How Long Does Shopify App Review Take

Introduction

For merchants and developers launching a new solution on Shopify, the review period can feel like a black box. Waiting for approval affects launch dates, marketing plans, and development roadmaps. App fatigue is real: every new integration creates work, dependency, and potential delays—especially when review timelines stretch beyond expectations.

Short answer: Shopify's official guidance is that reviews typically take about five to ten business days, but real-world experience varies. Many submissions sail through in the expected window; others require back-and-forth fixes and can take several weeks. The total time depends less on a single number and more on how prepared the submission is and how swiftly reviewers and developers communicate.

In this post we’ll explain how the Shopify review process works, what affects timing, and what steps you can take to minimize delays. We’ll cover the review statuses you’ll see, common reasons for Paused or Rejected outcomes, practical pre-submission checks, and how to respond effectively when reviewers ask questions. Along the way we’ll show how adopting a unified retention solution can reduce the number of separate integrations you manage and limit exposure to review-related delays—see our listing on the Shopify marketplace for an example of a merchant-focused approach (install Growave from the Shopify marketplace).

Our main message: you can’t control reviewer bandwidth, but you can control everything in your submission. With the right preparation and communication, most reviews finish in one smooth cycle. As a merchant-first partner focused on "More Growth, Less Stack," we’ll also explain how streamlining your toolset reduces launch friction and the operational cost of every review interaction.

How the Shopify Review Process Works

Review Stages and Statuses

When you submit a public listing, Shopify moves your submission through several states. Knowing what each status means helps you set realistic expectations and act appropriately.

• Draft: You’re building the listing. Core requirements must be satisfied before submission.
• Submitted: Shopify has received the submission and assigned it to the queue.
• Paused: Shopify identified a blocking issue; you’ll need to make fixes and resubmit.
• Reviewed: A reviewer has completed an initial pass and may request changes or clarifications.
• Published: The listing passed review and is live on the marketplace.

Each state signals a different action item on your side. A Paused status often means important technical or listing information is missing. Reviewed means you’re in a conversational window and should reply quickly to the reviewer’s notes.

Who Reviews What

Shopify reviewers evaluate both technical and content elements:

• Technical functionality: install flow, critical features, OAuth scopes, billing calls, and storefront behavior for public storefront components.
• Security and privacy: data handling, privacy policy, secure authentication, proper token storage.
• Listing content: accuracy, images and videos following guidelines, allowed claims, and omission of Shopify trademarks.
• Testability: demo store availability, test credentials, and clear testing instructions for the reviewer.

Reviewers need to recreate merchant flows and verify your solution behaves as described. The more straightforward and testable your submission, the faster the reviewer can complete verification.

Communication Model

Review is asynchronous. Once a reviewer asks a question, each response cycle typically introduces additional queue latency. Shopify’s stated baseline of five to ten business days usually assumes limited back-and-forth. If you can avoid repeated iterations by supplying everything up-front, you’ll get faster outcomes.

Typical Timelines and Real-World Variability

Official Baseline

Shopify communicates a baseline window of about five to ten business days for a typical review. That timeframe is realistic for a well-documented, technically sound solution that doesn’t require major fixes.

What Extends That Window

Several common situations lengthen the timeline:

• Back-and-forth communication: every interaction can add days as the review queue refreshes.
• Paused status due to missing core requirements: you need to fix and resubmit, which restarts review time.
• Complex functionality: integrations that touch multiple systems or handle payments may require deeper evaluation.
• Seasonal backlog: launches around big commerce events or holidays can create heavier queues.
• Reviewer misinterpretation: if a reviewer misunderstands the use case, you might need added clarification and corrections.
• Incorrect or missing test environments: if the reviewer can’t test features easily, they’ll pause the review.

Practical Ranges to Expect

• Ideal outcome: 5–10 business days (one pass, clear testing).
• Moderate friction: 2–4 weeks (one or two rounds of fixes).
• High friction: multiple weeks to months (contradictory feedback, complex features, or repeated resubmissions).

Understanding where your submission sits in this spectrum helps avoid anxiety and prepares your team to act efficiently.

