How to choose a Shopify developer (without getting burned)

I’ve inherited a lot of Shopify projects from other developers. Some were beautiful, well-documented, exactly what I’d have built. Others were so tangled the only viable next step was a partial rebuild — and the merchant had no idea until I told them.

This is the post I wish every merchant read before hiring their first Shopify dev. It’s not about finding the “best” developer — it’s about not getting burned by a bad one, and giving the right ones a chance to do their best work.

Three categories of “Shopify developer”

Not every Shopify dev does the same kind of work. The categories matter for who you should hire:

1. Theme developers

Build and customize Shopify themes (Liquid, OS 2.0 sections, theme editor). Best for:

• Custom theme builds from a Figma design
• Major theme refactors
• Section / block customization
• Theme migrations (old → new theme)

2. App developers

Build Shopify apps (Node/Ruby/Remix, Shopify CLI, App Bridge, Polaris). Best for:

• Custom apps for your store
• Public apps for the App Store
• Shopify Functions (discount, shipping, payment customization)
• Admin or storefront extensions

3. Performance / SEO specialists

Optimize what’s already built (audit, measure, fix). Best for:

• Core Web Vitals work
• Technical SEO audits
• App-stack triage
• Schema markup

A “Shopify developer” can be one of the above, or two, or all three. Most aren’t all three. Hire based on the category your project actually needs.

What to look for

Specificity in conversation

A good Shopify developer asks specific questions: what theme are you on, what apps are installed, what’s your current Lighthouse score, do you have access to Search Console, what’s the conversion on your top product. They don’t say “yeah we can fix that” before knowing what that is.

A bad one quotes a price before knowing your stack.

Measurement before fixing

Performance and SEO work without a baseline is theater. A good dev:

• Records Lighthouse + CrUX numbers before starting
• Records same numbers after each major change
• Hands you a before/after report you can verify

If a developer can’t tell you the baseline number they’re improving from, they’re not measuring. That’s a tell.

Fixed scope, not open-ended retainers

Open-ended retainers are great for the developer, terrible for the merchant. The developer has no incentive to finish; you have no clarity on what you’re paying for.

What to ask for instead: a fixed-scope engagement with deliverables, timeline, and price written down. “We’ll fix these specific things in 3 weeks for $X”. You should be able to read it and say “yes” or “no” without ambiguity.

Some long-running work (custom apps with ongoing development) genuinely needs retainers. Most theme + speed + SEO work does not.

Documentation

Ask: “When this engagement ends, what do I get?” The right answer includes a written hand-off: what was changed, why, how to roll back if needed, what to monitor going forward.

The wrong answer is “the changes are in your theme, we’re done”. Six months later when something breaks and they’re not available, you’re stuck.

Honest “no”s

The best signal: a developer who tells you what they won’t do.

“I don’t do apps” / “I don’t do custom checkout” / “I’d punt this to someone who specializes in international SEO”. A specialist who knows their lane is more reliable than a generalist who takes everything.

Red flags I see often

”We can do it all” agencies

Beware agencies that claim to do theme dev, app dev, SEO, paid ads, content, design, and strategy with one team. Typically what happens:

• Sales is good, the people you talk to in the pitch are senior
• After contract signing, you get junior implementers
• Quality is inconsistent across disciplines
• Communication goes through a project manager who doesn’t know the technical detail

If a brand needs all those services, hire 2–4 specialist freelancers / boutique studios. You’ll pay less, get better work, and can swap any single piece if it’s not working.

No portfolio / no Github / no specifics

A Shopify developer with 5+ years of experience should be able to:

• Show 3–5 stores they’ve worked on (with permission)
• Reference specific things they did on each
• Have at least some public code somewhere (Github, App Store apps, theme contributions)

Vagueness about past work is a tell. So is “I’ve done lots of projects but they were all under NDA”. Some NDAs are real, but if every project is supposedly under NDA, you can’t verify anything.

