{"id":113,"slug":"shopify-checkout-liquid-sunset-2024-2026","title":"Shopify checkout.liquid sunset (Aug 2024 → Aug 2025 → June 30 2026) — unmigrated customizations will be DELETED","kind":"reference","scope":"business","status":"current","audiences":["kevin","claude-code","candid-team"],"topics":["platform-lock-in","migration-mechanics","ecommerce-platforms"],"reference_body":"**Claim:** Shopify is forcibly sunsetting `checkout.liquid` customizations on a cascading schedule:\n\n- **August 13, 2024** — Information/Shipping/Payment steps (Shopify Plus only)\n- **August 28, 2025** — Thank You / Order Status pages + Additional Scripts + script-tag apps (Plus)\n- **August 26, 2026** — Same for non-Plus stores\n- **April 15, 2026** — New Shopify Scripts cannot be edited or added\n- **June 30, 2026** — Shopify Scripts fully deprecated (deadline extended from Aug 2025 in April 2025)\n- **After January 2026** — Shopify auto-upgrades remaining Plus stores\n\n**Quote (Shopify Help Center, Plus upgrade guide):**\n\n> \"All customizations using additional scripts, apps with script tags, or checkout.liquid on the Thank you and Order status pages will be lost.\"\n\n**Sources:** shopify.dev; changelog.shopify.com; help.shopify.com Plus upgrade guide.\n\n**Confidence:** Verified.\n\n**Why this is a clean lock-in case study:** Plus merchants who built custom checkouts over years got roughly **18 months from announcement to forced migration**. Rebuilds run $2k-$10k with 4-8 week timelines (see [[shopify-custom-function-migration-cost]]). Shopify decides when customer-paid extension code expires. Use as the lead example in the public article — see [[research-brief-owning-your-stack]] editorial direction.","rationale_body":null,"metadata":null,"links":{"outgoing":[],"incoming":[{"slug":"shopify-custom-function-migration-cost","title":"Shopify checkout customization rebuild: $2k–$10k per shop, 4–8 weeks for complex Scripts","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"depends-on"},{"slug":"shopify-plus-merchant-count-2026","title":"Shopify Plus: ~47,130 distinct merchants on 70,696 domains (Store Leads 2026); ~31% of Shopify's MRR","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"},{"slug":"rule-treat-no-export-as-hostage-situation","title":"RULE: A platform that cannot produce a clean export today is a hostage situation. Treat it as such.","kind":"rule","scope":"business","link_type":"depends-on"},{"slug":"research-brief-owning-your-stack","title":"Research brief: Owning your stack — why agency-managed platforms cost more than they save (piece 4 of 15)","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"},{"slug":"drupal-7-eol-january-2025-291k-sites","title":"Drupal 7 EOL January 5, 2025 — ~291,386 sites still on D7 in Sept 2024; migration is effectively a rebuild","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"}]},"created_at":"2026-05-22T19:17:26.793Z","updated_at":"2026-05-22T19:17:26.793Z"}