Key Factors That Influence Review Time

Technical Readiness

A solution that installs cleanly on a development store with predictable behavior is reviewed faster. Key technical items to check:

• Install/uninstall flows are error-free.
• OAuth scopes requested are appropriate and minimal.
• Webhooks and API calls function reliably in a dev store.
• Billing endpoints and plan logic adhere to Shopify's rules.
• No broken assets, missing routes, or 500 errors.

Testability and Documentation

A reviewer must be able to test quickly. Help them by providing:

• A demo store that looks legitimate and demonstrates key flows.
• Clear, step-by-step testing instructions.
• Screenshots or a short screen recording showing the expected experience.
• Test accounts/credentials with permissions to validate features.

Listing Accuracy and Media

Mistakes in your listing create avoidable delays:

• Screenshots containing "myshopify.com" URLs or Shopify logos can be rejected.
• Misleading claims or exaggerated benefits invite closer scrutiny.
• Missing contact details or unclear support paths frustrate the reviewer.

Privacy, Security, and Compliance

Any gaps in your privacy policy or data handling practices are serious. Verify:

• A clear privacy policy is linked and accessible.
• You explain what data you collect and why.
• You store tokens and PII securely, following best practices.
• You disclose third-party data access and integrations.

Business Model and Billing

Billing integration (consumables, monthly fees, metered billing) requires careful setup. Ensure billing APIs are implemented correctly and billing explanations are crystal clear in the listing.

The Human Element

Reviewer experience and workload vary. Even with a perfect submission, external factors like staffing and queue length affect timing.

Common Reasons Reviews Are Paused or Rejected

Understanding common failure points helps you fix them before submission.

• Missing core requirements: if your listing lacks required elements, Shopify may pause the review.
• Broken install flow: a single failing request during install can stop review.
• Insufficient demo store or missing testing credentials.
• Screenshots or copy that violate content rules (Shopify logo, myshopify.com exposure).
• Privacy policy absent or vague.
• Unauthorized or hidden functionality that isn’t disclosed in the listing.
• Billing errors or incomplete billing flow implementation.
• Missing or incorrect webhook handling resulting in inconsistent behavior.

Addressing these proactively avoids resubmissions and long delays.

How To Prepare Your Submission To Minimize Review Time

Preparation is the single best way to shorten review time. Treat this like a launch checklist: assume the reviewer has limited time and provide everything they need to get it done in one pass.

Create a Fully Functional Demo Store

Set up a demo store where every feature is reachable and realistic-looking. Even if your solution touches a small storefront area, make the rest of the store look polished so the reviewer isn’t distracted.

• Populate products, images, and collections.
• Configure shipping and tax settings appropriate to the flows you’re testing.
• If the solution touches checkout or storefront elements, make those pathways obvious.

Provide Clear, Step-by-Step Testing Instructions

Anticipate the reviewer’s path and write instructions that match merchant usage.

• Indicate the expected result for each step.
• Highlight where to click and what to verify.
• Tell them which environment (dev URL, staging) they should use.

Include Video Walkthroughs and Test Credentials

A short screen recording (2–5 minutes) showing the install and critical flows saves time. Provide test credentials and indicate how reviewer testers can access admin or storefront views.

Validate Billing and Permissions

Test billing plans in a development or test environment and ensure you explain what merchants will see during installation. Request only the permissions you need and justify them clearly in the listing.

Check Copy and Media Against Rules

Review the listing content for prohibited elements:

• No Shopify logos or trademarked usage.
• No myshopify.com URLs in screenshots.
• Accurate benefit statements—avoid exaggerated promises.

Prepare a Privacy Policy and Support Contact

Make sure the policy explains data handling and where merchants can reach you for help. Provide a support email or contact form and make sure the listed contact is responsive.

Automate Tests and Monitoring

Automated tests that validate install, core routes, and billing endpoints before submission reduce the risk of regressions and save time on rework.

How To Respond During Review

Once the reviewer reaches out, your response strategy can shave days off the total timeline.

• Reply fast: reviewers often wait for replies; a quick answer keeps the process moving.
• Be specific: reference logs, timestamps, and link to screen recordings.
• Don’t resubmit unless you’ve fixed the root cause: resubmissions without fixes waste time.
• Provide evidence: show test results, screenshots, or short videos proving the fix.
• Ask clarifying questions gracefully if you don’t understand the feedback.

Remember that each interaction may add days to the process. Aim for clear, complete responses.

