REST DraftOrder reference, read on October 29, 2026, still says:

The Help Center describes the admin, where the change landed on October 28, 2026. In the admin, follow the Help Center. For an integration, draft order lines take a selling plan in GraphQL version 2027-01, a release candidate not recommended for production; the 2026-10 pages we read that day don't describe it.

There, draftOrderComplete on such a draft returns a user error and creates no order: send the invoice to checkout via draftOrderInvoiceSend.