- Short answer
- Yes — a client transfer store a developer hands to you isn't eligible for free trials or promos; open it yourself, then add your developer.
- Where the rule lives
- Shopify's partner docs: "After transfer to the client, the store isn't eligible for promotions or free trials."
- What happens at handover
- "Your client selects a plan when they receive the transfer" — Shopify's Dev Dashboard docs.
- No do-over
- "Shopify doesn't extend or reset free trials or promotional pricing."
- Stores that do get a trial
- AI-tool or vibe-code-partner stores: 4-month free trial as of September 2026, unless a Stripe Projects CLI store starts paid.
- Keeping trial eligibility
- Open the store yourself, give your developer your collaborator request code, then accept their request under Users → Requests.
Does a store your developer transfers come with a free trial?
No. A client transfer store is the store type Shopify tells developers to open in its Dev Dashboard when a merchant has hired them to build a store. Shopify's partner documentation lists this among the store's limitations:
After transfer to the client, the store isn't eligible for promotions or free trials.
The Dev Dashboard page repeats the rule in its own words and tells the developer: "Your client selects a plan when they receive the transfer."
No Shopify page we read on September 16, 2026 — the partner transfer page, the Dev Dashboard page and the free-trial page — describes a way to restore a trial or promotion after a transfer. The free-trial page states: "Shopify doesn't extend or reset free trials or promotional pricing." — so choose how the store is opened before the build starts.
Which partner-built Shopify stores do start on a trial?
Shopify's free-trial page says a store "created with an AI tool … or with a vibe code partner" starts "with a free trial, currently 4 months" — as of September 2026. The same page notes that a store created through the Stripe Projects CLI "can instead start on a paid plan", and "a store created on a paid plan doesn't include a free trial". A client transfer store your developer hands over is not among the stores that get the 4-month trial.
How do you hire a developer and keep the Shopify trial?
Sign up yourself — the ordinary route, where Shopify's signup page presents its current trial offer — and bring the developer in as a collaborator; the Dev Dashboard page lists that among the developer's next steps: "Request collaborator access to work on a merchant's live store." Shopify's Help Center for Partners separately tells Partners they "shouldn't build stores using Shopify free trials"; that page doesn't say how this applies to a collaborator working in a store the merchant opened.
A collaborator is a Shopify Partner "who you've allowed to access your store or organization". Shopify requires you to give your developer a collaborator request code. After your developer enters the code and submits a request, "you receive an email about the request and a notification on your Shopify Home", and you manage requests in the Users section of your admin under the Requests status. Which permissions to grant is covered in our store-access guide.
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