We Will Build Your Shopify Plus Store for Free, Here Is Why

We are taking on three Shopify Plus builds this quarter at no development cost. Not a discount, not a free audit that turns into a quote, not a trial that expires into an invoice. The build itself, done properly, for nothing. There is a reason we can do this and a reason we want to, and both are worth explaining before you decide whether it is for you, because an offer like this with no explanation attached should make you suspicious.

Why we are doing this

ExactWhy is young. We started in January 2026 and we have built a body of technical work in public since then, most of it about the parts of Shopify that break: checkout extensibility, customer accounts, inventory models, API deprecations. That writing has brought us clients.

What it has not brought us yet is a portfolio of flagship Shopify Plus builds we can point at. Those are the engagements that decide whether a serious brand takes us seriously, and there is no way to acquire them except by doing them.

So this is straightforward commercial reasoning. We are trading the cost of three builds for three references and three long-term relationships. You get a store built without paying for the build. We get proof.

We would rather say that plainly than dress it up as generosity.

What is included

The build. In practice that means:

• Store setup or migration onto Shopify Plus, including data migration from your existing platform
• Theme configuration and store design, built to your brand rather than a template with your logo on it
• Payments, shipping and tax configured for India, including COD rules if you use them
• Checkout work available on Plus, including checkout UI extensions and validation Functions where they apply
• Redirect mapping if you are migrating, built before launch rather than after
• Conversion tracking set up properly on supported surfaces and verified against real orders
• Testing on real devices, real payment methods and real orders before you go live

That is a genuine build, not a starter site. If you have read our writing on checkout extensibility or customer accounts, that is the standard we work to and it does not change because this one is unpaid.

What is not included

Being clear about this matters more than the list above, because unclear scope is how free work turns into a bad relationship for both sides.

Your Shopify Plus subscription. That is Shopify's fee and it starts at Rs 175,000 a month. We cannot and do not cover it. If you cannot fund that, this offer is not useful to you.

Apps and third-party subscriptions. Whatever your stack needs, you pay for.

Custom app development. If you need bespoke software built, that is a separate paid project. The free build covers the store.

Content and photography. We will build the store. You supply what goes in it.

Ongoing work after launch. Covered below, and this is the part that makes the arithmetic work.

Who this is for

Three conditions, and all three matter.

You are on Shopify Plus or moving to it. Either already paying for Plus, or with a definite plan and budget to be. This is not an offer to build a store on Basic.

You have a real business. Revenue, inventory, customers. We are not looking for ideas or pre-launch concepts. The reference is only worth something to us if the brand is real.

You will let us talk about the work. A named case study, honest numbers where you are comfortable sharing them, and a reference call when a future client asks. That is what we are being paid in.

If you meet all three, you are the kind of brand we want to work with. If you meet two, tell us anyway and we will be honest about whether it fits.

What we ask in return

Beyond the case study, one thing: we want the ongoing work.

Not as an obligation you sign, because a retainer nobody wants is worse than no retainer. What we are betting on is that a store we built, launched and know completely is a store you would rather keep us on than hand to somebody else. Our ongoing development is Rs 20,000 to Rs 50,000 a month, and you decide after launch whether you want it.

That is the honest shape of the deal. We invest the build cost, you get a store, and we expect to earn the relationship afterwards. If we build badly, you leave and we have lost. That seems like the right incentive for both of us.

What we will not do

A few things worth saying so nobody wastes a fortnight.

We will not do this for a brand that is shopping the same brief around for free work from several agencies. We will not build something we think is a bad idea just because it is free to you. And we will not take a fourth or fifth brand this quarter, because three is what we can do properly alongside our paid work, and doing six badly would defeat the point.

If we say no, we will tell you why, and if the honest answer is that you do not need Plus at all, we will say that too. Our comparison of Plus and Advanced covers when that is genuinely the case, and a fair number of brands considering Plus do not need it yet.

How long it takes

A straightforward Plus build or migration runs six to ten weeks. Complex work, meaning multiple integrations, B2B pricing, or a large catalogue with a deep redirect map, runs longer.

We will give you a real timeline after seeing your setup, not before. Anyone who quotes a Plus migration timeline without looking at your integrations is guessing, and you should treat that as information about them.

What we will need from you

A free build fails the same way a paid one does, and it is almost never the developer's fault. It is that the brand side goes quiet.

Three things we will need. One person who can make decisions, rather than a committee that has to reconvene for every question. Your content and photography by an agreed date, because a build waiting on product copy is a build that misses its launch. And a couple of hours a week for the calls, which is not a lot but it is not nothing.

We are saying this because free work makes people casual about it in a way paid work does not. If the store is not important enough to give it two hours a week, it is not important enough for either of us to spend a quarter on.

How we will judge whether it worked

Worth agreeing before we start, because a case study needs something in it beyond a screenshot.

We will take a baseline before launch: conversion rate, mobile page load, average order value, and whatever else is relevant to your situation. Then we look at the same numbers sixty and ninety days after. If they moved, that is the case study. If they did not, we will say that too, because a portfolio of honest results is more useful to us than a page of unverifiable claims.

You will get those numbers regardless of whether you continue with us, and you are free to use them however you like.

Is this really free?

The development is. You still pay Shopify for the Plus subscription, and you still pay for apps and anything custom beyond the store. We are not covering your platform costs and we would be misleading you if we implied otherwise.

What is the catch?

We want a case study and we want to earn the ongoing work. That is the whole of it. There is no minimum contract, no clause that converts to a fee, and no ownership claim on your store. The code and the store are yours.

Why would an agency work for free?

Because a Plus reference is worth more to a young agency than the fee for one build. We are eight months old with strong technical writing and not enough flagship builds to point at. This is the fastest honest way to change that.

Do I have to sign a retainer?

No. We expect to earn it by building well, and you decide after launch. A retainer someone signed reluctantly is a bad arrangement for both sides and we would rather not have one.

Can I apply if I am not on Plus yet?

Yes, if you have a definite plan and budget to move. Plus starts at Rs 175,000 a month from Shopify, so the plan needs to be real rather than aspirational. If you are unsure whether you need Plus, ask us and we will give you a straight answer before you commit to anything.

What if you are already full?

We will tell you immediately rather than stringing it out, and we will quote for the work normally if you want it done anyway. Paid Plus builds are what we do the rest of the time.

How to apply

Email hello@exactwhy.com with subject "Plus build" and tell us four things. What you sell and roughly what you are doing in revenue. Whether you are on Plus already or planning to move. What platform you are on now. And what you want the new store to do that the current one does not.

Prefer a form? Send it through the contact page instead. It reaches the same inbox and you can attach whatever is useful.

We respond within 4 hours. If it is a fit we will set up a call and look at your setup properly before either of us commits. If it is not a fit we will say so in the reply and tell you why, which is more useful to you than a polite maybe.

Three slots. When they are gone this page will say so.