What To Do If Review Is Taking Too Long

If you cross the expected window and there’s no update, take measured actions.

• Check the Partner Dashboard: sometimes status is updated there before email.
• Reconfirm you’ve supplied everything: test credentials, demo store, privacy policy, etc.
• Reply to the review email and politely ask for clarification or an estimated timeline.
• Use official support channels in the Partner Dashboard if the review exceeds Shopify’s expected window significantly.

Be persistent but professional. Often a single clarifying message or a small additional demo video resolves the hold-up.

Resubmissions and Handling Rejections

Rejections happen. They’re feedback, not failure. Treat them as a prioritized bug list.

• Carefully read the rejection reasons and address them point-by-point.
• Make a small, verifiable change and include evidence when you resubmit.
• Update testing instructions if the reviewer’s expected flow was unclear.
• Avoid resubmitting until every issue in the rejection list is fixed: repeated rejections look like negligence and slow you down further.

When you fix issues comprehensively, reviews often proceed much faster on the next pass.

Special Cases: Embedded Solutions, Sales Channels, and Visibility Settings

Different solution types can have slightly different review requirements or expectations.

• Embedded solutions that run inside the Shopify admin need clear instructions for accessing embedded UI and the right OAuth scopes.
• Sales channels or storefront-extending functionality may require more in-depth testing because they affect merchant storefronts.
• Limited visibility vs public listings: limited visibility solutions require specific submission details and may have a different testing workflow.

If your solution crosses multiple categories, document the flows explicitly so reviewers understand what to test.

Practical Pre-Submission Checklist

Below is a compact set of pre-submission checks to reduce the chance of delays. Use this as a quick reference before you hit “Submit.”

• The solution installs cleanly on a development store.
• A realistic demo store exists and demonstrates all merchant-facing flows.
• Step-by-step testing instructions and at least one short screen recording are provided.
• Test credentials with appropriate permissions are included.
• Billing is tested and documented or intentionally not used (with explanation).
• Privacy policy is complete and linked in the listing.
• Contact details and support paths work and are listed.
• Screenshots comply with content rules (no Shopify logos or myshopify.com shown).
• You request only necessary permissions and document why they’re needed.

Completing this list dramatically reduces the chance of a Paused status.

How Growave Helps Reduce Review Risk and Speed Time to Value

As a merchant-first retention partner trusted by 15,000+ brands with a 4.8-star rating on Shopify, we build for merchants—not investors. That means our goal is to remove friction and give merchants more growth with fewer integrations, which directly lowers the operational burden of multiple marketplace submissions.

More Growth, Less Stack

Every separate solution you add to a store is another integration to build, test, and maintain—and potentially another marketplace submission to manage. Our retention suite replaces multiple point solutions by combining Loyalty & Rewards, Reviews & UGC, Wishlists, Referrals, and Shoppable Instagram into one cohesive platform. Consolidation delivers three practical advantages relevant to review timelines:

• Fewer integrations to validate and fewer places for reviewers to encounter broken flows.
• A single vendor to coordinate testing with, which simplifies demo stores and testing credentials.
• Less overall operational complexity, reducing the probability of last-minute fixes that trigger resubmissions.

If you want to evaluate how a consolidated retention platform shortens your path to launch, review our plan details to see which package fits your needs (see our plan details).

Built For Merchants

We design features with merchant workflows in mind, so the configuration and install processes are predictable and testable. That predictability speeds reviews and reduces back-and-forth questions from reviewers. Our documentation and testing guidance are created to match reviewer needs: clear demo stores, step-by-step testing instructions, and short walkthrough videos.

Feature-Specific Readiness

Some of our core solutions materially reduce launch friction because they require fewer touchpoints across different systems.

• Our Loyalty & Rewards solution centralizes points, rewards, tiering, and automation in one place, removing the need for separate loyalty and messaging tools. Learn how our loyalty system helps you retain customers and reduce integration complexity (explore our Loyalty & Rewards solution).
• Our Reviews & UGC tools collect social proof and make merchant-facing workflows consistent and easy to test, which means fewer surprises during review and a clearer demonstration of value (see how our Reviews & UGC tools work).

By choosing integrated solutions like these, merchants limit the number of moving parts a reviewer must validate.

