Shopify Inc. is changing a revenue share exemption it launched in the COVID-19 pandemic to help small developers.
The exemption stopped Shopify from taking any share annually of the first US$1 million in revenue that developers make on booking features, subscription tools and other products they design for the e-commerce company’s software.
As of June 16, Shopify says it will sunset the annual exemption but not take any share of the first US$1 million in revenue developers make across the lifetime of their products. After that US$1 million, Shopify will take a 15 per cent cut.
The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment on why it is making the change, but its vice-president of product Glen Coates says on X that the annual break benefited a few hundred developers making revenue but not the tens of thousands at earlier stages.
Shopify says in its blog that the revenue it will now receive as a result of the change will fund tools, infrastructure and innovations that benefit developers at every stage.
Before Shopify launched the exemption in the summer of 2021, it took a 20 per cent share of all revenues earned by its then-6,000 developers who created and sold tools that can be integrated and used with Shopify systems.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 2, 2025.
Companies in this story: (TSX:SHOP)