Wrong tooling for the era

Shopify changes. Online Store 2.0 (sections everywhere, JSON templates, app blocks) has been the default since 2021. Hydrogen + Oxygen are the storefront framework. Shopify Functions replaced Scripts in 2023. App Bridge 4.x is the current version.

A developer who’s still building OS 1.0 themes, using Shopify Scripts, or running on App Bridge 2 is not keeping up. The work might function but you’re paying to inherit technical debt.

Ask which Shopify version / tooling they default to. Their answer tells you whether they read release notes.

Pricing that’s suspiciously low or absurdly high

Shopify dev rates vary by region, but the market for senior Shopify work is roughly:

• $80–$200/hour freelancer (depending on region + specialty)
• $5,000–$25,000 for a fixed theme project
• $15,000–$100,000+ for custom app development

If someone quotes $500 for a custom theme, you’re getting a template. If someone quotes $200,000 to “fix your speed”, you’re getting an agency margin you don’t need.

”We work with our preferred app vendors”

Some agencies steer you toward apps that pay them referral fees. The app might be fine; the steer isn’t.

Ask: “If I install [some other reviews app instead], does your fee or scope change?” If yes, they have a financial interest in their recommendations. Worth knowing.

Questions to ask in the first call

I keep this list short on purpose. The answers tell you more than the developer realizes:

1. What’s your specialty? What do you actively not do?
2. Walk me through how you’d approach my project. (Not “what would you do” — “how would you start?”)
3. What does the engagement look like, week by week? (Vague answers = no plan.)
4. What does the deliverable look like? (No deliverable list = no scope.)
5. What happens after launch / handover? (Are you locked into a retainer?)
6. Can I talk to a recent client? (Anyone with 2+ years of experience can give one reference.)
7. What’s your hourly rate or fixed price for this scope? (No clear answer = expect confusion at invoice time.)

If the answers feel evasive, your gut is right. Listen to it.

Three structures that work

One specialist, fixed scope

Best for clearly-scoped projects: theme build, speed audit, schema fix. You hire one freelancer or one-person studio, get a fixed-scope proposal, ship in 2–8 weeks. No ongoing retainer.

This is what I do. I take projects where the scope is clear and the deliverable is verifiable.

A specialist + a retainer for ongoing maintenance

Best for: ongoing work after a launch (small enhancements, bug fixes, version bumps). After the initial fixed-scope engagement, you keep the same dev on a small monthly retainer (typically 5–10 hours/month). Cheap insurance against things breaking and waiting weeks for attention.

A small team / studio

Best for: large, multi-discipline projects (custom theme + custom app + SEO + ongoing). A 3–8-person studio is usually the right size — small enough that the senior people are still hands-on, big enough to run multiple workstreams in parallel.

What I do (and don’t)

For full transparency: I run a one-person dev house focused on four things — theme development, app development, technical SEO, and Core Web Vitals. I take projects where:

• Scope is clear (or where discovery is the first phase)
• Timeline is reasonable (2–8 weeks for most engagements)
• The work is in my specialty

I don’t do:

• Open-ended ongoing retainers
• Branding / design strategy
• Paid ads / content writing / community
• Multi-discipline lead-agency work

If your project is bigger than what I do, I’ll happily refer you to a studio I trust. That’s part of what hiring a specialist looks like.

→ Services I offer.

Hiring red-flag checklist

Quick scan before signing:

• They asked specific questions about your stack before quoting
• They named what they don’t do
• You have a written scope with deliverables, timeline, price
• Communication mode is clear (email weekly? Slack? regular check-ins?)
• Documentation / hand-off is part of the deliverable
• Reference from a recent client is available if you ask
• You can describe the engagement in one sentence to a friend without confusion

If any of these are missing, push for them before signing.

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Want a 30-minute conversation with no obligation? Book a free intro call. Even if I’m not the right person for your project, you’ll leave with a clearer picture of what to look for and what to ask the next person you talk to. → If you already know what you need: services I offer.