Practical Support During Review

We work with merchants to provide the test stores, credentials, and short walkthroughs reviewers need. That merchant-first approach is part of how we help clients navigate the review process more efficiently. If you want personalized assistance or have a complex setup, you can book a session to walk through your configuration and testing plan.

Where to Start

If you’re evaluating options and want to understand how a single retention suite changes your integration roadmap, you can compare plan features and pricing or see the platform listing in the Shopify marketplace for an overview of capabilities and install flow (review plan features and pricing).

Troubleshooting Common Review Roadblocks

Below are common problems teams face and exact remediation steps you can take.

• Problem: Reviewer can’t log in to the demo store. Fix: Provide a dedicated, always-on tester account with admin privileges and a simple note on where to find test credentials.
• Problem: Reviewer reports a missing feature they expected. Fix: Update testing instructions to explicitly specify the feature’s location and any preconditions (e.g., must enable setting X).
• Problem: Billing calls failing. Fix: Test billing endpoints on a staging app, check API keys, and provide logs that show the successful billing test.
• Problem: Privacy policy seems incomplete. Fix: Expand the policy to describe data retention, third-party sharing, and contact information; add it to both the listing and the app’s settings.
• Problem: Screenshots show myshopify.com. Fix: Recreate screenshots with sanitized store names and no Shopify trademarks.

Tackle each item with a testable verification before resubmitting.

Communication Templates You Can Use (Examples)

Use concise, evidence-led replies when interacting with reviewers. Here are two short templates you can adapt.

• Clarification and evidence:
  • "Thanks for the note. We updated the billing endpoint at 2025-09-01 14:12 UTC; attached is a 30-second recording showing a successful billing transaction in our dev store and the server log confirming the webhook delivery. Please let us know if you want access to a different test account."
• Request for more detail:
  • "Thanks for the feedback. Could you confirm which step produced the error and the browser/device used? We’ve provided an admin tester account and a short walkthrough at [dev-store-url] but will create an additional test account if helpful."

These short, focused messages help avoid long back-and-forth.

Post-Approval Steps and Ongoing Maintenance

Getting published is not the end of the work. Keep these post-approval habits to ensure long-term stability and avoid breaking changes.

• Monitor updates: track API changelogs and deprecations to prevent regression.
• Automated testing: run smoke tests on staging whenever you change permissions or core flows.
• Listing updates: keep screenshots and copy current to avoid confusing merchants and reviewers later.
• Support: respond to merchant reports quickly so minor issues don’t compound.

Ongoing attention reduces the chance of future Paused or Rejected outcomes.

FAQs

How long should I expect a review to take for a straightforward listing?

For a straightforward listing with a clear demo store and minimal permissions, anticipate about five to ten business days. If everything is well-documented and testable, many reviews finish in that initial window.

Will responding quickly to reviewer questions speed up the process?

Yes—quick, complete, and evidence-backed responses reduce the chance of additional review cycles. That said, each interaction may still add some queue time, so prioritize providing all needed artifacts (test credentials, logs, video) in the first reply.

What if the reviewer misunderstands my solution or asks contradictory requests?

Respond politely, provide a short video demo, and ask a clarifying question if necessary. Make sure you fix the issue they’ve reported before resubmitting. If the review stalls, use Partner Dashboard support to ask for clarification.

Can using an integrated retention suite reduce review friction?

Yes. Consolidating functionality into a single, well-documented solution reduces the number of separate integrations to test and maintain, lowers the chance of cross-tool regressions, and simplifies testing for reviewers. For example, our single retention platform replaces multiple separate systems and helps merchants move faster to launch—see our plan details to compare options (see our plan details).

Conclusion

Shopify’s review timeline is not a fixed number—it's a function of readiness, communication, and complexity. The official five to ten business day window is a realistic baseline for well-prepared submissions, but real-world timelines vary. Our advice is straightforward: prepare everything a reviewer needs before you submit, provide short walkthroughs and test credentials, request only the permissions you need, and respond quickly with evidence whenever reviewers ask questions.

Reducing the number of integrations you rely on lowers the chance of review-related delays. We build our retention suite with that "More Growth, Less Stack" philosophy in mind to help merchants launch faster and manage fewer moving parts. If you want to see how a unified solution simplifies your integration roadmap and shortens time to value, explore our plans and start a 14-day free trial today (view plan details and start your trial).