Shopify Email: The Built-In Sender Most Stores Ignore

Shopify has had a built-in email tool since 2019, now called Shopify Messaging, and most stores ignore it. It lives in the admin under Marketing, it is included on every plan from Basic to Plus, and it gives you 10,000 free emails every month. After that it costs $1 per 1,000 emails, dropping to $0.65 per 1,000 after 300,000 and $0.55 after 750,000. Abandoned checkout emails are always free and never count toward the limit. The tool handles broadcasts, basic segmentation, and the four automations that matter most: welcome, abandoned checkout, abandoned cart, and post-purchase. Automated flows generate about 41 percent of total email revenue from just 5.3 percent of sends, which is why the automations are the part to set up first, not the campaigns.

The free tier most stores never use

Shopify has run a built-in email tool since 2019, now called Shopify Messaging, that lives inside the same admin as the website builder, under Marketing. It is included on every Shopify plan, from Basic through Plus, and there is nothing to install. The free allowance is 10,000 emails per month per store, shared across all email campaigns in a calendar month, and it resets every month without carrying over. Beyond that it costs $1 per 1,000 additional emails up to 300,000, then $0.65 per 1,000 up to 750,000, then $0.55 per 1,000. You are only charged for the emails you send, and you are not billed until the cost reaches half a cent. For a store with a list of 3,000 people sending two campaigns a month, that is 6,000 sends and no bill at all. For a store with 15,000 subscribers sending weekly, the free tier runs out by mid-month, but the cost is still modest compared to most third-party platforms. The tool includes a drag-and-drop campaign builder with Shopify-native product blocks, purchase-history segmentation, and campaign analytics, which is a full basic toolkit without installing anything.

The exception that makes it free forever

There is one detail merchants often miss: abandoned checkout automations never count against the monthly limit, no matter how many the store sends. Every other automation counts, including welcome emails and abandoned cart reminders, but abandoned checkout is always free. That exception is the reason to turn on the abandoned checkout automation first: it costs nothing, it runs forever, and it recovers orders that would otherwise be lost. The setup is in Marketing, then Automations, where the pre-built templates live: welcome series, abandoned checkout, abandoned cart, and back-in-stock. Turn them on and they run. The welcome series is the first automation to build, because new subscribers are at their most interested, and three emails over a week is plenty. The abandoned cart email goes out 1 to 4 hours after the shopper leaves, then again after a day. Baymard Institute puts the average cart abandonment rate at about 70 percent, so even a small win-back adds up to real revenue. And the numbers justify the order: automated flows generate about 41 percent of total email revenue from just 5.3 percent of sends, which is why the automations are the part to set up first, not the campaigns.

When to leave it behind

Shopify Email is a broadcast tool with some automation bolted on, not a marketing automation platform, and it has real ceilings. The abandoned checkout automation is historically a single follow-up email rather than a multi-step sequence, which is one of the main reasons growing stores move to a dedicated tool once recovery rates plateau. Its segmentation is basic, built on purchase history, not the behavioral triggers a dedicated platform offers, and it has no native SMS or push notification tool, so both need a separate app. The sign to move is not the bill. The bill stays small for a long time: at 1,000 contacts, a dedicated platform costs about $20 to $30 a month, while Shopify Messaging costs nothing until you pass 10,000 sends. The sign to move is the recovery rate: when the single abandoned checkout email stops recovering orders, when the welcome series needs branching by behavior, or when you need SMS alongside email in the same flow, the built-in tool has done its job and the dedicated platform earns its cost. Until then, the free 10,000 emails a month is the most volume of any free plan available, and the store that is not using it is paying for email it could be sending for free.

Frequently asked questions

Is Shopify Email actually free?

Up to 10,000 emails a month, yes, on every plan from Basic to Plus. The allowance resets every calendar month and unused emails do not carry over. Beyond 10,000 it costs $1 per 1,000 additional emails up to 300,000, then $0.65 per 1,000 up to 750,000, then $0.55 per 1,000. You are only charged for the emails you send, and you are not billed until the cost reaches $0.005. For a store with a list of 3,000 people sending two campaigns a month, that is 6,000 sends and no bill at all.

Do abandoned checkout emails count toward the 10,000?

No. Abandoned checkout emails are always free and do not count toward the monthly limit, no matter how many the store sends. Every other automation counts toward the limit, including welcome emails and abandoned cart reminders. That exception is the reason to turn on the abandoned checkout automation first: it costs nothing, it runs forever, and it recovers orders that would otherwise be lost.

What can Shopify Email not do?

It is a broadcast tool with some automation bolted on, not a marketing automation platform. It has real ceilings on personalisation, deliverability control, and advanced automation. The abandoned checkout automation is historically a single follow-up email rather than a multi-step sequence, which is one of the main reasons growing stores move to a dedicated tool once recovery rates plateau. It has no native SMS or push notification tool, so both need a separate app. And its segmentation is basic, built on purchase history, not the behavioral triggers a dedicated platform offers.

Which automations should I turn on first?

Welcome and abandoned cart, together. A welcome series of three emails over a week is the first automation to build, because new subscribers are at their most interested, and welcome emails are often the highest-engagement message a store sends. An abandoned cart email, sent 1 to 4 hours after the shopper leaves and again after a day, recovers a share of otherwise lost sales, and Baymard Institute puts the average cart abandonment rate at about 70 percent. Together they usually make the most revenue for the least effort, and automated flows generate about 41 percent of total email revenue from just 5.3 percent of sends.