- Short answer
- With an App Store app that sends a unique key per order; Shopify's free Digital Products app sells files and links, not keys.
- Built in
- None documented: Digital Products sells files and links (Help Center, read October 24, 2026)
- Where buyers find the key (SendOwl)
- In SendOwl's own email; Shopify's order confirmation doesn't carry the code
- Keys run out (SendOwl)
- Default alerts at 10 codes and at one; when too few codes are left, an order goes through without one
Does Shopify issue license keys itself?
Not that we found. Shopify's free Digital Products app sells digital products in two ways, files and links, and any download link needs an app from the Shopify App Store.
No Help Center page we read on October 24, 2026, on Digital Products, digital tax or Shopify Subscriptions, describes sending license keys.
Which apps send license keys?
These five carry the App Store's License key tag (listings read October 24, 2026), sorted by the price shown: a snapshot, not a ranking.
| App | Price, read Oct 24, 2026 | Keys, per listing or docs |
|---|---|---|
| Pendora | Free | "License key management"; the developer's text doesn't describe a key pool or stock alerts |
| KeyDispatch | Starter free to 50 orders/month (CSV import listed from Grow); Grow $19/month | Uploaded list; unique code emailed after purchase |
| DPL | From $15/month, 14-day trial | CSV or paste; delivery by email, SMS or WhatsApp |
| SendOwl | From $39/month, 7-day trial | Generates codes, uses your uploaded list, or fetches them from your URL |
| Sky Pilot | Growth Plan, $54.99/month | One key per order from uploaded pools (Shop Circle's blog) |
Shopify App Store listings; SendOwl's help center; Shop Circle's blog for Sky Pilot.
Have a list of keys? KeyDispatch, DPL, SendOwl and Sky Pilot describe uploading one; SendOwl can also generate each code.
Selling files too? See our guide to digital delivery apps.
How do buyers get the key, and what if keys run out?
SendOwl sends the code in its own order confirmation email with the download link. Shopify's order confirmation doesn't carry it, so tell buyers which email to expect.
From your uploaded list, SendOwl warns you by default at 10 codes left and again at one; both numbers are yours to change. If an order needs more codes than are left, it goes through without a code; you add codes and allocate one by hand.
Pendora's listing doesn't say what happens when keys run out, and KeyDispatch's listing promises you'll “never accidentally oversell” without saying how; ask the developer before you install.
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